AUSTIN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES

Best Film

1.     Zero Dark Thirty

2.        Argo

3.        Moonrise Kingdom

4.        Django Unchained

5.        Cloud Atlas

6.        Holy Motors

7.        Beasts of the Southern Wild

8.        The Master

9.        Silver Linings Playbook

10.     Looper

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master)

Best Actor

Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

Best Actress

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Supporting Actor

Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

Best Supporting Actress

Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)

Best Original Screenplay

Rian Johnson (Looper)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Chris Terrio (Argo)

Best Cinematography

Mihai Malaimare Jr. (The Master)

Best Score

Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer (Cloud Atlas)

Best Animated Film

Wreck-It Ralph (Rich Moore)

Best Documentary

The Imposter (Bart Layton)

Best Foreign Language Film

Holy Motors (Leos Carax)

Best First Film

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin)

Robert R. ‘Bobby’ McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award

Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

Best Austin Film

Bernie (Richard Linklater)

Special Honorary Award

Matthew McConaughey (for his exceptional work in four films this year (Bernie, Killer Joe, Magic Mike and The Paperboy))

A peculiar slate from the Austin critics, although not a bad one. Zero Dark Thirty wins Best Film and nothing else; many of the winners in other categories place either low down the Best Film top ten or not at all - Argo wins Adapted Screenplay and places second, Django Unchained wins Supporting Actor for Christoph Waltz and places fourth, although among The Master's three wins is a Best Director win, and it only places eighth! Divisive, indeed.