"Hurt Locker" Sweeps Film Critics' Awards

"The Hurt Locker" swept the awards bestowed by the National Society of Film Critics today.

The Iraq war drama about a bomb disarmament crew took honors for Best Picture, Best Director Kathryn Bigelow and Best Actor Jeremy Renner.

French actress Yolande Moreau was named Best Actress for her portrayal of French artist Seraphine de Senlis in "Seraphine."

Mo'Nique was named Best Supporting Actress for her performance as the abusive mother in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."

The NSFC diverged slightly from other critics groups who have given Best Supporting Actor honors to Christoph Waltz for the Quentin Tarantino film "Inglourious Basterds." Instead, they split their award between Waltz and Paul Schneider in the Jane Campion romance "Bright Star."

The Best Screenplay award was given to Joel and Ethan Coen for "A Serious Man."

"The Beaches of Agnes" by veteran filmmakers Agnes Varda was named Best Nonfiction Film.

Olivier Assayas' "Summer Hours" was named Best Foreign Language Film.

The critics' technical awards were granted to "The White Ribbon" for Christian Berger's black-and-white cinematography, and - in what may be a first - the production design honors were won by Nelson Lowry for the stop-motion animated film "Fantastic Mr. Fox."

The National Society of Film Critics is comprised of members from media outlets in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. Their choices have rarely paralleled those of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts& Sciences. (Last year the group named the Israeli animated documentary "Waltz With Bashir" as Best Film, while the Oscar went to "Slumdog Millionaire.")

However, "Hurt Locker" has so far won Best Picture honors from critics' groups in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington and Austin, and is nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Film (Drama).