“Little Miss Sunshine” & “Dreamgirls” Lead Pack At Critics’ Choice Awards
Posted January 13, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A film about a quirky kid and her dysfunctional family’s efforts to get to a beauty pageant and the story of a singing trio’s rise to fame won great praise from American film reviewers with both flicks picking up the most honours at the 12th annual Critics’ Choice Awards.
“Little Miss Sunshine” and “Dreamgirls” picked up four trophies a-piece at the ceremony in Santa Monica Friday night, with the first earning awards for best acting ensemble, best young actress, best young actor and best writer.
“Dreamgirls” earned honours for best supporting actor and actress, best soundtrack and best song.
(See full list of winners below)
But the evening’s top honours went to the Martin Scorsese flick about the Irish mob in Boston, “The Departed”, which won the best picture and best director awards.
“I am pleased by this award and surprised. Maybe it’s because this is the first picture I made with a plot,” the legendary director joked after picking up his award.
The Critics’ Choice Awards mark the kickoff to the Hollywood awards season and the lead-up to the Academy Awards. The 200-member Broadcast Film Critics group that handed out Friday’s honours prides itself on being an accurate predictor of Oscar success.
If it’s right this year, Scorsese may finally pick up the Academy Award that has eluded him for his entire career – either the best picture or best director nod.
Oscar buzz is building around Helen Mirren’s portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in “The Queen”. She won the best actress award Friday for her performance in the film about the Royal family after the death of Princess Diana.
Forest Whitaker is also considered an Oscar favourite and he picked up the best actor honour for his performance in “The Last King of Scotland”.
Former U.S. presidential candidate Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” got people talking about global warming this year and it picked up the award for best documentary.
And “Borat” won the award for best comedy. Its star and creator Sasha Baron Cohen thanked all of the Americans who haven’t sued him yet in his acceptance speech.
The next major awards show happens Monday night when the Golden Globes are handed out.
The complete list of winners:
Picture: “The Departed”
Actor: Forest Whitaker, “The Last King of Scotland”
Actress: Helen Mirren, “The Queen”
Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy, “Dreamgirls”
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, “Dreamgirls”
Acting Ensemble: “Little Miss Sunshine”
Director: Martin Scorsese, “The Departed”
Writer: Michael Arndt, “Little Miss Sunshine”
Animated Feature: “Cars”
Young Actor: Paul Dano, “Little Miss Sunshine”
Young Actress: Abigail Breslin, “Little Miss Sunshine”
Comedy: “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
Family Film (live action): “Charlotte’s Web”
Picture Made for Television: “Elizabeth I”
Foreign Language Film: “Letters from Iwo Jima”
Song: “Listen,” Beyonce, from the film “Dreamgirls”
Soundtrack: “Dreamgirls”
Composer: Philip Glass, “The Illusionist”
Documentary Feature: “An Inconvenient Truth”
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