'Little Women,' 'Parasite' Lead Chicago Indie Critics Nominations

Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” is slowly and steadily creating all the right buzz before the nominations for Academy Awards are revealed in January. The film adaptation of the classic novel leads the Chicago Indie Critics nominations with eight nods while Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” came in second with seven noms.

As per the list of nominees released by the organization, “Little Women” has been nominated in almost all the major categories, including Best Picture. The “Lady Bird” helmer is also included in the list of filmmakers nominated in the Best Director category. Other filmmakers included on the list are Celine Sciamma, Lulu Wang, Bong Joon Ho, and Sam Mendes.

Meanwhile, only Florence Pugh managed to get an Acting nod for her stellar work in “Little Women.” Pugh has also been nominated in the Best Actress category for the movie “Midsommar” and will compete against Awkwafina, Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong’O and Elizabeth Moss.

In the Best Actor category, Joaquin Phoenix has been named in the group of actors battling it out for the award. Meanwhile, Antonio Banderas is creating all the right noises before the Oscars and nabbed an acting nod at the Chicago Indie Critics awards. Adam Driver, Eddie Murphy, and Adam Sandler are also nominated.

Films like “Marriage Story,” “Parasite” and “Booksmart” have been nominated for Best Independent Film. The movies included in this category have a production budget of less than $20 million. On the other hand, films like “The Irishman,” “Knives Out” and “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” are submitted in the Best Studio Film category.

Bong Joon-Ho’s “Parasite” has gotten seven noms, including Best Foreign Film. The South Korean filmmaker has also received a Directing nod.

“Irishman” stars Al Pacino and Joe Pesci will face stiff competition from fellow actors like Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, and Kang-Ho Song in the Best Supporting Actor race. On the other hand, Laura Dern, Jennifer Lopez, Pugh, Zhao Shuzhen, and Octavia Spencer will fight it out for the Best Supporting Actress trophy.

“How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” and “Toy Story 4” are among the movies nominated for Best Animated Feature.

Here’s the full list of nominations:

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM (budgets under $20 million)

“Booksmart”
“The Farewell”
“Jojo Rabbit”
“Marriage Story”
“Parasite”

BEST STUDIO FILM (budgets over $20 million)

“The Irishman”
“Knives Out”
“Little Women”
“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”
“1917”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

“Birds of Passage”
“Monos”
“Pain and Glory”
“Parasite”
“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”

BEST ANIMATED FILM

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
“I Lost My Body”
“The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part”
“Missing Link”
“Toy Story 4”

BEST DIRECTOR

Greta Gerwig- “Little Women”
Bong Joon-ho- “Parasite”
Sam Mendes- “1917”
Céline Sciamma- “Portrait of A Lady On Fire”
Lulu Wang- “The Farewell”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“The Farewell” - Lulu Wang
“Knives Out” - Rian Johnson
“Marriage Story” - Noam Baumbach
“Parasite” - Bong Joon-Ho and Jin Won-Han
“Portrait Of A Lady On Fire” - Céline Sciamma

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“The Irishman” - Steve Zaillian
“Jojo Rabbit” - Taika Waititi
“Little Women” - Greta Gerwig
“Luce” - J.C. Lee and Julius Onah
“The Two Popes” - Anthony McCarten

BEST ACTOR

Antonio Banderas – “Pain And Glory”
Adam Driver – “Marriage Story”
Eddie Murphy – “Dolemite Is My Name”
Joaquin Phoenix – “Joker”
Adam Sandler – “Uncut Gems”

BEST ACTRESS

Awkwafina – “The Farewell”
Scarlett Johansson – “Marriage Story”
Elisabeth Moss – “Her Smell”
Lupita Nyong’o – “Us”
Florence Pugh – “Midsommar”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Tom Hanks – “A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood”
Al Pacino – “The Irishman”
Joe Pesci – “The Irishman”
Brad Pitt – “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”
Kang-ho Song – “Parasite”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Laura Dern – “Marriage Story”
Jennifer Lopez – “Hustlers”
Florence Pugh – “Little Women”
Zhao Shuzhen – “The Farewell”
Octavia Spencer – “Luce”

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST

“Avengers: Endgame” – Sarah Finn (casting director)
“The Irishman” – Ellen Lewis (casting director)
“Knives Out” – Mary Vernieu (casting director)
“Little Women” – Kathy Driscoll and Francine Maisler (casting directors)
“Marriage Story” – Francine Maisler and Douglas Aibel (casting directors)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

“Ad Astra” – Hoyte Van Hoytema
“Ford v Ferrari “– Phedon Papamichael
“The Lighthouse” – Jarin Blaschke
“1917” – Roger Deakins
“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” – Robert Richardson

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

“Ad Astra” – Kevin Thompson
“Knives Out” – David Crank
“1917” – Dennis Gassner
“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” – Barbara Ling
“Parasite” – Ha-Jun Lee

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

“Dolemite Is My Name” – Ruth E. Carter
“Knives Out” – Jenny Eagan
“Little Women” – Jacqueline Durran
“Midsommar” – Andrea Flesch
“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” – Arianne Phillips

TRAILBLAZER AWARD (Awarded to an artist who truly pushes the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content)

Greta Gerwig
Rian Johnson
Sam Mendes
Martin Scorsese
Lena Waithe
Taika Waititi

IMPACT AWARD (Given to a person whose work has had a positive impact on society)

Pedro Almodovar
Bong Joon-Ho
Martin Scorsese
Milos Stehlik
Lulu Wang