The Broadcast Film Critics’ Association, a motley group of television, radio and online critics (read: bloggers) have released the nominees for their annual Critics’ Choice awards, and as in recent years, their goal seems to be to guess the Oscar nominees as closely as possible. Since the BFCA allow for 6 nominees in each of the major categories, they don’t exactly narrow down the race as much as we might like, but no worries, we’ll have the SAG nominations tomorrow morning to do that for us. But they do certainly do a nice job of confirming the major contenders.
Unsurprisingly, given the way the season is going, “The Artist” and “Hugo” tied for the lead with 11 nominations apiece, followed by “The Help” and, in a nice state of affairs, “Drive,” with 8 each. So the big story here is probably the unexpected staying power that Nicolas Winding Refn’s offbeat genre film is holding so far through the season. I honestly would’ve expected it to have faded away by now, but Refn, Gosling and the film itself look like they’ll be staying in the discussion all the way down to the wire. Right on.
The only other real surprise is the complete snubbing of “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy;” Gary Oldman couldn’t even find room in a field of 6. That’s somewhat troubling, but I wouldn’t panic just yet if I were part of the “Tinker, Tailor” campaign: Oldman’s the perfect candidate for a SAG nomination tomorrow, and with the support of the actors and the considerable British bloc of the Academy, the film should still have enough behind it to make a dent come January.
We finally have a group that we know has seen “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” so its presence here in Best Picture, Director and Screenplay finally confirms what we’ve been expecting. On the flip side, a shutout for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” in the above-the-line categories is telling; the embargo on reviews was lifted today, and it looks to be more a technical showcase for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ new score and Jeff Cronenweth’s cinematography, plus of course a terrifyingly showy performance from Rooney Mara. Don’t expect much more than that.
Lastly, the Supporting love for Andy Serkis in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids” is still rather perplexing to me. Not that I have any problem with McCarthy, really, but how exactly is she an Oscar contender when Zack Galifianakis in “The Hangover” wasn’t?
Broadcast Film Critics’ Assocation Critics’ Choice Movie Awards nominations:
Best Picture:
- The Artist
- The Descendants
- Drive
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
- The Help
- Hugo
- Midnight in Paris
- Moneyball
- The Tree of Life
- War Horse
- Stephen Daldry, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”
- Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
- Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
- Nicolas Winding Refn, “Drive”
- Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
- Steven Spielberg, “War Horse”
Best Actor:
- George Clooney, “The Descendants”
- Leonardo DiCaprio, “J. Edgar”
- Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
- Michael Fassbender, “Shame”
- Ryan Gosling, “Drive”
- Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”
- Viola Davis, “The Help”
- Elizabeth Olsen, “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
- Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
- Tilda Swinton, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
- Charlize Theron, “Young Adult”
- Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn”
Best Supporting Actor:
- Kenneth Branagh, “My Week with Marilyn”
- Albert Brooks, “Drive”
- Nick Nolte, “Warrior”
- Patton Oswalt, “Young Adult”
- Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
- Andy Serkis, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
- Bérénice Bejo, “The Artist”
- Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
- Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
- Carey Mulligan, “Shame”
- Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
- Shailene Woodley, “The Descendants”
- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, “The Descendants”
- Eric Roth, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”
- Tate Taylor, “The Help”
- John Logan, “Hugo”
- Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, “Moneyball”
- Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
- Will Reiser, “50/50”
- Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
- Thomas McCarthy, “Win Win”
- Diablo Cody, “Young Adult”
- The Artist
- Drive
- Hugo
- The Tree of Life
- War Horse
- The Artist
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
- Hugo
- The Tree of Life
- War Horse
- The Artist
- The Help
- Hugo
- Jane Eyre
- My Week with Marilyn
- The Artist
- Drive
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Hugo
- War Horse
- Albert Nobbs
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
- The Iron Lady
- J. Edgar
- My Week with Marilyn
- The Artist
- Drive
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Hugo
- War Horse
- “Hello Hello,” from “Gnomeo and Juliet”
- “Life’s a Happy Song,” from “The Muppets”
- “The Living Proof,” from “The Help”
- “Man or Muppet,” from “The Muppets”
- “Pictures in My Head,” from “The Muppets”
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
- Hugo
- Super 8
- The Tree of Life
- War Horse
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
- Hugo
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- Super 8
- The Tree of Life
- The Adventures of Tintin
- Arthur Christmas
- Kung Fu Panda 2
- Puss in Boots
- Rango
- In Darkness
- Le Havre
- A Separation
- The Skin I Live In
- Where Do We Go Now?
- Buck
- Cave of Forgotten Dreams
- George Harrison: Living in the Material World
- Page One: Inside the New York Times
- Project Nim
- Undefeated
- Drive
- Fast Five
- Hanna
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- Super 8
- Bridesmaids
- Crazy, Stupid Love
- Horrible Bosses
- Midnight in Paris
- The Muppets
- Asa Butterfield, “Hugo”
- Elle Fanning, “Super 8”
- Thomas Horn, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”
- Saoirse Ronan, “Hanna”
- Shailene Woodley, “The Descendants”
- The Artist
- Bridesmaids
- The Descendants
- The Help
- The Ides of March
The Best Films of Our Lives 
Why is it that the Best Song category is always filled with candidates from animated movies? Why can’t “serious” movies have good original songs?