Read the Gotham Award Nominating Committees' Reviews of Their Favorite Movies

The Gotham Awards, whose 2012 nominees were announced this morning, are an interesting awards season anomaly. They're handed out very early in the year -- and their nominees are chosen not by members of an enormous and anonymous academy, but by small groups of film critics and programmers. If you're curious why some films get nominated and others get snubbed, it can be informative to cycle back to the nominating critics' reviews. If, for example, you were surprised that "Beasts of the Southern Wild" didn't pick up a Best Feature nod, it could be worth noting that juror Karina Longworth of the LA Weekly didn't particularly care for the film ("The film is never less than a wonder to look at; it's also rarely anything more," she wrote from Sundance). 

With that in mind, I rounded up all the jurors' reviews of each of the movies they selected (excluding the Best Documentary category, which was largely chosen by festival programmers). Clicking on each movie's title below also takes you to their newly redesigned Criticwire pages, where you'll find lots more reviews and grades from dozens of other film critics. 

The winners of the 2012 Gotham Awards will be announced on Monday, November 26th.

2012 Gotham Awards Nominees and Nominating Jurors' Reviews

Best Feature:
(Jury: Scott Foundas, Ann Hornaday, Glenn Kenny, Karina Longworth, and Wesley Morris)

"Bernie" - Hornaday, Longworth
"The Loneliest Planet" - Kenny, Longworth
"The Master" - Foundas, Hornaday, Kenny, Longworth, Morris
"Middle of Nowhere" - Hornaday, Longworth
"Moonrise Kingdom" -Hornaday, Kenny, Longworth, Morris

Best Ensemble Performance
(Jury: Peter Debruge, Ed Gonzalez, Eric Kohn, Leah Rozen, Elizabeth Weitzman)

"Bernie"- Kohn
"Moonrise Kingdom" - Debruge, Kohn, Weitzman
"Safety Not Guaranteed" - Kohn, Rozen, Weitzman
"Silver Linings Playbook" - Kohn
"Your Sister's Sister" - Kohn, Weitzman

Breakthrough Director
(Jury: Scott Foundas, Ann Hornaday, Glenn Kenny, Karina Longworth, and Wesley Morris)

Zal Batmanglij for "Sound of My Voice" - Foundas, Longworth, Morris
Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky for "Francine" - No reviews
Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin for "Now, Forager" - No reviews
Antonio Méndez Esparza for "Aquí y Allá" - No reviews
Benh Zeitlin for "Beasts of the Southern Wild" - Foundas, Hornaday, Kenny, Longworth

Breakthrough Actor
(Jury: Peter Debruge, Ed Gonzalez, Eric Kohn, Leah Rozen, Elizabeth Weitzman)

Mike Birbiglia in "Sleepwalk with Me" - Debruge, Kohn, Rozen, Weitzman
Emayatzy Corinealdi in "Middle of Nowhere" - Weitzman
Thure Lindhardt in "Keep the Lights On" - Gonzalez, Kohn, Weitzman
Melanie Lynskey in "Hello, I Must Be Going" - Debruge, Rozen
Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild" - Debruge, Gonzalez, Kohn