Critical Consensus 2011

There's just two days until the first televised awards ceremony of the awards season airs with the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) giving us their awards at the Critic' Choice Movie Awards. To refresh your memories, click here for their nominees. Leading up to this for the past month, critics from around the country (and Canada) have chimed in with their collective picks for the best of the year, which are listed below.

This final list of 29 critic groups include the Alliance of Women Journalist (AWFJ), African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA), National Society of Film Critics (NSFC), Online Film Critics (OFCS) as well as critic groups from the following regions: Los Angeles (LAFCA), New York (NYFCC), Boston (BSFC), Washington D.C (WAFCA), New York Online (NYFCO), Southeastern (SEFCA), Indiana (IFJA), San Francisco (SFFCC), Austin (AFCA), San Diego (SDFCS), Toronto (TFCA), Dallas-Forth Worth (DFWFCA), Las Vegas (LVFCS), Utah (UFCA), Detroit (DFCS), Houston (HFCS), Chicago (CFCA), Florida (FFCC), St. Louis (SLFC), Phoenix (PFCS), Oklahoma (OFCC), Kansas City (KCFCC), Central Ohio (COFCA), North Texas (NTFCA), and Vancouver (VFCC). National Board of Review (NBR) winners are marked with an asterisk.

BEST PICTURE

• The Artist (13) - NYFCC, BSFC, NYFCO, WAFCA, IFJA, SDFCS, LVFCS, DFCS, SLFC, OFCC, PFCS, AWFJ, VFCC
• The Descendants (6) - LAFCA, SEFCA, HFCS, DFWFCA, FFCC, KCFCC
• The Tree of Life (5) - OFCS, SFFCC, TFCA, AAFCA, CFCA
• Drive (2) - UFCA, COFCA
• Hugo* (1) - AFCA
• War Horse (1) - NTFCA
• Melancholia (1) - NSFC

Notable exclusions: Moneyball, The Help, Midnight in Paris, Ides of March, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

BEST DIRECTOR

• Michel Hazanavicius (9) - NYFCC, NYFCO, IFJA, DFCS, SLFC, OFCC, UFCA, PFCS, AWFJ
• Terrence Malick (8) - LAFCA, NSFC, OFCS, SFFCC, TFCA, CFCA, KCFCC, VFCC
• Martin Scorsese* (5) - BSFC, WAFCA, SEFCA, FFCC, NTFCA
• Nicolas Refn (5) - SDFCS, HFCS, LVFCS, AFCA, COFCA
• Alexander Payne (1) - DFWFCA
• Steve McQueen (1) - AAFCA

Notable exclusions: Woody Allen, David Fincher, Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Stephen Daldry

BEST ACTOR

• George Clooney* (7) - WAFCA, SEFCA, DFWFCA, SLFC, OFCC, KCFCC, NTFCA
• Michael Fassbender (7) - LAFCA, OFCS, HFCS, DFCS, FFCC, AWFJ, VFCC
• Michael Shannon (6) - NYFCO, TFCA, SDFCS, CFCA, AFCA, COFCA
• Brad Pitt (3) - NYFCC, NSFC, BSFC
• Jean Dujardin (2) - LVFCS, PFCS
• Gary Oldman (1) - SFFCC
• Paul Giamatti (1) - IFJA
• Woody Harreslson (1) - AAFCA
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt (1) - UFCA

Notable exclusions: Ryan Gosling, Leonardo DiCaprio, Owen Wilson, Demian Bichir

BEST ACTRESS

• Michelle Williams (10) - BSFC, WAFCA, TFCA, LVFCS, DFCS, DFWFCA, CFCA, FFCC, OFCC, UFCA
• Tilda Swinton* (4) - OFCS, SFFCC, HFCS, AFCA
• Elizabeth Olsen (4) - IFJA, PFCS, COFCA, VFCC
• Meryl Streep (3) - NYCFF, NYFCO, SEFCA
• Viola Davis (3) - AAFCA, AWFJ, NTFCA
• Kristen Dunst (2) - NSFC, KCFCC
• Rooney Mara (1) - SLFC
• Yun Jung-Hee (1) - LAFCA
• Brit Marling (1) - SDFCS

Notable exclusions: Glenn Close, Charlize Theron, Felicity Hones, Kristen Wiig

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Albert Brooks (16) - NYFCC, NSFC, BSFC, NYFCO, WAFCA, SFFCC, AAFCA, HFCS, LVFCS, CFCA, FFCC, SLFC, AFCA, OFCC, UFCA, PFCS
• Christopher Plummer* (12) - LAFCA, OFCS, IFJA, SEFCA, TFCA, DFCS, DFWFCA, KCFCC, AWFJ, COFCA, NTFCA, VFCC
• Nick Nolte (1) - SDFCS

Notable exclusions: Kenneth Branagh, Jonah Hill, Armie Hammer, Patton Oswalt, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis, Corey Stoll

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Jessica Chastain (9) - NYFCC, LAFCA, NSFC, OFCS, TFCA, CFCA, AFCA, KCFCC, VFCC
• Shaileen Woodley* (5) - SDFCS, HFCS, DFWFCA, FFCC, COFCA
• Octavia Spencer (4) - WAFCA, OFCC, AWFJ, NTFCA
• Melissa McCarthy (3) - BSFC, NYFCO, LVFCS
• Berenice Bejo (2) - SLFC, PFCS
• Janet McTeer (2) - SEFCA, AWFJ
• Vanessa Redgrave (1) - SFFCC
• Carey Mulligan (1) - DFCS
• Adepero Oduye (1) - AAFCA
• Viola Davis (1) - IFJA
• Amy Ryan (1) - UFCA

Notable exclusions: Judi Dench, Sandra Bullock

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• The Artist (6) - CCFA, FFCC, SLFC, OFCC, PFCS, VFCC
• Midnight in Paris (5) - OFCS, SEFCA, SDFCS, AFCA, AWFJ
• A Separation - (2) LAFCA, NSFC
• 50/50* (2) - WAFCA, UFCA
• Margin Call (1) - SFFCC
• Win Win (1) - IFJA
• Beginners (1) - KCFCC
• Source Code (1) - COFCA

Notable exclusions: Young Adult, Bridesmaids, Tree of Life, Shame, Contagion

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• The Descendants* (10)- NYFCO, WAFCA, IFJA, SEFCA, HFCS, DFWFCA, FFCC, SLFC, UFCA, AWFJ
• Moneyball (10) - NYFCC, BSFC, TFCA, SDFCS, LVFCS, DFCS, CCFA, OFCC, KCFCC, AWFJ
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2) - OFCS, SFFCC
• The Help - (1) PFCS
• Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (1) - COFCA
• Drive (1) - AFCA
• I Will Follow (1) - AAFCA

Notable exclusions: Hugo, Ides of March, Extremely Close & Incredibly Loud, We Need to Talk About Kevin

What does this tell us? A lot and nothing. Let me explain. Yes, there does seem to be a handful of contenders that are bonifide critical favorites such as The Artist, Michelle Williams, Albert Brooks, and Jessica Chastain, but even within those categories things are seriously competitive.

Also more interesting are the films and performances cited by critics that most likely will be ignored by Oscars. It's nice that a big array of performances and films (minus Best Supporting Actor) were given some love this season--from those fringe contenders such as Malick's Tree of Life and Refn's Drive to those extreme long-shots such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brit Marling, and Adepero Oduye.

I would hazard trying to predict who would win the Oscars (especially before nominations have even come out) by these results alone. The guilds (PGA, DGA, SAG, and WGA) as well as the Golden Globes and BFCA will clear up who has the momentum for Oscars, but as I've said many times this awards season, doesn't it feel like any body's game still? It IS a very good bet, however, that the winners are amongst the films and performances listed here... unless there's a Sandra Bullock story in the works for someone (DiCaprio? Close?), but it's highly unlikely.