Great Movies
The Chicago Film Critics Association announced their nominees for the best of 2018 this morning, and Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” led the contenders with nine nominations, including picks for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. Not far behind were Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” and Bradley Cooper’s “A Star is Born,” both of which landed seven nods, including ones for Picture and Director. Both films also earned a pair of acting nominations for Olivia Colman & Rachel Weisz and Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga, respectively.
Some of the usual contenders who have popped up during awards season reappeared for Chicago—Ethan Hawke, Melissa McCarthy, Regina King—but the group made a few unexpected choices too, including Steven Yeun for “Burning,” Zoe Kazan for “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” and Joaquin Phoenix for “You Were Never Really Here,” which also landed nominations for Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Director for Lynne Ramsay.
All in all, 42 films were nominated across 18 categories, indicating a variety of great movies to choose from in 2018. The winners will be announced tomorrow night, December 8th, live from the CFCA Awards Dinner.
BEST PICTURE
"The Favourite"
"First Reformed"
"Hereditary"
"Roma"
"A Star is Born"
BEST DIRECTOR
Bradley Cooper, "A Star is Born"
Alfonso Cuaron, "Roma"
Yorgos Lanthimos, "The Favourite"
Lynne Ramsay, "You Were Never Really Here"
Paul Schrader, "First Reformed"
BEST ACTOR
Christian Bale, "Vice"
Bradley Cooper, "A Star is Born"
Ethan Hawke, "First Reformed"
Rami Malek, "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Joaquin Phoenix, "You Were Never Really Here"
BEST ACTRESS
Yalitza Aparicio, "Roma"
Toni Collette, "Hereditary"
Lady Gaga, "A Star is Born"
Regina Hall, "Support the Girls"
Melissa McCarthy, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali, "Green Book"
Timothee Chalamet, "Beautiful Boy"
Richard E. Grant, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
Michael B. Jordan, "Black Panther"
Steven Yeun, "Burning"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Olivia Colman, "The Favourite"
Elizabeth Debicki, "Widows"
Zoe Kazan, "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"
Regina King, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Rachel Weisz, "The Favourite"
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"BlacKkKlansman" by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
"Can You Ever Forgive Me?" by Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty
"The Death of Stalin" by Armando Iannucci, David Schneider & Ian Martin
"If Beale Street Could Talk" by Barry Jenkins
"A Star is Born" by Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"Eighth Grade" by Bo Burnham
"The Favourite" by Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara
"First Reformed" by Paul Schrader
"Roma" by Alfonso Cuaron
"Vice" by Adam McKay
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
"Incredibles 2"
"Isle of Dogs"
"Ralph Breaks the Internet"
"Ruben Brandt: Collector"
"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse"
BEST DOCUMENTARY
"Free Solo"
"Minding the Gap"
"RBG"
"Three Identical Strangers"
"Won't You Be My Neighbor?"
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Burning"
"Capernaum"
"Cold War"
"Roma"
"Shoplifters"
BEST ART DIRECTION
"Annihilation"
"Black Panther"
"The Favourite"
"Paddington 2"
"Roma"
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Cold War" - Lukasz Zal
"The Favourite" - Robbie Ryan
"First Man" - Linus Sandgren
"If Beale Street Could Talk" - James Laxton
"Roma" - Alfonso Cuaron
BEST EDITING
"First Man"
"The Other Side of the Wind"
"Roma"
"Widows"
"You Were Never Really Here"
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
"First Man" - Justin Hurwitz
"If Beale Street Could Talk" - Nicholas Britell
"Mandy" - Johann Johannsson
"Suspiria" - Thom Yorke
You Were Never Really Here - Jonny Greenwood
BEST USE OF VISUAL EFFECTS
"Annihilation"
"Black Panther"
"First Man"
"Mission: Impossible - Fallout"
"Paddington 2"
MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER
Ari Aster, "Hereditary"
Bo Burnham, "Eighth Grade"
Bradley Cooper, "A Star is Born"
Bing Liu, "Minding the Gap"
Boots Riley, "Sorry to Bother You"
MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Yalitza Aparicio, "Roma"
Elsie Fisher, "Eighth Grade"
Lady Gaga, "A Star is Born"
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, "Leave No Trace"
John David Washington, "BlacKkKlansman" & "Monsters and Men"
Note: Brian Tallerico is the President of the CFCA, and Chaz Ebert, Nick Allen, Matt Fagerholm, Allison Shoemaker, Peter Sobczynski, Collin Souter and Mark Dujsik are members.
Brian Tallerico is the Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.
