The 14th annual Critics Choice Awards took place Thursday, January 8th, 2009, and has historically predicted who will make the Academy Award short list.
“Slumdog Millionaire” ruled the night. The low budget film with subtitles and no stars pulled in 5 awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Danny Boyle), Best Writer (Simon Beaufoy), Best Young Actress (Dev Patel) and Best Composer (A.R. Rahman). The film also won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival.
Although Heath Ledger is gone, his legacy of brilliant work sustains as he won Best Supporting Actor for The Dark Knight. This was a first, as it is the first posthumous win in the award show’s history. He is said to be the favorite to win the Golden Globe on Monday.
Diane Lane presented Richard Gere with the Joel Siegel Award, which honors members of the film community whose work on and off-screen contributes to the good of humanity.
He acknowledged it wasn’t only for him. “I’m very clear about that. I’m happy that this highlights people on the ground who do civil rights work.” Asked about his thoughts on Barack Obama’s inauguration, Gere explained that he won’t attend the festivities because he “doesn’t like crowds. But I’ll be watching on the TV. It’s an extraordinary moment for all of us. We actually elected two real people who are just like us, after eight years of aliens.”
Immediately after the show, the stars made their way over to the 14th Annual Critic’s Choice Awards afterparty at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica.
Photos by Greg Tidwell.
UPP Entertainment Marketing produced the excellent official afterparty at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica. UPP has been doing business since 1978, and is the original product placement company! www.UPP.net
Critic’s Choice Awards nominees and winners:
BEST PICTURE
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
Nominees:
• Changeling
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Doubt
• Frost/Nixon
• Milk
• The Reader
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Wall-E
• The Wrestler
BEST ACTOR
Winner: Sean Penn – Milk
Nominees:
• Clint Eastwood – Gran Torino
• Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
• Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
• Sean Penn – Milk
• Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Tie: Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married | Meryl Streep – Doubt
Nominees:
• Kate Beckinsale – Nothing But the Truth
• Cate Blanchett – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
• Angelina Jolie – Changeling
• Melissa Leo – Frozen River
• Meryl Streep – Doubt
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Nominees:
• Josh Brolin – Milk
• Robert Downey, Jr. – Tropic Thunder
• Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
• Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
• James Franco – Milk
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Kate Winslet – The Reader
Nominees:
• 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
• Kate Winslet – The Reader
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Winner: Milk
Nominees:
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Doubt
• Milk
• Rachel Getting Married
BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Nominees:
• 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 WRITER (Original or Adapted Screenplay)
Winner: Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
Nominees:
• Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
• Dustin Lance Black – Milk
• Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon
• Eric Roth – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• John Patrick Shanley – Doubt
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Winner: WALL-E
Nominees:
• Bolt
• Kung Fu Panda
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
• Wall-E
• Waltz With Bashir
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS (Under 21)
Winner: Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire
Nominees:
• Dakota Fanning – The Secret Life of Bees
• David Kross – The Reader
• Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire
• Brandon Walters – Australia
BEST ACTION MOVIE
Winner: The Dark Knight
Nominees:
• The Dark Knight
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
• Iron Man
• Quantum of Solace
• Wanted
BEST COMEDY MOVIE
Winner: Tropic Thunder
Nominees:
• Burn After Reading
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall
• Role Models
• Tropic Thunder
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona
BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Winner: John Adams
Nominees:
• John Adams
• Recount
• Coco Chanel
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Winner: Waltz With Bashir
Nominees:
• A Christmas Tale
• Gomorrah
• I’ve Loved You So Long
• Let the Right One In
• Mongol
• Waltz With Bashir
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Winner: Man On Wire
Nominees:
• I.O.U.S.A.
• Man On Wire
• Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
• Standard Operating Procedure
• Young At Heart
BEST SONG
Winner: “The Wrestler” (performed by Bruce Springsteen, written by Bruce Springsteen) – The Wrestler
Nominees:
• “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
• “The Wrestler” (performed by Bruce Springsteen, written by Bruce Springsteen) – The Wrestler
BEST COMPOSER
Winner: A.R. Rahman – Slumdog Millionaire
Nominees:
• Alexandre Desplat – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Clint Eastwood – Changeling
• Danny Elfman – Milk
• Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard – The Dark Knight
• A.R. Rahman – Slumdog Millionaire
