Now that over 20 critics prizes and other pre-Oscar winners have been announced, from organizations well known (New York Film Critics Circle) and less so (the Alliance of Women Film Journalists), I thought I’d tally up all the award recipients so far to determine this year’s critical favorites. Some categories (Best Director, Best Supporting Actor) have clear favorites, while others (Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress) are much tighter races, critically speaking. By far the two biggest winners? Slumdog Millionaire and Heath Ledger. Here’s how things shake down.
Best Picture
Slumdog Millionaire (12)
The Dark Knight (3)
Milk (3)
Wall-E (3)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2)
Frost/Nixon (1)
Happy-Go-Lucky (1)
Wendy and Lucy (1)
Best Director
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire (16)
Gus Van Sant, Milk (2)
Jonathan Demme, Rachel Getting Married (1)
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon (1)
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky (1)
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (1)
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight (1)
Andrew Stanton, Wall-E (1)
Best Actor
Sean Penn, Milk (12)
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler (11)
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon (2)
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino (1)
Ricky Gervais, Ghost Town (1)
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor (1)
Best Actress
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky (8)
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married (6)
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road (4)
Melissa Leo, Frozen River (3)
Meryl Streep, Doubt (2)
Angelina Jolie, Changeling (2)
Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy (1)
Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (21)
Josh Brolin, Milk (2)
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road (1)
Best Supporting Actress
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler (7)
Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (6)
Viola Davis, Doubt (5)
Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married (4)
Kate Winslet, The Reader (3)
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (1)
Best Original Screenplay
Dustin Lance Black, Milk (4)
Jenny Lumet, Rachel Getting Married (4)
Tom McCarthy, The Visitor (2)
Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, Wall-E (2)
Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York (1)
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky (1)
Martin McDonagh, In Bruges (1)
Nick Schenk, Gran Torino (1)
Robert D. Siegel, The Wrestler (1)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire (10)
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon (5)
Christopher Nolan & Jonathan Nolan, The Dark Knight (1)
Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (1)
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I can’t say I fully agree with “Slumdog’s” total domination. Not to say it wasn’t a great movie. This is such an incredibly strong year for films–in fact, I wouldn’t place any of last year’s Best Pic noms in my top 5, and I haven’t even seen all the movies yet.
That being said, I enjoyed “Milk” and “Changeling” more than “Slumdog.” I also just saw “Wall-E” yesterday and I thought it was adorable…but shocked that it is on so many critics’ top 10 lists (including the #1 spot for EW!). I don’t get that at all. Cute and entertaining, yes. But, for me, doesn’t hold a candle to the touching and awe-inspiring “Finding Nemo.” Though I do give it props for flowing wonderfully without much dialogue, I just don’t see what all the fuss is about.
Anne Hathaway was fantastic in “Rachel Getting Married,” but need to see more contenders.
I’m sure I’ll be berated for this, but I’m not ready to give Ledger the Oscar. I was until I saw how superb Brolin was in “Milk”…I need to rewatch TDK to see…
Slumdog is really over-rated. it’s very contrived and predictable. a good movie but best picture? no way. Benjamin Button is ten times better. I’m not a comic geek but so was DK.
Brolin WAS phenomenal in the Dan White role… it was chilling to see him…
SO STOKED ABOUT MARISA TOMEI GETTING THE TOP SPOT IN HER CATEGORY!!!!!!! PENELOPE CRUZ IS WAY OVERRATED…THINK MARISA IS THE DARK HORSE COME OSCAR TIME BUT LET’S SHE EVEN GETS NOMINATED SINCE SHE WAS UNFAIRLY SNOBBED BY BOTH SAG & SPIRIT. WTF?!!!?
Honestly, I think this has been a weak year for movies, well American ones. I’ve enjoyed quite a few but nothting that makes me want to jump up and down. Slumdog I think is triumphing because some of the other films are such let downs. I’ve seen lots of good performances but not any truly great films. I still have to see Revolutionary Road and Benjamin Button but the first one looks like a downer and the latter is mostly a visual spectacle. Let’s hope I’m proven wrong.
I am always one that can’t stand the “oh he’s dead, so lets say his last performance was amazing and give him an award,” but Ledger has to be a lock for the Oscar after that performance. Honestly, I am going to be highly disappointed in the Oscars if they pass up TDK for Best Movie. Maybe it shouldn’t win, but there is no way that wasn’t one of the best five movies of the year. I know Wall-E will get totally ignored because God forbid a cartoon be considered better than a live action movie. Sure, it was pure genius (I agree, not better than previously Oscar overlooked Nemo) but Oscars don’t like recognizing cartoons for some reason. Maybe the actors feel threatened that a cartoon did a better job than they did that year, who knows.
Thanks for posting this, Dave Karger! Really interesting to see who is really in the lead – for instance, for a while the talk was that Penelope Cruz and Meryl Streep were going to dominate the critics awards, but apparently not so! (especially in the case of Streep). Glad to see Heath Ledger is dominating – I really hope he wins (and not because he died, but because he was magnificent). Also glad to see Kate Winslet winning several awards, and The Dark Knight taking three! And seeing as how Slumdog is so far in the lead, I wouldn’t be sorry if it won Best Pic. It would be the first time in years that an uplifting movie actually won, so yay for that!
BEST PICTURE
Changeling
BEST DIRECTOR
Clint Eastwood (Changeling)
BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
BEST ACTOR
Sean Penn (Milk)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Viola Davis (Doubt)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Rachel Getting Married
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Frost/Nixon
BEST PICTURE: MILK
BEST ACTOR: SEAN PENN MILK
BEST ACTRESS: MERLY STREEP DOUBT
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: JAMES FRANCO MILK
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: VIOLA DAVIS DOUBT
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: PETER MORGAN
FROST NIXON
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: MIKE LEIGH
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
I hope no one is really counting on “Slumdog Millioniare” to win Best Picture. It is simply filling the Little Miss Sunshine/Juno/Sideways slot for Best Picture…in other words, a “small/offbeat” picture that gets plenty of critics’ awards, but doesn’t have a chnace to really win BP.
I will be disappointed if “Slumdog” wins Best Picture. I thought it was a good film, but not Best Picture material. I can see it getting nominated though, and I will be OK with that. I think “The Dark Knight” is a much better picture, and I will be disappointed if it doesn’t get nominated, which I don’t know if that will happen. It seems to me that “Milk” is the actual best picture of the year, based on a combo of critics’ reviews and what I have actually seen film-wise.
Seriously, Milk is ridiculously overrated. So far, the best I’ve seen is Rachel Getting Married.
I see Button and Doubt tomorrow, with Frost/Nixon coming sometime soon. But Milk totally deserves a downfall. It’s being overhyped as some sort of transcendent piece when really its just a mediocre film at best.
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor: Senn Penn, Milk
Best Actress: Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
Best Supporting Actor: Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Supporting Actress:
Kate Winslet, The Reader
Best Original Screenplay
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
I’m so disappointed. I’m sure Slumdog is great, I can’t wait to see it and I won’t be surprised if it makes the Best Picture list. But I’m pretty old fashioned, and I will be very upset if Wall-E, Dark Knight, or Slumdog win Best Picture. And Meryl Streep deserves an award soooo much more than Sally Hawkins. I’m really hoping The Academy will be professional about that this year
I’m so upset revolutionary road is being underlooked of because of all the other movies. don’t get me wrong i think all of these are wonderful but Road is a wonderful film that i wish was being paid more attention too!!!!!!
Slumdog Millionaire (which I haven’t seen yet) has all the momentum behind it to win best picture this year. What Karger doesn’t mention is which critics’ awards are considered more “influential” and “prestigious” than others and who has won those particular awards. For example, the LA and New York Film Critics and National Society of Film Critics are considered the big 3. The latter has not yet announced its awards, but the first two have, and they both awarded Sally Hawkins their best actress awards. Now will she be nominated? It’s hard to tell. There was one year when Christina Ricci and Reese Witherspoon were winning all the actress awards for The Opposite of Sex and Election, respectively, while Lisa Kudrow was winning all the supporting actress awards for The Opposite of Sex. Yet none of them received Oscar nods that year. And then there was the year Keisha Castle Hughes came out of nowhere to get a nod for Whale Rider. So critics awards, in the end, likely mean nothing.
Happily surprised by Sally Hawkins’ dominance for best actress. The terrific “Happy Go Lucky” is the year’s underrated gem. But also loved Anne Hathaway. I am getting a little tired at the young actress getting awards for playing tough roles, although “Rachel Getting Married” is in a class by itself. I’d give the trio of actresses in it awards. Rosemary DeWitt and the absolutely amazing Debra Winger as well.
My ideal Oscar winners so far:
Best pic: Wall-E
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke
Best Actress: Tie–Sally Hawkins and Anne Hathaway (Meryl Streep would be third place for her terrific work in Doubt.)
Best Supporting Actress–Debra Winger
Supporting Actor: Heath
I also saw Benjamin Button today, and while I admired it, I found it ultimately forgettable. Rachel Getting Married, however, was an incredibly rewarding experience emotionally. The Dark Knight was great, but I felt that was only really because of Heath Ledger’s and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s performances. I felt that everything else about it was merely good. And I don’t get all the WALL-E love either. It was a good film–but only the first half, I would say, is fantastic. The rest is rather pedestrian compared to Stanton’s other fantastic film, Finding Nemo, or even to Kung Fu Panda, which I thought was original, funny, dramatic, and breathtakingly beautiful to watch. I have yet to see other films and performances, including Milk, Slumdog, The Wrestler, and Frost/Nixon, but I’m hoping that after I watch those, the Oscar race will all become clearer to me. We also have to remember that there’s always at least one or two shockers when the nominations are announced.
Go, Viola Davis, Go!
Slumdog Millionaire is AMAZING….it is powerful in its simplicity, but daring at the same time. This is bold and edgy filmmaking, but with a universal theme and love story that is not too complicated or “foreign” for American audiences to “get”. This is hopefully a foreshadowing of what future quality movies will look like; successfully intertwining the global culture we all now live in.
I thought Sally Hawkins
( and “Happy-go-lucky” overall)
was terrible.
why do some think her performance
was in any way noteworthy?
explain please!?!
I thought Slumdog Millionaire was amazing. It varies between hilarious and completely heartbreaking. I really hope it wins best picture.
Letter to the Academy:
Please award Meryl Streep with her much deserved 3rd Oscar. For being the greatest actress of her generation and perhaps of all-time, she has not been properly rewarded. She has often lost to younger actresses, who do not turn in great performances in other films year after year like Meryl does.
Meryl should have won for the French Lieutenant film, Adaptation, etc. And she wasn’t even nominated for one of her more subtle performances in the Hours.
For your consideration:
Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Doubt
Best S. Actor: James Franco, Milk
Best S. Actress: Debra Winger, Rachel Getting Married
Watch full movies here! http://missedashow.com/
I hope Slumdog wins.. Yes it’s predictable but the point of the story isn’t does he win… It’s “how” does he win…
It’s brilliant because while the movie has a feel good ending, it also gets you thinking. I can’t get the image out of my head of poor children with no parents being abused…But its not preachy..
I think that if we didn’t know that Jamal would be okay, some of the children scenes would be unwatchable.
No, no, no!. The best actress of this year was Anne Hathaway, there’s no doubt!. She is simply wonderful in all productions. She is the actress more fully in the present.
Best Picture: TCCOBB
Best Director:Danny Boyle(Slumdog)
Best ACTOR: SEAN PENN (MILK)
BEST ACTRESS: ANNE HATHAWAY (RGM)
BEST S.ACTOR: HEATH (TDK)
BEST S. ACTRESS: TIE-PENELOPE CRUZ (VCB) or Rosemarie DeWitt (RGM)
I see Heath winning this one. Not because he died, but because he was a brilliant actor.
Slumdog is amazing and deserves everything it’s getting…
People keep mentioning Wall-E and how it’s commentary on human waste and consumer culture, but look at how Slumdog ACTUALLY shows us those things literally in India…Mumbai itself is transforming it’s own waste and pain. Jamal as the Indian “everyman” is just beyond brilliant!
Go SLumdog!!!!
If Heath Ledger was alive would he really be an oscar favorite or even get a nomination.