SAN FRANCISCO FILM CRITICS CIRCLE ANNOUNCE

Best Picture

                The Tree of Life

Best Director

                Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

                Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

                Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

                Albert Brooks (Drive)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

                Vanessa Redgrave (Coriolanus)

Best Original Screenplay

                J.C. Chandor (Margin Call)

Best Adapted Screenplay

                Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)

Best Cinematography

                Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life)

Best Animated Feature

                Rango

Best Documentary

                Tabloid

Best Foreign Language Film

                Certified Copy

Special Citation (for under-appreciated independent cinema)

                The Mill and the Cross

Marlon Riggs Award (for courage and vision in the Bay Area film community)

National Film Preservation Foundation (in recognition of its work in the preservation and dissemination of endangered, culturally significant films)

The San Francisco Film Critics Circle always make interesting choices - not too left-field to alienate themselves from the bigger picture, not so predictable though that they blend in with the others. The Tree of Life is very much their bag, so I'm not surprised that they've chosen it; it's picking up steam bit by bit through the season, and of course Emmanuel Lubezki has won again. Sure, his cinematography is beautiful, but doesn't anyone else deserve a look in? If this is what it takes to secure him the Oscar, though, I don't mind.

What with the critics chiming in in near unanimous favour for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, it's also not surprising to see it start to make an impact on the race too. This could be a crucial win for Gary Oldman, as he was in danger of being left behind by the other frontrunners, and it's a very good choice, as is its win for Adapted Screenplay. Tilda Swinton continues to surprise me - I didn't think she'd put in such a strong showing, but she's beginning to leave her contenders (Meryl Streep aside) in the dust. I must say, as much as I am a hardcore Tilda Swinton fan, that I was a little underwhelmed by We Need to Talk About Kevin, and felt that Swinton has been significantly better on several occasions, and also that there is a number of actresses I would sooner see nominated for the Oscar this year than her. But the simple fact that she has only one Oscar-recognised performance to her name is one which needs rectified, whether this year or another.

And finally a critics win for Vanessa Redgrave, and yet another for Albert Brooks. Could Brooks win the Oscar for such a role in such a film? Maybe, but my money's still on Christopher Plummer. Redgrave has a lot of competition, but a win for her still feels right this year.