Critics Pick “Waltz With Bashir” as Best ’08 Film

Updated 7:58 AM EDT, Mon, Jan 5, 2009

Cast and crew of "Waltz with Bashir" with director Ari Folman (3rd L) arrive for the Palme d'Or Closing Ceremony at the Palais des Festivals during the 61st International Cannes Film Festival.
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Cast and crew of "Waltz with Bashir" with director Ari Folman (3rd L) arrive for the Palme d'Or Closing Ceremony at the Palais des Festivals during the 61st International Cannes Film Festival.

 

The National Society of Film Critics has chosen "Waltz With Bashir" as the best picture of 2008.

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If youre looking to beat the cold, this might be a good weekend to head to the movies. Several Oscar contenders hit the multiplexes.

The group voted Saturday in New York, naming Sean Penn as best actor for his performance in the biopic "Milk" and Sally Hawkins as best actress for her turn in the comedy "Happy-Go-Lucky."

"Waltz With Bashir" is an intense animated documentary about Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. It follows Israeli director Ari Folman's efforts to recover his own lost memories about a massacre during the war.

"Happy-Go-Lucky" director Mike Leigh won both best director and best screenplay.

Forty-nine of the society's 63 members voted in a meeting in New York.

The group's selections often differ from those of Oscar voters.

Copyright Associated Press

Comments (2)

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  • GiGi Tuesday, Jan 6 at 11:05 AM FLAG COMMENT Did you ever think, Ben, that maybe us as Americans need to start watching some more international films, so we can stop thinking of ourselves as the center of the universe. Action movies will not be solving the war problems that have impacted our everyday lives, that have escalated within the past twenty years or so. Nobody is forcing you to watch movies that you don't want to watch.
  • Ben Villalobos Monday, Jan 5 at 7:13 PM FLAG COMMENT Yawn....Leave it to these artsy hollywood twerps to pick a movie that nobody will ever see! Ever notice how every time the critics pick their favorite movie, it's either a foreign movie, a movie with actors with foreign names, a movie with all female, over-the-hill actresses, a movie with a social cause or a movie that's very long? And typically, such movies will play in affluent or gay neighborhoods. Bravo!!! Why don't they ... MORE >

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