(This is my take on the year’s winners. The formal press release can be found on IndianaFilmJournalists.com)
The results are in and I’m happy to report that Lady Bird, the little engine that could, deservedly ran over the competition in 2017. I wasn’t part of the vote this cycle since I’m the newest member of the IFJA, but had I been in the Situation Room, Lady Bird would have been the film I’d championed. It’s as great, profoundly personal, and utterly specific as you’ve heard.
The rest of the list included a few peculiar yet no-less deserving winners, as per usual for the group. The late Harry Dean Stanton pulled off the “upset” for Best Actor in Lucky, and the heavily neo-noir Western influenced Logan came out with the win in Best Adapted Screenplay.
Personally, I’d have challenged the inclusion of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Last Jedi in the Top 10 list; the former is a terrible attempt at deconstructing racism/authoritarianism and the latter has a minor fault for every two strokes of genius. One flat-out bad and a few mediocre movies took the place of really excellent, challenging, thoughtful pieces of cinema. More deserving films are out there to be seen: A Ghost Story, Okja, The Big Sick, The Lost City of Z, Only the Brave, Wonder Woman, Baby Driver, and Good Time. I’ve yet to see Call Me By Your Name, but I feel its omission could be a big mistake. Time will tell.
Having said that, I’m happy with the way things shook out, and although accolades don’t matter much in the grand scheme of things, we just might see the Academy Awards unfold the same way in some of the major categories. Either way, Lady Bird is a winner – garnering the most awards the IFJA has ever given to a single film – and that’s fine by me. After all, the movie is as close to perfection as it gets.
The following is a complete list of honored films:
Best Film
Winner: Lady Bird
Runner-up: The Shape of Water
Other Finalists (listed alphabetically):
The Florida Project
The Post
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Animated Feature
Winner: Coco
Runner-Up: Loving Vincent
Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: Faces Places
Runner-Up: BPM (Beats Per Minute)
Best Documentary
Winner: Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992
Runner-Up: Liyana
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Runner-up: Jordan Peele, Get Out
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green, Logan
Runner-up: Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, Blade Runner 2049
Best Director
Winner: Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Runner-up: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
Best Actress
Winner: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Runner-up: Sally Hawkins, Maudie
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Runner-up: Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Best Actor
Winner: Harry Dean Stanton, Lucky
Runner-up: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Runner-up: Doug Jones, The Shape of Water
Best Vocal/Motion Capture Performance
Winner: Andy Serkis, War for the Planet of the Apes
Runner-up: Sean Gunn & Bradley Cooper, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Best Ensemble Acting
Winner: The Florida Project
Runner-up: The Post
Best Musical Score
Winner: Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water
Runner-up: Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch, Blade Runner 2049
Breakout of the Year
Winner: Timothée Chalamet, Lady Bird & Call Me By Your Name
Runner-up: Kogonada, Columbus
Original Vision Award
Winner: Loving Vincent
Runner-up: Brigsby Bear
The Hoosier Award
Winner: Kogonada, Columbus
(As a special award, no runner-up is declared in this category.)
About IFJA: The Indiana Film Journalists Association was established in February 2009. Members must reside in the Hoosier State and produce consistent, quality film criticism or commentary in any medium.
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