The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has given its top prize to “The Hurt Locker,” selecting the Kathryn Bigelow film as the organization’s best picture of 2009.
The choice, coming on the heels of a victory at the hands of the Boston Society of Film Critics, gives the Iraq-themed film a boost in the Oscar race. Previously, Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air” had won the top honors from the National Board of Review and Washington D.C. Film Critics. "Up in the Air" was selected as runner-up in the LAFCA voting.
Bigelow won the best director award over "The White Ribbon" director Michael Haneke. Jeff Bridges won honors for “Crazy Heart” over Colin Firth in "A Single Man."
In one of the out-of-the-blue selections that often pop up in LAFCA voting, Belgian-born actress Yolande Moreau was named best actress for “Seraphine” over Oscar frontrunner Carey Mulligan for "An Education."
Wes Anderson’s "Fantastic Mr. Fox" scored an upset victory over Pixar’s "Up" in the animated-film category.
The French film "Summer Hours" was named best foreign film, with "the White Ribbon" a runner-up.
In results announced earlier in the day, Christoph Waltz and Mo’Nique were honored as best supporting actor and actress for their roles in "Inglourious Basterds" and "Precious," respectively.
The full list of winners and runners-up:
PICTURE: "The Hurt Locker"
Runner-up: "Up in the Air"
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
Runner-up: Michael Haneke, "The White Ribbon"
ACTRESS: Yolande Moreau, "Séraphine"
Runner-up: Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
ACTOR: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
Runner-up: Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
ANIMATION: "Fantastic Mr. Fox"
Runner-up: “Up"
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "Summer Hours"
Runner-up: "The White Ribbon"
NEW GENERATION: Neill Blomkamp, "District 9"
MUSIC/SCORE: T-Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton, "Crazy Heart"
Runner-up: Alexandre Desplat, "Fantastic Mr. Fox"
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Philip Ivey, "District 9"
Runner-up: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, "Avatar"
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Christian Berger, "The White Ribbon"
Runner-up: Barry Ackroyd, "The Hurt Locker"
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Mo’Nique, "Precious"
Runner-up: Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"
Runner-up: Peter Capaldi, "In the Loop "
SCREENPLAY: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air"
Runner-up: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche, "In the Loop "
DOCUMENTARY / NON-FICTION FILM: "The Beaches of Agnès" and "The Cove" (tie)
DOUGLAS E. EDWARDS INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL FILM/VIDEO: Anders Edstrom and C.W. Winter, "The Anchorage "
