As I had predicted, Nine, The Lovely Bones, Avatar, and The Blind Side didn't get much recognition from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, which announced their winners earlier today.
Talent from those films was probably mentioned during the voting, but only Avatar got listed in the final results: it was the runner-up (Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg) in the best production design category, after District 9 (Philip Ivey).
Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker was the Los Angeles critics' big winner — best film, best director (no split, my prediction notwithstanding) — matching results earlier today from the Boston Society of Film Critics. Actually, the Boston critics gave the Iraq War drama about a team of bomb-disposal experts a total of five awards; apart from its two wins, Los Angeles critics listed Bigelow's film only once more: it was the runner-up for best cinematography (Barry Ackroyd).
In addition to its wins in Los Angeles and Boston, The Hurt Locker also received top honors at the Gotham Awards. Despite its unimpressive box-office performance — the film's domestic take barely covered its estimated production costs — The Hurt Locker is a likely contender for the best picture and best director Academy Awards. Its chances to come out on top in either category, however, are iffy.
The National Board of Review and Washington film critics' favorite, Jason Reitman's Up in the Air, managed to win only one award in LA, for Reitman and Sheldon Turner's screenplay. (As an aside, Mark Boal's The Hurt Locker screenplay hasn't been very lucky thus far.) Up in the Air was also the runner-up in two categories: best picture and best supporting actress (Anna Kendrick).
One major surprise was the choice of Olivier Assayas' Summer Hours as the best foreign language film of 2009. Starring Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling (both above), and Jérémie Renier, Summer Hours chronicles the emotional ups-and-downs of three siblings as they get rid of cherished family mementos (and memories) after their mother (Edith Scob) dies. I should add that Summer Hours was also the Boston critics' pick; if it wins a third time, it'll no longer be a "surprise."
More expected was the fact that Louie Psihoyos' The Cove, about dolphin abuse, was chosen the best documentary. Less expected was that it tied with Agnès Varda's The Beaches of Agnès. But don't get me wrong, Varda's autobiographical documentary has gotten great reviews; I just wasn't expecting a tie.
Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox was the best animated feature. Pete Docter's Up was the runner-up. I'd have thought it'd have been the other way around.