The final major Critics Group has its say. It all sounds very familiar.
Following the traditional holiday break in Awards Season hype, the National Society of Film Critics kicked off another New Year by reigniting the Oscar Push from now through the end of February.
No shockers here. If anything, the NSFC’s pick for Best Film of 2016 – Moonlight – and its two runners-up (Manchester by the Sea and La La Land) confirm exactly what we already know: these three favorites of the Critics Group season are the exclusive Best Picture contenders for this year’s race.
The acting choices (included in the complete list below) also follow the established norms of aggregate opinions for the year’s frontrunners. The only anomaly among them is the absence of Viola Davis in the Supporting Actress slot, either as a winner or runner-up for her favored turn in Fences. It’s likely the last blip on her road to Oscar glory.
Marking the last major critics’ announcement of the Awards Season’s “Phase 1”, now it’s on to the Golden Globes, industry guilds, and Oscar nominations (which won’t be unveiled until Tuesday, January 24).
NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS
Best in Film 2016
Best Picture: Moonlight
Runners-Up: Manchester by the Sea; La La Land
Best Actor: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Runners-Up: Denzel Washington, Fences; Adam Driver, Paterson
Best Actress: Isabelle Huppert, Elle and Things to Come
Runners-Up: Annette Bening, 20th Century Women; Sandra Huller, Toni Erdmann
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Runners-Up: Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water; Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals
Best Supporting Actress: Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
Runners-Up: Lily Gladstone, Certain Women; Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Best Director: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Runners-Up: Damien Chazelle, La La Land; Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Best Screenplay: Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Runners-Up: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight; Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water
Best Cinematography: James Laxton, Moonlight
Runners-Up: Linus Sandgren, La La Land; Rodrigo Prieto, Silence
Best Foreign Film: Toni Erdmann
Runners-Up: The Handmaiden, Elle and Things to Come
Film Heritage Award: Kino Lorber’s five-disc collection “Pioneers of African-American Cinema”
Special citation for a film awaiting American distribution: Cristi Puiu’s “Sieranevada”
Click on links below for other Critics Group Awards and Guild Nominees that have been announced so far this season:
Academy Award Nominees
Golden Globe Winners
Screen Actors Guild Winners
Directors Guild of America Nominees
Producers Guild of America Winners
Writers Guild of America Nominees
New York Film Critics Circle
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Boston Society of Film Critics
Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association
The National Board of Review
Critics’ Choice Awards Winners