‘The Power of the Dog’ sweeps Critics Choice Awards
By Javier Romualdo
Los Angeles, US, Mar 13 (EFE).- “The Power of The Dog” cemented its status as favorite for the Oscars on Sunday after winning best picture at the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards, just hours after doing the same at Britain’s BAFTAs.
The Critics Choice Association (CCA), which brings together some 500 film critics from the United States and Canada, also handed the Netflix film the trophies for best cinematography, and best director and best adapted screenplay for Jane Campion.
Earlier in the night, the New Zealander became the third woman in history to win a BAFTA for best director, a day after she took the top prize at the Directors Guild Awards.
“I’m like the grandmother in the women’s movement in film now. But I’m still here,” Campion, 67, said.
Campion is the only woman to be nominated for best director twice at the Oscars. Her first best director nomination was for “The Piano” in 1993.
After this massive haul of awards, Campion is favorite to join the two female directors who already have an Oscar in this historically male category: Chloé Zhao for “Nomadland” (2021) and Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker” (2010).
The Critics Choice Awards were initially scheduled for January but the Omicron Covid-19 variant forced their postponement until Sunday.
Their coinciding with the BAFTAs caused many of the winners to accept their awards from London.
Will Smith took home best actor for “King Richard” and Jessica Chastain won best actress for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”
Ariana DeBose picked up best supporting actress for “West Side Story” and Tony Kotsur won best supporting actor for “CODA,” which has a cast of predominantly deaf actors.
“Belfast” won the best acting ensemble award, the best original screenplay for Kenneth Branagh, and 11-year-old Jude Hill also picked up the best young actor/actress trophy for the movie.
Japan’s “Drive My Car” won best foreign language film and “The Mitchells vs the Machines” took home best animated feature.
In television, “Succession” once again dominated the drama categories while “Ted Lasso” did so in comedy.
Lee Jung-jae snagged best actor in a drama series for “Squid Game,” which became the most successful series in Netflix history last year.
“Mare of Easttown” won best limited series and Kate Winslet also won best actress for her performance in the HBO series.
The Hollywood awards season will continue with the Writers Guild and Producers Guild awards next weekend, culminating with the Oscars on Mar. 27. EFE
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