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If it's the second week in December, it's time for the Washington Area Film Critics' Association to announce its picks for the best films of the year. WAFCA traditionally likes to race to get its list out before all the other critics associations, and often ends up giving top honors to movies that are less likely to take home Oscar gold (although that wasn't the case last year).
This year WAFCA named Fox Searchlight’s Slumdog Millionaire the Best Film of 2008, an honor our critic might be inclined to agree with. The film also won Best Director (Danny Boyle), Best Breakthrough Performance (Dev Patel), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy).
Rachel Getting Married also fared well with the D.C. critics, receiving awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress.
Full list of winners is below the jump.
Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire/Fox Searchlight
Best Director: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Best Actress: Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Best Ensemble: Doubt/Miramax
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Best Supporting Actress: Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married)
Best Breakthrough Performance: Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Original Screenplay: Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married)
Best Animated Feature: Wall•E /Disney & Pixar
Best Foreign Language Film: Let The Right One In/Magnolia Pictures and Magnet Releasing
Best Documentary: Man On Wire/Magnolia
Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button/Paramount
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Doubt and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button haven't even been released yet. Apparently, area film critics have invented time travel and may use the technology to enslave us all. Before I'm sent to a re-education camp and forced to watch The Hours, I'd like to give Let the Right One In my highest recommendation.
is 2008 already over? i know they get pre-screening, but there is still 3 weeks and many potential oscar nominees coming out, right.
best movie of the year: Shotgun Stories or Wall-E.
sommer: wouldn't it be proper to disclose here that slumdog millionaire was a weekly financial sponsor of dcist a few weeks ago?
The critics have seen everything already and have every right to make their choices.
Saw Slumdog last weekend. Great movie, and OMG what a beautiful girl!
Slumdog was pretty good, but it wasn't great. It had an uneven tone and was a little over-directed. Definitely not the best movie of the year, nor best director.
Slumdog was pretty good, but it wasn't great. It had an uneven tone and was a little over-directed. Definitely not the best movie of the year, nor best director.
Wasn't 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days a 2008 release? That would be my pick for best foreign film, although I haven't actually seen Let the Right One In yet and I still haven't recovered from seeing the fetus.
Since Oscar eligibity ends in late December and a lot of prestigious films are just coming out - it is extremely common for Academy members and critics to receive DVD screeners of films.
i heard this movie was pretty uninteresting (and i thought that the title was really bad so i didn't see it), but i'm kinda floored that neither synedoche, ny nor milk are on here for anything. it'd help to see the finalists, i guess.
heath ledger definitely deserves best supporting actor (of all time). stellar performance in dark knight. absolutely breathtaking.
IMGoph, actually no, not at all, there's a little thing called the editorial/advertising wall. Have you ever read an article in the Washington Post about a movie that discloses that the film also has a print ad in the paper? Have you ever read a single newspaper article that makes any mention of any ad that appears anywhere in the paper, for that matter? Gothamist LLC sells the ads that appear on DCist. None of the DCist staff has anything to do with the ads that appear here.
sommer: of course, i've heard of the advertising/editorial wall. i didn't realize whom handled what at dcist hq. thanks for pointing it out to all of us who read the site.
i wasn't trying to jump down your throat, and i hope you didn't read it that way.
...None of the DCist staff has anything to do with the ads that appear here.
Now I'll never meet that American Apparel girl with the knit leggings. Can't the editorial/advertising wall have a peephole or something?
Well, the redhead in the American Apparel ads can be seen in Hustler's Barely Legal #81, which is the next best thing to meeting her in person. At least for your right hand, that is.
Slumdog is becoming the trendy pick of the year, which means it will overperform in every other award and underperform for Oscar.
It is too independent; there are too many technical (occupation) voters who live in the valley that are loyal to the mainstream…they are the reason why movies like Titanic and Forest Gump win.
I could TOTALLY get behind "Titanic" meets "Forrest Gump." Idiot savant goes back in time to prevent the sinking of the Lusitania? Working title: Time Tard. Get Les Grossman on the line and where the hell is that kid with my latté?
Comments 1 & 2 - publicity screenings are early and often this time of year. They were doing pre-screenings of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button before Thanksgiving, and that one doesn't even come out until Christmas Day. Studios know that critics want to get their year end lists out early, so they make sure the press corps has had the opportunity to see any movie they have coming out in December that they're trying to push for award season.
Oh, and econosize, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days had a limited release at the end of 2007 to be eligible for last year's Oscars. Not that it helped it out, as the members of the Academy that do the foreign nominations are notoriously conservative. That'll probably limit Let the Right One In's chances at the big prize, too.
If I had a nickel for everytime I heard the obligatory paid announcement between stories on NPR on my drive to and from work everyday...
This, coupled with DCist's often misplaced support for films are exactly the reason why I could certainly do without seeing this flick.
..Another $12 saved
MILK is the best movie of the year, Sean Penn best actor.