ST. LOUIS FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION WINNERS

Best Picture

1.    The Artist

2.       The Descendants

Best Director

1.    Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)

2.       Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

1.    George Clooney (The Descendants)

2.       Ryan Gosling (Drive)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

1.    Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

2.       Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) / Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

1.    Albert Brooks (Drive)

2.       Alan Rickman (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

1.    Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)

2.       Octavia Spencer (The Help) / Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)

Best Original Screenplay

1.    Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)

2.       Will Reiser (50/50)

Best Adapted Screenplay

1.    Nat Faxon, Kaui Hart Hemmings, Alexander Payne and Jim Rash (The Descendants)

2.       Stan Chervin, Michael Lewis, Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian (Moneyball)

Best Cinematography

1.    Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life)

2.       Jeff Cronenweth (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) / Janusz Kaminski (War Horse)

Best Visual Effects

1.    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

2.       Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Best Music

1.    Ludovic Bource (The Artist)

2.       Cliff Martinez (Drive)

Best Animated Film

1.    The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

2.       Rango

Best Documentary

1.    Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey

2.       Tabloid

Best Foreign Language Film

1.    13 Assassins

2.       Winter in Wartime

Best Art-House or Festival Film (for excellence in art-house cinema, limited to films that played at film festivals or film series here or those that had a limited release here, playing one or two cinemas)

1.    We Need to Talk About Kevin

2.       Win Win

Best Comedy

1.    Bridesmaids

2.       Midnight in Paris

Best Scene (favourite movie scene or sequence)

1.    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

2.       The Artist (dance scene finale)

The SLFCA is one of the few groups this year to have recognised The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo thus far, and, out of its five nominations, it has taken two wins, including Rooney Mara's first - perhaps a crucial win, despite coming from such an unknown critics' group. It has also clinched a joint 2nd place for Cinematography, behind The Tree of Life, which hasn't lost a cinematography award yet, incredibly. Thus group also show support for Harry Potter, evidently, as Alan Rickman beats John Goodman, John Hawkes and Jonah Hill to take 2nd place in Supporting Actor - quite an eclectic bunch, those nominees, and indeed, the SLFCA don't always follow the trends. 50/50 makes a return to Original Screenplay, after a few days' absence, but only in second - I still predict it to miss out on an Oscar nomination come the New Year. Otherwise, it's a triumph for The Artist, as it wins five awards and takes runner-up for Best Scene (hardly the most lucrative category anyway). Of its wins, these include Original Screenplay - its third in both the season and today, and Supporting Actress for Berenice Bejo - as with Rooney Mara, her first.