And the Award goes to…

It has begun. The film awards season is upon us. The Academy Awards aren’t until March 7, but in the past couple of days, the film societies have begun releasing their picks for 2009. (The Oscar nominations don’t come out until Feb. 2.) Now, I really wish I’d seen The Hurt Locker when it was here, but I blinked and missed it. There seem to be a lot of nominees and/or winners that have not come out yet, or have only opened in limited release. I guess that is the way they always do it, so the voters remember the films.  But it makes it hard for those of us not in LA or NY to know if they are right when we haven’t been able to see the films yet. Then again, it makes the holiday film season all the more fun, trying to see all the nominees in theaters in the coming weeks.

The Golden Globes, Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, and Up In The Air

Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical

(500) Days Of Summer, The Hangover, It’s Complicated, Julie & Julia, and Nine

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker, James Cameron for Avatar, Clint Eastwood for Invictus, Jason Reitman for Up In The Air, and Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds

Best Screenplay

Neill Blomkamp for District 9, Mark Boal forThe Hurt Locker, Nancy Meyers for It’s Complicated, Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner forUp In The Air, and Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds

Best Actress – Drama

Emily Blunt for The Young Victoria, Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side, Helen Mirren for The Last Station, Carey Mulligan for An Education, and Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire

Best Actor– Drama

Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart, George Clooney for Up In The Air, Colin Firth for A Single Man, Morgan Freeman for Invictus, and Tobey Maguire for Brothers

Best Actress– Comedy Or Musical

Sandra Bullock for The Proposal, Marion Cotillard for Nine, Julia Roberts for Duplicity, Meryl Streep for It’s Complicated, and Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia

Best Actor– Comedy Or Musical

Matt Damon for The Informant!, Daniel Day-Lewis for Nine, Robert Downey Jr. for Sherlock Holmes, Joseph Gordon-Levitt for (500) Days Of Summer, and Michael Stuhlbarg for A Serious Man

Best Supporting Actress

Penélope Cruz for Nine, Vera Farmiga for Up In The Air, Anna Kendrick for Up In The Air, Mo’nique for Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire, and Julianne Moore for A Single Man

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon for Invictus, Woody Harrelson for The Messenger, Christopher Plummer for The Last Station, Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones, and Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds

Best Animated Feature

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess And The Frog, and Up

Best Foreign Language Film

Baaria (Italy), Broken Embraces (Spain), The Maid (Chile), A Prophet (France), und The White Ribbon (Germany)

There are more categories, including television, and if you fill out your ballot here, the NY Times will let you know how you did come Golden Globes night.

Los Angeles Film Critics Association

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart

Best Actress: Yolande Moreau for Seraphine

Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique for Precious

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds

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

Best Animated film: Fantastic Mr. Fox

New York Film Critics

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker

Best Actor: George Clooney for Up in the Air and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Best Actress: Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique for Precious

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds

Best Screenplay: In the Loop

Best Animated film: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Critics’ Choice Movie Awards — Broadcast Film Critics Association

Best Picture nominees: An Education, The Hurt Locker, Invictus, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air, Inglourious Basterds, Nine, and Avatar

Best-actor nominees: Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart, George Clooney for Up in the Air, Colin Firth for A Single Man, Morgan Freeman for Invictus, Viggo Mortensen for The Road and Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker.

Best Actress nominees: Emily Blunt for The Young Victoria, Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side, Carey Mulligan for An Education, Saoirse Ronan for The Lovely Bones, Gabourey Sidibe for Precious and Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia.

AFI’s top 10 list for 2009

They don’t choose a best, just the top 10. They are:

Precious, The Hurt Locker, Up in the Air, The Hangover, Up, Coraline, The Messenger, A Serious Man, A Single Man and Sugar

The St. Louis Film Critics were a bit more broad in their choices than many of the critics’ associations. They, too, included (500) Days of Summer. And The Women’s Film Critic Circle Awards include some interesting choices; somehow one of the “best female images in movies” was in Inglourious Basterds, and their Top Ten Hall of Shame includes Precious, Pirate Radio and Twilight. The SAG Awards pretty much go along with the crowd.

I still need to see A Serious Man and Avatar, or do I? I do want to see A Single Man, The Lovely Bones, The Young Victoria, The Road, Nine, Crazy Heart, Seraphine and Up in the Air. And fortunately, The Hurt Locker is coming out on DVD soon.

What do you think of the lists? Anything glaringly missing? Any inanely included films?