The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has named Wall-E the best picture of the year, the first time in its history that it has given its best picture award to an animated film.
Notably the annual LA Film Critics Awards along with the Golden Globes are seen as significant in presaging the winners of the Academy Awards in February.
Batman fans will be somewhat pleased, with The Dark Knight named as runner up for Best Film, and Heath Ledger took out the Best Supporting Actor gong.
The full list of awards winners and runners up as follows:
Picture: “Wall-E” Runner-up: “The Dark Knight”
Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire” Runner-up: Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
Actor: Sean Penn, “Milk” Runner-up: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
Actress: Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky” Runner-up: Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Supporting actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight” Runner-up: Eddie Marsan, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Supporting actress: Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Elegy” Runner-up: Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Screenplay: Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky” Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, “Synecdoche, New York”
Foreign-language film: “Still Life” Runner-up: “The Class”
Documentary: “Man on Wire” Runner-up: “Waltz With Bashir”
Animation: “Waltz With Bashir”
Cinematography: Yu Lik Wai, “Still Life” Runner-up: Anthony Dod Mantle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Production design: Mark Friedberg, “Synecdoche, New York” Runner-up: Nathan Crowley, “The Dark Knight”
Music/score: A.R. Rahman, “Slumdog Millionaire” Runner-up: Alexandre Desplat, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
New Generation: Steve McQueen, “Hunger”
Douglas E. Edwards independent/experimental film/video: James Benning, “RR” and “Casting a Glance”
