"Basterds" leads winners at Critics Choice Awards

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Inglourious Basterds" won three awards at the Critics' Choice Awards on Friday, and remained in contention for the event's best picture honor.

Quentin Tarantino's Nazi revenge fantasy picked up statuettes for supporting actor, original screenplay and best ensemble. Along with the all-star musical "Nine," it led the field with 10 nominations.

But Tarantino lost the directing award to Kathryn Bigelow, who made the Iraq war drama "The Hurt Locker."

Other awards went to Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for their adapted screenplay for "Up in the Air," and to comedienne Mo'Nique for her supporting turn as an abusive mother in the harrowing urban drama "Precious."

The corresponding award was won by Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, who played a Nazi officer with a malevolent twinkle in his eye in "Basterds."

Tarantino won for his screenplay, and heralded the film's actors.

"My material is not easy. It is hard," he said. "I cannot have dumb actors read my dialogue, I've tried it and it was a disaster."

"Avatar," which scored nine nomination, was named best action movie. "Avatar" producer Jon Landau declined to be drawn on the film's Oscar chances, or how much money writer/director James Cameron's blockbuster would make at the box office. It is quickly catching up to the pair's all-time champ "Titanic."

"I'm very excited about the whole season," Landau said. "I think it's a very competitive year this year. To be included with the group of movies that we are it's very exciting."

All four movies will compete for the best picture award, an honor that usually leads to the top Oscar.

The Critics' Choice Awards, organized by the 235 members of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, have established a reputation as the leading barometer of Oscar success. In the last 10 years, 80 percent of its best-picture winners went on to take Oscar gold. The success rate for director, best actor and actress is 70 percent.

The Golden Globes, by contrast, have a 60 percent rate for best picture in the same period, even after dividing its category into drama and comedy. Its hit rate with best director is 50 percent. "Up in the Air" is the leading contender at the Globes, which will take place in Beverly Hills on Sunday. [Source from: reuters.com]

BEST PICTURE

Nominees:
• Avatar
• An Education
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Invictus
• Nine
• Precious
• A Serious Man
• Up
• Up In The Air

BEST ACTOR

Nominees:
• Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
• George Clooney - Up In The Air
• Colin Firth - A Single Man
• Morgan Freeman - Invictus
• Viggo Mortensen - The Road
• Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

BEST ACTRESS

Nominees:
• Emily Blunt - The Young Victoria
• Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
• Carey Mulligan - An Education
• Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones
• Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
• Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Nominees:
• Matt Damon - Invictus
• Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
• Christian McKay - Me And Orson Welles
• Alfred Molina - An Education
• Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
• Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Nominees:
• Marion Cotillard - Nine
• Vera Farmiga - Up In The Air
• Anna Kendrick - Up In The Air
• Mo’Nique - Precious
• Julianne Moore - A Single Man
• Samantha Morton - The Messenger

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Nominees:
• Jae Head - The Blind Side
• Bailee Madison - Brothers
• Max Records - Where The Wild Things Are
• Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones
• Kodi Smit-McPhee - The Road

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

Nominees:
• Inglourious Basterds
• Nine
• Precious
• Star Trek
• Up In The Air

BEST DIRECTING

Nominees:
• Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
• James Cameron - Avatar
• Lee Daniels - Precious
• Clint Eastwood - Invictus
• Jason Reitman - Up In The Air
• Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Nominees:
• Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
• Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
• Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - (500) Days Of Summer
• Bob Peterson, Peter Docter - Up
• Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Nominees:
• Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach - Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell - District 9
• Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious
• Tom Ford, David Scearce - A Single Man
• Nick Hornby - An Education
• Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - Up In The Air

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Nominees:
• The Hurt Locker
• Nine
• Avatar
• The Lovely Bones
• Inglourious Basterds

BEST ART DIRECTION

Nominees:
• A Single Man
• Avatar
• Nine
• The Lovely Bones
• Inglourious Basterds

BEST EDITING

Nominees:
• Up In The Air
• Inglourious Basterds
• The Hurt Locker
• Avatar
• Nine

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Nominees:
• Nine
• Bright Star
• The Young Victoria
• Inglourious Basterds
• Where The Wild Things Are

BEST MAKEUP

Nominees:
• Avatar
• District 9
• Nine
• The Road
• Star Trek

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Nominees:
• Avatar
• District 9
• The Lovely Bones
• Star Trek
• 2012

BEST SOUND

Nominees:
• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Nine
• Star Trek

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Nominees:
• Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
• Coraline
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Princess And The Frog
• Up

BEST ACTION MOVIE

Nominees:
• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Star Trek

BEST COMEDY

Nominees:
• (500) Days Of Summer
• The Hangover
• It’s Complicated
• The Proposal
• Zombieland

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Nominees:
• Gifted Hands
• Grey Gardens
• Into The Storm
• Taking Chance

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Nominees:
• Broken Embraces
• Coco Before Chanel
• Red Cliff
• Sin Nombre
• The White Ribbon

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Nominees:
• Anvil
• Capitalism: A Love Story
• The Cove
• Food, Inc.
• Michael Jackson’s This Is It

BEST SONG

Nominees:
• "All Is Love" - Karen O, Nick Zinner - Where The Wild Things Are
• "Almost There" - Randy Newman - The Princess And The Frog
• "Cinema Italiano" - Maury Yeston - Nine
• "(I Want To) Come Home" - Paul McCartney - Everybody’s Fine
• "The Weary Kind" - Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett - Crazy Heart

BEST SCORE

Nominees:
• Michael Giacchino - Up
• Marvin Hamlisch - The Informant!
• Randy Newman - The Princess and the Frog
• Karen O, Carter Burwell - Where The Wild Things Are
• Hans Zimmer - Sherlock Holmes