Ben Affleck jokes about Oscar snub at Critics’ Choice awards
The Broadcast Film Critics Assn. awards are a far cry from the Oscars and scarcely more legitimate than the Golden Globes, but Ben Affleck was clearly stunned and touched when the BFCA handed the “Argo” filmmaker its directing prize the same day that the actor-filmmaker was shut out of the same category for this year’s Academy Awards.
“I would like to thank the Academy,” Affleck joked in accepting the Critics’ Choice trophy Thursday night, hours after he was surprisingly snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the directors race for the 85th annual Oscars. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. This is the one that counts.”
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The BFCA also named “Argo” best picture. In both the directing and picture races, “Argo” defeated Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” which received a leading 12 Oscar nominations Thursday morning. Said “Argo” producer Grant Heslov in accepting the Critics’ Choice award for top film, “This film doesn’t happen without Ben.”
The BFCA is composed of bloggers, TV and radio reviewers and retired critics, many from secondary and tertiary outlets, websites and markets.
“It’s very, very cool for me,” Affleck said in accepting the directing honor. “There was a time where Ben Affleck’s critics’ award was a ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch, so this is a very cool and exciting thing.”
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