This is the second in a series of articles checking in on the Oscars race in the lead-up to the ceremony on March 4.
Welcome back, folks! It’s been a few weeks since my first post taking a look at the state of this year’s Oscars race, and in the meantime awards season has finally commenced in earnest. The unofficial kickoff every year is the Gotham Awards. This year the Independent Filmmaker Project gave their top honor to Call Me By Your Name and stood strong behind Get Out, which clearly hasn’t fallen victim to the curse of films that come out too early in the year. Since the Gothams, we have heard from the New York Film Critics Circle (big fans of Lady Bird and The Florida Project), the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (which shored up Call Me By Your Name and lit a fire under The Shape of Water), and the National Board of Review (which threw everything but the kitchen sink at The Post and either were first to the party or should be ignored). Year-end “Best of” lists have been starting to trickle out, including from influential organizations like Sight & Sound, AFI, and, soon enough, The Avocado. We’ve also gotten nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Annies, and, on Monday morning, the infamous Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
The HFPA has shifted the date of the Golden Globes around quite a bit over the last few years, seemingly in an attempt to remain relevant and influential as voting dates for Oscar nominations have jumped around the winter calendar. Of course, anyone who tracks these things knows that the idea that the Golden Globes are relevant is questionable at best. Thankfully I’m not picking apart their TV nominations here (no The Good Place!? Really!?), and I seem to disagree less than others with what films have been classified as comedies this year, but the notable presence of All the Money in the World and Battle of the Sexes seems suspect. Emma Stone won last year, isn’t she contractually obligated to be at their party anyway? The big winners on Monday were The Shape of Water and The Post, although both also have very Globes-friendly large ensembles of famous people. The biggest snubs Monday morning would seem to have been Greta Gerwig and Jordan Peele missing out on Best Director noms and The Big Sick missing out on…everything. The Big Sick isn’t generating the sort of awards buzz that was almost a certainty just a few weeks ago. I’m hedging my bets on this one, and would still be surprised not to see Holly Hunter on the Academy’s list, but the crystal ball is getting murky.
Exhausted yet!? Well, we’ve got a long road ahead. Here’s your updated summary of important upcoming dates:
SAG nominations – December 13
Golden Globe awards – January 7
BAFTA nominations – January 9
Critics Choice awards – January 11
Producers Guild awards – January 20
SAG awards – January 21
Oscar nominations – January 23
Directors Guild awards – February 3
Writers Guild awards – February 11
BAFTA awards – February 18
Independent Spirit awards – March 3
90th Academy Awards – March 4
You probably noticed above that pretty much every organization that has handed out awards has so far selected a different Best Picture. The Oscars race is still wide open, even as some of the races (Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Animated Feature) are starting to come more into focus. I want these posts to be your one-stop shop for getting a snapshot of the Oscars race, so for all of the honors I’ve singled out above, I’m summarizing their big winners here. I’d love to be able to put this in the form of a table, but I have no earthly idea how to do that in WordPress, so if you know how to do this please let me know in the General Discussion thread below! By popular demand, I’m adding in threads on Original and Adapted Screenplay in addition to Picture/Director/Actress/Actor/Supporting Actress/Supporting Actor/Animated Feature/Foreign Language Film/Documentary Feature. As previously, there will be a General Discussion thread for recommendations on how to improve these posts, discussion of the craft categories, and whatever else you’d like to talk about!
IFP Gotham Awards
Best Feature: Call Me By Your Name
Breakthrough Director: Jordan Peele, Get Out
Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Best Actor: James Franco, The Disaster Artist
Best Documentary: Strong Island
Best Screenplay: Get Out
National Board of Review
Best Film: The Post
Best Director: Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, The Post
Best Actor: Tom Hanks, The Post
Best Supporting Actress: Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Best Supporting Actor: Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Best Animated Feature: Coco
Best Documentary: Jane
Best Foreign Language Film: Foxtrot (Israel)
Best Original Screenplay: Phantom Thread
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Disaster Artist
NY Film Critics Circle
Best Picture: Lady Bird
Best Director: Sean Baker, The Florida Project
Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Best Actor: Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Best Supporting Actress: Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip
Best Supporting Actor: Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Best Animated Film: Coco
Best Non-Fiction Film (uhhh, okay): Faces Places
Best Foreign Language Film: BPM (Beats Per Minute) (France)
Best Screenplay: Phantom Thread
LA Film Critics Association
Best Picture: Call Me By Your Name
Best Director: Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water AND Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name
Best Actress: Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Best Actor: Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Best Supporting Actress: Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Best Supporting Actor: Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Best Animation: The Breadwinner
Best Documentary: Faces Places
Best Foreign Language Film: BPM (Beats Per Minute) (France) AND Loveless (Russia)
Best Screenplay: Get Out