The Oscars are a secret. You never see the ballot of Meryl Streep, George Clooney or James Cameron come awards time. I'm not a fan of that. I know they don't want to admit they have favorites, but I do. I vote for the Critics' Choice Movie Awards as a member of the BFCA (Broadcast Film Critics Association). My ballot is below, and I think all critics should show what they consider the best, whether they vote in the OFCS (Online Film Critics Society) or CFCA (Chicago Film Critics Society). The 15th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards airs on VH1 on Friday night. NOMINEES FOR THE 15TH ANNUAL CRITICS' CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS (my vote is in italics)
BEST PICTURE - for me this was a no-brainer
Avatar An Education The Hurt Locker Inglourious Basterds Invictus Nine Precious A Serious Man Up Up In The Air
BEST ACTOR - Bridges and Renner had a chance, there was no heavy lifting for Clooney
Jeff Bridges - "Crazy Heart" George Clooney - "Up In The Air" Colin Firth - "A Single Man" Morgan Freeman - "Invictus" Viggo Mortensen - "The Road" Jeremy Renner - "The Hurt Locker"
BEST ACTRESS - Sidibe and Streep were also good here, but Mulligan blew me away
Emily Blunt - "The Young Victoria" Sandra Bullock - "The Blind Side" Carey Mulligan - "An Education" Saoirse Ronan - "The Lovely Bones" Gabourey Sidibe - "Precious" Meryl Streep - "Julie & Julia"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Harrelson would have had a chance in a different year
Matt Damon - "Invictus" Woody Harrelson - "The Messenger" Christian McKay - "Me And Orson Welles" Alfred Molina - "An Education" Stanley Tucci - "The Lovely Bones" Christoph Waltz - "Inglourious Basterds"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Mo'Nique's power wasn't matched by anyone else
Marion Cotillard - "Nine" Vera Farmiga - "Up In The Air" Anna Kendrick - "Up In The Air" Mo'Nique - "Precious" Julianne Moore - "A Single Man" Samantha Morton - "The Messenger"
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS - It seemed like a movie not only acted by a kid, but made by a kid
Jae Head - "The Blind Side" Bailee Madison - "Brothers" Max Records - "Where The Wild Things Are" Saoirse Ronan - "The Lovely Bones" Kodi Smit-McPhee - "The Road"
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE - With Basterds, the 15th person was just as good as the 2nd ... excluding Mike Myers of course
Inglourious Basterds Nine Precious Star Trek Up In The Air
BEST DIRECTING - Bigelow would be second, Reitman third, Cameron and Daniels tie for fourth, Eastwood dead last
Kathryn Bigelow - "The Hurt Locker" James Cameron - "Avatar" Lee Daniels - "Precious" Clint Eastwood - "Invictus" Jason Reitman - "Up In The Air" Quentin Tarantino - "Inglourious Basterds"
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Yeah! Hurt Locker wins something!
Mark Boal - "The Hurt Locker" Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - "A Serious Man" Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - "(500) Days Of Summer" Bob Peterson, Peter Docter - "Up" Quentin Tarantino - "Inglourious Basterds"
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - very tough call, with Hornby missing out
Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach - "Fantastic Mr. Fox" Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell - "District 9" Geoffrey Fletcher - "Precious" Tom Ford, David Scearce - "A Single Man" Nick Hornby - "An Education" Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - "Up In The Air"
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Yes, the controlled look, and camera shots were most impressive in Basterds
Barry Ackroyd - "The Hurt Locker" Dion Beebe - "Nine" Mauro Fiore - "Avatar" Andrew Lesnie - "The Lovely Bones" Robert Richardson - "Inglourious Basterds"
BEST ART DIRECTION - Look, Avatar won my vote, maybe now somebody will go see it
Dan Bishop - "A Single Man" Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg - "Avatar" John Myhre, Gordon Sim - "Nine" Naomi Shohan, George De Titta, Jr. - "The Lovely Bones" David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds Wasco - "Inglourious Basterds"
BEST EDITING - Here comes Avatar!
Dana E. Glauberman - "Up In The Air" Sally Menke - "Inglourious Basterds" Bob Murawski, Chris Innis - "The Hurt Locker" Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron - "Avatar" Claire Simpson, Wyatt Smith - "Nine"
BEST COSTUME DESIGN - Don't you love how period pieces ALWAYS get nominated?
Colleen Atwood - "Nine" Janet Patterson - "Bright Star" Sandy Powell - "The Young Victoria" Anna Sheppard - "Inglourious Basterds" Casey Storm - "Where The Wild Things Are"
BEST MAKEUP - District 9 was good ugly
Avatar District 9 Nine The Road Star Trek
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - duh
Avatar District 9 The Lovely Bones Star Trek 2012
BEST SOUND - I finally get to give Star Trek something
Avatar District 9 The Hurt Locker Nine Star Trek
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE - from top to bottom, the closest category for my vote
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs Coraline Fantastic Mr. Fox Princess And The Frog Up
BEST ACTION MOVIE - Hurt and Basterds shouldn't count, and I was never bored during Star Trek
Avatar District 9 The Hurt Locker Inglourious Basterds Star Trek
BEST COMEDY - This vote is not complicated
(500) Days Of Summer The Hangover It's Complicated The Proposal Zombieland
BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION - haven't seen any of these Gifted Hands Grey Gardens Into The Storm Taking Chance
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM - I really was bored with The White Ribbon ... really bored
Broken Embraces Coco Before Chanel Red Cliff Sin Nombre The White Ribbon
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - great action, suspense and purpose with The Cove
Anvil Capitalism: A Love Story The Cove Food, Inc. Michael Jackson's This Is It
BEST SONG - Frog nominated one of its worst songs, therefore O gets my vote
"All Is Love" - Karen O, Nick Zinner - "Where The Wild Things Are" "Almost There" - Randy Newman - "The Princess And The Frog" "Cinema Italiano" - Maury Yeston - "Nine" "(I Want To) Come Home" - Paul McCartney - "Everybody's Fine" "The Weary Kind" - T Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham - "Crazy Heart"
BEST SCORE - O again, but Zimmer was close
Michael Giacchino - "Up" Marvin Hamlisch - "The Informant!" Randy Newman - "The Princess and the Frog" Karen O, Carter Burwell - "Where The Wild Things Are" Hans Zimmer - "Sherlock Holmes"