Critics Choice Award Nominees Announced!

The nomination season is underway and The Broadcast Film Critics Association has just announced their list of nominees. I'm happy to see that a good number of my submitted nominees made the list. In year that seemed like it was going to be truly underwhelming overall, there has been a great flurry of good movies to come out here in these final days of the year...and some decent film scores to go with them. THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON and MILK are leading the way with 8 nominations a piece. Please check out the official list of nominees below.

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MILK AND THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON LEAD WITH EIGHT NOMINATIONS FOR THE 14TH ANNUAL CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS

THE DARK KNIGHT, DOUBT AND SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE GARNER SIX NODS

CLINT EASTWOOD RECEIVES TWO NOMINATIONS - BEST ACTOR (GRAN TORINO) AND BEST COMPOSER (CHANGELING)

VH1 TO BROADCAST THE AWARDS CEREMONY LIVE ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2009 AT 9:00 PM (ET/PT)

New York, NY - December 9, 2008 - The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) has announced the nominees for the 14th annual Critics' Choice Awards. The winners will be announced at the Critics' Choice Awards gala on Thursday, January 8, 2009 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. VH1 will again broadcast this year's ceremony Live at 9:00 PM (ET/PT).

Milk and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button lead the pack with eight nominations for the 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards. Milk received nominations for Best Picture, a Best Actor nod for Sean Penn, two Best Supporting Actor nominations for James Franco and Josh Brolin, Best Director for Gus Van Sant, Best Writer for Dustin Lance Black, and Best Composer for Danny Elfman. The eight nominations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are for Best Picture, a Best Actor nomination for Brad Pitt, Best Actress for Cate Blanchett, Best Supporting Actress for Taraji P. Henson, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director for David Fincher, Best Writer for Eric Roth, and Best Composer for Alexandre Desplat.

The Dark Knight, Doubt and Slumdog Millionaire all tied with six nominations, each including a Best Picture nod. (Listed below)

Clint Eastwood received a Best Actor nomination for Gr an Torino and a Best Composer nomination for Changeling, which added two nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress (Angelina Jolie)

The BFCA, the largest film critics' organization with more than 200 members in the United States and Canada, representing television, radio and online critics, selected nominees in each of the 17 categories. The Critics' Choice Awards were created by the BFCA to recognize excellence in cinematic achievement. Eligible films were released in 2008. The accounting firm of Gregory A. Mogab tallied the written ballots. Historically, the Critics' Choice Awards are the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations.

The nominees were announced this morning by Academy Award® nominated actress Rosie Perez, "At the Movies" hosts Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz and VH1 President Tom Calderone in a press conference at the MTV Network studios in Times Square that aired live on VH1. To view or download broadcast quality f ile formats of today's nomination press conference please visit http://www.epk.tv.

A complete list of nominees is available at http://criticschoice.vh1.com. VH1's "Critics' Choice Awards" site, which launches today, will be home to detailed information about the awards and will provide a forum for both the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) critics and users to comment on this year's nominees. VH1 will expand elements of the show online at VH1.com. Exclusive video footage from the event will include celebrity interviews, red carpet footage and more. Additional multiplatform plans will be announced in the coming weeks.

Counting down to the LIVE premiere of the Critics' Choice Awards, VH1 will air the "14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards Red Carpet Premiere Featuring Maria Menounos" pre-show LIVE on Thursday, January 8 at 8pm (ET/PT) and will also stream it LIVE on VH1.com. Covering the excitement of the celebrity arrivals on the red carpet will be "KTLA Mornin g News" entertainment reporter Sam Rubin and No Good TV's Carrie Keagan. Interspersed throughout the red carpet arrivals will be pre-taped interviews with NBC and Access Hollywood's Maria Menounos as she sits down and speaks with some of today's hottest stars.

The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards are sponsored by Walmart, AT&T and Crest Whitening Expressions.

The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards is executive produced by Bob Bain for Bob Bain Productions, Joey Berlin for Berlin Entertainment and Lee Rolontz for VH1.

NOMINEES FOR THE 14TH ANNUAL CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS

Top Nods Go to:

Milk (Eight Nominations)
Best Picture, Best Actor, Two Best Supporting Actor Nominations, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Writer, and Best Composer

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Eight Nominations)
Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Writer, and Best Composer

The Dark Knight (Six Nominations)
Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Action Movie, and Best Composer

Doubt (Six Nominations)
Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Acting Ensemble and Best Writer

Slumdog Millionaire (Six Nominations)
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writer, Best Young Actor/Actress, Best Song, and Best Composer

BEST PICTURE
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
The Wrestler

BEST ACTOR
Clint Eastwood - Gran Torino
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS
Kate Beckinsale - Nothing But the Truth
Cate Blanchett - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey, Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
James Franco - Milk

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Vera Farmiga - Nothing But the Truth
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Kate Winslet - The Reader

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Milk
Rachel Getting Married

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant - Milk

BEST WRITER (Original or Adapted Screenplay)
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Wall-E
Waltz With Bashir

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS (Under 21)
Dakota Fanning - The Secret Life of Bees
David Kross - The Reader
Dev Petal - Slumdog Millionaire
Brandon Walters - Australia

BEST ACTION MOVIE
The Dark Knight
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Quantum of Solace
Wanted

BEST COMEDY MOVIE
Burn After Reading
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Role Models
Tropic Thunder
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
John Adams
Recount
Coco Chanel

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A Christmas Tale
Gomorrah
I've Loved You So Long
Let the Right One In
Mongol
Waltz With Bashir

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
I.O.U.S.A.
Man On Wire
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Standard Operating Procedure
Young At Heart

BEST SONG
"Another Way to Die" (performed by Jack White and Alicia Keys, written by Jack White) - Quantum of Solace
"Down to Earth" (performed by Peter Gabriel, written by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman) - Wall-E
"I Thought I Lost You" (performed Miley Cyrus and John Travolta, written by Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele) - Bolt
"Jaiho" (performed by Sukhwinder Singh, written by A.R. Rahman and Gulzar) - Slumdog Millionaire
"The Wrestler" (performed by Bruce Springsteen, written by Bruce Springsteen) - The Wrestler

BEST COMPOSER
Alexandre Desp lat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Clint Eastwood - Changeling
Danny Elfman - Milk
Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard - The Dark Knight
A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire