‘The Favourite,’ ‘Beale Street,’ ‘First Man’ top Florida Film Critics Circle (FFCC) nominations

The Florida Film Critics Circle has announced its nominees for the best films and cinematic performances of 2018. Yorgos Lanthimos’ darkly comic tale of love and power in 18th century England, The Favourite, leads consideration with nine nominations. It is up for recognition in such high profile categories as Best Picture and Best Director.

Two films came in second place with eight nominations: If Beale Street Could Talk, the latest film from Miami-born director Barry Jenkins, and Damien Chazelle’s First Man. All three films share nominations in the Best Picture, Best Art Direction/Production Design and Best Cinematography categories. The three movies all are being considered for screenwriting, with The Favourite in competition for Best Original Screenplay contest, while First Man and If Beale Street Could Talk compete for Best Adapted Screenplay. First Man also joins Beale Street in the running for Best Score, and First Man is the only one of these films under consideration for Best Visual Effects.

All three movies were also recognized in the acting categories, which is how the The Favourite came out on top, leading with four nominations for acting. The entire cast of The Favourite has been nominated in the Best Ensemble category, but the women of the film all also received individual nominations, placing Olivia Colman in the Leading Actress group, while Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz both landed in the Supporting Actress group. If Beale Street Could Talk, meanwhile, also received a nomination for Best Ensemble and features two actresses: Regina King for Best Supporting Actress and KiKi Layne in the Pauline Kael Breakout Award – recognizing breakout performances in cinema each year – alongside Eighth Grade’s Elsie Fisher and Leave No Trace’s Thomasin McKenzie. Claire Foy, meanwhile, is the only actor nominated for First Man, in the Best Supporting Actress category.

Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma earned five nominations, including Best Director and Best Cinematography for the Mexican filmmaker. It’s also competing for Best Picture, Best Art Direction/Production Design, and Best Foreign Language Film. Its fellow nominees for Best Foreign Language Film – Burning, Cold War, and Shoplifters – are all nominated in additional action and production categories. Finally, the only film with four nominations is You Were Never Really Here. Writer-Director Lynne Ramsay is nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Actor Joaquin Phoenix is under consideration for the Best Actor prize and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood is nominated for the film’s score.

A complete list of all the nominees can be found below. The winners will be announced on Friday, December 21st.

The Florida Film Critics Circle is an organization of 26 writers from Florida-based print and online publications. Founded in 1996, the FFCC strives to recognize outstanding work in film, further the cause of good movies, and maintain the highest level of professionalism among film critics in Florida. Hans Morgenstern of IndieEthos.com and Miami New Times has served as chair of the organization since May of 2018.

BEST PICTURE
First Man
If Beale Street Could Talk
Roma
The Favourite
The Rider

BEST ACTOR
Christian Bale – Vice
Ethan Hawke – First Reformed
Joaquin Phoenix – You Were Never Really Here
Viggo Mortensen – Green Book
Willem Dafoe – At Eternity’s Gate

BEST ACTRESS
Glenn Close – The Wife
Melissa McCarthy – Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Natalie Portman – Vox Lux
Olivia Colman – The Favourite
Toni Collette – Hereditary

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman
Hugh Grant – Paddington 2
Mahershala Ali – Green Book
Richard E. Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Steven Yeun – Burning

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Claire Foy – First Man
Emma Stone –  The Favourite
Rachel Weisz – The Favourite
Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk

BEST ENSEMBLE
BlacKkKlansman
Crazy Rich Asians
If Beale Street Could Talk
Support the Girls
The Favourite

BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuarón – Roma
Damien Chazelle – First Man
Hirokazu Kore-eda – Shoplifters
Lynne Ramsay – You Were Never Really Here
Peter Farrelly – Green Book
Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Bo Burnham – Eighth Grade
Boots Riley – Sorry to Bother You
Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, John Krasinski – A Quiet Place
Deborah Davis, Troy McNamara –  The Favourite
Paul Schrader – First Reformed

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Josh Singer, James R. Hansen – First Man
Barry Jenkins – If Beale Street Could Talk
Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty – Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Lynne Ramsay – You Were Never Really Here
Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee – BlacKkKlansman

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Linus Sandgren – First Man
Łukasz Żal – Cold War
Alfonso Cuarón – Roma
Robbie Ryan – The Favourite
James Laxton – If Beale Street Could Talk

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Annihilation
Avengers: Infinity War
First Man
Isle of Dogs
Ready Player One

BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
Annihilation
First Man
If Beale Street Could Talk
Paddington 2
Roma
The Favourite

BEST SCORE
Justin Hurwitz – First Man
Nicholas Britell – If Beale Street Could Talk
Jonny Greenwood – You Were Never Really Here
Ben Salisbury, Geoff Barrow – Annihilation

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Free Solo
Monrovia, Indiana
Shirkers
Won’t you Be my Neighbor?

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Burning
Cold War
Roma
Shoplifters

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

BEST FIRST FILM
Bradley Cooper – A Star is Born
Bo Burnham – Eighth Grade
Ari Aster – Hereditary
Boots Riley – Sorry to Bother You
Ofir Raul Graizer – The Cakemaker

PAULINE KAEL BREAKOUT AWARD
Elsie Fisher – Eighth Grade
KiKi Layne – If Beale Street Could Talk
Thomasin Mckenzie – Leave No Trace