The Critics Choice Awards 2019 celebrate inclusion in Hollywood | The Triangle

The Critics Choice Awards 2019 celebrate inclusion in Hollywood

Awards season continues in full force. In last week’s issue you got the winners in television and film chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the Golden Globes. This week the critics get to have their say.

The 2019 Critics’ Choice Awards took place Jan. 13 in Santa Monica, California. Similar to the Golden Globes, the Critics’ Choice Awards have categories in film and television that are voted on by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and Broadcast Television Journalists Association, respectively. The show, which was in its 24th year, was broadcast by CW.

Taye Diggs (“Private Practice,” “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”) was the night’s host. Much like the hosts of the Golden Globes, he talked up the broader inclusion in Hollywood throughout 2018 and the diversity among those nominated. In his opening monologue he performed a parody of Cardi B’s “I Like It” with the lyrics revised to highlight this inclusion.

His hosting was not without its cringe-worthy moments though, perhaps the most cringe inducing being his Mary Poppins bit. In the borderline distasteful segment, Diggs approached Emily Blunt dressed as her character and proceeded to twerk at her and said “don’t be afraid to touch it.” Not exactly what Blunt or the audience probably expected out of the night.

But the night isn’t about the host, it’s about who takes home the awards.

On the television side, “The Americans” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won big in their respective genres, each taking home three awards. “The Americans” took home Best Drama Series, Best Actor in a Drama Series and Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” walked away with Best Comedy Series, Best Actress in a Comedy Series and Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

The FX anthology “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” won Best Limited series, and the show’s lead actor, Darren Criss, won in the Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made For Television category. Darren Criss played Gianni Versace’s killer Andrew Cunanan.

There was a notable tie in the Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television category. Patricia Arquette, who took the Golden Globe the week before for her role in Showtime’s “Escape at Dannemora,” split the vote with Amy Adams who starred in the adaption of Gillian Flynn’s novel “Sharp Objects” for HBO. Breaking the winning shows and performances down by network, HBO and FX tied for the biggest haul, each taking home five awards.

In the film categories, diversity reigned supreme. Blockbuster hits “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Black Panther” finally took home some awards. “Crazy Rich Asians” won for Best Comedy, and “Black Panther” took home Best Visual Effects and Best Costume Design.

But the biggest winner of the night was “Roma.” The black and white foreign language film managed to nab four awards, including the prize for Best Picture. This win puts a lot of force behind the spanish-language film just as the Oscar voting window comes to a close, as the Critics’ Choice Awards are seen as a strong indicator of which way the Academy will lean.

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” added to its collection, taking home the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Animated Feature.

Christian Bale won two categories with the same role, besting the competition in both the Best Actor and Best Actor in a Comedy categories. Another tie took place in the Best Actress category, with the vote divided between Lady Gaga for “A Star is Born” and Glenn Close for “The Wife.”

“Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Green Book,” which had done quite well at the Golden Globes, received far less love here with only the latter taking home an award.

We are still only at the beginning of awards season. Oscar nominations are announced Jan. 22, and the next major televised program is the Screen Actors Guild Awards, more affectionately referred to as the SAGs, Jan. 27. The SAGs will be broadcast by TNT and hosted by Megan Mullally (“Will & Grace”).