National Society of Film Critics Awards 2008 (details)

"Man On Wire" (best documentary)

By Dave Kehr
Here are the results of today’s vote by the ancient and venerable critics group, of which yours truly is an ancient if not strictly venerable member, along with some 60 awesomely powerful critics from various national and local, largely mainstream publications. The * designates the winning entity, with the number of votes and the distributor following the title:

BEST ACTOR
*1. Sean Penn (Milk) – 87 (Focus Features)
2. Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)- 40
3. Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino)– 38

BEST ACTRESS
*1. Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky) - 65 (Miramax)
2. Melissa Leo (Frozen River) - 33
3. Michelle Williams (Wendy and Lucy) - 31

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
*1. Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky) 41 (Miramax)
2. Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) – 35
3. Josh Brolin (Milk) – 29

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
*1. Hanna Schygulla (The Edge of Heaven) – 29 (Strand Releasing)
2. Viola Davis (Doubt) – 29 (on fewer ballots)
3. Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) – 24

BEST PICTURE
*1. Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman) – 26 (Sony Pictures Classics)
2. Happy-Go-Lucky 20
2. WALL-E (20)

BEST DIRECTOR
*1. Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky) – 36 (Miramax)
2. Gus Van Sant (Milk, Paranoid Park) – 20
3. Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) -16

BEST NONFICTION FILM
*1. Man on Wire (James Marsh) – 55 (Magnolia)
2. Trouble the Water (Tia Lessin and Carl C. Deal) – 34
3. Encounters at the End of the World (Werner Herzog) – 26

BEST SCREENPLAY
*1. Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh) – 29
2. A Christmas Tale (Arnaud Desplechin) – 24
3. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman) – 17

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
*1. Slumdog Millionaire (Anthony Dod Mantle) – 29 (Fox Searchlight)
2. Flight of the Red Balloon (Lee Ping-Bing) – 22
3. The Dark Knight (Wally Pfister) – 18
4. Still Life (Yu Lik-Wai )