Critics Choice Awards Wrap Up

The Broadcast Film Critics Choice Awards were handed out on Friday night. (If the broadcast of this had to be described in one word, I’d use awkward. Seriously, the Governator isn’t funny. Ditto for Ashton Kutcher. Although, Joan Rivers and Sarah Silverman were actually kind of funny... but still awkward.) There's a lot going on this weekend, including preparations for the Golden Globes (I'm making my customary award show baked ziti...) so this will be rather brief. Without any further ado, here in are the (not at all surprising) award winners (+commentary):

Best Acting Ensemble: The Fighter (Christian Bale looks like he belongs in a 90s alt-rock band!)

Best Young Actress - Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Best Supporting Actor - Christian Bale, The Fighter (nice speech about the actual family, then got choked up about his own family)

Best Action Movie - Inception (Christopher Nolan singled out Joseph Gordon Levitt for “letting us hang him by his toes.” Nice shout out!)

Best Documentary Feature - Waiting for Superman

“Do you believe that every kid in America can learn? ...the kids in other neighborhoods...the other parts of town? Because if you do, we’re not doing well enough by these kids. ...You shouldn’t have to win a lottery to have a chance at the American dream” - Davis Guggenheim, director

Best Picture Made for Television - The Pacific

Best Comedy - Easy A (A very funny acceptance speech from director Will Gluck; a bit irreverent but refreshingly punchy)

Best Animated Feature - Toy Story 3

First Annual Music + Film Award - Quentin Tarantino (great choice; Pulp Fiction soundtrack is a classic)

Best Supporting Actress - Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Best Adapted Screenplay - Aaron Sorkin!!!, The Social Network

Best Original Screenplay - David Seidler, The King’s Speech (...I really wanted The Kids Are All Right to win, with Inception second to that but I’ll take this)

“If you’ve been a stutterer and could not speak, it is wonderful to be heard.” -Seidler (Yes! That’s the power of this movie and exactly why the MPAA is stunting children by rating it R.)

Best Director - David Fincher, The Social Network

Joel Siegel Award for Excellence in the Community (er something) - Matt Damon, water.org

Best Actor - Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

Best Actress - Natalie Portman, Black Swan

“If I am a shadow as good as you are as parents, an echo of what you are as parents, I will be the best in the world.” -Portman, to abba and ima, Avner and Shelly, in reference to her new role as mom (the baby’s due in the summer and the father and fiance is NYC Ballet Principal Dancer and Black Swan choreographer Benjamin Millepied)

Best Picture - The Social Network!!!

Not televised

Best Score - The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Best Foreign Language Film - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Song - “If I Rise,” 127 Hours, performed by A.R. Rahman

Best Costume Design - Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood

Best Make Up - Alice in Wonderland

Best Cinematography - Inception, Wally Pfister

Best Visual Effects - Inception

Best Art Direction - Inception, Guy Hendrix Dyas and Larry Dias & Doug Mowat

Best Editing - Inception, Lee Smith

Best Sound - Inception

In total, Inception bested The Social Network, winning six awards to The Social Network’s four, though The Social Network took home the night’s big prize. This isn’t surprising, as critics were already nearly universally heralding it as the best movie of the year. (I agree!) Tune in to the Golden Globes on Sunday to see if the HFPA agree.

(Visit imdb.com for red carpet arrival pictures.)