The city of Chicago will soon have its say on what was the best this year in film, as its Chicago Film Critics Association will announce the winners of its annual awards this Monday. To hold you over until then, here are the nominees. At that time, I'll post the winners when they are revealed, and discuss my own choices for this year's awards. Yes, that's right. They've given Nick Allen a voice. It's my first year of voting. Be excited for me people.
Nominees for the 22nd annual Chicago Film Critics Awards:
PICTURE: “Black Swan,” “Inception,” “The King’s Speech,” “The Social Network,” “Winter’s Bone.”
DIRECTOR: Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan,” David Fincher for “The Social Network,” Debra Granik “Winter’s Bone,” Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech,” Christopher Nolan for “Inception.”
ACTOR: Jeff Bridges in “True Grit,” Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network,” Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech,” James Franco in “127 Hours,” Ryan Gosling in “Blue Valentine.”
ACTRESS: Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right,” Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone,” Lesley Manville in “Another Year,” Natalie Portman in “Black Swan,” Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine.”
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christian Bale in “The Fighter,” Andrew Garfield in “The Social Network,” John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone,” Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right,” Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech.”
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Adams in “The Fighter,” Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech,” Melissa Leo in “The Fighter,” Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit,” Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom.”
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: “Black Swan” (Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz & John McLaughlin), “Four Lions” (Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain & Chris Morris), “Inception” (Christopher Nolan), “The Kids Are All Right” (Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg), “The King’s Speech” (David Seidler).
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: “Rabbit Hole” (David Lindsay Abaire), “The Social Network” (Aaron Sorkin), “Toy Story 3” (Michael Arndt), “True Grit” (Joel & Ethan Coen), “Winter’s Bone” (Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: “Black Swan” (Matthew Libatique), “Inception” (Wally Pfister), “Shutter Island” (Robert Richardson) “The Social Network” (Jeff Cronenweth), “True Grit” (Roger Deakins).
ORIGINAL SCORE: “Black Swan” (Clint Mansell), “I Am Love” (John Adams), “Inception” (Hans Zimmer), “The Social Network” (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross) “True Grit” (Carter Burwell).
DOCUMENTARY: “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” “Inside Job,” “Restrepo,” “The Tillman Story,” “Waiting for Superman.”
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: “Biutiful,” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” “I Am Love,” “Mother,” “A Prophet.”
ANIMATED FEATURE: “Despicable Me,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “The Illusionist,” “Tangled,” “Toy Story 3.”
PROMISING PERFORMER: Armie Hammer in “The Social Network,” Katie Jarvis in “Fish Tank,” Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone,” Tahar Rahim in “A Prophet,” Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit.”
PROMISING FILMMAKER: Bansky for “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” Derek Cianfrance for “Blue Valentine,” David Michod for “Animal Kingdom,” Aaron Schneider for “Get Low,” John Wells for “The Company Men.”