Bringing up the rear on a day already filled with critics groups announcing film awards, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle has chosen Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" as the best film of 2011.
Aside from choosing Albert Brooks as Best Supporting Actor, "Rango" as Best Animated Feature and "Tree of Life" for Best Cinematography, the group went in a different direction from most of its precedessors.
Gary Oldman ("Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy") and Tilda Swinton ("We Need to Talk About Kevin" were honored for their lead performances, while Vanessa Redgrave was named Best Supporting Actress for "Coriolanus."
Also read: After a Day of Honors, The Awards Race Is Still a Confusing Mess
The awards:
Best Picture: "The Tree of Life"
Best Director: Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"
Best Actor: Gary Oldman, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, "Drive"
Best Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave, "Coriolanus"
Best Original Screenplay: J. C. Chandor, "Margin Call"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
Best Animated Feature: "Rango"
Best Foreign Language Film: "Certified Copy"
Best Documentary: "Tabloid"
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Tree of Life"
Special Citation for underappreciated independent cinema: "The Mill and the Cross"
Marlon Riggs Award for courage & vision in the Bay Area film community: National Film Preservation Foundation
In another critics group announcement, the Detroit Film Critics Society and the Houston Film Critics Society revealed not their awards, but nominations for awards that will be announced later.
The full Detroit list can be found at the group's website; its Best Picture slate consists of "The Artist," "The Descendants," "Hugo," "The Tree of Life" and "Take Shelter," the last of which surprisingly led all films with six nominations. Other unexpected choices included Nicolas Winding Refn as Best Director for "Drive" and Felicity Jones as Best Actress for "Like Crazy."
The Houston selections include "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," "Drive" and "Win Win" in the 10-film Best Picture category, and Andy Serkis' motion-captured performance in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" in the Best Supporting Actor field.
The Houston group's website is undergoing renovation, but the full list can be found at In Contention.