LA critics crown ‘Call Me by Your Name’ best film of 2017
LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has crowned Call Me by Your Name as the best picture of the year.
Timothée Chalamet ( Call Me by Your Name) and Sally Hawkins ( The Shape of Water) won top acting honours. Willem Dafoe ( The Florida Project) and Laurie Metcalf ( Lady Bird) claimed the supporting prizes.
The day’s voting, which lasted nearly five- and- a-half hours, provided the biggest bump for Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, however. Clearly a favourite throughout, the film won three prizes and came in as runner-up in two more. After being largely ignored by a number of precursors so far this season, that ought to help Fox Searchlight breathe a little better.
New York Film Critics Circle victor Lady Bird was mostly relegated to the sidelines, save for Metcalf’s prize, though A24’s other major contenders this year — The Disaster Artist and The Florida Project — had a presence throughout.
Full list of winners:
Best Cinematography: The Shape of Water ( Dan Lausten)
Finally Guillermo del Toro’s latest gets into the game, after being ignored by the Gotham Awards, Indie Spirits and New York Film Critics Circle.
• Runner-up: Blade Runner 2049 ( Roger Deakins)
Best Music/Score: Phantom Thread (Jonny Greenwood)
At a recent Focus Features event, Paul Thomas Anderson was clearly still smarting from Greenwood’s dismissal by the Academy’s music branch for his contributions to There Will Be Blood. Greenwood’s work was deemed “diluted” by the use of pre- existing music at the time. Though there are some pre- existing music cues in Anderson’s latest, this time, they kept an eye on it, he said.
*Runner-up: The Shape Water (Alexandre Desplat)
Best Supporting Actor: Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Dafoe is on a streak, after winning this prize from the National Board of Review and NYFCC as well. To reiterate: It seems to be clear sailing to his first Oscar, more than 30 years since his first nomination (for Oliver Stone’s Platoon).
• Runner-up: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Production Blade Runner 2049 Gassner)
The LA critics are one of the of Design: ( Dennis few major groups to hand out this prize. Also you’ll note from one win and two runner-up prizes, The Shape of Water is strong with this group. Blade Runner 2049 is a tour de force of design. Hard to argue with this.
• Runner-up: The Shape of Water ( Paul D. Austerberry)
Best Editing: Dunkirk ( Lee Smith)
You’ll notice Dunkirk, despite being critically acclaimed, has been relatively quiet on the critics’ awards circuit so far. It is a technical marvel, though, so it was bound to eventually show up with the groups that dish out below-the-line kudos. Smith was shockingly ignored for his work on Christopher Nolan’s Inception seven years ago.
• Runner-up: I, Tonya ( Tatiana S. Riegel)
Best Supporting Actress: Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Allison Janney ( I, Tonya), NYFCC winner Tiffany Haddish ( Girls Trip) and Lois Smith ( Marjorie Prime) were also in the thick of it. Metcalf is on track to land her first Oscar nomination. Lady Bird, meanwhile, won the New York critics’ best picture prize last week.
• Runner-up: Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Best Documentary/NonFiction Film: Faces Places (Agnès Varda, JR)
Varda, an Honorary Oscar recipient this year, is having a banner 2017. She adds this to her and JR’s NYFCC prize in the same category, and she could certainly be on track for her first Academy Award nomination as well.
• Runner-up: Morgen) Jane ( Brett