Ben Affleck plays with the Big Kids at the DGA Noms

Ben Affleck officially got an invitation to the big kids table as he grabbed his first DGA Nomination for his critical and commercial hit third film Argo. Affleck is the only first time nominee going against previous winners Tom Hooper (previous winner for The King’s Speech), Ang Lee (wins for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain), Kathryn Bigelow (won for The Hurt Locker) and Steven Spielberg who now has 11 nominations and 3 wins (The Color Purple, Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan)…. Left off the Director’s Guild list were David O’Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) and Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained). Take a look at the list of nominees below which is usually quite an accurate Oscar predictor and watch for the winner announcement next month.

2012 Director’s Guild Award Nominees for Motion Picture:

Ben Affleck (Argo)
Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)
Tom Hooper (Les Miserables)
Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)

“Zero Dark Thirty” Dominates the National Board of Review Awards

It’s two for two in the awards race for the fantastic thriller Zero Dark Thirty as it follows Monday’s win at the New York Film Critics Circle with three more awards from the National Board of Review. Zero won Best Picture, Director (Kathryn Bigelow) and Actress (Jessica Chastain) this morning while the other three acting winners were big surprises. Grabbing some much-needed heat in this year’s derby was Bradley Cooper who took Best Actor for Silver Linings Playbook while Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained) and Ann Dowd (Compliance) threw their names in the hat as the Supporting Winners. Les Miserables picked up the Ensemble Award while Quevanzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) and Tom Holland (The Impossible) won the Breakthrough Actor Awards… Take a look at the full list of winners below and head to the NBR website here for more info.

2012 National Board of Review Winners:

Best Film: ZERO DARK THIRTY

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, ZERO DARK THIRTY

Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Best Actress: Jessica Chastain, ZERO DARK THIRTY

Best Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, DJANGO UNCHAINED

Best Supporting Actress: Ann Dowd, COMPLIANCE

Best Original Screenplay: Rian Johnson, LOOPER

Best Adapted Screenplay: David O. Russell, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Best Animated Feature: WRECK-IT RALPH

Special Achievement in Filmmaking: Ben Affleck, ARGO

Breakthrough Actor: Tom Holland, THE IMPOSSIBLE

Breakthrough Actress: Quvenzhané Wallis, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Best Directorial Debut: Benh Zeitlin, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Best Foreign Language Film: AMOUR

Best Documentary: SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN

William K. Everson Film History Award: 50 YEARS OF BOND FILMS

Best Ensemble: LES MISÉRABLES

Spotlight Award: John Goodman (ARGO, FLIGHT, PARANORMAN, TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE)

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: CENTRAL PARK FIVE

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: PROMISED LAND

Top Films
(in alphabetical order)
ARGO
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
DJANGO UNCHAINED
LES MISÉRABLES
LINCOLN
LOOPER
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
PROMISED LAND
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Top 5 Foreign Language Films
(in alphabetical order)
BARBARA
THE INTOUCHABLES
THE KID WITH A BIKE
NO
WAR WITCH

Top 5 Documentaries
(in alphabetical order)
AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY
DETROPIA
THE GATEKEEPERS
THE INVISIBLE WAR
ONLY THE YOUNG

Top 10 Independent Films
(in alphabetical order)
ARBITRAGE
BERNIE
COMPLIANCE
END OF WATCH
HELLO I MUST BE GOING
LITTLE BIRDS
MOONRISE KINGDOM
ON THE ROAD
QUARTET
SLEEPWALK WITH ME

“Zero Dark Thirty” and “Lincoln” Win Big with the New York Film Critics

This morning, the Oscar race really revved up with the first critics group naming their winners as the New York Film Critics Circle gave a boost to Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln with each film taking home three honors. Zero won Picture, Director (Kathryn Bigelow~ her second honor here following The Hurt Locker) and Cinematography while Lincoln took home Actor (Daniel Day Lewis~ his fifth win here), Supporting Actress (Sally Field~ her second win here after Norma Rae 33 years ago) and Screenplay (Tony Kushner). Two big surprises were found in the other acting categories as Rachel Weisz won Best Actress for the little seen The Deep Blue Sea and Matthew McConaughey was named Supporting Actor for both Bernie and Magic Mike. These kudos will give Weisz and McConaughey some much-needed buzz in their respective races as Weisz hasn’t been in much of the discussion of Oscar nominees this year and McConaughey’s category is very overcrowded…. For more on the NY Film Critics Circle, head here and check out all the winners below… Then, watch here all week as more critics groups and the National Board of Review weigh in with their best of 2012.

2012 New York Film Critics Circle Winners~

Picture: Zero Dark Thirty
Director: Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)
Actor: Daniel Day Lewis (Lincoln)
Actress: Rachel Weisz (The Deep Blue Sea)
Supporting Actor: Matthew McConaughey (Bernie/Magic Mike)
Supporting Actress: Sally Field (Lincoln)
Screenplay: Tony Kushner (Lincoln)
Cinematography: Zero Dark Thirty
Foreign Film: Amour
Animated Film: Frankenweenie
Best First Film: How to Survive a Plague