SALLY HAWKINS - ANIMATED DOCUMENTARY WINS CRITICS' TOP AWARD

ANIMATED DOCUMENTARY WINS CRITICS' TOP AWARD

In probably the most surprising decision of the awards season, the animated documentary Waltz With Bashir from Sony Classics has received the top award from the National Society of Film Critics. Coincidentally, Bashir , which describes filmmaker Ari Folman's repressed memories of his days in the Israeli army during the 1982 Lebanon War, was honored on the same day that Israeli forces pushed into Gaza. Unlike other awards from critics groups, a selection by the NSFC is not regarded as an Oscar bellwether; the 63-member group and the Academy Awards voters rarely agree, and most Hollywood observers would probably concur that Bashir has little chance even of being nominated for a best-film Oscar. Miramax's Happy-Go-Lucky took the most NSFC awards -- four -- with Mike Leigh taking two of them for best director and best screenplay and Sally Hawkins winning for best actress and Eddie Marsan, for best actor.

05/01/2009