ANNUAL CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS NOMINEES

Rosie Perez

Ben Lyons And Ben Mankiewicz

The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) has announced the nominees for the 14th annual Critics’ Choice Awards. The winners will be announced at the Critics’ Choice Awards gala on Thursday, January 8, 2009 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. VH1 will again broadcast this year’s ceremony Live at 9:00 PM (ET/PT). Milk and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button lead the pack with eight nominations for the 14th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards. Milk received nominations for Best Picture, a Best Actor nod for Sean Penn, two Best Supporting Actor nominations for James Franco and Josh Brolin, Best Director for Gus Van Sant, Best Writer for Dustin Lance Black, and Best Composer for Danny Elfman. The eight nominations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are for Best Picture, a Best Actor nomination for Brad Pitt, Best Actress for Cate Blanchett, Best Supporting Actress for Taraji P. Henson, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director for David Fincher, Best Writer for Eric Roth, and Best Composer for Alexandre Desplat. The Dark Knight, Doubt and Slumdog Millionaire all tied with six nominations, each including a Best Picture nod.Clint Eastwood received a Best Actor nomination for Gran Torino and a Best Composer nomination for Changeling, which added two nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress (Angelina Jolie).The BFCA, the largest film critics’ organization with more than 200 members in the United States and Canada, representing television, radio and online critics, selected nominees in each of the 17 categories. The Critics’ Choice Awards were created by the BFCA to recognize excellence in cinematic achievement. Eligible films were released in 2008. The accounting firm of Gregory A. Mogab tallied the written ballots. Historically, the Critics’ Choice Awards are the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations. The nominees were announced this morning by Academy Award® nominated actress Rosie Perez, “At the Movies” hosts Ben Lyons (E! Entertainment) and Ben Mankiewicz (Turner Classic Movies) and VH1 President Tom Calderone in a press conference at the MTV Network studios in Times Square that aired live on VH1. A complete list of nominees is available at http://criticschoice.vh1.com. VH1’s “Critics’ Choice Awards” site, which launches today, will be home to detailed information about the awards and will provide a forum for both the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) critics and users to comment on this year’s nominees. VH1 will expand elements of the show online at VH1.com. Exclusive video footage from the event will include celebrity interviews, red carpet footage and more. Additional multi platform plans will be announced in the coming weeks.Counting down to the LIVE premiere of the Critics’ Choice Awards, VH1 will air the “14th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards Red Carpet Premiere Featuring Maria Menounos” pre-show LIVE on Thursday, January 8 at 8pm (ET/PT) and will also stream it LIVE on VH1.com. Covering the excitement of the celebrity arrivals on the red carpet will be “KTLA Morning News” entertainment reporter Sam Rubin and No Good TV’s Carrie Keagan. Interspersed throughout the red carpet arrivals will be pre-taped interviews with NBC and Access Hollywood’s Maria Menounos as she sits down and speaks with some of today’s hottest stars. The 14th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards are sponsored by Walmart, AT&T and Crest Whitening Expressions.The 14th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards is executive produced by Bob Bain for Bob Bain Productions, Joey Berlin for Berlin Entertainment and Lee Rolontz for VH1.

NOMINEES FOR THE 14TH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS


Top Nods Go to:



Milk (Eight Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Actor, Two Best Supporting Actor Nominations, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Writer, and Best Composer


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Eight Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Writer, and Best Composer


The Dark Knight (Six Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Action Movie, and Best Composer


Doubt (Six Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Acting Ensemble and Best Writer


Slumdog Millionaire (Six Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writer, Best Young Actor/Actress, Best Song, and Best Composer


BEST PICTURE

Changeling

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Doubt

Frost/Nixon

Milk
The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

Wall-E

The Wrestler



BEST ACTOR

Clint Eastwood – Gran Torino

Richard Jenkins – The Visitor

Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn – Milk

Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler


BEST ACTRESS

Kate Beckinsale – Nothing But the Truth

Cate Blanchett – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie – Changeling

Melissa Leo – Frozen River

Meryl Streep – Doubt


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin – Milk

Robert Downey, Jr. – Tropic Thunder

Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt

Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight

James Franco – Milk


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Viola Davis – Doubt

Vera Farmiga – Nothing But the Truth

Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

Kate Winslet – The Reader


BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Doubt

Milk

Rachel Getting Married


BEST DIRECTOR

Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire

David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon

Christopher Nolan – The Dark Knight

Gus Van Sant – Milk


BEST WRITER (Original or Adapted Screenplay)

Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire

Dustin Lance Black – Milk

Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon

Eric Roth – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

John Patrick Shanley – Doubt


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Wall-E

Waltz With Bashir


BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS (Under 21)


Dakota Fanning – The Secret Life of Bees

David Kross – The Reader

Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire

Brandon Walters – Australia



BEST ACTION MOVIE


The Dark Knight

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Iron Man

Quantum of Solace

Wanted



BEST COMEDY


Burn After Reading

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Role Models

Tropic Thunder

Vicky Cristina Barcelona



BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION


“John Adams”

“Recount”

“Coco Chanel”



BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM


A Christmas Tale

Gomorrah

I’ve Loved You So Long

Let the Right One In

Mongol

Waltz With Bashir



BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I.O.U.S.A.

Man On Wire

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

Standard Operating Procedure

Young At Heart



BEST SONG


“Another Way to Die” – Jack White and Alicia Keys/Jack White – Quantum of Solace

“Down to Earth” – Peter Gabriel/Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman – Wall-E

“I Thought I Lost You” – Miley Cyrus and John Travolta/Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele – Bolt

“Jaiho” – Sukhwinder Singh/A.R. Rahman and Gulzar – Slumdog Millionaire

“The Wrestler” – Bruce Springsteen/Bruce Springsteen – The Wrestler


BEST COMPOSER


Alexandre Desplat – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Clint Eastwood – Changeling

Danny Elfman – Milk

Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard – The Dark Knight

A.R. Rahman – Slumdog Millionaire

Photos By: RD / Dziekan / Retna Digital