It was the turn of West Coast critics to hand out the honors for Best Films and Performances of 2022, with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) tying for their top honors, between “Everything Everywhere All at Once ” from A24 and “Tár” from Focus Features. It was the fourth time the band tied in their 48-year history after “Dog Day Afternoon” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975), “Network” and “Rocky” (1976) and “Gravity ” and “Her” (2013).
In addition to the top prize for “Tár”, Todd Field won director and screenplay awards for the film. His lead wife, Cate Blanchett, walked away with the honor for best lead performance, which she shared with veteran British actor Bill Nighy for his work in Oliver Hermanus’ “Living.”
It was the first year the group had moved to gender-neutral acting categories, which they announced in October.
This marked Blanchett’s second win at LAFCA after “Blue Jasmine” (2013), for which she won the Oscar. After a strong start to critics awards, including winning honors from the New York Film Critics Circle, Blanchett seems to be stepping away from the pack. It should be noted that Michelle Yeoh of “Everything Everywhere” and Danielle Deadwyler of “Till” were the finalists for LAFCA, highlighting how tight this race could end up being when the TV statuettes start to be distributed.
It was also the second LAFCA win for Nighy, who was the Supporting Actor winner in 2004 for his year of four feature films, which included “AKA”, “I Capture the Castle”, “Lawless Heart” and “Love Actually”. In “Living,” a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “Ikiru,” Nighy plays Mr. Williams, a humorless civil servant who experiences life after receiving a grim diagnosis. The film began its journey in January 2022 at the Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. It gives her campaign the boost she needs to stand out from other top contenders Austin Butler, Colin Farrell and Brendan Fraser.
Dolly De Leon from “Triangle of Sadness” and Ke Huy Quan from “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
The best supporting performance awards were split between two amazing Asian actors – Dolly de Leon’s turn as hardworking manager Abigail in “Triangle of Sadness” and Ke Huy Quan’s work as lovable husband Waymond in “ Everything Everywhere All at Once”.
In Quan’s case, it’s another big notch on his trailblazer belt after his Gotham and New York Film Critics awards, continuing his bid for Oscar attention. Along with De Leon, this provides a huge boost to his campaign when voting for SAG Awards nominations. A newcomer to Hollywood, the Filipino actor winning the award over better-known names like Angela Bassett for ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ and runner-up Jessie Buckley for ‘Women Talking’ is a huge boost.
When split by gender, LAFCA picks were more missed than hit in the expanded era, in terms of translation into Oscar recognition (which isn’t always a bad thing). The group made creative and insightful choices such as Niels Arestrup of “A Prophet” (2010) or the snubbed criminal Dwight Henry for “Beasts of the Southern Wild” (2012) and Vincent Lindon of “Titanium” (2021). In seven of the past 13 years, LAFCA’s picks for supporting actor have gone on to receive an Academy nomination, five of which won the statuette on Oscar night – Christoph Waltz for ‘Inglourious Basterds’ (2009) , Christopher Plummer for “Beginners” (2011), Jared Leto for “Dallas Buyers Club” (2013), JK Simmons for “Whiplash” (2014) and Mahershala Ali for “Moonlight” (2016).
Other winners include Neon’s ‘All the Beauty and Bloodshed’ for Documentary/Non-Fiction, with winning animation ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio’ and ‘Avatar: The Way of the Water’ returning. with production design.
Janus Films and Sideshow’s “EO,” the international entry for Poland that follows the life of a donkey, picked up two wins for a foreign-language film and a nod for Michal Dymek’s cinematography. Only two LAFCA picks over the past decade haven’t received Oscar nominations — Claire Mithon (“Atlantics” and “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”) and Shabier Kirchner (“Small Axe”).
Since 2000, only four of LAFCA’s Best Picture nominations have failed to win a Best Picture Oscar – ‘About Schmidt’ (2002), ‘American Splendor’ (2003), ‘WALL-E’ (2008 ) and “Small Axe” (2020). Meanwhile, only four of LAFCA’s selections have won the Best Picture Oscar, since the Academy expanded its lineup of five nominees: ‘The Hurt Locker’ (2009), ‘Spotlight’ (2015) , “Moonlight” (2016) and “Parasite” (2019).
Last year, LAFCA awarded Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s Japanese drama “Drive My Car” Best Picture, kicking off its successful awards campaign that resulted in four Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. It won the award for best international feature film.
As previously announced, filmmaker Claire Denis will receive the association’s 2022 Excellence Award.
The precursor season began with the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review naming Todd Field’s “Tár” and Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun: Maverick” Best Picture, respectively.
All LAFCA winners will be honored at the annual banquet on January 14, 2023.
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Winners
Best Picture: “Everything, everywhere, all at once” (A24) and “Tár” (Focus Features)
Best Director: Todd Field, “Tár” (Focus Features)
Finalist: SS Rajamouli, “RRR” (Variance Films)
Top-notch performance: Cate Blanchett, “Tár” (Focus Features) and Bill Nighy, “Living” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Finalists: Danielle Deadwyler, “Till” (Orion/United Artists Releasing) and Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
Performance support: Dolly De Leon, “Triangle of Sadness” (Neon) and Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
Finalists: Jessie Buckley, “Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing) and Brian Tyree Henry for “Causeway” (A24/Apple Original Films)
Best Screenplay: Todd Field, “Tár” (Focus Features)
Finalist: Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)
Best Cinematography: Michal Dymek, “EO” (Janus Films and Sideshow)
Finalist: Hoyte van Hoytema, “No” (Universal Pictures)
Best Editing: Blair McClendon, “After Sun” (A24)
Finalist: Monika Willi, “Tár” (Focus Features)
Best Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter, “Avatar: the way of the water” (20th Century Studios)
Finalist: Jason Kisvarday, “Everything, everywhere, all at once” (A24)
Best Musical Score: M. M. Keeravani, “RRR” (Variance Films)
Finalist: Paweł Mykietyn, “EO” (Janus Films and Sideshow)
best foreign language: “EO” (Janus Films and Sideshow)
Finalist: “Saint Omer” (Neon
Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film: “All Beauty and Bloodshed” (Neon)
Finalist: “Fire of Love” (National Geographic/Neon)
Best Animation: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Netflix)
Finalist: “Marcel the shell with shoes” (A24)
New Generation Award: Davy Chou and Park Ji-Min, “Return to Seoul” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Douglas Edwards Experimental Film Award: “De Humani Corporis Fabrica” (Grasshopper Movie)
Career Excellence Award: Claire Dennis
To see the current rankings for each individual category, visit Variety Oscar Center. Be sure to bookmark the 2022-2023 Awards Season Schedule for all the key dates and deadlines of the season.
THE BANSHES OF INISHERIN, Colin Farrell
©Searchlight Images/courtesy Everett Collection
Other regional critic groups announced today, including the Boston Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics Online. The two groups went with Colin Farrell and Michelle Yeoh in the lead actor and actress categories for “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Winners from these organizations are also listed below:
Boston Film Critics Society
Best Film: “Return to Seoul”
Director: Todd Field, “Tar”
Actor: Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Actress: Michelle Yeoh, “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once”
Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan, “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once”
Supporting Actress: Kerry Condon, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Original screenplay: Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Adapted Screenplay: Kogonada, “After Yang”
Animated Feature: “Going Red”
Cinematography: “Pearl” – Eliot Rockett
Editing: Blair McClendon, “Aftersun” and Kim Sang-bum, “Decision to Leave” (TIE)
Original music: MM Keeravani, “RRR”
Documentary Feature: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”
Ensemble: “Jackass Forever” and “Women Talking” (TIE)
New Filmmaker: Charlotte Wells, “Aftersun”
New York Movie Reviews Online
Best Film: “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Director: The Daniels, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24) and Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin” (TIE)
Actor: Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Actress: Michelle Yeoh, “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once”
Supporting Actor: Brendan Gleeson, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Supporting Actress: Hong Chau, “The Whale”
Screenplay: Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Animated feature: “Marcel the shell with shoes”
Photography: Hoyte van Hoytema, “No”
Use of Music: “Elvis”
Feature Documentary: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”
International movie: “EO”
Breakthrough Performer: Austin Butler, “Elvis”
First director: Charlotte Wells, “Aftersun”
Together: “Glass Onion: A Mystery at Daggers Drawn”
Top 10 movies (in alphabetical order)
“Avatar: The Way of the Water”
“Babylon”
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Everything, everywhere, all at once”
“The Fabelmans”
“RRR”
“She says”
“Tar”
Top Gun: Maverick
“Speaking Women”