Los Angeles - The influential Los Angeles Film Critics Association on Tuesday named the animated movie WALL-E as the best film of the year, the first time the it has honoured an animated feature with its top award.

Runner up for best picture was Christopher Nolan's Batman sequel, The Dark Knight. Danny Boyle was given the best-director award for Slumdog Millionaire, with the runner-up going to David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Sally Hawkins won as best actress for her role as the irrepressible schoolteacher in Happy-Go-Lucky, which also yielded a best screenplay prize for Mike Leigh. Sean Penn won as best actor for his portrayal of the gay politician Harvey Milk in the bio-pic Milk.

The best supporting actress prize went to Penelope Cruz for her role in the Woody Allen film Vicky Christina Barcelona. The best supporting actor prize went to the late Heath Ledger for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight.

The best foreign-language film was the Chinese movie Still Life, which also won for best cinematography.