Austin Film Critics Association Announces 2009 Winners

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Austin Film Critics Association logoThe Austin Film Critics Association announced their annual awards on Tuesday. The best movie of the year honor went to director Kathyrn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, a drama about a bomb disposal unit based in Baghdad, Iraq. Bigelow was also awarded Best Director, and the film, which played SXSW 2009, won the Best Cinematography category for Barry Ackroyd's work.

The Austin Film Award, given to a movie directed by a local filmmaker or shot in Austin, went to Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles. The film, which Jette reviewed, also won an award for Best Breakthrough Performance by Christian McKay, who played Welles.

The local critics' group awarded Best Original Screenplay to Austin favorite writer/director Quentin Tarantino's WWII-era movie Inglourious Basterds. Best Actress went to Melanie Laurent for her performance in the film, which we reviewed, with my personal favorite Christoph Waltz winning Best Supporting Actor.

Best Actor went to Colin Firth for his role in A Single Man, which has not yet had an Austin release, and Anna Kendrick received the honor of Best Supporting Actress for Up in the Air, which opens Friday in Austin.

The Austin Film Critics Association, of which Slackerwood editor Jette Kernion is a member, also voted on the top movies of the decade, a list headed by the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

You can read the full list of awards after the jump, including Top Films of 2009 and the Decade.

Austin Film Critics Association: End of Year Awards for 2009

Best Film: The Hurt Locker

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Best Actor: Colin Firth, A Single Man

Best Actress: Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress: Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air

Best Original Screenplay: Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino

Best Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air, Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Best Cinematography: Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker

Best Original Score: Up, Michael Glacchino

Best Foreign Language Film: Sin Nombre, Cary Fukunaga

Best Documentary: Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Best Animated Feature: Up

Best First Film: District 9, Neill Blomkamp

Breakthrough Artist Award: Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles

Austin Film Award: Me and Orson Welles

Top 10 Films of 2009:

  1. The Hurt Locker

  2. Star Trek

  3. Up

  4. A Serious Man

  5. Up in the Air

  6. Avatar

  7. Inglourious Basterds

  8. District 9

  9. Where the Wild Things Are

  10. (tie) Moon, The Messenger

Top 10 Films of the Decade:

  1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

  2. There Will Be Blood (2007)

  3. The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)

  4. The Dark Knight (2008)

  5. Requiem for a Dream (2000)

  6. Kill Bill (2003/4)

  7. No Country for Old Men (2007)

  8. The Incredibles (2004)

  9. Children of Men (2006)

  10. (tie) Memento (2000), The Departed (2006) 

None of the Top Films of 2009 made it into the Top Films of the Decade -- personally I'm surprised that Star Trek didn't make the cut. On a side note, The Dark Knight received top honors in 5 of the 16 categories in 2008 so it's understandable why the Batman thriller is high on the list.