And the critics awards keep on comin’. Last week saw the announcement of theCritics Choice Awards nominations, which come from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and theNew York Film Critics Circle announced their annual winnerswithLa La Landtaking top honors. This weekend it was the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s turn, and the group landed onMoonlightas the Best Film of 2016 while spreading the love to a number of other exciting winners.
Moonlightwas the big winner though, taking Best Film, Best Director forBarry Jenkins, Best Supporting Actor forMahershala Ali, and Best Cinematography forJames Laxton. ButLa La Landcame close, serving as the Runner-Up in Best Picture and Best Director, as the LAFCA also announces the runners up in each category. They kept things interesting in the acting awards, giving Best Actor toAdam Driverfor his turn in theJim JarmuschdramaPaterson, Best Actress toIsabelle Huppertfor her work inElleandThings to Come, and Best Supporting Actress toLily GladstoneforCertain Women. This eschews pretty much all of the “favorites” this awards season in favor of interesting and worthy alternatives, and that the LAFCA continually votes its heart instead of trying to predict Oscars is certainly laudable.
Huppert in particular has become something of a critical darling for her turn inElle, as the NYFCC also gave her Best Actress forElleandThings to Come. But possibly the most inspired choice from the LAFCA, and the one I most badly want to see replicated at the Oscars, is Best Production Design forPark Chan-wook’sThe Handmaiden. It is an impeccably crafted film, and I’m really hoping the Korean drama/comedy/caper gets its due recognition in categories beyond Best Foreign Language Film.
Check out the full list of winners below.
PICTURE: “Moonlight”
Runner-up: “La La Land”
DIRECTOR: Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
Runner-up: Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”
ACTOR: Adam Driver, “Paterson”
Runner-up: Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
ACTRESS: Isabelle Huppert, “Elle” and “Things to Come”
Runner-up: Rebecca Hall, “Christine”
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”
Runner-up: Issey Ogata, “Silence”
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Lily Gladstone, “Certain Women”
Runner-up: Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”
SCREENPLAY: Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Lobster”
Runner-up: Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
ANIMATION: “Your Name”
Runner-up: “The Red Turtle”
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: “The Handmaiden”
Runner-up: “Toni Erdmann”
DOCUMENTARY / NON-FICTION FILM: “I Am Not Your Negro”
Runner-up: “O.J.: Made in America”
NEW GENERATION: Trey Edward Shults and Krisha Fairchild, “Krisha”
FILM EDITING: Bret Granato, Maya Mumma, Ben Sozanski, “O.J.: Made in America”
Runner-up: Tom Cross, “La La Land”
CINEMATOGRAPHY: James Laxton, “Moonlight”
Runner-up: Linus Sandgren, “La La Land”
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Ryu Seong-hee, “The Handmaiden”
Runner-up: David Wasco, “La La Land”
MUSIC/SCORE: Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, “La La Land”
Runner-up: Mica Levi, “Jackie”
DOUGLAS E. EDWARDS INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL FILM/VIDEO: “The Illinois Parables,” from writer-director Deborah Stratman
SPECIAL CITATION: Turner Classic Movies, for preserving historic cinema and bringing it to a wider audience via FilmStruck
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Shirley MacLaine
