Director Alfonso Cuarón with Yalitza Aparicio in “Roma”
It was festive and packed tonight at the annual Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) film awards dinner! As a member in good standing going on five years now, it’s still an honor and never ceases to be anything less than a joy to spend time with colleagues as we celebrate the year’s best in film. Regardless of what you think or what you hear, it’s been a fine year in film. If you disagree, than you haven’t seen enough films. Maybe some of these winners will point you in the right direction.
Were the winners predictable or were there any surprises? Sure, some of them were definitely expected, yet I was kind of surprised to see no love for “A Star is Born”, despite receiving seven nominations. But, sometimes the tide turns hard in favor of certain films and this year the big winner was Alfonso Cuaron and his beautiful masterpiece, “Roma”, the filmmaker’s most personal film, to date. Overall, I’m really pleased with these winners, all of them feel well-deserved, even if some of them weren’t my picks.
Below is the official CFCA release, detailing the winners from tonight…
Toni Collette as the troubled matriarch of “Hereditary”
“ROMA” THE BIG WINNER AMONG CHICAGO FILM CRITICS
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuaron’s autobiographical story of a year in the life of a family living in Mexico City in the 1970s seen primarily through the eyes of one of their servants, was named the Best Picture of 2018 by the members of the Chicago Film Critics Association at a ceremony held tonight. The film, which received the most nominations from the group with nine, won a total of five awards including the Foreign Film prize and three awards for Cuaron himself for Director, Cinematography and Editing, the latter shared with co-editor Adam Gough.
Four different movies tied for second place in the award count with two prizes each. “The Favourite,” the outrageous comedy-drama about two antagonistic cousins battling for the favor of Queen Anne earned Olivia Colman the Supporting Actress prize for her performance as the queen as well as the award for Art Direction/Set Direction. “First Reformed,” Paul Schrader’s powerful drama about a minister whose increasingly bleak view of the world drives him to the brink of despair earned Schrader the Original Screenplay award and Ethan Hawke was named Best Actor. “Hereditary,” the terrifying horror story depicting a ordinary family destroyed by mysterious forces, won awards for Toni Collette for Best Actress and Ari Aster for Most Promising Filmmaker. “If Beale Street Could Talk,” the film version of the celebrated James Baldwin novel, won the Adapted Screenplay award for Barry Jenkins as well as the Orignal Score prize for Nicholas Britell.
Among the other winners, Richard E. Grant was named Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “Call Me By Your Name.” “Minding the Gap,” the powerful story of three young men in Rockford, IL who turn to skateboarding and each other as a way of dealing with the troubles in their own lives, won the Best Documentary award. Elsie Fisher, the heartbreaking center of the comedy-drama “Eighth Grade,” received the Most Promising Performer prize. The delightful “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” won the Animated Feature award. The newly instituted award for Best Use of Visual Effects went to the mind-blowing sci-fi drama “Annihilation.”
Follow @ChicagoCritics on Twitter for organization and member news, as well as updates on the 2019 Chicago Critics Film Festival. The seventh annual Chicago Critics Film Festival will run May 17-23 at the Music Box Theatre. Screening information and special guest appearances will be announced as they are confirmed on both Twitter and
ChicagoCriticsFilmFestival.com.
KiKi Lane and Stephan James in “If Beale Street Could Talk”
BEST PICTURE: Roma
BEST DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuaron – Roma
BEST ACTOR: Ethan Hawke – First Reformed
BEST ACTRESS: Toni Collette – Hereditary
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Richard E. Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me?
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Olivia Colman – The Favourite
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Barry Jenkins – If Beale Street Could Talk
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Paul Schrader – First Reformed
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Roma
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Minding the Gap
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN: The Favourite
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Roma
BEST EDITING: Afonso Cuaron & Adam Gough – Roma
BEST USE OF VISUAL EFFECTS: Annihilation
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Nicholas Britell – If Beale Street Could Talk
MOST PROMISING PERFORMANCE: Elsie Fisher – Eighth Grade
MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER: Ari Aster- Hereditary
By The Numbers:
5 Awards: Roma
2 Awards: The Favourite, First Reformed, Hereditary, If Beale Street Could Talk.
1 Award: Annihilation, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Eighth Grade, Minding the Gap, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
The various amazing Spider-folk of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
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