Oscar Contenders Lady Gaga, Power of the Dog Soar With New York Critics Awards

The New York Film Critics Circle elevated the hopes of some of this year’s best-received work, including a few examples that’ve been frustratingly left out of the Oscars conversation. The organization, among the most prestigious regional critics groups known for their early boosts of worthy contenders, went with Drive My Car, the three-hour masterpiece from Ryusuke Hamaguchi, for its top best-picture prize and found plenty of opportunities to spread the wealth.

See, for example: Lady Gaga. House of Gucci is no one’s example of a critical darling, landing in the high-50s to low-60s on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, but Gaga scored across-the-board raves—and as I wrote when the film unveiled itself, she emerged as an instant best-actress contender. The NYFCC giving her the stamp of approval feels major to me, even as they often stump for actors who don’t make it to Oscars night, like last year’s Sidney Flanigan (the great Never Rarely Sometimes Always). This is a performance with impact in a film many of these voters didn’t like; Oscars voters should surely be able to put aside similar general hang-ups too, right?

After The Power of the Dog went ineligible at Monday’s Gotham Awards and was blanked entirely by the National Board of Review, it got a huge, necessary (and somewhat expected) lift today, with the first announced award going to supporting actor Kodi Smit-McPhee, a strong Oscar contender in a fairly shapeless category. (He joins others well-positioned but hardly assured, in CODA’s Troy Kotsur and Belfast’s Ciarán Hinds, to pick up a win this week.) Then Benedict Cumberbatch won best actor, likely the first of many critics awards the star will take for his career-best work in the Netflix Western. And then Jane Campion picked up best-director honors. She has a clear path to her first directing Oscar, and this is a nice next step after winning the equivalent award in Venice.

Alas, Kirsten Dunst couldn’t complete that effective sweep for Power’s top contenders, with the supporting-actress prize instead going to the stage great Kathryn Hunter, who wows as the three witches in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. Her path to an Oscar nod remains difficult, but one would hope this gives her the visibility for broader consideration. (She’s certainly earned it.) And in screenplay, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza kept up the NBR-fueled momentum with a win in the very category where it’s got the best chance at nabbing the Oscar. Two other films can salute a very good week: West Side Story won cinematography for Janusz Kaminski after its gangbusters premiere on Monday, while after dominating Monday’s Gotham Awards, Maggie Gyllenhaal took best first film for The Lost Daughter.

Other winners include The Worst Person in the World (V.F. critic Richard Lawson’s top movie of the year) in best foreign language film; The Mitchells vs. the Machines in best animated film; and Flee, which was eligible in both of those categories, snagging a different prize, in best documentary. Having also won the equivalent Gotham earlier this week, it appears doc may be where the hybrid contender makes its most successful awards run. 

Top winners last year included Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow, lead actor Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods), and Flanigan. None went on to Oscar nominations. So take the top victory for Drive My Car, particularly, as a valuable reminder for voters this awards season: Look a little outside the box, because there is a lot of great, unsung work to be found.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Picture: Drive My Car (dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi)

Best Director: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

Best Actress: Lady Gaga, House of Gucci

Best Actor: Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog

Best Supporting Actress: Kathryn Hunter, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Supporting Actor: Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

Best Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza

Best Cinematography: Janusz Kaminski, West Side Story

Best Foreign-Language Film: The Worst Person in the World

Best Documentary: Flee

Best Animated Film: The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Special Award: Maya Cade for the creation of the Black Film Archive

Special Award: Diane Weyermann, posthumous award for supporting daring and impactful filmmaking at Sundance and Participant

Special Award: Marshall Fine for his years of service as NYFCC’s general manager and decades on the NY film scene

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