By David Germain, Movie Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --The Iraq War drama “The Hurt Locker” was chosen as the year’s best picture Sunday by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. The film also won the group’s best-director honor for Kathryn Bigelow.
The group named Jeff Bridges as best actor for the country-music tale “Crazy Heart” and Yolande Moreau as best actress for the French film “Seraphine.” The lead-actor runners-up were Colin Firth for “A Single Man” and Carey Mulligan for “An Education.”
Mo’Nique won the supporting-actress award for “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” and Christoph Waltz earned the supporting-actor prize for “Inglourious Basterds.” The runners-up for the supporting honors were Anna Kendrick for “Up in the Air” and Peter Capaldi for “In the Loop.”
The critics’ prizes are among early honors on Hollywood’s long run-up to the Academy Awards on March 7. Oscar nominations come out Feb. 2.
The awards are part of a flurry of honors– among them the New York Film Critics Circle prizes Monday and the Golden Globe nominations Tuesday — that help shape the Oscar picture by reinforcing front-runners or calling attention to overlooked films and performances.
While audiences generally have shied away from war-on-terror dramas, “The Hurt Locker” did solid business and earned glowing reviews. The film stars Jeremy Renner as a U.S. bomb technician in Iraq so addicted to his dangerous job that he puts the lives of colleagues at risk.
George Clooney’s comedy “Up in the Air” was runner-up for best picture. Clooney’s busy year did produce a win, though, as the critics picked his “Fantastic Mr. Fox” as the year’s best animated film. The blockbuster “Up” was the animation runner-up.
“Up in the Air” director Jason Reitman and writer Sheldon Turner shared the screenplay prize. The runners-up were Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche for “In the Loop.”
The French family tale “Summer Hours” was named as best foreign-language film, with the Austrian drama “The White Ribbon” earning the runner-up honor.
The critics group gave its New Generation award to Neill Blomkamp, director of the surprise summer hit “District 9.”
Among other winners:
— Music/score: T Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton, “Crazy Heart.” Runner-up, Alexandre Desplat, “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”
— Production design: Philip Ivey, “District 9.” Runner-up, Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, “Avatar.”
— Cinematography: Christian Berger, “The White Ribbon.” Runner-up, Barry Ackroyd, “The Hurt Locker.”
— Documentary/nonfiction film: “The Beaches of Agnes” and “The Cove” (tie).
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More