UNITED STATES
USA Today

Andrea Mandell, USA TODAY January 18, 2016

LOS ANGELES — Spotlight edged forward in the Oscar race Sunday night.

The film overpowered big-budget movies such as The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road to win best picture at the Critics’ Choice Awards, a crucial step as the Academy Awards race tightens

Spotlight also took home the acting ensemble prize, but the investigative journalism film’s major competitors didn’t go home empty-handed. The Revenant’s Leonardo DiCaprio won best actor (he accepted via video from his media tour for the movie in Europe) and Mad Max cleaned out the action awards, winning action film, actor in an action film (Tom Hardy) and actress in an action film (Charlize Theron).

More tellingly, Mad Max director George Miller also took home the overall director prize (he wasn’t in attendance).