Merrick Morton/Columbia PicturesThe Oscar race just got interesting. And by interesting, we mean thoroughly predictable. But hey, why break from tradition?
The ever-prestigious New York Film Critics Circle handed out its coveted seal of approval this morning (like the National Board of Review, these folks waste no time on nominations and jump straight to announcing their winners), and handed out trophies to…well, of the same people who made the lists from the Critics' Choice Awards, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the AFI, the Film Independent Spirit Awards, the Gotham Awards, the National Board of Review, and, we're guessing, tomorrow's Golden Globes.
So who are they?
For starters, The Social Network might want to think about changing its status to "frontrunner," because the (mostly true) story of Facebook's founders was named the Best Film of the year by the critics.
While it didn't earn the most awards from the group, it certainly earned the most prestigious, as David Fincher also took home the nod for Best Director.
Instead, the quantitative honor went to The Kids Are All Right, which scored three wins, including Best Actress for Annette Bening, Best Supporting Actor for Mark Ruffalo and Best Screenplay.
Rounding out the acting honors is the seemingly unstoppable statue collector Colin Firth, for The King's Speech, and The Fighter's Melissa Leo, who took home the Best Supporting Actress award.
The awards will be handed out in New York on Jan. 10. Here's the complete list of winners:
• Best Film: The Social Network
• Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
• Best Screenplay: Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
• Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
• Best Actress: Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
• Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
• Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
• Best Cinematography: Matthew Libatique, The Black Swan
• Best Animated Film: The Illusionist
• Best Non-Fiction Film: Inside Job
• Best Foreign Language Film: Carlos
• Best First Feature: Animal Kingdom