ON FILM: Critics' 'best' lists: A first look

December 14, 2018 at 4:30 a.m.

by Philip Martin

Alfonso Cuaron directs actor Yalitza Aparicio — a schoolteacher taking on her first acting role —in Roma, which looks to figure prominently in year-end critics’ lists. Starting today, the movie is available for streaming on Netflix.
Alfonso Cuaron directs actor Yalitza Aparicio — a schoolteacher taking on her first acting role —in Roma, which looks to figure prominently in year-end critics’ lists. Starting today, the movie is available for streaming on Netflix.

I voted early.

I'm one of the few members of the Southeast Film Critics Association who would like to move our annual poll of the best in film back a week or two. That we're voting this weekend and not the first weekend of December is something of a victory. Some members believe we'll be better noticed if we are one of the first critics' groups to announce our awards.

My opinion about that is that it doesn't really make any difference. Some people will pay attention to the results, most won't.

I would like more time to see more movies. For there are always some I don't get around to seeing. And some of those would probably work their way into this ballot. But I can only vote based on what I've seen. Among films I haven't: Burned, Madeline's Madeline, Cold War, Zama, Who We Are Now, Mary Poppins Returns, and a whole slew of documentaries. Sorry, we do what we can.

And so, in the interest of transparency, and because people like to read and argue about lists made by other people, I'm printing my SEFCA ballot today. I'm also throwing in Karen Martin's ballot -- she's a SEFCA member as well as a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists (which gets better screeners than SEFCA gets) -- for fun.

As is my habit, I'm redacting my Top 10 list because I always put that in my end-of-the-year film wrapup that runs on the year's last Sunday. But I've included Karen's Top 10, noting that it can change after she sees more films. (The Top 10 she selected for SEFCA voting purposes may not be the same one she comes up with in a month or so when I ask her for one as part of our traditional New Year list-mania.)

So here's how we ticked our boxes:

KAREN'S TOP 10

  1. Shoplifters 2. Roma 3. At Eternity's Gate 4. Skate Kitchen 5. The Rider 6. The Favourite 7. First Reformed 8. Eighth Grade 9. Blaze 10. Eating Animals

BEST ACTOR

Philip Martin:

  1. Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
  2. Christian Bale, Vice
  3. Willem Dafoe, At Eternity's Gate

Karen Martin:

  1. Lucas Hedges, Boy Erased
  2. Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
  3. Willem Dafoe, At Eternity's Gate

BEST ACTRESS

PM:

  1. Carey Mulligan, Wildlife
  2. Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade
  3. Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

KM:

  1. Glenn Close, The Wife
  2. Olivia Colman, The Favourite
  3. Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

PM:

  1. Charlie Sexton, Blaze
  2. Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman
  3. Ben Foster, Leave No Trace

KM:

  1. Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade
  2. Russell Crow, Boy Erased
  3. Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

PM:

  1. Nicole Kidman, Boy Erased
  2. Amy Adams, Vice
  3. Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

KM:

  1. Nicole Kidman, Boy Erased
  2. Miyu Sasaki, Shoplifters
  3. Ardelia Lovelace, Skate Kitchen

BEST ENSEMBLE

PM:

  1. Roma
  2. Vice
  3. Boy Erased

KM:

  1. Wildlife
  2. Roma
  3. BlacKkKlansman

BEST DIRECTOR

PM:

  1. Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
  2. Debra Granik, Leave No Trace
  3. Ethan Hawke, First Reformed

KM:

  1. Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
  2. Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased
  3. Ethan and Joel Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

PM:

  1. Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham)
  2. Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Kunichi Nomura, Jason Schwartzman)
  3. Vice (Adam McKay)

KM:

  1. The Favourite (Tony McNamara)
  2. Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)
  3. Skate Kitchen (Crystal Moselle)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

  1. Wildlife (Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan)
  2. The Death of Stalin (Peter Fellows, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Fabien Nury, David Schneider)
  3. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty)

KM:

  1. Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)
  2. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty)
  3. The Land of Steady Habits (Nicole Holofcener, Ted Thompson)

BEST DOCUMENTARY

  1. Bisbee '17
  2. Free Solo
  3. McQueen

KM:

  1. Eating Animals
  2. Three Identical Strangers
  3. McQueen

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

PM:

  1. Roma (Mexico)
  2. Shoplifters (Japan)
  3. Capernaum (Lebanon)

KM:

  1. Shoplifters (Japan)
  2. Border (Sweden)
  3. Roma (Mexico)

BEST ANIMATED FILM

PM:

  1. Isle of Dogs
  2. Incredibles 2
  3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

KM:

  1. Isle of Dogs
  2. Incredibles 2
  3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

PM:

  1. The Rider (Joshua James Richards)
  2. Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)
  3. At Eternity's Gate (Benoît Delhomme)

KM:

  1. Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)
  2. The Favourite (Robbie Ryan)
  3. At Eternity's Gate (Benoît Delhomme)

MovieStyle on 12/14/2018

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