Alamo/FF favorites lauded by the Austin Film Critics Association!

The Austin Film Critics Association recently named its favorites of 2008, and wouldn't ya know it, some of our very favorite films of the year were on there too, many of which had their premieres at the Alamo Drafthouse!

Beloved titles LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (currently showing at South Lamar) and TIMECRIMES (opening in January) both rolled into town via Fantastic Fest and have been building a devoted following ever since. Also on the list was the documentary CRAWFORD, which made its theatrical debut at the Drafthouse a few months back.

Of course, there are tons more great titles on their list that we've been proud to screen, from THE DARK KNIGHT to MILK and about three fistfuls of others. So take a look if you wanna see what a bunch of fellow movie nuts with great taste think of the year in review:

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December 16, 2008 (Austin, TX) -- The Austin Film Critics Association announces its 2008 end-of-the-year awards in 16 categories.

In a city known for its population of over 1 million bats, the Austin Film Critics Association honored the Batman thriller THE DARK KNIGHT with 5 awards, including the top honor, Best Film. Christopher Nolan won for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (with his brother Jonathan) and Heath Ledger was posthumously awarded Best Supporting Actor. The film was also honored in the Best Original Score category.

Sean Penn took Best Actor for his performance as gay rights activist Harvey Milk in MILK, and Anne Hathaway won Best Actress as a recovering drug addict in the indie hit RACHEL GETTING MARRIED. Taraji P. Henson clinched Best Supporting Actress as the title character's mother in THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON.

Charlie Kaufman's script for his directorial debut SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK wrapped up Best Original Screenplay, while the critics fell for Colin Watkinson's cinematography in THE FALL.

WALL*E won Best Animated Film, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN won Best Foreign Language Film, and MAN ON WIRE won Best Documentary.

The group chose Danny McBride as their Breakthrough Artist for his comedic roles in PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, THE FOOT FIST WAY and TROPIC THUNDER. Best First Film went to Nacho Vigalondo for the Spanish time-traveling thriller Timecrimes (Los Cronocrímenes).

CRAWFORD won the award for best film made in the Austin-area or by an Austinite. After making its world premiere in the capital city during the 2008 South by Southwest Film Festival, director David Modigliani chose to distribute the documentary through Hulu.com after being picked up by B-Side Entertainment.

Top 10 Films:
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Milk
Synecdoche, New York
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Wrestler
WALL*E
Frost/Nixon
Let the Right One In
Gran Torino

Best Picture:
The Dark Knight

Best Director:
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight

Best Actor:
Sean Penn, Milk

Best Actress:
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

Best Supporting Actor:
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress:
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Original Screenplay:
Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York

Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Dark Knight, Jonthan Nolan & Christopher Nolan

Best Cinematography:
The Fall -- Colin Watkinson

Best Original Score:
The Dark Knight, James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmerman

Best Foreign Language Film:
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) - Sweden

Best Documentary Film:
Man on Wire

Best Animated Feature:
WALL*E

Breakthrough Artist Award:
Danny McBride, Pineapple Express/The Foot Fist Way/Tropic Thunder

Best First Film:
Nacho Vigalondo, Timecrimes (Los Cronocrímenes)

Best Austin Film:
Crawford