MORE AWARD SEASON NEWS

Critics on both coasts have just weighed in on their picks for the best films of 2016 and it should hardly be unexpected that there were different opinions. The New York Film Critics Circle proclaimed on December 1st that Daniel Chazelle's modern musical, "La La Land" was their top choice while "Moonlight", Barry Jenkins's moving drama, was selected yesterday as the best by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. There were certainly areas of agreement with both selecting Mr. Jenkins as Best Director, the Best Actress prize to Isabelle Huppert for her mesmerizing work in "Elle" and two more "Moonlight" wins for Best Cinematography and Best Supporting Actor to Mahershala Ali.

And both groups offered a few surprises. The most notable with the New York critics was the naming of "La La Land" for Best Film as it received no other awards from them. While L.A. offered quite a few bold picks like awarding Best Actor to Adam Driver for his amazing turn in Jim Jarmusch's latest, "Paterson", Lily Gladstone for her graceful supporting performance in "Certain Women", the wonderfully weird script of "The Lobster" took Best Screenplay and "I Am Not Your Negro", the outstanding documentary on writer James Baldwin, was named the best.

2016 New York Film Critics Circle Award Winners:

Best Film: "La La Land"
Best Director: Barry Jenkins, "Moonlight"
Best Screenplay: Kenneth Lonergan, "Manchester by the Sea"
Best Actor: Casey Affleck, "Manchester by the Sea"
Best Actress: Isabelle Huppert, "Elle"
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, "Moonlight"
Best Supporting Actress: Michelle Williams, "Manchester by the Sea" and "Certain Women"
Best Animated Film: "Zootopia"
Best Cinematography: James Laxton, "Moonlight"
Best First Film: (tie) "The Edge of Seventeen" and "Krisha"
Best Foreign Film: "Toni Erdmann" (Germany)
Best Non-Fiction Film (documentary): "O.J.: Made in America"

2016 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Winners:

Best Picture: "Moonlight"
Best Director: Barry Jenkins, "Moonlight"
Best Screenplay: Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos, "The Lobster"
Best Actor: Adam Driver, "Paterson"
Best Actress: Isabelle Huppert, "Elle" and "Things To Come"
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, "Moonlight"
Best Supporting Actress: Lily Gladstone, "Certain Women"
Best Animation: "Your Name"
Best Foreign Language Film: "The Handmaiden"
Best Documentary: "I Am Not Your Negro"
Best Cinematography: James Laxton, "Moonlight"
Best Editing: Bret Granato, Maya Mumma and Ben Sozanski, "OJ: Made in America"
Best Production Design: Ryu Seong-hee, "The Handmaiden"
Best Music Score: Justin Hurwitz, "La La Land"