1/3/09

Here, at last, is what I've been waiting for!  While I was busy stuffing my face with December releases and wrapping presents, pretty much every critics group known to man (why, I ask again, why is there no Pennsylvania Film Critics' Society?  Not Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, the whole state, nothing!) announced their awards for 2008.  And what do I see?  Variety!  Consensus has emerged in only a few categories, where the late Heath Ledger has stood mostly (but not entirely) unopposed for his work in The Dark Knight, ditto Best Documentary front-runner Man on Wire.  And no one has knocked WALL*E off its' perch as Best Animated Feature.  So, bucking all recent trends toward sameness and boredom, the awards season remains just as interesting as when it began even as we close in on the increasingly contrarian Golden Globes.  Here's a quick rundown of  everything that's been awarded since I last blogged on the subject:

BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Houston, St. Louis)
The Dark Knight (African-American Critics, Austin, Utah)
Frost/Nixon (Las Vegas)
Happy Go Lucky (Satellite Awards Comedy)
Milk (San Francisco, Southeastern)
Slumdog Millionaire (Dallas/Ft. Worth, Detroit, Florida, New York Online, Oklahoma, Phoenix, San Diego, Satellite Awards Drama, Women Film Journalists)
WALL*E (Chicago)
Waltz With Bashir (National Society of Film Critics)
Wendy and Lucy (Toronto)

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire (African-American Critics, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Florida, Houston, Detroit, New York Online, Oklahoma, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis, Southeastern, Women Film Journalists)
Jonathan Demme, Rachel Getting Married (Toronto)
Mike Leigh, Happy Go Lucky (National Society of Film Critics)
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon (Las Vegas)
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight (Austin)
Andrew Stanton, WALL*E (Utah)
Gus Van Sant, Milk (San Francisco)

BEST ACTOR
Rickie Gervais, Ghost Town (Satellite Awards Comedy)
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor (Satellite Awards Drama)
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon (African-American Critics, Las Vegas)
Sean Penn, Milk (Austin, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, National Society of Film Critics, New York Online, Phoenix, San Francisco tie, St. Louis, Southeastern)
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler (Chicago, Florida, Detroit, Oklahoma, San Diego, San Francisco tie, Toronto, Utah)

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married (Austin, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Southeastern)
Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky (National Society of Film Critics, New York Online, Oklahoma, San Francisco, Satellite Awards Comedy, Women Film Journalists tie)
Angelina Jolie, Changeling (African-American Critics, Satellite Awards Drama)
Melissa Leo, Frozen River (Florida, Utah)
Meryl Streep, Doubt (Phoenix)
Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy (Toronto)
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road and/or The Reader (Detroit, Las Vegas, San Diego, St. Louis, Women Film Journalists tie)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (African-American Critics, Austin, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Detroit, Florida, Houston, Las Vegas, New York Online, Oklahoma, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Southeastern, Toronto, Utah, Women Film Journalists)
Eddie Marsan, Happy Go Lucky (National Society of Film Critics)
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road (Satellite Awards)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (New York Online, Southeastern)
Viola Davis, Doubt (African-American Critics, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, St. Louis, Women Film Journalists)
Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married (Satellite Awards, Toronto, Utah)
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Austin)
Hanna Schygulla, The Edge of Heaven (National Society of Film Critics)
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler (Detroit, Florida, Las Vegas, Oklahoma, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco)
Kate Winslet, The Reader (Chicago)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire (Adapted Chicago, Oklahoma, Phoenix, San Diego, Southeastern; Overall Florida, Houston, New York Online)
Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York (Original, Austin)
Dustin Lance Black, Milk (Original, San Francisco, Southeastern; Overall, Dallas/Ft. Worth)
Mike Leigh, Happy Go Lucky (National Society of Film Critics)
Jenny Lumet, Rachel Getting Married (Toronto, Utah)
Tom McCarthy, The Visitor (Original, San Diego, Satellite Awards)
Martin McDonagh, In Bruges (Original, Phoenix)
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon (Adapted, San Francisco, Satellite Awards, Women Film Journalists; Overall, Las Vegas, St. Louis)
Jonathan & Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight (Adapted, Austin)
Robert D. Siegel, The Wrestler (Original, Oklahoma)
Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, WALL*E (Original, Chicago, Women Film Journalists)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (New York Online)
Gomorrah (Satellite Awards)
Let the Right One In (Austin, Chicago, Florida, Oklahoma, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Southeastern, Toronto, Utah)
Mongol (Houston, Las Vegas)
Slumdog Millionaire (St. Louis)
Tell No One (Dallas/Ft. Worth, Women Film Journalists)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Anita O'Day:  The Life of a Jazz SInger (Satellite Awards tie)
Man on Wire (Austin, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Florida, Houston, Las Vegas, National Society of Film Critics, New York Online, Oklahoma, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis, Satellite Awards tie, Southeastern, Toronto, Utah, Women Film Journalists tie)
My Winnipeg (San Francisco)
Trouble the Water (Women Film Journalists tie)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
WALL*E (Austin, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Florida, Houston, Las Vegas, New York Online, Oklahoma, Phoenix, San Diego, St. Louis, Satellite Awards, Southeastern, Toronto, Utah)

Whew!  Of course, one reason I had the time to do all that research was because the studios have been so slow to expand these Oscar contenders into the rest of the country, I didn't have a movie to see this weekend.  But I'll bitch about that another day.  Perhaps the single coolest moment of the awards season came on December 16, when alongside winner Mickey Rourke, the Toronto Film Critics named two runners-up as Best Actor:  Sean Penn for Milk and Jean-Claude Van Damme for JCVD.  I like living in a world where anything can happen.  And that's why I'm enjoying this awards season.