The 9th Annual Jarmo Awards

*I only now realized that I never hit publish on this. So, a full year later, here are the 9th annual Jarmo Award winners!*

BEST ACTRESS

Toni Collette, Hereditary

Runner-up: Charlize Theron, Tully

Finalists: Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade; Anna Kendrick, A Simple Favor; Amandla Stenberg, The Hate U Give

Look, Toni has been doing truly transcendent work for years. There's no denying that. But with Hereditary, she's not only taken a lead role, but she's proven that horror is the genre where she does her best work. I dare you watch her dinner table scene - where she wishes she were never a mother - and not feel some degree of sympathy for her grieving mother Annie, a woman who's inherited (hint hint) a legacy of grief and depression with little guidance of how do deal with the loss of a child (how could any of us?). Colette fearlessly lets us experience the visceral rage that comes with such a loss, as irrational at it seems but as visceral as its felt, and transforms into the type of role that most actors only wish they could embody. Colette's performance may have been overlooked by Oscar, but it's only because she's on another level than the rest of the field. Here's hoping she has the opportunity to prove her immense talent outside of the horror genre (though there is certainly no shame in being the greatest horror actress to date).

BEST ACTOR

Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born

Runner-up: Lakeith Stanfield, Sorry to Bother You

Finalists: John Cho, Searching; Ben Foster, Leave No Trace; Ryan Gosling, First Man

Why does Oscar hate romantic male leads so much? That is the question I have leading into February's ceremony: no matter Rami Malek's technical prowess in representing a Freddie Mercury that Bohemian Rhapsody actively resists, Cooper fully embodies a past-his-prime country-rock star trying to make do with a shifting pop landscape. Everything from the subtle way in which he tilts his head (reflecting the hearing loss that's briefly explicitly addressed but forms the unheralded texture of his performance) to his straightforward singing ("Maybe It's Time" is the film's largely unsung (no pun intended) highlight) points to a past-his-prime star intend on helping the next generation survive in a ruthless pop music industry. Cooper wisely keeps his remove, creating a character who at once understands how the industry works but isn't happy with the direction it moves in. He should have been an Oscar winner, had the Academy not been weirdly resistant to romantic male leads. Here's hoping he eventually receives his Oscar due, but this will be a hard performance to top.

More winners after the jump.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Michelle Yeoh, Crazy Rich Asians

Runner-up: Claire Foy, First Man

Finalists: Kayli Carter, Private Life; Danai Gurai, Black Panther; Tessa Thompson, Sorry to Bother You

There were a ton of worthy of supporting performances this year, but none made quite the impression that Yeoh made in as the demanding matriarch in Crazy Rich Asians. As Eleanor, Nick's status-obsessed mother in the film, Yeoh makes obvious the film's themes of indigenous-focused vs. diasporic perspectives. Yeoh's Eleanor wants her son to marry rich, in keeping with the family's wealthy tradition of high-class Singaporean status, but is ultimately forced to accept Nick's desire to marry the "commoner" Rachel (Constance Wu). Yeoh has rarely had such a chance to shine in American film, despite a long and varied career, but she takes full advantage of this role to give Eleanor enough shades to evade the classical rom-com villain role. Thanks to her performance, we sympathize with Eleanor's role within Singaporean society, especially since we understand the racism she's faced historically (thanks to an exquisite opening scene). Yeoh has long been one of China's most exportable and finest actors; Crazy Rich Asians proves why should have a long and acclaimed multi-national career.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Russell Hornsby, The Hate U Give

Runner-up: Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther

Finalists: Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman; Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade; Alessandro Nivola, Disobedience

Has there ever been such a superlative (truly) supporting performance as Hornsby's performance in The Hate You Give? As patriarch Maverick, Hornsby's first appearance onscreen on the film is difficult to process for White audiences: a distillation of the Black Panthers' 12-Point Program for understanding racial injustice, something that he presents matter-of-factly with random pop-quizzes a future possibility. This is the effort of a man who's interested in protecting and equipping his children for the rhetoric they will face in the future, and Russell perfectly plays the stakes that they will confront in the future. Amazingly, in a film that features a stellar Amandla Sternberg performance, Hornsby steals the show as an understanding father: he not only acknowledges the stereotypes that White audiences may bring to the film (that of the absent father), but also embodies that of the Black father that knows his children will face new challenges but rise to the ever-prescient circumstances. The Hate U Give sometimes struggles to fully encompass these dilemmas, but Hornsby never fails to embody the contradictions and complications of such a social position. Here's hoping the talented character actor makes the leap to Hollywood mainstream success.

BEST CAMEO APPEARANCE/LIMITED ROLE

Corey Hawkins, BlacKkKlansman

Runner-up: Harry Belafonte, BlacKkKlansman

Finalists: Sterling K. Brown, Black Panther; Ann Dowd, Hereditary; Dick Van Dyke, Mary Poppins Returns

The point of this award is to recognize performances that only occupy a limited amount of screen time: typically, this means actors who are only onscreen for less than ten minutes but make such an impression on me that I think about them long after I've seen the film. Hawkins more than qualifies for this category: his performance as noted Black Panther leader Kwame Turé (aka Stokely Carmichael) lingers long after the end credits of Spike Lee's film's powerful closing credits have come to a conclusion. As the radical Black leader, Hawkins embodies all of Turé's political rhetoric, but manages to make the political personal - there's no denying that in his hands, Turé is a genuine human being who has experienced the racism that he speaks about. After this and Straight Outta Compton, there's no denying that Hawkins is one fo Hollywood's most exciting young prospects. Here's hoping he finds the vehicle that properly utilizes his talents and catapults him to the A-list.

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade

Runner-up: Awkwafina, Crazy Rich Asians

Finalists: Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Leave No Trace; John David Washington, BlacKkKlansman; Letitia Wright, Black Panther

I fully admit that much of the appeal of this performance is from relatability: in middle school, I was  very much a Kayla: a wallflower who was much more comfortable on the margins of the spotlight than center stage, only I wish I possessed her confidence to momentarily (and perhaps indirectly) address her bullies rather than live in their shadow. As Kayla, Fisher fully embodies all of the contradictions that come with being in middle school: between childhood and adulthood, the emergence of a sexual being with the first experiences of sexual harassment, exploding with hormones that make you feel everything all at once with little to no intelligence of what those feelings mean. That Fisher, against all odds, manages to embody all of those contradictory feelings, while maintaining a unique sense of being, is nothing short of miraculous. Fisher has officially established herself as one of the most intuitive actors of her generation; here's hoping she gets the chance to expand on this remarkable showcase of the full range of her immense talents.

BEST ENSEMBLE

The Favourite

Runner-up: Black Panther

Finalists: Annihilation, Crazy Rich Asians, Eighth Grade

I very genuinely don't know where to begin with this ensemble. Part of my decision to give The Favourite this award is the phenomenal work of the three leads: I was very tempted to give a joint Best Actress award to Rachel Wiesz, Emma Stone, and Oscar winner Olivia Colman for their career-best performances as Queen Anne (Colman) and her rival suitors (Weisz and Stone) for the queen's favor. But such an award, though very easily deserved (all three give career-best performances), would be to the detriment of truly transcendent work by Nicholas Hoult (as the queer-coded Lord Harley), Mark Gatiss (as the little-seen Lord Marlborough), and James Smith (as the daffy Lord Godolphin, a pawn in every woman's scheme). No matter how you slice it, despite the anachronistic work by director Yorgos Lanthimos, the film belongs to the committed work by the actors. Even if we only isolated Wiesz, Stone, and Colman, this would be an ensemble worthy of recognition. The fact that every member of the cast delivers is only icing on the cake.

BEST DIRECTOR

Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You

Runner-up: Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born

Finalists: Jon M. Chu, Crazy Rich Asians; Debra Granik, Leave No Trace; Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite

This is an award given on behalf of audacity: did anyone bring the kind of wild (and shockingly - depressingly - ) accurate vision of 2018 than Riley in his feature-film debut? Taking on the inherent contradictions of late capitalism as it pertains to discourses of labor, race, gender, and class, Riley proves himself willing to embrace the messy - none of these issues have clean, concise answers - while establishing his own unique cinematic vision, even if he fails to fully follow-up on the problems that he raises (though, to be fair, does anyone have any truly practical answers to these issues?). Love it or hate it, there's no denying that Sorry to Bother You is the most recent entry in an American "Cinema of Ideas;" here's hoping that the rapper-turned-filmmaker can successfully follow up on the immense promise that his debut represents.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

A Simple Favor; screenplay by Jessica Shazer (based upon the novel by Darcy Bell)

Runner-up: The Hate U Give; screenplay by Audrey Wells (based upon the novel by Angie Thomas)

Finalists: Annihilation; screenplay by Alex Garland (based upon the novel by Jeff VanderMeer); Black Panther; screenplay by Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole (based on the Marvel comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby); The Miseducation of Cameron Post; screenplay by Desiree Akhavan and Cecilia Frugiuele (based upon the novel by Emily M. Danforth)

How do you make a film that at once appeals to the thematic simplicity of the literary thriller while at once deepening the characters so that you're invested in their decidedly off-beat sordid lives? This is the question that Shazer's screenplay answers with decided and unheralded aplomb. Working from Bell's novel, the screenplay sketches in two women with very different agendas, and very different goals, coming together: Stephanie seeking female friendship after her husband's conspicuously-mysterious death, Emily looking to feel connection after mysterious circumstances of her own. To say more would be to spoil the exciting and unexpected ways in which the film unfolds. It's to Shazer's credit, however, that the film never feels predictable: even as both characters occupy their expected roles, they do so in unexpected ways, such as Stephanie's sing-alongs to gangsta rap and Emily's carefully-obscured past. The result is equal parts frothy and heavy, a mixture that's almost impossible to pull off: but Shazer deserves credit for making the impossible delightfully possible.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Tully; written by Diablo Cody

Runner-up: Eighth Grade; written by Bo Burnham

Finalists: Hereditary, written by Ari Aster; Private Life, written by Tamara Jenkins; The Favourite, written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara

Look, I know that at this point, recognizing Cody as a unique and perceptive writer is something of a cliché. She's an Oscar-winner for her work on Juno, after all. But to say all of that is to ignore the remarkable achievement of Tully, which may be her best, or at least most insightful (as if the two were mutually exclusive), screenplay to date. Focusing on the burdens and unexpected pleasures of motherhood, Cody crafts a believable experience of motherhood, one that's at once fraught with joy, sorrow, anger, and melancholy, often within a singular moment (the threesome scene is one that must be seen to be fully understood). Cody's complex and empathetic screenplay is aided, of course, by the humanistic direction of Jason Reitman (the two bring out the best in each other; both are utterly lost without the other) and the otherworldly performance of lead actor Charlize Theron, but it's in the structure and dialogue that the film shines brightest. Over a decade after winning the Oscar for her debut with Juno, Cody continues to prove herself as one of the most offbeat, essential voices in American cinema. Here's hoping she continues to receive her dues.

BEST USE OF MUSIC

A Star is Born (all songs)

Runner-up: Crazy Rich Asians ("Yellow")

Finalists: Creed II ("I Will Go to War"), Eighth Grade (score), Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (all songs)

This would have been an easy film to attribute the award to any particular song; "Shallow," which showcases the true "a star is born" narrative, won the Oscar for Best Original Song, after all, and for good reason. And make no mistake: that scene is among the film's best, highlighting the moment that Ally (Lady Gaga) truly becomes a star and ascends to levels of popularity that Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) could only dream of. But to isolate "Shallow" as the film's musical highlight is to diminish a fully-accomplished soundtrack. The acoustic dirge "Maybe It's Time," co-written by alt-country stalwart Jason Isbell, is a thematic thesis statement that doubles as Jack's swan song, while "Always Remember Us This Way" captures that fleeting moment of mutuality that characterizes every relationship, no matter how enduring or effervescent. The true highlight, at least in my opinion, is "I'll Never Love Again" - a power ballad that delivers on Lady Gaga's vocal range but, in the film, gives Cooper's Jackson the last word. That cut maybe the most powerful edit in all of American film for 2018, in my estimation: I bawled my eyes out in the theatre as Jackson completed the final chorus in my screening. No film even remotely matched that cinematic moment, and no film's soundtrack has been on repeat for me as much as A Star is Born.

MOST (PLEASANTLY) SURPRISING FILM

A Simple Favor

Runner-up: Searching

Finalists: A Quiet Place, Book Club, Creed II

The promotional material for A Simple Favor didn't really provide a clear indication of what the film would be. It seemed like a quirky mystery comedy, revolving around the old "suburbanites are actually deeply fucked up" storytelling. And to be fair, it is that. But it takes the mystery part seriously; the comedy is more for flavor than the main attraction. And thanks to a twisty script by Jessica Shazer (adapted from Darcy Bell's novel), pitch-perfect (sorry) costume design by Renee Ehrlich Kalfus, and peerless performances by Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, the film crackles with brightly-colored nervous imagery. Call it anti-noir, if you will.

MOST DISAPPOINTING FILM

Mandy

Runner-up: The Death of Stalin

Finalists: A Wrinkle in Time, The Cloverfield Paradox, Venom

On paper, this is the platonic neo-grindhouse action movie: a late-period Nicolas Cage, in full batshit mode, taking revenge on the cult that murdered his girlfriend (noted chameleon Andrea Riseborough), co-written and directed by Panos Cosmatos, the son of '80s action-schlock maestro George P. Cosmatos (Rambo: First Blood Part II, Cobra). What could go wrong? Just about everything, apparently: the film is too enamored with its slow-motion visuals to have anything resembling a pulse, and it surprisingly never unleashes Cage to his fullest capabilities for insanity. At least it has a killer score from the late Jóhann Jóhannsson; find that on Spotify, put it on, and let your own imagination run wild.