The Artist wins best pic of 2011 from the NYFCC.
And they’re off! First of the critic’s groups’ awards are announced, with the New York Film Critics Circle giving the Silent Screen era homage top prizes for picture, director.
Moving their awards confab up ahead of the National Board of Review's (traditionally the first out of the gate) – and moving it so far ahead that the group didn't get a chance to see the much-buzzed Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- the New York Film Critics Circle kicked the awards season into gear with Tuesday's doling out of the-best-of-2011 prizes.
The Artist, a lovely tip-o'-the-fedora to Old Hollywood, took the best picture prize, with its director, Frenchman Michel Hazanavicius, winning best director, too. Brad Pitt received the actor nod for both Moneyball and The Tree of Life. Meryl Streep took the actress prize for her performance in The Iron Lady, in which she incarnates British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (opening here in early 2012). Albert Brooks, normally a funny kind of guy, got the supporting actor citation for his turn as a sadistic mobster in Drive, and Jessica Chastain was awarded supporting actress kudos for her work in a trio of releases: The Help, Take Shelter and The Tree of Life.
Best foreign language film: A Separation, an Iranian film that's floored everyone who's seen it. Best documentary: Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams, which didn't even make the short list for Academy consideration. (Boo, hiss.) And speaking of not making the list, the New York Film Critics failed to give Alexander Payne's beautiful, funny, sad, surprising The Descendants, with George Clooney in the strongest performance of his career, any props whatsoever. Egregious, I say!