John H. Foote
In what can be considered a surprise given the other awards were split up between ‘Manchester By the Sea’ and ‘Moonlight’, the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) Awards have given ‘La La Land’ their Best Picture of the year. The vibrant musical has earned rave reviews since TIFF and appears headed down a golden road to that magical circle come Oscar time.
Casey Affleck won Best Actor for his performance in ‘Manchester By the Sea’, a richly deserving award for the gifted actor, while co-star Michelle Williams was named Best Supporting Actress for her performance as his ex-wife in the film. Kenneth Lonergan won the Screenplay award from the NY Critics but did not take Best Director as many thought he would.
That honor went to Barry Jenkins for ‘Moonlight’, which also took awards for Best Supporting Actor, going to Mahersala Ali and Best Cinematography.
In what must be considered a surprise, Isabelle Huppert won Best Actress for her raging performance in ‘Elle’, edging out Natalie Portman in ‘Jackie’.
The critics gave ‘Zootopia’ their award for Best Animated Film.
The New York Film Critics Awards are considered among the most prestigious in movies, once hailed as the conscience of American cinema by George C. Scott, who gladly accepted one from the critics for Patton (1970) while refusing the Oscar.
Full list of winners below:
Best film: La La Land
Best director: Berry Jenkins, Moonlight
Best actor: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Best actress: Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Best supporting actor: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Best supporting actress: Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea and Certain Women
Best screenplay: Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan
Best animated film: Zootopia
Best cinematography: Moonlight, James Laxton
Best first film: (tie) Kelly Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen and Trey Edwards Shults Krisha
Best foreign film: Toni Erdmann (Germany)
Best non-fiction film (documentary): O.J.: Made in America
Read More: Every Best Picture Winner Since 2000, Ranked
