The Washington D.C. Area film critics got a head start on the year's critics awards last week, but the big kickoff is today when the highly revered (and at times, influential) Los Angeles Film Critics Association will announce their favourites of 2010.
The organization has been on a red hot streak over the last 3 years, selecting inspired masterworks There Will Be Blood, WALL-E, and The Hurt Locker as the respective Best Pictures of 2007, 2008, and 2009. Who will it be this year?
The logical choice (and as far as I'm concerned, the best choice) would be The Social Network, which seems poised to become the critics darling of 2010. But this group hasn't always sprung for the logical choice, and they have other options that could use the publicity boost more than David Fincher's film.
Lisa Cholodenko's L.A.-set The Kids Are All Right, one of the year's best films by any account, might find a welcome home with the LAFCA for instance. Its complete shutout from the National Board of Review stung a bit, and while it may not win the group's Best Picture prize today, I expect it to show up somewhere. Perhaps Best Actress or a Special Citation?
Let's not forget Darren Aronofsky's artsy psycho-thriller Black Swan, which I could envision coming away with either the club's Best Picture, Director, or Actress prize.
Results will go up sometime in the afternoon. Also announcing today are the New York Film Critics Online and the Boston Society of Film Critics. The season is underway!
