BEST FILM – 
WINNER: THE ARTIST
DRIVE
HUGO
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
THE TREE OF LIFE

BEST DIRECTOR – 
Winner: Nicolas Winding Refn, DRIVE
Martin Scorsese, HUGO
Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Terrence Malick, THE TREE OF LIFE
Woody Allen, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

BEST ACTRESS – 
Winner: Brit Marling, ANOTHER EARTH
Elizabeth Olsen, MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE
Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Tilda Swinton, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Viola Davis, THE HELP

BEST ACTOR – 
Winner: Michael Shannon, TAKE SHELTER
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL
Brendan Gleeson, THE GUARD
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – 
Winner: Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDANTS
Bérénice Bejo, THE ARTIST
Carey Mulligan, SHAME
Jessica Chastain, THE HELP
Mélanie Laurent, BEGINNERS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – 
Winner: Nick Nolte, WARRIOR
Albert Brooks, DRIVE
Andy Serkis, RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS
Max von Sydow, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – 
Winner: Woody Allen, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Mike Mills, BEGINNERS
Thomas McCarthy, WIN WIN
Will Reiser, 50/50

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – 
Winner: Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, MONEYBALL
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, THE DESCENDANTS
Hossein Amini, DRIVE
John Logan, HUGO
Steve Kloves, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM – 
Winner: LE QUATTRO VOLTE
A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN
HAPPY HAPPY
OF GODS AND MEN
THE DOUBLE HOUR

BEST DOCUMENTARY – 
Winner: PROJECT NIM
BUCK
CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS
INTO THE ABYSS
PAGE ONE: INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – 
Winner: Emmanuel Lubezki, THE TREE OF LIFE
Adam Stone, TAKE SHELTER
Guillaume Schiffman, THE ARTIST
Newton Thomas Sigel, DRIVE
Robert Richardson, HUGO

BEST ANIMATED FILM – 
Winner: ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
HAPPY FEET TWO
KUNG FU PANDA 2
RANGO
WINNIE THE POOH

BEST EDITING – 
Winner: Oliver Bugge Coutté, BEGINNERS
Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, & Mark Yoshikawa, THE TREE OF LIFE
Mat Newman, DRIVE
Thelma Schoonmaker, HUGO

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – 
Winner: Dante Ferretti, HUGO
Anne Seibel, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Jack Fisk, THE TREE OF LIFE
Laurence Bennett, THE ARTIST
Stuart Craig, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2

BEST SCORE – 
Winner: Alexandre Desplat, HARRY POTTER & THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2
Alexandre Desplat, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE
Alexandre Desplat, THE TREE OF LIFE
Howard Shore, HUGO
Ludovic Bource, THE ARTIST

BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE – 
Winner: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2
CARNAGE
MARGIN CALL
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
THE HELP

BODY OF WORK FOR 2011
Winner: Jessica Chastain

KYLE COUNTS AWARD
Lee Ann Kim, San Diego Asian Film Foundation

(l to r: Elizabeth Olsen, Sean Durkin, Anders Wright - SDFCS President)

-All photos courtesy of Glenn Heath Jr.

In conjunction with Reading Cinemas and Fantagraphics Books, the San Diego Film Critics Society will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Terry Zwigoff’s 2001 film Ghost World with a 35 mm screening at 9 p.m., Saturday, July 23, at Reading Gaslamp Cinemas in downtown San Diego. The screening will take place during Comic-Con, the world’s largest comic book and pop culture convention. Tickets for the event are only $5, and Comic-Con badges are not required.

“Not every movie adapted from a comic book or graphic novel is about superheroes. Ghost World proves that comics and movies can stay closer to reality and still have a major emotional impact,” said Anders Wright, President of the San Diego Film Critics Society. “Daniel Clowes’ original graphic novel was groundbreaking—it was funny and strange and touching, and his collaboration with Zwigoff truly captured its spirit on film.”

The movie follows two recent high school graduates, Enid and Rebecca, played by Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson, respectively, who impulsively play a nasty prank on middle-aged middle-manager Seymour (Steve Buscemi), which results in a friendship between Enid and Seymour that will have a lasting impact on each of them.

Scarlett Johansson (left) and Thora Birch in Ghost World

Upon its release, the San Diego Film Critics Society awarded Ghost World with Best Picture honors at the end of the year, and gave Zwigoff its annual Best Director award. The film also earned Zwigoff and Clowes a Best Adapted Screenplay award, and lead actress Thora Birch was named Best Actress.

“Ghost World is a really wonderful film, and since we gave it so much recognition when it was released, we felt we should celebrate its 10-year anniversary on the big screen,” said Wright. “It’s almost impossible to see a movie that’s more than a month old in a theater these days, but Reading Cinemas has worked with us to keep prices affordable, so fans and future fans can see it together.”

Thora Birch and several members of the San Diego Film Critics Society will be on hand for the screening, and will host a discussion after the movie. Reading Gaslamp Cinemas is located at 701 5th Avenue, San Diego, CA, 92101. Tickets will be available when the box office opens on Saturday, July 23.

· Kevin Finnerty - right click to download podcasts, click to open in browser
Best Films (posted Jan. 2nd, 2011) / Worst Films (posted Jan. 9th, 2011)

· Ian Forbes (posted Dec. 31st, 2010)

· Alison Gang (posted Dec. 30th, 2010)

· Jeri Jacquin (posted Dec. 30th, 2010)

· Scott Marks (posted Dec. 21st, 2010)

· Robert Patrick (posted Jan. 7th, 2011)

· Diana Saenger (posted Jan. 3rd, 2011)

· Anders Wright (posted Dec. 29th, 2010)

In general, the SDFCS bucked the trend of critics associations awarding The Social Network multiple honors (though it did win Best Original Screenplay, written by Aaron Sorkin). For a full list of winners and nominees, click here.

The screening takes place at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at Landmark’s Hillcrest Cinemas. There is a $10 suggested donation, and tickets will be available at the door. Proceeds will benefit the Greg Muskovitz Scholarship Fund and Film School Confidential, an annual student film festival in San Diego.

The filmmakers and lead actors will appear at the screening and participate in a Q/A session. More information on the film at IMDB.

The film, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, tells the story of several disparate characters navigating survival and revenge in the chaos of World War II Europe, employing Tarantino’s merge of comedy, violence, poignancy and pathos. The critics voted Tarantino as Best Director, and also chose his Inglourious Basterds as Best Original Screenplay. The film won six awards total from the group.

The society’s critics, comprising print, television, radio and Internet critics working in San Diego County, voted Michelle Monaghan as Best Actress for her riveting portrayal as a carefree long-haul trucker whose life suddenly changes in the indie film Trucker. Colin Firth, playing a college professor devastated by the loss of his longtime partner in A Single Man, was voted Best Actor.

Earning the Best Supporting Actress nod was Samantha Morton for her performance as a grieving war widow in The Messenger. The critics voted Christoph Waltz as Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the ever-deceptive Nazi officer in Inglourious Basterds.

The critics honored Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on the novella by Roald Dahl.

Chosen as Best Foreign Language Film was Il Divo, the story of persevering Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti.

The critics voted the Disney-Pixar film Up as Best Animated Film.

The Best Documentary award went to The Cove, documenting the killing of dolphins in a Japanese fishing village.

For Best Cinematography honors, the critics chose Javier Aguirresarobe for his work on The Road, while honoring David Wasco for Best Production Design on Inglourious Basterds.

Winner of the Best Editing award went to Alan Edward Bell for his efforts on the film (500) Days of Summer.

Winning for Best Score was Abel Korzeniowski for the music in A Single Man. The cast of “Inglourious Basterds” was honored for Best Ensemble Performance.

The critics honored Woody Harrelson for Body of Work during 2009, citing the actor’s performances in the films The Messenger, Zombieland and 2012.

The critics chose the Reading Cinemas Gaslamp Stadium 15 to receive the annual Kyle Counts Award. The award, named after the late San Diego film critic, honors those who have made contributions to film in the city. The critics cited the Reading Cinemas Gaslamp Stadium 15 for its bold and consistent booking of vital new independent and foreign films.

Also honored at the luncheon was Destin Cretton, a San Diego film student and Jury Prize winner for Best Short Film at Sundance. Destin spoke about his efforts to promote his film, Short Term 12, and the next film he is working on.

The Critics’ Kyle Counts Award was given to the San Diego Library in support of their film program. Lynn Whitehouse and her assistant Ralph DeLauro, were on hand from the Library to accept their awards.

Kate Winslet, playing a former German prison guard who engages in an affair with a younger man in the drama The Reader, was voted Best Actress. The critics chose Mickey Rourke as Best Actor for his work as a washed-up athlete making a desperate comeback attempt in The Wrestler. Marisa Tomei, playing the equally desperate stripper and single mother who befriends Rourke’s character in The Wrestler, was voted Best Supporting Actress. The late Heath Ledger was honored for his kinetic work as the Joker in The Dark Knight, earning the Best Supporting Actor award.

The critics gave the Best Original Screenplay award to Tom McCarthy for The Visitor, while honoring Simon Beaufoy for Best Adapted Screenplay for Slumdog Millionaire, working from Vikas Swarup’s novel.

In what might be called the year of the vampire, the critics voted the Swedish vampire drama Let the Right One In as Best Foreign Language Film. Man on Wire was chosen as Best Documentary. Wall-E was voted Best Animated Film.

Anthony Dod Mantle was honored for Best Cinematography for his work on Slumdog Millionaire, while Donald Graham Burt won Best Production Design honors for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The critics chose Chris Dickens and his work on Slumdog Millionaire for Best Editing. A.R. Rahman won for Best Score for Slumdog Millionaire.

The cast of Frost/Nixon was honored for Best Ensemble Performance. The critics also honored Richard Jenkins for Body of Work for 2008, citing his performances in The Visitor, Burn After Reading, Step Brothers and The Tale of Desperaux.

The San Diego Film Critics Society chose the film program at the San Diego Central Library for its annual Kyle Counts Award, named for the late San Diego film critic. The film program was honored for its outstanding contribution to film education and its commitment to eclectic and excellent free public film programs.

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