The Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) honorees for 2017 are led by "Get Out," a smart, hair-raising satire about prejudice and race relations, which won Best Film, as well as Best Original Screenplay for writer-director Jordan Peele. Christopher Nolan claimed Best Director for his remarkably mounted, ceaselessly intense World War II thriller "Dunkirk."
WAFCA awarded Best Actor to Gary Oldman for his assured, multilayered performance. Frances McDormand's searing turn as a grieving, unapologetically outspoken mother nabbed the Best Actress award for the darkly comedic "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." Other acting honors for that film went to Sam Rockwell as Best Supporting Actor and Best Acting Ensemble for the cast as a whole.
Best Supporting Actress was awarded to Laurie Metcalf, as a working-class mother in "Lady Bird." For their thoughtful adaptation of author Hillary Jordan's acclaimed 2008 novel about the relationship between two families—one black, one white—living in the 1940s Jim Crow South, Dee Rees and Virgil Williams earned Best Adapted Screenplay accolades for "Mudbound."
Pixar's touching family adventure "Coco," set during Mexico's annual Day of the Dead celebration, was awarded Best Animated Feature. And the film's star, 13-year-old Anthony Gonzalez, earned Best Voice Performance. Andy Serkis claimed the award for Best Motion Capture Performance as Caesar in "War for the Planet of the Apes."
Brooklynn Prince clinched the Best Youth Performance category for "The Florida Project."
Best Documentary kudos went to "Jane" and "BPM (Beats Per Minute)," Robin Campillo's touching story of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 1990s France, took Best Foreign Language Film honors.
Denis Villeneuve's visionary sci-fi sequel "Blade Runner 2049" nearly swept the technical categories, taking home Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score. Best Editing was awarded to "Baby Driver," a music-fueled heist picture directed by Edgar Wright where the rhythm of each scene is thrillingly cut to its soundtrack.
The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC, given each year in honor of one of WAFCA's cherished late members, went to Steven Spielberg's journalism drama "The Post."
The Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association comprises 52 DC-VA-MD-based film critics from television, radio, print and the Internet. Voting was conducted from December 5-7, 2017.
THE 2017 WAFCA AWARD WINNERS:
Best Film
Get Out
Best Director
Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk)
Best Actor
Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
Best Actress
Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Best Supporting Actor
Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Best Supporting Actress
Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)
Best Acting Ensemble
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Youth Performance
Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project)
Best Voice Performance
Anthony Gonzalez (Coco)
Best Motion Capture Performance
Andy Serkis (War for the Planet of the Apes)
Best Original Screenplay
Jordan Peele (Get Out)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Virgil Williams and Dee Rees (Mudbound)
Best Animated Feature
Coco
Best Documentary
Jane
Best Foreign Language Film
BPM (Beats Per Minute)
Best Production Design
Production Designer: Dennis Gassner; Set Decorator: Alessandra Querzola (Blade Runner 2049)
Best Cinematography
Roger A. Deakins, ASC, BSC (Blade Runner 2049)
Best Editing
Paul Machliss, ACE; Jonathan Amos, ACE (Baby Driver)
Best Original Score
Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch (Blade Runner 2049)
The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC
The Post
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children โ isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More