Richard Linklater's 'Boyhood' Named Best Film by New York Film Critics Circle

Just because the New York Film Critics Circle feels the need to be the first awards out of the gate each year doesn't mean they hold sway over the Oscar race. In fact, they absolutely don't if last year's three honors for American Hustle are anything to go by. This year they are again first in line to reveal their winners, and it's Richard Linklater's coming-of-age drama Boyhood leading the pack with three wins.

Boyhood won for Best Director, Best Film, plus a victory for Patricia Arquette in the Best Supporting Actress category. Best Actress went to Marion Cotillard for the divisive (and mostly forgotten) period drama, The Immigrant, while Timothy Spall won Best Actor for Mr. Turner. Unsurprisingly, The Lego Movie won for Best Animated Feature, while Best First Feature Award went to Jennifer Kent for her inventive horror, The Babadook. If there's one category where a win might actually be a prelude to further victories, it's the Best Supporting Actor award which went to J.K. Simmons for Whiplash. Full list of winners is below:

Best Film
Boyhood

Best Actor
Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant; Two Days, One Night

Best Director
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Best Supporting Actor
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Best Foreign Language Film
Ida (Poland, dir. Pawel Pawlikowski)

Best Animated Film
The Lego Movie (dirs. Phil Lord, Christopher Miller)

Best Screenplay 
The Grand Budapest Hotel (dir. Wes Anderson)

Special Award
Adrienne Mencia

Best Cinematography
Darius Khondji, The Immigrant 

Best First Film 
Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook

Best Non-fiction Film (Documentary)
Citizenfour (dir. Laura Poitras)