It’s the time of year when all the big critics groups start announcing their ‘Best of 2008’ lists. I have the distinct honor of being in the New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO). Our membership is pretty diverse, so (hopefully) we’re not as elitist as the print and broadcast folks. Think of crowded, smoke-filled rooms with seedy characters arguing film…and you would have the completely wrong idea. We met at the austere Walter Reade Gallery in Lincoln Center and weren’t too contentious at all this year. It was pretty obvious that “Slumdog Millionaire” is a landslide favorite. Although “The Dark Knight” made a strong showing and may be the real favorite come awards time. Please see below for our complete list:

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Best Film - Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director - Danny Boyle & Loveleen Tandan Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor - Sean Penn Milk

Best Actress - Sally Hawkins Happy-Go-Lucky

Best Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress - Penelope Cruz Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Foreign Language Film - 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Best Documentary - Man on Wire

Best Animated Film - WALL-E

Screenplay - Simon Beaufoy Slumdog Millionaire

Cinematography - Anthony Dod Mantle Slumdog Millionaire

Score - A.R. Rahman Slumdog Millionaire

Breakthrough Performance - Sally Hawkins Happy-Go-Lucky

Best Ensemble Cast - Milk

Best Debut Director - Martin McDonagh In Bruges

Best Pictures (alphabetical)

Che

A Christmas Tale

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Happy-Go-Lucky

Milk

Rachel Getting Married

Slumdog Millionaire

WALL-E

The Wrestler

And to anyone who disagrees and think we suck, feel free to lob hate mail to our members. The NYFCO roster:

  1. ETHAN ALTER (FilmJournal.com)

  2. CHRIS BARSANTI (FilmJournal.com)

  3. FRED & MARY ANN BRUSSAT (