Awards -- Chicago Film Critics nominees

The last of the "big-city" groups to announce this year, and a few interesting choices in their nominees. Always love the see the variety! Up in the Air, and Where the Wild Things Are lead the nods with 6 apiece. I'm hoping that the Academy is taking note of all these mentions of Precious in just the acting categories. In my mind, those are the elements of the film that should be awarded, not the filim as a whole. But I digress. The nominees for the Chicago Critics are...

BEST PICTURE
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up in the Air
Where the Wild Things Are

BEST DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow "The Hurt Locker"
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen "A Serious Man"
Spike Jonze "Where the Wild Things Are"
Jason Reitman "Up in the Air"
Quentin Tarantino "Inglourious Basterds"

BEST ACTOR
Jeff Bridges "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney "Up in the Air"
Matt Damon "The Informant!"
Jeremy Renner "The Hurt Locker"
Michael Stuhlbarg "A Serious Man"

BEST ACTRESS
Abbie Cornish "Bright Star"
Carey Mulligan "An Education"
Maya Rudolph "Away We Go"
Gabourey Sidibe "Precious"
Meryl Streep "Julie & Julia"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Peter Capaldi "In the Loop"
Woody Harrelson "The Messenger"
Christian McKay "Me and Orson Welles"
Stanley Tucci "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz "Inglourious Basterds"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Vera Farmiga "Up in the Air"
Anna Kendrick "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique "Precious"
Julianne Moore "A Single Man"
Natalie Portman "Brothers"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Away We Go
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
An Education
In the Loop
The Informant!
Up in the Air
Where the Wild Things Are

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ponyo
The Princess and the Frog
Up

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar
Bright Star
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Where the Wild Things Are

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Informant!
Up
Where the Wild Things Are

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Broken Embraces
Red Cliff
Sin Nombre
Summer Hours
The White Ribbon

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Capitalism: A Love Story
The Cove
Food, Inc.
Tyson

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Sharlto Copley "District 9"
Christian McKay "Me and Orson Welles"
Carey Mulligan "An Education"
Max Records "Where the Wild Things Are"
Gabourey Sidibe "Precious"

MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER
Neill Blomkamp "District 9"
Scott Cooper "Crazy Heart"
Cary Fukunaga "Sin Nombre"
Duncan Jones "Moon"
Marc Webb "(500) Days of Summer"

Awards -- WASHINGTON DC FILM CRITICS

Some interesting and unexpected choices here, but I love the nods for The Road, Star Trek, Up, and (500) Days. They are announcing their winners tomorrow, but for now, here are the DC Critics nominees... and not tomorrow has arrived, so here are the DC Critics winners as well.

Best Picture
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up
Up in the Air

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow "The Hurt Locker"
Lee Daniels "Precious"
Clint Eastwood "Invictus"
Jason Reitman "Up in the Air"
Quentin Tarantino "Inglourious Basterds"

Best Actor
George Clooney "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman "Invictus"
Viggo Mortensen "The Road"
Jeremy Renner "The Hurt Locker"

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock "The Blind Side"
Carey Mulligan "An Education"
Maya Rudolph "Away We Go"
Gabourey Sidibe "Precious"
Meryl Streep "Julie & Julia"

Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson "The Messenger"
Anthony Mackie "The Hurt Locker"
Alfred Molina "An Education"
Stanley Tucci "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz "Inglourious Basterds"

Best Supporting Actress
Vera Farmiga "Up in the Air"
Anna Kendrick "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique "Precious"
Julianne Moore "A Single Man"
Samantha Morton "The Messenger"

Best Ensemble Cast
The Hurt Locker
Nine
Precious
Star Trek
Up in the Air

Best Original Screenplay
(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Blind Side
An Education
Precious
The Road
Up in the Air

Best Animated Feature
9
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ponyo
Up

Best Art Direction
The Lovely Bones
Nine
Star Trek
Where the Wild Things Are
The Young Victoria

Best Foreign Language Film
Broken Embraces
Red Cliff
Sin Nombre
Summer Hours
The White Ribbon

Best Documentary
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Capitalism: A Love Story
The Cove
Food, Inc.
Good Hair

Best Breakthrough Performance
Anna Kendrick "Up in the Air"
Christian McKay "Me and Orson Welles"
Carey Mulligan "An Education"
Jeremy Renner "The Hurt Locker"
Gabourey Sidibe "Precious"

Awards -- NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW Winners!!!

The first big announcement of the year, and a few nice surprises here.

Loving...the love for (500) Days, Up, and Star Trek.
Surprised...to not see Nine or Precious (!!!) on their top list
Disappointed...that A Serious Man took original screenplay. I love the Coens, but didn't like this one.

2009 National Board of Review Winners

Top Films
(500) Days of Summer
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Star Trek
Up
Up in the Air (BEST PICTURE)
Where the Wild Things Are

Best Director
Clint Eastwood "Invictus"

Best Actor
George Clooney "Up in the Air" (tie)
Morgan Freeman "Invictus" (tie)

Best Actress
Carey Mulligan "An Education"

Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson "The Messenger"

Best Supporting Actress
Anna Kendrick "Up in the Air"

Best Ensemble Cast
It's Complicated

Best Original Screenplay
"A Serious Man" -- Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Best Adapted Screenplay
"Up in the Air" -- Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner

Best Animated Feature
Up

Breakthrough Performance (Male)
Jeremy Renner "The Hurt Locker"

Breakthrough Performance (Female)
Gabourey Sidibe "Precious"

Best Directorial Debut (Spotlight Award)
Duncan Jones "Moon" (tie)
Oren Moverman "The Messenger" (tie)
Marc Webb "(500) Days of Summer" (tie)

Top Foreign Films
The Maid
A Prophet (BEST FOREIGN FILM)
Revance
Song of Sparrows
Three Monkeys
The White Ribbon

Top Documentary Films
Burma Vj: Reporting From A Closed Country
The Cove (BEST DOCUMENTARY)
Crude
Food, Inc.
Good Hair
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Top Ten Independent Films
Amreeka
District 9
Goodbye Solo
Humpday
In the Loop
Julia
Me and Orson Welles
Moon
Sugar
Two Lovers

Special Filmmaking Acheivement Award
Wes Anderson "The Fantastic Mr. Fox"

William K. Everson Film History Award
Jean Picker Firstenberg

NBR Freedom of Express
Burma Vj: Reporting From A Closed Country
Invictus
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellseberg and the Pentagon Papers

Awards -- ANNIE AWARD Nominees

One of my personal favorite categories is Animated Feature, because I've loved and been obsessed with animated for most of my life. That said, this group is always interesting to, even when they get it completely wrong (2008: Kung Fu Panda over Wall-E???? no.). This year, the pack is led up Coraline, Princess and the Frog, and of course Up. But here are this year's feature-production nominees:

Best Animated Feature
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Best Directing in a Feature
Wes Anderson "Fantastic Mr. Fox"
Pete Docter "Up"
Christopher Miller & Phil Lord "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs"
Hayao Miyazaki "Ponyo"
Henry Selick "Coraline"

Best Writing in a Feature
Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach "Fantastic Mr. Fox"
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson & Tom McCarthy "Up"
Timothy Hyde Harris & Davis Bowers "Astro Boy"
Christopher Miller & Phil Lord "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs"

Animated Effects
Scott Cegielski "Monsters vs. Aliens"
Alexander Feigin "9"
Eric Froemlin "Up"
Tom Kluyskens "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs"
James Mansfield "The Princess and the Frog"

Character Animation
Andreas Deja "The Princess and the Frog"
Eric Goldberg "The Princess and the Frog"
Travis Knight "Coraline"
Daniel Nguyen "Up"
Bruce Smith "The Princess and the Frog"

Character Design
Daniel Lopez Munoz "Up"
Shane Prigmore "Coraline"
Shannon Tindle "Coraline"

Music
Bruno Coulais "Coraline"
Michael Giacchino "Up"
Joe Hisaishi "Ponyo"
John Powell "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs"

Production Design
Christopher Appelhans "Coraline"
Ian Gooding "The Princess and the Frog"
Tadahiro Uesugi "Coraline"
Christopher Vacher "9"

Storyboarding
Sharon Bridgeman "Astro Boy"
Chris Butler "Coraline"
Ronnie Del Carmen "Up"
Tom Owens "Monsters vs. Aliens"
Peter Sohn "Up"

Voice Acting
Jen Cody - Charlotte - The Princess and the Frog
Dawn French - Miss Forcible - Coraline
Hugh Laurie - Dr. Cockroad Ph.D. - Monsters vs. Aliens
John Leguizamo - Sid - Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Jennifer Lewis - Mama Odie - The Princess and the Frog

Awards -- INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD Nominees

Best Feature
(500) Days of Summer
Amreeka
The Last Station
Precious
Sin Nombre

Best Director
Joel & Ethan Coen "A Serious Man"
Lee Daniels "Precious"
Cary Fukanaga "Sin Nombre"
James Grey "Two Lovers"
Michael Hoffman "The Last Station"

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges "Crazy Heart"
Colin Firth "A Single Man"
Joseph Gordon Levitt "(500) Days of Summer"
Souleymane Sy Savane "Goodbye Solo"
Adam Scott "The Vicious Kind"

Best Actress
Maria Bello "Downloading Nancy"
Nisreen Faour "Amreeka"
Helen Mirren "The Last Station"
Gwyneth Paltrow "Two Lovers"
Gabourey Sidibe "Precious"

Best Supporting Actor
Jemaine Clement "Gentlemen Broncos"
Woody Harrelson "The Messenger"
Cristian McKay "Me and Orson Welles"
Ramon McKinnon "That Evening Sun"
Christopher Plummer "The Last Station"

Best Supporting Actress
Dina Korzun "Cold Souls"
Mo'Nique "Precious"
Samantha Morton "The Messenger"
Natahlie Press "Fifty Dead Men Walking"
Mia Wasikowska "That Evening Sun"

Best Screenplay
(500) Days of Summer
Adventureland
The Last Station
The Messenger
The Vicious Kind

Best Cinematography
Bad Lieutenant
Cold Souls
A Serious Man
Sin Nombre
Treeless Mountain

Best Foreign Film (Non U.S.)
An Education
Everlasting Moments
The Maid
Mother
A Prophet

Best Documentary
Anvil!
Food, Inc.
More Than a Game
October Country
Which Way Home

Best First Feature
Crazy Heart
Easier With Practice
The Messenger
Paranormal Activity
A Single Man

Best First Screenplay
Amreeka
Crazy Heart
Cold Souls
Precious
A Single Man

Robert Altman Award (Given to 1 Film's director, casting director, and ensemble cast)
A Serious Man

Producers Award
Karen Chien
Larry Fessenden
Dia Sokol

Someone to Watch Award
--to be announced--

Truer Than Fiction Award
Natalie Almada
Jessica Oreck
Bill Ross & Turner Ross



Nomination Tally
5
The Last Station
Precious

4
The Messenger

3
(500) Days of Summer
Amreeka
Cold Souls
Crazy Heart
A Serious Man
A Single Man
Sin Nombre

2
That Evening Sun
Treeless Mountain
Two Lovers
The Vicious Kind

Awards -- INTERNATIONAL PRESS ACADEMY -- Golden Satellite Nominees

No true Oscar prognasticator should ever take these nominations seriously. But every year, they are the first group to announce, and it's always at the very least, interesting, to see where they put the glory. I especially love the fact that several films in the "Top Ten" list aren't even nominated in the picture categories. That right there tells you exactly how this group work. But whatever, so here they are...

Best Picture (Drama)
Bright Star
An Education
The Hurt Locker
The Messenger
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
The Stoning of Soraya M.

Best Picture (Musical/Comedy)
The Informant!
It's Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine
A Serious Man
Up in the Air

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow "The Hurt Locker"
Neill Blomkamp "District 9"
Jane Campion "Bright Star"
Lee Daniels "Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire"
Rob Marshall "Nine"
Lone Scherfig "An Education"

Best Actor (Drama)
Jeff Bridges "Crazy Heart"
Hugh Dancy "Adam"
Johnny Depp "Public Enemies"
Colin Firth "A Single Man"
Jeremy Renner "The Hurt Locker"
Michael Sheen "The Damned United"

Best Actor (Musical/Comedy)
George Clooney "Up in the Air"
Bradley Cooper "The Hangover"
Matt Damon "The Informant!"
Daniel Day-Lewis "Nine"
Michael Stuhlbarg "A Serious Man"

Best Actress (Drama)
Shohreh Aghdashloo "The Stoning of Soraya M."
Emily Blunt "The Young Victoria"
Abbie Cornish "Bright Star"
Penelope Cruz "Broken Embraces"
Carey Mulligan "An Education"
Catalina Saavedra "The Maid"

Best Actress (Musical/Comedy)
Sandra Bullock "The Proposasl"
Marion Cotillard "Nine"
Zooey Deschanel "(500) Days of Summer"
Katherine Heigl "The Ugly Truth"
Meryl Streep "Julie & Julia"

Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson "The Messenger"
James McAvoy "The Last Station"
Alfred Molina "An Education"
Timothy Spall "The Damned United"
Christoph Waltz "Inglourious Basterds"

Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt "Sunshine Cleaning"
Penelope Cruz "Nine"
Anna Kendrick "Up in the Air"
Mozhan Marno "The Stoning of Soraya M."
Mo'nique "Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire"

Best Original Screenplay
(500) Days of Summer -- Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
Bright Star -- Jane Campion
The Hurt Locker -- Mark Boal
A Serious Man -- Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Up -- Bob Peterson & Pete Docter

Best Adapted Screenplay
District 9 -- Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell
An Education -- Nick Hornby
Julie & Julia -- Nora Ephron
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire -- Geoffrey Fletcher
Up in the Air -- Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner

Best Animated or Mixed Media
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Princess and the Frog
Up
Where the Wild Things Are

Best Cinematography
Inglourious Basterds
It Might Get Loud
Nine
Public Enemies
Red Cliff
A Serious Man

Best Film Editing
2012
District 9
The Hurt Locker
It Might Get Loud
Nine
Red Cliff

Best Art Direction & Production Design
2012
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Public Enemies
Red Cliff
The Road
A Single Man

Best Costume Design
Cheri
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Red Cliff
The Young Victoria

Best Sound (Mixing & Editing)
2012
It Might Get Loud
Nine
Red Cliff
Terminator: Salvation
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Visual Effects
2012
District 9
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Red Cliff
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Original Score
Amelia
The Informant!
Public Enemies
Up
Up in the Air
Where the Wild Things Are

Best Original Song
"Almost There" -- The Princess and the Frog
"Cinema Italiano" -- Nine
"Down in New Orleans" -- The Princess and the Frog
"I Can See in Color" -- Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
"We Are the Children of the World" -- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
"The Weary Kind" -- Crazy Heart

Best Foreign Language Film
Broken Embraces (Spain) (tie)
I Killed My Mother (Canada)
The Maid (Chile) (tie)
Red Cliff (China)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Winter in Wartime (Netherlands)

Best Documentary
The Beaches of Agnes
The Cove
Every Little Step
It Might Get Loud
The September Issue
Valentino: The Last Emperor

Top Ten Films
(500) Days of Summer
Bright Star
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
A Serious Man
The Stoning of Soraya M.
Up in the Air

Tesla Award (Visionary Achievement)
Roger Deakins

Auteur Award
Roger Corman

Best Ensemble Film Cast
Nine

Best Ensemble TV Cast
True Blood

Outstanding Guest Star
Kristin Chenoweth "Glee"

Outstanding New Talent
Gabourey Sidibie "Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire"