The Broadcast Film Critics Association (of which I'm proud to be a member) is made up of more than 200 television, online, and radio critics, and each year those critics vote on their favorite films and performances. And while normally critics and actors don't have a real loving relationship, once a year they put aside their differences, take a night off from grading performances and raging over reviews, and celebrate the work of actors, directors, and screenwriters at the annual Critics' Choice Awards event.
According to those at the BFCA who keep track of such things, the Critics' Choice Awards are the "most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations." If that's true than the folks from Slumdog Millionaire should be preparing their Oscar acceptance speeches.
Critics' Choice Awards Nominees and Winners
Best PictureChangeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Wall-E
The Wrestler
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor
Clint Eastwood - Gran Torino
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Winner: Sean Penn - Milk
Best Actress
Kate Beckinsale - Nothing But the Truth
Cate Blanchett - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Winners: Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
and Meryl Streep - Doubt
Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey, Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
James Franco - Milk
Winner:
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Vera Farmiga - Nothing But the Truth
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Winner: Kate Winslet - The Reader
Best Acting Ensemble
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Rachel Getting Married
Winner: Milk
Best Director
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant - Milk
Winner: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Writer (Original or Adapted Screenplay)
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Winner: Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Animated Feature
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Waltz With Bashir
Winner: Wall-E
Best Young Actor/Actress (Under 21)
Dakota Fanning - The Secret Life of Bees
David Kross - The Reader
Brandon Walters - Australia
Winner: Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Action Movie
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Quantum of Solace
Wanted
Winner: The Dark Knight
Best Comedy Movie
Burn After Reading
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Role Models
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Winner: Tropic Thunder
Best Picture Made for Television
Recount
Coco Chanel
Winner: John Adams
Best Foreign Language Film
A Christmas Tale
Gomorrah
I've Loved You So Long
Let the Right One In
Mongol
Winner: Waltz With Bashir
Best Documentary Feature
I.O.U.S.A.
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Standard Operating Procedure
Young At Heart
Winner: Man On Wire
Best Song
"Another Way to Die" (performed by Jack White and Alicia Keys, written by Jack White) - Quantum of Solace
"Down to Earth" (performed by Peter Gabriel, written by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman) - Wall-E
"I Thought I Lost You" (performed Miley Cyrus and John Travolta, written by Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele) - Bolt
"Jaiho" (performed by Sukhwinder Singh, written by A.R. Rahman and Gulzar) - Slumdog Millionaire
Winner: "The Wrestler" (performed by Bruce Springsteen, written by Bruce Springsteen) - The Wrestler
Best Composer
Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Clint Eastwood - Changeling
Danny Elfman - Milk
Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard - The Dark Knight
Winner: A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
Special Award
Richard Gere - Joel Siegel Award
