By Jake Cole, Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The Los Angeles Film Critics Association voted “Call Me by Your Name” the best film of the year, bestowing a total of three awards on Luca Guadagnino’s erotic coming-of-age tale.
The critics, who announced their awards Sunday on Twitter, also named the film’s breakout star, Timothee Chalamet, best actor. Guadagnino shared in the award for best director with Guillermo del Toro for “The Shape of Water.” Del Toro’s Cold War-era fairytale also came away with three awards, including best actress for Sally Hawkins.
The wins further solidified “Call Me By Your Name” as an Oscar favorite. The Sony Pictures Classics release, which last week set the year’s box-office record for best screen-average in its limited-release debut, also won best feature at last week’s Gotham Awards. Chalamet, though just 21, has won three awards just in the past week, besting veteran names like Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”) and Tom Hanks (“The Post”).
Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird,” which the New York Film Critics Circle named best film, landed one award from the Los Angeles critics: Laurie Metcalf for best supporting actress. The Los Angeles critics also gave Gerwig, whose film is her first solo directorial effort, its “new generation” award.
The Los Angeles critics matched in some categories with their New York counterparts, who announced awards on Tuesday. Both groups selected Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”) for best supporting actor and Agnes Varda’s “Faces Places” for best documentary.
But — as usual — they deviated in most other ways. (Last year, the New York critics voted “La La Land” best picture, while the Los Angeles critics went for “Moonlight.”) Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk,” which is considered an Oscar favorite though it has won little in the early going, took best editing for Lee Smith.
The group also opted not for Pixar’s “Coco” as best animated film, but “The Breadwinner,” an international production about a girl in Afghanistan. Best screenplay went to Jordan Peele for “Get Out.”
Best music or score was given to Jonny Greenwood for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread.” The Los Angeles critics arrived at a tie for foreign-language film, splitting the award between the French “BPM” and the Russian “Loveless.”
Other awards included Dan Laustsen for the cinematography to “The Shape of Water” and Dennis Gassner for the production design of “Blade Runner 2049.”
The awards will be handed out in a ceremony January 13 in Los Angeles. The critics earlier chose actor Max von Sydow for its career achievement award.
Here’s a rundown of winners, along with runners-up in several categories:
BEST PICTURE
“CALL ME BY YOUR NAME”
RUNNER-UP: “THE FLORIDA PROJECT”
BEST DIRECTOR
GUILLERMO DEL TORO,
“THE SHAPE OF WATER” AND
LUCA GUADAGNINO,
“CALL ME BY YOUR NAME” (TIE)
BEST ACTOR
TIMOTHรE CHALAMET
“CALL ME BY YOUR NAME”
RUNNER-UP: JAMES FRANCO
(“THE DISASTER ARTIST”)
BEST ACTRESS
SALLY HAWKINS
“THE SHAPE OF WATER”
RUNNER-UP: FRANCES MCDORMAND (“THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI”)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
WILLEM DAFOE
“THE FLORIDA PROJECT”
RUNNER-UP: SAM ROCKWELL
(“THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI “)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
LAURIE METCALF
“LADY BIRD”
RUNNER-UP: MARY J. BLIGE
(“ MUDBOUND”)
BEST SCREENPLAY
JORDAN PEELE
“GET OUT”
RUNNER-UP: MARTIN MCDONAGH
(“THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI”)
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
DENNIS GASSNER
“BLADE RUNNER”
RUNNER-UP: PAUL D. AUSTERBERRY
(“THE SHAPE OF WATER”)
BEST EDITING
LEE SMITH
“DUNKIRK”
RUNNER-UP: TATIANA S. RIEGEL (“I TONYA”)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
DAN LAUSTSEN
“THE SHAPE OF WATER”
RUNNER-UP: ROGER DEAKINS (“BLADE RUNNER”)
BEST MUSIC SCORE
JONNY GREENWOOD
“PHANTOM THREAD”
RUNNER-UP: ALEXANDRE DESPLAT
(“THE SHAPE OF WATER”)
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
“BPM” AND “LOVELESS” (TIE)
BEST DOCUMENTARY / NON-FICTION FILM
“FACES PLACES”
RUNNER-UP: “JANE”
BEST ANIMATION
“THE BREADWINNER”
RUNNER-UP: “COCO”
NEW GENERATION
GRETA GERWIG
DOUGLAS EDWARDS INDEPENDENT / EXPERIMENTAL FILM / VIDEO
LEE ANNE SCHMITT
“PURGE THIS LAND”
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
MAX VON SYDOW
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this yearโs AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckisโ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwoodโs Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
โAt the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,โ said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. โWe look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.โ
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraรญn, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the worldโs most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More