Many Oscar pundits believe I lost it by saying that Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” stood a good chance at, at the very least, contending for the Best Picture Oscar. But it does. Today it won two more Best Picture prizes, one from the Toronto Film Critics Association and the other, the more important one, from the prestigious Los Angeles Film Critics Association. No foreign movie has ever won the Oscar for Best Picture, but that could very well happen on February 9th, 2020.
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Winners
Best Film: “Parasite” / Runner-Up: “The Irishman”
Commentary: We need to take “Parasite” very seriously as an Oscar contender for Best Picture. Sure, it’s a lesser film than “The Irishman,” but it has become a phenomenon and it doesn’t look like it can be stopped for the time being …
Best Director: Bong Joon-ho, “Parasite” /. Runner-Up: Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman”
Commentary: Bong directed the hell out of “Parasite,” his masterful imprint is every expertly crafted frame … but Scorsese deserves it more.
Best Actress — Mary Kay Place, “Diane” / Runner-Up: Lupita Nyong’o, “Us”
Commentary: Mary Kay Place deserves this award, Her work in Kent Jones’ “Diane” is the reason why the film somewhat works. HOWEVER, what the hell is going on with these critics groups gushing all over Lupta Nyong’o’s bug-eyed zombie performance in “Us.” It’s not award-worthy and, yet, it was the runner-up with LAFCA (she actually won NYFCC last week) ..
Best Supporting Actress — Jennifer Lopez, “Hustlers” / Runner-Up: Zhao Shuzhen, “The Farewell”
Commentary: My worst fear has come to fruition in this category. An average J-lo performance in “Hustlers” has won Supporting Actress …
Best Actor — Antonio Banderas, “Pain and Glory” / Runner-up: Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”
Commentary: Well-deserved. As for De Niro and Phoenix, they need to start winning a few of these critics’ shindigs … They are locked for Oscar nominations, but it’s important for them to start gaining some momentum ..
Best Supporting Actor — Song Kang Ho, “Parasite” / Runner-up: Joe Pesci, “The Irishman”
Commentary: Typical LAFCA winner. They love to go against the grain and this is most definitely an against-the-grain pick on their part. But can you believe we came this close to having Pesci win both NYFCC and LAFCA?
Best Cinematography — Claire Mathon, “Portrait Of A Lady on Fire” and “Atlantics” / Runner-up: Roger Deakins, “1917”
Commentary: Fantastic work from Mathon, on both movies, it’s very hard to complain about her win. Yes, Deakins will most likely win the Oscar, so might as well reward a far-out-of-left-field DP.
Best Animation: “I Lost My Body” / Runner-up: “Toy Story 4”
And it’s not even close. Another worthy winner. No other animated movie came close to achieving what Jeremy Clapin’s original film did. I’m also glad the NYFCC had the common sense to not reward the overrated “Toy Story 4” the prize.
The timing is interesting. The settlement talks will occur nearly a month after the $7 million-per-day ticking fee start tabulating, which puts real pressure on Paramount to get this done.