‘Moonlight,’ ‘Manchester’ and ‘La La Land’ break fast out of the gate
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A trio of acclaimed movies get off to a great start with the early critics groups. A look at which awards shows you should watch and which to ignore. And why we might be seeing lots of new faces among the Oscar nominees for direction and cinematography this year, including “Moonlight’s” Barry Jenkins.
Welcome to the Gold Standard, the newsletter from the Los Angeles Times that helps guide you through the ins and outs of the awards season leading up to the Oscars.
I’m Glenn Whipp, The Times’ awards columnist and your newsletter host.
‘LA LA LAND,’ ‘MOONLIGHT,’ ‘MANCHESTER’ EARLY WINNERS
We’ve turned the calendar to December, which means there will be a steady drumbeat of awards announcements from now until Christmas.
Two groups that fancy themselves as Oscar predictors weighed in Thursday with awards and nominations. And the results were … pretty predictable.
The New York Film Critics Circle, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious critics organizations, spent the morning alternating honors between indie dramas “Moonlight” and “Manchester by the Sea” before giving its best picture prize to the romantic musical “La La Land.”
The Broadcast Film Critics Assn., a group comprised of radio and television critics, bloggers and movie junket press, went nuts for “La La Land” too, giving it a leading 12 nominations for its upcoming Critics Choice Awards. “Moonlight” went over big with this crowd as well, earning 10 nominations, as did Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic “Arrival.”
The Critics Choice Awards sport so many categories (27!) that it’s almost more instructive to look at what’s left out. I parsed both groups’ selections here.
RANKING THE AWARDS SHOWS FROM FIRST TO FARCE
So with all these prizes coming off the assembly line, it’s probably a good time to examine which ones matter and why. I ranked the shows here. No need to thank me … unless you win one of these things someday. Then you damn well better mention my name in your acceptance speech. (Except if it’s a Hollywood Film Award, that is.)
BARRY JENKINS TALKS ABOUT THE EIGHT-YEAR JOURNEY TO ‘MOONLIGHT’
I had dinner with “Moonlight” writer-director Barry Jenkins the night Donald Trump was elected president. So, yeah, I’m going to remember that conversation for some time. In between periodically checking our phones for the electoral college results, we talked about the eight years he spent between his debut feature, the tender love story “Medicine for Melancholy,” and “Moonlight.” It’s one of the year’s great success stories. You can read the interview here.
HANDICAPPING THE DIRECTOR AND CINEMATOGRAPHY RACES
Jenkins, of course, is right in the thick of the Oscar race for director. At this point, I think a nomination is assured. He’s probably going to be one of several new faces showing up in the director and cinematography categories. Check out my predictions here.
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Twitter: @glennwhipp
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