Wall-E, that little non-verbal Pixar robot that stole everyone's hearts and dollars, has won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for 2008's Best Picture. That means that today, all the trade papers read "Wall-E nominated for Best Film," despite the fact that the Academy Award nominations aren't happening for quite some time. And even when they do happen, good money says Wall-E will probably end up in Best Animated category, not Best Film.

Then again, the fact that an animated film has never won for the LA Association is enough of a boon that it might push the little post-apocalyptic robot into the top four spot come March.

The LA critics had some good choices on there, with Danny Boyle for Best Director (Slumdog Millionaire) and Heath Ledger for Best Supporting Actor. And at least one of those two categories are a lock.

So this is what film critics do, now that they are all out of work?