Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” is the clear favorite with the Chicago Film Critics Association, earning the most nominations of all for their 2018 film awards with nine. In addition to being one of the finalists for Best Picture, Cuaron himself was personally nominated in four additional categories for Director, Original Screenplay, Cinematography and Editing, the latter alongside Adam Gough. Yalitza Aparicio, the non-professional chosen by Cuaron to star in the film received two nominations herself for Best Actress and Most Promising Performer and it also received nods for Art Direction/Production Design and Foreign Film.
“The Favourite,” the outrageous historical comedy-drama about two embittered cousins vying for the favor of Queen Anne, and “A Star is Born,” tied for second place with seven nominations each, including Best Picture nods
Four films – “First Reformed,” “You Were Never Really Here,” “If Beale Street Could Talk,” and “First Man,” ended up tying for third place with four nominations apiece. “First Reformed,” Paul Schrader’s powerful drama about a minister whose increasingly bleak view of the world drives him to the brink of despair earned nominations for Schrader for Director and Original Screenplay and Ethan Hawke for Best Actor in addition to Best Picture. “You Were Never Really Here,” the shocking and brutal story of a emotionally traumatized veteran who stumbles upon a conspiracy while looking for a missing girl, received nominations for Lynne Ramsey for Director, Joaquin Phoenix for Actor, Jonny Greenwood for Original Score and Joe Bini for Editing. “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Barry Jenkins’s adaptation of the celebrated James Baldwin novel earned him a nomination for Adapted Screenplay as well as additional citations for Cinematography and Original Score as well as one for Regina King for Supporting Actress. “First Man,” Damien Chazelle’s look at the life of astronaut Neil Armstrong and the mission that made him the first person to set foot on the moon, scored well in the technical categories, earning nominations for Editing, Cinematography, Original Score and in the newly instituted category of Best Use of Visual Effects.
Rounding out the Best Picture category was the chilling horror film “Hereditary,” which also earned nominations for Toni Colette for Best Actress and director Ari Aster for Most Promising Filmmaker.
Among the other films cited by the group, the true life drama “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” earned nominations for Melissa McCarthy for Best Actress, Richard E. Grant for Supporting Actor and Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty for Adapted Screenplay. “Eighth Grade,” the cringe-worthy comedy-drama about a girl negotiating the last week of eighth grade, earned writer-director Bo Burnham two nominations for Original Screenplay and Most Promising Filmmaker and one for young star Elsie Fisher for Most Promising Performer.
The CFCA will announce its winners during their year-end awards dinner to be held on the evening of December 8, 2018
2018 Chicago Film Critics Association Award Nominations
BEST PICTURE
The Favourite
First Reformed
Hereditary
Roma
A Star is Born
BEST PICTURE
Bradley Cooper(-) A Star is Born
Alfonso Cuaron (-) Roma
Yorgos Lanthimos (-) The Favourite
Lynne Ramsay (-) You Were Never Really Here
Paul Schrader (-) First Reformed
BEST ACTOR
Christian Bale (-) Vice
Bradley Cooper (-) A Star is Born
Ethan Hawke (-) First Reformed
Rami Malek (-) Bohemian Rhapsody
Joaquin Phoenix (-) You Were Never Really Here
BEST ACTRESS
Yalitza Aparicio (-) Roma
Toni Collette (-) Hereditary
Regina Hall (-) Support the Girls
Lady Gaga (-) A Star is Born
Melissa McCarthy (-) Can You Ever Forgive Me?
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali (-) Green Book
Timothee Chalamet (-) Beautiful Boy
Richard E. Grant (-) Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Michael B. Jordan (-) Black Panther
Steven Yeun (-) Burning
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Olivia Colman (-) The Favourite
Elizabeth Debicki (-) Widows
Zoe Kazan (-) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Regina King (-) If Beale Street Could Talk
Rachel Weisz (-) The Favourite
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eighth Grade (-) Bo Burnham
The Favourite (-) Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara
First Reformed (-) Paul Schrader
Roma (-) Alfonso Cuaron
Vice (-) Adam McKay
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
BlacKkKlansman (-) Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Wilmott & Spike Lee
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (-) Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty
The Death of Stalin (-) Armando Iannucci, David Schneidere & Ian Martin
If Beale Street Could Talk (-) Barry Jenkins
A Star is Born (-) Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Ruben Brandt: Collector
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Free Solo
Minding the Gap
RBG
Three Identical Strangers
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Burning
Capernaum
Cold War
Roma
Shoplifters
MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER
Ari Aster (-) Hereditary
Bo Burnham (-) Eighth Grade
Bradley Cooper (-) A Star is Born
Bing Liu (-) Minding the Gap
Boots Riley (-) Sorry to Bother You
MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Yalitza Aparicio (-) Roma
Elsie Fisher (-) Eighth Grade
Lady Gaga (-) A Star is Born
Thomasin McKenzie (-) Leave No Trace
John David Washington (-) BlacKkKlansman
BEST EDITING
First Man (-) Tom Cross
The Other Side of the Wind (-) Orson Welles & Bob Murawski
Roma (-) Alfonso Cuaron & Adam Gough
Widows (-) Joe Walker
You Were Never Really Here (-) Joe Bini
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cold War (-) Lukasz Zal
The Favourite (-) Robbie Ryan
First Man (-) Linus Sandgren
If Beale Street Could Talk (-) James Paxton
Roma (-) Alfonso Cuaron
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
First Man (-) Justin Hurwitz
If Beale Street Could Talk (-) Nicholas Britell
Mandy (-) Johann Johannsson
Suspiria (-) Thom Yorke
You Were Never Really Here (-) Jonny Greenwood
BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
Annihilation
Black Panther
The Favourite
Paddington 2
Roma
BEST USE OF VISUAL EFFECTS
Annihilation
Black Panther
First Man
Mission: Impossible—Fallout
Paddington 2