For the 17th year, Columbus Film Critics Association (COFCA) met to applaud the best film had to offer. A set of 26 print, radio, television and online critics, the group’s list of 2018 winners offered more surprises than usual, says COFCA president Mark Pfeiffer (Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema, Filmbound).
Among those honored, Barry Jenkins’s follow up to his Oscar winning Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk, took away the best picture award, while Regina King’s performance in the film nabbed her a nod for best supporting actress.
Alfonso Cuarón took two awards, for direction and cinematography (both for Roma), and Bryan Tyree Henry won the Actor of the Year for his exemplary body of work in 2018, including roles in If Beale Street Could Talk, Hotel Artemis, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, White Boy Rick and Widows.
“I thought the winners were a bit more unpredictable, in part because it doesn’t seem like they’re the pre-ordained winners,” Pfeiffer says. “I think we’re the only group to give Ben Foster a win (Best Actor for Leave No Trace), which I’m pleased with but I’m also kind of surprised by. I’m glad that our group didn’t feel like we were boxed into following along to what everybody else has done.”
Says George Wolf of Columbus Underground, “For me, this year brought the most satisfying group of nominees but also the most surprising winners.”
“As far as surprises, A Star is Born,” says Mark Jackson of MovieManJackson.com “I thought that would have a little more representation somewhere on the list in some way, shape or form. That was a huge shock in my mind.”
Pfeiffer thinks attention from the group might encourage folks to check out a film that could have otherwise flown under the radar. He mentions Private Life, which the group awarded the Best Overlooked Film prize.
“Perhaps we at least give a spotlight to some films that people haven’t heard about,” he says. “Maybe this is what pushes them over to check it out.”
Adam Kuhn of Corndog Chats was pleased to see Foster’s win.
“Ben Foster winning was a surprise, but a happy surprise,” he says. “Leave No Trace—I loved the love we gave to that. I thought that was a really overlooked film.”
“I think in small voting group like ours you get a lot of surprises like that,” says Logan Burd of Cinema or Cine-meh? “They’re people who won’t probably win Oscars or Golden Globes, so it’s nice they get the representation here.”
Complete list of awards:
Best Film
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- BlacKkKlansman
- The Favourite
- Eighth Grade
- Roma
- Black Panther
- Widows
- A Quiet Place
- First Man
- Hereditary
Best Director
- Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
- Runner-up: Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
Best Actor
- Ben Foster, Leave No Trace
- Runner-up: Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
Best Actress
- Olivia Colman, The Favourite
- Runners-up (tie): Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade and Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Best Supporting Actor
- Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
- Runner-up: Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther
Best Supporting Actress
- Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
- Runner-up: Emma Stone, The Favourite
Best Ensemble
- The Favourite
- Runner-up: Widows
Actor of the Year (for an exemplary body of work)
- Bryan Tyree Henry (Hotel Artemis, If Beale Street Could Talk, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, White Boy Rick, and Widows)
- Runner-up: Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns, A Quiet Place, and Sherlock Gnomes)
Breakthrough Film Artist
- Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade – (for directing and screenwriting)
- Runner-up: Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You – (for directing and screenwriting)
Best Cinematography
- Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
- Runner-up: Linus Sandgren, First Man
Best Film Editing
- Joe Walker, Widows
- Runners-up (tie): Alfonso Cuarón and Adam Gough, Roma
- Yorgos Mavropsaridis, The Favourite
Best Adapted Screenplay
- Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Wilmott & Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
- Runners-up (tie): Lee Chang-dong and Oh Jung-mi, Burning (Beoning)
- Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Best Original Screenplay
- Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade
- Runner-up: Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, The Favourite
Best Score
- Nicholas Britell, If Beale Street Could Talk
- Runner-up: Anna Meredith, Eighth Grade
Best Documentary
- Shirkers
- Runner-up: Free Solo
Best Foreign Language Film
- Shoplifters (Manbiki kazoku)
- Runner-up: Burning (Beoning)
Best Animated Film
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Runner-up: Incredibles 2
Best Overlooked Film
- Private Life
- Runner-up: Leave No Trace