2018 AWARD SEASON BEGINS

And so it begins. It's that time of year when the movie industry honors what is considered the best of the movies, performances and technicians of the year which is otherwise known as award season. Here is the run-down of some of the winners and nominations so far:

The National Board of Review is always the first of the critics' groups to announce their picks for the best of the year and today they have selected "Green Book" as their Best Film. This 1960's set story, directed by Peter Farrelly, tells of an unlikely friendship during a turbulent time in America was just released in U.S. theaters this past weekend. Viggo Mortensen, who plays the white driver and bodyguard for African-American pianist, Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) as they travel through the segregated South on a concert tour, received the Best Actor prize for the film. Bradley Cooper and his directorial debut with the remake of "A Star Is Born" also received plenty of attention from the Board with the actor winning Best Director along with Lady Gaga and Sam Elliott receiving Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor for their performances. The NBR Awards will be handed out on January 8, 2019 at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York.

Best Film: "Green Book"



Best Director: Bradley Cooper, "A Star Is Born"
Best Directorial Debut: Bo Burnham, "Eighth Grade"
Best Original Screenplay: Paul Schrader, "First Reformed"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Best Actress: Lady Gaga, "A Star Is Born"
Best Actor: Viggo Mortensen, "Green Book"
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Best Supporting Actor: Sam Elliott, "A Star Is Born"
Best Breakthrough Performance: Thomasin McKenzie, "Leave No Trace"
Best Ensemble: "Crazy Rich Asians"
Best Animated Feature: "Incredibles 2"
Best Foreign Language Film: "Cold War"
Best Documentary: "RBG"
William K. Everson Film History Award: "The Other Side of The Wind" and "They'll Love Me When I'm Dead"
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: "22 July"
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: "On Her Shoulders"

"The Rider", Chloé Zhao's poetic contemporary western, was the unexpected winner of Best Feature at the 2018 Gotham Awards. The New York-based group, which celebrates the best of independent cinema, offered another surprise with Toni Collette receiving a well-deserved Best Actress prize for her ferocious turn as a stressed-out mother in the horror film, "Hereditary". And the Best Actress nominating committee also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award to Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz for their performances in "The Favourite".

Here is the list of nominations and winners (which were presented on November 26th ) for the 2018 Gotham Awards. The winners are highlighted:

Best Feature:

"The Favourite"
"First Reformed"
"If Beale Street Could Talk"
"Madeline’s Madeline"
"The Rider"



Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director:

Ari Aster, "Hereditary"
Bo Burnham, "Eighth Grade"
Jennifer Fox, "The Tale"
Crystal Moselle, "Skate Kitchen"
Boots Riley, "Sorry to Bother You"

Best Screenplay:

Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, "The Favourite"
Paul Schrader, "First Reformed"
Tamara Jenkins. "Private Life"
Andrew Bujalski, "Support The Girls"
Cory Finley, "Thoroughbreds"

Best Actress:

Glenn Close, "The Wife"
Toni Collette, "Hereditary"
Kathryn Hahn, "Private Life"
Regina Hall, "Support the Girls"
Michelle Pfeiffer, "Where is Kyra?"

Best Actor:

Adam Driver, "BlacKkKlansman"
Ben Foster, "Leave No Trace"
Richard E. Grant, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
Ethan Hawke, "First Reformed"
Lakeith Stanfield, "Sorry to Bother You"

Best Breakthrough Actor:

Yalitza Aparicio, "Roma"
Elsie Fisher, "Eighth Grade"
Helena Howard, "Madeline’s Madeline"
KiKi Layne, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, "Leave No Trace"

Best Documentary:

"Bisbee ‘17"
"Hale County This Morning, This Evening"
"Minding the Gap"
"Shirkers"
"Won’t You Be My Neighbor?"

The 34th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards, which honors the best of indie cinema, will be broadcast live on IFC on Feb. 23, 2019. The ceremony, traditionally held the day before the Oscars, will be on the beach in Santa Monica with host, Aubrey Plaza.

Here is the list of nominations for the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Feature:

"Eighth Grade"
"First Reformed"
"If Beale Street Could Talk"
"Leave No Trace"
"You Were Never Really Here"

Best First Feature:

"Hereditary"
"Sorry to Bother You"
"The Tale"
"We the Animals"
"Wildlife"

Best Director:

Debra Granik, "Leave No Trace"
Barry Jenkins, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Tamara Jenkins, "Private Life"
Lynne Ramsay, "You Were Never Really Here"
Paul Schrader, "First Reformed"

Best Screenplay:

Richard Glatzer, Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland, "Colette"
Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
Tamara Jenkins, "Private Life"
Boots Riley, "Sorry to Bother You"
Paul Schrader, "First Reformed"

Best First Screenplay:

Bo Burnham, "Eighth Grade"
Christina Choe, "Nancy"
Cory Finley, "Thoroughbreds"
Jennifer Fox, "The Tale"
Quinn Shephard and Laurie Shephard, Blame"

Best Lead Female:

Glenn Close, "The Wife"
Toni Colette, "Hereditary"
Elsie Fisher, "Eighth Grade"
Regina Hall, "Support the Girls"
Helena Howard, "Madeline's Madeline"
Carey Mulligan, "Wildlife"

Best Lead Male:

John Cho, "Searching"
Daveed Diggs, "Blindspotting"
Ethan Hawke, "First Reformed"
Christian Malheiros, "Socrates"
Joaquin Phoenix, "You Were Never Really Here"

Best Supporting Female:

Kayli Carter, "Private Life"
Tyne Daly, "A Bread Factory"
Regina King, "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, "Leave No Trace"
J. Smith-Cameron, "Nancy"

Best Supporting Male:

Raul Castillo, "We the Animals"
Adam Driver, "BlacKkKlansman"
Richard E Grant, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
Josh Hamilton, "Eighth Grade"
John David Washington, "Monsters and Men"

Best Foreign Film:

"Burning" (South Korea)
"The Favourite" (United Kingdom)
"Happy as Lazzaro" (Italy)
"Roma" (Mexico)
"Shoplifters" (Japan)

Best Documentary:

"Hale County This Morning, This Evening"
"Minding the Gap"
"On her Shoulders"
"Shirkers"
"Won't You Be My Neighbor?"

Best Cinematography:

Ashley Connor, "Madeline's Madeline"
Benjamin Loeb, "Mandy"
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, "Suspiria"
Zak Mulligan, "We The Animals"
Diego Garcia, "Wildlife"

Best Editing:

Joe Bini, "You Were Never Really Here"
Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates & Jeremiah Zagar, "We the Animals"
Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill & Julian Hart, "American Animals"
Anne Fabini, Alex Hall and Gary Levy, "The Tale"
Nick Houy, "Mid90s"

John Cassavetes Award (a feature film prize for movies made for under $500,000)

"A Bread Factory"
"En El Septimo Dia"
"Never Goin' Back"
"Socrates"
"Thunder Road"

Robert Altman Award (which honors the director, casting director, and ensemble cast):

"Suspiria"