The Golden Globes may have dominated the weekend with their frizz-inflicting red carpet and drunken celebrities, but there were other important awards-season developments as well. Take the Critics Choice Awards -- where a surprise tie and a Hurt Locker surge both foreshadowed and defied the Globes' own tastes -- and the Cinema Eye Honors, which nudged the year's documentary front-runner ever closer to Oscar glory.
That film, the haunting dolphin-slaughter expose The Cove, also earned Best Documentary honors from the Broadcast Film Critics Association. While few important awards-race developments surfaced in either event, it was nice to see Kathryn Bigelow at least receive one opportunity to get her and her Best Picture The Hurt Locker in front of a national TV audience. The Best Actress tie between Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock seems a reasonably close approximation of where that category currently stands at the Academy as well, as do the rest of the winners for acting.
Meanwhile The Cove won three Cinema Eye awards, which recognize the year's best in nonfiction film. Other notable winners include The Cove's fellow Oscar-documentary shortlisters Food Inc. and Burma VJ. The full lists of winners for both events are below.
· 2009 Critics Choice Awards [BFCA]
· The Cove Tops Cinema Eye Honors [indieWIRE]
2009 Critics Choice Award Winners
BEST PICTURE: The Hurt Locker
BEST ACTOR: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
BEST ACTRESS: (TIE) Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia and Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Mo'Nique, Precious
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS: Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE: Inglorious Basterds
BEST DIRECTING: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up In The Air
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Avatar
BEST ART DIRECTION: Avatar
BEST EDITING: Avatar
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: The Young Victoria
BEST MAKEUP: District 9
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Avatar
BEST SOUND: Avatar
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Up
BEST ACTION MOVIE: Avatar
BEST COMEDY: The Hangover
BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION: Grey Gardens
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Broken Embraces
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: The Cove
BEST SONG: "The Weary Kind" - Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett, Crazy Heart
BEST SCORE: Michael Giacchino, Up
2009 Cinema Eye Honors Winners
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking: The Cove
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film: October Country
Outstanding Achievement in Direction: Agnes Varda, The Beaches of Agnes
Outstanding Achievement in Production: Paula DuPre Pressman and Fisher Stevens, The Cove
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Brook Aitken, The Cove
Outstanding Achievement in Editing: Janus Billeskov-Jansen and Thomas Papapetros, Burma VJ
Outstanding Achievement in Grapic Design and Animation: Big Star for Food, Inc and RIP - Remix Manifesto
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score: October Country
Outstanding Achievement in an International Feature: Burma VJ
Audience Choice Prize: The September Issue
Spotlight Award: Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, directed by Jessica Oreck
Cinema Eye Legacy Award: Sherman's March, directed by Ross McElwee