St. Louis Film Critics Association Announces Award Nominees

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The St. Louis Film Critics Association (of which I am a member) announced their fourth annual award nominees today.  In order for a film to be eligible, it has to have been shown in a St. Louis theater or film festival or  a screener DVD must have been made available to critics.  So you might see some titles on there that haven’t been released yet.  Don’t worry, it’s not rigged.  We’ve seen them (or at least been given ample opportunity). 

Here’s what’s been nominated:

BEST PICTURE

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Milk
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Frost/Nixon
• Wall E

BEST ACTOR

• Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road)
• Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) 
• Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
• Sean Penn (Milk)
• Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

BEST ACTRESS

• Cate Blanchett (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
• Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
• Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
• Kate Winslet (The Reader)
• Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Josh Brolin (Milk)
• Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder)
• Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
• John Malkovich (Burn After Reading)
• Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)
• Jeffrey Wright (Cadillac Records)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Amy Adams (Doubt)
• Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
• Viola Davis (Doubt)
• Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
• Frances McDormand (Burn After Reading)

BEST DIRECTOR

• Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
• David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
• Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)
• Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight)
• Gus Van Sant (Milk)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• The Class (Entre Les Murs) - France
• I've Loved You So Long (Il Y A Longtemps Que Je T'aime) - France/Germany
• Let The Right One In (Lat Den Ratte Komma In) - Swedish
• Slumdog Millionaire - U.K./U.S.A/India
• Tell No One (Ne Le Dis A Personne) - France

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• Body Of War
• Man On Wire
• Pray The Devil Back To Hell
• Shine A Light
• Standard Operating Procedure

BEST COMEDY

• Burn After Reading
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall
• Role Models
• Tropic Thunder
• Zack and Miri Make A Porno

BEST ANIMATED FILM

• Bolt
• Chicago 10
• Kung Fu Panda
• Madagascar II
• Wall E
• Waltz With Bashir

MOST ORIGINAL, INNOVATIVE OR CREATIVE FILM

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Speed Racer
• Synecdoche, N.Y.
• Wall E
• Waltz With Bashir

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Roger Deakins (Revolutionary Road)
• Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire)
• Claudio Miranda (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
• Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight)
• Harris Savides (Milk)
• Mandy Walker (Australia)

BEST SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED)

• Simon Beaufoy and Vikas Swarup (Slumdog Millionaire)
• Dustin Lance Black (Milk)
• Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon)
• Eric Roth and Robin Swicord (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
• Nick Schenk and Dave Johannson (Gran Torino)

BEST MUSIC (SOUNDTRACK OR SCORE, ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED)

• Cadillac Records
• The Dark Knight
• Gran Torino
• The Visitor
• Wall E

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Iron Man
• Speed Racer
• Wall E

Critics are only allowed to vote if they’ve seen every film in a specific category.  Noticeably absent is the upcoming Tom Cruise film Valkyrie.  It was not screened in time for nominations.  It was not screened for critics and MGM requested that it not be considered for any awards.  I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

The winners will be announced Sunday, December 14.  For more info you can go to www.stlfilmcritics.org.