The Broadcast Film Critic Noms are In With a Couple of Big Surprises

UPDATE: Damn, I just noticed they also snubbed Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein for Iâ€™ve Loved You So Long. Bummer.

The Broadcast Fim Critics have announced the nominees for the 14th annual Criticsâ€™ Choice Awards and I cannot manage to find any real surprises, at least in my eyes, outside of a couple. The BFCA seem to agree with my personal opinion that The Reader is a much stronger film and Kate Winslet is much better in it than Revolutionary Road by giving The Reader a picture nom as well as a nod for Winslet as a supporting actress. However, I don’t think Leonardo DiCaprio deserved a snub, his performance in Revolutionary Road was one of his best ever, and the snub not giving Michael Shannon a nomination and instead awarding one to James Franco for Milk is a slap in the face. Seriously, those two decisions are baffling.

Other than that, here are your noms. The Critics Choice Awards will be held on Thursday, January 8, 2009 from the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and will air live on VH1. The BFCA is hoping to take over the spotlight from the Golden Globes and become the major precursor to the Oscars. Outside of the Revolutionary Road dismissal I can’t say I mind. However, let’s take it down to five nominations for each category, stop trying to make things so easy on yourselves.

PICTURE

Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL•E
The Wrestler

ACTOR

Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

ACTRESS

Kate Beckinsale, Nothing But the Truth
Cate Blanchett, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
James Franco, Milk

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Vera Farmiga, Nothing But the Truth
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Kate Winslet, The Reader

ACTING ENSEMBLE

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Milk
Rachel Getting Married

DIRECTOR

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant, Milk

WRITER (ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt

ANIMATED FEATURE

Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
WALL•E
Waltz With Bashir

YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS (UNDER 21)

Dakota Fanning, The Secret Life of Bees
David Kross, The Reader
Dev Petal, Slumdog Millionaire
Brandon Walters, Australia

ACTION MOVIE

The Dark Knight
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Quantum of Solace
Wanted

COMEDY

Burn After Reading
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Role Models
Tropic Thunder
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

John Adams
Recount
Coco Chanel

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

A Christmas Tale
Gomorrah
Iâ€™ve Loved You So Long
Let the Right One In
Mongol
Waltz With Bashir

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I.O.U.S.A.
Man on Wire
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Standard Operating Procedure
Young@Heart

SONG

“Another Way to Die,” Jack White and Alicia Keys/Jack White, Quantum of Solace
“Down to Earth,” Peter Gabriel/Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, WALL•E
“I Thought I Lost You,” Miley Cyrus and John Travolta/Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele, Bolt
“Jaiho,” Sukhwinder Singh/A.R. Rahman and Gulzar, Slumdog Millionaire
“The Wrestler,” Bruce Springsteen/Bruce Springsteen, The Wrestler

COMPOSER