By John H. Foote
The great director/writer John Huston once called the circle “the conscience of American film.” They are the awards group aside from the Academy Awards that matter most. They often go their own way, and today, man did they go their own way!
Netflix seems poised to jump into the Oscar race after surprise wins for Best Film and Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón today at the New York Film Critics Circle voting. Roma also won, as expected, Best Cinematography.
The morning was loaded with surprises, some happy ones. Some just, nutty.
Ethan Hawke won Best Actor in First Reformed, which also won the Best Screenplay award for Paul Schrader.
Best Supporting Actor was given to Richard E. Grant for his delightful drunk in Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Best Actress is a stunner!
Regina Hall took the prize for Support the Girls, who saw that coming?
Best Supporting Actress was Regina King in If Beale Street Could Talk, as expected.
Best Foreign Language Film was awarded to Cold War.
Another shock, Best Animated film went to the new Spider-Man movie, which again, who saw that coming?
Shocks galore which might or might not shake up the race.
John H. Foote is a well-recognized Canadian film critic/historian who has been an active critic for 30 years. His deep love for the movies began at a very young age. He began his career as co-host of the popular TV show Reel to Real where he remained for nine years. While on TV he began dabbling in education, eventually ascending to Director of the Toronto Film School, where he also taught film history. After leaving the college to care for his wife, he returned to teaching at Humber College where he taught both Film History and Method Acting Theory. John has written two books: “Clint Eastwood – Evolution of a Filmmaker” and the upcoming “Spielberg – American Film Visionary”. He is currently working on two books, one about the films of the seventies and another on the films of Martin Scorsese. Through his career he has worked in TV, radio, print and the web. John has interviewed everyone in the industry (more than 300 interviews) except Jack Nicholson, he says sadly. Highlights include Martin Scorsese, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep Robert Duvall, Jane Fonda, Francis Ford Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow.
