Boston and New York both named Michel Hazanavicius’s ode to silent films THE ARTIST as their best film of 2011. That’s a picture that hasn’t really been getting much talk around here, but one I’ve seen continually coming up in these kinds of conversations as the year comes to an end. While our own Chris Bumbray adored it, I know many film writers and critics that strongly feel it does not deserve the honor of “best of the year”. In any event, it should be interesting to see how these choices begin to shape the Oscar consensus in the weeks to come.
As for director, Los Angeles and San Francisco both named Terrence Malick as the cream of the crop for his work on THE TREE OF LIFE. A close second, however, thanks to Boston is Martin Scorsese for his work on HUGO (Los Angeles also named him a runner-up to Malick).
Here are the full listings of winners from each critics group:
AFI
MOVIES OF THE YEAR
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
J. Edgar
Midnight In Paris
Moneyball
The Tree Of Life
War Horse
TV PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Game Of Thrones
The Good Wife
Homeland
Justified
Louie
Modern Family
Parks And Recreation
SPECIAL AWARDS
The Artist
The Harry Potter Series
Boston Society of Film Critics
Best Picture: The Artist
Runners-up: Hugo and Margaret
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Runner-up: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actor: Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Runners-up: George Clooney, The Decendants and Michael Fassbender, Shame
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Runner-up: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Runner-up: Jeannie Berlin, Margaret
Best Screenplay: Moneyball
Runner-up: Margaret
Best Foreign Film: Incendies
Runners-up: A Separation and Poetry
Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life
Runner-up: Hugo
Best Documentary: Project Nim
Runner-up: Bill Cunningham, New York
Best Film Editing: The Clock
Runner-up: Hugo
Best New Filmmaker: Sean Durkin, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Runner-up: JC Chandor, Margin Call
Best Ensemble Cast: Carnage
Runner-up: Margaret
Best Use of Music in a Film: The Artist and Drive
Runner-up: The Descendants
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
BEST PICTURE: The Descendants
Runner-Up: The Tree of Life
BEST ANIMATION: Rango
Runner-Up: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
BEST DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Runner-Up: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
BEST ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class
Runner-Up: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
BEST ACTRESS: Yun Jung-hee, Poetry
Runner-Up: Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: City of Life and Death
Runner-Up: A Separation
BEST INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL: Spark of Being
BEST DOCUMENTARY/NONFICTION: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Runner- Up: The Arbor
BEST SCREENPLAY: Asghar Farhadi, A Separation
Runner-Up: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Runner-Up: Patton Oswalt, Young Adult
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, Tree of Life
Runner-Up: Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
Runner-Up: Cao Yu, City of Life and Death
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Dante Ferretti, Hugo
Runner-Up: Maria Djurkovic, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
BEST MUSIC/SCORE: The Chemical Brothers, Hanna
Runner-Up: Cliff Martinez, Drive
NEW GENERATION: The creative team behind Martha Marcy May Marlene (Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin, Josh Mond and Elizabeth Olsen)
New York Film Critics Online
Picture: The Artist
Actor: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Breakthrough Performer: Jessica Chastain, Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, The Tree of Life
Debut Director: Joe Cornish, Attack The Block
Ensemble Cast: Bridesmaids
Screenplay: The Descendants
Documentary: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Foreign Language: A Separation
Animated: The Adventures of Tintin
Cinematography: The Tree of Life
Film Music or Score: The Artist
San Francisco Film Critics Circle
Best Picture
“The Tree of Life”
Best Director
Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”
Best Original Screenplay
J.C. Chandor, “Margin Call”
Best Adapted Screenplay
Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Best Actor
Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Best Actress
Tilda Swinton, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Best Supporting Actor
Albert Brooks, “Drive”
Best Supporting Actress
Vanessa Redgrave, “Coriolanus”
Best Animated Feature
“Rango”
Best Foreign Language Film
“Certified Copy”
Best Documentary
“Tabloid”
Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, “The Tree of Life”
Special Citation for underappreciated independent cinema
The Mill and The Cross