I Heart the LAFCA

The LAFCA have announced and it's utterly stupendously fantabolously awesome...

Picture: “Wall-E”Runner-up: “The Dark Knight”
Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”Runner-up: Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”

Actor: Sean Penn, “Milk”Runner-up: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
Actress: Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky”Runner-up: Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Supporting actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”Runner-up: Eddie Marsan, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Supporting actress: Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Elegy”Runner-up: Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Screenplay: Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, “Synecdoche, New York”
Foreign-language film: “Still Life” Runner-up: “The Class”
Documentary: “Man on Wire” Runner-up: “Waltz With Bashir”
Animation: “Waltz With Bashir”
Cinematography: Yu Lik Wai, “Still Life” Runner-up: Anthony Dod Mantle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Production design: Mark Friedberg, “Synecdoche, New York”Runner-up: Nathan Crowley, “The Dark Knight”
Music/score: A.R. Rahman, “Slumdog Millionaire”Runner-up: Alexandre Desplat, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
New Generation: Steve McQueen, “Hunger”

Not only have LA given the BEST picture of the year their "Best Picture" award, they've also awarded Sally Hawkins' performance in Happy-Go-Lucky, my favourite turn of 2008. It doesn't seem as if Hawkins is going away, although this by no means makes her a lock -- Vera Farmiga won this in 2005 and it isn't historically water-tight, but it's a major boost. The Oscar-bait isn't getting the critical acclaim in this category so far. Love the Waltz With Bashir win too, for a change. Wall-E is obviously winning Best Picture anyway, isn't it? I can dream....