CENTRAL OHIO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION NOMINATIONS

Best Picture

·         The Artist

·         The Descendants

·         Drive

·         The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

·         Hugo

·         The Ides of March

·         Margin Call

·         Martha Marcy May Marlene

·         Melancholia

·         Midnight in Paris

·         Moneyball

·         Super 8

·         Take Shelter

·         The Tree of Life

·         Win Win

Best Director

·         David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

·         Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)

·         Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)

·         Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

·         Lars von Trier (Melancholia)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

·         George Clooney (The Descendants)

·         Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

·         Michael Fassbender (Shame)

·         Ryan Gosling (Drive)

·         Michael Shannon (Take Shelter)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

·         Viola Davis (The Help)

·         Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)

·         Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene)

·         Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)

·         Charlize Theron (Young Adult)

·         Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

·         Albert Brooks (Drive)

·         John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene)

·         Patton Oswalt (Young Adult)

·         Brad Pitt (The Tree of Life)

·         Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

·         Jessica Chastain (The Help)

·         Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life)

·         Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)

·         Carey Mulligan (Shame)

·         Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)

Best Original Screenplay

·         Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)

·         Diablo Cody (Young Adult)

·         Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)

·         Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter)

·         Ben Ripley (Source Code)

Best Adapted Screenplay

·         Hossein Amini (Drive)

·         George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon (The Ides of March)

·         Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne and Jim Rash (The Descendants)

·         Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian (Moneyball)

·         Steven Zaillian (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

Best Cinematography

·         Manuel Alberto Claro (Melancholia)

·         Janusz Kaminski (War Horse)

·         Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life)

·         Robert Richardson (Hugo)

·         Newton Thomas Sigel (Drive)

Best Score

·         Alexandre Desplat (The Tree of Life)

·         Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

·         Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons (Hanna)

·         Howard Shore (Hugo)

·         John Williams (War Horse)

Best Ensemble Cast

·         Bridesmaids

·         The Descendants

·         The Help

·         The Ides of March

·         Margin Call

·         Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

·         The Tree of Life

Best Animated Film

·         The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

·         Arthur Christmas

·         Kung Fu Panda 2

·         Rango

·         Winnie the Pooh

Best Documentary

·         African Cats

·         Cave of Forgotten Dreams

·         The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

·         Project Nim

·         Tabloid

Best Foreign Language Film

·         13 Assassins

·         Certified Copy

·         I Saw the Devil

·         Of Gods and Men

·         The Skin I Live In

Best Breakthrough Film Artist

·         Jessica Chastain (Coriolanus / The Debt / The Help / Take Shelter / Texas Killing Fields / The Tree of Life)

·         Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene)

·         Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene)

·         Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)

·         Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)

Actor of the Year

·         Jessica Chastain (Coriolanus / The Debt / The Help / Take Shelter / Texas Killing Fields / The Tree of Life)

·         George Clooney (The Descendants / The Ides of March)

·         Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method / Jane Eyre / Shame / X-Men: First Class)

·         Ryan Gosling (Crazy, Stupid, Love. / Drive / The Ides of March)

·         Brad Pitt (Happy Feet Two / Moneyball / The Tree of Life)

Best Overlooked Film

·         Attack the Block

·         Beginners

·         Higher Ground

·         Margaret

·         Of Gods and Men

Fear not, there weren't supposed to be 15 Best Picture nominees. Not that anybody was afeared anyway. This, alongside six nominees for Best Actress and seven for Ensemble Cast, was the result of a tie in the voting process. When they announce their winners, they'll also announce a Top 10, leaving five films out in the cold.

What we have here, though, is a clear group of favourites, and films along for the ride, films with enough buzz to carry them through. It's quite remarkable that The Artist has only Best Picture and Actor nominations. And that slate of Directors is one of the best I've seen this season. On the other hand, much as films like Drive and The Tree of Life seem to have a lot of support across the board, there are some surprising omissions - considering the love for their respective films, no Jessica Chastain for Take Shelter when her other two prominent performances have been recognised (including The Help, missing from Best Picture) and no Rooney Mara when there are six Best Actress nominees, are tough to justify, as is Jeff Cronenweth's great cinematography being left out.

Otherwise, Martha Marcy May Marlene and Melancholia make decent steps forward, even if Melancholia doesn't stand much of a chance at scoring any Oscar nominations, and Tilda Swinton is oddly absent. And it seems that those critics' groups not so keen on Brad Pitt's performance in Moneyball tend to be pretty keen on his performance in The Tree of Life instead.

Winners will be announced on Thursday.