The Award Machine Powers Up

The Golden Globes loom for Sunday evening (Jan. 15). I've never taken the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which awards the Globes, all that seriously -- not that I have anything against critics associations or foreigners, for that matter. Look, I'm not going to rattle on about awards, but -- for the record -- I'm reporting the results of voting in the two critics' groups in which I cast ballots. It should go without saying that the winners don't necessarily reflect how I may have voted. The Broadcast Film Critics Association gave out its Critics Choice awards in Los Angeles last evening (Jan. 12). The Denver Film Critics Association announced its streamlined year-end awards list earlier this week.

As you peruse these lists, keep one thing in mind. As Mickey and Sylvia alerted us in their classic 1956 song, Love is Strange. That goes for movie love, too.

The Broadcast Film Critics Association

Best picture: The Artist
Best actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best actress: Viola Davis, The Help
Best supporting actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best supporting actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best acting ensemble: The Help
Best director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best comedy: Bridesmaids
Best animated film: Rango
Best foreign film: A Separation
Best young actor or actress: Thomas Horn, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Best documentary feature: George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Best adapted screenplay: Moneyball, Steve Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, story by Stan Chervin
Best original screenplay: Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
Best cinematography (tie): The Tree of Life and War Horse
Best art direction: Hugo
Best editing: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Best make-up: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Best visual effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Best sound: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II
Best action movie: Drive
Best song: Life's a Happy Song, The Muppets
Best score: The Artist




The Denver Film Critics Association

Best picture: The Tree of Life
Best actor: Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Best actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best supporting actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best supporting actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best director (tie): Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life and Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best screenplay, adapted or original: The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
Best animated feature: Rango
Best ensemble: The Descendants
Best original score: The Artist, Ludovic Bource
Best breakout star: Jessica Chastain
Best documentary: Page One: Inside the New York Times
Best foreign language film: A Separation