Critics Groups Rundown

The two main critic groups from Los Angeles (LAFCA) and New York (NYFCC) have recently announced their 2009 winners. I will let other, and better, websites (here, here, and here) give you the full rundown of winners from individual critic groups, but with the results so far from LAFCA and NYFCC as well as the National Board of Review (NBR), Washington D.C. Film Area Critics (WAFCA), Boston Film Society (BSFC), Alliance of Women Journalist (AWJ), the New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO), the Southeastern Film Critics (SEFCA), the Indiana Film Journalists (IFJA), and the San Francisco Film Critics (SFFC), I'd like to highlight the major categories...

Here are the latest results/winners:

Best Picture
The Hurt Locker (NYFCC, LAFCA, BSFC, AWJ, SEFCA, SFFC)
Up in the Air (NBR, WAFCA, IFJA)
Avatar (NYFCO)

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow (NYFCC, LAFCA, NYFCO, WAFCA, BSFC, AWJ, SEFCA, SFFC)
Clint Eastwood (NBR)
Spike Jonze (IFJA)

Best Actor
George Clooney (NBR, NYFCC, WAFCA, SEFCA, IFJA)
Jeff Bridges (LAFCA, NYFCO, AWJ)
Jeremy Renner (BSFC)
Morgan Freeman (NBR)
Colin Firth (SFFC)

Best Actress
Meryl Streep (NYFCC, NYFCO, BSFC, SEFCA, SFFC)
Carey Mulligan (NBR, WAFCA, AWJ, IFJA)
Yolane Moreau (LAFCA)

Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz (NYFCC, LAFCA, NYFCO, WAFCA, BSFC, AWJ, SEFCA, IFJA)
Woody Harrelson (NBR)
Christian McKay (SFFC)

Best Supporting Actress
Mo'Nique (NYFCC, LAFCA, NYFCO, WAFCA, BSFC, AWJ, SEFCA, IFJA, SFFC)
Anna Kendrick (NBR)

Best Screenplay
Up in the Air (NBR, LAFCA, DC, AWJ, SEFCA, IFJA)
Inglourious Basterds (NYFCO, WAFCA, SFFC)
A Serious Man (NBR, BSFC)
500 Days of Summer (AWJ, SEFCA)
In the Loop (NYFCC)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (SFFC)

Best Animated Film
Up (NBR, NYFCO, BSFC, WAFCA, AWJ, SEFCA, IFJA)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (NYFCC, LAFCA)
Coraline (SFFC)

Best Foreign Film
Summer Hours (NYFCC, LAFCA, BSFC, AWJ, SEFCA)
Sin Nombre (WAFCA, IFJA)
Of Time and the City (NYFCC)
The White Ribbon (NYFCO)
A Prophet (NBR)
You, The Living (SFFC)

Best Documentary
The Cove (NBR, LAFCA, NYFCO, IFJA)
Food, Inc (WAFCA, SEFCA)
The Beaches of Agnes (LAFCA)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (SFFC)

So what does this tell us in that grand scheme of the Academy Awards?

It probably tells us that The Hurt Locker and Up in the Air are locks to be nominated for Best Picture. Kathryn Bigelow will be nominated for Best Director and has a more than good shot to be the first female to win that category. Best Actor and Actress are close with Meryl especially threatening Carey Mulligan. Give the Oscars to Waltz and Mo'Nique, already. And a Pixar victory at the Oscars is suddenly not 100%. How shocking is that last part?

But things can change in a heartbeat and more importantly critic awards don't necessarily mean Oscar victories. And with a dozen or more critic groups still to weigh in as well as the announcement of Golden Globes nominees tomorrow and of course the all-important guilds much later on, it's still up in the air. Pun intended.