New York Loves "Brokeback"

Much as Sideways repeatedly tasted victory at the critics awards last year, Brokeback Mountain is corralling the early plaudits this year, named Best Picture Monday by the New York Film Critics Circle.

The win is the movie's second in three days. On Saturday, Los Angeles critics named the heartbreaking tale of cowboys in love their best film. And on Sunday, both the American Film Institute and Broadcast Film Critics Association included Brokeback among their respective picks for 2005's Top 10 films.

The National Board of Review, the other key group announcing its awards Monday, also cited Brokeback as among the year's best. But in what now amounts to a twist, it reserved its ultimate Best Film designation for George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck.

The NBR and New York critics agreed when it came to Best Director: Brokeback's Ang Lee, rebounding nicely from a certain hulking disaster known as The Hulk. Right now, Lee's sitting on a trifecta, also having been named Best Director by the Los Angeles critics.

After being hailed Best Actor by the L.A. tastemakers, Capote's Philip Seymour Hoffman added to his Oscar credentials by picking up the same honor from the NBR. The New York critics went with Heath Ledger for his tortured performance in Brokeback.

Jake Gyllenhaal--who rides the range with Ledger in Brokeback, but isn't generating nearly the buzz of his costar--connected with the NBR, winning Best Supporting Actor. The New York critics, just as their L.A. counterparts did before them, cited A History of Violence's William Hurt.

Reese Witherspoon is the biggest name to emerge in these early awards, named Best Actress by the Big Apple writers for her turn as country legend June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. The NBR praised Felicity Huffman for playing a man on the verge of becoming a woman in Transamerica.

In the Best Supporting Actress category, Memoirs of a Geisha's Gong Li took the award from the NBR; A History of Violence's Maria Bello took the honor from the New York critics.

Like Lee, Noah Baumbach is three for three in the early awards, following up on his L.A. critics win for Best Screenplay for The Squid and the Whale (an honor shared with Dan Futterman's Capote), with wins from the NBR and New York scribes.

On Sunday, the New York Film Critics Online, yet another awards-dispensing group, added to Baumbach's haul by honoring his divorce drama as the out-and-out Best Picture.

The crush of award-show announcements are the appetizers to the first course, Tuesday's Golden Globe nominations, which themselves are the prelude to the main course, Jan. 31's Academy Award nominations.

That Brokeback Mountain has broken out to a lead in the early going does not mean the Oscars are a done deal. After sweeping the 2004 critics awards, Sideways managed just one Oscar win (for original screenplay), as momentum shifted to The Aviator and Million Dollar Baby. In the end, it was Million Dollar Baby that all but swept the major categories.

Though largely passed over by the first three major critics' groups, big-ticket studio films that might yet emerge as Oscar front-runners include: Peter Jackson's King Kong, Steven Spielberg's Munich and Walk the Line.

In the meantime, here's a look at all the winners of the 71st Annual New York Film Critics Circle Awards:

Picture: Brokeback Mountain Actor: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line Supporting Actor: William Hurt, A History of Violence Supporting Actress: Maria Bello, A History of Violence Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain Screenplay: The Squid and the Whale Cinematography: 2046 Foreign Language Film: 2046 Documentary: Grizzly Man and White Diamond (tie) Animated Feature: Howl's Moving Castle First Film: Bennett Miller, Capote

And here's the rundown of winners as selected by the National Board of Review:

Film: Good Night, and Good Luck Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote Actress: Felicity Huffman, Transamerica Supporting Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain Supporting Actress: Gong Li, Memoirs of a Geisha Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain Adapted Screenplay: Syriana Original Screenplay: The Squid and the Whale Ensemble Acting: Mrs. Henderson Presents Breakthrough Performance--Actor: Terrence Howard, Crash, Get Rich or Die Tryin', Hustle & Flow Breakthrough Performance--Actress: Q'Orianka Kilcher, The New World Special Effects: King Kong Directorial Debut: Julian Fellowes, Separate Lies Animated Feature: Tim Burton's Corpse Bride Foreign Language Film: Paradise Now Documentary: March of the Penguins Film or Miniseries Made for Cable TV: Lackawanna Blues Producer of the Year: Saul Zaentz

The New York critics will present their awards on Jan. 8. The NBR, presenting lifetime achievement awards to Jane Fonda and composer Howard Shore, will distribute its trophies on Jan. 10.