UP IN THE AIR Dominates Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Awards

16 December 2009 Rubin Safaya

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney, far right) holds up a cardboard photo of his sister Julie (Melanie Lynskey, far left) and her fiancé Jim (Danny McBride, near left) in the dramatic comedy UP IN THE AIR, a Paramount Pictures release. Photo Credit: Dale Robinette. Copyright © 2009 DW STUDIOS L.L.C. and COLD SPRING PICTURES. All Rights Reserved.
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney, far right) holds up a cardboard photo of his sister Julie (Melanie Lynskey, far left) and her fiancé Jim (Danny McBride, near left) in the dramatic comedy UP IN THE AIR, a Paramount Pictures release. Photo Credit: Dale Robinette. Copyright © 2009 DW STUDIOS L.L.C. and COLD SPRING PICTURES. All Rights Reserved.

Today, Todd Jorgenson of the Denton Record-Chronicle announced the 2009 selections in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Association’s sixteenth annual awards.

Also the National Board of Review’s and Washington Area Film Critics Association’s winner, Writer/director Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air was voted Best Film, with George Clooney taking Best Actor for his performance as Ryan Bingham. Following the Best Film selection, the DFW Film Critics’ Top Ten included (in order) The Hurt Locker, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, Up, An Education, A Serious Man, Inglourious Basterds, District 9, Avatar, and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

In the Best Actor category, runners up to Mr. Clooney included Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Colin Firth (A Single Man) and Morgan Freeman (Invictus).

Carey Mulligan took Best Actress for her performance as Jenny in An Education, surpassing Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria) and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side).

Best Supporting Actor went to Christoph Waltz for his role as Col. Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, followed by Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones), Alfred Molina (An Education) and Christian McKay (Me and Orson Welles).

In the Best Supporting Actress category, Mo’Nique was awarded for her role as Mary in Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, over Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga (Up In The Air), Marillon Cotillard (Nine) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart).

Following Jason Reitman’s win for Best Director (Up in the Air), Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker, Lee Daniels for Precious, Joel and Ethan Coen for A Serious Man and Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds.

Writer/director Cary Fukanaga’s drama Sin Nombre won Best Foreign Language film, followed by Broken Embraces, Summer Hours, The Baader Meinhof Complex and Red Cliff.

The Cove, written by Mark Monroe and directed by Louie Psihoyos, won Best Documentary over Anvil: The Story of Anvil, Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Jackson’s This Is It, Burma VJ and The September Issue.

Up, written and directed by Pete Docter, was selected for Best Animated Film, followed by Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner were awarded Best Screenplay for Up in the Air, ousting the National Board of Review’s pick, Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man.

The year’s Russell Smith Award for excellence in independent, low-budget cinema, was given to Mr. Daniel’s Precious.

Mr. Safaya is an accredited member of the Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Association, which consists of 33 broadcast, print and online journalists throughout North Texas.

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