The animated “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which brings an explosion of comic-book art to Marvel’s famous wall-crawler, was the big winner in the Utah Film Critics Association’s annual awards.
The Sony Pictures Animation film was awarded Best Picture of 2018, and received awards for best animated film and for adapted screenplay (by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman), in voting Sunday among the association’s 18 critics.
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” opened in theaters nationwide this weekend and took in an estimated $35.4 million to lead the box-office race.
This image released by Netflix shows Yalitza Aparicio, center, in a scene from the film "Roma," by filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón. On Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, the film was nominated for a Golden Globe award for best foreign language film. (Carlos Somonte/Netflix via AP)
The runner-up for Best Picture was Alfonso Cuarón’s nostalgic memory piece “Roma,” which debuted Friday on Netflix and opened on 600 movie screens, including the Broadway Centre Cinemas in Salt Lake City. “Roma” was named best non-English-language film, and Cuarón also received awards from the Utah critics for the film’s directing and cinematography.
Another multiple winner was the coming-of-age comedy-drama “Eighth Grade,” which won the best lead female performance category for Elsie Fisher, as a 13-year-old navigating the last days of middle school, and original screenplay honors for the movie’s writer-director, Bo Burnham.
This image released by A24 shows Elsie Fisher in a scene from "Eighth Grade." The film is among the American Film Institute’s top 10 films of the year. (Linda Kallerus/A24 via AP)
Ethan Hawke’s portrayal of a conflicted minister in writer-director Paul Schrader’s drama “First Reformed” took the lead male performance award.
Runners-up in the lead acting categories were Christian Bale for his impersonation of Dick Cheney in “Vice” and Lady Gaga for her portrayal of a fast-rising pop icon in “A Star Is Born.”
This image released by A24 shows Ethan Hawke in a scene from "First Reformed." Paul Schrader’s punishing drama about a protestant minister got a handful of Independent Spirit Award nominations, was selected by the National Board of Review and AFI as one of the top films of the year and won big at the Gotham Awards. But the film and Hawke failed to get any Golden Globe nominations. (A24 via AP)
Utah critics gave the supporting female performance prize to Olivia Colman for her portrayal of a doddering Queen Anne in “The Favourite.” Elizabeth Debicki was named the runner-up for playing a thief’s girlfriend forced to join a heist in “Widows.”
There was a tie in the voting for supporting male performance, between Hugh Grant as a double-crossing actor in “Paddington 2” and Russell Hornsby as a father teaching his children the harsh truths about African-American survival in “The Hate U Give.”
Here is the full list of winners and runners-up, voted on by the Utah Film Critics Association:
Best Picture • Winner: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”; runner-up: “Roma.”
Performance in a lead role, female • Winner: Elsie Fisher, “Eighth Grade”; runner-up: Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born.”
Performance in a lead role, male • Winner: Ethan Hawke, “First Reformed”; runner-up: Christian Bale, “Vice.”
Directing • Winner: Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”; runner-up: Ryan Coogler, “Black Panther.”
Performance in a supporting role, female • Winner: Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”; runner-up: Elizabeth Debicki, “Widows.”
Performance in a supporting role, male • Winner (tie): Hugh Grant, “Paddington 2,” and Russell Hornsby, “The Hate U Give.”
Original Screenplay • Winner: Bo Burnham, “Eighth Grade”; runner-up: Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, “The Favourite.”
Adapted Screenplay • Winner: Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”; runner-up: Audrey Wells, “The Hate U Give.”
Cinematography • Winner: Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”; runner-up: Rob Hardy, “Annihilation.”
Original Score • Winner: Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury, “Annihilation”; runner-up: Nicholas Britell, “If Beale Street Could Talk.”
Documentary Feature • Winner: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor”; runner-up: “Minding the Gap.”
Animated Feature • Winner: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (unanimous choice; there was no runner-up).
Non-English-Language Feature • Winner: “Roma” (Mexico); runner-up: “Burning” (South Korea).
Follow @SeanPMeans