First Round Critics Orgs: NYFCO & AFCC
Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 11:00PM
NATHANIEL R in Laura Dern, Parasite, film critics

by Nathaniel R

With 3 critics groups announcing thus far, Laura Dern is the only threepeat winner.

NYFCC was the prestige kick off of this portion of precursor season (critics groups) a few days back and their rivals on the West Coast (LAFCA) announce tomorrow. But in the meantime we've also had announcements from New York (Online) and Atlanta, both of which went wild for Parasite. Side note: Yes we know there've been other group announcements but we dont acknowledge the nominations portion that so many groups are doing now because it just makes the overabundance of small regional organizations feel even more desperately extra. If just announcing winners is good enough for NYFCC/LAFCA/NSFC, the holy trinity of critics prizes, it ought to be good enough for smaller cities and less prestigious orgs.

Here are the winners for New York Online and Atlanta...

NYFCO
Picture: Parasite
Director: Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite)
Actor: Joaquin Phoenix (Joker)
Actress: Lupita Nyong'o (Us)
Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci (The Irishman)
Supporting Actress: Laura Dern (Marriage Story)
Screenplay: Parasite (Bong Joon-Ho, Han Jin-Won)
Cinematography: 1917 (Roger Deakins)
Documentary: Apollo 11 (NEON)
Foreign Language: Portrait of a Lady on Fire (NEON)
Ensemble Cast: Knives Out (Casting director: Mary Vernieu)


Breakthrough Performer: Kelvin Harrison Jr. (WavesLuce)
Debut as Director: Lila Aviles (The Chambermaid)
Use of Music: Rocketman (Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Giles Martin, Matthew Margeson)
Animated Feature: I Lost My Body (Netflix)

Top 10 Films:

 

 

Hmmm. Why does their top 10 look like Oscar predictions? Jojo Rabbit and Joker are expected to do well at the Oscars but they're in the 50s at Metcacritic so is this critics group just coincidentally full of fans of those two films or are people forgetting their own reviews and just voting on Oscar buzz? Still, we love to see Lupita honored again and Hustlers in the mix. 

 

AFCC
(Atlanta Film Critics Circle)

Picture: Parasite
Director: Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite)
Actor: Adam Driver (Marriage Story)
Actress: Renée Zellweger (Judy)
Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time In...)
Supporting Actress: Laura Dern (Marriage Story)
Screenplay: Parasite (Bong Joon-Ho, Han Jin-Won)


Cinematography: 1917 (Roger Deakins)
Score: 1917 (Thomas Newman)
Documentary: Apollo 11 
Foreign Language: Parasite (South Korea)
Best Ensemble: The Irishman
Breakthrough Performer: Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Best First Film: Olivia Wilde (Booksmart)
Animated Feature: Toy Story 4

Top 10 Films:

 

  1. Parasite (NEON)
  2. The Irishman (Netflix)
  3. Marriage Story (Netflix)
  4. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Columbia Pictures)
  5. 1917 (Universal)
  6. Little Women (Columbia Pictures)
  7. Uncut Gems (A24)
  8. Knives Out (Lionsgate)
  9. Pain and Glory (Sony Pictures Classics)
  10. Apollo 11 (NEON)

 

 

Three critics groups* isn't a lot to go in in terms of consensus. And we hope consensus doesn't form too early. So far there is only one threepeat: Laura Dern in Best Supporting Actress. 

* NBR is not a critics groups. Don't get it twisted.

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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