L.A. Film Critics may have just sealed Parasite‘s fate as a major Oscar player.
Buzz has been building for the South Korean suspense thriller ever since the film won top honors at this summer’s Cannes Film Festival. Now, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association — right in the heart of Hollywood — have given it their top two prizes plus several more, all-but-guaranteeing its status as an Oscar contender.
Parasite was crowned Best Picture of 2019 by the L.A. org, and they also named genre master Bong Joon-ho Best Director for his work, plus co-star Song Kang Ho (a favorite of Bong’s) was named Best Supporting Actor. The critically-acclaimed film that’s centered around issues of class disparity also won Runner-Up citations for Best Screenplay and Best Production Design; the thriller’s centerpiece house is key to the film’s effectiveness).
Martin Scorsese‘s mob epic The Irishman didn’t win any prizes outright but was cited as Runner-Up in 3 categories: Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor Joe Pesci.
Antonio Banderas (who also won at Cannes alongside Parasite) was named Best Actor for his Spanish film Pain and Glory; the Pedro Almodovar semi-autobiographical portrait also won Best Foreign-Language Film.
In a bit of a surprise, Mary Kay Place won Best Actress for the New York indie Diane. While it didn’t have much box office success, the character piece was hailed by critics — Kay Place especially. Jennifer Lopez gains more Supporting Actress momentum with a win for Hustlers in which she plays a stripper who organizes co-workers to bilk rich clients for money.
For the full list of winners and runners-up from this year’s Los Angeles Film Critics Association, read below.
LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION
2019 Awards
Best Picture: Parasite
Runner-up: The Irishman
Best Director: Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Runner-up: Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Best Actor: Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Runner-up: Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Best Actress: Mary Kay Place, Diane
Runner-up: Lupita Nyong’o, Us
Best Supporting Actor: Song Kang Ho, Parasite
Runner-up: Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
Runner-up: Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
Best Animated Film: I Lost My Body
Runner-up: Toy Story 4
Best Foreign-Language Film: Pain and Glory (Spain)
Runner-up: Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France)
Best Documentary/Non-Fiction: American Factory
Runner-up: Apollo 11
Best Screenplay: Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach
Runner-up: Parasite, Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won
Best Editing: Apollo 11, Todd Douglas Miller
Runner-up: Uncut Gems, Ronald Bronstein & Benny Safdie
Best Production Design: Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood, Barbara Ling
Runner-up: Parasite, Jun Lee
Best Music/Score: I Lost My Body, Dan Levy
Runner-up: 1917, Thomas Newman
Best Cinematography: Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Atlantics, Claire Mathon (for both films)
Runner-up: 1917, Roger Deakins
New Generation Prize: Joe Talbot, Jimmie Fails, and Jonathan Majors, The Last Black Man in San Francisco
The Douglas Edwards Experimental Film Award: Ja’Tovia Gary’s The Giverny Document
Career Achievement Award: Elaine May
Click on links below for other Critics Group Awards and Guild Nominees that have been announced so far for the 2019 / 20 season:
Screen Actors Guild Award Winners
Producers Guild of America Winners
Critics’ Choice Awards Winners
Directors Guild of America Nominations
Writers Guild of America Nominations
Golden Globe Winners
National Society of Film Critics
Dallas-Forth Worth Film Critics Association
Boston Society of Film Critics
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle
AFI American Film Institute Awards
New York Film Critics Circle
National Board of Review
Atlanta Film Critics Circle