Lily Gladstone started strong, but Emma Stone takes the lead in Best Actress this week.
Another week, another slew of critics awards and top 10s from some of the world's most prestigious film publications. Though Killers of the Flower Moon continues to lead the Best Picture race, it's not a consensus pick. Indeed, a wide variety of titles have taken top honors, making for an exciting season. Well, at least it's like that in the most important category. Da'Vine Joy Randolph continues to sweep the Supporting Actress prizes, having won every single one in the season so far, while Emma Stone has taken the lead in Best Actress over Lily Gladstone. The men's categories are more chaotic, while Nolan is ahead among directors. All in all, it's been a busy week…
CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION
Best Picture: KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Best Director: Christopher Nolan, OPPENHEIMER
Best Actress: Emma Stone, POOR THINGS
Best Actor: Paul Giamatti, THE HOLDOVERS
Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, THE HOLDOVERS
Best Supporting Actor: Charles Melton, MAY DECEMBER
Most Promising Performer: Charles Melton, MAY DECEMBER
Best Original Screenplay: Samy Burch, MAY DECEMBER
Best Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Best Editing: Jennifer Lame, OPPENHEIMER
Best Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema, OPPENHEIMER
Best Production Design: Sarah Greenwood, BARBIE
Best Costume Design: Holly Waddington, POOR THINGS
Best Use of Visual Effects: GODZILLA MINUS ONE
Best Original Score: Robbie Robertson, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Best Animated Feature: THE BOY AND THE HERON
Best Documentary: KOKOMO CITY
Best Foreign Language Film: THE ZONE OF INTEREST
Milos Stehlik Award for Breakthrough Filmmaker: Celine Song, PAST LIVES
One wonders if Oppenheimer's Oscar ineligibility in the Best Visual Effects race has prompted voters to go elsewhere when voting in equivalent categories. Well, that's good news for the likes of Godzilla Minus One, the rare 2023 blockbuster that's as beloved by critics as by audiences.
LAS VEGAS FILM CRITICS SOCIETY
Top 10:
- OPPENHEIMER, Christopher Nolan
- KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, Martin Scorsese
- MAESTRO, Bradley Cooper
- THE KILLER, David Fincher
- BARBIE, Greta Gerwig
- POOR THINGS, Yorgo Lanthimos
- PAST LIVES, Celine Song
- SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, Joaquim dos Santos, Kemp Powers & Justin K. Thompson
- THE HOLDOVERS, Alexander Payne
- THE COLOR PURPLE, Blitz Bazawule
Best Director: Christopher Nolan, OPPENHEIMER
Best Actress: Emma Stone, POOR THINGS
Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, MAESTRO
Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, THE HOLDOVERS
Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr., OPPENHEIMER
Best Ensemble: OPPENHEIMER
Best Original Screenplay: Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer, MAESTRO
Best Adapted Screenplay: Cord Jefferson, AMERICAN FICTION
Best Film Editing: Jennifer Lame, OPPENHEIMER
Best Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema, OPPENHEIMER
Best Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, BARBIE
Best Costume Design: Holly Waddington, POOR THINGS
Best Visual Effects: THE CREATOR
Best Score: Ludwig Göransson, OPPENHEIMER
Best Song: "I'm Just Ken," BARBIE
Best Stunts: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE
Best Documentary: STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE
Best Animated Film: SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
Best International Movie: GODZILLA MINUS ONE
Best Comedy: BARBIE
Best Action Movie: JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4
Best Horror/Sci-Fi Movie: GODZILLA MINUS ONE
Best Family Film: ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET.
Breakout Filmmaker: Celine Song, PAST LIVES
Youth in Film (Male): Jude Hill, A HAUNTING IN VENICE
Youth in Film (Female): Abby Ryder Forston, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET.
The William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award: Nicolas Cage
Las Vegas fell hard for Maestro and Oppenheimer, but Barbie and Poor Things still nabbed themselves a bundle of trophies. The Creator is this group's alternative VFX pick, but Godzilla still gets its flowers. The Sierra Awards are a bit more mainstream than other critics awards and often reward future Oscar darlings. That's good news for their favorites this season.
NEW YORK FILM CRITICS ONLINE
Best Picture: KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Best Director: Christopher Nolan, OPPENHEIMER
Best Actress: Sandra Hüller, ANATOMY OF A FALL
Best Actor: Cillian Murphy, OPPENHEIMER
Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, THE HOLDOVERS
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo, POOR THINGS
Best Ensemble Cast: OPPENHEIMER
Breakthrough Performer: Charles Melton, MAY DECEMBER
Best Debut Director: Celine Song, PAST LIVES
Best Screenplay: Justine Triet & Arthur Harari, ANATOMY OF A FALL
Best Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema, OPPENHEIMER
Best Use of Music: BARBIE
Best Animated Feature: SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
Best Documentary Feature: THE ETERNAL MEMORY
Best Foreign Language Film: ANATOMY OF A FALL
Formed in 2000, the NYFCO treads the line between rubber-stamping season favorites and highlighting a few of their own passion picks. Or, at least, that's been their modus operandi in years past. Sadly, these recent selections don't strike one as especially bold, even if they're also far from meritless. The Eternal Memory's Best Documentary win is the most exciting winner of the bunch. In other notes, it's strange that their Best Picture winner didn't get enough votes to win any other prize.
PHOENIX CRITICS CIRCLE
Best Picture: PAST LIVES
Best Director: Yorgos Lanthimos, POOR THINGS
Best Actress: Emma Stone, POOR THINGS
Best Actor: Cillian Murphy, OPPENHEIMER
Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, THE HOLDOVERS
Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr., OPPENHEIMER
Best Screenplay: David Hemingson, THE HOLDOVERS
Best Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema, OPPENHEIMER
Best Score: Ludwig Göransson, OPPENHEIMER
Best Animated Film: SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
Best Documentary: STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE
Best Foreign Language Film: THE ZONE OF INTEREST
Best Comedy Film: THE HOLDOVERS
Best Science Fiction Film: THEY CLONED TYRONE
Best Horror Film: TALK TO ME
Past Lives fans rejoice, for Celine Song's debut has won another Best Picture prize to join its Gotham Award. Still, it's curious how, like with the NYFCO, the Phoenix critics didn't bestow their big winner with any other trophy. Even if it's in genre-specific categories, it's nice to see They Cloned Tyrone and Talk to Me getting some plaudits.
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION
Best Feature Documentary: BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE'S PRESIDENT
Best Short Documentary: INCIDENT
Best Director: Asmae El Moudir, THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES
Best Writing: Kaouther Ben Hania, FOUR DAUGHTERS
Best Editing: Carolina Siraqyan, THE ETERNAL MEMORY
Best Cinematography: Ants Tammik, SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD
Best Music Score: Leonard Küssner, ANSELM
Best TV Feature Documentary or Mini-Series: MARIUPOL: THE PEOPLE'S STORY
Best Curated Series: POV
Best Episodic Series: OUR PLANET II
Best Multi-Part Documentary: DEAR MAMA
Best Short-Form Series: POV SHORTS
Best Stand-Alone Audio Documentary: THIS COAL LIFE
Best Multi-Part Audio Documentary or Series: YOU DIDN'T SEE NOTHIN'
Best Music Documentary: MAX ROACH: THE DRUM ALSO WALTZES
David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award: LETTER TO ELLIE
Though they've sometimes honored films that went on to charm AMPAS, the IDA Documentary Awards aren't precursors in the traditional sense. They're their own thing, and all the better for it, shedding light on some of the best non-fiction filmakink worldwide. This year, I'm especially pleased with their Best Short prize for Bill Morrison's Incident, which I loved at the latest IndieLisboa Film Festival.
CAHIERS DU CINÉMA
- TRENQUE LAUQUEN, Laura Citarella
- CLOSE YOUR EYES, Víctor Erice
- ANATOMY OF A FALL, Justine Triet
- THE FABELMANS, Steven Spielberg
- FALLEN LEAVES, Aki Kaurismäki
- UNREST, Cyril Schaüblin
- DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, Radu Jude
- THE TEMPLE WOODS GANG, Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche
- LAST SUMMER, Catherine Breillat
- UN PRINCE, Pierre Creton & SHOWING UP, Kelly Reichardt (tie)
Prix André Bazin: Pham Thien An, INSIDE THE YELLOW COCOON SHELL
Maybe the most influential film publication in history has announced its top 10, and, as usual, it's an idiosyncratic one. You have an Oscar contender from last season rubbing shoulders with festival triumphs, a taste for the perverse and the twistedly comical. The two-year-old André Bazin prize, to be bestowed upon first feature films, was chosen by a jury formed by Albert Serra, Marion Cotillard, Flora Fishback, Jeanne Lapoirie, Fernando Ganzi, Olivia Cooper-Hadjian, and one of the magazine's faithful readers.
FILM COMMENT
Top 20 Released Films:
- MAY DECEMBER, Todd Haynes
- SHOWING UP, Kelly Reichardt
- KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, Martin Scorsese
- FALLEN LEAVES, Aki Kaurismäki
- PACIFICTION, Albert Serra
- ANATOMY OF A FALL, Justine Triet
- AFIRE, Christian Petzold
- THE ZONE OF INTEREST, Jonathan Glazer
- UNREST, Cyril Schäublin
- OUR BODY, Claire Simon
- DRY GROUND BURNING, Joana Pimenta & Adirley Queirós
- PASSAGES, Ira Sachs
- TRENQUE LAUQUEN, Laura Citarella
- ORLANDO, MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY, Paul B. Preciado
- DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA, Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel
- MENUS-PLAISIRS – LES TROISGROS, Frederick Wiseman
- YOUTH (SPRING), Wang Bing
- ASTEROID CITY, Wes Anderson
- REWIND & PLAY, Alain Gomis
- THE BOY AND THE HERON, Hayao Miyazaki
Top 10 Undistributed Films:
- THE HUMAN SURGE 3, Eduardo Williams
- EUREKA, Lisandro Alonso
- CLOSE YOUR EYES, Víctor Erice
- ALLENSWORTH, James Benning
- GUSH, Fox Maxy
- NOWEHERE NEAR, Miko Revereza
- THE PLOUGH, Philippe Garrel
- THE PRACTICE, Martín Rejtman
- ABOUT THIRTY, Martín Shanly
- SAMSARA, Lois Patiño
This is what this sort of top 10s should aspire to be. Though Film Comment celebrates many big titles, it also commits to elevating smaller films, giving them a bigger profile. Their Undistributed Films list is incredibly vital, and one can only hope that all its titles will find their way to a commercial release as soon as possible. Samsara and The Human Surge 3 count among my favorite films of the past decade in movie-making.
THE FILM STAGE
- KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, Martin Scorsese
- OPPENHEIMER, Christopher Nolan
- MAY DECEMBER, Todd Haynes
- SHOWING UP, Kelly Reichardt
- PACIFICTION, Albert Serra
- THE HOLDOVERS, Alexander Payne
- AFIRE, Christian Petzold
- ASTEROID CITY, Wes Anderson
- THE ZONE OF INTEREST, Jonathan Glazer
- ANATOMY OF A FALL, Justine Triet
Now, wouldn't this be a lovely Best Picture lineup? It'll never happen, but one can dream. Pacifiction feels like an especially inspired addition, its political satire and formal splendor as sharp as can be, complete with irradiated postcard cinematography and a beguiling star turn by Benoit Magimel.
INDIEWIRE CRITICS POLL
Best Film:
- KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, Martin Scorsese
- OPPENHEIMER, Christopher Nolan
- POOR THINGS, Yorgos Lanthimos
- PAST LIVES, Celine Song
- MAY DECEMBER, Todd Haynes
- THE ZONE OF INTEREST, Jonathan Glazer
- ANATOMY OF A FALL, Justine Triet
- BARBIE, Greta Gerwig
- THE HOLDOVERS, Alexander Payne
- ASTEROID CITY, Wes Anderson
Best Director:
- Martin Scorsese, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
- Christopher Nolan, OPPENHEIMER
- Jonathan Glazer, THE ZONE OF INTEREST
- Yorgos Lanthimos, POOR THINGS
- Todd Haynes, MAY DECEMBER
- Greta Gerwig, BARBIE
- Celine Song, PAST LIVES
- Wes Anderson, ASTEROID CITY
- Justine Triet, ANATOMY OF A FALL
- Albert Serra, PACIFICTION
Best Performance:
- Emma Stone, POOR THINGS
- Lily Gladstone, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
- Sandra Hüller, ANATOMY OF A FALL
- Cillian Murphy, OPPENHEIMER
- Charles Melton, MAY DECEMBER
- Paul Giamatti, THE HOLDOVERS
- Ryan Gosling, BARBIE
- Andrew Scott, ALL OF US STRANGERS
- Greta Lee, PAST LIVES & Jeffrey Wright, AMERICAN FICTION (tie)
- Glenn Howerton, BLACKBERRY; Benoit Magimel, PACIFICTION; Koji Yakusho, PERFECT DAYS; Franz Rogowski, PASSAGES (tie)
Best Screenplay:
- MAY DECEMBER
- PAST LIVES
- ANATOMY OF A FALL
- THE HOLDOVERS
- AMERICAN FICTION
- KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
- POOR THINGS
- OPPENHEIMER
- BARBIE and THE ZONE OF INTEREST (tie)
- ASTEROID CITY
Best Documentary:
- KOKOMO CITY
- MENUS-PLAISIRS: LES TROISGROS
- 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL
- DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA
- FOUR DAUGHTERS and THE ETERNAL MEMORY (tie)
- OUR BODY
- BEYOND UTOPIA
- A STILL SMALL VOICE
- THE MISSION
- STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE
Best Cinematography:
- OPPENHEIMER
- POOR THINGS
- KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
- THE ZONE OF INTEREST
- ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT
- BARBIE
- PACIFICTION
- EL CONDE
- GODLAND
- JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4
Best international Film:
- ANATOMY OF A FALL
- THE ZONE OF INTEREST
- THE BOY AND THE HERON
- PERFECT DAYS
- FALLEN LEAVES
- THE TASTE OF THINGS
- PACIFICTION
- GODZILLA MINUS ONE
- AFIRE
- THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS
Best First Feature:
- PAST LIVES
- ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT
- A THOUSAND AND ONE
- AMERICAN FICTION
- THE SETTLERS
Best Films Opening in 2024:
- HIT MAN
- THE BIKERIDERS
- THE BEAST
- EVIL DOES NOT EXIST
- GREEN BORDER
Indiewire surveyed 158 film critics for these lists, including The Film Experience's own Nathaniel Rogers. They're a fantastic insight into the relative critical consensus and far more valuable than the punditry-mad Critics Choice Awards.
The week wasn't all about wins and top 10s. There was also an influx of groups announcing their long lists of nominations. I won't bore you with the full details, but you can find them linked below.
So, they were the Black Real Awards, the San Diego Film Critics Society, the Australian Academy of Cinema & Awards, the Florida Film Critics Circle, the Indiana Film Journalists Association, and the North Texas Film Critics Association. The PGA also disclosed their nominations for Documentary Motion Pictures, but let's wait to handle that guild until they announce their complete set for the season. Who knows what wrench they'll throw in the season?
How's the season treating you so far? Even if disappointment is overwhelming, is there anything worth praising about this latest batch of honors?