Take a brief look at the nominations for the Florida Film Critics Circle's 2019 awards and you might wonder if something's up with their voting system. Three nominations per category here, seven nominations there - it all seems a bit haphazard, right? But then take a closer look at the nominations and you might wonder if something's also up with their tastes. This is a weird bunch, and not because it bravely resists the tired old awards season narrative, but because it appears to both resist it and succumb to it.
See, for example, the curious absence of Parasite in Best Picture and Director. See Little Women making a Director lineup of three but otherwise showing up only twice, and not even in a Supporting Actress lineup of seven. See top awards contenders like Lupita Nyong'o and Martin Scorsese... or rather, don't see them, because they're not here. See sporadic, and welcome, support for movies like A Hidden Life and Weathering with You, and then see the less welcome near-total omission of POC in directing and acting categories. It's all very, very odd.
Winners will be announced on Monday, the 23rd of December.
Best Picture
1917
Ad Astra
The Irishman
Marriage Story
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Best Director
Greta Gerwig (Little Women)
Sam Mendes (1917)
Celine Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
Best Actress
Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story)
Elisabeth Moss (Her Smell)
Florence Pugh (Midsommar)
Charlize Theron (Bombshell)
Renee Zellweger (Judy)
Best Actor
Antonio Banderas (Pain & Glory)
Adam Driver (Marriage Story)
Taron Egerton (Rocketman)
Joaquin Phoenix (Joker)
Franz Rogowski (Transit)
Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems)
Best Supporting Actress
Annette Bening (The Report)
Laura Dern (Marriage Story)
Isla Fisher (The Beach Bum)
Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit)
Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers)
Margot Robbie (Bombshell)
Zhao Shu Zhen (The Farewell)
Best Supporting Actor
Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood)
Anthony Hopkins (The Two Popes)
John Lithgow (Bombshell)
Joe Pesci (The Irishman)
Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood)
Best Original Screenplay
Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story)
Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won (Parasite)
Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie (Uncut Gems)
Celine Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood)
Lulu Wang (The Farewell)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster (A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood)
Greta Gerwig (Little Women)
Terrence Malick (A Hidden Life)
Anthony McCarten (The Two Popes)
Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit)
Steven Zaillian (The Irishman)
Best Cinematography
Roger Deakins (1917)
Claire Mathon (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
Hoyte van Hoytema (Ad Astra)
Jord Widmer (A Hidden Life)
Best Art Direction / Production
Kevin Constant, Christa Munro, Alison Sadler, David Scott and Gary Warsaw (Ad Astra)
Simon Elsley, Elaine Kusmishko, Rod McLean, Niall Moroney, Stephen Swain and Robert Voyset (1917)
Barbara Ling (Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood)
Best Score
Hildur Gudnadottir (Joker)
Daniel Lopatin (Uncut Gems)
Randy Newman (Marriage Story)
Thomas Newman (1917)
Max Richter (Ad Astra)
Best Visual Effects
Ad Astra
Alita: Battle Angel
Avengers: Endgame
Best Ensemble
The Farewell
The Irishman
Little Women
Marriage Story
Parasite
Best Animated Film
Frozen II
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Toy Story 4
Weathering with You
Best Documentary
American Factory
Apollo 11
The Biggest Little Farm
Honeyland
Best Foreign Language Film
The Farewell
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Pain & Glory
Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Breakout Award
Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Rabbit)
Florence Pugh (Fighting with My Family / Little Women / Midsommar)
Honor Swinton Byrne (The Souvenir)
Lulu Wang (The Farewell)
Best First Film
Booksmart
Honeyland
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Queen & Slim
Image credit: MovieStillsDB