Awards 2010: BFCA Critics Choice Winners

It's so easy to minimalize the importance of these critics awards when you don't see the actual ceremony. The sense of occasion is one of the core defining aspects that makes going to the movies so important in the first place. Without it, it just doesn't seem necessary. I was really impressed by the brisk moving Critics Choice Awards on VH1 last night, because they kept things entertaining. The winners weren't so dull and sedated as people believe, as Jack McGee made clear while accepting the Best Ensemble award on behalf of the cast of The Fighter ("This is just Bitchin'!). Hailee Steinfeld was so darling and beautiful accepting the Best Young Actor/Actress award for True Grit. Every time I see Natalie Portman win an award for Black Swan, it makes me need to see the film again.

The opening montage of the year's films was pretty great, and Bruno Mars has never been so iconic and elegant before, nor will he be so ever again. The Jackass crew got some pretty nice laughs in their parodies of films like Inception, Black Swan, and The Social Network ("Thousand. Twenty-two hundred views in 1000 hours."). Quentin Tarantino and Matt Damon accepted the honorary awards of the evening, and they made their time count. My favorite presenter of the evening was undeniably Kevin Spacey. He's got so much charisma and comedic timing, and I miss seeing him in films. He needs to take another major role now, or else I'll take him and lock him up in my cellar for him to entertain me whenever I want.

There were a few small surprises along the way, and that certainly eases the stress of the awards season being too content as it is. We knew who was going to take home the big award in the end, but that didn't keep us from getting a slight pit in our gut as the nominees were announced. I feel like Alice in Wonderland and Inception went away with probably too many awards, and Black Swan should have secured more statues over the course of the evening. I'm pretty damn happy that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won best Original Score for The Social Network. I think they're a pretty good bet on getting an Oscar nomination now, and whenever I have some heavy blogging work to do, I play their soundtrack in the background. I'm also glad I stuck to my guns in predicting Easy A would win Best Comedy. Sometimes things turn out exactly as they should. The evening was a healthy reminder that the season is far less safe and predictable as it seems, and that Melissa Leo is a lot more attractive in real life than she looks in The Fighter.

Best Picture: The Social Network
Best Actor: Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Best Director: David Fincher (The Social Network)
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Original Screenplay: The King's Speech
Best Cinematography: Inception
Best Art Direction: Inception
Best Film Editing: Inception
Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland
Best Makeup: Alice in Wonderland
Best Visual Effects: Inception
Best Sound: Inception
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Action Movie: Inception
Best Comedy: Easy A
Best Picture Made for Television: The Pacific
Best Foreign Language Film: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best Documentary: Waiting for "Superman"
Best Song: "If I Rise" from 127 Hours
Best Score: The Social Network