iW NEWS | "Slumdog" Tops DC Critics Awards

The Washington Association of Film Critics Awards (WAFCA) announced their annual awards Sunday evening, giving "Slumdog Millionaire" its second consecutive best picture win after last week's National Board of Review honor. "Slumdog"'s director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy took directing and adapted screenplay honors, while Dev Patel won for best breakthrough performance. Non-"Slumdog" winners included "The Wrestler"'s Mickey Rourke and "Doubt"'s Meryl Streep for best actor and actress, and "The Dark Knight"'s Heath Ledger and "Rachel Getting Married"'s Rosemarie DeWitt in the supporting categories. "Rachel"'s screenwriter Jenny Lumet won best original screenplay, "Doubt"'s cast won best ensemble, and "WALL-E" and "Man On Wire" each took one of what is sure to many animated feature and documentary awards. A less obvious choice was "Let The Right One In" in foreign language film, while "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" won for art direction. Last year, "No Country For Old Men" swept the awards, taking picture, director, ensemble and supporting actor. [Peter Knegt]