Houston Film Critics Give Mattress Mack and Lady Bird Major Love, Worry About Future of Film in City

A night before Hollywood went gaga over the Golden Globes, the 11th Annual Houston Film Critics Society Movie Awards revealed its winners among the standout movies, actors, directors, cinematographers, and more of 2017. While also giving local Houston hero Mattress Mack some major love.

Hosted by MATCH, The Houston Film Critics Society highlighted the big names generating buzz: stories as diverse as Lady Bird, the Golden Globes darling coming-of-age comedy indie, and The Shape of Water, a fantastical Cold War-era tale of a solitary janitor and her amphibious paramour.

But they also shone a spotlight on lesser-known, equally acclaim-worthy pictures. They presented awards for Texas born-and-bred indie films. The nonprofit organization dedicated two trophies to homegrown films, ones that were either majorly financed or filmed in Texas.

It was difficult for the group to narrow the Texas nominations down to five, but rewarding in that it showed the expanding scene of Lone Star State filmmakers.

Meanwhile, the options for viewing films, Texan or otherwise, are constantly dwindling in Houston. The city’s landmark Greenway Theatre has been closed for more than a decade now, and there’s been a lot of concern regarding the longterm future of River Oaks Theatre.

“I hate to say it, but the film scene has never been as big as I feel like it should be for Houston’s size,” HFCS President Joshua Starnes told PaperCity before the awards ceremony. The energy industry writer and longtime Comingsoon.net critic believes that “the part of the city’s psyche focusing on film is still kind of 15 percent” a static number even as Houston’s population grows by leaps and bounds.

The HFCS aims to increase awareness of “cinematic excellence,” and spur people’s interest in movies, whether foreign, national, or local. Starnes hopes the annual awards will gear the audience up and get them out to theaters.

The HFCS put on their very first awards show in 2007, the same year they were established. It started off small, with a simple podium. The second year brought a little more experience and the addition of trophies for the winners.

Then came a digital presentation, complete with motion graphics and clips of the nominated films. Five or six years ago, the awards honoring Texas independent filmmakers came about. Eleven categories broadened to 17.

Lady Bird took home a lot of the Houston critics’ gold when it came to excellence on the silver screen this year. Actress Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut earned her both Best Direction and Best Screenplay. Lady Bird also “accomplished the unprecedented feat of being both the best picture and my favorite,” Starnes joked.

To the surprise of some in the audience, Lady Bird did not yield Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Saiorse Ronan, who plays a clever and moody high school senior who has a strained relationship with her mother. Ronan has been pegged as a major contender for that category at the Academy Awards in February.

Instead, Sally Hawkins’ turn as a mute and compassionate cleaning woman who falls for an amphibian she’s willing to kiss (with no expectation of him turning into a human prince), in The Shape of Water earned her the Best Actress honor.

Like Lady Bird, the surreal fantasy won two other awards. It earned best Poster along with Best Original Score.

Blade Runner 2049 took home two of the accolades. Unsurprisingly, both heralded the visual aspects of the sequel to the ’80s sci-fi classic: Best Cinematography and Technical Achievement.

Pixar’s animated Coco, which follows the colorful journey of a young boy through the land of the dead, was the last to take home two separate awards, with Best Animated Film and Best Original Song.

A complete list of the winners:

Best Picture: Lady Bird

Best Direction of a Motion Picture: Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: The Disaster Artist

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Best Screenplay: Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird

Best Animated Film: Coco

Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins, Blade Runner 2049

Best Documentary Feature: Jane

Best Foreign Language Film: Thelma

Best Original Score: Alexander Desplat, The Shape of Water

Best Original Song: “Remember Me,” music & lyrics by Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez, Coco

Poster: The Shape of Water

Technical Achievement: Blade Runner 2049

TEXAS INDIES

Texas films had many moments to shine throughout the evening. After every few major awards, a member of the HFCS showcased one of the five Texas film nominees, accompanied by a clip.

One of the winning independent films featured A-list actors. Casey Affleck plays a suburban specter in A Ghost Story, sporting an almost-comical white bed sheet as he watches over his mourning wife, Rooney Mara, while adrift in time. The unconventional meditation on love and loss won the night’s Texas Independent Film Award.

While not an actor, the titular Lance Letscher of The Secret Life of Lance Letscher is a celebrity in his own right. The documentary follows the renowned collage artist’s tumultuous and turbulent life that informs his unique art form.

The director, Sandra Adair, attended the awards ceremony and accepted the award. “It’s such an incredible honor. It’s been such an incredibly journey,” Adair said. She has been in the business for 40 years, and the documentary was her first attempt at directing.

“It means everything that a documentary about an artist won,” she said, noting that it’s much harder to find financial support for films about art than subjects like social issues. The movie won for TIFA Visionary.

Texas Independent Film Award: A Ghost Story

TIFA Visionary: The Secret Life of Lance Letscher

SPECIAL AWARD

In addition to the many movie prizes, the HFCS presented a distinction to Houston entrepreneur Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale. McIngvale was honored as Humanitarian of the Year for his tireless relief efforts during and after Hurricane Harvey. The Gallery Furniture owner sent in a video thanking the organization.

“Thank you to the Houston Film Critics Society for this award,” McIngvale began. “The real heroes from Hurricane Harvey were the first responders… I’d like to give a special shout-out to the Texas Independent Film Awards.”

Roll credits.