How Tom Tangney voted for the 2019 Critics Choice Awards

I will be in Los Angeles this weekend for The Critics Choice Awards on Sunday. As a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Awards, I get to vote on these films, and will be there in person to make sure the awards go to the right people.

RELATED: Tangney’s top 10 films of 2018

Ahead of the fun on the CW starting at 4 p.m. Sunday, I thought I’d provide a peek at how I voted on the past year’s top films. I wonder how well my votes will align with the final winners.

Picture

“Roma:” Although the Golden Globes surprisingly and disappointingly gave their two best film awards to (egads!) “Green Book” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” I have faith that my fellow BFCA members will honor what is, far and away, the best film of the 10 nominees. A gorgeous black and white classic. My runner-up would be “The Favourite,” the film that garnered the most nominations (14).

Actor

Ethan Hawke in “First Reformed:” Hawke is very convincing as a tortured soul who’s grappling with personal, philosophical, and theological crises. My hunch, however, is that a more mainstream movie will snag this category, such as Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody” or Bradley Cooper in “A Star is Born.”

Actress

Olivia Colman in “The Favourite:” Colman’s Queen Anne is simultaneously imperious, pathetic, and hilarious. Historical dramas are rarely graced with such comic complexity. The surprise Golden Globe award for Glenn Close, along with her terrific acceptance speech, makes the star of “The Wife” a legitimate contender here, but not the favorite. My hunch though is that Lady Gaga will win for “A Star is Born,” and bring down the house. If she sings her acceptance speech, I can live with it.

Supporting Actor

Michael B. Jordan in “Black Panther:” Not the strongest of categories — everyone does solid if unexceptional work. So I voted for Jordan, for bringing a nice bit of character complexity to a comic book movie.

Supporting Actress

Emma Stone in “The Favourite:” This is Stone’s rival, both in the movie and on the awards circuit. Rachel Weisz has been garnering more of the honors, but I slightly preferred Stone’s desperate clawing her way into power to Weisz’s desperate clinging to the power she has already attained.

Young Actor/Actress

Elsie Fisher in “Eighth Grade:” Fisher perfectly embodies today’s 13-year-old mindset. She seems intimately acquainted with the strengths and foibles, mostly foibles, of adolescent girls. Heartbreaking and hilarious.

Acting Ensemble

“The Favourite:” Three exquisite actresses at the top of their game, and the men, all minor characters, are equally adept at their roles.

Director

Alphonso Cuaron for “Roma:” Given Roma’s autobiographical roots, it’s no wonder the director seems at one with the material. Best movie, best director.

Original Screenplay

“The Favourite:” My chance to recognize the sparkling dialogue of this 18th century send-up. The biting wit veers crazily between high-end and low-end verbiage. Paul Schrader’s great rejoinder to his own Taxi Driver script, “First Reformed,” is my second favorite screenplay.

Adapted Screenplay

“Blackkklansman:” Spike Lee and his writing colleagues made two crucial decisions that enrich the source material: making the white undercover officer Jewish and including news footage of Charlottesville. The first broadens the film’s examination of racism, and the latter makes the decades-old story suddenly as relevant as today’s news.

Cinematography

“Roma:” Hands down, the most gorgeous film of the year. The glorious black and white not only captures an era, it preserves it for all time.

A few other picks of mine for this year’s Critics Choice Awards:

Production Design: “The Favourite”
Editing: “Roma”
Costume Design: “The Favourite”
Hair and Make up: “Vice”
Visual Effects: “Avengers: Infinity War”
Animated Feature: “Isle of Dogs”
Action Movie: “Avengers: Infinity War”
Comedy: “The Death of Stalin”
Actor in a Comedy: Christian Bale, “Vice”
Actress in a Comedy: Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
Sci-Fi/Horror: “A Quiet Place”
Foreign Language Film: “Roma”
Song: “Shallow” from “A Star is Bor.”
Score: “If Beale Street Could Talk”

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