Written by Matt Goldberg
Before I begin, I would like to say it's cool that there's an awards ceremony dedicated solely to recognizing genre film and television because horror, sci-fi, action-adventure, and fantasy are so overlooked by the Oscars and the Emmys. That being said, this year's list of nominees is atrocious. Embarrassingly bad to the point where you wonder if they just picked the nominees out of a hat or if they had six slots to fill and quality be damned. But what's weird is what's included and what's not. Look at the "Horror" category. It's not bad enough to include "The Happening" and "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" but they ignore a real horror movie like "Let the Right One In"? What, because it's foreign? No, because if you check down at "Best Writing" and "Best Performance by a Younger Actress", it's grabbed itself some nominations. Even stranger is how many of these aren't genre film. "Changeling"? It's not about an actual mythical creature known as a "Changeling" (which was one of the film's many disappointments). And "Australia" is in there too? I'm no fan of "Jumper" or "Twilight" but I can't argue that they're not genre films. So there's no consistency, no discernment of quality, and this list reads more like "The People's Choice Awards". But I suppose it's a moot point since "The Dark Knight" will sweep every category in which it received a nomination. Check out the full list of nominees below. The awards will take place on June 25th. BEST SCIENCE FICTION FILM - The Day the Earth Stood Still - Eagle Eye - The Incredible Hulk - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Iron Man - Jumper BEST FANTASY FILM - The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Hancock - The Spiderwick Chronicles - Twilight - Wanted BEST HORROR FILM - The Happening - Hellboy II: The Golden Army - The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - Quarantine - Splinter - The Strangers BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM - Changeling - The Dark Knight - Gran Torino - Quantum of Solace - Traitor - Valkyrie BEST ACTOR - Christian Bale (The Dark Knight) - Tom Cruise (Valkyrie) - Robert Downey Jr. (The Dark Knight) - Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) - Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) - Will Smith (Hancock) BEST ACTRESS - Cate Blanchett (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) - Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Dark Knight) - Angelina Jolie (Changeling) - Julianne Moore (Blindness) - Emily Mortimer (Transsiberian) - Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Jeff Bridges (Iron Man) - Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) - Woody Harrelson (Transsiberian) - Shia LeBeouf (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) - Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) - Bill Nighy (Valkyrie) BEST SUPPORING ACTRESS - Joan Allen (Death Race) - Judi Dench (Quantum of Solace) - Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) - Tilda Swinton (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) - Charlize Theron (Hancock) - Carice van Houten (Valkyrie) BEST PERFORMANCE BY A YOUNGER ACTOR - Freddie Highmore (The Spiderwick Chronicles) - Lina Leandersson (Let the Right One In) - Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) - Jaden Christopher Smith (The Day the Earth Stood Still) - Catinca Untaru (The Fall) - Brandon Walters (Australia) BEST DIRECTOR - Clint Eastwood (Changeling) - Jon Favreau (Iron Man) - David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) - Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) - Bryan Singer (Valkyrie) - Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) - Andrew Stanton (WALL-E) BEST WRITING - Iron Man - Ghost Town - Let the Right One In - The Dark Knight - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Changeling BEST NETWORK TELEVISON SERIES - Fringe - Heroes - Life on Mars - Lost - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Supernatural BEST SYNDICATED/CABLE SERIES - Battlestar Galactica - The Closer - Dexter - Leverage - Star Wars: The Clone Wars - True Blood BEST PRESENTATION ON TELEVISION - 24: Redemption - The Andromeda Strain - Breaking Bad - Jericho - The Last Templar - The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice BEST ACTOR IN TELEVISION - Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) - Matthew Fox (Lost) - Michael C. Hall (Dexter) - Timothy Hutton (Leverage) - Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica) - Noah Wylie (The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice) BEST ACTRESS IN TELEVISION - Lena Headey (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) - Jennifer Love Hewitt (The Ghost Whisperer) - Evangeline Lilly (Lost) - Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica) - Anna Paquin (True Blood) - Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) - Anna Torv (Fringe) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN TELEVISION - Henry Ian Cusick (Lost) - Thomas Dekker (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) - Michael Emerson (Lost) - Josh Holloway (Lost) - Adrian Pasdar (Heroes) - Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes) BEST SUPPORING ACTRESS IN TELEVISION - Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) - Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) - Yunjin Kim (Lost) - Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) - Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) - Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) BEST GUEST STARRING ROLE IN TELEVISON - Kristen Bell (Heroes) - Alan Dale (Lost) - Kevin Durand (Lost) - Robert Forster (Lost) - Jimmy Smits (Dexter)- Sonya Walger (Lost)