My own personal choices for the year. They reflect not just necessarily what I think is the best or essential cinema, but perhaps resonate with me or inspire, both at the time, and still today. Subject to alter choices based on viewings.
Actress Lead: Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose)
Special Effects: Spider-Man 3
Costume Design: Lust, Caution
Set Design: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Actress Support: Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)
Sound Design: The Bourne Ultimatum
Cast Ensemble: My Blueberry Nights
Score Composing: Alexandre Desplat (Lust, Caution)
Actor Lead: Daniel Day Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
Actor Support: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
Screenwriting Adapted: Lee Chang-dong (Secret Sunshine)
Screenwriting Original: Fatih Akın (The Edge of Heaven)
Picture Editing: La Vie En Rose
Cinematography: Janusz Kaminski (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Directing: Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days)
Motion Picture: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days