Conventional wisdom says that award-winning movies are released after Labor Day, usually in mid-October through early December, after playing at the Telluride or Toronto film festivals. Academy voters have notoriously short memories, and films released outside of that window tend to get lost in the shuffle. But so far Richard Linklater’s ‘Boyhood’ is bucking that trend in a big way, at least with critics groups. Over the weekend, Linklater’s epic coming-of-age drama swept the Best Picture prizes from critics associations in three major cities: Boston, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. That comes on the heels of the film also receiving the Best Picture award from the New York Film Critics Circle. That doesn’t necessarily mean ‘Boyhood’ is lock for an Academy Award win, or even a nomination, but at least the latter is looking more and more likely.

If you’re looking for other emerging trends from this season’s awards there are a few. ‘Whiplash’’s J.K. Simmons is the clear frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor; he swept all three prizes in that category over the weekend. The same goes for Emmanuel Lubezki, who received three Best Cinematography awards for his work on ‘Birdman.’ Meanwhile, the Best Documentary race is beginning to look like a two-horse race, between Laura Poitras’ ‘Citizenfour,’ about NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, and Steve James’ ‘Life Itself,’ about the life of film critic Roger Ebert.

The full lists of winners for the Boston Society of Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and Washington DC Area Film Critics Association awards are below. And as a big fan of the movie, all I’ve got to add right now is “Go ‘Boyhood’ go!”

2014 Boston Society of Film Critics Award Winners:
Best Picture:
‘Boyhood’
Best Actor: Michael Keaton, ‘Birdman’
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, ‘The Immigrant’ and ‘Two Days, One Night’
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, ‘Whiplash’
Best Supporting Actress: Emma Stone, ‘Birdman’
Best Director: Richard Linklater, ‘Boyhood’
Best Screenplay: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo, ‘Birdman,’ and Richard Linklater, ‘Boyhood’ (tie)
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, ‘Birdman’
Best Documentary: ‘Citizenfour’
Best Foreign Language Film: ‘Two Days, One Night’
Best Animated Film: ‘The Tale of the Princess Kaguya’
Best Film Editing: Sandra Adair, ‘Boyhood’
Best New Filmmaker: Dan Gilroy, ‘Nightcrawler’
Best Ensemble Cast: ‘Boyhood’
Best Use of Music in a Film: ‘Inherent Vice’

2014 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards:
Best Picture: ‘Boyhood’
Best Director: Richard Linklater, ‘Boyhood’
Best Actor: Tom Hardy, ‘Locke’
Best Actress: Patricia Arquette, ‘Boyhood’
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, ‘Whiplash’
Best Supporting Actress: Agata Kulesza, ‘Ida’
Best Screenplay: Wes Anderson, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, ‘Birdman’
Best Production Design: Adam Stockhausen, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’
Best Editing: Sandra Adair, ‘Boyhood’
Best Music Score: Jonny Greenwood, ‘Inherent Vice,’ and Mica Levi, ‘Under the Skin’ (tie)
Best Foreign Language Film: ‘Ida’
Best Documentary: ‘Citizenfour’
Best Animation: ‘The Tale of the Princess Kaguya’
New Generation: Ava DuVernary, ‘Selma’
Career Achievement: Gena Rowlands

2014 Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award Winners:
Best Film: ‘Boyhood’
Best Director: Richard Linklater, ‘Boyhood’
Best Actor: Michael Keaton, ‘Birdman’
Best Actress: Julianne Moore, ‘Still Alice’
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, ‘Whiplash’
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, ‘Boyhood’
Best Acting Ensemble: ‘Birdman’
Best Youth Performance: Ellar Coltrane, ‘Boyhood’
Best Adapted Screenplay: Gillian Flynn, ‘Gone Girl’
Best Original Screenplay: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo, ‘Birdman’
Best Animated Feature: ‘The LEGO Movie’
Best Documentary: ‘Life Itself’
Best Foreign Language Film: ‘Force Majeure’
Best Art Direction: ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, ‘Birdman’
Best Editing: Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione, ‘Birdman’
Best Original Score: Mica Levi, ‘Under the Skin’
The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington DC: ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’

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