by Nathaniel R
Another day, another set of precursor awards. We heard from the New York Film Critics Circle a few days ago where Lady Bird and The Florida Project were the big winners with two prizes each. Over on the West Coast Call Me By Your Name and The Shape of Water both took three prizes. Commentary, stats, and winners list are all after the jump...
Film: Call Me By Your Name
Generally only two films a decade take both the LAFCA and the top Oscar. And the last two winners Spotlight and Moonlight already did that this decade. But more often than not the LAFCA winner does not take the Oscar. Runner up was The Florida Project (!)
Director: [TIE] Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water
and Luca Guadagnino for Call Me By Your Name
Whoa! A tie in Best Director and the voting was very close with Dee Rees, Greta Gerwig, and Sean Baker also supposedly a few votes away from it. There was also a tie in this category in 2010 with David Fincher sharing his Social Network honor with Olivier Assayas for Carlos. In the 2000s 50% of the winners went on to win the Oscar. This decade only Alfonso Cuaron has repeated the win for Gravity.
Actress: Sally Hawkins for The Shape of Water
The LAFCA often gets feisty with best actress and opts for foreign language performances. Not so this year where they've awarded Sally Hawkins her second LAFCA gong (she previously won for Happy Go Lucky in 2008 and became one of the all time worst statistical snubs on Oscar nomination morning since she'd won so much precursor love). The runner up was Frances McDormand for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Actor: Timothée Chalamet for Call Me By Your Name
LAFCA tends to get really opinionated with this awards, sometimes not caring at all that their choice won't be Oscar nominated or won't win the Oscar (see Tom Hardy for Locke or Adam Driver for Paterson etcetera). That said they did have a run where they refused to not give it to the anyone but the Oscar frontrunnerzzzzz (2005-2010). The runner up this year was James Franco for The Disaster Artist
Supporting Actress: Laurie Metcalf for Lady Bird
In the past ten years of the LAFCA prize they've chosen the eventual Oscar winner 3 times, 4 if you count the prize for Alicia Vikander (they honored her for Ex Machina while Oscar opted for The Danish Girl both leading roles that people kept stubbornly giving supporting prizes to because no one likes to play by the rules if they like a particular actor). In the years where they don't select a foreign language performance as winner (LAFCA is very friendly to foreign actresses), they're usually Oscar-nominated. The only exceptions in the past 20 years: Lily Gladstone for Certain Women, Joan Allen in Pleasantville, and Edie Falco in Sunshine State. Runner up was Mary J Blige for Mudbound who is looking more and more likely as an Oscar contender. Lois Smith, Tiffany Haddish, and Allison Janney also supposedly had a lot of support
Supporting Actor: Willem Dafoe for The Florida Project
LAFCA is even more Oscar focused in this category than they are in supporting Actress. In both though they generally go for Oscar frontrunners (or thereabouts). 6 of their last 10 winners here have claimed the Oscar. The runner up this year for LA was Sam Rockwell who will likely be Dafoe's chief rival for the Oscar too since both are long respected character actors in large roles in well liked movies.
Screenplay: Jordan Peele for Get Out
The runner up was Three Billboards by Martin McDonagh. The winner of this prize is almost always nominated for the Oscar. The only times in my lifetime where the winner missed the Oscar nomination were John Sayles Return of the Secaucus Seven (1980), Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy (1989) and Alexander Payne's About Schmidt (2002)
Editing: Lee Smith for Dunkirk
They've only been giving this award for 6 years now. With the exception of last year's winner O.J. Made in America (a tv miniseries) all of their winners have been nominated for the Oscar though only one went on to win: Gravity (2013). Runner up for this prize was Tatiana S Riegel for I, Tonya. (I remain surprised that that movie's crafts are resonating. It's extremely traditional mockumentary style editing. They always work like this: Scene. Then cut to character discussing their actions or feelings, often in comic counterpoint to what you just saw or are about to see. Repeat for whole film.)
Production Design: Dennis Gassner for Blade Runner 2049
Last year they made the brilliant choice of honoring The Handmaiden which Oscar's design branch then shamefully ignored. The LAFCA is generally more daring than Oscar when it comes to this category. Their runner up this year was Paul D Austerberry for The Shape of Water.
Best Cinematography: Dan Lausten for The Shape of Water
As with Production Design LAFCA is more daring here (for instance honoring Mad Max over The Revenant or Black Swan over Inception). But that said they still usually choose future movies in the Best Picture conversation. Their runner up this year was Roger Deakins for Blade Runner 2049. Deakins has previously won this award at the LAFCA three different times. He has yet to win the Oscar.
Best Music: Jonny Greenwood for Phantom Thread
The LA critics are slightly edgier than Oscar in this category. This is Greenwood's second prize from LA. He also won for his music on Inherent Vice. Their runner was Alexandre Desplat (who they've awarded twice before) for The Shape of Water
Documentary: Faces Places by Agnes Varda & Jr
Wow. Another prize for Varda who is having quite a year. We still wonder if Oscar will go for it though since they tend to like more self-serious documentaries MUCH better.
Animated Feature: The Breadwinner
The LAFCA has been giving out this prize since 1989 (!) with The Little Mermaid as the first winner so they were way head of Oscar in this regard. They really like foreign films in LA so The Breadwinner is not an anomaly. Previous winners have included Waltz With Bashir, The Triplets of Belleville, Persepolis, and a few more. In fact they haven't awarded Pixar in this category since Toy Story 3 (2010) preferring more indie efforts. The runner up this year was Coco.
Foreign Film [TIE] BPM (France)
and Loveless (Russia)
Love both of these movies. Both look likely as finalists at Oscar though I doubt both will be nominated.
New Generation Prize Greta Gerwig
Recent winners of this prize include Ava DuVernay for Selma, Ryan Coogler for Creed, and Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild