The Online Film Critics Society has named "The Social Network" the Best Picture of 2010, following in the footsteps of nearly every other critics group this awards season.
David Fincher's drama about the founding of Facebook was the big winner in the OFCS' 13 categories, winning awards for picture, director and adapted screenplay (Aaron Sorkin). "Inception" was the only other multiple winner, with prizes for its original screenplay and editing.
OFCS awards are given for acting, directing, foreign, animated and documentary features, but are limited to writing, editing and cinematography when it comes to additional categories.
Acting awards went to a quartet that is beginning to rack up most of the prizes: Colin Firth for "The King's Speech," Natalie Portman for "Black Swan," Christian Bale for "The Fighter" and Hailee Steinfeld for "True Grit."
"Toy Story 3" was named Best Animated Feature, "Exit Through the Gift Shop" Best Documentary and the Korean film "Mother" Best Picture Not in the English Language.
The awards do not have the clout of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association or the New York Film Critics Circle awards, or the television audience of the Golden Globes or the Broadcast Film Critics Association's Critics Choice Movie Awards. The organization's choices generally hew to the mainstream, though they often disagree with the eventual Oscar winners.
Two of the last three OFCS winners, "The Hurt Locker" and "No Country for Old Men," went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, but only "The Lord of the Ring: The Return of the King" agreed with the Academy's choice over the preceding eight years. The online critics' choices included "WALL-E" over "Slumdog Millionaire," "United 93" over "The Departed," "A History of Violence" over "Crash," "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" over "Million Dollar Baby," and "Almost Famous" over "Gladiator."
The Online Film Critics Society, which was founded in 1997, consists of about 150 film reviewers, journalists and scholars whose work appears primarily on the Internet. This makes it smaller by about 100 members than the Broadcast Film Critics Association, whose members also include online critics.
The winners:
Best Picture: "The Social Network"
Best Director: David Fincher, "The Social Network"
Best Actor: Colin Firth, "The King's Speech"
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, "The Fighter"
Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld, "True Grit"
Best Picture Not in the English Language: "Mother"
Best Documentary: "Exit Through the Gift Shop"
Best Animated Feature: "Toy Story 3"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, "The Social Network"
Best Original Screenplay: Christopher Nolan, "Inception"
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins, "True Grit"
Best Editing: Lee Smith, "Inception"
