The National Society of Film Critics, which is generally the most highbrow of the critics votes to announce movie awards, has chosen “The Hurt Locker” as the best picture of 2009, the organization announced Sunday afternoon.
The NSFC award, which often goes to a foreign film such as last year’s winner, “Waltz with Bashir,” continues a remarkable string of critical plaudits for Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq-themed drama. Bigelow herself was named best director.
(To see how your favorite contender is doing, see TheWrap’s complete awards-season scorecard here).
Breaking the string of best-actor and actress awards dominated by the likes of George Clooney and Meryl Streep, the NSFC named Jeremy Renner best actor for “The Hurt Locker,” and Yolande Moreau best actress for “Seraphine.”
Supporting awards went to the same actor and actress who’ve won virtually everything else, Christoph Waltz for "Inglourious Basterds" and Mo’Nique for "Precious." The only wrinkle is that Waltz shares his prize with Paul Schneider for "Bright Star."
The NSFC is based in New York, and is made up of fewer than 100 critics, many of whom write for national publications. It was founded in 1966, with an initial a group of critics that included the Saturday Review’s Hollis Alpert, the New Yorker’s Pauline Kael and Life magazine’s Richard Schickel.
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The full list of awards:
Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker”
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actor: Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actress: Yolande Moreau, “Seraphine”
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds,” and Paul Schneider, “Bright Star”
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious”
Best Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, “A Serious Man”
Best Foreign-Language Film: “Summer Hours”
Nonfiction Film: “The Beaches of Agnes”
Cinematography: Christian Berger, “The White Ribbon”
Production design: Nelson Lowry, “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
