Critics’ Choice Awards Results

Last night’s Critics’ Choice Awards were rocked with some surprises while other winners were no shock at all. But it’s safe to say that award season is well underway and there are many speculations as to who will gather Academy Award nominations when they are announced on February 2nd.

This year’s war drama about an Army bomb squad in Iraq, ‘The Hurt Locker,’ took home the top awards for both best film and best director. It has been earning a lot of praise and is expected to earn Oscar nods in each of these categories. In addition, its lead actor, Jeremy Renner has been getting much praise as well.

James Cameron’s huge box office smash ‘Avatar’ was extremely successful as well. It took home prizes for its impressive special effects in six categories. It is expected that ‘Avatar’ will be a possible Best Picture contender at the Oscars, and it has already broken records worldwide and domestically for its amazing money-making ability.

Perhaps one of the least predictable categories this year is that of Best Actress. This was made clear by the critics when Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep tied for top prize. Bullock won for her role in the feel good sports movie ‘The Blind Side’ while Streep took home the prize for her role as Julia Child in ‘Julie and Julia.’ Both of these actresses should gain Academy Award Nominations, but there are also many other good performances in the mix including Emily Blunt in ‘The Young Victoria,’ Carey Mulligan in ‘An Education,’ and Gabourey Sidibe in ‘Precious.’

In addition to big winners, there were also some films that failed to live up to expectations. Going in with ten nominations, ‘Nine’ left empty-handed. The musical film has been receiving a lot of buzz, but not all of it is positive. It has failed to make much of a profit after millions were spent on production and an all star cast including Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Penelope Cruz, and Nicole Kidman.

Needless to say, there is a lot to look forward to at this year’s Academy Awards which will occur on March 7th. But in the meantime, Sunday’s Golden Globes and the SAG Awards the following weekend offer an early prediction about what we can expect in the weeks to come.