Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” is a series of five films made for British television. So the Los Angeles Film Critics decided they were, together, the Best Film of 2020. Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” the actual best film of the year, was their runner up.
Well, it’s going to be that kind of year for the critics groups in various cities. Yesterday we had the New York Film Critics anoint “First Cow,” a very small kind of depressing film as their Best Picture. And so it goes.
The LA Film Critics made pretty good choices in the acting departments: Chadwick Boseman is Best Actor and Glynn Turman as Best Supporting Actor in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” I told you those two were going to clean up. The NY Film Critics put Boseman in Supporting. Go figure.
Carey Mulligan in the fascinating and entertaining “Promising Young Woman” is enlivened choice as Best Actress. They went for Youn Yuh-jung in “Minari” for supporting actress.
This means that “Small Axe”– comprising five films– had no acting prizes. Yet it was Best Picture. Please. “Small Axe” isn’t even eligible for the Oscars.
The movie I thought the LA Critics would go for, “Mank,” yielded one award, for Production Design.
“Time” won Best Documentary, as I predicted, and will win the Oscar. It will be the second movie in a row produced by Barack and Michelle Obama to win the Oscar for Best Doc. No kidding.
Best Picture
Winner: SMALL AXE
Runner-up: NOMADLAND
Best Director
Winner: Chloe Zhao, NOMADLAND
Runner-up: Steve McQueen, SMALL AXE
Best Actress
Winner: Carey Mulligan, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Runner-up: Viola Davis, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Best Actor
Winner: Chadwick Boseman, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Runner-up: Riz Ahmed, SOUND OF METAL
Best Documentary
Winner: TIME
Runner-up: COLLECTIVE
Best Screenplay
Winner: Emerald Fennell, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Runner-up: Eliza Hittman, NEVER REALLY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
Best Animation
Winner: WOLFWALKERS
Runner-up: SOUL
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Winner: Youn Yuh-jung, MINARI
Runner-up: Amanda Seyfried, MANK
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Glynn Turman, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Runner-up: Paul Raci, SOUND OF METAL
Editing
Winner: Yorgos Lamprinos, THE FATHER
Runner-up: Gabriel Rhodes, TIME
Best Production Design
Winner: Donald Graham Burt, MANK
Runner-up: Sergey Ivanov, BEANPOLE
Best Music/Score
Winner: SOUL
Runner-up: LOVERS ROCK
Best Cinematography
Winner: SMALL AXE, Shabier Kirchner
Runner-up: NOMADLAND, Joshua James Richards
Best Foreign-Language Film
Winner: BEANPOLE
Runner-up: MARTIN EDEN
The Douglas Edwards Experimental Film Award
Winner: John Gianvito’s HER SOCIALIST SMILE
New Generation Award
Winner: Radha Blank, THE 40-YEAR-OLD-VERSION
Career Achievement Award
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Harry Belafonte
Legacy Award
Norman Lloyd
