As the station inspector, Sacha Baron Cohen shows "a side of him that people haven't seen before, with a lot of heart and a lot of emotion," says producer King.
Jaap Buitendijk/Paramount Pictures and GK FilmsHugo and The Artist, two films that pay tribute to the early days of moviemaking, led the pack with 11 nominations each as the Broadcast Film Critics Association announced its nominees Tuesday for its 17th annual Critics Choice Movie Awards.
They were followed closely by The Help and, in a surprising show of strength for a genre-based movie, Drive, with eight noms each, while The Descendants and War Horse both collected seven noms.
The BFCA, which is comprised of more than 250 TV, radio and online critics, prides itself as being a predictor of Academy Award nominations, although its extensive list of nominations outlines the general field without actually suggesting who will make the final cut. That’s particularly true this year, since the critics have nominated 10 movies for best picture, while the Academy could settle on as few as five films.
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Rounding out the BFCA’s top 10, in addition to the above-mentioned movies, are Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball and The Tree of Life.
In addition, while the Academy will nominate five performers in each of its acting categories, the BFCA stacks the deck with six noms each.
Its best actor line-up includes established leading men such as George Clooney (Descendants), Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar) and Brad Pitt (Moneyball) as well as rising stars like Ryan Gosling (Drive), Michael Fassbender (Shame) and France’s Jean Dujardin (The Artist). Clooney actually picked up three noms, since he also shares in acting ensemble nominations that went to Descendants and The Ides of March, and he now holds the record for the most Critics Choice nominations — 13.
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Among the actresses, Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) will be contesting for her third Critics Choice Award; she previously won best actress for Doubt and Julie & Julia. She will be competing with Viola Davis (The Help), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Charlize Theron (Young Adult) and Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn).
Martin Scorsese, who was nominated for directing Hugo, also picked up a second nom for his documentary George Harrison Living in the Material World and is guaranteed not to go home empty handed when the Critics Choice Awards are held Jan. 12 at the Hollywood Palladium with a live broadcast on VH1. The group previously announced that it also plans to give him its Music+Film Award.
In the directing contest, he will face off against Stephen Daldry (Loud), Michel Hazanavicius (Artist), Alexander Payne (Descendants), Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) and Steven Spielberg (Horse).
In the best supporting actor category, Andy Serkis broke new ground by earning a mention for his performance capture work in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The category also embraced Kenneth Branaugh (Marilyn), Albert Brooks (Drive), Nick Nolte (Warrior), Patton Oswalt (Young Adult) and Christopher Plummer (Beginners).
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Two of the actresses from The Help, Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer, picked up supporting nominations. Their competition consists of Berenice Bejo (Artist), Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), Carey Mulligan (Shame) and Shailene Woodley (Descendants).
For best acting ensemble — a category that the Screen Actors Guild will also serve up when it announces its nominations Wednesday — the nominees are Artist, Bridesmaids, Descendants, Help and Ides.
The animated movies that nailed down nominations are The Adventures of Tintin, Arthur Christmas, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots and Rango.
For all of the BFCA’s largesse, though — the group showered three of its five best song nominations on tunes from The Muppets — several movies still came up short.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 had just four nominations, all in crafts categories. Beyond DiCaprio’s best actor nom, J. Edgar got just one other nomination for its makeup — nothing for director Clint Eastwood. Albert Nobbs also got a makeup nom, but nothing for its actresses Glenn Close and Janet McTeer. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo got only two mentions, for its editing and its score. And the spy tale Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the financial thriller Margin Call were ignored altogether.
The nominations for the 17th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards:
BEST PICTURE
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
BEST ACTOR
George Clooney – “The Descendants”
Leonardo DiCaprio – “J. Edgar”
Jean Dujardin – “The Artist”
Michael Fassbender – “Shame”
Ryan Gosling – “Drive”
Brad Pitt – “Moneyball”
BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis – “The Help”
Elizabeth Olsen – “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
Meryl Streep – “The Iron Lady”
Tilda Swinton – “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Charlize Theron – “Young Adult”
Michelle Williams – “My Week With Marilyn”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh – “My Week With Marilyn”
Albert Brooks – “Drive”
Nick Nolte – “Warrior”
Patton Oswalt – “Young Adult”
Christopher Plummer – “Beginners”
Andrew Serkis – “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo – “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain – “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy – “Bridesmaids”
Carey Mulligan – “Shame”
Octavia Spencer – “The Help”
Shailene Woodley – “The Descendants”
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Asa Butterfield – “Hugo”
Elle Fanning – “Super 8”
Thomas Horn – “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Ezra Miller – “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Saoirse Ronan – “Hanna”
Shailene Woodley – “The Descendants”
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Help
The Ides of March
BEST DIRECTOR
Stephen Daldry – “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Michel Hazanavicius – “The Artist”
Alexander Payne – “The Descendants”
Nicolas Winding Refn – “Drive”
Martin Scorsese – “Hugo”
Steven Spielberg – “War Horse”
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“The Artist” – Michel Hazanavicius
“50/50” – Will Reiser
“Midnight in Paris” – Woody Allen
“Win Win” – Screenplay by Tom McCarthy, Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
“Young Adult” – Diablo Cody
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“The Descendants” – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” – Eric Roth
“The Help” – Tate Taylor
“Hugo” – John Logan
“Moneyball” – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, Story by Stan Chervin
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“The Artist” – Guillaume Schiffman
“Drive” – Newton Thomas Sigel
“Hugo” – Robert Richardson
“The Tree of Life” – Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” – Janusz Kaminski
BEST ART DIRECTION
“The Artist” – Production Designer: Laurence Bennett, Art Director: Gregory S. Hooper
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” – Production Designer: Stuart Craig, Set Decorator: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo” – Production Designer: Dante Ferretti, Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“The Tree of Life” – Production Designer: Jack Fisk, Art Director: David Crank
“War Horse” – Production Designer: Rick Carter, Set Decorator: Lee Sandales
BEST EDITING
“The Artist” – Michel Hazanavicius and Anne-Sophie Bion
“Drive” – Matthew Newman
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” – Thelma Schoonmaker
“War Horse” – Michael Kahn
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“The Artist” – Mark Bridges
“The Help” – Sharen Davis
“Hugo” – Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” – Michael O’Connor
“My Week With Marilyn” – Jill Taylor
BEST MAKEUP
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Iron Lady
J. Edgar
My Week With Marilyn
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
The Tree of Life
BEST SOUND
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Super 8
The Tree of Life
War Horse
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
BEST ACTION MOVIE
Drive
Fast Five
Hanna
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
BEST COMEDY
Bridesmaids
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Horrible Bosses
Midnight in Paris
The Muppets
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
In Darkness
Le Havre
A Separation
The Skin I Live In
Where Do We Go Now
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Buck
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Page One: Inside the New York Times
Project Nim
Undefeated
BEST SONG
“Hello Hello” – performed by Elton John and Lady Gaga/written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin – Gnomeo & Juliet
“Life’s a Happy Song” – performed by Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – The Muppets
“The Living Proof” – performed by Mary J. Blige/written by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman and Harvey Mason, Jr. – The Help
“Man or Muppet” – performed by Jason Segel and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – The Muppets
“Pictures in My Head” – performed by Kermit and the Muppets/written by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis and Chen Neeman – The Muppets
BEST SCORE
“The Artist” – Ludovic Bource
“Drive” – Cliff Martinez
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
“Hugo” – Howard Shore
“War Horse” – John Williams