VH1's 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards Announces This Year's Presenters

VH1's 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards Announces This Year's Presenters

BEST ACTRESS NOMINEE KATE BECKINSALE, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR AND ACTRESS NOMINEES JOSH BROLIN AND MARISA TOMEI AND ACADEMY AWARD(R) WINNING ACTORS DUSTIN HOFFMAN AND FOREST WHITAKER ARE AMONG THE MANY PRESENTERS FOR THIS STAR-STUDDED SHOW

GALA AWARDS CEREMONY WILL BROADCAST LIVE ON VH1 THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2009 AT 9:00 PM (ET/PT)

NEW YORK, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) announced today some of this year's presenters for the 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards ceremony on Thursday, January 8, 2009. The 2009 presenters include Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Banks, Kate Beckinsale, Kristen Bell, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Josh Brolin, Rosemarie DeWitt, Aaron Eckhart, Dakota Fanning, Dustin Hoffman, Eva Longoria, Virginia Madsen, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Marisa Tomei, and Forest Whitaker. The awards show will feature the rock band Rooney as this year's house band.

"We are truly honored to have such a talented and charismatic group of presenters," said BFCA president Joey Berlin. "The Critics' Choice Awards kicks off the awards season and this year's show is going to be our best ever."

The largest film critics' organization with more than 200 members in the United States and Canada on television, radio and the Internet, the BFCA selected nominees for awards in each of 17 categories. The Critics' Choice Awards were created by the BFCA to recognize excellence in cinematic achievement. Eligible films were released in 2008. The accounting firm of Gregory A. Mogab tallied the written ballots. Historically, the Critics' Choice Awards are the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations.

Counting down to the LIVE premiere of the Critics' Choice Awards, VH1 will air the "14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards Red Carpet Premiere Featuring Maria Menounos" pre-show LIVE on Thursday, January 8 at 8pm (ET/PT). Covering the excitement of the celebrity arrivals on the red carpet will be "KTLA Morning News" entertainment reporter Sam Rubin and No Good TV's Carrie Keagan. Interspersed throughout the red carpet arrivals will be pre-taped interviews with NBC and Access Hollywood's Maria Menounos as she sits down and speaks with some of today's hottest stars. The pre-show will be available on http://criticschoice.vh1.com/ later that evening.

VH1's "Critics' Choice Awards" site http://criticschoice.vh1.com/, will be home to detailed information about the awards and will provide a forum for users to comment on this year's nominees. In the weeks leading up to the premiere VH1.com is asking users to express their opinions on who they would pick to win the major categories online via user comments and opinion polls. This information will be fed to an online ticker that will run during the red carpet special and the poll results will be included in bumpers during the broadcast of the show. VH1.com will also have a live blog running during the show and post show, commenting on all the celebrities and excitement. Exclusive video footage from the event will include celebrity interviews, red carpet footage and more. Additional multiplatform plans will be announced in the coming weeks. The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards are sponsored by Wal-Mart, AT&T and Crest Whitening Expressions.

The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards is executive produced by Bob Bain for Bob Bain Productions, Joey Berlin for Berlin Entertainment and Lee Rolontz for VH1.

MEDIA CREDENTIALS:

To request media credentials to cover this show you must email jfalkowitz@mprm.com.

If you have any questions, please contact Jamie Falkowitz or Kelly Krause of mPRm Public Relations at (323) 933-3399.

NOMINEES FOR THE 14TH ANNUAL CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS

Top Nods Go to:

Milk (Eight Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Actor, Two Best Supporting Actor Nominations, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Writer, and Best Composer

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Eight Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Writer, and Best Composer

The Dark Knight (Six Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Action Movie, and Best Composer

Doubt (Six Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Acting Ensemble and Best Writer

Slumdog Millionaire (Six Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writer, Best Young Actor/Actress, Best Song, and Best Composer

BEST PICTURE
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
The Wrestler

BEST ACTOR
Clint Eastwood - Gran Torino
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS
Kate Beckinsale - Nothing But the Truth
Cate Blanchett - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey, Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
James Franco - Milk

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Vera Farmiga - Nothing But the Truth
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Kate Winslet - The Reader

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Milk
Rachel Getting Married

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant - Milk

BEST WRITER (Original or Adapted Screenplay)
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Wall-E
Waltz With Bashir

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS (Under 21)
Dakota Fanning - The Secret Life of Bees
David Kross - The Reader
Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire
Brandon Walters - Australia

BEST ACTION MOVIE
The Dark Knight
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Quantum of Solace
Wanted

BEST COMEDY
Burn After Reading
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Role Models
Tropic Thunder
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
"John Adams"
"Recount"
"Coco Chanel"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A Christmas Tale
Gomorrah
I've Loved You So Long
Let the Right One In
Mongol
Waltz With Bashir

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
I.O.U.S.A.
Man On Wire
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Standard Operating Procedure
Young At Heart

BEST SONG

"Another Way to Die" - Jack White and Alicia Keys/Jack White - Quantum of Solace

"Down to Earth" - Peter Gabriel/Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman - Wall-E

"I Thought I Lost You" - Miley Cyrus and John Travolta/Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele - Bolt

"Jaiho" - Sukhwinder Singh/A.R. Rahman and Gulzar - Slumdog Millionaire
"The Wrestler" - Bruce Springsteen/Bruce Springsteen - The Wrestler

BEST COMPOSER
Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Clint Eastwood - Changeling
Danny Elfman - Milk
Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard - The Dark Knight
A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire

Contacts:
Lori Bogin/VH1 Scott Acord/VH1
212-846-7131 310-752-8075
lori.bogin@vh1staff.comscott.acord@vh1staff.com

Jamie Falkowitz/Kelly Krause
323-933-3399
CCA@mprm.com

Source: VH1

CONTACT: Lori Bogin, +1-212-846-7131, or lori.bogin@vh1staff.com; or
Scott Acord, +1-310-752-8075, or scott.acord@vh1staff.com, both of VH1; or
Jamie Falkowitz or Kelly Krause, both of mPRm Public Relations,
+1-323-933-3399, or CCA@mprm.com

Web Site: http://criticschoice.vh1.com/

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