'Knight,' 'Slumdog' tie for most nominations from local critics
Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" - the greatest motion picture ever adapted from the comic books - and Danny Boyle's India-set comic drama "Slumdog Millionaire" tied with six nominations Monday as film critics announced their slate of contenders for the 2008 Chicago Film Critics Awards.
Four films - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Doubt," "Milk" and "WALL. E" - tied for second place with five nominations.
Jonathan Demme's "Rachel Got Married" came in third with four nods. In the biggest surprise, the Swedish vampire film "Let the Right One In" came away with three.
Winners of the 2008 CFCA awards will be announced Thursday on WGN-TV with Dean Richards and Richard Roeper at 6:50 a.m., 7:50 a.m. and 8:50 a.m.
The CFCA has 56 members, including Roeper, Richards, Roger Ebert and Michael Wilmington.
The 2008 CFCA nominees:
PICTURE: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Dark Knight," "Milk," "Slumdog Millionaire" and "WALL. E."
DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle for "Slumdog Millionaire" (co-directed by Loveleen Tandan), David Fincher for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Christopher Nolan for "The Dark Knight," Andrew Stanton for "WALL. E," Gus Van Sant for "Milk."
ACTOR: Clint Eastwood in "Gran Torino," Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor," Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon," Sean Penn in "Milk," Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler."
ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married," Sally Hawkins in "Happy-Go-Lucky," Angelina Jolie in "Changeling," Melissa Leo in "Frozen River" and Meryl Streep in "Doubt."
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder," Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt," Bill Irwin in "Rachel Getting Married," Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight," Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road."
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Adams in "Doubt," Penélope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Viola Davis in "Doubt," Rosemarie Dewitt in "Rachel Getting Married," Kate Winslet in "The Reader."
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: "In Bruges" (Martin McDonagh), "Milk" (Dustin Lance Black), "Rachel Getting Married" (Jenny Lumet), "Synecdoche, New York" (Charlie Kaufman) "WALL. E" (Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon).
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Eric Roth), "The Dark Knight" (Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan) "Doubt" (John Patrick Shanley), "Frost/Nixon" (Peter Morgan, "Slumdog Millionaire" (Simon Beaufoy).
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: "The Band's Visit," "Che," "A Christmas Tale," "I've Loved You For So Long," and "Let the Right One In."
DOCUMENTARY: "American Teen," "Dear Zachary," "IOUSA," "Man On Wire," "Standard Operating Procedure."
ANIMATED FEATURE: "Bolt," "Kung-Fu Panda," "Tale of Desperaux," "WALL. E," "Waltz with Bashir."
CINEMATOGRAPHY: "Australia" (Mandy Walker), "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Claudio Miranda), "The Dark Knight" (Wally Pfister), "The Fall" (Colin Watkinson), "Slumdog Millionaire" (Anthony Dod Mantle).
SCORE: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Alexandre Desplat), "The Dark Knight" (Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard), "Milk" (Danny Elfman), "Slumdog Millionaire" (A.R. Rahman), "WALL. E" (Thomas Newman).
MOST PROMISING PERFORMER: Russell Brand in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," David Kross in "The Reader," Lina Leandersson in "Let the Right One In," Dev Patel in "Slumdog Millionaire," Brandon Walters in "Australia."
MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER: Tomas Alfredson for "Let the Right One In," Lance Hammer for "Ballast," Courtney Hunt for "Frozen River," Martin McDonagh for "In Bruges," Steve McQueen for "Hunger."