I guess I'm one of those haters Corey's talking about because while I found Up In The Air fine in a Jerry Maquire sort of way, I think it's a pretty superficial film that wants to pretend it actually has something to say. For me, the top films of this year were the ones that'll probably be forgotten by most of the award groups. Though The Hurt Locker will probaly end up in the running here and there, in my estimation it was one of the year's finest American releases.
And so, this being the time o' year where the Detroit Film Critic's Society weighs in on what it regards the finest flicks of the year I thought I too should share my choices in the various film categories.
Feel free to disagree... or let us know how you would have voted.
Best Picture
1 The Hurt Locker
2 Still Walking
3. The Cove
4 Where the Wild Things Are
5. Avatar
Best Director
1 Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
2 James Cameron (Avatar)
3 Spike Jones (WTWTA)
4 Wes Anderson (Fantastic Mr. Fox)
5 Pete Docter (Up)
Though if I could have declared a tie it would have included Quentin Tarantino (Basterds). The Coens also deserved a nod.
Best Actor
1 Sam Rockwell (Moon)
2 Colin Firth (A Single Man)
3 Matt Damon (The Informant!)
4 Ben Foster (The Messenger)
5 George Clooney (Up in the Air)
In retrospect I should have selected Jeff Bridges over Clooney.
Best Actress
1 Alison Lohman (Drag Me to Hell)
2 Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
3 Carey Mulligan (An Education)
4 Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones)
5 Maya Rudolph (Away We Go)
Best Supporting Actor
1 Christoph Waltz (Basterds)
2 Christian McKay (Me and Orson Welles)
3 Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)
4 Jason Bateman (State of Play)
5 Michael Pena (Observe & Report)
Best Supporting Actress
1 Marie Cotillard (Nine)
2 Penelope Cruz (Nine)
3 Anna Kendrick (Air)
4 Mo'Nique (Precious)
5 Melanie Lynskey (Away We Go)
Best Ensemble
1 In the Loop
2 Fantastic Mr. Fox
3 Star Trek
4 The Hangover
5 Zombieland
Biggest Breakthrough
1 Oren Moverman (The Messenger - writer/director)
2 Christian McKay (Welles)
3 Carey Mulligan (Education)
4 Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)
5 Neill Blomkamp (District 9 - writer/director)
