La La Land Big Winner
La La Land wins top honors at Houston Film Critics Society Film Awards
In what is likely to mirror this year's Oscars, the Hollywood musical La La Land was the big winner at the 10th annual Houston Film Critics Society Film Awards, which were announced at the Midtown Arts & Theatre Center Friday night. The movie won seven awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Damien Chazelle), Best Cinematography (Linus Sandgren), Best Original Score (Justin Hurwitz), Best Song ("City of Stars"), Technical Achievement for the film's production design, and Best Poster.
However the film's stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were shut out in the top acting roles. Best Actor went to Casey Affleck for Manchester By The Sea andNatalie Portman won Best Actress for Jackie.
Moonlight, which won the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association's Best Film award as well as many national honors, was overlooked by the Houston film critics, although it was nominated in seven categories.
Other winners from the Houston film critics include:
Best Supporting Actor: Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Fences
Best Screenplay: Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water
Best Animated Film:Kubo and the Two Strings
Best Documentary: O.J.: Made in America
Best Foreign Film:The Handmaiden
Outstanding Cinematic Contribution: The Alamo Drafthouse
Lifetime Achievement: Margo Martindale
Texas Independent Film Award:Tower
Worst Film: Zoolander 2
Thirty film critics and reporters from the Houston metropolitan area took part in the voting. The awards ceremony was hosted by CW39's Maggie Flecknoe. Actress Margaret Bowman, who lives in Humble, accepted two awards on behalf of Hell or High Water, in which she co-stars, and animation director/co-producer Craig Staggs accepted the award for his film, Tower.