Personal biases aside, these awards have an excellent track record of predicting future Oscar nominees and winners. So, if you watch this show and the Golden Globes (Sunday), you’ll be well prepared for the Academy Awards race.

This is a huge event in the science-fiction world, so I’m thrilled to play a small part in it. Among other things, it sounds like I will be making a presentation on Nevada movies with former Nevada film commissioner Robin Holabird. This is a fun topic and Robin is a blast to work with, so I’m looking forward to that. As we work out the details, I’ll be sure to post them here.

Hope to see you at the convention this summer!

Jesse Eisenberg, left, and Joseph Mazzello in a scene from "The Social Network." The film was named best of 2010 by the Las Vegas Film Critics Society.

I’ve been a member of the Las Vegas Film Critics Society for years, and I’m pleased to say that we doled out our annual Sierra Awards today. Below is a complete list of the winners. For a story on the awards, visit http://www.rgj.com/article/20101216/ENT01/101216020

Las Vegas Film Critics Society
2010 Sierra Award Winners

Best Picture
“The Social Network”

Best Actor
James Franco, “127 Hours”

Best Actress
Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, “The Fighter”

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, “The Fighter”

Best Director
David Fincher, “The Social Network”

Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted)
Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network” 

Best Cinematography
Wally Pfister, “Inception”

Best Film Editing
Lee Smith, “Inception”

Best Costume Design
Colleen Atwood, “Alice in Wonderland”

Best Art Direction
“Black Swan”

Best Visual Effects
“Inception” 

Best Documentary
“Waiting for Superman”

Best Foreign Film
“Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sweden)

Best Song
“I See the Light” from “Tangled”

Best Score
Trent Reznor, “The Social Network”

Best Family Film
“Toy Story 3”

Best Animated Film
“Toy Story 3”

Youth in Film
Hailee Steinfeld, “True Grit”

Best DVD (Packaging, Design, and Content)
“Alien Anthology” (Blu-Ray) Fox Home Entertainment

The William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award
Thelma Schoonmaker

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
* Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Matt Damon in “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
* Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
* Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
* Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Coraline”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“The Princess and the Frog”
“The Secret of Kells”
* “Up”

ART DIRECTION
* “Avatar”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine”
“Sherlock Holmes”
“The Young Victoria”

CINEMATOGRAPHY
* “Avatar”
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“The White Ribbon”

COSTUME DESIGN
“Bright Star”
“Coco before Chanel”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine”
* “The Young Victoria”

DIRECTING
“Avatar” James Cameron
* “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
“Burma VJ”
* “The Cove”
“Food, Inc.”
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
“Which Way Home”

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
* “Music by Prudence”
“Rabbit à la Berlin”

FILM EDITING
“Avatar”
“District 9”
* “The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Ajami” Israel
“The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)” Peru
“A Prophet (Un Prophète)” France
* “The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)” Argentina
“The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)” Germany

MAKEUP
“Il Divo”
* “Star Trek”
“The Young Victoria”

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
“Avatar” James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
* “Up” Michael Giacchino

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36”
“Take It All” from “Nine”
* “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart”

BEST PICTURE
“Avatar”
“The Blind Side”
“District 9”
“An Education”
* “The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
“French Roast”
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty”
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)”
* “Logorama”
“A Matter of Loaf and Death”

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
“The Door”
“Instead of Abracadabra”
“Kavi”
“Miracle Fish”
* “The New Tenants”

SOUND EDITING
“Avatar”
* “The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Star Trek”
“Up”

SOUND MIXING
“Avatar”
* “The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Star Trek”
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

VISUAL EFFECTS
* “Avatar”
“District 9”
“Star Trek”

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
“District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
“An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
“Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
* “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
“Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
“The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
“A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Click here for the details: http://www.rgj.com/section/blogs10?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3ab52afc96-c17f-4757-89f2-89834028aca8Post%3ade69ad86-8aa8-4145-9987-0339f8e9fda0&sid=sitelife.rgj.com

Thanks to my friends at both papers for adding the column. If you live outside the markets that carry the column in print, you can always find it right here at ForrestHartman.com. Also, I’m continually looking to add new outlets, so if you’d like to see me in your favorite paper, give management a call and send them to this Web site.

The cast of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

So far, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is the most anticipated film of 2009 … at least with ForrestHartman.com readers. In actuality, only about 14 folks have voted in my new movie poll, so we can’t  use that sampling to draw any broad conclusions. But, hey, polls are fun. If you haven’t voted, click on this link and chime in now: http://foresthartman.com/2009/02/25/poll-what-movie-are-you-most-looking-forward-to/