The Los Angeles Film Critics, not my favorite group usually, are finishing up their voting. They gave Best Director to George Miller for “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Best Actor and Supporting Actor were inspired choices: Michael Fassbender for “Steve Jobs” and Michael Shannon for “99 Homes.” Each was a good selection.

In the past, I’ve found the LA Film Critics aren’t too sophisticated (whoever they are, btw, since Ken Turan is mainly the guy there) and easily manipulated by local publicists. I don’t blame them.

I don’t know if the public realizes that as the cities vote their awards, the pressure gets more intense from publicists trying to squeeze out a win for one of their clients. Quite a little game…

Lead actress– Charlotte Rampling for “45 Years,” an exquisite performance. She is now the 4th Oscar slot, after JLaw, CBlanch, and Brie. Who is number 5? Lily Tomlin? Saorise Ronan? Helen Mirren?

Supporting actress– Alicia Vikander for “The Danish Girl” a movie that seems to be over.

Good choices all the way around. Whew! Nice to see Paul Dano doing so well.  Kristin Stewart continues to surprise.

Best Picture  –  Spotlight

One of my favorite awards in the whole awards season is the Screen Actors Guild citation for Best Ensemble. This award always reminds me of Robert Altman, who should have won 10 of these things. This means a group of actors working together, in sort of rotating combinations, through a film. Big casts work best for this, but the size isn’t the only determination. The director has to be using all of his or her people ensemble. It’s the French word derived from Latin: “union of parts, parts of a thing taken together,” from French ensemblée “all the parts of a thing considered together.”

1. SPOTLIGHT– Tom McCarthy nimbly moves this group around as they investigate the Boston archdiocese. The ensemble includes Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Rachel McAdams, and Brian D’Arcy James in sort of the first rung, and then a second run of Stanley Tucci, Jamey Sheridan, Billy Crudup, and Richard Jenkins (on the phone). All the parts keep moving like a Swiss watch, in perfect time.
2. THE HATEFUL EIGHT– No one handles groups better than Quentin Tarantino. “Hateful Eight” to me was like watching a skillful production of Eugene O’Neill’s “Hughie” or “The Iceman Cometh.” Much of it is set in one room, a large cabin that never feels confining. There’s a dazzling interaction among the 8– Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, et al. And even when some of them are removed from the equation, a second tier group shows up in the form of Channing Tatum and his people. Tarantino is performing magic, which is why it look so easy. Deceptive.
3. THE MARTIAN– I think we forget this is not the Matt Damon show. While Damon is the center of activity, the action involves a lot of people working together including Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena and so on. Damon’s rescue from Mars takes a village, and Ridley Scott gives its members a lot of latitude– and altitude.
4. JOY–  I chose “Joy” over “Brooklyn” only because the latter film splinters between Brooklyn and Ireland, and “Joy” is all together now. David O. Russell has become a master of the ensemble game, offering kooky families with many members, major and minor. Some players come from past movies. But then he adds Isabella Rossellini, Edgar Ramirez and Virginia Madsen as new seasoning, and the whole thing clicks. “Joy” isn’t just about Joy Mangano, it’s about Everywoman and her posse of loyal but sometimes frustrating confederates.
5. CREED– is an obvious choice. Ryan Coogler moved the people of “Fruitvale Station” around so brilliantly. Here he’s got Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Sylvester Stallone, Phylicia Rashad in the forefront, but then he has that whole boxing crowd with Richie Coster, Andre Ward et al. EEveryone’s important, and each of them contribute equally. When it’s over, you’re ready for the sequel. That’s good filmmaking.

All of Katniss Everdeen’s war heroics have not saved LionsGate stock. The price of LGF has dropped from a high of $41.07 on November 12th to just $33.46 this morning.

This is despite or because of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 2.” Even though the company has been churning out press releases about the movie’s success, Pt. 2 is running around $23 million behind its predecessor on a day to day reading. Yes, it’s up to $206 million after 13 days. But the 1st one (which was third in the series) was already at almost 239 million on its 13th day.

Of LionsGate’s 25 top releases in 2015, only two– “Mockingjay Pt. 2” and “Insurgent” — have made over $100 million. The other 23 have not done well, with “Sicario” leading the pack at $46 million. They’ve had huge flops this year like “Mortdecai,” “American Ultra,” and “Knock Knock.”

What could help? How about a cross over movie with “Twilight” vampires having moody romances with the “Hunger Games” crowd? Call it “Divergent: Detergent.”