“Roma,” "The Favourite” and “A Star is Born” lead 2018 CFCA nominations

THE CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES NOMINATIONS FOR 2018 FILM AWARDS

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“Roma,” Alfonso Cuaron’s autobiographical story of a year in the life of a family living in Mexico City in the 1970s seen primarily through the eyes of one of their servants, was a clear favorite with members of the Chicago Film Critics Association. The film received the most nominations of all for their 2018 film awards with nine. In addition to being one of the finalists for Best Picture, Cuaron himself was personally nominated in four additional categories for Director, Original Screenplay, Cinematography and Editing, the latter alongside Adam Gough. Yalitza Aparicio, the non-professional chosen by Cuaron to star in the film received two nominations herself for Best Actress and Most Promising Performer and it also received nods for Art Direction/Production Design and Foreign Film.

“The Favourite,” the outrageous historical comedy-drama about two embittered cousins vying for the favor of Queen Anne, and “A Star is Born,” the latest remake of the beloved show business melodrama, tied for second place with seven nominations each, including Best Picture nods. The former has two of its co-stars, Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz, going head-to-head in the Supporting Actress category and also earned nominations for Director for Yorgos Lanthimos, Original Screenplay, Cinematography and Art Direction/Set Direction. The latter earned Bradley Cooper four separate nominations for Director, Actor, Adapted Screenplay and Most Promising Filmmaker and two for co-star Lady Gaga for Best Actress and Most Promising Performer.

Four films ended up tying for third place with four nominations apiece. “First Reformed,” Paul Schrader’s powerful drama about a minister whose increasingly bleak view of the world drives him to the brink of despair earned nominations for Schrader for Director and Original Screenplay and Ethan Hawke for Best Actor in addition to Best Picture. “You Were Never Really Here,” the shocking and brutal story of a emotionally traumatized veteran who stumbles upon a conspiracy while looking for a missing girl, received nominations for Lynne Ramsey for Director, Joaquin Phoenix for Actor, Jonny Greenwood for Original Score and Joe Bini for Editing. “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Barry Jenkins’s adaptation of the celebrated James Baldwin novel earned him a nomination for Adapted Screenplay as well as additional citations for Cinematography and Original Score as well as one for Regina King for Supporting Actress. “First Man,” Damien Chazelle’s look at the life of astronaut Neil Armstrong and the mission that made him the first person to set foot on the moon, scored well in the technical categories, earning nominations for Editing, Cinematography, Original Score and in the newly instituted category of Best Use of Visual Effects.

Rounding out the Best Picture category was the chilling horror film “Hereditary,” which also earned nominations for Toni Colette for Best Actress and director Ari Aster for Most Promising Filmmaker. Among the other films cited by the group, the ground-breaking blockbuster “Black Panther” took home three nominations, including Art Direction/Production Design, Visual Effects and Supporting Actor for Michael B. Jordan. The true life drama “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” earned nominations for Melissa McCarthy for Best Actress, Richard E. Grant for Supporting Actor and Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty for Adapted Screenplay. “Eight Grade,” the cringe-worthy comedy-drama about a girl negotiating the last week of eighth grade, earned writer-director Bo Burnham two nominations for Original Screenplay and Most Promising Filmmaker and one for young star Elsie Fisher for Most Promising Performer. The locally shot crime film “Widows” received an Editing nomination as well as a Supporting Actress nod for Elizabeth Debicki. Spike Lee’s incendiary true-life story “BlacKkKLansman” earned the filmmaker a nomination for co-writing the Adapted Screenplay as well as one for John David Washington as Most Promising Performer. Among posthumous nominations, the late composer Johann Johannsson received one for Original Score for “Mandy” while the legendary Orson Welles was cited, more than three decades since his passing, for Editing for his incredibly long delayed film “The Other Side of the Wind.”

The CFCA will announce its winners during their year-end awards dinner to be held on the evening of December 8, 2018. Follow @ChicagoCritics on Twitter for the real-time announcements.

BEST PICTURE

The Favourite

First Reformed

Hereditary

Roma

A Star is Born

BEST DIRECTOR

Bradley Cooper(-) A Star is Born

Alfonso Cuaron (-) Roma

Yorgos Lanthimos (-) The Favourite

Lynne Ramsay (-) You Were Never Really Here

Paul Schrader (-) First Reformed

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale (-) Vice

Bradley Cooper (-) A Star is Born

Ethan Hawke (-) First Reformed

Rami Malek (-) Bohemian Rhapsody

Joaquin Phoenix (-) You Were Never Really Here

BEST ACTRESS

Yalitza Aparicio (-) Roma

Toni Collette (-) Hereditary

Regina Hall (-) Support the Girls

Lady Gaga (-) A Star is Born

Melissa McCarthy (-) Can You Ever Forgive Me?

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali (-) Green Book

Timothee Chalamet (-) Beautiful Boy

Richard E. Grant (-) Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Michael B. Jordan (-) Black Panther

Steven Yeun (-) Burning

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Olivia Colman (-) The Favourite

Elizabeth Debicki (-) Widows

Zoe Kazan (-) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Regina King (-) If Beale Street Could Talk

Rachel Weisz (-) The Favourite

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Eighth Grade (-) Bo Burnham

The Favourite (-) Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara

First Reformed (-) Paul Schrader

Roma (-) Alfonso Cuaron

Vice (-) Adam McKay

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BlacKkKlansman (-) Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Wilmott & Spike Lee

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (-) Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty

The Death of Stalin (-) Armando Iannucci, David Schneidere & Ian Martin

If Beale Street Could Talk (-) Barry Jenkins

A Star is Born (-) Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Incredibles 2

Isle of Dogs

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Ruben Brandt: Collector

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Free Solo

Minding the Gap

RBG

Three Identical Strangers

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

BEST FOREIGN FILM

Burning

Capernaum

Cold War

Roma

Shoplifters

MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER

Ari Aster (-) Hereditary

Bo Burnham (-) Eighth Grade

Bradley Cooper (-) A Star is Born

Bing Liu (-) Minding the Gap

Boots Riley (-) Sorry to Bother You

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER

Yalitza Aparicio (-) Roma

Elsie Fisher (-) Eighth Grade

Lady Gaga (-) A Star is Born

Thomasin McKenzie (-) Leave No Trace

John David Washington (-) BlacKkKlansman

BEST EDITING

First Man (-) Tom Cross

The Other Side of the Wind (-) Orson Welles & Bob Murawski

Roma (-) Alfonso Cuaron & Adam Gough

Widows (-) Joe Walker

You Were Never Really Here (-) Joe Bini

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Cold War (-) Lukasz Zal

The Favourite (-) Robbie Ryan

First Man (-) Linus Sandgren

If Beale Street Could Talk (-) James Laxton

Roma (-) Alfonso Cuaron

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

First Man (-) Justin Hurwitz

If Beale Street Could Talk (-) Nicholas Britell

Mandy (-) Johann Johannsson

Suspiria (-) Thom Yorke

You Were Never Really Here (-) Jonny Greenwood

BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN

Annihilation

Black Panther

The Favourite

Paddington 2

Roma

BEST USE OF VISUAL EFFECTS

Annihilation

Black Panther

First Man

Mission: Impossible—Fallout

Paddington 2

Nominations By The Numbers

9 Nominations: Roma

7 Nominations: The Favourite, A Star is Born

4 Nominations: First Man, First Reformed, If Beale Street Could Talk, You Were Never Really Here

3 Nominations: Black Panther, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Eighth Grade, Hereditary

2 Nominations: Annihilation, BlacKkKlansman, Burning, Cold War, Minding the Gap, Paddington 2, Vice, Widows

1 Nomination: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Beautiful Boy, Bohemian Rhapsody, Capernaum, The Death of Stalin, Free Solo, Green Book, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Leave No Trace, Mandy, Mission: Impossible—Fallout, The Other Side of the Wind, RBG, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Ruben Brandt: Collector, Shoplifters, Sorry to Bother You, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Support the Girls, Suspiria, Three Identical Strangers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Erik Childress