"Moonlight," "Manchester by the Sea" also score impressively
By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Damien Chazelle’s Los Angeles musical “La La Land” was named best film of the year by the New York Film Critics Circle.
The group announced their picks Thursday on Twitter, spreading around their awards to a variety of Oscar contenders. The top award came as something of a twist after the critics’ early choices leaned toward Barry Jenkins’ coming-of-age portrait “Moonlight” and Kenneth Lonergan’s grief-filled drama “Manchester by the Sea.”
“Moonlight” won awards for best director (Jenkins), best cinematography (James Laxton) and best supporting actor (Mahershala Ali). “Manchester by the Sea” took best actor for Casey Affleck, best screenplay for Lonergan and best supporting actress for Michelle Williams. Williams was honored jointly for her performances in “Manchester by the Sea” and Kelly Reichardt’s “Certain Women.”
Best film was the sole award for “La La Land,” which opens next week. Chazelle’s film, starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, also led the Critics’ Choice Awards nominations on Thursday with 12 nods.
Those three films – “La La Land,” ‘’Moonlight” and “Manchester by the Sea”- have been the favored critics’ choices in the early going of Hollywood’s awards season. “Moonlight” led the Gotham Film Independent Awards on Monday. “Manchester by the Sea” topped the National Board of Review Awards on Tuesday.
Each group, however, has its own quirks and other favorites – Denzel Washington’s “Fences” and Martin Scorsese’s late-arriving “Silence,” among others – are also in the mix. On Sunday, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association will make their picks.
The NYFCC, a body of several dozen New York-area critics, named Isabelle Huppert best actress for her lead performances in Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle” and Mia Hansen-Love’s “The Things to Come.” Best first-film was a tie between Kelly Fremon Craig’s teen comedy “The Edge of Seventeen” and Trey Edward Shults’ micro-budget family drama “Krisha.”
Special awards were also singled out for Thelma Schoonmaker, Scorsese’s longtime editor, and the 25th anniversary restoration of Julie Dash’s “Daughters of the Dust.”
Here’s a full category-by-category rundown:
2016 Awards
Best Picture
LA LA LAND
Best Director
Barry Jenkins
MOONLIGHT
Best Screenplay
Kenneth Lonergan
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Best Actress
Isabelle Huppert for both
ELLE
and
THE THINGS TO COME
Best Actor
Casey Affleck
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Best Supporting Actress
Michelle Williams for both
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
and
CERTAIN WOMEN
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali
MOONLIGHT
Best Cinematographer
James Laxton
MOONLIGHT
Best Animated Film
Zootopia
Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary)
O.J.: Made in America
Best Foreign Language Film
Toni Erdmann
Best First Film (a tie)
Kelly Fremon Craig
THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN
and
Trey Edward Shults
KRISHA
Special Awards
Thelma Schoonmaker
Julie Dash’s DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST (25TH ANNIVERSARY RESTORATION)
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More