Los Angeles Film Critics Association award winners 2015

'Mad Max: Fury Road' scored big too

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Published on December 6, 2015 12:00PM EST

Photo: Kerry Hayes/Courtesy Everett Collection

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association voted Sunday on its annual award winners, with Spotlight and Mad Max: Fury Road taking home top prizes.

LACFA recognized Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight, which follows the 2002 Boston Globe investigation into sex abuse in the Catholic Church, as its Best Picture. With a star-studded ensemble including Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, and Brian d’Arcy James, Spotlight has racked up a series of prizes from various awards shows and critics associations, and it also earned Best Picture at the Gotham Independent Film Awards and from the Boston Society of Film Critics.

But although Spotlight won Best Picture, it was the Best Picture runner-up that took home the most LAFCA awards: George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road grabbed three honors, including Miller for Best Director, Colin Gibson for Best Production Design, and John Seale for Best Cinematography.

Other selections included Michael Fassbender as Best Actor for his role in Steve Jobs and Charlotte Rampling as Best Actress for 45 Years. Michael Shannon won Best Supporting Actor for his role in 99 Homes, and Alicia Vikander was named Best Supporting Actress for Ex Machina.

Anomalisa won for best animation, and composer Carter Burwell won Best Score for his work on both Carol and Anomalisa. Laszlo Nemes’ Hungarian Holocaust drama Son of Saul was also recognized as Best Foreign Language Film. Creed director Ryan Coogler earned the New Generation Award, which recognizes a rising filmmaker.

While being recognized by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association doesn’t always correlate to Academy Awards success, the group has been a bellwether in the past. Just last year, for instance, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood was the big LAFCA winner, taking home four awards for best picture, best director, best actress, and best editing. Five out of 14 winners from last year’s LAFCA Awards went on to win at the Oscars (including Patricia Arquette, who LAFCA picked as Best Actress for Boyhood but who won for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars).

RELATED: Tom McCarthy on getting the story right for Spotlight

This year’s LAFCA winners will be honored at an event in Los Angeles on Jan. 9. See the full list of winners below:

Best Picture: Spotlight

Runner up: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road

Runner up: Todd Haynes, Carol

Best Actress: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years

Runner up: Saiorse Ronan, Brooklyn

Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs

Runner up: Geza Rohrig, Son of Saul

Best Screenplay: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

Runner up: Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa