'Call Me By Your Name' wins Best Picture at LAFCA Awards; Timothée Chalamet and Sally Hawkins take home acting honors

Before the Golden Globes and the nominations from various guilds, the beginning of awards season is marked by the announcement of the year's best from two of the most prestigious critics groups- the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA). While NYFCC announced their winners on Thursday, with Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird taking home the top honor for Best Picture, the LAFCA slowly revealed their favorites during a lengthy deliberation process yesterday. The set of winners ended up being quite fascinating, highlighted by an important boost for a large number of films. Check out the LAFCA's picks below!

Best Picture- CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

Runner-Up- THE FLORIDA PROJECT

Best Director- (TIE) Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water & Luca Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name

Best Actor- Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name

Runner-Up- James Franco, The Disaster Artist

Best Actress- Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water

Runner-Up- Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Supporting Actor- Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project

Runner-Up- Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Supporting Actress- Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Runner-Up- Mary J. Blige, Mudbound

Best Screenplay- Jordan Peele, Get Out

Runner-Up- Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Production Design- Dennis Gassner, Blade Runner 2049

Runner-Up- Paul D. Austerberry, The Shape of Water

Best Editing- Lee Smith, Dunkirk

Runner-Up- Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya

Best Cinematography- Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water

Runner-Up- Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049

Best Music Score- Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread

Runner-Up- Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water

Best Foreign-Language Film- (TIE) BPM & LOVELESS

Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film- FACES PLACES

Runner-Up- JANE

Best Animation- THE BREADWINNER

Runner-Up- COCO

New Generation Award- Greta Gerwig

This was a big day for a lot of films, and while NYFCC went wild for Lady Bird, LAFCA put all their chips on Call Me By Your Name. This group is on a bit of a streak right now, having also named future Oscar winners Spotlight and Moonlight as the best films of the year in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Could Luca Guadagnino's gay romance be the third in a row? We'll see, but it's definitely looking like more and more of a front-runner every single day. In addition to the film's win in Best Picture, Guadagnino's tie in Best Director indicates that he's highly likely to be in contention moving forward, while Timothée Chalamet's triumph in Best Actor has him breathing down the neck of current front-runner Gary Oldman. It was also a big day for The Shape of Water, a film that has seen a lag in momentum over the past several days. Couple that with the multiple runner-up finishes for Three Billboards, and it was a pretty good day for Fox Searchlight. 

In terms of the films noticeably absent from the winners list, it wasn't a great day for Dunkirk or The Post. Steven Spielberg's Pentagon Papers drama took home no awards after a strong showing at the National Board of Review last week, while Christopher Nolan's WWII epic won only for editing. A sign of things to come for these two films? Who knows- but Dunkirk is no longer the favorite in my book. 

LAFCA spread the love pretty well across the room, so it's hard to knock too many films out of contention. But all in all, an interesting set of winners that could be a critical sign of things to come as we move into the new year. 

 

Images: IMDB/Sony Pictures Classics