I can't really comment on who was the insider that revealed to me all of these details about NYFCC voting, we don't want another Lou Lumenick fiasco, but I got enough interesting info out of this NYFCC member to publish this mini recap of voting. NYFCC has been very strict the last few years when it comes to revealing the details of voting, nevertheless this is some of what happened last Thursday in New York:
Best Actor
"Denzel Washington was competitive, but Casey Affleck won it pretty quickly."
Best Actress
"Isabelle Huppert was leading throughout, but Ruth Negga was also in the mix, as I recall."
Best Picture
"La La Land won by the narrowest margin possible. It tied w/ Moonlight in points, but was on just ONE more ballot. Manchester was close behind."
Best Director
"The award for Best Director was relatively tight b/w Chazelle & Jenkins (and Lonergan close as well)"
Best Documentary
"Doc went several rounds I believe. I think Weiner might have been No. 2, but OJ led throughout."
What we really want to know: Was "Silence" competitive in any category?
"It did. It actually got close in cinematography. A number of critics I'm pretty sure hadn't seen it. And a number of them didn't quite know what to make of it yet. And a couple of them just plain didn't like it. But a few did love it. It is just not the kind of movie that's gonna screen at the last second and then ride a wave of on-the-spot adoration. It's just not that kind of film. (And Paramount knows this. I think they basically had no choice re: timing.) "Silence" supporters were vocal, but not strong enough I think Josh Rothkopf, Peter Travers, Owen G. and Bilge Ebiri were a solid SILENCE voting bloc.
Best Actor
"Denzel Washington was competitive, but Casey Affleck won it pretty quickly."
Best Actress
"Isabelle Huppert was leading throughout, but Ruth Negga was also in the mix, as I recall."
"La La Land won by the narrowest margin possible. It tied w/ Moonlight in points, but was on just ONE more ballot. Manchester was close behind."
Best Director
"The award for Best Director was relatively tight b/w Chazelle & Jenkins (and Lonergan close as well)"
Best Documentary
"Doc went several rounds I believe. I think Weiner might have been No. 2, but OJ led throughout."
What we really want to know: Was "Silence" competitive in any category?
"It did. It actually got close in cinematography. A number of critics I'm pretty sure hadn't seen it. And a number of them didn't quite know what to make of it yet. And a couple of them just plain didn't like it. But a few did love it. It is just not the kind of movie that's gonna screen at the last second and then ride a wave of on-the-spot adoration. It's just not that kind of film. (And Paramount knows this. I think they basically had no choice re: timing.) "Silence" supporters were vocal, but not strong enough I think Josh Rothkopf, Peter Travers, Owen G. and Bilge Ebiri were a solid SILENCE voting bloc.
Just a few weeks ago, Taika Waititi's adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's "Klara and the Sun" was set to open in over 1,900 theaters this weekend. Now, according to Variety, that number has been cut to roughly 850.