SF film critics group honors ‘Roma,’ Boots Riley
The San Francisco Film Critics Circle has named Alfonso Cuaron’s acclaimed “Roma” the top film of the year.
The Netflix drama, shot in black and white and depicting a servant’s difficult life with a Mexican middle-class family, has earned best picture nods from several groups, including the Los Angeles and New York film critics groups. It is considered likely to be in the running when the Academy Awards announces its nominations Jan. 23.
The San Francisco critics’ group also cited “Roma” in the foreign language film and cinematography categories. Also getting honors were Spike Lee, named best director for “BlacKkKlansman” — his film adapted from a true story about a black man infiltrating the KKK — and Oakland musician and filmmaker Boots Riley for his feature debut “Sorry to Bother You.”
Ethan Hawke was named best actor for his role as a troubled Protestant minister in “First Reformed.” And Melissa McCarthy, usually better known for making bawdy comedies, was named best actress for portraying the scandal-marred real-life author Lee Israel in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Riley received the Circle’s annual Marlon Riggs Award — given to someone who shows “courage and innovation in the Bay Area film community” — for the surreal, civil rights-themed “Sorry to Bother You,” which is set in Oakland.
The group also presented its Special Citation — awarded to an underappreciated indie release — to the low-budget, sci-fi/ horror film “The Endless,” from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. (It’s currently available for streaming on Netflix.)
Here is the complete list of SF Film Critics Circle winners, announced Sunday:
Best picture: Director:
“Roma” Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman” Ethan Hawke, “First Reformed”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Michael B. Jordan, “Black Panther” Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Actor: Actress: Supporting actor: Supporting actress: Foreign language film:
“Roma”
Animated feature:
“SpiderMan: Into the Spider-Verse” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
Documentary: Cinematography:
“Roma” find themselves back out on the street.
“It’s the place where innovation meets compassion,” the mayor said.
The total cost of renting the two sites is expected to be $30,000 or less through 2022, and the lease agreements should be finalized in early 2019.
But both sites will need to have electrical power, water and sewage infrastructure installed, along with paving and landscaping. Development and construction for the two sites is expected to run about $4.3 million, with a contingency of $860,000. HomeFirst is set to receive $1.3 million through the end of June 2019 — most of which will be spent preparing for residents to arrive — and another $1.3 million for the following year to operate the communities. Originally, the cabins were expected to cost around $18,750 each, but the city now expects them to come in much lower, at about $6,500 each.
San Jose isn’t the first city to move forward with such unconventional housing. Seattle has nearly a (Alfonso Cuarón)
Production design:
“Black Panther” (Hannah Beachler) “The Other Side of the Wind” (Bob Murawski and Orson Welles)
Editing: Original screenplay:
“First Reformed” (Paul Schrader)
Adapted screenplay:
“BlacKkKlansman” (Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee)
Original score:
“BlacKkKlansman” (Terence Blanchard)
Special Citation Award:
“The Endless”
Marlon Riggs Award:
Boots Riley, “Sorry to Bother You.” dozen communities that began as basically sanctioned encampments and have morphed into more structured communities like San Jose is planning to set up. And Oakland has opened Tuff shed shelters for its homeless residents.
The first site, on Mabury Road, is expected to open in early June, with the other site launching in August. If everything goes smoothly — and the state extends the law that allows for tiny homes — the city could opt to expand the program to more locations across San Jose.
And while Morales-Ferrand acknowledged early community meetings with people who live near the tiny homes sites “didn’t go so well” and that some residents were “up in arms,” she and others in the city say it’s an important step in addressing a burgeoning housing crisis in one of the nation’s most expensive markets.
Tiny homes, said Andrea Urton, the CEO of HomeFirst, are a “new, innovative solution for homelessness.”