CHICAGO– The Chicago Film Critics Association announced its choices for the best of 2008 on Monday morning. The biggest blockbuster of the year, “The Dark Knight,” and the sleeper hit of the season, “Slumdog Millionaire,” tied for the most nominations and will compete for best picture of the year from Chicago film critics.
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“The Dark Knight”, the massively successful continuation of the Batman franchise, and “Slumdog Millionaire”, the magical tale of a young man forced to prove he didn’t cheat on a game show, scored six nods a piece, including Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Picture.
Four films nearly matched the big two this year for the CFCA with “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “Doubt”, “Milk”, and “WALL-E” all landing five nods. Jonathan Demme’s “Rachel Getting Married” scored four nominations and the Swedish vampire film “Let the Right One In” came away with three.
Major acting nominees for the Chicago Film Critics Association include Clint Eastwood, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Heath Ledger, Penelope Cruz, and Kate Winslet alongside nominated newcomers like Sally Hawkins, Melissa Leo, Michael Shannon, and Rosemarie DeWitt.
The members of the CFCA, which includes HollywoodChicago.com Publisher Adam Fendelman and Content Director Brian Tallerico, are currently in the midst of their second and final round of voting and the winners will be announced on the morning of Thursday, Dec. 18 on WGN-TV in three chunks at 6:50 AM, 7:50 AM and 8:50 AM with Richard Roeper, Dean Richards and CFCA President Dann Gire. They will be released to the public immediately afterwards.
2008 Chicago Film Critics Association Nominees
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BESTPICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL*E
BESTDIRECTOR
Danny Boyle—Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher—The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Christopher Nolan—The Dark Knight
Andrew Stanton—WALL*E
Gus Van Sant—Milk
BESTACTOR
Clint Eastwood—Gran Torino
Richard Jenkins—The Visitor
Frank Langella—Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn—Milk
Mickey Rourke—The Wrestler
BESTACTRESS
Anne Hathaway—Rachel Getting Married
Sally Hawkins—Happy-Go-Lucky
Angelina Jolie—Changeling
Melissa Leo—Frozen River
Meryl Streep—Doubt
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BESTSUPPORTINGACTOR
Robert Downey Jr.—Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman—Doubt
Bill Irwin—Rachel Getting Married
Heath Ledger—The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon—Revolutionary Road
BESTSUPPORTINGACTRESS
Amy Adams—Doubt
Penelope Cruz—Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis—Doubt
Rosemarie DeWitt—Rachel Getting Married
Kate Winslet—The Reader
BESTORIGINALSCREENPLAY
In Bruges—Martin McDonagh
Milk—Dustin Lance Black
Rachel Getting Married—Jenny Lumet
Synecdoche, N.Y.—Charlie Kaufman
WALL*E—Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon
BESTADAPTEDSCREENPLAY
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button—Eric Roth
The Dark Knight—Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan
Doubt—John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon—Peter Morgan
Slumdog Millionaire—Simon Beaufoy
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BESTFOREIGN-LANGUAGEFILM
The Band’s Visit
Che
A Christmas Tale
I’ve Loved You So Long
Let the Right One In
BESTDOCUMENTARY
American Teen
Dear Zachary
IOUSA
Man On Wire
Standard Operating Procedure
BESTANIMATEDFEATURE
Bolt
Kung-Fu Panda
Tale of Desperaux
WALL*E
Waltz with Bashir
BESTCINEMATOGRAPHY
Australia—Mandy Walker
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button—Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight—Wally Pfister
The Fall—Colin Watkinson
Slumdog Millionaire—Anthony Dod Mantle
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BESTORIGINALSCORE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button—Alexandre Desplat
The Dark Knight—Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard
Milk—Danny Elfman
Slumdog Millionaire—A.R. Rahman
WALL*E—Thomas Newman
MOSTPROMISINGPERFORMER
Russell Brand—Forgetting Sarah Marshall
David Kross—The Reader
Lina Leandersson—Let the Right One In
Dev Patel—Slumdog Millionaire
Brandon Walters—Australia
MOSTPROMISINGFILMMAKER
Tomas Alfredson—Let the Right One In
Lance Hammer—Ballast
Courtney Hunt—Frozen River
Martin McDonagh—In Bruges
Steve McQueen—Hunger
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8:54 p.m. update on Dec. 18, 2008: The 2008 awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association are in. Read our coverage here.