Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2008



20th CFCA Awards December 18, 2008

Best Film:  WALL-E 

The 21st Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, given by the CFCA on December 18, 2008, honored the best in film for 2008. Disney/Pixar's WALL-E was the most successful film in the ceremony, winning four awards, including Best Film, out of five nominations. Slumdog Millionaire won three awards, while The Dark Knight and Let the Right One In won two awards each.

Best Actor
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
 * Clint Eastwood – Gran Torino
 * Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
 * Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
 * Sean Penn – Milk

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
 * Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
 * Angelina Jolie – Changeling
 * Melissa Leo – Frozen River
 * Meryl Streep – Doubt

Best Animated Film
WALL-E
 * Bolt
 * Kung Fu Panda
 * The Tale of Despereaux
 * Waltz with Bashir

Best Cinematography
The Dark Knight – Wally Pfister
 * Australia – Mandy Walker
 * The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Claudio Miranda
 * The Fall – Colin Watkinson
 * Slumdog Millionaire – Anthony Dod Mantle

Best Director
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
 * David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
 * Christopher Nolan – The Dark Knight
 * Andrew Stanton – WALL-E
 * Gus Van Sant – Milk

Best Documentary Film
Man on Wire
 * American Teen
 * Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
 * I.O.U.S.A.
 * Standard Operating Procedure

Best Film
WALL-E
 * The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
 * The Dark Knight
 * Milk
 * Slumdog Millionaire

Best Foreign Language Film
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in), Sweden
 * The Band's Visit (Bikur Ha-Tizmoret), Israel
 * Che, France, Spain, & USA
 * A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noël), France
 * I've Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime), France

Best Original Score
WALL-E – Thomas Newman
 * 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

Best Screenplay – Adapted
Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy
 * The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Roth
 * The Dark Knight – Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan
 * Doubt – John Patrick Shanley
 * Frost/Nixon – Peter Morgan

Best Screenplay – Original
WALL-E – Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon
 * In Bruges – Martin McDonagh
 * Milk – Dustin Lance Black
 * Rachel Getting Married – Jenny Lumet
 * Synecdoche, New York – Charlie Kaufman

Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (posthumously)
 * Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
 * Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
 * Bill Irwin – Rachel Getting Married
 * Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress
Kate Winslet – The Reader
 * Amy Adams – Doubt
 * Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
 * Viola Davis – Doubt
 * Rosemarie DeWitt – Rachel Getting Married

Most Promising Filmmaker
Tomas Alfredson – Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)
 * Lance Hammer – Ballast
 * Courtney Hunt – Frozen River
 * Martin McDonagh – In Bruges
 * Steve McQueen – Hunger

Most Promising Performer
Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire
 * Russell Brand – Forgetting Sarah Marshall
 * David Kross – The Reader
 * Lina Leandersson – Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)
 * Brandon Walters – Australia