2012 Critic's Choice Awards: Nominees & Winners

Why are the Critics' Choice Awards important?
Like any film awarding group, those films, actors and technical hands who receive awards are going to shape future films: if John Doe wins best editor, guess who everyone is going to want as their editor this year, or want their editors to imitate whatever it was that John Doe did to get that award, because awards means money, and the film making industry is, above all, a capitalistic industry that must make money to survive. The types of film winning for best picture, actors and directors will shape the films being made this year (the films being released for 2012 were shaped by last years winners, so in a sense, Hollywood is always a year behind even has it is supposed to be on the cutting edge).

Choices reflect values and even morals.
To chose one film and leave another film out is an unconscious moral decision these critics (that Hollywood watches very closely) make reflecting their aesthetics and social awareness; again, this will shape films that will be made in the future. It's possible that, since Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is no where on this list, that the sequels John le Carre wrote will not make it to the screen.

Best Picture Nominees:

The Artist (2011)

The Descendants (2011)

Drive (2011)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)

The Help (2011)

Hugo (2011/II)

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Moneyball (2011)

The Tree of Life (2011)

War Horse (2011)

The winner is: The Artist

Best Actor Nominees:

George Clooney for The Descendants (2011)

Leonardo DiCaprio for J. Edgar (2011)

Jean Dujardin for The Artist (2011)

Michael Fassbender for Shame (2011)

Ryan Gosling for Drive (2011)

Brad Pitt for Moneyball (2011)

The winner is: George Clooney

Best Actress Nominees:

Viola Davis for The Help (2011)

Elizabeth Olsen for Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady (2011)

Tilda Swinton for We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

Charlize Theron for Young Adult (2011)

Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn (2011)

The winner is: Viola Davis for The Help.

Best Supporting Actor Nominees:

Kenneth Branagh for My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Albert Brooks for Drive (2011)

Nick Nolte for Warrior (2011)

Patton Oswalt for Young Adult (2011)

Christopher Plummer for Beginners (2010)

Andy Serkis for Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

The winner is Christopher Plummer for Beginners.

Best Supporting Actress Nominees:

Bérénice Bejo for The Artist (2011)

Jessica Chastain for The Help (2011)

Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids (2011)

Carey Mulligan for Shame (2011)

Octavia Spencer for The Help (2011)

Shailene Woodley for The Descendants (2011)

The winner is: Octavia Spencer for The Help.

Best Acting Ensemble Nominees:

The Artist (2011)

Bridesmaids (2011)

The Descendants (2011)

The Help (2011)

The Ides of March (2011)

The winner is: The Help.

Best Director Nominees:

Stephen Daldry for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)

Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist (2011)

Alexander Payne for The Descendants (2011)

Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive (2011)

Martin Scorsese for Hugo (2011/II)

Steven Spielberg for War Horse (2011)

The winner is: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist

Best Original Screenplay Nominees:

The Artist (2011): Michel Hazanavicius

50/50 (2011): Will Reiser

Midnight in Paris (2011): Woody Allen

Win Win (2011): Thomas McCarthy, Joe Tiboni

Young Adult (2011): Diablo Cody

The winner is: Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Best Adapted Screenplay Nominees:

The Descendants (2011): Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011): Eric Roth

The Help (2011): Tate Taylor

Hugo (2011/II): John Logan

Moneyball (2011): Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin

The winner is: Moneyball.

Best Animated Feature Nominees:

The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

Arthur Christmas (2011)

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

Puss in Boots (2011)

Rango (2011)

The winner is: Rango

Best Young Actor/Actress Nominees:

Asa Butterfield for Hugo (2011/II)

Elle Fanning for Super 8 (2011)

Thomas Horn for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)

Ezra Miller for We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

Saoirse Ronan for Hanna (2011)

Shailene Woodley for The Descendants (2011)

The winner is: Thomas Horn for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Action Movie Nominees:

Drive (2011)

Fast Five (2011)

Hanna (2011)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Super 8 (2011)

The winner is: Drive

Best Comedy Movie Nominees:

Bridesmaids (2011)

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

Horrible Bosses (2011)

Midnight in Paris (2011)

The Muppets (2011)

The winner is: Bridesmaids.

Best Foreign Language Film Nominees:

In Darkness (2011)

Le Havre (2011)

A Separation (2011)

The Skin I Live In (2011)

Where Do We Go Now? (2011)

The winner is: A Separation

Best Documentary Feature Nominees:

Buck (2011)

Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)

George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011)

Page One: Inside the New York Times (2011)

Project Nim (2011)

Undefeated (2011)

The winner is: George Harrison: Living in the Material World

Best Song Nominees:

Gnomeo & Juliet (2011): Elton John, Bernie Taupin("Hello Hello")

The Help (2011): Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason Jr.("The Living Proof")

The Muppets (2011): Bret McKenzie("Life's a Happy Song")

The Muppets (2011): Bret McKenzie("Man or Muppet")

The Muppets (2011): Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis, Chen Neeman("Pictures in My Head")

The winner is: Life is a Happy Song, The Muppets

Best Score Nominees:

The Artist (2011): Ludovic Bource

Drive (2011): Cliff Martinez

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011): Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

Hugo (2011/II): Howard Shore

War Horse (2011): John Williams

The winner is: The Artist

Best Cinematography Nominees:

The Artist (2011): Guillaume Schiffman

Drive (2011): Newton Thomas Sigel

Hugo (2011/II): Robert Richardson

The Tree of Life (2011): Emmanuel Lubezki

War Horse (2011): Janusz Kaminski

The winner is: there was a tie between The Tree of Life and War Horse.

Best Art Direction Nominees:

The Artist (2011): Laurence Bennett, Gregory S. Hooper

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011): Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan

Hugo (2011/II): Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo

The Tree of Life (2011): Jack Fisk, David Crank

War Horse (2011): Rick Carter, Lee Sandales

The winner is: Hugo.

Best Editing Nominees:

The Artist (2011): Michel Hazanavicius, Anne-Sophie Bion

Drive (2011): Matthew Newman

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011): Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall

Hugo (2011/II): Thelma Schoonmaker

War Horse (2011): Michael Kahn

The winner is: The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo

Best Costume Design Nominees:

The Artist (2011): Mark Bridges

The Help (2011): Sharen Davis

Hugo (2011/II): Sandy Powell

Jane Eyre (2011): Michael O'Connor

My Week with Marilyn (2011): Jill Taylor

The winner is: The Artist

Best Makeup Nominees:

Albert Nobbs (2011)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

The Iron Lady (2011)

J. Edgar (2011)

My Week with Marilyn (2011)

The winner is: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Best Visual Effects Nominees:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

Hugo (2011/II)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Super 8 (2011)

The Tree of Life (2011)

The winner is: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Best Sound Nominees:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

Hugo (2011/II)

Super 8 (2011)

The Tree of Life (2011)

War Horse (2011)

The winner is: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

This weekend, I will be watching The Iron Lady and The Devil Inside; I just saw The Tree of Life and wish someone had told me before what an amazing film that is so I could have watched it earlier! Wow. I will be posting on that today!