THE BALLOTS ARE IN: The DFW Film Critics Association picked Slumdog Millionaire, the story of two brothers fighting their way out of the Mumbai slums, as its best film of 2008. The next films on the group’s Top 10 list for 2008 are Milk, The Dark Knight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Wrestler, The Visitor, Frost/Nixon, Doubt, Wall*E and Happy-Go-Lucky.

Sean Penn (Milk) and Anne Hathaway (Rachael Getting Married) took home the top acting awards while Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) and Viola Davis (Doubt) earned the supporting awards.

Man on Wire was named best documentary; Wall*E took home the best animated film prize.

I can’t say I have much of a problem with how the voting turned out — mostly because it mirrors pretty closely my ballot. Of the top 10 films, eight of them also made my list. Missing from mine were The Visitor (which I liked, just not Top-10 liked) and Happy-Go-Lucky, which I just about despised. I realize that I am in the minority on that one as the film has made several Top 10 lists this year. I, on the other hand, found it just annoying. In the acting categories, I, too, named the winning actors, though I picked Meryl Streep (Doubt) and Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) in the actress awards.

I’ll be posting my personal top-10 list later in the month, and as I catch up on a few more films, something might get bumped from my current list. But for now, I’d say my DFWFCA colleagues pretty much hit the nail on the head (Happy-Go-Lucky, not withstanding). The full list of winners should be updated today on dfwfilmcritics.com.

A MUSEUM MERGER: Seeking to help out the cash-strapped Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art proposed a merger of the two institutions on Tuesday. That got me to thinking – in the end, is a museum merger better or worse for art viewers? On one hand, the museumgoer could potentially see the best from two powerhouse collections in one trip. On the other, some of each museum’s permanent collection would surely spend a lot of time in storage. Obviously, any time an arts institution goes under, it has a negative impact on the art world. But for casual museumgoers, is there a chance that their viewing experience gets better in seeing the best from two collections in one trip? I’m just thinking out loud on this one…

COMINGS AND GOINGS: File this just on the outside edge of the arts world. Ed Bark, purveyor of unclebarky.com and the former longtime television critic of The Dallas Morning News, has posted a handy list of departures from North Texas newscasts. If you’ve been wondering whatever happened to old so-and-so, check to see if their name is on Ed’s list.