Awards Chart 2012 (Updated)

	BEST PICTURE	BEST DIRECTOR	LEAD ACTRESS	LEAD ACTOR	S. ACTRESS	S. ACTOR	O. SCRIPT	A. SCRIPT
NYFCC	ZD30	BIGELOW	WEISZ	DAY-LEWIS	FIELD	MCCONAUGHEY	-	LINCOLN
NBR	ZD30	BIGELOW	CHASTAIN	COOPER	DOWD	DICAPRIO	LOOPER	SLP
BOFCA	ZD30	BIGELOW	CHASTAIN	DAY-LEWIS	HATHAWAY	JONES	-	LINCOLN
BSFC	ZD30	BIGELOW	RIVA	DAY-LEWIS	FIELD	MILLER	-	LINCOLN
LAFCA	AMOUR	ANDERSON	RIVA	PHOENIX	ADAMS	HENRY	-	ARGO
			LAWRENCE
NYFCO	ZD30	BIGELOW	RIVA	DAY-LEWIS	HATHAWAY	JONES	ZD30	-
WAFCA	ZD30	BIGELOW	CHASTAIN	DAY-LEWIS	HATHAWAY	HOFFMAN	LOOPER	SLP
SDFCS	ARGO	AFFLECK	WILLIAMS	DAY-LEWIS	WATSON	WALTZ	MASTER	ARGO
LVFCS	PI	LEE	LAWRENCE	DAY-LEWIS	HATHAWAY	JONES	LOOPER	-
SFFCC	MASTER	BIGELOW	RIVA	PHOENIX	HUNT	JONES	ZD30	LINCOLN
KCFCC	MASTER	LEE	LAWRENCE	DAY-LEWIS	HATHAWAY	HOFFMAN	MASTER	ARGO
CFCA	ZD30	BIGELOW	CHASTAIN	DAY-LEWIS	ADAMS	HOFFMAN	ZD30	LINCOLN
IFJA	SAFETY	TARANTINO	CHASTAIN	DAY-LEWIS	HATHAWAY	JONES	SAFETY	PERKS
				COOPER
SEFCA	ARGO	AFFLECK	LAWRENCE	DAY-LEWIS	HATHAWAY	HOFFMAN	KINGDOM	ARGO
SLFCA	ARGO	AFFLECK	CHASTAIN	DAY-LEWIS	HUNT	WALTZ	ZD30	LINCOLN
					DOWD			SLP
DFCS	SLP	RUSSELL	LAWRENCE	DAY-LEWIS	HATHAWAY	DE NIRO	-	SLP
AAFCA	ZD30	AFFLECK	CORINEALDI	WASHINGTON	FIELD	PARKER	MIDDLE	-
TFCA	MASTER	ANDERSON	WEISZ	LAVANT	GERSHON	HOFFMAN	MASTER	-
DFWFCA	LINCOLN	BIGELOW	CHASTAIN	DAY-LEWIS	FIELD	JONES	-	-
FFCC	ARGO	AFFLECK	CHASTAIN	DAY-LEWIS	HATHAWAY	HOFFMAN	LOOPER	ARGO
AFCA	ZD30	ANDERSON	LAWRENCE	PHOENIX	HATHAWAY	WALTZ	LOOPER	ARGO
UFCA	ZD30	ANDERSON	CHASTAIN	PHOENIX	HATHAWAY	HENRY	LOOPER	PERKS
			LAWRENCE
NFCS	ARGO	AFFLECK	LAWRENCE	HAWKES	FIELD	JONES	-	-
		BIGELOW	HUNT
OFCC	ARGO	AFFLECK	CHASTAIN	DAY-LEWIS	HATHAWAY	HOFFMAN	KINGDOM	ARGO

December 23

Critics from Utah, Nevada and Oklahoma announced their winners and so far the most surprising development has been the unexpected Argo-love from these groups. It is a great film, one that deserves all this recognition, I simply didn't expect the critics to go so studiofilmy (Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Life of Pi etc.) on us this year, even the 'edgy' choice (The Master) has a 40M pricetag. What is still a mystery - especially with this rather mainstream path the critics embarked on - how Lincoln is still constantly overlooked in BP/BD. The ones who seemed to gain the most buzz in recent days are Ben Affleck, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rian Johnson (Looper) and Chris Terrio (Argo) who shockingly enough, now has more wins under his belt then presumed frontrunner Tony Kushner (Lincoln).

December 18

Toronto went with The Master and some inspired choices in the acting categories, Gina Gershon (Killer Joe) in particular has been spectacularly under the radar so far. After several runners-up honors, Denis Lavant won his first award of the season...it was about damn time. Also, Dallas announced its winners and was the first group of the season to recognize Lincoln as the Best Picture of 2012, meanwhile Florida went with Argo.

December 17

Even though Chicago also went with Zero Dark Thirty, critics started to spread the love. One of the oldest groups, the Kansas City Film Critics Circle,  gave a big boost to The Master , a film that definitely needs these minor victories to have a BP-worthy perception in Oscar voters' minds, especially without significant love from the Actors (=Screen Actors Guild) who still represent the most dominant branch in the Academy. Meanwhile, Indiana went quirky and recognized the so-far-absent Safety Not Guaranteed. Also, Helen Hunt FINALLY won something for her career-best performance in The Sessions, so hopefully John Hawkes is next. St. Louis and Southeastern Film Critics opted for Argo, so now I guess the only question remains : where is Lincoln ? I have no doubt it is the Oscar-frontrunner and it has been doing spectacularly well in acting and writing categories, but why hasn't it won anything in BP/BD yet ? It's not like the critics went all indie this year, quite the contrary (Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Life of Pi).

(I forgot the Detroit-sweep of Silver Linings Playbook and the African-American Critics, thanks Paddy for reminding me!) 

December 13

San Diego and Las Vegas spiced things up a bit, also the first few 'big ones' started announcing their nominations.

December 10

Washington Film Critics agreed on the supposed frontrunners and went with Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow, Jessica Chastain and Daniel Day-Lewis, they also gave Anne Hathaway her first prominent award of the season and after his co-stars got the much-needed push from the LAFCA yesterday, Philip Seymour Hoffman got his from Washington today. What is also interesting that Looper won again, so it probably has a bigger and more passionate fanbase than I gave it credit for, meanwhile David O. Russell won another adapted screenplay award and in my opinion, he will have to settle with a script nomination at the Oscars, too. There is no way he could beat Tony Kushner and I don't see him as a top5 contender in Best Director, either, not with Spielberg, Bigelow, Hooper, Affleck, Anderson, Lee, Tarantino in the mix, too.

December 9

So...the Los Angeles Film Critics definitely spiced things up. Joaquin Phoenix got a much-needed and well-deserved push from them today, although Daniel Day-Lewis is still strong and remains the frontrunner. Also, we FINALLY have a race in Best Actress : Emmanuelle Riva has just pulled off three victories including the prestigious Best Actress award of the LA Film Critics. She was always supposed to be a strong presence in this stage of the season, so it's nice to see her making a big entrance. Having said that, Jessica Chastain is probably still a stronger contender thanks to the remarkable reception of her film. Early frontrunner Jennifer Lawrence has now officially entered the race, and winning the LAFCA is definitely a great start. The Supporting Acting categories are all over the place, although the Lincoln-duo, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones seem to have the edge at the moment. In the end Field will probably face off Anne Hathaway who has just won two awards, both from less prominent online groups, BUT was also the runner-up for the LAFCA, so she is definitely still strong competition. With all the fantastic raves the men of The Master received, I’m glad to see Amy Adams still not overshadowed. She won her first award this season and started with a big one, she is now undoubtedly back on track to land her 4^th Oscar nomination. It's also nice to see long-shot contenders Ezra Miller and Dwight Henry in the mix, but they will definitely need considerably MORE to stay in the race for the long run. Meanwhile Tony Kushner (Lincoln) remains the frontrunner in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, and if Zero Dark Thirty continues to stay as strong as it is now, I think Mark Boal will take Best Original Screenplay.

P.S. Christoph Waltz might not have won a thing, but he was runner-up for both the LAFCA and BSFC (Boston Society of Film Critics), so he definitely started gaining some Oscar-buzz even with stiff internal competition (NBR-winner DiCaprio and apparently spectacular scenestealer Jackson). The cinematographer of The Master, Mihai Malaimare is getting well-deserved early praise for his stunning work and though he will need the guild-nod to be a viable threat for the Oscar, this is definitely a decent start for him. Meanwhile Tim Burton's Frankenweenie seems to be the critics' favorite for Best Animated Feature.

December 5

The National Board of Review agreed with the New York critics and gave their top awards to Zero Dark Thirty. Kathryn Bigelow's film, once considered a wild card contender, is now the early frontrunner. What is interesting, that no sweep seems to be happening in the acting categories, not even in Best Actor. As the lead of the Best Picture frontrunner, Jessica Chastain should be now officially considered very seriously for the win, and even with stiff competition, I also think - and have been for a while - that Bradley Cooper won't have trouble sneaking into the top5, either. This early Django-love is definitely a good sign for Quentin Tarantino and Leonardo DiCaprio, but we still need to see the reviews and Box Office to know for sure it won't be a fluke. Ann Dowd's well-deserved victory here was much needed for the long run, but I can't help but wonder that she will be another 'Lesley Manville'. We'll see, for what it's worth, her stunning work speaks for itself. After the NYFCC-shutout Silver Linings Playbook was the biggest gainer here with two important awards and a place in the top10. Argo, Django Unchained and Les Miserables also made the cut, latter even won the Best Ensemble Award. Early frontrunners Jennifer Lawrence and Anne Hathaway have yet to win an award, but then again, it is still VERY early in the race, their absence is only being brought up because they were expected to deliver sweeps.

December 3

The New York Film Critics announced their winners today, raised a lot of questions and confirmed the status of two frontrunners (Daniel Day-Lewis, Tony Kushner). So the most burning question might be how the surprising absence of presumably strong players (Les Miserables, Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi) will affect the season ? Well, probably not that much, critics might influence Academy voters, but in the end, their impact isn't great. The 'Critical Darling of the Year' rarely matches the 'Academy's Best Picture' and that applies to all categories, so the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway etc. have nothing to worry about...for now. Having said that, this is still a prominent award and exactly what on-paper-fading contenders Rachel Weisz and Matthew McConaughey needed, and even though I'm still not convinced former could sneak in in the end, latter seems to have everything a solid contender could ask for : Box Office, rave reviews, passionate campaign (Soderbergh-letter), a damn good 'story' (THE comeback) and now even a prestigious early award .