Roma Leads the Chicago Film Critics Nominees

The headline says Roma, The Favourite and A Star is Born lead, but no – Roma leads with 9, followed by the other two. Though I appreciate their effort at inclusion, their choice of Lynne Ramsay is not going to help a consensus around one female nominee who MIGHT break through. None will, partly for this reason. No one can decide on which female, which film, etc. Marielle Heller for Can You Ever Forgive Me is somehow not a sexy enough pic for film critics, ditto Debra Granik (not sexy in the traditional sense, but in the film critic sense which you understand if you’ve been doing this as long as I have). They will say “we don’t care about the Oscars. We just picked what we liked.” And perhaps that’s true, but those angry because there is no single Greta Gerwig that lights everyone’s fire? Well, Gretas don’t come around very often. They liked her movie but more importantly, they liked her brand. None of the women in the race, save for Ramsay even have a brand – they’re just good directors. But with women, they really do need that thing they stand for to be part of the whole package, weirdly enough. It might even be true with men, come to think of it. Yorgos Lanthimos has a brand. Alfonso Cuaron has a brand. Even Bradley Cooper now has a brand. Who are they and what do they stand for? They must carve out that identity, that style, that thumbprint, to break through. Alas. With women, sometimes even having that brand isn’t enough.
Here are their pics:
BEST PICTURE
The Favourite
First Reformed
Hereditary
Roma
A Star is Born

BEST DIRECTOR
Bradley Cooper(-) A Star is Born
Alfonso Cuaron (-) Roma
Yorgos Lanthimos (-) The Favourite
Lynne Ramsay (-) You Were Never Really Here
Paul Schrader (-) First Reformed

BEST ACTOR
Christian Bale (-) Vice
Bradley Cooper (-) A Star is Born
Ethan Hawke (-) First Reformed
Rami Malek (-) Bohemian Rhapsody
Joaquin Phoenix (-) You Were Never Really Here

BEST ACTRESS
Yalitza Aparicio (-) Roma
Toni Collette (-) Hereditary
Regina Hall (-) Support the Girls
Lady Gaga (-) A Star is Born
Melissa McCarthy (-) Can You Ever Forgive Me?

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali (-) Green Book
Timothee Chalamet (-) Beautiful Boy
Richard E. Grant (-) Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Michael B. Jordan (-) Black Panther
Steven Yeun (-) Burning

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Olivia Colman (-) The Favourite
Elizabeth Debicki (-) Widows
Zoe Kazan (-) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Regina King (-) If Beale Street Could Talk
Rachel Weisz (-) The Favourite

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eighth Grade (-) Bo Burnham
The Favourite (-) Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara
First Reformed (-) Paul Schrader
Roma (-) Alfonso Cuaron
Vice (-) Adam McKay

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
BlacKkKlansman (-) Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Wilmott & Spike Lee
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (-) Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty
The Death of Stalin (-) Armando Iannucci, David Schneidere & Ian Martin
If Beale Street Could Talk (-) Barry Jenkins
A Star is Born (-) Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Ruben Brandt: Collector
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Free Solo
Minding the Gap
RBG
Three Identical Strangers
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

BEST FOREIGN FILM
Burning
Capernaum
Cold War
Roma
Shoplifters

MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER
Ari Aster (-) Hereditary
Bo Burnham (-) Eighth Grade
Bradley Cooper (-) A Star is Born
Bing Liu (-) Minding the Gap
Boots Riley (-) Sorry to Bother You

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Yalitza Aparicio (-) Roma
Elsie Fisher (-) Eighth Grade
Lady Gaga (-) A Star is Born
Thomasin McKenzie (-) Leave No Trace
John David Washington (-) BlacKkKlansman

BEST EDITING
First Man (-) Tom Cross
The Other Side of the Wind (-) Orson Welles & Bob Murawski
Roma (-) Alfonso Cuaron & Adam Gough
Widows (-) Joe Walker
You Were Never Really Here (-) Joe Bini

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cold War (-) Lukasz Zal
The Favourite (-) Robbie Ryan
First Man (-) Linus Sandgren
If Beale Street Could Talk (-) James Paxton
Roma (-) Alfonso Cuaron

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
First Man (-) Justin Hurwitz
If Beale Street Could Talk (-) Nicholas Britell
Mandy (-) Johann Johannsson
Suspiria (-) Thom Yorke
You Were Never Really Here (-) Jonny Greenwood

BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
Annihilation
Black Panther
The Favourite
Paddington 2
Roma

BEST USE OF VISUAL EFFECTS
Annihilation
Black Panther
First Man
Mission: Impossible—Fallout
Paddington 2

Nominations By The Numbers
9 Nominations: Roma
7 Nominations: The Favourite, A Star is Born
4 Nominations: First Man, First Reformed, If Beale Street Could Talk, You Were Never Really Here
3 Nominations: Black Panther, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Eighth Grade, Hereditary
2 Nominations: Annihilation, BlacKkKlansman, Burning, Cold War, Minding the Gap, Paddington 2, Vice, Widows
1 Nomination: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Beautiful Boy, Bohemian Rhapsody, Capernaum, The Death of Stalin, Free Solo, Green Book, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Leave No Trace, Mandy, Mission: Impossible—Fallout, The Other Side of the Wind, RBG, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Ruben Brandt: Collector, Shoplifters, Sorry to Bother You, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Support the Girls, Suspiria, Three Identical Strangers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?