‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘The Bear,’ ‘Beef’lead 29th Critics’ Choice Awards

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, Christopher Storer’s The Bear and Lee Sung-jin’s Beef emerged as big winners at the 29th Critics Choice Awards.

Held on 14 January (15 January Philippine Time) in Santa Monica, California, the awards ceremony was hosted by American stand-up comedian and host Chelsea Handler.

Oppenheimer, now the highest-grossing biopic of all time, garnered eight awards out of 13 nominations. This includes Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.,), Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director (Nolan), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Visual Effects and Best Score.

In his speech, Downey Jr., who won the same honor in the Golden Globes and the San Diego Film Critics Society, highlighted some of the criticisms and bad reviews he received throughout his career.

“I was thinking this morning, I love critics. You know, they’ve given me such beautiful feedback, really just so many great moments, and some of it is so poetic,” Downey Jr. said. “The first one’s kinda like haiku: ‘sloppy, messy and lazy.’ The second one’s more metaphoric: ‘Like Pee-wee Herman emerging from a coma.”

In the television category, both The Bear and Beef garnered four trophies, followed closely by Succession, which took home three awards. 

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie led the nominations in the film category, garnering a record-breaking 18, followed by Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things with 13 nominations. Meanwhile, The Morning Show led the nominations in the television category with six, followed closely by Succession with five nominations.

America Ferrera, best known for starring in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) and Barbie (2023), was honored with the SeeHer Award. Last year’s recipient of the award was American singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe.

Meanwhile, Harrison Ford, of the blockbuster franchises Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Blade Runner and other iconic cinematic roles, was honored with the Career Achievement Award. Multi-award-winning actor Jeff Bridges received the award in 2023.

The full list of winners of the 29th Critics’ Choice Awards:

TELEVISION CATEGORY

Best Drama Series: Succession

Best Actor: Kieran Culkin, Succession

Best Actress: Sarah Snook, Succession

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Billy Crudup, The Morning Show

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown

Best Actor in a Comedy Series: Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Best Actress in a Comedy Series: Ayo Edebiri, The Bear

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building

Best Limited Series: Beef

Best Movie Made for Television: Quiz Lady

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television: Steven Yeun, Beef

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television: Ali Wong, Beef

Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television: Jonathan Bailey, Fellow Travelers

Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television: Maria Bello, Beef

Best Animated Series: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Best Foreign Language Series: Lupin

Best Talk Show: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Best Comedy Special: John Mulaney, Baby J

FILM CATEGORY

Best Picture: Oppenheimer

Best Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Best Actor: Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Best Actress: Emma Stone, Poor Things

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer

Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Best Young Actor/Actress: Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers

Best Acting Ensemble: Oppenheimer

Best Original Screenplay: Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie

Best Adapted Screenplay: Cord Jefferson, American Fiction

Best Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema, Oppenheimer

Best Editing: Jennifer Lame, Oppenheimer

Best Costume Design: Jacqueline Durran, Barbie

Best Production Design: Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer, Barbie

Best Score: Ludwig Göransson, Oppenheimer

Best Song: “I’m Just Ken,” Barbie

Best Hair and Makeup: Barbie

Best Visual Effects: Oppenheimer

Best Comedy: Barbie

Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Best Foreign Language Film: Anatomy of a Fall

#SeeHer Award: America Ferrera

Career Achievement Award: Harrison Fordac