‘One Battle’ and ‘Sinners’ dominate; MBJ shocks ’em at KCFCC awards

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The Kansas City Film Critics Circle has announced the winners of the 60th annual James Loutzenhiser Awards, with One Battle After Another leading this year’s selections. The film earned Best Film, while Paul Thomas Anderson received the Robert Altman Award for Best Director. The film also collected honors for Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography.

The acting awards were spread across several of the year’s most acclaimed performances. Michael B. Jordan was named Best Actor for Sinners, while Rose Byrne earned Best Actress for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Amy Madigan received Best Supporting Actress for Weapons, which also won Best Original Screenplay. Sinners added victories for Best Original Score and the Vince Koehler Award for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Film.

KPop Demon Hunters was named Best Animated Feature, It Was Just an Accident received Best Foreign Language Film, and Secret Mall Apartment won Best Documentary. Hedda received the Tom Poe Award for Best LGBTQ Film, while Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning earned the Buster Keaton Award for Best Stunt Ensemble Film.

COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS

BEST FILM: One Battle After Another

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

BEST ACTOR: Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

BEST ACTRESS: Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Madigan, Weapons

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Weapons

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: One Battle After Another

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: One Battle After Another

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Sinners

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: KPop Demon Hunters

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: It Was Just an Accident

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Secret Mall Apartment

VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/HORROR: Sinners

TOM POE AWARD FOR BEST LGBTQ FILM: Hedda

BUSTER KEATON AWARD FOR BEST STUNT ENSEMBLE FILM: Mission: Impossible, The Final Reckoning

Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards ‘The Substance’

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On January 4th, the members of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle (KCFCC) voted on 16 categories to decide the winners of the 59th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards. The categories included the Robert Altman Award for Best Director, the Vince Koehler Award For Best Sci-Fi/ Fantasy/ Horror Film, and the Tom Poe Award For Best LGBTQ Film. While Dune: Part II received the most nominations, it found itself runner-up in multiple categories, though it didn’t win any awards. This year also saw the introduction of the Buster Keaton Award for Best Stunt Ensemble Film, with the honors fittingly going to The Fall Guy. The biggest winner of the day was The Substance, managing to secure victory in 6 out of the 7 categories in which it was nominated, the lone defeat coming in Best Original Score.

The KCFCC, the second oldest professional film critic organization in the United States, was founded in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser (1931-2001) who served as the group’s president for over 30 years. Other winners of note included a tie between Demi Moore (The Substance) & Mikey Madison (Anora) for Best Actress. Animated feature Flow won Best Foreign Language Film. Meanwhile David Dastmalchian, who grew up in the Kansas City metropolitan area, picked up the award for Best Actor, for his portrayal in LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL. Below is a complete list of the winners and runners-up from the 59th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards:

BEST FILM

Winner: THE SUBSTANCE

Runner-Up: DUNE: PART II

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR

Winner: Coralie Fargeat – THE SUBSTANCE

Runner-Up: Sean Baker – ANORA

BEST ACTOR

Winner: David Dastmalchian – LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL

Runner-Up: Ralph Fiennes – CONCLAVE

BEST ACTRESS

Winner (TIE): Mikey Madison – ANORA

Winner (TIE): Demi Moore – THE SUBSTANCE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Winner: Kieran Culkin – A REAL PAIN

Runner Up: Yura Borisov – ANORA

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Winner: Margaret Qualley – THE SUBSTANCE

Runner-Up: Danielle Deadwyler – THE PIANO LESSON

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Winner: THE SUBSTANCE

Runner-Up: ANORA

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Winner: CONCLAVE

Runner-Up: NICKEL BOYS

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Winner: THE BRUTALIST

Runner-Up: CIVIL WAR

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Winner: CHALLENGERS

Runner-Up: CONCLAVE

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Winner: THE WILD ROBOT

Runner-Up: FLOW

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Winner: FLOW

Runner-Up: EMILIA PÉREZ

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Winner: WILL & HARPER

Runner-Up: SEEKING MAVIS BEACON         

VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/HORROR

Winner: THE SUBSTANCE

Runner-Up: DUNE: PART TWO

TOM POE AWARD FOR BEST LGBTQ FILM

Winner: I SAW THE TV GLOW

Runner-Up: EMILIA PÉREZ

BUSTER KEATON AWARD FOR THE BEST STUNT ENSEMBLE FILM

Winner: THE FALL GUY

Runner-Up (TIE): FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA/ DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE

Kansas City Film Critics Circle awards ‘Oppenheimer’

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Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, nominated in seven categories, received six awards at the 58th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards voted on by the 26 members of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle (KCFCC). These included Best Film, the Robert Altman Award for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey, Jr. While Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon was runner-up in multiple categories, it’s lone win was for Best Actress in recognition of Lily Gladstone’s breakout performance.

The KCFCC, the second oldest professional film critic organization in the United States, was founded in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser (1931-2001) who served as the group’s president for over 30 years. Other winners of note included a tie between Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) & Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) for Best Actor. Marvel was recognized again this year with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse winning for Best Animated Feature.
 
Below is a complete list of the winners and runners-up from the 58th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards:
 
BEST FILM: Oppenheimer
Runner-up: Killers of the Flower Moon
 
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Runner-up: Greta Gerwig, Barbie
 
BEST ACTOR: Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers and Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer (Tie)
 
BEST ACTRESS: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Runner-up: Sandra Huller, Anatomy of a Fall
 
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Robert Downey, Jr., Oppenheimer
Runner-up: Ryan Gosling, Barbie
 
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Runner-up: Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
 
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Anatomy of a Fall and Past Lives (Tie)
 
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Runner-up: Killers of the Flower Moon
 
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Oppenheimer
Runner-up: Killers of the Flower Moon
 
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Oppenheimer
Runner-up: Killers of the Flower Moon
 
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Runner-up: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
 
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Anatomy of a Fall (France)
Runner-ups: The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom)
 
BEST DOCUMENTARY: 20 Days in Mariupol and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Tie)
 
VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/HORROR FILM: Godzilla Minus One
Runner-up: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
 
TOM POE AWARD FOR THE BEST LGBTQ FILM: All of Us Strangers
Runner-up: Maestro

‘Everything, Everywhere All at Once’ wins big with Kansas City Film Critics Circle

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On Sunday, January 22nd, the Kansas City Film Critics Circle held their 57th annual James Loutzenhiser Awards and this year’s sci-fi mind bender, Everything Everywhere All at Once was the big winner of the day winning an incredible six awards from the KCFCC: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, the Tom Poe Award for Best LGBTQ Film, and the Vince Koehler Award for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Film.

Here’s a look at all the winners:

Best Film
Everything Everywhere All at Once

Robert Altman Award for Best Director
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Actor
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Actress
Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Supporting Actor
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Supporting Actress
Janelle Monáe, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Best Original Screenplay
Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Adapted Screenplay
Sarah Polley, Women Talking

Best Cinematography
NOPE

Best Original Score (TIE)
RRR
NOPE

Best Animated Feature
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Best Foreign Language Film
RRR

Best Documentary
Jackass Forever

Vince Koehler Award for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Film
Everything Everywhere All at Once

Tom Poe Award for Best LGBTQ Film
Everything Everywhere All at Once

‘The Power of the Dog’ leads the winners from the KCFCC

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Members of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle met virtually to vote on Sunday January 16th for the 56th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards and “The Power of the Dog” led by Benedict Cumberbatch and director Jane Campion led the pack of winners.

Adapted to screen from the novel by Thomas Savage, “The Power of the Dog” took home three of the top awards from the KCFCC, including Best Film, the Robert Altman Award for Best Director (Jane Campion), and Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch).

“The Power of the Dog” was the only film to win multiple awards from the Kansas City Film Critics.

Below is a complete list of the winners of the 56th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards: 

BEST FILM: “The Power of the Dog”(Runner-up: “West Side Story”) 

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”(Runner-up: Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”) 

BEST ACTOR: Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”(Runner-up: Andrew Garfield, “Tick, Tick…BOOM!”) 

BEST ACTRESS: Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter”(Runner-up: Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”) 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Ciaran Hinds, “Belfast”(Runner-up: Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”) 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Ann Dowd, “Mass”(Runner-up: Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story”) 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: “Licorice Pizza”(Runner-up: “The French Dispatch”) 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: “West Side Story”(Runner-up: “Drive My Car”) 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: “The Tragedy of MacBeth”(Runner-up: “Dune”) 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: “The Mitchells vs the Machines”(Runner-up: “Flee”) 

BEST FOREIGN FILM: “Drive My Car” – Japan(Runner-ups: “The Worst Person in the World” – Norway) 

BEST DOCUMENTARY: “Summer of Soul”(Runner-up: “Procession”) 

VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/HORROR FILM: “The Green Knight”(Runner-up: “Dune”) 

TOM POE AWARD FOR THE BEST LGBT FILM: “Flee”(Runner-up: “The Power of the Dog”)

KCFCC movie reviews 1.29.21

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Check out the slew of new movie reviews from your friendly neighborhood Kansas City Film Critics. Today, we’ll organize by critic so you can get to know us!

Katey Stoetzel, TheYoungFolks.com

Movie: Censor

Director Prano Bailey-Bond creates an ode to the 1980s and horror films of the era with Censor. Fans of the video nasties, as they were called, will certainly love the visual references and call outs of the genre. However, the film struggles to find its footing between the story of Enid (Niamh Algar) and the descent into the genre itself. 

Enid is a film censor, someone who monitors horror films for excessive gore, rape, and murder. Bailey-Bond, in her debut feature film,

READ KATEY’S FULL REVIEW: CENSOR

Simonie Wilson, Courier Tribune

Movie: The Little Things

When you see the cast of a cop thriller includes Denzel Washington (“Training Day,” “Fences”), Jared Leto (“Suicide Squad,” “Blade Runner 2049”) and Rami Malek (“Night at the Museum,” “24”), it makes you wonder who will be playing the bad guy in “The Little Things.”

Right from the beginning, we learn Denzel and Rami are the cops; the question of who the good guys actually are is the central theme of the film to the end.

In addition, with John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side,” “Saving Mr. Banks”) on board as both writer and director, this star-studded event…

READ SIMONIE’S FULL REVIEW: THE LITTLE THINGS

Nathan Swank, Flix66

Movie: Promising Young Woman

There is something strangely bright and cheerful about this very dark and disturbing… Drama? Horror? Comedy? Well, it’s a revenge thriller at heart. But PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN has all these wonderful layers that overlap so many incredible genres.

Writer and director Emerald Fennell crafts a wickedly perfect, on point and thoroughly entertaining movie about male’s privileged predatory acts towards women without consequences. Without consequences as long as you don’t run into Cassandra.

READ NATHAN’S FULL REVIEW: PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Dan Lybarger, Arkansas Democratic Gazette

Movie: Supernova

“Supernova” is deeply affecting but its bombastic title is a misdirection.

This is Harry Macqueen’s second feature film as a director, but there is a dearth of loud “Oscar Clip” moments. With Actors as good as Oscar-winner Colin Firth and Oscar-nominee Stanley Tucci, Macqueen can make a film that concentrates on small, even mundan moments and make them engrossing. Watching either of them fumbling with sheets of paper is more involving than hearing a lot of performers bellow soliloquies.

READ DAN’S FULL REVIEW: SUPERNOVA

Alan Rapp, Razorfine.com

Movie: Vast of Night

Presented as something very similar to an episode from the original Twilight Zone, The Vast of Night offers a glimpse into a non-descript small town on a night when almost all are gathered for a high school basketball game and only a scattered few become aware of odd goings on in the night sky. The small town, set in the 1950s, focused on radio and reel-to-reel recordings…

READ ALANS FULL REVIEW: VAST OF NIGHT

Movie: Nomadland

Nomadland is a quiet, contemplative film not unlike Into the Wild or Wild in which a character leaves behind the conventions of society in search of something their former life can no longer offer. In the case of writer/director Chloé Zhao‘s tale, adapted from the book by Jessica Bruder, our character is an older widow who has lost nearly everything in the Great Recession including the home she made with her late husband when the town completely collapsed.

READ ALAN’S FULL REVIEW: NOMADLAND

‘Nomadland’, ‘Promising Young Woman’ tie for KCFCC Best Picture

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For the sixth time in its esteemed 55-year history, the Kansas City Film Critics Circle (KCFCC) was deadlocked in its Best Film category. At this year’s James Loutzenhiser Awards, “Nomadland” by Chloé Zao and “Promising Young Woman” by Emerald Fennell ended up sharing the group’s top honor. “Nomadland” also received awards in the Best Director and Adapted Screenplay categories, while “Promising Young Woman” won Best Actress and Original Screenplay. They were the only films to win multiple awards.

The KCFCC, the second oldest professional film critic organization in the United States, was founded in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser (1931-2001) who served as the group’s president for over 30 years. The 22-member group also selected Denmark’s “Another Round,” starring Mads Mikkelsen, as 2020’s Best Foreign Film and “Kajillionaire” receiving recognition with the Tom Poe Award for Best LGBT Film.

Below is a complete list of the winners of the 55th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards:

BEST FILM: “Nomadland” and “Promising Young Woman”

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: Chloé Zao, “Nomadland”
(Runner-up: Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”)

BEST ACTOR: Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal”
(Runner-up: Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)

BEST ACTRESS: Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”
(Runner-up: Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Leslie Odom, Jr., “One Night in Miami”
(Runner-up: Paul Raci, “Sound of Metal”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Youn Yuh-Jung, “Minari”
(Runner-up: Maria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: “Promising Young Woman”
(Runner-up: “The Trial of the Chicago 7”)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: “Nomadland”
(Runner-up: “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: “The Vast of Night”
(Runner-up: “Mank”)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: “Wolfwalkers”
(Runner-up: “Soul”)

BEST FOREIGN FILM: “Another Round” – Denmark
(Runner-ups: “76 Days” – China; “Bacurau” – Brazil; “The Life Ahead” – Italy)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: “The Dissident”
(Runner-up: “Crip Camp”)

VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/HORROR FILM: “The Invisible Man”
(Runner-up: “The Vast of Night”

TOM POE AWARD FOR THE BEST LGBT FILM: “Kajillionaire”
(Runner-up: “The Prom”)

KCFCC elects new President

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Congratulations, albeit a bit delayed, are in order for Abby Olcese was elected as the new President of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle during our annual elections over the summer. In addition, Adrian Torres was elected VP, Michael D. Smith (Secretary) and Lonita Cook (Governing Board).

You can view the full Kansas City Film Critics Circle roster, including links to our reviews.