The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) announced today that internationally renowned actor Richard Gere will be presented with the second annual Joel Siegel Award on Thursday, January 8, 2009 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium during the 14th annual Critics' Choice Awards ceremony, which will air Live on VH1 at 9:00 PM (ET/PT).

Given annually, this special award pays homage to beloved "Good Morning America" film critic and BFCA member Joel Siegel, who lost his long struggle with cancer in June, 2007.

An accomplished advocate for human rights, Gere was the Co-founder and Chairman of Tibet House and joined the Board of Directors of the International Campaign for Tibet to more effectively address both national and international forums of influence. Second only to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Richard is the foremost public spokesman for the Tibetan crisis in forums from the United Nations to the United States Congress. He is a longtime sponsor of amfAR, Amnesty International, Survival International and Human Rights Watch. He has also focused on the battle against AIDS, working with the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Naz Foundation and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. He launched the Heroes Project in 2002 in partnership with the Avahan AIDS Initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

"We consider the Joel Siegel Award to be the highest honor we bestow," explained BFCA President Joey Berlin. "From his days as a student activist in the civil rights movement, to co-founding Gilda's Club to support cancer patients and their friends and family and to writing `Lessons for Dylan' inspired by his own illness, Joel strived mightily to make the world a better place. Richard personifies the qualities this award was created to celebrate."

The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards presenters include Amy Adams, Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Banks, Angela Bassett, Kate Beckinsale, Kristen Bell, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Josh Brolin, Common, Laura Dern, Rosemarie DeWitt, Aaron Eckhart, Dakota Fanning, Brendan Fraser, Sally Hawkins, Dustin Hoffman, Diane Lane, Melissa Leo, Eva Longoria, Chris Noth, Virginia Madsen, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Katy Perry, Sarah Silverman, Ben Stiller, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Marisa Tomei. The awards show will feature the rock band Rooney as this year's house band.

The largest film critics' organization with more than 200 members in the United States and Canada on television, radio and the Internet, the BFCA selected nominees for awards in each of 17 categories. The Critics' Choice Awards were created by the BFCA to recognize excellence in cinematic achievement. Eligible films were released in 2008. The accounting firm of Gregory A. Mogab tallied the written ballots. Historically, the Critics' Choice Awards are the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations.

Counting down to the LIVE premiere of the Critics' Choice Awards, VH1 will air the "14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards Red Carpet Premiere" pre-show LIVE on Thursday, January 8 at 8:30pm (ET/PT). Covering the excitement of the celebrity arrivals on the red carpet will be "KTLA Morning News" entertainment reporter Sam Rubin and No Good TV's Carrie Keagan. Interspersed throughout the red carpet arrivals will be live backstage reports from NBC and Access Hollywood's Maria Menounos as she gives viewers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the final preperations before the big show. The pre-show will be available on http://criticschoice.vh1.com later that evening.

VH1's "Critics' Choice Awards" site http://criticschoice.vh1.com, will be home to detailed information about the awards and will provide a forum for users to comment on this year's nominees. In the weeks leading up to the premiere VH1.com asked users to express their opinions on who they would pick to win the major categories online via user comments and opinion polls. This information will be fed to an online ticker that will run during the red carpet special and the poll results will be included in bumpers during the broadcast of the show. VH1.com will also have a live blog running during the show and post show, commenting on all the celebrities and excitement. Exclusive video footage from the event will include celebrity interviews, red carpet footage and more.

The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards are sponsored by Wal-Mart, AT&T and Crest Whitening Expressions.

The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards is executive produced by Bob Bain for Bob Bain Productions, Joey Berlin for Berlin Entertainment and Lee Rolontz for VH1.

NOMINEES FOR THE 14TH ANNUAL CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS

Top Nods Go to:

Milk (Eight Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Actor, Two Best Supporting Actor Nominations, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Writer, and Best Composer

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Eight Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Writer, and Best Composer

The Dark Knight (Six Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, Best Action Movie, and Best Composer

Doubt (Six Nominations)

Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Acting Ensemble and Best Writer

Slumdog Millionaire

(Six Nominations) Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writer, Best Young Actor/Actress, Best Song, and Best Composer

BEST PICTURE

Changeling

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Doubt

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

Wall-E

The Wrestler

BEST ACTOR

Clint Eastwood - Gran Torino

Richard Jenkins - The Visitor

Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn - Milk

Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS

Kate Beckinsale - Nothing But the Truth

Cate Blanchett - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie - Changeling

Melissa Leo - Frozen River

Meryl Streep - Doubt

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin - Milk

Robert Downey, Jr. - Tropic Thunder

Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

James Franco - Milk

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Viola Davis - Doubt

Vera Farmiga - Nothing But the Truth

Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

Kate Winslet - The Reader

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Doubt

Milk

Rachel Getting Married

BEST DIRECTOR

Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon

Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight

Gus Van Sant - Milk

BEST WRITER (Original or Adapted Screenplay)

Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire

Dustin Lance Black - Milk

Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon

Eric Roth - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

John Patrick Shanley - Doubt

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Wall-E

Waltz With Bashir

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS (Under 21)

Dakota Fanning - The Secret Life of Bees

David Kross - The Reader

Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire

Brandon Walters - Australia

BEST ACTION MOVIE

The Dark Knight

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Iron Man

Quantum of Solace

Wanted

BEST COMEDY

Burn After Reading

Forgetting

Sarah Marshall

Role Models

Tropic Thunder

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

"John Adams"

"Recount"

"Coco Chanel"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

A Christmas Tale

Gomorrah

I've Loved You So Long

Let the Right One In

Mongol Waltz With Bashir

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I.O.U.S.A.

Man On Wire

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

Standard Operating Procedure

Young At Heart

BEST SONG

"Another Way to Die" - Jack White and Alicia Keys/Jack White - Quantum of Solace

"Down to Earth" - Peter Gabriel/Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman - Wall-E

"I Thought I Lost You" - Miley Cyrus and John Travolta/Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele - Bolt

"Jaiho" - Sukhwinder Singh/A.R. Rahman and Gulzar - Slumdog Millionaire

"The Wrestler" - Bruce Springsteen/Bruce Springsteen - The Wrestler

BEST COMPOSER

Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Clint Eastwood - Changeling

Danny Elfman - Milk

Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard - The Dark Knight

A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire

Web Site: http://criticschoice.vh1.com

Lori Bogin/VH1
212-846-7131
lori.bogin@vh1staff.com
Scott Acord/VH1
310-752-8075
scott.acord@vh1staff.com
Jamie Falkowitz/Kelly Krause
323-933-3399
CCA@mprm.com