A day before the Golden Globes, the ritzy televised awards show declaring entertainment excellence as voted upon by a small group of shadowy figures, a polar opposite event took place in New York City. The National Society of Film Critics, a group so erudite they named the inscrutable Jean-Luc Godard picture Goodbye to Language (worldwide gross, $566,423) the best movie of 2014, collected to declare their winners.
The NSFC was founded in 1966 as something of an alternative to the New York Film Critics Circle, though today there are many who are members of both groups. (Among them, V.F.’s critics Richard Lawson and K. Austin Collins.) Its members live and work all over the country.
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite took the top prize, as it did with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. (It won best foreign language film with the NYFCC.) The South Korean satire is pretty much a lock for the foreign language Oscar, and it may even end up the rare best picture nominee not in English. (It is up for direction, screenwriting and best foreign language Golden Globes.) Parasite also won the NSFC’s best screenplay award for Bong and his collaborator Han Jin-won.
But Bong came up a few points shy to win director. Beating him, and making her first appearance with major critics groups, was Greta Gerwig for her adaptation of Little Women. Gerwig’s name is noticeably absent from the Golden Globes’s list of director nominees.
Many of the 2019 choices were in sync with other critics groups, like Laura Dern winning for best supporting actress. As with the NYFCC, Dern’s award is a nod both for Marriage Story and Little Women. (Who will stump for the avenging snowblower film Cold Pursuit?!?) Dern is also nominated for a Golden Globe and took home the top prize from critics groups in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, St. Louis, Toronto and Vancouver.
Similarly simpatico with other groups was the NSFC’s pick of Antonio Banderas for best actor. The star of Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory won with the NYFCC and the LAFCA, and is also nominated for a Golden Globe.
Somewhat against the grain was their best supporting actor choice of Brad Pitt for Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood. Pitt has a Globes nomination and might find himself with an Oscar nomination. The superstar stated that he is “not actively campaigning” for kudos this year, but he has popped up at a few high profile events recently and won prizes from smaller groups.
Another notable pick, which dovetails with the LAFCA’s awards and a shout-out by former cineaste-in-chief Barack Obama, was Mary Kay Place for best actress. Her dazzling turn in the intimate, low budget drama Diane, written and directed by outgoing New York Film Festival head Kent Jones , is one of the year’s finest performances, and if commendations like this get even one additional person to check out this much-overlooked movie it is, as they say, a mitzvah.
Claire Mathon’s cinematography win for Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Atlantics mirrors both the Los Angeles and New York groups. Honeyland won for best documentary. The group’s bylaws state that if a foreign language film (or a documentary) wins best picture, that category is eliminated, so Parasite winning the top prize nixed a foreign language award this year.
Of note: the NFSC is one of the groups that announces their runners-up, and Florence Pugh proved to be in contention both for lead actress (Midsommar) and supporting (Little Women). It’s also fun to see Wesley Snipes in the mix.
You can further scrutinize the list of winners and almost-winners by checking out the group’s Twitter timeline.