2011 - Awards Summary Chart (Critics Choice)

And so it begins !

	BEST PICTURE	BEST DIRECTOR	LEAD ACTOR	LEAD ACTRESS	SUPP. ACTOR	SUPP. ACTRESS	O. SCRIPT	A. SCRIPT
NEW YORK	THE ARTIST	HAZANAVICIUS	PITT	STREEP	BROOKS	CHASTAIN	-	MONEYBALL
NBR	HUGO	SCORSESE	CLOONEY	SWINTON	PLUMMER	WOODLEY	50 / 50	DESCENDANTS
WASHINGTON	THE ARTIST	SCORSESE	CLOONEY	WILLIAMS	BROOKS	SPENCER	50 / 50	DESCENDANTS
LOS ANGELES	DESCENDANTS	MALICK	FASSBENDER	YUN	PLUMMER	CHASTAIN	SEPARATION	-
BOSTON	THE ARTIST	SCORSESE	PITT	WILLIAMS	BROOKS	MCCARTHY	-	MONEYBALL
NEW YORK (O)	THE ARTIST	HAZANAVICIUS	SHANNON	STREEP	BROOKS	MCCARTHY	-	DESCENDANTS
S. FRANCISCO	TREE OF LIFE	MALICK	OLDMAN	SWINTON	BROOKS	REDGRAVE	MARGIN C.	TINKER
INDIANA	THE ARTIST	HAZANAVICIUS	GIAMATTI	OLSEN	PLUMMER	DAVIS	WIN WIN	DESCENDANTS
LAS VEGAS	THE ARTIST	WINDING-REFN	DUJARDIN	WILLIAMS	BROOKS	MCCARTHY	-	MONEYBALL
HOUSTON	DESCENDANTS	WINDING-REFN	FASSBENDER	SWINTON	BROOKS	WOODLEY	-	DESCENDANTS
TORONTO	TREE OF LIFE	MALICK	SHANNON	WILLIAMS	PLUMMER	CHASTAIN	-	MONEYBALL
SAN DIEGO	THE ARTIST	WINDING-REFN	SHANNON	MARLING	NOLTE	WOODLEY	PARIS	MONEYBALL
DETROIT	THE ARTIST	HAZANAVICIUS	FASSBENDER	WILLIAMS	PLUMMER	MULLIGAN	-	MONEYBALL
DALLAS	DESCENDANTS	PAYNE	CLOONEY	WILLIAMS	PLUMMER	WOODLEY	-	DESCENDANTS
CHICAGO	TREE OF LIFE	MALICK	SHANNON	WILLIAMS	BROOKS	CHASTAIN	THE ARTIST	MONEYBALL
SOUTHEASTERN	DESCENDANTS	SCORSESE	CLOONEY	STREEP	PLUMMER	MCTEER	PARIS	DESCENDANTS
ST. LOUIS	THE ARTIST	HAZANAVICIUS	CLOONEY	MARA	BROOKS	BEJO	THE ARTIST	DESCENDANTS
UTAH	DRIVE	HAZANAVICIUS	JGL	WILLIAMS	BROOKS	RYAN	50 / 50	DESCENDANTS
OKLAHOMA	THE ARTIST	HAZANAVICIUS	CLOONEY	WILLIAMS	BROOKS	SPENCER	THE ARTIST	MONEYBALL
PHOENIX	THE ARTIST	HAZANAVICIUS	DUJARDIN	OLSEN	BROOKS	BEJO	THE ARTIST	THE HELP
AUSTIN	HUGO	WINDING-REFN	SHANNON	SWINTON	BROOKS	CHASTAIN	PARIS	DRIVE
ONLINE/CRITICS	TREE OF LIFE	MALICK	FASSBENDER	SWINTON	PLUMMER	CHASTAIN	PARIS	TINKER
CENTRAL OHIO	DRIVE	WINDING-REFN	SHANNON	OLSEN	PLUMMER	WOODLEY	SOURCE C.	DRAGON T.
NSFC	MELANCHOLIA	MALICK	PITT	DUNST	BROOKS	CHASTAIN	SEPARATION	-
KANSAS	DESCENDANTS	MALICK	CLOONEY	DUNST	PLUMMER	CHASTAIN	BEGINNERS	MONEYBALL
VANCOUVER	THE ARTIST	MALICK	FASSBENDER	OLSEN	PLUMMER	CHASTAIN	THE ARTIST	-
DENVER	TREE OF LIFE	MALICK	PITT	STREEP	PLUMMER	WOODLEY	-	DESCENDANTS
		HAZANAVICIUS

January 12 - Critics Choice
(For some reason, I can't update the Chart and add the Critics Choice winners. I'm working on it)

So now that Phase 1 is coming to an end, it's time to see whether critics agreed with the big organizations - especially the Guilds - or they once again had a different idea about the 'best'. Ironically enough, the first one of those Big Four (Golden Globe, BAFTA, Guilds are the other three), the Critics Choice is still 'critics-based'...on paper. So let's see what we know now that they announced their winners :

- The Artist is still very much the frontrunner in Best Picture and Best Director.

- George Clooney might be closer to his first Lead Actor Oscar, than we thought.

- Viola Davis now has a realistic shot at winning instead of early frontrunners, Streep and Williams.

- Christopher Plummer seems to be the strongest acting contender...for now.

- Octavia Spencer could go all the way although a Chastain/Bejo final seemed more realistic.

- Aaron Sorkin could win the Oscar AGAIN, it will be a Moneyball/Descendants fight for sure.

- Woody Allen is taking Best Original Screenplay unless the Academy REALLY goes for The Artist.

- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo won Best Editing...add the PGA-DGA-WGA, and it's top5.

January 10

Now that Vancouver also awarded The Tree of Life in Best Director, Terrence Malick has as many awards as the frontrunner, Michel Hazanavicius does.

Denver-update : The first significant tie of the season made sure that the Malick-Hazanavicius duo could STILL have exactly the same number of Best Director trophies (9). The Tree of Life now has as many Best Picture wins as The Descendants, and supposed frontrunners Brad Pitt and Meryl Streep got stronger today, too. Considering Denver marks the 6th (!) win for Shailene Woodley - whose film is now considered at least top2/top3 - I think it is safe to say, she WILL get the Oscar-nomination despite the SAG-snub.

January 9

Kansas critics announced their winners and though not considered as one of the 'big' groups, they are definitely one of the oldest so they still have some prestige. The Kansas Announcement also marks the 25th official Best Picture winner of the Season...the color coding shows who are the frontrunners in the main categories BUT I believe the race is still wide open in every category...and even if it weren't, if there is one thing last year's chart taught me, is that there is no such thing as a 'sure thing' when it comes to supposed Oscar-frontrunners.

January 8

Now that the third of the three big critics groups, the National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) has  announced their winners, we can definitely see what the critical consensus is when it comes to the best of 2011 and although there were some surprises (Melancholia), the race hasn't changed much. Now we know for sure, that after surprisingly winning the prestigious Best Actor Award of the New York Film Critics Circle, Brad Pitt was not a one-trick-pony, he took the (almost) equally important National Society of Film Critics's award, too. That - once again - puts him in the frontrunner-position, although it should be emphasized that the lead of the current best picture-frontrunner, Jean Dujardin is definitely still a VERY strong threat, not to mention George Clooney whose only sin is that unlike the other top contenders, he has already won an Oscar. Albert Brooks won his 14th (!) award this season (including two big ones, NYFCC and NSFC) and with that kind of support, he might be the rare actor (only Marcia Gay Harden comes to mind) who could pull off an Oscar-win WITHOUT a SAG-nomination. Meanwhile Jessica Chastain quietly became the clear frontrunner in the supporting actress race, since she is the only acting contender in any acting categories this year, who managed to win ALL three big critical awards (New York, Los Angeles, National Society of Film Critics) and is also one of only 3 supporting actress contenders, who received the SAG-BFCA-GG trio of nominations...although she could still easily lose to her co-star, if Octavia Spencer starts winning the big ones (SAG-BFCA-GG), and they could still split the votes (that is IF Chastain will be nominated for 'The Help', as it is widely expected) and allow Bejo take it. And then there is the small possibility that the Acadaemy will go for The Tree of Life in a big way, and Chastain will cancel herself out...unlikely, although she could surprise and land the nomination for the Malick-film. The Best Actress Race seems rather strong with the Williams-Streep-Davis-Close-Swinton quintet, although this prominent win for Kirsten Dunst might suggest there could be a 'surprise' 5th when all is said and done...although even if that happens, it will be probably Rooney Mara who has been gaining steam in the last few weeks - perfect timing, the voting process has just begun - and her film will probably receive a best picture nomination...and that will probably give her the edge over Charlize Theron (GG-BFCA nominations),  Elizabeth Olsen (BFCA nomination + 3 awards) and Kirsten Dunst (Cannes + NSFC). Although at the moment the critics are definitely embracing Terrence Malick's brilliant directing achievement (6 (!) awards including LAFCA, NSFC), sneaking into the Academy's Best Director category still seems tricky. I would love to say we'll know more after the DGA announcement on Monday, but the truth is, I could easily see the Academy go for it even without strong guild-love...having said that, a DGA-nomination would definitely help. And last but not least, based on the awards so far, A Separation might just be able to sneak into the original screenplay category after all. It was ineligible for a WGA-nomination, but it is considered the best-reviewed release of 2011 and it is also the only original screenplay that could pull off WINS without two separate script-categories...and it should be also emphasized that its two wins are big ones (LAFCA, NSFC).

January 6

Believe it or not, Michael Shannon now ties the most victories (6) with George Clooney, meanwhile after receiving a WGA nomination yesterday, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo scored its first screenplay win, as well. Elizabeth Olsen also won her third Best Actress award...that's as many as Meryl Streep got (so far). Winding-Refn now has more Best Director awards this season than Martin Scorsese does. All this is interesting, because the Shannon-Olsen-Winding-Refn trio is considered long shot and the Clooney-Streep-Scorsese trio is considered lock...also proves that the critics awards are nice and definitely help a contender, but won't guarantee an Oscar nomination.

January 2

Although there was never any doubt about it, it is nice to see Woody Allen's screenplay gaining momentum. Terrence Malick's masterpiece - as expected - is still strong with critics, the question is whether it will translate into some well-deserved Oscar-love or not? Critics also embrace Tilda Swinton and Michael Fassbender in a big way, but one still has to wonder....will the Academy go for performances that are - without any merit in my opinion - considered controversial and definitely not your typical Oscar-fare? Then there is the bp-factor when it comes to these two : if Rooney Mara's 'Dragon Tattoo' sneaks in, could she have enough momentum to knock out Swinton who is her film's sole shot at an Oscar nomination ? Same goes for Fassbender IF the Academy decides to 'get' 'Drive' (Ryan Gosling) and/or 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy' (Gary Oldman)...and even if they don't, there are several Lead Actor contenders who are not considered seriously BUT their films are basically locks in the best picture category...so what happens to Fassbender, if the Academy REALLY goes for 'Midnight in Paris' (Owen Wilson), 'Hugo' (Asa Butterfield), 'War Horse' (Jeremy Irvine) OR even surprise 'The Reader' style and embrace 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' (Thomas Horn) and/or 'The Ides of March' (Ryan Gosling...again) ?

December 29

The Artist keeps winning, Drive keeps gaining momentum, Jessica Chastain is slowly becoming the one to beat in her category, meanwhile Michael Shannon has just won his 5th (!) Best Actor award this season, so  I have to ask : even with all the big organizations failing to acnowledge his outstanding performance in Take Shelter, could he still sneak in in the end ?

December 20

Not much has changed since my last post, The Descendants and The Artist continue to be VERY strong, The Tree of Life and Michael Shannon's excellent performance in 'Take Shelter' are among the winners once again (YES!). Rooney Mara has just won her first award this season, add the rave reviews her turn is receiving at the moment, and she might just knock out Tilda Swinton in the end.  Meanwhile the supporting actress category is about to become very interesting : for now, it seems to be a three-way-race between Berenice Bejo - who has just won her first award and is in the best picture frontrunner -, Jessica Chastain - who is having an excellent year, has the powerful New York/LA combo, and even pulled off individual wins for The Tree of Life and Take Shelter, although she is supposed to be up for the Oscar with 'The Help - , and Octavia Spencer who might have some internal competition, but could still emerge as the one to beat if the big ones (SAG, HFPA, BFCA, BAFTA) start awarding her...my money is on Jessica Chastain. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life) keeps winning, so hopefully his long due first Oscar will actually happen now.

December 16

Detroit and Dallas went for The Artist and The Descendants, respectively, making it even more possible, that we might have a final face-off between these two films. Michelle Williams and Christopher Plummer are slowly, but surely becoming the frontrunners, meanwhile Shailene Woodley is seemingly recovering from that painfully crucial SAG-snub. Also, Detroit was smart enough to award one of the greatest female performances of 2011 : Carey Mulligan's Sissy in Shame.

December 14

Critics from Houston and Toronto announced, they didn't really change the game, although it is nice to see The Tree of Life, Michael Shannon and Michael Fassbender getting some traction.

December 13

Critics from Indiana and Las Vegas announced their winners recently, and both picked 'The Artist', further proving the point, that a black-and-white silent film without stars and a name-director IS the frontrunner at the moment. Jean Dujardin also won his first award, Michelle Williams and Albert Brooks continue their frontrunnerish ways, but what IS really surprising that for now, Melissa McCarthy has the most wins in the supporting actress category and for me, that's completely unexpected. I knew she had a shot at an Oscar-nod but I thought IF she will get there, it will be with a Golden Globe-nod and maybe a SAG-nomination, but definitely not with critics groups. Having said that, Jessica Chastain still has New York and Los Angeles on her side, so McCarthy is not necessarily a clear frontrunner...or at least, not for now. The Moneyball-script still seems to right behind The Descendants in the adapted screenplay category, both seem to be locks for now...both deserve it tremendously.

December 11

OK, we need to sort out a few things now that the important LA critics announced their winners along with Boston, San Francisco, Indiana and the New York Online Critics :

1. The Tree of Life is much stronger than my flawed chart suggests : when an acting award is for more than one film, I give it the color code of the film that (in my opinion) has a better shot at landing its actor an Oscar-nod. That's how it isn't apparent at first sight, that the remarkably powerful New York Film Critics Circle gave TWO (!) acting awards to 'The Tree of Life'...I just think it's obvious that Brad Pitt has no shot at the Best Actor nod with Malick's masterpiece (on the other hand, he COULD win supporting), and though Jessica Chastain could get in with it, my highly arguable personal take is that she has a MUCH better shot with her extremely likeable and well-executed role in 'The Help' (although it is worth emphasizing, that the lack of internal competition could give the edge to 'The Tree of Life' over 'The Help', when all is said and done). Add the San Fransisco-sweep (bp-bd wins), the LA almost-sweep - Malick won best director, Chastain once again won for 'The Tree of Life' among a thousand other films AND the film was also the runner-up in the best picture category - , not to mention the utterly brilliant Emmanuel Lubezki who definitely deserves a big shout-out for sweeping the cinematography-category (NYFCC, NYFCO, WAFCA, LAFCA, Boston, San Francisco), something you wouldn't know by looking at the chart because I only have space for the 8 main categories. 

Bottom line : The (arguably) two most powerful critics groups - New York and Los Angeles - awarded The Tree of Life in main categories...and that's definitely something worth emphasizing.

2. The Genre-Duo surprises all around : for now Albert Brooks has the most wins in his category, meanwhile Melissa McCarthy had a great day, too, she won two awards in the best supporting actress category, and that's some great momentum heading into the Golden Globes Nominations Week. But will the Academy embrace these genre-performances as much as the critics seem to ?

3. Jessica Chastain is the ONLY contender who was awarded by both NYFCC and LAFCA . That not only suggests that she will be probably a critics' groups-fave in the next few weeks, it also means she will be a serious contender for the Oscar, as well...so now her team HAS TO pick a film to eliminate the danger of split votes. In my opinion, her top 2 options are 'The Help' and 'The Tree of Life' (Take Shelter is too small, Coriolanus already has a very strong contender in her category, 'The Debt' isn't even in consideration and 'Texas Killing Fields' is completely out of question)...so what will it be : her wonderfully likeable, flashy turn in the remarkably popular 'The Help' OR her more understated, barely speaking role in 'The Tree of Life' ? I would go with 'The Help' even if she has internal competition. The range she delivered with such limited screentime is very impressive and definitely the kind of performance, the Academy often embraces.

4. New York LOVES Meryl Streep ! Well...who doesn't ?

5. The Artist still seems to be the one to beat in the Best Picture race, although Hugo is close behind with Scorsese popping up in the Best Director category every now and then. After some solid victories in acting and writing, The Descendants officially joined the bp-race with the prominent LAFCA-victory, although it IS strange that it was the only category they considered it the best. Also, Moneyball is still strong. After the surprising New York-wins, Boston critics also considered it the best in the Actor and Screenplay categories.

December 5

Washington critics have spoken...and they also went for the celebration of cinema by awarding The Artist and Hugo in picture and director, respectively. George Clooney and The Descendants-script keeps winning, but what is much more surprising, that Albert Brooks AND the 50/50 script also seem to be stronger-than-expected contenders. Meanwhile Michelle Williams and Octavia Spencer - two onpaper frontrunners - received their first real awards this season.

December 1 

Now that we have the first two critics groups out of the gate, I've decided to start the Awards Summary Chart slightly prematurely, considering there is not much to summarize at this point. I will update it regularly and just to get an idea how it will look in a few weeks, here is last year's chart ! Most of the winners of NYFCC and NBR are considered locks for the Oscar nominations, although it might be slightly more difficult to sneak into the top5 for a few of them : Albert Brooks is in a genre film, something the Academy rarely embraces; Jessica Chastain faces the danger of split votes; Tilda Swinton might have a serious face-off with Charlize Theron for that crucial 5th slot and voters have to get over the 'cancer comedy' definition and just simply vote for the wonderful script of 50 / 50. Considering Shailene Woodley  is new to this scene and comes from TV, she might have some prejudice to fight off BUT she gave a great performance in a film that is bound to become a strong best picture contender...so for now, I think she will get in...without a hitch.