Critics Choices Articles

Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia (Columbia Pictures) (top); Carey Mulligan in An Education (Kerry Brown / Sony Pictures Classics) (bottom) Only two actresses delivered great performances in 2009, at least as far as most US-based critics’ groups were concerned: veteran Meryl Streep as Julia Child in Julie & Julia, and newcomer Carey Mulligan as a daring schoolgirl in 1960s London in An Education. The [...]

George Clooney, Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air (Dale Robinette / Paramount) With ten wins from groups as diverse as the 75-year-old New York Film Critics Circle and the recently formed Indiana Film Journalists Association, George Clooney was the actor of choice of most US-based critics’ groups. Clooney has received the best reviews of his career for his performance as a corporate-downsizing expert in [...]

Although The Hurt Locker was eligible for last year’s Spirit Awards, neither the Iraq War drama nor director Kathryn Bigelow (above) were nominated. But a year — and lots of good buzz — can make a hell of a difference. That’s why Bigelow is now considered the front-runner for the best director Oscar even if Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air or (Bigelow’s former husband) [...]

Pete Docter’s Up (Disney / Pixar) (top); Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox (Fox Searchlight Pictures) (bottom) Although Pete Docter’s Up was expected to have the animation year-end awards field all to itself, it ultimately had to face tough competition from Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, which features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Jason Schwartzman, among others. Up has won awards from at [...]