Austin Film Critics Release 2018 Awards Nominee Lists

The Austin Film Critics Association has just released the list of nominees for its 2018 film awards, and The Favourite is living up to its name so far, leading the pack with a total on nine nominations.

Among its honors, Yorgos Lanthimos' crackling depiction of political and sexual intrigue in the court of Queen Anne is one of the five feature to make the short list of contenders for best picture, joining Oakland gentrification dramedy Blindspotting and horror remake Suspiria. Plus there are two films by former AFCA best picture winners in contention: Barry Jenkins' follow-up to his 2016 best film winner Moonlight, literary adaptation If Beale Street Could Talk; and Roma by Alfonso Cuarón, who won in 2013 for Gravity.

The association has issued awards since its formation in 2005, but the list of categories expanded this year, with four new awards up for grabs that the members felt reflect the current state of the art: Best Ensemble, Best Editing, Best Stunts, and Best Motion Capture/Special Effects Performance.

The AFCA will announce the winners (including for the previously announced Austin Film Award) on Jan. 7, Now, here's the full list of nominees:

Best Film

Blindspotting
If Beale Street Could Talk
Roma
Suspiria
The Favourite

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk
Debra Granik, Leave No Trace
Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here
Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born
Christian Bale, Vice
Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Actress

Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade
Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Regina Hall, Support the Girls
Toni Collette, Hereditary

Best Supporting Actor

Brian Tyree Henry, If Beale Street Could Talk
Hugh Grant, Paddington 2
Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Steven Yeun, Burning

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, Vice
Claire Foy, First Man
Emma Stone, The Favourite
Rachel Weisz, The Favourite
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Original Screenplay

Eighth Grade
First Reformed
Roma
Sorry to Bother You
The Favourite

Best Adapted Screenplay

Blackkklansman
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
If Beale Street Could Talk
Leave No Trace
The Death of Stalin

Best Cinematography

Burning
First Man
If Beale Street Could Talk
Roma
The Favourite

Best Original Score

Annihilation
First Man
If Beale Street Could Talk
Mandy
Suspiria

Best Foreign Language Film

Burning
Cold War
Roma
Shoplifters
The Guilty

Best Documentary

Free Solo
Minding the Gap
RBG
Shirkers
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Best Animated Film

Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse

Best Ensemble

Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
Crazy Rich Asians
The Favourite
Widows

Best Editing

First Man
If Beale Street Could Talk
Roma
The Favourite
Widows

Best Motion Capture/Special Effects Performance

Ben Whishaw, Paddington 2
Josh Brolin, Avengers: Infinity War
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Solo: A Star Wars Story
Shameik Moore, Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse
Sonoya Mizuno, Annihilation

Best Stunts

Black Panther
Mandy
Mission Impossible: Fallout
The Night Comes for Us
Upgrade

Best First Film

A Star is Born (D. Bradley Cooper)
Blindspotting (D. Carlos López Estrada)
Eighth Grade (D. Bo Burnham)
Hereditary (D. Ari Aster)
Sorry To Bother You (D. Boots Riley)

Breakthrough Artist

Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You
Brian Tyree Henry, If Beale Street Could Talk, Widows, Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse
Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade
Jim Cummings, Thunder Road
Yalitza Aparicio, Roma

Austin Film Award

1985 (D. Yen Tan)
Call Her Ganda (D. PJ Raval)
Damsel (D. David & Nathan Zellner)
Run Like the Devil (D. Steve Mims)
Support the Girls (D. Andrew Bujalski)