2009 Broadcast Film Critics Awards

The Broadcast Film Critics and the Hollywood Foreign Press announced their winners of the best in film for 2009. These are two of the most important precursors in the entire Oscar race, perhaps even the most important. The winners of these awards are pretty much guaranteed Oscar nominations and stand an awesome chance of actually winning on Oscar night. With that being said, here are the winners of the Critics' Choice Awards...

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow = The Hurt Locker

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges = Crazy Heart

Best Actress: (TIE) Sandra Bullock = The Blind Side, Meryl Streep = Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz = Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique = Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

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

Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino = Inglourious Basterds

Best Cinematography: Avatar

Best Film Editing: Avatar

Best Original Score: Up

Best Original Song: "The Weary Kind" = Crazy Heart

Best Art Direction: Avatar

Best Costume Design: Avatar

Best Sound: Avatar

Best Visual Effects: Avatar

Best Makeup: District 9

Best Animated Feature: Up

Best Foreign Language Film: Broken Embraces

Best Acting Ensemble: Inglourious Basterds

Best Young Actor/Actress: Saoirse Ronan = The Lovely Bones

Best Action Movie: Avatar

Best Comedy Movie: The Hangover

Best Documentary Feature: The Cove

WHAT THIS MEANS

It is now a two-horse race between Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Forget the last five categories mentioned above, for those mean absolutely nothing in terms of Oscar prognostication. Avatar took home six awards on Friday night, but failed to take home the big awards of Best Picture and Best Director. Those two awards went to The Hurt Locker and Kathryn Bigelow respectively. What does that tell us? Avatar is appreciated as more of a visual extravaganza rather than an emotional drama. While James Cameron does an amazing job of incorporating a thematically resonating story with an ambitious visual presentation, there are many people in the industry who are skeptical of its accomplishments in both the acting and writing departments. This is why we did not see Avatar take away more of the critics' prizes during this Oscar season. Viewers tend to reward the emotional drama bearing the strongest connection to our current socioeconomic climate. And The Hurt Locker is a film that does exactly that. I believe that this is a year where Oscar takes a progressive step in the right direction. But rather than naming an epic sci-fi film as its Best Picture of 2009, it could be that the voters hand that honor to The Hurt Locker while also dispensing their first directing award to a woman in Kathryn Bigelow. It will be very interesting to see how this race unfolds down the stretch and what the nominations will look like on February 2nd.

The other two-horse race will be in the Best Actress category between Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep. Everyone knows my thoughts on ties. But in case you don't, let me refresh your memory...I HATE TIES!!!!! I think it's absolutely ridiculous when a voting body can't come to a decision on a winner. Pick a winner, stick with that winner, and let the audience judge however they may. It isn't supposed to be that challenging. The other thing that bothers me are the two performances that tied. I don't have much of a problem with Meryl Streep. She is, after all, the goddess of acting. But Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side? Wake up guys. The only reason Bullock is being rewarded for this performance is because of her underlying body of work. The performance is sub-par at best, as highlighted in my review of The Blind Side last week. There are two better performances among the nominees that the critics could have chosen: Carey Mulligan for An Education and Gabourey Sidibe for Precious. Both of those actresses are richly deserving of an award, as opposed to Bullock who is lucky to even get a nomination in my opinion. Despite my hatred for this particular choice, the Best Actress Oscar will either be given to Sandra Bullock or Meryl Streep. And I hope to God they make the wiser choice and worship at the feet of the goddess.

Other than that, nothing too surprising to come from these awards. Jeff Bridges, Christoph Waltz, and Mo'Nique have their awards sewn up and ready for the taking. Up could be the beneficiary of multiple awards come Oscar night. And Quentin Tarantino will have a hefty battle in the Original Screenplay category. But as of right now, consider the Best Picture race to be a duel between Avatar and The Hurt Locker.