Giant robots hammering the hell out of each other. Ultra-violent superheroes. Cerebral lunar dramas. Vampires, zombies, and more vampires… As 2009 draws to a close, we take a look at some of our genre favourites of the year and ask you to vote for yours! Yes, take a look at the various categories and vote for your favourite in each. Voting for all awards closes on 4 January, 2010 and results will be announced on 5 January, 2010!

BEST SCI-FI FILM

From massive carnage-laden blockbusters to low-budget indie flicks, the SF movies of 2009 have been nothing if not varied. One of the highlights for us has definitely been Duncan Jones’s Moon, which drew on and subverted our genre expectations in a smart, terrific-looking lunar drama. Another unusual, impressive offering came in the form of District 9, Neill Blomkamp’s acclaimed film about aliens who are housed in slums in South Africa. With interesting characters, a satirical story and thunderous action sequences, it’s essential viewing.

In the major blockbuster stakes, we’ve had J.J. Abrams’ hugely entertaining reboot of Star Trek, which managed to appeal to Trekkers and non-Trekkers alike; the box office-shaking robot thrills of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen; and the downbeat futuristic actioner Terminator Salvation.

What’s your favourite sci-fi film of 2009? Email your vote to totalscifionline@titanemail.com with BEST SF FILM in the subject line.

BEST FANTASY FILM

2009 has been good year for fantasy cinema, whatever age you happen to be. For starters, we’ve had what was arguably the darkest entry yet in the boy wizard saga, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. And there was another hit franchise follow-up in the form of Twilight: New Moon, which saw the introduction of an unusual love triangle (Human! Vampire! Werewolf!) along with some very cool action sequences.

There was more adult fare on offer with David Fincher’s languid slice of magical realism, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Terry Gilliam’s latest ambitious fantasy, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. For anyone looking for something a little darker, the faithful, gorgeous-looking Watchmen saw Alan Moore’s graphic novel brought to the screen in style.

What’s your favourite fantasy film of 2009? Email your vote to totalscifionline@titanemail.com with BEST FANTASY FILM in the subject line.


BEST HORROR FILM

In terms of effective marketing, Paranormal Activity has definitely been 2009’s biggest horror success. The low-budget spook story may have been incredibly simple, but first time director Oren Peli turned banging doors and low rumblings into something that Steven Spielberg was too scared to sit through in one sitting (if you believe the marketing anyhow!).

Elsewhere, Sam Raimi returned to his horror roots with the rollicking fright-fest Drag Me to Hell, and there was more winning comedy-horror in Zombieland starring Woody Harrelson. And let’s not forget the bloody interlinked tales of Trick 'r Treat ; Michael Dougherty’s movie may have been much-delayed and eventually gone straight to DVD, but it was definitely of this year’s horror highlights for us.

It was a good year too for edgy arthouse horror movies, with international releases for the ultra-controversial Antichrist; the nightmarish French shocker Martyrs; Park Chan-Wook’s beautiful vampire tale, Thirst; and the brilliant Swedish vampire flick Let the Right One In…

What’s your favourite horror film of 2009? Email your vote to totalscifionline@titanemail.com with BEST HORROR FILM in the subject line.

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Though big, traditional cell animation was sadly thin on the ground in 2009, there were some terrific stop-motion and CG titles. Wes Anderson married his off-beat indie sensibilities with glorious old-school stop motion work in his adaptation of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox, while there was another stop motion adaptation in the form of Coraline, Henry Selick’s impossibly wonderful take on the Neil Gaiman book.

In terms of CG animation, Pixar gave us what was arguably their best picture yet with Up, and Sony produced their own CG comedy in the wonderfully-titled Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. And the apocalyptic stitchpunk fantasy 9 gave us a much darker CGI vision in a story that played out like Terminator meets WALL-E!

What’s your favourite animated film of 2009? Email your vote to totalscifionline@titanemail.com with BEST ANIMATED FILM in the subject line.


BEST NOVEL

We’ve seen some new titles from modern titans of SF literature this year, including Iain Banks’ return to form with Transition, the ‘generation starship’ novel Ark by Stephen Baxter, and Ursula K Le Guin’s intriguing tribute to Virgil, Lavinia. Terry Pratchett also unleashed his latest Discworld entry, Unseen Academicals, which saw Foot-the-ball arrive in Ankh-Morpokh with crazed consequences.

Perhaps one of the most eagerly-awaited novels of the year was …And Another Thing, Eoin Colfer’s continuation of the much-loved Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. Plus we’ve had the hugely intriguing Yellow Blue Tibia from the prolific Adam Roberts, China Miéville’s latest slice of weird fiction, The City and the City, and Stephen King’s latest instant bestseller, Under the Dome.

What’s your favourite novel of 2009? Email your vote to totalscifionline@titanemail.com with BEST NOVEL in the subject line.

BEST TV SHOW

It’s been a year in which much-loved shows have returned and new ones have arrived. But which one gets your vote?

At the start of 2009 we were treated to extraordinary new seasons of Lost and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Since then we’ve had Supernatural Season Five, Heroes Season Four, Fringe Season Two and True Blood Season Two, amongst others. And in terms of UK shows, let’s not forgot about the terrific Torchwood Series Three, The Sarah Jane Adventures Series Three, and Merlin Series Two…

There were some awesome new shows too. Stargate Universe is a bold, very different new direction for the franchise; FlashForward is shaping up to be one of this year’s most popular shows; and The Vampire Diaries has gone from strength to strength.

What’s your favourite TV show of 2009? Email your vote to totalscifionline@titanemail.com with BEST TV SHOW in the subject line.


BEST COMIC

Superhero fans have been thrilled at the arrival of The Marvels Projects, Ed Brubaker’s highly entertaining story set against the creation of the original Human Torch and the rise of the Sub-Mariner. And for fans of John Constantine, Ian Rankin’s graphic novel, Hellblazer: Dark Entries was an ambitious, fascinating new entry in the series.

Other comics we’ve loved include Giant Size Wolverine: Old Man Logan, the latest entries in Mark Millar’s awesome Kick Ass series, Red Herring, Planetary, Dark Avengers, The Walking Dead, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910 and so many others… OK, so it’s not going to be easy, but let us know which comic gets your vote!

What’s your favourite comic of 2009? Email your vote to totalscifionline@titanemail.com with BEST COMIC in the subject line.

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS

In 2008, Transformers scandalously lost out to The Golden Compass for the Best Visual Effects Oscar. Hopefully next year’s Academy Awards will right that wrong and reward ILM’s stellar work in Revenge of the Fallen, because once again they’ve succeeded in making giant fighting robots look photo-realistic, from the opening action set-piece in Shanghai to the awesome sequences of Devastator unleashing destruction.

Still, the movie faces some stiff competition in the FX stakes. Roland Emmerich managed to put virtually every natural disaster up on screen in the wilfully OTT 2012; we’ve had arguably the best-looking Trek movie yet in Star Trek; and some staggering new mechanical creations were introduced in Terminator Salvation. Plus, for those who prefer old-school model work to CGI, Moon featured stunning lunar landscapes at a fraction of the cost of 2009’s other big FX-heavy movies.

What film has your favourite special effects of 2009? Email your vote to totalscifionline@titanemail.com with BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS in the subject line.


BEST ACTOR

Sam Rockwell has always been attracted to interesting parts, but Moon offered the actor his most substantial role to date, and his performance as Sam was often heartbreaking to watch.

There were very different, but no less impressive roles, for Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto in Star Trek as, respectively, Kirk and Spock. The pair managed to capture the charm and mannerisms of Shatner and Nimoy, but make the roles their own at the same time; no mean feat. Elsewhere, Jackie Earle Haley made a memorable Rorschach in Watchmen (perfectly capturing the spirit of the comic book’s most interesting character), while newcomer Sharlto Copley was brilliant as the nervy official Wikus in District 9.

Who is your favourite actor of 2009? Email your vote to totalscifionline@titanemail.com with BEST ACTOR in the subject line.

BEST ACTRESS

The strong but sexy Uhura has always been one of Star Trek’s most memorable characters, and Zoe Saldana’s mesmerising performance skilfully reinvented the chief communications officer for the new millennium.

Drag Me to Hell’s Christine, as played by Alison Lohmann, was an impossibly sweet character – even as she was plunging a spade into the cadaver of an old woman – making you really care about the gruesome torments that befall her. If it’s intensity you’re after, then you should probably vote for Charlotte Gainsbourg’s harrowing study in grief and madness in Antichrist. And in the junior stakes, Isabelle Fuhrman gave a terrific performance as a creepy child in Orphan and Kristen Stewart cemented her position as one of today’s most sought-after young actresses as Bella in Twilight: New Moon…

Who is your favourite actress of 2009? Email your vote to totalscifionline@titanemail.com with BEST ACTRESS in the subject line.


BEST DIRECTOR

J.J. Abrams has already proved he can pull off big action movies in Mission Impossible III, but we were still shocked at just how damn good his reimagining of Star Trek was. Other established names to deliver the goods in 2009 included Sam Raimi with the tirelessly inventive Drag Me to Hell, Zach Snyder with his typically stylish Watchmen; Lars Von Trier with the provocative Antichrist and David Fincher with his epic fantasy The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

There have been some stellar directorial debuts too, such as Neill Blomkamp with District 9, Duncan Jones with Moon, and Oren Peli with Paranormal Activity.

Who is your favourite director of 2009? Email your vote to totalscifionline@titanemail.com with BEST DIRECTOR in the subject line.

Please note that voting for all awards closes on 4 January, 2010. Results will be announced on 5 January, 2010.