Online Film Critics Make Their Year-End Picks

The Online Film Critics Society (of which Cinematical's own Scott Weinberg is a member) have spoken, and named their picks for the best films, performances and more of 2006. A recent arrival to the critic's boards awards season, the OFCS has been known for slightly off-center picks that often speak to very different sensibility than print and broadcast critics. As if to demonstrate this very point, a brief persual of the nominees and winners (designated in bold) after the jump will reveal that the OFCS has recognized a broad and fascinating slate of films in 2006 -- including Best Picture honors for United 93, plus individual wins for Oscar dark-horses like Borat, The Fountain, A Scanner Darkly and Children of Men. ...

BEST PICTURE
Babel
Children of Men
The Departed
Pan's Labyrinth
United 93

BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuaron - Children of Men
Guillermo del Toro - Pan's Labyrinth
Paul Greengrass - United 93
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - Babel
Martin Scorsese - The Departed

BEST ACTOR
Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat
Leonardo Di Caprio - The Departed
Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole - Venus
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland

BEST ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz - Volver
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet - Little Children

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley - Little Children
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Jack Nicholson - The Departed
Mark Wahlberg - The Departed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adriana Barraza - Babel
Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin - Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi - Babel

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Guillermo Arriaga & Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - Babel
Michael Arndt - Little Miss Sunshine
Guillermo del Toro - Pan's Labyrinth
Peter Morgan - The Queen
Paul Greengrass - United 93

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Cuaron, Sexton, Arata, Fergus & Otsby - Children of Men
William Monahan - The Departed
Todd Field & Tom Perrotta - Little Children
Christopher Nolan & Jonathan Nolan - The Prestige
Jason Reitman - Thank You for Smoking

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dean Semler - Apocalypto
Rodrigo Prieto - Babel
Emmanuel Lubeski - Children of Men
Matthew Libatique - The Fountain
Guillermo Navarro - Pan's Labyrinth

BEST EDITING
Douglas Crise & Stephen Mirrione - Babel
Alfonso Cuaron & Alex Rodriguez - Children of Men
Thelma Schoonmaker - The Departed
Jay Rabinowitz - The Fountain
Clare Douglas, Richard Pearson & Christopher Rouse - United 93

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Gustavo Santaolalla - Babel
Clint Mansell - The Fountain
Philip Glass - The Illusionist
Philip Glass - Notes on a Scandal
Javier Navarrete - Pan's Labyrinth

BEST DOCUMENTARY
An Inconvenient Truth
Dave Chappelle's Block Party
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing
Jesus Camp
Neil Young: Heart of Gold

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Romania)
L'Enfant (Belgium)
Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico)
Volver (Spain)
Water (India)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Cars
Happy Feet
Monster House
Over the Hedge
A Scanner Darkly

BREAKTHROUGH FILMMAKER
Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris - Little Miss Sunshine
Ryan Fleck - Half Nelson
Rian Johnson - Brick
Neil Marshall - The Descent
Jason Reitman - Thank You for Smoking

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER
Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat
Shareeka Epps - Half Nelson
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi - Babel
Ellen Page - Hard Candy