“Inglorious Basterds” and “Nine” lead with a record 10 nominations each for the 15th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards

(NOTE: nominations by category are listed at the very bottom)

Avatar, The Hurt Locker, and Up in the Air also shine.  Awards ceremony to be broadcast live on VH1 Friday, January 15, 2010 at 9:00 PM EST/PST.  Kristin Chenowith to host.

(Los Angeles, CA – December 14, 2009) – The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) has announced the nominees for the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. The winners will be announced at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards live on Friday, January 15, 2009 at 9:00 PM ET/PT. This year’s event will take place at the Hollywood Palladium and will be hosted by Kristin Chenoweth. For the third year in a row VH1 will broadcast the gala live on the network.

Inglourious Basterds and Nine each received an unprecedented ten nominations for the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. Inglourious Basterds garnered nods for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Ensemble, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Costume Design and Best Action Movie. Nine received nominations for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, Best Ensemble, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Sound and Best Song.

Following close behind with nine nominations is James Cameron’s Avatar along with Up in the Air and The Hurt Locker each receiving eight nominations. Fifteen-year-old Saoirse Ronan earned nods in both the Best Actress and Best Young Actor/Actress categories, among the six nominations for The Lovely Bones. Up received nominations for Best Picture and Best Animated Feature and this year three of the Best Action Movie nominees are also up for Best Picture – Avatar, Inglourious Basterds and The Hurt Locker.

The 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards also marks the addition of seven new award categories – Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Sound. Additionally, the BFCA has returned to separating the screenwriting category into Original Screenplay and Adapted Screenplay.

“The expansion of categories from 17 to 25 has given the members of the BFCA the opportunity to fully express our critical acumen,” noted BFCA President Joey Berlin. “Most members watch hundreds of movies each year and report back to millions of moviegoers each week. We are proud of our role in helping audiences find the best movies – culminating in the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards in January.”

The 235 members of the BFCA, the largest film critics’ organization in the United States and Canada, representing television, radio and online critics, selected nominees in each of 25 categories. The awards are bestowed annually to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Eligible films were released in 2009. The accounting firm of Gregory A. Mogab tallied the written ballots. Historically, the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards are the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations.

Today, VH1 also announces the launch of its Critics’ Choice Movie Awards Web site at CriticsChoice.VH1.com. The site offers movie fans detailed information about the show and this year’s nominees. The site also gives users a chance to weigh in on who they think should rise to the top in each Critics’ Choice category. In the coming weeks the site will launch a fashion section dedicated to the best red carpet looks of the year, as well as a real-time graph of Twitter activity surrounding the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.

The 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards is executive produced by Bob Bain, Joey Berlin, Jesse Ignjatovic and Lee Rolontz. Paul Flattery serves as producer and Kelly Brock as co-producer.

About Broadcast Film Critics Association

The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) is the largest film critics’ organization in the United States and Canada, representing hundreds of television, radio and online critics. BFCA members are the primary source of information for today’s film going public. The very first opinion a moviegoer hears about new releases at the multiplex or the art house usually comes from one of its members.

About VH1

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 95 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, VH1Games and extensive video on VH1.com. Connect with VH1 at VH1.com.

NOMINEES FOR THE 15TH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS

BEST PICTURE

• Avatar
• An Education
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Invictus
• Nine
• Precious
• A Serious Man
• Up
• Up In The Air

BEST ACTOR

• Jeff Bridges – “Crazy Heart”
• George Clooney – “Up In The Air”
• Colin Firth – “A Single Man”
• Morgan Freeman – “Invictus”
• Viggo Mortensen – “The Road”
• Jeremy Renner – “The Hurt Locker”

BEST ACTRESS

• Emily Blunt – “The Young Victoria”
• Sandra Bullock – “The Blind Side”
• Carey Mulligan – “An Education”
• Saoirse Ronan – “The Lovely Bones”
• Gabourey Sidibe – “Precious”
• Meryl Streep – “Julie & Julia”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Matt Damon – “Invictus”
• Woody Harrelson – “The Messenger”
• Christian McKay – “Me And Orson Welles”
• Alfred Molina – “An Education”
• Stanley Tucci – “The Lovely Bones”
• Christoph Waltz – “Inglourious Basterds”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Marion Cotillard – “Nine”
• Vera Farmiga – “Up In The Air”
• Anna Kendrick – “Up In The Air”
• Mo’Nique – “Precious”
• Julianne Moore – “A Single Man”
• Samantha Morton – “The Messenger”

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

• Jae Head – “The Blind Side”
• Bailee Madison – “Brothers”
• Max Records – “Where The Wild Things Are”
• Saoirse Ronan – “The Lovely Bones”
• Kodi Smit-McPhee – “The Road”

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

• Inglourious Basterds
• Nine
• Precious
• Star Trek
• Up In The Air

BEST DIRECTING

• Kathryn Bigelow – “The Hurt Locker”
• James Cameron – “Avatar”
• Lee Daniels – “Precious”
• Clint Eastwood – “Invictus”
• Jason Reitman – “Up In The Air”
• Quentin Tarantino – “Inglourious Basterds”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Mark Boal – “The Hurt Locker”
• Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – “A Serious Man”
• Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber – “(500) Days Of Summer”
• Bob Peterson, Peter Docter – “Up”
• Quentin Tarantino – “Inglourious Basterds”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach – “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
• Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell – “District 9”
• Geoffrey Fletcher – “Precious”
• Tom Ford, David Scearce – “A Single Man”
• Nick Hornby – “An Education”
• Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner – “Up In The Air”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Barry Ackroyd – “The Hurt Locker”
• Dion Beebe – “Nine”
• Mauro Fiore – “Avatar”
• Andrew Lesnie – “The Lovely Bones”
• Robert Richardson – “Inglourious Basterds”

BEST ART DIRECTION

• Dan Bishop – “A Single Man”
• Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg – “Avatar”
• John Myhre, Gordon Sim – “Nine”
• Naomi Shohan, George De Titta, Jr. – “The Lovely Bones”
• David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds Wasco – “Inglourious Basterds”

BEST EDITING

• Dana E. Glauberman – “Up In The Air”
• Sally Menke – “Inglourious Basterds”
• Bob Murawski, Chris Innis – “The Hurt Locker”
• Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron – “Avatar”
• Claire Simpson, Wyatt Smith – “Nine”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• Colleen Atwood – “Nine”
• Janet Patterson – “Bright Star”
• Sandy Powell – “The Young Victoria”
• Anna Sheppard – “Inglourious Basterds”
• Casey Storm – “Where The Wild Things Are”

BEST MAKEUP

• Avatar
• District 9
• Nine
• The Road
• Star Trek

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Avatar
• District 9
• The Lovely Bones
• Star Trek
• 2012

BEST SOUND

• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Nine
• Star Trek

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
• Coraline
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Princess And The Frog
• Up

BEST ACTION MOVIE

• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Star Trek

BEST COMEDY

• (500) Days Of Summer
• The Hangover
• It’s Complicated
• The Proposal
• Zombieland

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

• Gifted Hands
• Grey Gardens
• Into The Storm
• Taking Chance

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• Broken Embraces
• Coco Before Chanel
• Red Cliff
• Sin Nombre
• The White Ribbon

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• Anvil
• Capitalism: A Love Story
• The Cove
• Food, Inc.
• Michael Jackson’s This Is It

BEST SONG

• “All Is Love” – Karen O, Nick Zinner – “Where The Wild Things Are”
• “Almost There” – Randy Newman – “The Princess And The Frog”
• “Cinema Italiano” – Maury Yeston – “Nine”
• “(I Want To) Come Home” – Paul McCartney – “Everybody’s Fine”
• “The Weary Kind” – T Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham – “Crazy Heart”

BEST SCORE

• Michael Giacchino – “Up”
• Marvin Hamlisch – “The Informant!”
• Randy Newman – “The Princess and the Frog”
• Karen O, Carter Burwell – “Where The Wild Things Are”
• Hans Zimmer – “Sherlock Holmes”

press release courtesy of VH1

Related Links

• VH1– 15th Annual Critic’s Choice Awards site
• Broadcast Film Critics Association– Critics’ Choice Awards site