1st Annual Nitrate Awards

We've now officially completed this year's inaugural run of the "Best of the Year" segment, and it's definitely been something of a success. It was a little rocky on the finish there, and I apologize for the numerous problems that sprung up in terms of yesterday's "Best Films of 2010" posts. I'll probably not try the whole countdown thing again next year, and just go with simply posting it all up, avoiding all the technical errors that we've been rigorously dealing with these past few weeks. So now the only thing left to do is give my superlatives, and so here is the premiere run of the Nitrate Awards, which we hope to carry on more successfully to next year. Feel free to list your choices in these categories!

Best Picture: True Grit
Best Director: Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
Best Actor: Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Best Supporting Actor: John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)
Best Supporting Actress: Marion Cotillard (Inception)
Best Male Cameo: Chris Evans (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World)
Best Female Cameo: Rooney Mara (The Social Network)
Best Breakthrough Male Performance: Kieran Culkin (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World)
Best Breakthrough Female Performance: Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Original Screenplay: The Kids Are All Right
Best Art Direction: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Best Cinematography: True Grit
Best Costume Design: The King's Speech
Best Film Editing: The Social Network
Best Makeup: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Best Original Score: Inception
Best Original Song: "Shine" from Waiting for "Superman"
Best Sound Editing: Black Swan
Best Sound Mixing: Megamind
Best Visual Effects: Inception
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Ensemble: Easy A
Best Line-Reading: "He Picked Me Mommy!" (Natalie Portman in Black Swan)
Most Underrated Film: Megamind
Most Overrated Film: The Fighter
Best Directorial Debut: Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3)
Best Performance in a Bad Film: Jeff Bridges (TRON: Legacy)
Best Opening: The Social Network
Best Ending: Toy Story 3
Best Standalone Sequence: The Tale of the Three Brothers (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1)
Worst Picture: The Last Airbender