It’s that time of year again when the winners of the Georgia Film Critics Association awards are announced. I’ve seen more of our nominees (and winners) than I have in previous years, and there’s a lot going on with these selections. Here are the nominees, what won, and my thoughts as a voting member. I hope you enjoy!
2024 Georgia Film Critics Association Awards
Best Picture
“Anora” – WINNER
“The Brutalist”
“Challengers”
“Conclave”
“Dune: Part Two” – Runner-Up
“Flow”
“Nickel Boys”
“Sing Sing”
“The Substance”
“Wicked”
Thoughts: I mostly love the Top 10, but I’m a bit surprised about our runner-up. Well, maybe I shouldn’t be that surprised.
Best Director
“Anora”, Sean Baker
“The Brutalist”, Brady Corbet – Runner-Up
“Dune: Part Two”, Denis Villeneuve – WINNER
“Nickel Boys”, RaMell Ross
“The Substance”, Coralie Fargeat
Thoughts: I don’t anticipate this to be indicative of anything beyond our association’s love of “Dune: Part Two.”
Best Actor
Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”)
Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”)
Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”) – WINNER
Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”) – Runner-Up
Keith Kupferer (“Ghostlight”)
Thoughts: I love Kupferer’s nomination, and Domingo’s win.
Best Actress
Lily-Rose Depp (“Nosferatu”)
Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”)
Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”) – Runner-Up
Mikey Madison (“Anora”) – WINNER
Demi Moore (“The Substance”)
Thoughts: Not a surprising winner, but a nice change up on the runner-up.
Best Supporting Actor
Yura Borisoc (“Anora”)
Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”) – WINNER
Clarence Maclin (“Sing Sing”)
Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”) – Runner-Up
Denzel Washington (“Gladiator II”)
Thoughts: Pearce as our runner up is a bit of a surprise, even if the winner is not.
Best Supporting Actress
Danielle Deadwyler (“The Piano Lesson”) – WINNER
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (“Nickel Boys”)
Ariana Grande-Butera (“Wicked”) – Runner-Up
Katy O’Brian (“Love Lies Bleeding”)
Margaret Qualley (“The Substance”)
Zoe Saldaña (“Emilia Pérez”)
Thoughts: I love that Deadwyler is our winner here, as “The Piano Lesson” is- sadly- not getting a lot of love.
Best Original Screenplay
“Anora” (Sean Baker) – WINNER
“The Brutalist” (Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold) – Runner-Up
“Challengers” (Justin Kuritzkes)
“A Real Pain” (Jesse Eisenberg)
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (Mohammad Rasoulof)
“September 5” (Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David)
“The Substance” (Coralie Fargeat)
Thoughts: Reservations on the ending of “Brutalist” aside, the top two make sense.
Best Adapted Screenplay
“Conclave” (Peter Staughan) – Runner-Up
“Dune: Part Two” (Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts)
“Nickel Boys” (RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes) – WINNER
“Sing Sing” (Greg Kwedar, Clint Bentley)
“Wicked” (Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox)
Thoughts: I’m glad to see “Nickel Boys” win this one.
Best Cinematography
“The Brutalist” (Lol Crawley)
“Dune: Part Two” (Greig Fraser) – WINNER
“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” (Đinh Duy Hưng)
“Nickel Boys” (Jomo Fray)
“Nosferatu” (Jarin Blaschke) – Runner-Up
Thoughts: Both winner and runner-up are great, but man does this feel like a miss neither “Nickel Boys” nor “The Brutalist” are in those slots.
Best Production Design
“The Brutalist” (Judy Becker, Patricia Cuccia)
“Dune: Part Two” (Patrice Vermette, Shane Vieau) – Runner-Up
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (Colin Gibson, Katie Sharrock)
“Nosferatu” (Craig Lathrop) – WINNER
“Wicked” (Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales)
Thoughts: I’m fine with these two dominating here.
Best Original Score
“The Brutalist” (Daniel Blumberg)
“Challengers” (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross) – WINNER
“Conclave” (Volker Bertelmann)
“Dune: Part Two” (Hans Zimmer) – Runner-Up
“The Wild Robot” (Kris Bowers)
Thoughts: This is looking like a category I’m going to be very apathetic for this year, considering the big winner so far is a score I’m not high on.
Best Original Song
“Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” – Jessi Alexander, Luke Combs, Jonathan Singleton (“Twisters”)
“Compress/Repress” – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (“Challengers”) – WINNER
“El Mal” – Clément Ducol, Camille, Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Pérez”)
“Kiss the Sky” – Delacey, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack, Ali Tamposi (“The Wild Robot”) – Runner-Up
“Sick in the Head” – Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Próvaí, Adrian Louis Richard Mcleod, Toddla T (“Kneecap”)
Thoughts: I like the variety, but I have no strong feelings on any of these.
Best Ensemble
“Conclave” – WINNER
“Dune: Part Two”
“Saturday Night”
“Sing Sing” – Runner-Up
“Wicked”
Thoughts: Both are deserving, even if I would have reversed the order.
Best International Film
“All We Imagine as Light” – Runner-Up
“Flow” – WINNER
“Kneecap”
“Red Rooms”
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
Thoughts: I love this win for “Flow,” even if I would have loved to see more love for “Red Rooms.”
Best Animated Film
“Flow” – WINNER
“Inside Out 2”
“Memoir of a Snail”
“Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”
“The Wild Robot” – Runner-Up
Thoughts: In a stacked category, these two are the best.
Best Documentary Film
“No Other Land”
“The Remarkable Life of Ibelin”
“Sugarcane” – Runner-Up
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Movie” – WINNER
“Will & Harper”
Thoughts: I really like “Super/Man,” but not more than at least two of these.
Breakthrough Award
Clarence Maclin
Mikey Madison – Runner-Up
Katy O’Brian
RaMell Ross – WINNER
Maisy Stella
Thoughts: In a category of great nominees, there’s no way this could have missed.
Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema
“Civil War” (Alex Garland) – Runner-Up
“Color Book” (David Fortune)
“The Forge” (Alex Kendrick, Stephen Kendrick)
“The Idea of You” (Michael Showalter, Robinne Lee, Jennifer Westfeldt)
“Juror #2” (Clint Eastwood, Jonathan A. Abrams) – WINNER
“Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World” (short; Julio Palacio Makayla Cain)
“The Piano Lesson” (Malcolm Washington, Virgil Williams, August Wilson)
“The Preakness” (short; Akshay Bhatia)
“Saturday Night” (Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan)
“The South Got Something to Say” (Ryon Horne, Tyson Horne, Ernie Suggs, DeAsia Paige)
Thoughts: Two of the best known choices as the winners make sense.
Viva La Resistance!
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
