Moonlight beat out Oscar frontrunner La La Land with the Los Angeles Film Critics. The film won Best Picture, while Barry Jenkins continued his perfect streak after winning with the Gothams, NBR and New York critics by picking up a Best Director trophy here, with La La Land‘s Chazelle coming in second place.
Isabelle Huppert won yet another Best Actress prize for her performances in Elle and Things To Come. She now has the NYFCC, LAFCA and the Gotham award; once considered a long shot to be nominated, I think it’s safe to say she has the nomination under her belt. Coming in second was Rebecca Hall for her performance in Christine, a performance that has been largely ignored this season due to the film’s mediocre reviews and the overall competitiveness of Best Actress.
Casey Affleck missed out on his first win of the season (though he was named runner-up) to Adam Driver in Paterson. Driver won some great reviews for the film back when it premiered at Cannes. Though his name hasn’t been floating around as a possibility, perhaps this might encourage Sony Pictures Classics to start a push? Best Actor is still very fluid for everyone not named Aflleck or Denzel Washington, and Driver’s star is on the rise…
Mahershala Ali won yet another Best Supporting Actor prize today after winning the NYFCC’s on Thursday. Sure, he did miss out on the National Board of Review’s prize (they went with Jeff Bridges for Hell Or High Water) but as we all know, they are one of the least predictive precursor voting bodies out there. And while the critics also don’t vote on the Oscars, I think it’s safe to say he’s the frontrunner with zero competition threatening a win. Best Supporting Actor is drier than usual this year, and with the success of Netflix’s Luke Cage, the upcoming Hidden Figures and his acclaimed turn on House of Cards, Ali is having a bit of a moment this year; it’s hard to deny the stars have aligned for him.
Certain Women‘s Lily Gladstone won Best Supporting Actress, while Michelle Williams was cited as runner-up for her performance in Manchester By The Sea. She did win NYFCC’s Supporting Actress award, but the notation of runner-up still helps; people obviously love this performance, and are still talking about it.
Read the full list of winners below.
Best Film: Moonlight
- Runner-Up: La La Land
Best Director: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
- Runner-Up: Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Best Actor: Adam Driver, Paterson
- Runner-Up: Casey Affleck, Manchester By The Sea
Best Actress: Isabelle Huppert, Elle and Things To Come
- Runner-Up: Rebecca Hall, Christine
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
- Issy Ogata, Silence
Best Supporting Actress: Lily Gladstone, Certain Women
- Michelle Williams, Manchester By The Sea
Best Screenplay: Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos, The Lobster
- Runner-Up: Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By The Sea
Best Cinematography: James Laxton, Moonlight
- Runner-Up: Linus Sandgreen, La La Land
Best Production Design: Ryu Seong, The Handmaiden
- Runner-Up: David Wesco, La La Land
Best Music/Score: Justin Hurwitz, Benj, Pasek & Justin Paul, La La Land
- Runner-Up: Mica Levi, Jackie
Best Editing: Bret Granato, Maya Mumma & Ben Sozanski, O.J.: Made In America
- Tom Cross, La La Land
Best Foreign Language Film: The Handmaiden
- Runner-Up: Toni Erdmann
Best Documentary/Non-Fiction: I Am Not Your Negro
- Runner-Up: O.J.: Made In America
Best Animated Film: Your Name
- Red Turtle
New Generation Award: Trey Edward Shults and Krisha Fairchild, Krisha