As 2021 draws to a close, film critics in three major U.
S. cities—Los Angeles, New York, and Boston—have been announcing their choices for best films and performances of the year. Here’s a roundup of the results.
Los Angeles:
Appropriate for a city built around freeways, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association selected Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car for awards in the Best Picture and Best Screenplay categories, while also designating Hamaguchi the Runner-Up in the Best Director competition. The association picked Jane Campion as Best Director for The Power of the Dog, and chose Simon Rex (Red Rocket) as Best Actor and Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) as Best Actress.
Other laurels from the L.A. group went to Ahmir Thompson (Summer of Soul) for Best Documentary, Jonas Poher Rasmussen (Flee) for Best Animation, and to Céline Sciamma (Petite Maman) for Best Film Not in the English Language. The group’s lifetime Career Achievement this year went to Mel Brooks.
New York:
As did their counterparts in Los Angeles, the New York Film Critics Circle selected Hamaguchi Drive My Car as its choice for the Best Film of the year. only the second time since the 1980s that the award went to a film in a non-English language. Joan Campion captured the Best Director Award for The Power of the Dog, with two of its actors also winning accolades: Benedict Cumberbatch (Best Actor) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (Best Supporting Actor). Lady Gaga won the Best Actress nod for her role in House of Gucci.
Other prizes went to Paul Thomas Anderson for Best Screenplay (Licorice Pizza), Michael Rianda for Best Animated Film (The Mitchells vs. the Machines) and to Janusz Kaminski for Best Cinematography (West Side Story). Best Documentary award went to Jonas Poher Rasmussen (Flee) and the Best Foreign Language Film award was grabbed by Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World).
The New York group will bestow these and other awards at its 89th annual ceremony on January 10. Special awards will go to Maya Cade for the Black Film Archive, to the late Diane Wevermann for her socially relevant documentaries, and to critic Marshall Fine, the general manager of the New York Film Critics Circle.
Boston:
The Boston Society of Film Critics also singled out Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car for its Best Picture and Best Director awards. Hamaguchi and Takamase Oe also took the laurels for Best Screenplay.
Other prizes included Hidetoshi Nishijima (Best Actor, Drive My Car); Alana Haim (Best Actress, Licorice Pizza); Troy Kotsur (Best Supporting Actor, CODA); Jessie Buckley (Best Supporting Actress, The Lost Daughter). The Boston critics also designated Summer of Soul or… When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised as its choice for Best Documentary and The Power of the Dog as Best English-Language Film.
According to its website, The Boston Society of Film Critics was formed in 1981 to make the city’s “unique critical perspective heard on a national and international level.”