Meryl Streep Best Actress Favorite with Carey Mulligan + George Clooney & Christoph Waltz

Meryl Streep Best Actress favorite for Julie & Julia – tied with Carey Mulligan for An Education.

Carey Mulligan & Meryl Streep Best Actress ‘tie’: U.S. critics’ favorites

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 exceptions were critics in Las Vegas, Detroit, and Florida, who actually noticed another newcomer, Gabourey Sidibe’s abused illiterate pregnant teen in Precious. San Diego critics, who usually go their own merry way, picked Michelle Monaghan for Trucker, while Los Angeles critics, who sometimes dare to be different, picked Cesar winner Yolande Moreau for her talented but unbalanced artist in Séraphine.

Austin critics, for their part, picked Mélanie Laurent as best actress of the year for her Nazi hater in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.

Of the aforementioned performers, only Streep, Mulligan, and Sidibe earned both SAG Award and Golden Globe nominations.

Catalina Saavedra started out well with a Gotham award for Breakthrough Performance of 2009 for The Maid, but that’s all she’s won thus far. An Oscar nomination at this point is unlikely, but not impossible. Academy members have to get those invaluable screeners, and they must be constantly reminded to watch them. You wouldn’t believe it looking at most US critics’ choices, but competition among actresses was pretty fierce in 2009.

The list below includes US-based critics groups (it’ll be updated as more results are announced early this year), in addition to the Gotham, Satellite, and National Board of Review awards; plus Golden Globe, Spirit Award, and SAG nominations.

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia – Southeastern, Satellite (comedy/musical), San Francisco, Phoenix, Oklahoma, New York Online, New York, Boston, plus SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Carey Mulligan, An Education – Washington, Utah, Toronto, St. Louis, Indiana, Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Chicago, plus SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Gabourey Sidibe, Precious – Las Vegas, Florida, Detroit, plus SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globes, Spirit nominations

Yolande Moreau, Séraphine – Los Angeles, National Society of Film Critics, French Academy’s Cesar (2008)

Michelle Monaghan, Trucker – San Diego

Mélanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds – Austin

Catalina Saavedra, The Maid – Gotham award for Breakthrough Performance (the Gothams have no best actor/best actress categories)

Shohreh Aghdashloo, The Stoning of Soraya M. – Satellite (drama)

Helen Mirren, The Last Station – SAG, Golden Globes, Spirit nominations

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side – SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria – Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Meryl Streep, It’s Complicated – Golden Globe nomination

Sandra Bullock, The Proposal – Golden Globe nomination

Marion Cotillard, Nine – Golden Globe nomination

Julia Roberts, Duplicity – Golden Globe nomination

George Clooney Tops US Critics’ Awards

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 Jason Reitman’s timely Up in the Air, currently doing good business at the domestic box office.

Colin Firth, playing a grieving college professor following the death of his male lover in Tom Ford’s A Single Man, comes in second place with four wins from US critics’ groups, plus a Venice Film Festival victory.

Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker and Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart are the runners-up. All four actors have been nominated for SAG and the Critics’ Choice Awards. Renner is the only who didn’t land a Golden Globe nod.

US critics’ groups usually choose the same movies, actors, etc. as the year’s best, so there isn’t much variety in the list below. Only one other actor won an award from American critics, Viggo Mortensen for The Road, from the Utah scribes. Also, Nicolas Cage was the Toronto winner for Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

If you want to include the National Board of Review, then there’s another one (tied with George Clooney): Morgan Freeman, for his Nelson Mandela in Clint Eastwood’s box office disappointment Invictus.

Daniel Day-Lewis was a shoo-in for the Oscars until Nine opened. Critics have thus far ignored him, but he did get a Golden Globe in the best actor – comedy or musical category. Day-Lewis may also get a best actor Oscar nomination – Academy members have made surprising choices in the past – but he would be quite the dark horse at this point.

The list below includes US-based critics groups (it’ll be updated as more results are announced early next year), in addition to the Gotham, Satellite, and National Board of Review awards; Golden Globe, Spirit Award, and SAG nominations; plus a handful of festival awards.

George Clooney, Up in the Air – National Board of Review (tie), Washington, Indiana, St. Louis, Southeastern, Phoenix, Oklahoma, New York, Houston, Florida, Dallas-Ft. Worth, plus SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker – National Society of Film Critics, Satellite (drama), Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston, plus SAG, Critics Choice, Spirit (in 2008) nominations

Colin Firth, A Single Man – San Francisco, San Diego, Detroit, Austin, Venice Film Festival, plus SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globes, Spirit nominations

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart – New York Online, Los Angeles, plus SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globes, Spirit nominations

Morgan Freeman, Invictus – National Board of Review (tie), plus SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Viggo Mortensen, The Road – Utah, plus Critics Choice nomination

Nicolas Cage, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans – Toronto

Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man – Satellite (comedy/musical), plus Golden Globe nomination

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer – Golden Globes, Spirit nominations

Tobey Maguire, Brothers – Golden Globe nomination

Matt Damon, The Informant! – Golden Globe nomination

Robert Downey Jr, Sherlock Holmes – Golden Globe nomination

Daniel Day-Lewis, Nine – Golden Globe nomination

Christoph Waltz: US Critics’ Favorite Supporting Actor

If US critics found only two lead actresses to vote for in 2009 (Meryl Streep and Carey Mulligan), they had an even tougher time finding a supporting actor. Or perhaps it was just his own thespian brilliance that made Christoph Waltz walk away with nearly every critics’ award out there. With more than 90 film and TV productions to his credit, Waltz, 53, has finally been discovered by international audiences and critics thanks to his evil Nazi in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. All that and the best actor prize at Cannes 2009, too.

Christian McKay, playing Orson Welles in Me and Orson Welles (the “Me” is Zac Efron), managed to top two lists: in San Francisco and Utah. Woody Harrelson was the choice of the National Board of Review voters. That’s it.

Both Waltz and Harrelson are up for SAG Awards and Golden Globes. McKay was left out of both groups, though he is a nominee for the Critics Choice and Spirit awards.

The list below includes most US-based critics groups (it’ll be updated as more results are announced early this year), in addition to the Gotham, Satellite, and National Board of Review awards; Golden Globe, Spirit Award, and SAG nominations; plus Waltz’s Cannes win.

Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds – Washington, National Society of Film Critics (tie), Toronto, St. Louis, Southeastern, Satellite, San Diego, Phoenix, Oklahoma, New York Online, New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, Florida, Detroit, Indiana, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Chicago, Boston, Austin, in addition to Cannes, plus SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles – Utah, San Francisco, plus Critics Choice, Spirit nominations

Paul Schneider, Bright Star – National Society of Film Critics (tie)

Woody Harrelson, The Messenger – National Board of Review, plus SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globes, Spirit nominations

Matt Damon, Invictus – SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Christopher Plummer, The Last Station – SAG, Golden Globe, Spirit nominations

Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones – SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Mo’Nique – US Critics’ Top Supporting Actress

Like Christoph Waltz in the best supporting actor category, Mo’Nique – who plays a nasty mother in Lee Daniels’ Precious – is by far the North American critics’ top choice for best supporting actress of 2009: 17 wins and counting, in addition to awards at both the Sundance and Stockholm film festivals. Mo’Nique has also nabbed SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe, and Spirit award nominations.

Anna Kendrick, as George Clooney’s assistant of sorts in Up in the Air, has come out on top in Toronto, Houston, and Austin, in addition to a National Board of Review win, while two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton, playing a war widow in The Messenger, won in San Diego. That’s it.

Although Mo’Nique has been considered a top awards season contender since her win at Sundance early in 2009, it’s a little surprising that critics have focused on one single performance when the 2009 supporting actress field offered an array of worthy talent, from Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air and Julianne Moore in A Single Man to Kathy Bates in Chéri and Kerry Fox in Bright Star.

The list below includes North American critics groups (it’ll be updated as more results are announced in the next several weeks), in addition to the Satellite and National Board of Review awards; Golden Globe, Spirit Award, and SAG nominations; plus a couple of festival awards.

Mo’Nique, Precious – Washington, Utah, National Society of Film Critics, St. Louis, Southeastern, Satellite, San Francisco, Phoenix, Oklahoma, New York Online, New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Florida, Detroit, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Indiana, Chicago, Boston, in addition to Sundance and Stockholm, plus SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe, Spirit award nominations

Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air – National Board of Review, Toronto, Houston, Austin, plus SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Samantha Morton, The Messenger – San Diego, plus Critics Choice, Spirit nominations

Vera Farmiga, Up In The Air – SAG, Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Penélope Cruz, Nine – SAG, Golden Globe nominations

Julianne Moore, A Single Man – Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Diane Kruger, Inglourious Basterds – SAG nomination

Marion Cotillard, Nine – Critics Choice nomination

‘Up in the Air’ US Critics’ Top Screenplay

Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner’s screenplay for Up in the Air is the #1 winner among North American critics groups, with Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds coming in second place.

Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber’s (500) Days of Summer, a boy meets girl tale in which things don’t quite go as planned, has been a favorite as well. Other screenplays that have received more than one nod from critics are Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach’s Fantastic Mr. Fox and Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man.

Although The Hurt Locker has been the critics’ top film and Kathryn Bigelow their top director, Mark Boal’s screenplay only topped the list of one critics’ group: it won best original screenplay in Chicago. Clearly, critics see the Iraq War drama as a director’s film.

There are quite a few titles listed below because some critics’ groups have original and adapted screenplay categories. Included are North American critics’ groups (the list will be updated as more results are announced in the next several weeks), in addition to the Satellite and National Board of Review awards; and Golden Globe and Spirit Award nominations.

Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air – National Board of Review, Indiana, Toronto (tie), Southeastern, Phoenix, Oklahoma, Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Chicago, Austin, plus Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds – Washington, Toronto (tie), San Francisco, San Diego, New York Online, Austin, plus Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Scott Neustadlter and Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer – St. Louis, Southeastern, Satellite, Oklahoma, Las Vegas, Florida, plus Critics Choice, Spirit nominations

Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man – National Board of Review, National Society of Film Critics, Washington, Los Angeles, Boston, plus Critics Choice nomination

Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, Fantastic Mr. Fox – Utah, San Francisco, San Diego, plus Critics Choice nomination

Pete Docter, Bob Paterson, Up – Phoenix, plus Critics Choice nomination

Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker – Chicago, plus Critics Choice, Golden Globe nominations

Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche – In the Loop – New York

Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious – Satellite, plus Critics Choice nomination

Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, District 9 – Golden Globe nomination

Nancy Meyers, It’s Complicated – Golden Globe nomination

‘Avatar’ In, Oprah Winfrey Out: Producers Guild Nominations

James Cameron’s Avatar, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, and Neill Blomkamp’s sleeper hit District 9 are three science-fiction films included in the Producers Guild of America’s list of nominees for best narrative feature of 2009.

Two other major box office hits were included on the list as well, Pete Docter’s animated Up and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, in addition to a couple of smaller but successful productions, Lee Daniels’ Precious and Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air.

Also included were critics’ favorite The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Lone Scherfig’s British drama An Education, and, somewhat surprisingly, Clint Eastwood’s box office disappointment Invictus, in which Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon a South African rugby player.

Missing from the list are two high-profile year-end releases, Rob Marshall’s all-star musical Nine and Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones, though Jackson did get in as one of the District 9 producers. Also missing are Marc Webb’s (500) Days of Summer, three successful female-centered productions – John Lee Hancock’s The Blind Side, Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia, Nancy Meyers’ It’s Complicated – and well-received smaller films that failed to make a box office and/or year-end awards splash, such as Amreeka, A Serious Man, A Single Man, The Last Station, and Crazy Heart.

In the best animated feature category, Up is joined by 9, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The Princess and the Frog. Missing from this list is Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Only four documentaries made the cut – Burma VJ, The Cove, Sergio, and Soundtrack for a Revolution – whereas the longform television category has six nominees: Georgia O’Keeffe, Grey Gardens, Little Dorrit, Prayers for Bobby, The Prisoner, and Taking Chance. Missing from the documentary list are Agnes Varda’s The Beaches of Agnes, Sacha Gervasi’s Anvil! The Story of Anvil, and Robert Kenner’s Food, Inc.

And finally, John Lasseter will be honored with the David O. Selznick Award, while Precious has already been named the recipient of the Stanley Kramer Award.

The PGA will announce its winners on Jan. 24.

The Academy is probably hoping that Oscar voters will follow the Producers Guild of America’ lead, as their top-ten list features one mega-blockbuster, James Cameron’s Avatar (more than $1 billion worldwide), and no less than four blockbusters: J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, Pete Docter’s Up, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and Neill Blomkamp’s District 9. The rationale is that bigger movies are supposed to result in bigger TV ratings.

Cameron’s Titanic raked in solid viewership numbers back in 1998, but it’s been mostly downhill from there. Last year, the Oscar ceremony got an audience bump that was credited to the presence of teen heartthrobs Robert Pattinson (fresh off of Twilight) and Zac Efron (of High School Musical infamy). If Oscar ceremony organizers are smart, they’ll have Pattinson and Efron back this year – and a high-school vampire dance number, just in case.

But will the Academy’s list match the Producers’? Early last year, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight – the year’s biggest blockbuster – was one of the Producers Guild nominees, but it failed to get an Oscar nomination for best picture. The much smaller The Reader, a Weinstein Co. release directed by Stephen Daldry, replaced it at Oscar time.

With ten available slots this year, the makers of Avatar needn’t worry. But the chances for several of the other blockbusters on the list – District 9, Star Trek, Up – is iffier. The Oscar-savvy Weinstein Co., for instance, is pushing Nine, and the first and last time an animated feature received an Oscar nod was back in early 1992, when Beauty and the Beast sneaked in. Also, actors – not producers – form the largest group of Academy members.

And finally, although she’s a walking, talking blockbuster, Oprah Winfrey’s name is nowhere to be found among the PGA nominees and has no chance of getting an Oscar nomination because she was billed as one of Precious’ executive producers. Only “producers” get to be nominated. (Also, Winfrey’s actual participation on the making of the film has been questioned of late.)

‘Avatar,’ ‘Star Trek’: Art Directors Guild nominations (partial)

Rob Marshall’s elaborate musical Nine is the most glaring absentee in the Art Directors Guild’s three categories for excellence in production design in a feature film. The 2010 ADG winners will be announced Feb. 13; special honorees include Warren Beatty, Terence Marsh, and Michael Baugh.

Period Film
A Serious Man, Jess Gonchor.
Inglourious Basterds, David Wasco.
Julie & Julia, Mark Ricker.
Public Enemies, Nathan Crowley.
Sherlock Holmes, Sarah Greenwood.

Fantasy Film
Avatar, Rick Carter & Robert Stromberg.
District 9, Philip Ivey.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Stuart Craig.
Star Trek, Scott Chambliss.
Where the Wild Things Are, K.K. Barrett.

Contemporary Film
Angels & Demons, Allan Cameron.
The Hangover, Bill Brzeski.
The Hurt Locker, Karl Juliusson.
The Lovely Bones, Naomi Shohan.
Up in the Air, Steve Saklad.

Television Movie or Miniseries
Ben 10 Alien Swarm, Yuda Acco.
Grey Gardens, Kalina Ivanov.
The Prisoner, Michael Pickwoad.

George Clooney & Carey Mulligan Win More U.S. Critics Awards

The one Central Ohio Film Critics Association win that could be considered an upset took place in the Best Foreign Language Film category: Ari Folman’s animated anti-war drama/documentary Waltz with Bashir hasn’t been mentioned by anyone this awards season because it was up for all sorts of awards in the 2008–2009 awards season.

Central Ohio Film Critics Awards (partial)

Best Film: Up in the Air

Best Foreign Language Film: Waltz with Bashir

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, An Education

Best Actor: George Clooney, Up in the Air

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious

Best Director: Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Actor of the Year (for an exemplary body of work): George Clooney for Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Up in the Air

‘It’s Complicated’ actors to host Oscar ceremony + Best Actress nominee Meryl Streep among SAG Award presenters

The 2010 Academy Award nominations will be announced on Tuesday, Feb. 2, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The 2010 Oscar ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 7, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles. In the U.S., the Oscarcast will be televised live by ABC.

Both Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, who co-star with Meryl Streep in Nancy Meyers’ romantic comedy hit It’s Complicated (not about the Academy Awards’ preferential voting system), will share duties as Oscar hosts.

Alec Baldwin, George Clooney, Jane Lynch, Michelle Monaghan, Chris O’Donnell, Anna Paquin, Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci have been announced as presenters at the 2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards. Additionally, previously announced presenter Sandra Bullock will hand out SAG’s Life Achievement Award to Betty White.

Both Alec Baldwin and George Clooney have won four SAG Awards (or Actors). Meryl Streep has won two. All three have been nominated this year: Baldwin for the TV series 30 Rock, Clooney for Up in the Air, and Streep for Julie & Julia.

Three-time Actor nominee Anna Paquin is in the running again as a member of the ensemble in the HBO television series True Blood, while two-time Actor nominee Stanley Tucci is up for best supporting actor for The Lovely Bones.

The 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m. ET. Absurdly, West Coast viewers will have to wait three hours to watch the show – at 8 p.m. PT.

Oscar ballots mailed out

Pictured above is an actual Oscar ballot for the Best Picture of 2009. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences mailed Oscar ballots of various kinds to its 5,777 voting members on Dec. 28, ’09.

According to the Academy’s preferential voting system, every vote is supposed to count – unless, of course, none of your choices make it into the top ten (for Best Picture) or top five (in case you belong to a specific individual branch* as well).

Having said that, I should add that at most only one choice per ballot will be counted. It could be your first choice, or (much less likely) your fifth choice, or (much, much less likely) your tenth choice. But only one will be counted depending on who/which movie among your choices has the best chance of landing a nomination.

Sounds complicated? Well, it could always be more mind-boggling.

* At the Oscars, actors vote for actors, directors for directors, screenwriters for screenwriters, and so on.

Kansas City Film Critics Awards (partial)

Usual suspects Up, Up in the Air, Kathryn Bigelow, George Clooney, Best Actress Meryl Streep (co-star Amy Adams hasn’t been at all lucky this awards season), Mo’Nique, and Christoph Waltz are the Kansas City Film Critics Circle’s choices for best of 2009.

The unusual suspects rounded up by the Kansas City critics were two: Matteo Garrone’s Camorra saga Gomorrah, chosen as the best foreign language film, and best documentary Every Little Step, Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern’s portrait of auditions for a Broadway revival of A Chorus Line.

Best Film: Up in the Air

Best Foreign Language Film: Gomorrah

Best Actor: George Clooney, Up in the Air

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Best Original Screenplay: Inglourious Basterds

Best Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air

Best Documentary: Every Little Step

Best Animated Film: Up

North Texas Film Critics Awards (partial)

North Texas Film Critics Association winners: A major surprise was the choice of best foreign language film: Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet, chiefly because it didn’t open in the US in 2009. Even so, Audiard’s prison drama starring Tahar Rahim was also the 2009 National Board of Review‘s winner.

Best Picture: Up in the Air

Best Foreign Language Film: The Prophet

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Best Actor: George Clooney, Up in the Air

Best Supporting Actress: Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Best Documentary: The Cove

Best Animated Feature: Up

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.) website.