Amidst some small controversy about the film and who it was made by in relation to what the story is about, as well as a box office that is less than impressive, “Green Book” comes out swinging, nailing the first BEST PICTURE win from the first critics awards of the season. Along with the big win, Viggo Mortensen grabs his first win for BEST ACTOR, easily putting him the actor race for the Oscars. The next big winner was Bradley Cooper and his version of “A Star Is Born,” which grabbed him BEST DIRECTOR along with Lady Gaga, who grabbed BEST ACTRESS, and Sam Elliott who grabbed BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR award. This is the film that has been on the lips of many pundits headed into the Oscars season, as everyone seems to love it and it has yet to land any backlash. Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”) shows up with some wins for his new film “If Beale Street Could Talk,” as he receives BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY and Regina King receives BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS. The BEST ANIMATED win went to Pixar’s “Incredibles 2,” which should clean up quite nicely this year while BEST DOCUMENTARY went to “RBG,” which will likely be sharing some wins with “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” Note that “First Man” is completely missing from anything here, including their list of the TOP FILMS of 2018. “Black Panther,” “A Quiet Place,” and “Mary Poppins Returns” did, however, make the list.
Best Picture: “Green Book”
Best Director: Bradley Cooper – “A Star Is Born”
Best Actor: Viggo Mortensen – “Green Book”
Best Actress: Lady Gaga – “A Star Is Born”
Best Supporting Actor: Sam Elliott – “A Star Is Born”
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King – “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Best Original Screenplay: Paul Schrader – “First Reformed”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins – “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Best Animated Feature: “Incredibles 2”
Breakthrough Performance: Thomasin McKenzie – “Leave No Trace”
Best Directorial Debut: Bo Burnham – “Eighth Grade”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Cold War”
Best Documentary: “RBG”
Best Ensemble: “Crazy Rich Asians”
William K. Everson Film History Award: “The Other Side of the Wind” & “They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead”
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: “22 July”
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: “On Her Shoulders”
TOP FILMS
- “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
- “Black Panther”
- “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
- “Eighth Grade”
- “First Reformed”
- “If Beale Street Could Talk”
- “Mary Poppins Returns”
- “A Quiet Place”
- “Roma”
- “A Star Is Born”
TOP 5 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS
- “Burning”
- “Custody”
- “The Guilty”
- “Happy as Lazzaro”
- “Shoplifters”
TOP 5 DOCUMENTARIES
- “Crime + Punishment”
- “Free Solo”
- “Minding the Gap”
- “Three Identical Strangers”
- “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
TOP 10 INDEPENDENT FILMS
- “The Death of Stalin”
- “Lean on Pete”
- “Leave No Trace”
- “Mid90s”
- “The Old Man & the Gun”
- “The Rider”
- “Searching”
- “Sorry to Bother You”
- “We the Animals”
- “You Were Never Really Here”
