WALL-E was named Best Picture of the Year by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association yesterday, the first time in LAFCA's 33-year history that an animated film won the top prize.
Along with The Golden Globes, the LAFCA awards are supposed to be a harbinger of possible Oscar nods.
Except they haven't picked the eventual Academy Award winner for Best Picture since 1993 (Schindler's List.) So I'm not sure this is good news for WALL-E.
The Runner-Up was The Dark Knight.
Interesting to compare LAFCA's top two picks this year with those from 2007: There Will Be Blood and Runner-up The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. But 2008 has had a fantastical element, hasn't it?
It will be interesting to see how the Academy handles WALL-E. Will it receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture? Or will it be relegated to Best Animated Feature?
I haven't seen a lot of films in 2008, so I'm not a good judge, but this is the first time I've ever felt like an animated film deserved a nomination for Best Picture.
Here are LAFCA winners in other major categories:
DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Runner-up: Christopher Nolan, "The Dark Knight”
ACTRESS: Sally Hawkins, "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Runner-up: Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
ACTOR: Sean Penn, “Milk”
Runner-up: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Penélope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and "Elegy"Runner-up: Viola Davis, "Doubt"
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Runner-up: Eddie Marsan, "Happy-Go-Lucky"
SCREENPLAY: Mike Leigh, "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, "Synecdoche, New York"
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "Still Life“ directed by Jia Zhangke
Runner-up: "The Class" directed by Laurent Cantet
Full list of 2008 LAFCA awards.
And credit to the LAFCA: This year's award ceremony - their 34th - is dedicated to Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira "for his extraordinary contribution to the cinema as he enters his 100th year."
