Houston Film Critics Nominations

Best Picture

• Drive, Film District
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Warner Bros.
• Midnight in Paris, Sony Pictures Classics Take Shelter, Sony Pictures Classics
• The Artist, The Weinstein Company
• The Descendants, Fox Searchlight
• The Help, Dreamworks & Touchstone
• The Tree of Life, Fox Searchlight
• War Horse, Dreamworks & Disney
• Win Win, Fox Searchlight

Best Director

• Alexander Payne, The Descendants
• Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
• Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive
• Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
• Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Best Actor

• Brad Pitt, Moneyball
• George Clooney, The Descendants
• Jean Dujardin, The Artist
• Michael Fassbender, Shame
• Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

Best Actress

• Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
• Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
• Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
• Viola Davis, The Help

Supporting Actor

• Albert Brooks, Drive
• Alex Shaffer, Win Win
• Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
• Armie Hammer, J. Edgar
• Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Supporting Actress

• Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
• Jessica Chastain, The Help
• Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
• Octavia Spencer, The Help
• Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Screenplay

• Alexander Payne, Nat Foxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants
• Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
• Tom McCarthy, Win Win
• Will Reiser, 50/50
• Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Best Cinematography

• Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
• Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist
• Janusz Kaminski, War Horse
• Robert Richardson, Hugo
• Thomas Newton Segel, Drive

Best Song

• “Lay Your Head Down,” from Albert Nobbs, music & lyrics by B. Bryne & G. Close
• “Life’s a Happy Song,” from The Muppets, music & lyrics by Bret McKenzie
• “Star-Spangled Man,” from Captain America, music & lyrics by Alan Menken
• “The Living Proof,” from The Help, music & lyrics by Mary J. Blige
• “Think You Can Wait,” from Win Win, music & lyrics by The National

Best Score

• Alexandre Desplat, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
• Harry Escott, Shame
• John Williams, The Adventures of Tin-Tin
• John Williams, War Horse
• Ludovic Bource, The Artist

Best Foreign Film

• 13 Assassins, Magnet Releasing
• Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, New Video
• I Saw the Devil, Magnet Releasing
• The Artist, The Weinstein Company
• The Skin I Live In, Sony Pictures Classics

Best Documentary

• Buck, Sundance Selects
• Cave of Forgotten Dreams, IFC Films
• Project Nim, Lionsgate
• The Elephant in the Living Room, NightFly Entertainment
• Undefeated, The Weinstein Company

Best Animated

• Adventures of Tin-Tin, Dreamworks
• Happy Feet Two, Warner Bros.
• Kung Fu Panda 2, Dreamworks
• Puss in Boots, Dreamworks
• Rango, Paramount
• Winnie the Pooh, Disney

Worst Film of the Year

• Jack and Jill, Columbia
• Red Riding Hood, Warner Bros.
• The Sitter, 20th Century Fox
• The Smurfs, Columbia
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1, Summit Entertainment
• Your Highness, Universal

2011 Humanitarian Honor – Joanne Herring
2011 – Lifetime Achievement – Jeff Bridges