The Descendants with George Clooney and Shailene Woodley.
Critics awards 2011: 2 disparate movies – The Descendants and The Artist – are the clear favorites
As 2011 comes to a close and U.S.-based critics groups’ awards/Best of the Year lists are announced seemingly every hour, two movies have become the apparent favorites this awards season, which will come to a close come Oscar time in late February 2012. They are the following:
Alexander Payne’s Honolulu-set, family comedy-drama The Descendants, starring George Clooney as a middle-aged attorney at odds with life – things haven’t been going very well at all of late – and Shailene Woodley as one of his daughters.
Michel Hazanavicius’ Hollywood-set, black-and-white, and mostly silent French-Belgian co-production The Artist stars Cannes Film Festival Best Actor winner Jean Dujardin as a cross between the dashing Douglas Fairbanks, one of the biggest stars of the silent era, and the tragic John Gilbert, whose superstardom collapsed at the dawn of the sound era. Meanwhile, Hollywood hopeful Bérénice Bejo (the filmmaker’s real-life wife) sees her star rise just as rapidly. This homage to Old Hollywood mixes elements from, among other classics, A Star Is Born (and its predecessor, What Price Hollywood?) and Singin’ in the Rain.
At the Critics Choice Awards, Hazanvicius called his film “a love letter to American cinema.” A good message for most Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members.
Also in The Artist: The dog Uggie, Penelope Ann Miller, John Goodman, Missi Pyle, Oscar nominee James Cromwell (Babe, 1995), and veteran Malcolm McDowell (If…., A Clockwork Orange) as a W.C. Fields type.
When it comes to other awards season contenders such as Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (a 3D ode to early cinema and a costly box office disappointment) and Terrence Malick’s Cannes Film Festival winner The Tree of Life, they will likely receive Best Picture Academy Award nominations – the up-to-ten slots unquestionably help – but their chances of actually winning the top Oscar statuette are narrow at best.
Terrence Malick’s mix of family memories and cosmic consciousness, The Tree of Life stars Sean Penn as a middle-aged man remembering his childhood with parents Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt in the small town of Waco, Texas, in the 1950s. Even though The Tree of Life may sound like How Green Was My Valley or Life with Father – with the addition of dinosaurs, crashing asteroids, and the Big Bang – it’s anything but.
Both Scorsese and Malick have better chances in the Best Director category, which remains, relatively speaking, wide open.
George Clooney, Christopher Plummer are clear favorites
In three of the four acting categories, the top choices are the following:
- Best Actor: George Clooney is hands down the favorite choice among U.S. film critics groups for his Honolulu lawyer and family man dealing with a series of unexpected events.
- Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, who once upon a time romanced both Julie Andrews and Eleanor Parker in the same movie (that’s The Sound of Music), is the clear favorite for his work as Ewan McGregor’s life- and guy-loving gay father in Mike Mills’ Beginners.
- Best Supporting Actress: The two main picks have been Octavia Spencer for Tate Taylor’s The Help and Jessica Chastain – also a favorite Breakthrough Performer – for a variety of movies (The Tree of Life, Take Shelter, The Help, The Debt, Coriolanus, and/or Texas Killing Fields).
Wide open Best Actress category
Now, Best Actress…
Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn, in which she plays Marilyn Monroe during the making of Laurence Olivier’s The Prince and the Showgirl, and Elizabeth Olsen for Martha Marcy May Marlene are the favorites among those who prefer independent fare. Viola Davis for The Help is the favorite among the mainstream crowd.
But then there’s Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.
The SAG Awards should help narrow things down a bit.
Oscar shoo-in A Separation & Oscar shoo-out Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Screenwriter-director Asghar Farhadi’s Golden Bear-winning Iranian family drama A Separation has emerged not only as a shoo-in Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominee but also as the likely winner. Less expected was its Los Angeles Film Critics victory in the Best Screenplay category.
Gore Verbinski’s Rango, featuring the voices of Johnny Depp and Isla Fisher, is the obvious Best Animated Feature favorite, while The Descendants (Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash) has been a consistent Best Screenplay/Best Adapted Screenplay choice.
Werner Herzog’s 3D effort Cave of Forgotten Dreams – about the artwork found in southern France’s Chauvet Cave – has been a top Best Documentary Feature pick. Yet it has no chance of being nominated for an Oscar, as, however puzzlingly, it’s not one of the Academy’s semifinalists in that category. Located in the Gorges de l’Ardèche, at times referred to as the “French Grand Canyon,” the Chauvet Cave was discovered in 1994. It features some of the oldest known (based on radiocarbon dating) human-made paintings, from about 30,000–35,000 years ago.
Tabloid with Joyce McKinney.
Off-the-beaten-path choices
A trio of unusual selections, courtesy of the generally iconoclastic San Diego Film Critics Society:
- Best Actress Brit Marling for Mike Cahill’s little-seen, futuristic psychological drama Another Earth.
- Best Foreign Language Film Le Quattro Volte (lit. “The Four Times”), screenwriter-director Michelangelo Frammartino’s nearly dialogue-free look at life in the southern Italian municipality of Caulonia.
- Best Ensemble Cast for David Yates’ adventure fantasy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, featuring Daniel Radcliffe, Ralph Fiennes, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, and a host of other big-name British performers.
A few more:
- Houston: Starring Blue Dragon Award nominee Lee Byung-hun as a National Intelligence Service agent determined to avenge the gory death of his fiancée at the hands of a serial killer, Kim Jee-woon’s psychological action thriller I Saw the Devil was named Best Foreign Language Film.
- San Francisco: Best Supporting Actress Vanessa Redgrave for her portrayal of Volumnia, the mother of the title character, in actor-director Ralph Fiennes’ Shakespeare adaptation Coriolanus, where the line between worshipped military hero and fearsome dictator-in-the-making gets blurred.
- Utah: Joseph Gordon-Levitt was chosen Best Actor for Jonathan Levine’s cancer-themed comedy-drama 50/50, which also earned Will Reiser the Best Original Screenplay citation. Besides, Amy Ryan won Best Supporting Actress for Tom McCarthy’s Win Win.
A six-time Academy Award nominee – including a Best Supporting Actress win for her performance as the titular character in Fred Zinnemann’s Julia (1977) – Vanessa Redgrave would be a likely Oscar contender had Coriolanus been receiving more recognition from U.S.-based critics groups. As it stands, Redgrave’s chances of receiving her seventh Oscar nod are, despite The Weinstein Company’s brand, at best slim.
‘The Mormon Sex in Chains Case’
Lastly, Errol Morris’ Tabloid, the curious Best Documentary winner in Detroit and San Francisco, offers a glimpse into “The Case of the Manacled Mormon” a.k.a. “The Mormon Sex in Chains Case.”
Long before the Internet, the British yellow press and their voracious readers enjoyed collective orgasms that lasted for months, thanks to the alleged abduction and rape of visiting U.S. Mormon missionary Kirk Anderson.
Joyce McKinney, 1973 Miss Wyoming World, was accused of abducting the 21-year-old Anderson from the steps of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meetinghouse in East Ewell, Surrey, in September 1977, and driving him to a cottage in Devon, where for several days Anderson was left chained to a bed and turned into McKinney’s own private sex slave.
McKinney, who denied the charges, and reported co-conspirator Keith May were arrested, but jumped bail and fled to the United States. No extradition proceedings took place; the former Miss Wyoming was eventually sentenced to one year in prison in absentia.
As it happens, the Mormon missionary sex slave drama has continued into the early 21st century. Last month, McKinney filed a lawsuit with the Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming that she had been tricked into appearing in Tabloid, and that Errol Morris and producer Mark Lipson had defamed her in the documentary, portraying her as “crazy, a sex offender, an S&M prostitute, and/or a rapist.”
Like most culturally significant folk tales, the Mormon missionary sex slave story was later turned into song: Radio Stars’ “(I Got Dem Old) Sex in Chains Blues,” included on their 1979 Holiday Album.
Errol Morris’ previous credits include The Thin Blue Line, A Brief History of Time, and the Oscar-winning The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara.
Bérénice Bejo in The Artist.
The critics groups
See below the list of 2011 winners of the following:
- Boston Society of Film Critics
- Broadcast Film Critics Association’s Critics Choice Awards
- Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
- Detroit Film Critics Society
- Houston Film Critics
- Indiana Film Journalists Association
- Las Vegas Film Critics Society
- Nevada Film Critics Society
- New York Film Critics Online
- North Texas Film Critics Association
- Oklahoma Film Critics
- Online Film Critics Society
- Phoenix Film Critics Society
- San Diego Film Critics Society
- San Francisco Film Critics Circle
- St. Louis Film Critics Association
- Toronto Film Critics Association
- Utah Film Critics Association
- Vancouver Film Critics Circle
- Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association
Austin Film Critics
Best Film: Hugo
Best Foreign Language Film: I Saw the Devil
Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Actor: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Adapted Screenplay: Drive, Hossein Amini
Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Original Score: Steven Price, Attach the Block
Best First Film: Attack the Block – Dir.: Joe Cornish
Breakthrough Performer: Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter, The Tree of Life, The Help, The Debt, Coriolanus, and Texas Killing Fields
Best Documentary: Senna – Dir.: Asif Kapadia
Best Animated Feature: Rango – Dir.: Gore Verbinski
Austin Film Award: Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter
Boston Society of Film Critics
Best Picture: The Artist
Best Foreign Language Film: Incendies
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Best Ensemble Cast: Carnage
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Screenplay: Moneyball, Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin & Stan Chervin
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Documentary: Project Nim – Dir.: James Marsh
Best Animated Film: Rango
Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer): The Clock, Christian Marclay
Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy): Sean Durkin, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Best Use of Music in a Film (tie): Drive & The Artist
Best Rediscoveries:
Children of Hiroshima – Dir.: Maneto Shindo
Days and Nights in the Forest – Dir.: Satyajit Ray
Deep End – Dir.: Jerzy Skolimowski
The Makioka Sisters – Dir.: Kon Ichikawa
The Shooting – Dir.: Monte HellmanCritics Choice Awards
Best Film: The Artist
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Actress: Viola Davis, The Help
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Acting Ensemble: The Help
Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
Best Adapted Screenplay: Moneyball, Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin
Best Cinematography (tie): The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki; War Horse, Janusz Kaminski
Best Film Editing: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall
Best Score: The Artist, Ludovic Bource
Best Documentary Feature: George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Best Art Direction: Hugo, Production Designer: Dante Ferretti. Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo
Best Costume Design: The Artist, Mark Bridges
Best Song: “Life’s a Happy Song,” Performers Jason Segel, Amy Adams & Walter. Written by Bret McKenzie, The Muppets
Best Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Best Sound: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Best Makeup: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Best Young Actor/Actress: Thomas Horn, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Director: Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Best Screenplay: The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Animated Film: Rango
Russell Smith Award (Best Low-budget or Cutting-Edge Independent Film): We Need to Talk About Kevin
Detroit Film Critics
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Shame
Best Supporting Actress: Carey Mulligan, Shame
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Ensemble: Carnage
Best Screenplay: Moneyball, Aaron Sorkin & Steven Zaillian
Best Documentary: Tabloid
Breakthrough Performance: Jessica Chastain, The Help, Take Shelter & The Tree of Life
Florida Film Critics Circle
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Foreign Language Film: The Skin I Live In / La piel que habito – Dir.: Pedro Almodóvar
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Shame
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Best Original Screenplay: The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Documentary: Project Nim
Best Animated Feature: The Adventures of Tintin – Dir.: Steven Spielberg
Best Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Houston Film Critics
Best Picture: The Descendants
Best Foreign Language Film: I Saw the Devil
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Shame
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive
Best Screenplay: The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Best Animated Film: Rango
Best Documentary: Project Nim
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Best Original Song: “Life’s a Happy Song” from The Muppets, music & lyrics by Bret McKenzie
Best Technical Achievement: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Worst Film of the Year: Your Highness
Indiana Film Journalists Association
Best Film: The Artist
Best Foreign Language Film: The Skin I Live In
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actress: Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Best Actor: Paul Giamatti, Win Win
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, The Help
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Documentary: Project Nim
Best Original Screenplay: Win Win
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants
Best Animated Film: Rango
Best Musical Score: The Artist, Ludovic Bource
Original Vision Award: The Tree of Life
The Hoosier Award: Lindsay Goffman, producer of Dumbstruck
Kansas City Film Critics Circle
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Actress: Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Best Screenplay Screenplay: Moneyball, Aaron Sorkin & Steve Zaillian
Best Original Screenplay: Beginners, Mike Mills
Best Documentary: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Best Animated Film: Rango
Vincent Koehler Award for Outstanding Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror Film: Hugo
Las Vegas Film Critics Society
Best Picture: The Artist
Best Foreign Language Film: 13 Assassins
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Best Director: Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive
Best Screenplay: Moneyball, Aaron Sorkin & Steve Zaillian
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Film Editing: Thelma Schoonmaker, Hugo
Best Score: Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Best Documentary: Project Nim
Best Animated Film: Rango
Best Costume Design: The Artist, Mark Bridges
Best Art Direction: The Artist, Gregory S. Hooper
Best Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Best Song: “Man or Muppet” by Bret McKenzie, from The Muppets
Youth in Film: Asa Butterfield, Hugo
Best DVD (Packaging, Design, and Content): Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy (Blu-ray)
Nevada Film Critics Society
Best Film: Hugo
Best Director: Martin Scorsese
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain “for her outstanding work in several films of 2011 including The Debt, The Help, The Tree of Life, Take Shelter“
Best Actor: Tom Hardy, Warrior
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Best Ensemble: The Help
Best Animated Feature: Puss in Boots
Best Breakthrough Performance (tie): Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene; Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best Child Actor: Asa Butterfield
New York Film Critics Online
Best Film: The Artist
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation – Dir.: Asghar Farhadi
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best Actor: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Best Ensemble: Bridesmaids
Best Screenplay: The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Best Documentary: Cave of Forgotten Dreams – Dir.: Werner Herzog
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Music: Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Best Animated Feature: The Adventures of Tintin
Best Debut Director: Joe Cornish, Attack the Block
Breakthrough Performer: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life, The Help, The Debt, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, and Coriolanus
North Texas Film Critics Association
Best Picture: War Horse
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Actress: Viola Davis, The Help
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Director : Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Cinematography: War Horse, Janusz Kaminski
Best Animated: The Adventures of Tin Tin
Best Documentary: Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey
Oklahoma Film Critics
Best Film: The Artist
Best Foreign Language Film: The Skin I Live In
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Adapted Screenplay: Moneyball, Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin
Best Original Screenplay: The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
Best Documentary: Page One: Inside the New York Times – Dir.: Andrew Rossi
Best Animated Film: The Adventures of Tintin
Best First Feature: Martha Marcy May Marlene – Dir.: Sean Durkin
Obviously Worst Film: Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Not-So-Obviously Worst Film: The Hangover Part II
Best Guilty Pleasure: Fright Night
Online Film Critics Society
Best Picture: The Tree of Life
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Shame
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
Best Adapted Screenplay: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Best Film Editing: The Tree of Life, Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber & Mark Yoshikawa
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Documentary: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Special Awards:
Jessica Chastain (The Debt, The Help, The Tree of Life), the breakout performer of the year
Martin Scorsese, in honor of his work and dedication to the pursuit of film preservationPhoenix Film Critics Society
Best Film: The Artist
Best Foreign Language Film: The Skin I Live In
Best Director: Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actress: Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Best Supporting Actress: Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Ensemble Acting: Super 8
Best Original Screenplay: The Artist
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Help
Best Documentary: Page One: Inside the New York Times – Dir.: Andrew Rossi
Best Original Song: “Life’s a Happy Song,” The Muppets
Best Original Score: The Artist
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Film Editing: The Artist
Best Production Design: Hugo
Best Costume Design: The Artist
Best Animated Film: Rango
Best Visual Effects: Hugo
Best Stunts: Drive
Breakthrough Performance on Camera: Thomas Horn, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Breakthrough Performance Behind the Camera: Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Performance by a Youth in a Lead or Supporting Role, Male: Thomas Horn, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Best Performance by a Youth in a Lead or Supporting Role, Female: Saoirse Ronan, Hanna
Best Overlooked Film: A Better Life
San Diego Film Critics Society
Best Film: The Artist
Best Foreign Language Film: Le Quattro Volte
Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive
Best Actress: Brit Marling, Another Earth
Best Actor: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Supporting Actor: Nick Nolte, Warrior
Best Ensemble Performance: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
Best Adapted Screenplay: Moneyball, Steve Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin
Best Documentary: Project Nim
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Film Editing: Beginners, Oliver Bugge Coutté
Best Score: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Alexandre Desplat
Best Animated Film: Arthur Christmas
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti, Hugo
Body of Work: Jessica Chastain for The Debt, Take Shelter, Coriolanus, The Tree of Life, The Help, Texas Killing Fields
San Francisco Film Critics Circle
Best Film: The Tree of Life
Best Foreign Language Film: Certified Copy
Best Director: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Actor: Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Best Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Original Screenplay: Margin Call, J.C. Chandor
Best Adapted Screenplay: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan
Best Documentary: Tabloid
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Special Citation (“for under-appreciated independent cinema): The Mill and the Cross – Dir.: Lech Majewski (in the SFFCC press release, the film is described as a “distinctly original exploration of the inspiration for and creation of a Bruegel painting”)
Southeastern Film Critics
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Supporting Actress: Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Ensemble: The Help
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Documentary: Project Nim
Best Animated Film: Rango
Gene Wyatt Award (“in Recognition of a Film That Best Embodies the Spirit of the South”): The Help
St. Louis Film Critics Association
Best Film: The Artist
Best Foreign Language Film: 13 Assassins
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Actress: Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Best Original Screenplay: The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Music: The Artist
Best Documentary: Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey
Best Animated Film: The Adventures of Tin Tin
Best Visual Effects: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Best Artistic/Creative Film (for excellence in arthouse cinema): We Need to Talk About Kevin
Toronto Film Critics Association
Best Film: The Tree of Life
Best Foreign Language Film: Mysteries of Lisbon
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Director: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Best Screenplay: Moneyball, Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin; story by Stan Chervin, based on the book by Michael Lewis
Allan King Documentary Award: Nostalgia for the Light
Best Animated Feature: The Adventures of Tintin
Best First Feature: Attack the Block – Dir.: Joe Cornish
Canadian Film Award: Café de Flore – Dir.: Jean-Marc Vallée
Utah Film Critics Association
Best Picture: Drive
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, Win Win
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Original Screenplay: 50/50, Will Reiser
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Best Cinematography: Drive, Newton Thomas Sigel
Best Animated Film: Rango
Best Documentary: Senna
Vancouver Film Critics Circle
Best Film: The Artist
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Shame
Best Actress: Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, The Help, Take Shelter, and The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Best Screenplay: The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
Best Documentary: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Best Canadian Film: Café de Flore – Dir.: Jean-Marc Vallée
Best Actress in a Canadian Film: Michelle Williams, Take This Waltz
Best Actor in a Canadian Film: Peter Stormare, Small Town Murder Songs
Best Supporting Actor in a Canadian Film: Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film: Hélène Florent, Café de Flore
Best Director of a Canadian Film: David Cronenberg, A Dangerous Method
Best British Columbia Film: People of a Feather – Dir.: Joel Heath
Achievement Award: Marv Newland
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association
Best Film: The Artist
Best Foreign Language Film: The Skin I Live In
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Cast: Bridesmaids
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nate Faxon & Jim Rash
Best Original Screenplay: 50/50, Will Reiser
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Best Documentary: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Score: The Artist, Ludovic Bource
Best Art Direction: Hugo, Dante Ferretti, Production Designer; Francesca Lo Schiavo, Set Decorator
“Critics Awards 2011” notes
Austin Film Critics Association website. Online Film Critics Society website. Toronto Film Critics Association website. Detroit Film Critics Society website. Chicago Film Critics Association website. San Francisco Film Critics Circle website. Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association website. Nevada Film Critics Society website.
Shailene Woodley and George Clooney The Descendants image: Merie Wallace | Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Bérénice Bejo The Artist image: The Weinstein Company.
Joyce McKinney Tabloid image: Sundance Selects.
*last modified in April 2025.