Claudio Miranda Wins Best Cinematography Award from Black Film Critics Circle

Claudio Miranda is still flying high…

The Black Film Critics Circle has announced its award-winners of the year, with the 57-year-old Chilean Oscar-winning cinematographer earning a shout out.

Claudio MirandaMiranda earned the award for Best Cinematography for his acclaimed work on Top Gun: Maverick.

The award follows Miranda’s previous wins from the National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle.

BFCC co-president Mike Sargent revealed the winners Thursday after votes were cast and tabulated in New York City at the organization’s annual meeting on December 17.

Recognizing achievements in theatrical motion pictures, the BFCC awarded prizes in 13 categories. Special Signature awards were also given to industry pioneers and rising stars, with Viola Davis winning the Pioneer AwardHonk For Jesus. Save Your Soul‘s Adamma Ebo winning Rising Star and Nanny director Nikyatu Jusu winning Special Mention.

Meanwhile, Guillermo del Toro’s latest project picked up two awards.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio tied for Best Adapted Screenplay and won Best Animated (film).

“2022 has been a banner year for films by and starring people of color. The fact that we have films from multiple countries in multiple genres and their success has amplified a significant shift that actors like Sidney Poitier broke the doors open for many decades ago,” Sargent said. “We may have lost a giant this year in the film industry but everything he stood for and broke down barriers for has come to fruition. Our stories matter and the world is taking notice.”

Co-president Wilson Morales adds “Elvis Mitchell’s documentary Is That Black Enough For You?! ” examines the history, craft and legacy of African-American cinema and shines a spotlight on the rich history of our contributions to the medium of film. One day the time we are living in will be looked at as a new renaissance of Black film. Congratulations to all of the winners.”

Here’s the complete list of winners:

Best Film
The Woman King

Best Director
Gina Prince-Bythewood – The Woman King

Best Actor
Brendan Fraser: – The Whale

Best Actress
Danielle Deadwyler – Till

Best Supporting Actor
Ke Huy Quan Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Original Screenplay
Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Adapted Screenplay
(Tie) The Whale and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Best Cinematography
Top Gun Maverick

Best Documentary
Fire of Love

Best Animated
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Best Foreign Film
RRR

Best Ensemble
The Woman King

SIGNATURE AWARDS

Pioneer
Viola Davis

This year’s BFCC Pioneer Award is given to Viola Davis who, to quote BFCC Member K.A. GRANT (KAGrant.com), “The Woman King was truly a labor of love for her as a producer and as an actress. Not only did she work tirelessly to bring this story to life, but she changed her physical appearance to be combat ready for the film. Her contribution is immeasurable in what she has done for black women on the big screen. Her passion, and dedication to her craft embodies the very essence of the word Pioneer.”

Rising Star
Adamma Ebo

This year’s BFCC Rising star Award for producing, writing, directing, goes to Adamma Ebo for her feature-length directorial debut for Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul to quote BFCC Member Harrison Martin (FLIXFROG), “A truly outstanding film that is well-written, acted, and directed. This is a great example of improving on a short film while keeping the same message.”

SPECIAL MENTION
Nikyatu Jusu

Special Mention this year goes to Nikyatu Jusu, for her horror film Nanny which was the first horror film to win Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize, is a deeply personal look at the American immigrant experience through the eyes of its lead character Immigrant nanny Aisha.

TOP TEN FILMS OF 2022

  1. The Woman King
  2. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
  3. Top Gun: Maverick
  4. Everything Everywhere All At Once
  5. RRR
  6. Nope
  7. Avatar: The Way of Water
  8. Women Talking
  9. Till
  10. The Batman

National Board of Review Recognizes Claudio Miranda with Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Award

Claudio Miranda is under review

The National Board of Review has announced its 2022 film honorees, with the the 57-year-old Chilean Oscar-winning cinematographer earning a shout out.

Claudio MirandaMiranda was recognized with the Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography award for his work on Top Gun: Maverick, which was Best Film.

Top Gun: Maverick is a thrilling crowd-pleaser that is expertly crafted on every level,” said NBR President Annie Schulhof. “Tom Cruise, Joseph Kosinski and the entire filmmaking team have succeeded in making an incredibly popular film that brought audiences back to theaters, while at the same time being a full-on cinematic achievement.”

Miranda had previously picked up the Best Cinematography prize from New York Film Critics Circle. 

Santiago Mitre’s Argentina, 1985 picked up two recognitions…

The 42-year-old Argentine directors historical drama, starring Ricardo Darín, was recognized as one of the NBR Freedom of Expression Awards honorees, as well as one of the NBR’s selections for Top 5 International Films.

Here’s a look at NBR’s list of the year’s 10 best films and its other award winners:

Best Film
Top Gun: Maverick

Best Director
Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans

Best Actor
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Actress
Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Supporting Actor
Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Supporting Actress
Janelle Monáe, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Best Original Screenplay
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Adapted Screenplay
Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell, All Quiet on the Western Front

Breakthrough Performance
Danielle Deadwyler, Till

Breakthrough Performance
Gabriel LaBelle, The Fabelmans

Best Directorial Debut
Charlotte Wells, Aftersun

Best Animated Feature
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Best International Film
Close

Best Documentary
Sr.

Best Ensemble
Women Talking

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Claudio Miranda, Top Gun: Maverick

NBR Freedom of Expression Awards
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Argentina, 1985

Top Films (in alphabetical order):
Aftersun 
Avatar: The Way of Water 
The Banshees of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All at Once 
The Fabelmans
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery 
RRR
Till 
The Woman King 
Women Talking

Top 5 International Films (in alphabetical order)
All Quiet on the Western Front
Argentina, 1985
Decision to Leave
EO
Saint Omer

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order)
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
All That Breathes
Descendant
Turn Every Page – The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb
Wildcat

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order)
Armageddon Time
Emily the Criminal
The Eternal Daughter
Funny Pages
The Inspection
Living
A Love Song
Nanny
The Wonder
To Leslie

Claudio Miranda Wins Best Cinematography Prize from New York Film Critics Circle for “Top Gun: Maverick”

Claudio Miranda is the New York critics choice.

The New York Film Critics Circle, the longest-acting film awards voting committee, has announced its 2022 winners, with the 57-year-old Chilean Oscar-winning cinematographer picking up an award.

Claudio MirandaMiranda claimed the Best Cinematography award for his work on the hit Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.

Miranda previously won the Academy Award in 2012 for his cinematography on Ang Lee’s Life of Pi.

The NYFCC is known for bestowing wins to independent films and the organization can take as long as five hours to deliberate on the day they announce wins. Whatever film the group names as Best Picture doesn’t always translate to an Oscar Best Picture win; the last title to do so was 2011’s The Artist.

“NYFCC winners reflect the broad range of our tastes, as well as what’s exciting audiences at cinemas today,” stated NYFCC Chair Jordan Hoffman. “It’s a stimulating group of movies, and our gala event in January is bound to be a memorable one.”

Founded in 1935, the New York Film Critics Circle is the oldest critics group in the country. The NYFCC’s membership includes critics from daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and the web’s most respected online publications.

The group’s awards gala will be held in early January in New York City.

Here are all the winners of the New York Film Critics Circle Awards:

BEST FILM
Tár

BEST DIRECTOR
S.S. Rajamouli, RRR

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Tár

BEST ACTOR
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin and After Yang

BEST SCREENPLAY
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
EO (Poland)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Claudio Miranda, Top Gun: Maverick

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Keke Palmer, Nope

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

BEST NON-FICTION FILM
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

SPECIAL AWARDS
Jake Perlin, curator, distributor and publisher in recognition of his indispensable contributions to film culture.

dGenerate Films for its invaluable work bringing independent films to China.

Jafar Panahi, for “dogged bravery as an artist, and for the humanity and beauty of a body of work created under the most oppressive circumstances.

BEST FIRST FILM
Aftersun

STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS:
Undergraduate, Nico Pedrero-Setzer
Graduate, Greg Nussen

This year’s voting members include: Sam Adams (Slate), Siddhant Adlakha (freelance), Melissa Anderson (4 Columns), Michael Atkinson (freelance), Jason Bailey (Playlist), Richard Brody (New Yorker), Dwight Brown (NNPA Syndication), Kameron Austin Collins (Rolling Stone), Bilge Ebiri (New York), David Ehrlich (IndieWire), Kate Erbland (IndieWire), David Fear (Rolling Stone), Graham Fuller (freelance), Owen Gleiberman (Variety), Ed Gonzalez (Slant), Leah Greenblatt (EW), Steven D. Greydanus (National Catholic Register), Rafer Guzman (Newsday), Caryn James (BBC), Eric Kohn (IndieWire), Tomris Laffly (freelance), Richard Lawson (Vanity Fair), Violet Lucca (freelance), Soraya Nadia McDonald (Andscape), Sheila O’Malley (Rogerebert.com), Rex Reed (New York Observer), David Rooney (Hollywood Reporter), Nick Schager (Daily Beast), David Sims (The Atlantic), Kyle Smith (Wall Street Journal), Dana Stevens (Slate), Amy Taubin (Artforum), Peter Travers (ABC), Keith Uhlich (freelance), Elizabeth Weitzman (The Wrap), Stephen Whitty (freelance), Alissa Wilkinson (Vox), Alison Willmore (New York), Stephanie Zacharek (Time), and Esther Zuckerman (freelance).

Antonio Banderas Named Best Actor by the New York Film Critics Circle

Antonio Banderasis the New York critics’ choice…

The New York Film Critics Circle has named the 59-year-old Spanish actor its Best Actor of 2019.

Antonio Banderas

Banderas picked up the award for his performance in Pedro Almodovar’s Spanish drama Pain and Glory.

The NYFCC, one of the early critics-group bellwethers of the movie awards season, voted throughout Wednesday morning for its selections in 12 categories. Winners will be honored at the group’s annual gala January 7 at Tao Downtown.

The NYFCC, founded in 1935, includes critics from daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and online publications.

Here’s a look at this year’s list of winners:

Best Film The Irishman
Best Director Josh and Benny Safdie, Uncut Gems
Best First Film Atlantics
Best Actor Antonio Banderas, Pain And Glory
Best Actress Lupita Nyong’o, Us
Best Supporting Actor Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Best Supporting Actress Laura Dern, Marriage Story and Little Women
Best Screenplay Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Best CinematographyPortrait of a Lady on Fire
Best Foreign Language FilmParasite
Best Non-Fiction FilmHoneyland
Best Animated FilmI Lost My Body
Special Awards
IndieCollect
Randy Newman
Cole Kronman (student scholarship)

Guillermo del Toro Named Best Director at This Year’s Golden Globes

It’s a long overdue first for Guillermo del Toro

The 53-year-old Mexican filmmaker picked up his first Golden Globe trophy at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards.

Guillermo del Toro

del Toro, who’d never been nominated before this year, took home the trophy for Best Director, for his inspired work on The Shape of Water.

Known for his work on monster movies like Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth and Blade, del Toro is considered a master of the genre.

In The Shape of Water, he continues in that same world, telling the story of a lonely janitor who forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held captive. It was originally conceived with 1960s monster movies in mind, but transformed into something quite different as the deep relationship between its characters evolved.

“Since childhood, I’ve been faithful to monsters,” said del Toro in his acceptance speech, calling them “patron saints of imperfection.” del Toro noted that he has spent 25 years handcrafting “very strange little tales” that ultimately “have saved my life.”  He closed by noting, “My monsters thank you.”

Meanwhile, Disney/Pixar’s hit Coco was named Best Animated Feature. The film’s director Lee Unkrich gave a shout-out “to the incredible people of Mexico” without whom he said the film would not exist.

The win follows best animated film honors from the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle.

Coco takes place during the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos. Directed by Unkrich and Adrian Molina, Coco follows a young boy, Miguel, who wishes to be a star-studded crooner of standards, just like his grandfather, the legendary singer Ernesto de la Cruz. However, music is of the devil in Miguel’s family, and de la Cruz is largely to blame for the curse. In order to make generational events correct, Miguel finds himself on the other side of life with relatives he’s only heard stories about.

The 75th anniversary Golden Globe Awards were handed out at the Beverly Hilton..

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Motion Picture, Drama: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Actress, Motion Picture Drama
: Frances Mcdormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Actor, Motion Picture Drama
: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Best Motion Picture, Musical/Comedy
: Lady Bird, Iac Films; A24
Best Actress, Motion Picture – Comedy
: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Best Direction, Film
: Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape Of Water
Best Limited TV Series/Made For TV Movie
: Big Little Lies, HBO, HBO Entertainment / David E. Kelly Productions / Pacific Standard / Blossom Films
Best TV Series, Comedy/Musical
: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amazon, Amazon Studios
Best Actor, Limited Tv Series/Made For TV Movie: 
Ewan Mcgregor, Fargo
Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
: Martin Mcdonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Supporting Actress, Motion Picture
: Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Best Animated Film
: Coco, Pixar Animation Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Best Supporting Actress TV Series/Limited Series/Tv Movie
: Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Best Actor Motion Picture, Musical/Comedy
: James Franco, The Disaster Artist
Best Original Song, Film
: “This Is Me” — The Greatest Showman, Music By: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Lyrics By: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul
Best Original Score, Film
: Alexandre Desplat, The Shape Of Water
Best Supporting Actor, TV Series/Limited Series/Made For TV Movie
: Alexander Skarsgård, Big Little Lies
Best TV Series, Drama: 
The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu, MGM
Best Actor, TV Series – Drama
: Sterling K. Brown This Is Us
Best Actress TV Series, Drama
: Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Best Actress TV, Musical/Comedy:
 Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Best Supporting Actor, Film:
 Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Actress Limited Series TV:
 Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies

NY Film Critics Circle Names Ramírez’s “Zero Dark Thirty” Best Film

Édgar Ramírez’s latest film is already proving to be an awards darling, even though it hasn’t been released in theaters yet…

Edgar Ramirez

The New York Film Critics Circle has named Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, which stars the 35-year-old Venezuelan actor as a military member, its film of the year.

The group also named Bigelow its best director for the war drama, which centers on the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Zero Dark Thirty came under criticism from various groups recently, claiming that Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal were granted access to classified documents by the Obama administration while making the film, which chronicles the manhunt that led to the eventual killing of bin Laden in a Navy SEA raid.

Bigelow and Boal went on Nightline last week to deny they had received classified information. “I certainly did a lot of homework, but I never asked for classified materials; to my knowledge, I never received any,” Boal told Martha Raddatz.

Zero Dark Thirty, which also stars Jessica Chastain, Chris Pratt and Joel Edgerton, will be released in U.S. theaters on December 19.