And the critics' awards just keep on coming.
On the heels of the Sunday's barrage of announcements from Los Angeles, Boston, New York and San Francisco critics, as well as the AFI, regional critics' groups have continued to reveal their 2012 favorites. And while the silent film "The Artist" is the clear leader in critical plaudits at this point, it isn’t running away with the field the way "The Social Network" did last year.
To date, Michel Hazanavicius' black-and-white film has six Best Picture wins from critics' groups, topping the lists of groups in New York (both the New York Film Critics Circle and the New York Film Critics Online); Washington, D.C.; Boston: Las Vegas, and Indiana.
Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," meanwhile, has been named the year's best by critics in San Francisco and Toronto, as well as the African-American Film Critics Assn. And Alexander Payne's "The Descendants" has added a Houston Film Critics Society win to go with its L.A. Film Critics Assn. honor.
Also read: 'The Help' Leads Surprising Group of SAG Nominees — With Some Notable Snubs
Martin Scorsese's "Hugo," meanwhile, has had to make do with a Best Film win from the National Board of Review (not a critics' group), and a handful of runner-up mentions.
Here's the rundown of recent groups:
TORONTO FILM CRITICS ASSN.
They became the third group to go for "The Tree of Life," gave two of their four acting awards to "Take Shelter," and seconded the recent International Documentary Association Awards by naming "Nostalgia for the Light" the top doc.
Best Picture: "The Tree of Life"
Best Director: Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"
Best Actor: Michael Shannon, "Take Shelter"
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, "Take Shelter"
Best Screenplay: "Moneyball"
Best First Feature: "Attack the Block"
Best Animated Film: "The Adventures of Tintin"
Best Foreign Language Film: "Mysteries of Lisbon"
Best Documentary: "Nostalgia for the Light"
HOUSTON FILM CRITICS SOCIETY
An interesting picture/director split: Alexander Payne's "The Descendants" takes the top prize, but Nicolas Winding Refn is named Best Director for "Drive." Plus a couple of leading acting wins for tough movies: Michael Fassbender in "Shame" and Tilda Swinton in "We Need to Talk About Kevin."
Best Picture: "The Descendants"
Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn, "Drive"
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, "Shame"
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, "Drive"
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"
Best Screenplay: "The Descendants"
Best Cinematography: "The Tree of Life"
Best Score: "The Artist"
Best Song: "Life's a Happy Song" from "The Muppets"
Best Animated Film: "Rango"
Best Documentary: "Project Nim"
Best Foreign Film: "I Saw the Devil"
Worst Film of the Year: "Your Highness"
LAS VEGAS FILM CRITICS SOCIETY
Refn gets another Best Director win – but it's "The Artist," with four victories including Best Picture, that dominates. Melissa McCarthy continues her hot streak.
Best Picture: "The Artist"
Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn, "Drive"
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, "My Week with Marilyn"
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, "Drive"
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
Best Screenplay: "Moneyball"
Best Cinematography: "The Tree of Life"
Best Costume Design: "The Artist"
Best Film Editing: "Hugo"
Best Score: "The Artist"
Best Visual Effects: "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
Best Animated Film: "Rango"
Best Documentary: "Project Nim"
Best Foreign Film: "13 Assassins"
Best Family Film: "Hugo"
Youth in Film: Asa Butterfield, "Hugo"
Best DVD (Packaging, Design and Content): "Jurassic Park" Ultimate Trilogy
William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award: Albert Brooks
Top 10 films (in order): "The Artist," "Hugo," "Moneyball," "The Descendants," "Drive," "The Help," "50/50," "Midnight in Paris," "Shame" and "Warrior"
AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM CRITICS ASSN.
Malick's movie wins another one, with intriguing choices in the director (Steve McQueen for "Shame") and actor (Woody Harrelson for "Rampart") categories. Plus a baffling Best Song win for "The Show," a three-year-old song by Lenka that was anachronistically covered in "Moneyball" in a version that only emphasized its similarity to an earlier movie song, the Moldy Peaches' "Anyone Else but You" from "Juno."
Best Picture: "The Tree of Life"
Rounding out the top 10 in order of distinction: "Drive," "Pariah," "Rampart," "Shame," "Moneyball," "The Descendants," "A Better Life," "My Week With Marilyn" and "The Help"
Best Director: Steve McQueen, "Shame"
Best Actor: Woody Harrelson, "Rampart"
Best Actress: Viola Davis, "The Help"
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, "The Help"
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, "Drive"
Breakout Performance: Adepero Oduye, “Pariah"
Best Documentary: "The Black Power Mixtape"
Best Screenplay: “I Will Follow"
Best Foreign Film: “Kinyarwanda"
Best Song: “The Show” from “Moneyball"
Best Independent Film: "Pariah"
Legacy Award: Richard Roundtree
Horizon Award: Hattie Winston
Cinema Vanguard Award: George Lucas
Special Achievement Award: Sony Pictures Entertainment
INDIANA FILM JOURNALISTS ASSN.
Its top pick, "The Artist," was predictable, but the acting awards headed in fresh directions: Paul Giamatti as Best Actor for "Win Win" and Elizabeth Olsen as Best Actress for "Martha Marcy May Marlene."
Best Film: "The Artist"
Runner-up: "The Descendants"
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Runner-up: "Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"
Best Actor: Paul Giamatti, "Win Win"
Runner-up: Ralph Fiennes, "Coriolanus"
Best Actress: Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Runner-up: Tilda Swinton, "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Runner-up: Albert Brooks, "Drive"
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, "The Help"
Runner-up: Amy Ryan, "Win Win"
Best Adapted Screenplay: "The Descendants"
Runner-up: "Moneyball"
Best Original Screenplay: "Win Win"
Runner-up: "Margin Call"
Best Musical Score: "The Artist"
Runner-up: "Hugo"
Best Animated Film: "Rango"
Runner-up: "Winnie the Pooh"
Best Foreign Language Film: "The Skin I Live In"
Runner-up: "13 Assassins"
Best Documentary: "Project Nim"
Runner-up: "Into the Abyss"
Original Vision Award: "The Tree of Life"
Runner-up: "The Artist"
Hoosier Award: Lindsay Goffman, producer, "Dumbstruck"
A few other regional critics groups, including St. Louis and San Diego, have announced nominations but haven't yet chosen their winners. We'll get to them, and add them to the tally, when they make up their minds.