I am honored to be a founding member of the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association, and very proud of our nominations and awards this year:

the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) celebrates a year of filmmaking excellence with its 2024 WAFCA Awards winners. This year’s awards recognize a stellar array of films, showcasing the best in mainstream and independent cinema in 21 categories.

“Wicked Proves Too Popular to Lose”

In a surprise turn, “Wicked” swooped in to take the Best Feature and Best Production Design wins. Similarly, “The Brutalist” claimed the prize in two categories: Best Director for Brady Corbet, and Original Score by Daniel Blumberg. Tying with the ambitious and infectious “Challengers” score by Reznor and Finch in the latter. Meanwhile, Colman Domingo took the crown for his leading role in “Sing Sing,” as did Mikey Madison for her performance in “Anora.” Despite facing stiff competition, the art and entertainment of 2024 saw awards spread evenly among several standout films.

Presented by the many outstanding voices of Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia film criticism, this year’s WAFCA Awards include five special recognition categories. Living up to its name, “The Fall Guy” grabbed the first Best Stunts title, highlighting the outstanding achievement of stunt coordinators and their teams. “Civil War” was celebrated for its powerful (hopefully not prescient) depiction of Washington, DC with 

The Joe Barber Award—named for the beloved, late WTOP film and entertainment editor.

Here is the complete list of 2024 WAFCA Award Winners:

Best Original Score:
“Blitz” – Hans Zimmer
WINNERS: “Challengers” – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
“Conclave” – Volker Bertelmann
“Nosferatu” – Robin Carolan
WINNERS: “The Brutalist” – Daniel Blumberg
“The Wild Robot” – Kris Bowers

Best Editing
WINNERS: “Anora” – Sean Baker
“Conclave” – Nick Emerson
WINNERS: “Dune: Part Two” – Joe Walker
“The Brutalist” – Dávid Jancsó
“Wicked” – Myron Kerstein

Best Cinematography
“Conclave” – Stéphane Fontaine
“Dune: Part Two” – Greig Fraser
“Nickel Boys” – Jomo Fray
WINNER: “Nosferatu” – Jarin Blaschke
“The Brutalist” – Lol Crawley

Best Production Design
“Dune: Part Two” – Patrice Vermette
“Gladiator II” – Arthur Max
“Nosferatu” – Craig Lathrop
“The Brutalist” – Judy Becker
WINNER: “Wicked” – Nathan Crowley

Best International Film
“Dahomey” – France, Senegal, Benin, Singapore
WINNER: “Emilia Pérez” – Mexico (setting), France, Belgium (shot)
“Flow” – Latvia, Belgium, France
“I’m Still Here” – Brazil, France
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” – France, Iran (shot)

Best Documentary
“Dahomey” (MUBI)
“Daughters” (Netflix)
“Music by John Williams” (Disney+)
“No Other Land” (mTuckman Media)
WINNER: “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
“Will & Harper” (Netflix)

Best Animated Feature
“Flow” (Sideshow / Janus Films)
“Inside Out 2” (Disney/Pixar)
“Memoir of a Snail” (IFC Films)
WINNER: “The Wild Robot” (Universal Pictures)
“Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” (Netflix)

Best Adapted Screenplay
WINNER: “Conclave” – written for the screen by Peter Straughan
“Dune: Part Two” – written for the screen by Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts
“Nickel Boys” – written for the screen by RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes
“Sing Sing” – written for the screen by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar
“Wicked” – written for the screen by Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox

Best Original Screenplay
“Anora” – Sean Baker
WINNER: “A Real Pain” – Jesse Eisenberg
“Challengers” – Justin Kuritzkes
“The Brutalist” – Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
“The Substance” – Coralie Fargeat

Best Youth Performance
Alisha Weir – “Abigail”
Alyla Browne – “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
WINNER: Elliott Heffernan – “Blitz”
Ian Foreman – “Exhibiting Forgiveness”
Isabel DeRoy–Olson – “Fancy Dance”
Izaac Wang – “Didi”
Zoe Ziegler – “Janet Planet”

Best Voice Performance
Amy Poehler – “Inside Out 2”
Auli’i Cravalho – “Moana 2”
Brian Tyree Henry – “Transformers One”
WINNER: Lupita Nyong’o – “The Wild Robot”
Maya Hawke – “Inside Out 2”

Best Acting Ensemble
“Anora” – Sean Baker, Emily Fleischer (casting associate)
WINNER: “Conclave” – Barbara Giordani, Nina Gold, Francesco Vedovati, Martin Ware
“Dune: Part Two” – Francine Maisler
“Sing Sing” – Greg Kwedar, Rita Powers (extras casting)
“The Brutalist” – Kristina Erdely, Cassandra Kulukundis
“Wicked” – Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey

Best Supporting Actress
Ariana Grande – “Wicked”
Aunjanue Ellis–Taylor – “Nickel Boys”
WINNER: Danielle Deadwyler – “The Piano Lesson”
Isabella Rossellini – “Conclave”
Zoe Saldana – “Emilia Perez”

Best Supporting Actor
Clarence Maclin – “Sing Sing”
Denzel Washington – “Gladiator II”
Guy Pearce – “The Brutalist”
WINNER: Kieran Culkin – “A Real Pain”
Yura Borisov – “Anora”

Best Actress
Cynthia Erivo – “Wicked”
Demi Moore – “The Substance”
Karla Sofia Gascon – “Emilia Perez”
Marianne Jean–Baptiste – “Hard Truths”
WINNER: Mikey Madison – “Anora”

Best Actor
Adrien Brody – “The Brutalist”
WINNER: Colman Domingo – “Sing Sing”
Daniel Craig – “Queer”
Ralph Fiennes – “Conclave”
Timothée Chalamet – “A Complete Unknown”

Best Director
WINNER: Brady Corbet – “The Brutalist”
Denis Villeneuve – “Dune: Part Two”
Edward Berger – “Conclave”
Jon M. Chu – “Wicked”
Sean Baker – “Anora”

Best Feature
“Anora” (Neon)
“Conclave” (Focus Features)
“Sing Sing” (A24)
“The Brutalist” (A24)
WINNER: “Wicked” (Universal Pictures)

——

WAFCA ALSO HONORS:

The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC
WINNER: “Civil War”
“Daughters”
“Shirley”
“Stopping the Steal”

Best Motion Capture
Eka Darville – “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
Jonno Davies – “Better Man”
Kevin Durand – “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
WINNER: Owen Teague – “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
Peter Macon – “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”

Best Stunts
“Deadpool and Wolverine” – Colin Follenweider (stunt coordinator), George Cottle (supervising stunt coordinator), Alex Kyshkovych (fight coordinator)

“Dune: Part Two” – Lee Morrison (Supervising Stunt Coordinator), Roger Yuan (Stunt Coordinator/Fight Coordinator), Gyula Toth (Assistant Stunt Coordinator)

“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” – Guy Norris (action designer/supervising stunt coordinator)

“Gladiator II” – Nikki Berwick, Peter White (stunt coordinators), Ray Nicholas, Cali Nelle (fight coordinators)

WINNER: “The Fall Guy” – Chris O’Hara (stunt coordinator/stunt designer)

——

About the WAFCA:
Founded in 2002, The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) has grown into a mainstay of film criticism, comprising over 50 dedicated critics from the Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia areas. With members representing a cross-section of media platforms, including broadcast, print, and digital outlets, WAFCA reflects the evolving landscape of film criticism. Providing a diverse and respected voice in the industry, WAFCA annually recognizes outstanding achievements in the film industry through its awards and the journalism of its members.

The Golden Globe nominations are out! Continuing the weirdness of their line between drama and comedy/musical, somehow the body horror film “The Substance” and the not-funny and not-musical “Challengers” ended up in the comedy category this year. “Emilia Perez” and “The Brutalist” are showing up a lot as front-runners on these early awards lists. “Anora,” “Wicked” and “A Real Pain” got a lot of attention as well. We can expect to see these films and the people who made them at the Oscars.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

THE BRUTALIST (A24)

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN (Searchlight Pictures)

CONCLAVE (Focus Features)

DUNE: PART TWO (Warner Bros. Pictures)

NICKEL BOYS (Orion Pictures / Amazon MGM Studios)

SEPTEMBER 5 (Paramount Pictures)

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

ANORA (NEON)

CHALLENGERS (Amazon MGM Studios)

EMILIA PÉREZ (Netflix)

A REAL PAIN (Searchlight Pictures)

THE SUBSTANCE (MUBI)

WICKED (Universal Pictures)

BEST MOTION PICTURE – ANIMATED

FLOW (Sideshow / Janus Films)

INSIDE OUT 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

MEMOIR OF A SNAIL (IFC Films)

MOANA 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

WALLACE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL (Netflix)

THE WILD ROBOT (Universal Pictures)

CINEMATIC AND BOX OFFICE ACHIEVEMENT

ALIEN: ROMULUS (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (Warner Bros. Pictures)

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

GLADIATOR II (Paramount Pictures)

INSIDE OUT 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

TWISTERS (Universal Pictures)

WICKED (Universal Pictures)

THE WILD ROBOT (Universal Pictures)

BEST MOTION PICTURE – NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT (Sideshow / Janus Films) – USA / FRANCE / INDIA

EMILIA PÉREZ (Netflix) – FRANCE

THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE (MUBI) – POLAND / SWEDEN / DENMARK

I’M STILL HERE (Sony Pictures Classics) – BRAZIL

THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG (NEON) – USA / GERMANY

VERMIGLIO (Sideshow / Janus Films) – ITALY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

PAMELA ANDERSON (THE LAST SHOWGIRL)

ANGELINA JOLIE (MARIA)

NICOLE KIDMAN (BABYGIRL)

TILDA SWINTON (THE ROOM NEXT DOOR)

FERNANDA TORRES (I’M STILL HERE)

KATE WINSLET (LEE)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

ADRIEN BRODY (THE BRUTALIST)

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET (A COMPLETE UNKNOWN)

DANIEL CRAIG (QUEER)

COLMAN DOMINGO (SING SING)

RALPH FIENNES (CONCLAVE)

SEBASTIAN STAN (THE APPRENTICE)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

AMY ADAMS (NIGHTBITCH)

CYNTHIA ERIVO (WICKED)

KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN (EMILIA PÉREZ)

MIKEY MADISON (ANORA)

DEMI MOORE (THE SUBSTANCE)

ZENDAYA (CHALLENGERS)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

JESSE EISENBERG (A REAL PAIN)

HUGH GRANT (HERETIC)

GABRIEL LABELLE (SATURDAY NIGHT)

JESSE PLEMONS (KINDS OF KINDNESS)

GLEN POWELL (HIT MAN)

SEBASTIAN STAN (A DIFFERENT MAN)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

SELENA GOMEZ (EMILIA PÉREZ)

ARIANA GRANDE (WICKED)

FELICITY JONES (THE BRUTALIST)

MARGARET QUALLEY (THE SUBSTANCE)

ISABELLA ROSSELLINI (CONCLAVE)

ZOE SALDAÑA (EMILIA PÉREZ)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

YURA BORISOV (ANORA)

KIERAN CULKIN (A REAL PAIN)

EDWARD NORTON (A COMPLETE UNKNOWN)

GUY PEARCE (THE BRUTALIST)

JEREMY STRONG (THE APPRENTICE)

DENZEL WASHINGTON (GLADIATOR II)

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE

JACQUES AUDIARD (EMILIA PÉREZ)

SEAN BAKER (ANORA)

EDWARD BERGER (CONCLAVE)

BRADY CORBET (THE BRUTALIST)

CORALIE FARGEAT (THE SUBSTANCE)

PAYAL KAPADIA (ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT)

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE

JACQUES AUDIARD (EMILIA PÉREZ)

SEAN BAKER (ANORA)

BRADY CORBET, MONA FASTVOLD (THE BRUTALIST)

JESSE EISENBERG (A REAL PAIN)

CORALIE FARGEAT (THE SUBSTANCE)

PETER STRAUGHAN (CONCLAVE)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE

VOLKER BERTELMANN (CONCLAVE)

DANIEL BLUMBERG (THE BRUTALIST)

KRIS BOWERS (THE WILD ROBOT)

CLÉMENT DUCOL, CAMILLE (EMILIA PÉREZ)

TRENT REZNOR, ATTICUS ROSS (CHALLENGERS)

HANS ZIMMER (DUNE: PART TWO)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE

“BEAUTIFUL THAT WAY” –– THE LAST SHOWGIRL

Music & Lyrics by: Andrew Wyatt, Miley Cyrus, Lykke Zachrisson

“COMPRESS / REPRESS” –– CHALLENGERS

Music & Lyrics by: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Luca Guadagnino

“EL MAL” –– EMILIA PÉREZ

Music & Lyrics by: Clément Ducol, Camille, Jacques Audiard

“FORBIDDEN ROAD” –– BETTER MAN

Music & Lyrics by: Robbie Williams, Freddy Wexler, Sacha Skarbek

“KISS THE SKY” –– THE WILD ROBOT

Music & Lyrics by: Delacey, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael

Pollack, Ali Tamposi

“MI CAMINO” –– EMILIA PÉREZ

Music & Lyrics by: Clément Ducol, Camille

I love the Christmas classic movies and watch as many as I can every year.  But there are many great Christmas films that don’t get mentioned as often and I like to remind families that these are worth making time for as well.

1.  The Nativity Story  This sincere and respectful story is a good way to remember that Christmas is about more than presents and parties.  “Whale Rider’s” Keisha Castle-Hughes has a shy but dignified and resolute air and she glows believably as the very young woman who is selected as the mother of Jesus. And Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) effectively conveys tenderness, doubt, courage, and transcendence as Joseph.

2. A Christmas Memory Truman Capote’s bittersweet memory of his childhood Christmas making fruitcakes with his elderly cousin, the only relative who cared about him, is beautifully filmed with the magnificent Geraldine Page as the fruitcake-baking cousin and Capote himself reading the narration.

3. Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas The California Raisins guys put together this Christmas special, with the highlight the funniest-ever performance of “Carol of the Bells.”

4. Come to the Stable Loretta Young and Celeste Holm are French nuns trying to raise money to build a hospital.  Their faith and goodness transform those they meet.

5. Little Women “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents” is the first line of this classic novel based on the loving if sometimes tumultuous family of author Louisa May Alcott.  All of the lovely versions open with an important Christmas lesson about the joy of giving.

6. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Based on the classic book, this stars Judy Greer as a mother trying to cope with six rambunctious kids who insist on playing the lead roles in the church pageant. There’s an earlier version with Loretta Swit. 

7. This Christmas I love this movie about a family with five adult children who return home to celebrate Christmas with their mother and youngest brother.  The all-star cast includes Regina King, Idris Elba, Loretta Devine, and Chris Brown.  Be sure to watch through the credits to see a great dance number.

8. Desk Set Before Google, companies had human beings to track down information. Katherine Hepburn plays the head of the all-female research department for a television network and Spencer Tracy is the engineer who is installing the company’s first computer, which takes up a whole wall and uses punch cards and vacuum tubes. Sparks fly — and not just in the equipment.

9. Die Hard Bruce Willis plays a cop visiting his estranged wife at her office Christmas party when the building is taken over by bad guys led by Alan Rickman in this action-movie classic, and yes, it is a Christmas movie.

10. The Polar Express Tom Hanks stars in this animated story based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg about a magical train ride to the North Pole.

11. Home Alone This comedy smash hit stars Macauley Culkin as a little boy who is accidentally left home when his family goes away for the holidays and has to take care of himself and guard the house from a couple of inept thieves.  The slapstick is over the top but the message of Christmas is surprisingly touching.

12. Annie The story of the plucky orphan from the comic pages became one of the biggest Broadway musicals of all time and one of its highlights is Christmas with Daddy Warbucks. There are at least three versions, all good!

13. The Holiday Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz swap houses and find love with Jack Black and Jude Law in one of Nancy Meyers’ most endearing romances. 

14. The Man Who Invented Christmas Dan Stevens stars as Charles Dickens, who is under enormous family and financial pressure to produce a new book that will sell. It is a delight to  see how the story of “The Christmas Carol” comes together.  

15. Klaus (Netflix) In this absolutely gorgeous animated film, the father of a spoiled young man punishes him by sending him to a remote snow-covered village and putting him to work. The young man ends up inventing some of the most beloved Christmas traditions.

“Moana 2” is colorful and exciting, often beautiful to watch, with some catchy songs. But the storyline is overcomplicated and it does not have the heart (or the Lin-Manuel Miranda bangers) of the first film. It is episodic, with a complicated array of different places, characters, and stakes, evidence of its original version as a series for Disney+. The mid-credit scene is a cliffhanger that makes the entire film seem like a teaser for what comes next, most likely a series that keeps the story going.

At the end of the first film, Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) came home in triumph having — with the help of demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) — restored the balance of the universe by returning the heart of Te Fiti and removing the curse that was blighting her island. You don’t need to worry about whether you’ve seen the first one or not; there’s a recap.

Three years later, Moana has grown up a lot. She has the same adventuresome spirit and is proud of being a “way finder,” but has more confidence and skill, as we see her maneuver her boat, handling the ropes and sails like a seasoned salt. She adores her little sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda) and her loving parents are very proud of her vision and leadership.

As in the first film, Moana sets off on a journey. The first journey was to reconnect with the history of her people and remove the curse on her people. This time, she is in search of other people from other places and cultures. She assembles a crew. Moni (Hualalai Chung) is a Maui fanboy, a storyteller tied to the legends of the community, and very enthusiastic. Loto (Rose Matafeo) is the gear-head everyone needs on a voyage, filled with ideas about how to make everything work more smoothly. But her most valuable assets are her unquenchable enthusiasm, quick problem-solving, and her ability to turn disastrous damage into something that will still get the group where they need to go. The most unexpected addition to the crew is Kele (David Fane), a grumpy elder whose speciality — farming — and lack of enthusiasm seem like impediments, at least at first.

Of course no Moana journey would be complete without her animal sidekicks, the scrawny rooster Heihei (Alan Tudyk) and the little pig Pua (left behind in the first film but along for the ride this time).

Moana and the crew land on an island of the Kakamora, cute but fierce coconut creatures (think the Ewoks except they are either wearing or made of coconuts). They have paralyzing darts (children will enjoy where the toxic gel comes from) but they also have the antidote, a large, green, jello-like creature. One of them joins the voyage.

They also have an encounter with a mysterious woman whose song has an unusual message for a wayfarer. Her name is Matangi (Awhimai Fraser) and her advice is to “get lost, cut loose, and lose your way.” She is friends with bats. She captured Maui. And she seems to be a captive herself, all of which should make Moana (and us) a suspicious. Is Matangi trying to help Moana and her crew or is she trying to help herself? Moana takes it as permission to worry less about finding the right way and allow herself to enjoy the freedom of not knowing exactly where she is going. And once Maui is on board (literally), giving him a chance to spit some rhymes in the lickity-split fast “Can I Get A Chee Hoo” you can expect to hear children rapping non-stop.

The visuals are as Disney-sublime. Water wishes it could be as water-ish as the water in this movie. Songwriters Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear created good, singable songs that help tell the story. The mechanics and rigging are superbly imagined in the musical numbers and the action sequences with characters and pieces of the boat flying in every direction. The new characters are welcome additions, especially Loto, but they are thinly imagined and we do not get enough time with them to form a connection. So much was happening and the mythology underlying it was so complicated, I kept wishing for a better balance between story and action. Also, it takes much too long to reunite Maui and Moana. Johnson, who also produced, should have made sure his energy was boosting the first third of the film.

So, this is not top-level Disney, but Moana remains an appealing character and if she gets a bit lost in this chapter, we will wait for her to find her way.

Note: stay for a mid-credit sequence that sets the stage for the next chapter

Parents should know that this movie has some scary monsters and some gross-out humor. Characters are in peril. Moana has contact with her ancestors, including her late grandmother.

Family discussion: How do you learn who you’re meant to be? What do you think Matangi will do next? What would you like to ask your ancestors?

If you like this, try: “Moana” and “Lilo and Stitch”

There are some great Thanksgiving movies for adults. And here are some for the whole family to share.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving This is the one with the famous episode about Charlie Brown trying to kick the football Lucy keeps snatching away from him. And Peppermint Patty invites herself to Charlie Brown’s house for Thanksgiving and he is too kind-hearted to tell her that he won’t be there because his family is going to his grandmother’s. When the Peanuts gang comes over for a feast prepared by Charlie Brown himself, Patty gets angry at being served toast and jelly beans. But when she realizes how hard her friend tried to be hospitable, she learns what gratitude really means.

Miracle on 34th Street is a Christmas movie, but it begins with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and it is a great family movie (for those who are comfortable with questions about Santa’s being real. The original is a classic with an adorable Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn won an Oscar for playing Kris Kringle. But the remake is nice, too.

Dora’s Thanksgiving Parade Dora the Explorer has to save the day when the parade float gets lost.

Squanto and the First Thanksgiving , Native American actor Graham Greene and musician Paul McCandless tell the story of Squanto’s extraordinary generosity and leadership in reaching out to the Pilgrims after he had been sold into slavery by earlier European arrivals in the New World.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Okay, I have to admit I don’t love this movie the way so many other people do. Parts of it seem mean-spirited to me. But we can all identify with the frustrations of holiday travel and with the unexpected connections we sometimes are lucky enough to find along the way.

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Jacqueline Bisset stars in this warm-hearted tale, based on a short story by Louisa May Alcott (Little Women).

My favorite Thanksgiving movies are “What’s Cooking?” with four families preparing for the holiday and “Pieces of April,” about a family, including a terminally ill mother, driving to an estranged daughter for Thanksgiving. Both are funny, touching, and wise. Wishing all of you a Thanksgiving filled with gratitude for being together, even the crazy parts.