Mad Max reboot powers away with nine Critics' Choice awards

Updated
'Mad Max: Fury Road' Wins Big at Critics' Choice Awards
'Mad Max: Fury Road' Wins Big at Critics' Choice Awards

Mad Max: Fury Road has roared to victory as film and TV critics honoured the best work on the big and small screen.

The reboot of the dystopian action film scored nine gongs at the Critics' Choice Awards in Santa Monica, California, including best action movie, a best actor in an action movie prize for British star Tom Hardy and a best actress in an action movie award for Charlize Theron.

George Miller, who is responsible for the series, was named best director, while the film also took prizes for visual effects, hair and make up, costume design, editing and production design.

Hardy, Theron and Miller were not present at the ceremony but co-stars Zoe Kravitz and Rosie Huntington-Whitely collected his award on his behalf.

Kravitz said: "George created a film that was not only crowd pleasing but also ground-breaking."

Huntington-Whiteley added: "It was a privilege for us to be part of his vision, especially since, in a male-dominated genre, this film was truly inspired by women."

Spotlight, about the Boston Globe reporters who uncovered sexual abuse in the Catholic church, was named best picture.

The cast, which includes Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo, also won best ensemble.

McAdams, who plays one of the journalists, collected the award, saying: "It is a little overwhelming to speak on behalf of our enormously-talented cast I had the privilege of working with.

"I think we can all agree the true star ensemble is the real life heroes at Spotlight and the rest of the team, thank you for having the bravery to pursue this important story."

The Big Short, a film about the collapse of the American housing market, was named best comedy movie.

Accepting the prize, director Adam McKay said: "This is for the people who lost homes, lost jobs, lost savings. You are not alone, we were paying attention. A lot of people were paying attention."

Brie Larson, who has already won a Golden Globe for her performance in Room, was named best actress but was not present to collect the trophy.

Leonardo DiCaprio, who was also not present at the ceremony, was named best actor for The Revenant.

Rocky star Sylvester Stallone continued his winning streak with a best supporting actor accolade.

The 69-year-old actor, who recently won a Golden Globe for resuming his role of Rocky Balboa in Creed, was also nominated for an Oscar on January 14.

Collecting his award on stage at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, he said: "I guess there is at least one upside to getting older. I am truly amazed, I did not expect this, I swear to you. There are so many great actors here and I'm kind of late to this party and I'm very appreciative of it.

Alicia Vikander, who stars opposite Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl, was named best supporting actress for her role as the wife of a transgender artist.

The star also accepted the best sci-fi/horror film award for Ex Machina, in which she stars opposite Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson.

Jacob Tremblay, nine, stood on a box to accept the best young actor/actress award for his role opposite Larson in Room.

Dressed in a dark suit, he said: "This is super cool, this is the best day of my life. I first want to say thank you to all the critics who voted for me, it must have been super hard because of all the great actors in this category."

The Star Wars fan added: "I know where to put this, on the shelf right next to my Millennium Falcon."

Trainwreck director Judd Apatow presented the MVP (Most Valuable Player) Award to the film's star, writer and producer Amy Schumer, hailing her as "the nicest person I know".

The comedian drew laughs from the crowd when she gestured to her stomach, saying: "If you're an actress and you have this area right here, you have to write your own stuff if you want it to get made.

Referring to her partially-nude photographs taken in the Pirelli calendar, she added: "This is where I get really brave. That's what everyone said after my Annie Leibovitz photo. That's what you want everyone to say after a naked photo of you goes viral, 'Oh, what a brave photo'."

Schumer who has spoken out about the need for gun control since two women were shot at a Trainwreck screening in Louisiana, concluded by saying: "I want to thank Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson who died in Lafayette because a mentally ill person got their hands on a gun, but we can end gun violence together."

Schumer also scored the best actress in a comedy award for Trainwreck and collected the award wearing just one high-heeled sandal.

The best actor in a comedy award went to Welsh actor Christian Bale for The Big Short, who planted kisses on his wife, McKay and his co-writer Charles Randolph.

He accepted the award saying: "That was just a lovely make-out session with my wife, with Adam and with Charles. We all got to know each other very well.

"Adam just told me Goodfellas never won anything so that puts everything into perspective."

The best TV drama series prize went to hacker thriller Mr Robot, while the show's star Rami Malek was named best actor in a TV drama and co-star Christian Slater best supporting actor.

Best comedy series went to Netflix show Master Of None.

The show's creator and star Aziz Ansari accepted the award, saying: "I go to these things assuming I'm going to lose and just eat all these weird treats they give us like the tiny hot dogs. It's definitely better to get this in addition to that."

Jeffrey Tambor, who plays a transgender father in Transparent, was named best actor in a comedy series and instructed the audience: "Change the world, it needs it."

Meanwhile, the second season of Fargo scored four awards including best movie made for television or limited series.

Kirsten Dunst won the best actress in a movie made for television or limited series prize, Jesse Plemons picked up best supporting actor in a movie made for television or limited series, and Jean Smart scored best supporting actress in a movie made for television or limited series.

The Critics' Choice Awards are the result of votes by the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) and Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA).

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