Today the San Diego Film Critics Society voted on the best of 2009 with "Inglourious Basterds" taking Best Picture as well as five other awards.
The San Diego Film Critics Society is comprised of print, television, radio and Internet critics (including myself) working in San Diego County. The organization’s mission statement is “to provide diverse critical opinion about movies, advance film education and awareness, and recognize excellence in cinema.”
In addition to voting on acting and craft categories, the group also honors one artist for their body of work for the year. This year the honor went to Woody Harrelson for his work in "The Messenger," "Zombieland" and "2012." Although I think he needed to get docked points for being in “2012.” I would have liked to have given the distinction to either Clifton Collins, Jr. who made six films including “Sunshine Cleaning,” “Extract,” “Brothers,” “Star Trek,” and “Crank: High Voltage.” Although all the roles were supporting ones, he was so different in each that it was an impressive show of talent. Another worthy candidate for body of work was Hiam Abbass who was in “The Lemon Tree,” “The Limits of Control,” and “Amreeka.”
I was also disappointed that the Hayao Miyazaki animated film "Ponyo" didn't even make our nominations. But then Disney didn't send out any screeners so only a couple of the critics had even seen the film. Too bad because it's a magical film.
The critics also chose the Reading Cinemas Gaslamp Stadium 15 to receive the annual Kyle Counts Award. The award, named after the late San Diego film critic, honors a person or organization that has made significant contributions to film in the city. The critics cited the Reading Cinemas Gaslamp Stadium 15 for its bold and consistent booking of vital new independent and foreign films that otherwise would not have played in San Diego.
LIST OF WINNERS AND RUNNERS-UP
BEST FILM: “Inglourious Basterds”
Runner-up: “A Single Man”
BEST DIRECTOR: Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”
Runner-up: James Cameron,“Avatar”
BEST ACTRESS: Michelle Monaghan,“Trucker”
Runners-up: Abbie Cornish.“Bright Star;” Carey Mulligan."An Education"
BEST ACTOR: Colin Firth,“A Single Man”
Runner-up: Viggo Mortensen,“The Road”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Samantha Morton (“The Messenger”)
Runner-up: Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz (“Inglourious Basterds”)
Runner-up: Woody Harrelson (“The Messenger”)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”)
Runner-up: Joel & Ethan Coen (“A Serious Man”)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach ("Fantastic Mr. Fox")
Runner-up: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner (“Up in the Air”)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: “Il Divo”
Runner-up: “Sin Nombre”
BEST DOCUMENTARY: “The Cove”
Runner-up: "Anvil, The Story of Anvil"
BEST ANIMATED FILM: “Up”
Runner-up: “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Javier Aguirresarobe,“The Road"
Runner-up: Robert Richardson,“Inglourious Basterds"
BEST EDITING: Alan Edward Bell, "(500) Days of Summer"
Runner-up: Sally Menke, "Inglourious Basterds"
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: David Wasco,“Inglourious Basterds”
Runner-up: Anatasia Masaro, "Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus"
BEST SCORE: Abel Korzeniowski, "A Single Man”
Runner-up: Michael Giacchino,“Up”
BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE: “Inglourious Basterds”
Runner-up: "A Serious Man"
