“Parasite” has been named the best film of 2019 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, which announced its annual awards on Sunday. “The Irishman” was runner-up.
The twisted Korean black comedy also won awards for director Bong Joon Ho and supporting actor Song Kang Ho, and it was runner-up in the screenplay and production design categories. “The Irishman” did not win any awards but finished second to “Parasite” for picture, director and supporting actor (Joe Pesci).
This marked the second year in a row that the L.A. critics have named a film not in English the year’s best, and the fifth time in their 45-year history. All of those wins have taken place in the last 20 years: “Roma” last year, “Amour” in 2012, “Letters From Iwo Jima” in 2006 and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in 2000.
Antonio Banderas won the best-actor award for “Pain and Glory,” the same prize he claimed from the New York Film Critics Circle. Adam Driver was named runner-up for “Marriage Story.” Mary Kay Place won the best-actress prize for the small indie “Diane,” with Lupita Nyong’o taking runner-up for “Us.”
Jennifer Lopez’s performance as a stripper looking to turn the tables on her colleagues got perhaps unexpected critical support from LAFCA voters, who gave her the supporting-actor award over runner-up Zhao Shuzhen for “The Farewell.”
“I Lost My Body” was named the best animated film over runner-up “Toy Story 4,” while “American Factory” beat “Apollo 11” for best nonfiction film. “Pain and Glory” was named best foreign-language film over “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” in a vote that took place after “Parasite” had won the best-picture award.
In the craft categories, Claire Mathon was voted the prize for cinematography for her work on both “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and “Atlantics,” Barbara Ling won for her production design of “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” Dan Levy was honored for his music to the animated film “I Lost My Body” and Todd Douglas Miller took the editing award for “Apollo 11,” the second year in a row the critics have given this prize to a nonfiction film. (“Minding the Gap” won last year.)
Last year, five of the LAFCA winners went on to win the Oscar: actresses Olivia Colman and Regina King, animated film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Roma” cinematographer Alfonso Cuaron and “Black Panther” production designer Hannah Beachler.
The LAFCA best-film winner has won the Oscar for Best Picture 10 times in the 45 years the organization has been giving out awards, including three times in the last decade: “The Hurt Locker” in 2009, “Spotlight” in 2015 and “Moonlight” in 2016.
The group consists of 62 Los Angeles-based film critics working in print and electronic media. (TheWrap’s Alonso Duralde is a member.)
The awards will be given out at an awards dinner on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City. Also at that ceremony, director-writer-actress Elaine May will be honored with this year’s Career Achievement Award.
The 2019 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards:
Best Film: “Parasite”
Runner-up: “The Irishman”
Best Director: Bong Joon Ho, “Parasite”
Runner-up: Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman”
Best Actor: Antonio Banderas, “Pain and Glory”
Runner-up: Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”
Best Actress: Mary Kay Place, “Diane”
Runner-up: Lupita Nyong’o, “Us”
Best Supporting Actor: Song Kang Ho, “Parasite”
Runner-up: Joe Pesci, “The Irishman”
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lopez, “Hustlers”
Runner-up: Zhao Shuzhen, “The Farewell”
Best Foreign-Language Film: “Pain and Glory”
Runner-up: “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”
Best Documentary/Nonfiction Film: “American Factory”
Runner-up: “Apollo 11”
Best Animated Film: “I Lost My Body”
Runner-up: “Toy Story 4”
Best Screenplay: Noah Baumbach, “Marriage Story”
Runner-up: Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won, “Parasite”
Best Cinematography: Claire Mathon, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and “Atlantics”
Runner-up: Roger Deakins, “1917”
Best Editing: Todd Douglas Miller, “Apollo 11”
Runner-up: Ronald Bronstein & Benny Safdie, “Uncut Gems”
Best Music/Score: Dan Levy, “I Lost My Body”
Runner-up: Thomas Newman, “1917”
Best Production Design: Barbara Ling, “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”
Runner-up: Ha Jun Lee, “Parasite”
New Generation Award: Joe Talbot, Jimmie Fails and Jonathan Majors, “The Last Black Man in San Francisco”
Douglas E. Edwards Independent/Experimental Film/Video: “The Giverny Document,” Ja’Tovia Gary