Phoenix Critics pick top films of 2010

The Phoenix Film Critics Society announced today their annual list of Phoenician awards for the films, filmmakers and actors of 2010. I've been a member since 2001. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how the voting turned out. The King's Speech winning the top award came as a surprise, an unexpected but welcome one. Inception, my No. 4 pick of the year, won the most awards with seven awards, including best director.

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Best Picture

The King’s Speech

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Top Ten Films

127 Hours
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
Never Let Me Go
Shutter Island
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

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Best Director

Christopher Nolan, Inception

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Best Actor

Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

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Best Actress

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

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Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale, The Fighter

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Best Supporting Actress

Melissa Leo, The Fighter
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Best Ensemble Acting

The Social Network

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Best Original Screenplay

Inception

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Best Adapted Screenplay

The Social Network

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Best Live Action Family Film

Alice in Wonderland

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Overlooked Film of the Year
Never Let Me Go

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Best Animated Film

Toy Story 3

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Best Foreign Language Film

Biutiful

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Best Documentary

Restrepo

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Best Original Song

Burlesque, “You Haven’t See the Last of Me”

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Best Original Score

Inception

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Best Cinematography

True Grit

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Best Film Editing

Inception

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Best Production Design

Inception

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Best Costume Design

Alice in Wonderland

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Best Visual Effects

Inception

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Best Stunts

Inception

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Breakthrough Performance on Camera

Chloe Moretz, Kick-Ass

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Breakthrough Performance Behind the Camera

Debra Granik, Winter’s Bone

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Best Performance by a Youth — Male

Kodi Smit-McPhee, Let Me In

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Best Performance by a Youth — Female

Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

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Phoenix Film Critics Go Slumming

Yes, I'm still alive. It's been like 45 days and I return to what may be end of the world: Brendan Fraser and Adam Sandler have new movies in previews, Tom Cruise is getting decent write-ups for his new flick, and poor Marisa Tomei deserves an Oscar for posing for this photo.

In case you're curious (you're not and it's OK), I've been away buying and renovating a house. And since my newspaper has drastically reduced my movie coverage, there's really been no reason to post new material even if I have been keeping up on the new flicks, and seeing some old ones in between. Consider this my return, though, and I shall never abandon my faithful readers (all 12 of you) again.

But before new reviews start appearing here, first some housekeeping. Here are the winners for the annual Phoenix Film Critics Society awards. The PFCS, which I've been a member of for several years, has also launched a new Web site here. Check it out. Here are the 2008 winners:

Best Picture — Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director — Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor — Sean Penn, Milk
Best Actress — Meryl Streep, Doubt
Best Supporting Actor — Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress — Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Best Acting Ensemble — Milk
Best Original Screenplay — In Bruges
Best Adapted Screenplay — Slumdog Millionaire
Best Live Action Family Film — High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Overlooked Film — In Bruges
Best Animated Film — Wall-E
Best Foreign Language Film — Let the Right One In
Best Documentary — Man on Wire
Best Original Song — "The Wrestler" from The Wrestler
Best Original Score — The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Cinematography — The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Film Editing — Slumdog Millionaire
Best Production Design — The Dark Knight
Best Costume Design — The Duchess
Best Visual Effects — The Dark Knight
Best Stunts — The Dark Knight
Breakout on Camera — Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire
Breakout Behind the Camera — Martin McDonagh, In Bruges
Best Performance by a Youth (Male) — Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Performance by a Youth (Female) — Dakota Fanning, The Secret Life of Bees

Top Ten Films of 2008 (in alphabetical order):
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
In Bruges
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
The Visitor
Wall•E
The Wrestler

Phoenix Film Critics Society picks No Country

Every year the Phoenix Film Critics Society, of which I’m a member, honors great achievement in film — be it the films themselves or the people who make them. Here are the winners we voted to honor with 2007 awards:

Best Picture — No Country For Old Men

Best Director — Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country For Old Men

Best Actor— Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Supporting Actor — Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men

Best Actress — Julie Christie, Away From Her

Best Supporting Actress — Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone

Best Ensemble Acting — No Country For Old Men

Best Original Screenplay — Diablo Cody, Juno

Best Adapted Screenplay — Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men

Best Live-Action Family Film — Enchanted

The Overlooked Film of the Year — Stardust

Best Animated Film — Ratatouille

Best Foreign Language Film — The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Documentary — Sicko

Best Original Song — “Falling Slowly,” Once

Best Original Score — Atonement

Best Cinematography — Atonement

Best Film Editing — No Country For Old Men

Best Production Design — Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Costume Design — Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Visual Effects — 300

Best Stunts — The Bourne Ultimatum

Breakthrough Performance on Camera — Ellen Page, Juno

Breakthrough Performance Behind the Camera — Sarah Polley, Away From Her

Best Youth Performance, Female — Saoirse Ronan, Atonement

Best Youth Performance, Male — Edward Sanders, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Top 10 Films (in alphabetical order) —
Atonement
Away From Her
Hairspray
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
There Will Be Blood
3:10 to Yuma
Zodiac