Washington D.C. Critics Award Winners

Another Day, another Critics Award in the bag. With my voice on the mend, I think I will stick to writing on this one. The Washington Film Critics Awards were given out today, after having announced the nominees this past weekend. The Artist was nominated for 8 awards, leading to the unsurprising win for best picture. I was happy Win Win got a nomination for Best Picture, but unhappy its only other nomination (albeit deserving) was for Tom McCarthy’s Screenplay.

            While The Artist did win Best Picture, its only other win was for score (which kind of makes sense considering that’s all we would hear with a silent film). Since I haven’t had the chance to seen it (hasn’t quite made it here yet), I’m remaining skeptical on its chances on winning the Oscar for Best Picture because it isn’t getting much traction anywhere else.

            Now, if we want to talk about traction, Albert Brooks seems to be gaining momentum for his performance in Drive, which I am very happy about. Also, as from Emanuel Lubezki’s brilliant cinematography for Tree of Life, 50/50’s screenplay came out with another award after its NBR win. Could this be a sign its could go on to more than just a Writer’s Guild nomination?

            As for the rest of the awards, they seem pretty deserving. A little surprised Michelle Williams won over Viola Davis or Meryl Streep, but Williams has been touted as an Oscar contender, so good choice. I am also happy with Documentary and Foreign language, if the former hadn’t qualified for last years Oscars and the other one wasn’t Spain’s selection for Best Foreign Film (argh!!!). Oh well, like I said, another one in the bag, here’s hoping Brook’s can continue this run into the next Critics Award and beyond.

Here is the full list of winners below:

Best Picture: "The Artist"

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"

Best Actor: George Clooney, "The Descendants"

Best Actress: Michelle Williams, "My Week with Marilyn"

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, "Drive" (WOO!!!)

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

Best Adapted Screenplay: "The Descendants"

Best Original Screenplay: "50/50"

I mean come on, with shots like this, how can Tree of Life lose...

Best Art Direction: "Hugo"

Best Cinematography: "The Tree of Life" (Also WOO!!!)

Best Score: "The Artist"

Best Animated Feature: "Rango"

Best Documentary Feature: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

Best Foreign Language Film: "The Skin I Live In"