Tis award season and all through the land, film critics are gathering and handing out hams (aka awards, couldn't think of anything that rhymes). Yours truly, east coast gun for the original gangsta Movieweb crew, belongs to the New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO). I know what you're thinking, this is just another group of elitist cinemaphiles who think they have better taste than the public and can dictate excellence. And you would be right:) The difference is that even though we have our fair share of famous critics, our members are diehard onliners that represent the tremendous variation of taste on the little ol' internet. So without further ado, here are our members:
1. ETHAN ALTER (FilmJournal.com, Premiere.com)
2. CHRIS BARSANTI (FilmThreat.com)
3. FRED & MARY ANN BRUSSAT (SpiritualityandPractice.com)
4. MARCY DERMANSKY (WorldFilm.About.com)
5. EDWARD DOUGLAS (ComingSoon.net)
6. DAVID EDELSTEIN (NewYorkMagazine.com)
7. JURGEN FAUTH (WorldFilm.About.com)
8. ED GONZALEZ (SlantMagazine.com)
9.. SUSAN GRANGER (SusanGranger.com)
10. RON HENRIQUES (Latinoreview.com)
11. BRANDON JUDELL (Indiewire.com)
12. HARVEY KARTEN (Community.CompuServe.com/showbiz)
13. GLENN KENNY (Premiere.com)
14. KURT LODER (MTV.com)
15. MAITLAND MC DONAGH (TV.com/movies)
16. PRAIRIE MILLER (WBAI.org; LongIslandPress.com)
17. SCOTT NASH (ThreeMovieBuffs.com)
18. MICHELLE ORANGE (TheReeler.com/reviews)
19. LOUIS PROYECT (MarxMail.com)
20. REX REED (NewYorkObserver.com)
21. JULIAN ROMAN (Movieweb.com)
22. CHUCK SCHWARTZ (CrankyCritic.com)
23. DANA STEVENS (Slate.com)
24. ARMOND WHITE (NewYorkPress.com, AOLBlackVoices.com)
25. KAM WILLIAMS (BlackFilm.com, Eurweb.com)
26. WILLIAM WOLF (WolfEntertainmentGuide.com)
27. STEPHANIE ZACHAREK (Salon.com)
and these are our picks:
BEST PICTURE
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (tie)
There Will Be Blood (tie)
BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie - Away From Her
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
There Will Be Blood - Robert Elswit
BEST SCREENPLAY
The Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman, Roman Coppola
BEST FOREIGN PICTURE
The Lives of Others (tie)
Persepolis (tie)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
BEST MUSIC/SCORE
There Will Be Blood - Jonny Greenwood
BEST BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE
Ellen Page - Juno
BEST DEBUT AS DIRECTOR
Sarah Polley - Away From Her
BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
BEST PICTURES (alphabetical)
Atonement (Focus Features)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (THINKFilm)
The Darjeeling Limited (Fox Searchlight)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Miramax)
I'm Not There (The Weinstein Company)
Juno (Fox Searchlight)
Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.)
No Country for Old Men (Miramax)
Persepolis (Sony Pictures Classics)
Sweeney Todd (DreamWorks)
There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage)