This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Dec. 15, 2008 - The St. Louis Film Critics, a professional association of about three dozen working St. Louis-area film critics, has announced the winners of its fourth annual St. Louis Film Critics Awards. The 2008 St. Louis Film Critics Award winners, announced Dec. 14 at the Tivoli Theatre, are:
BEST PICTURE: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
BEST ACTOR: Sean Penn (Milk)
BEST ACTRESS: Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Viola Davis (Doubt)
BEST DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Slumdog Millionaire - U.K./U.S.A/India
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Man On Wire
BEST COMEDY: Burn After Reading
BEST ANIMATED FILM: Wall-E
MOST ORIGINAL, INNOVATIVE OR CREATIVE FILM: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mandy Walker (Australia)
BEST SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED): Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon)
BEST MUSIC (SOUNDTRACK OR SCORE, ORIGINAL OR ADAPTED): The Visitor
BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS: The Dark Knight
SLFC WORST FILM OF 2008: The Day The Earth Stood Still
Runners-up (tied)
Punisher War Zone, Gran Torino, The Women
To be eligible for an award, a film must have been shown in St. Louis, by theatrical release, at a film festival or film series, or made available for viewing by the SLFC member film critics during the past year. This year, a few major film releases were not considered for awards because they were not made available to member film critics for awards consideration.