NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE WINNERS

Today the New York Film Critic Circle winners were announced via Twitter. They changed the date as early as they could to be the first ones out of the gate. It was delayed a day so that THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO could be screened., which didn't make a difference in the end. It is a shame that EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE was not finished in time to be considered. How about we wait until Christmas to start awarding movies for the year? That way nobody needs to rush a final cut or be left out all together. They are supposed to be the best critically acclaimed movies of the YEAR, not of the first 10 months. But, enough about that. Here is the list of today's winners:

Best Picture: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Screenplay: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for Moneyball
Best Actor: Brad Pitt for Moneyball, and Tree of Life
Best Actress: Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks for Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain for Tree of Life, The Help and Take Shelter
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for Tree of Life
Best First Feature: Margin Call
Best Documentary: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Critics everywhere love THE ARTIST. It is well on it's way to a Best Picture nomination and maybe even a win. It could also be this years THE SOCIAL NETWORK where it won every major critic award and not Best Picture.

This also keeps MONEYBALL and TREE OF LIFE in the game. I seemed like both were fizzling out, but this win will keep the momentum.

I am disappointed that THE DESCENDANTS was shut out, but it is still way early in the game.