What is it about the London film critics that makes them wait so long to hand out their awards?
Long after every Stateside critics group went on record calling "The Social Network" the best film of the year, the London Film Critics Circle did the same thing on Thursday night in London. "TSN" also won for director of the year (David Fincher), British supporting actor (Andrew Garfield) and screenwriter (Aaron Sorkin).
Most of the awards not won by Fincher's film went to "The King's Speech," which won for best actor (Colin Firth), British director of the year (Tom Hooper) and British film of the year.
Other winners were Annette Bening for best actress, Lesley Manville for British actress, Christian Bale for British actor, Olivia Williams for British supporting actress.
Earlier in the week, the London Evening Standard announced its own critics awards, which went almost exclusively to obscure films not in the Oscar race.
The most important British film awards – and the only ones that could conceivably have some bearing on the Oscar race – will be handed out on Sunday, when BAFTA holds the Orange British Academy Film Awards. Once again "The Social Network" and "The King's Speech" will go head-to-head, with the latter expected to win and the former hoping for a momentum swing.
BAFTA, of course, is the reason the British critics wait so long to pick their winners – so they can take advantage of the press and the stars coming to town for the big show.
