Hollywood Critics Association (HCA): ‘1917,’ takes Best Pic, ‘Booksmart’ wins 3

The members of the Hollywood Critics Association celebrated 2019 and the end of the decade at the 3rd Annual Hollywood Critics Association Awards Ceremony on Thursday, January 9, 2020 the Sam Mendes WWI drama 1917 took Best Picture, Best Cinematography and Best Editing.

Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut Booksmart was a big winner tying with Rocketman for Best Comedy/Musical, star Kaitlyn Dever won Best Actress Under 23 and Wilde won the group’s Best Female Director. She was also given one of group’s honorary awards, the Trailblazer.

The night was a star-studded affair with HCA winner Taika Waititi (Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit) rubbing elbows with Next Generation recipient Mckenna Grace (the two talked about her love for What We Do in the Shadows so look out for possible guest spot in the future). BAFTA nominee Jessie Buckley won Breakthrough Actress for Wild Rose, which also picked up an Original Song win (“Glasgow”) for Mary Steenburgen.

The Farewell and Waves tied for Best Independent Film and Avengers: Endgame was chosen as Best Blockbuster.

Below is the full list of winners:

Best Picture – 1917

Best Actor – Joaquin Phoenix, Joker 

Best Actress – Lupita Nyong’o, Us 

Best Supporting Actor – Joe Pesci, The Irishman 

Best Supporting Actress – Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers

Best Adapted Screenplay – Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit 

Best Original Screenplay – Han Jin-won and Bong Joon-ho, Parasite

Best Male Director – Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story 

Best Female Director – Olivia Wilde, Booksmart

Best Performance by an Actor 23 and Under – Noah Jupe, Honey Boy

Best Performance by an Actress 23 and Under – Kaitlyn Dever, Booksmart

Breakthrough Performance Actor – Kelvin Harrison Jr, Waves 

Breakthrough Performance Actress – Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose 

Best Cast Ensemble – Knives Out 

Best First Feature – Honey Boy 

Best Independent Film (Tie) – The Farewell & Waves 

Best Action/War Film – 1917

Best Animated Film – Toy Story 4 

Best Blockbuster – Avengers: Endgame

Best Comedy/Musical (Tie) – Rocketman & Booksmart

Best Documentary – Apollo 11 

Best Foreign Language Film – Parasite

Best Horror – Us

Best Animated or VFX Performance – Rosa Salazar, Alita: Battle Angel  

Best Cinematography – Roger Deakins, 1917 

Best Costume Design – Julian Day, Rocketman

Best Editing – Lee Smith, 1917

Best Hair and Makeup – Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan, and Vivian Baker, Bombshell

Best Original Song – Glasgow, Wild Rose 

Best Score – Hildur Guðnadóttir, Joker

Best Stunt Work – John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum 

Best Visual Effects – Dan Deleeuw, Matt Aitken, Russell Earl, and Dan Sudick, Avengers: Endgame 

2020 Hollywood Critics Association Honorary Awards

Actor Achievement Award – Anton Yelchin

Filmmaker Achievement Award – Bong-Joon Ho 

Artisans Achievement Award – Ruth E. Carter

Game Changer Award – Paul Walter Hauser 

Star on the Rise – Taylor Russell 

Newcomer – Zack Gottesagen

Trailblazer – Olivia Wilde

End of a Decade Awards Recipients 

Actor of the Decade – Adam Driver

Actress of the Decade – Kristen Stewart

Director of the Decade – Denis Villeneuve 

Producer of the Decade – Daniela Taplin Lundberg

Next Generation of Hollywood – Kelvin Harrison Jr., Geraldine Viswanathan, Brooklynn Prince, Millicent Simmonds, Mckenna Grace, Jack Dylan Grazer, Thomasin McKenzie, Zoey Deutch, Noah Jupe, Kaitlyn Dever, Lana Condor, and Shahadi Wright Joseph

About HCA: 

Formerly known as the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society (LAOFCS), the goal of the Hollywood Critics Association is to create a diverse community of passionate and professional critics with a passion for entertainment, including film and television.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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