Gold Rush: The LA Film Critics Association Winners 2011

And now one more major film critics’ circle has unleashed their picks — Los Angeles.

The heat is on…

The LA Film Critics Association Winners

BEST PICTURE: The Descendants

BEST DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

BEST SCREENPLAY: Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

BEST ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class

BEST ACTRESS: Yun Jung-hee, Poetry

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, Coriolanus, The Debt
The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, The Tree of
Life

BEST ANIMATION: Rango

BEST DOCUMENTARY/NONFICTION: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Dante Ferretti, Hugo

BEST MUSIC/SCORE: The Chemical Brothers, Hanna

BEST INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL: Spark of Being

The Descendants is shaping up to be this year’s The King’s Speech — by which I mean, a film I think is decent but wildly overrated. SIGH. My second favorite thing about this list is the supporting love for Christopher Plummer and Jessica Chastain. My third favorite is Michael Fassbender, which may change to my second favorite once I see Shame, since I am not so on board with George Clooney or Brad Pitt as Best Actor this year.

But my very favorite thing is love for The Chemical Brothers’ awesome Hanna score! That’s an intriguing and unconventional surprise, in a list that generally wasn’t that exciting (except perhaps in Best Screenplay and Actress categories).