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So yesterday, the Los Angeles Film Critics made the stunning move of voting Wall-E as the Best Film of 2008. Stunning, because this is the first time the body has ever given their top honor to an animated film; stunning because last year, they gave it to the decidedly less commercial There Will Be Blood, thereby giving that film one of the boosts it needed to be nominated for Best Picture. The rest of the LAFCA awards were split amongst a wide range of films: Danny Boyle for director, Sean Penn for Actor, Happy-Go-Lucky’s Sally Hawkins as Actor, and, in the biggest wealth-spreading move of all, Waltz With Bashir as Best Animated Film.

Now, today, the New York Film Critics Circle are voting on thier awards as we speak, and the results are leaking in dribs and drabs via member Mike D’Angelo’s Twitter stream. Like their LA counterparts, the New York critics have so far shared the love amongst a number of pictures––Rachel Getting Married for its screenplay, Slumdog Millionaire for its cinematography, Hawkins for Actress, Mike Leigh for Best Director––and so unless Happy-Go-Lucky takes Best Picture, we can either call this magnanimity, or we can call it what it likely is: there is not a single film this year that stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Sure, some critics have favorites, but some of the best loved films of the year are also the least critically defensible. Those critics sucked in by Slumdog Millionaire, this year’s little choo choo that could, obviously have not as of yet been able to convince their (cynical? rational?) peers of its alleged total brilliance. It seems to be Sean Penn’s year, but beyond its performances the love for Milk doesn’t seem to run deep (or maybe it does — see update below). And everybody seems to agree that the bulk of the much-anticipated year-end expected Oscar sweepers –– the Benjamin Buttons, the Revolutionary Roads ––are “enh” at best.

It’s still super, super early; Oscar nominations are almost six weeks away. But as I said in an IM conversation yesterday, if 2008 is an interesting year, it’s only because the films engineered for attention haven’t been that interesting.

UPDATE, 12:46 PM: D’Angelo just Twittered that the NYFCC has selected Milk as Best Picture. The NYFCC are known for their contentious voting sessions, and there was some delay before the announcement of the final award, so stories of inter-Circle squabbling may be soon to come.