I am starting to think 2009 may be the year of the little guy at the top after Little Miss Sunshine and Juno were unable to make the break in the past two years as Anne Thompson at Variety has added the awards to be announced tomorrow morning by the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics in advance.
Slumdog Millionaire gets big notice taking top kudos in Film, Director (Danny Boyle), Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy) and Breakthrough Actor (Dev Patel). The group deviated from the National Board of Review’s decision to go with Josh Brolin for Milk in the Supporting Actor category giving the nod to Heath Ledger for his performance in The Dark Knight. It’s the second bit of award kudos for Ledger as he was also bestowed the AFI (Australian Film Institute) international award for best actor on Saturday.
There are a pair of categories shaping up to be quite interesting as Meryl Streep (Doubt) was noted as Best Actress and Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married) for Best Supporting Actress following the NBR’s recognition of Anne Hathaway and Penelope Cruz. Ahhhh, the magic is beginning to make me tingle.
Check out the complete list below and remember I am keeping track of all of these lists on one giant page right here in my “The Contenders” section.
Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight)
Best Director: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Best Actress: Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Best Supporting Actress: Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married)
Best Original Screenplay: Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Animated: WALL•E (Disney/Pixar)
Best Documentary: Man on Wire (Magnolia Pictures)
Best Foreign Film: Let the Right One In (Magnolia Pictures and Magnet Releasing)
Best Ensemble: Doubt (Miramax)
Best Breakthrough: Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount Pictures)
