Houston – The Houston Film Critics Society proudly announces its nominees for the 6th Annual HFCS Awards celebrating the best of film for 2012. This year’s nominees are led by “Lincoln” with eight nominations and followed by “Les Misérables” and “The Master” with six nominations apiece.
Best Picture
- Argo, Warner Bros. (produced by Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Grant Heslov)
- Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fox Searchlight (produced by Josh Penn, Dan Janey, Michael Gottwald)
- Cloud Atlas, Warner Bros. (produced by Grant Hill, Stefan Arndt, Tom Tykwer, and Andy & Lana Wachowski)
- Django Unchained, The Weinstein Company (produced by Reginald Hudlin, Stacy Sher, Pilar Savone)
- Lincoln, DreamWorks (produced by Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy)
- The Master, The Weinstein Company (produced by Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison, Daniel Lupi, JoAnne Sellar)
- Les Miserables, Universal (produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh)
- Moonrise Kingdom, Focus Features (produced by Jeremy Dawson, Scott Rudin, Wes Anderson, Steven M. Rales)
- Silver Linings Playbook, The Weinstein Company (produced by Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti)
- Zero Dark Thirty, Columbia (produced by Kathryn Bigelow, Colin Wilson, Greg Shapiro, Ted Schipper, Megan Ellison)
Best Director
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Tom Hooper, Les Misérables
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin, Argo
Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Master
Judi Dench, SkYfall
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Best Screenplay
Chris Terrio, Argo
Tony Kushner, Lincoln
Rian Johnson, Looper
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Animated Film
Brave, Pixar/Disney
Frankenweenie, Disney
ParaNorman, Focus Features
Rise of the Guardians, DreamWorks
Wreck-It Ralph, Disney
Best Cinemaography
Danny Cohen, Les Misérables
Roger Deakins, Skyfall
Janusz Kaminski, Lincoln
Mihai Malaimare, Jr., The Master
Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi
Best Documentary
Bully, The Weinstein Company
The Central Park Five, Sundance Selects
The House I Live In, Abramorama
The Imposter, Indomina Releasing
The Queen of Versailles, Magnolia Pictures
Searching for Sugar Man, Sony Pictures Classics
Best Foreign Language Film
Amour, Sony Pictures Classics
Holy Motors, Les Films de Losange
The Intouchables, The Weinstein Company
A Royal Affair, Magnolia Pictures
Rust and Bone, Sony Pictures Classics
Best Original Score
Mychael Danna,Life of Pi
Danny Elfman, Hitchcock
Johnny Greenwood, The Master
Reinhold Hall, Johnny Klimek & Tom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas
Thomas Newman, Skyfall
Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
John Williams, Lincoln
Best Original Song
- “Learn Me Right,” from Brave, music & lyrics by Mumford & Sons
- “Skyfall,” from Skyfall, music & lyrics by ADELE and Paul Epworth
- “Song of the Lonely Mountain,” from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, music & lyrics by Neil Finn
- “Suddenly,” from Les Misérables, music by Claude-Michel Schonberg, lyrics by Alain Boubil & Herbert Kretzmer
- “Touch the Sky,” from Brave, music by Alex Mandel, lyrics by Alex Mandel & Mark Andrews
Texas Independent Film Award
Bernie, Millenium Entertainment
Incendiary: The Willingham Case, Yokel
Kid-Thing, Zeller Bros.
Sushi: The Global Catch, Lorber Films
Trash Dance, Andrew Garrison
Technical Achievement
Cloud Atlas
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Worst Film
Anna Karenina, Focus Features
Battleship, Universal
Prometheus, 20th Century Fox
That’s My Boy, Columbia
The Three Stooges, 20th Century Fox
Press release:
The HFCS Awards recognize excellence in writing, directing, acting and production along with technical excellence in cinematography and the best in animation, foreign and documentary film making for the year.
“From Argo to Zero Dark Thirty, 2012 was an exciting year for film with several films which could lay claim to being the best of the year,” HFCS President Joshua Starnes said. “This year’s nominations continue the Houston Film Critics tradition of giving a second look to quality films which might have been passed over during the end of year rush.”
The winners will be announced in at the live HFCS Award Show on Saturday, January 5, 2013 at the Museum of Fine Arts-Houston.
During the presentation the HFCS will also present its 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award to Robert Duvall and its 2012 Humanitarian of the Year Award to the late Adam Yauch.
The Society will also present the second annual Texas Independent Film Award, given to the best independent film produced in Texas and distributed during 2012.
Founded in 2007, the Houston Film Critics Society is a not-for-profit organization of 26 print, broadcast and Internet film critics based in the Greater Metropolitan Houston area. Its membership includes critics not only from all the major Houston-area outlets but also from national publications and websites and respected Hollywood trade publications.
@ m1,
not joking… the worst Scott can do is a good film. When he does great he does Masterpieces like Thelma&Louise, Alien, Blade Runner. I didn’t love all his pictures (I hate G.I: Jane or Kingdom of Heaven) but he is a master and every film he has directed so far is somehow something I cannot link to a “worst film of the year” list.
A worst film category that has a Ridley Scott film nominated in it is beyond reason.
I hope you are joking. Have you seen that awful Robin Hood movie he did a few years ago?
Having a worst film category is fine, and it usually turns out better than this, but when critics don’t review bad movies, only ones they want to see, it sort of cancels out the point and leaves them with only films that dissapointed them to vote on.
Mark yo answer your question about why they didn’t nominate Marion Cotillard is because most of them didn’t see Rust & Bone. Screeners were not mailed out and most of them only see things that interest them.
I can’t take serious any critics group that puts Anna Karenina on their worst movies list. I didn’t fall in love with it but that is a quality production.
And I hope the Kansas critics vote for Marion Cotillard to Best Actress of the year, the same the Dallas critics group and Southeastern critics group.
Why the critics of Houston don’t nominee Marion Cotillard? I’m really tired to see how the stupid critics group don’t nominee Marion Cotillard when she gave the best female performance of this year
Having a Worst Film category is so unnecessary.
I wish McConaughey was winning awards for Killer Joe rather than Magic Mike.
Yay! For nominating Cloud Atlas. Not perfect, probably not the Best Picture, but a staggering work of art.
John Goodman (Flight) should be in the Supporting Actor buzz.
And Goodman is better than Arkin in Argo.
You know I’ve been mulling over the inclusion this year of Matthew McConaughey in the supporting actor category for Magic Mike. I’ve seen Magic Mike and honestly it’s an ok film not great. I thought it threw some great curves into the plot line and gave the actors a bit more to work with than this type of genre might have. I liked Channing Tatum’s performance and I thought that McConaughey really played against anything I’ve seen him play before. I’m still not sure that I buy into the McConaughey as a Supporting Actor nominee but his performance in Magic Mike is surely as good if not better than Alan Arkin’s in Argo. Still on the fence about McConaughey but he certainly should be in the conversation.
Agreed. Best Film provides recognition to artists and their art. Worst Film serves no purpose other than to humour the people who voted for it. Smug and insulting. Daft choices for Worst Film, too.
Worst film is a bit rough and unnecessary, but glad to see some overdue love for Cloud Atlas.
Although distributing a worst film award diminushes their credibility, I think they are the first group to call the Oscar Directing leneup. Les Mis, in my opinion, is Benjamin Button/ Gangs of New York all over again. Loads of nominations, some troubling reviews and a directing nom. But winning BP? Forget about it. Unless Argo or ZDT win both DGA and PGA, Lincoln easily takes BP. And Django is on fire and I guess took the momentum from SLP and The Master from The Weinstein Company films.
Worst Film Cathegory makes Houstin Film Critics less serious in my eyes, especially when Anna Karenina and Prometheus are nominated with Battleship ( horrific movie) and The Three Stoges
I really like the McConaughey nomination. I think he deserves an Oscar nom for that role.
A worst film category is for kiddies and MTV Awards. Putting up Prometheus there is just ridiculous.
A group of critics, like this Houston Film Critic Society, that votes for the worst film has not credibility at all in my opinion. A worst film category that has a Ridley Scott film nominated in it is beyond reason.
I must say that having a ‘worst film’ category is pretty fucking rank. Films are lucky to even see the light of day, even by the most seasoned professionals.
Each and everyone one of you that participated in that vote is no lover of film.
I have no interest in what you say, nominate or otherwise.
Prometheus and Anna worst films – yikes – tough crowd considering the shite that is really out there. No De Niro = stupid stupid stupid – otherwise pretty run of the mill and in line with most others!
I just want to meet someone who actually thinks Alan Arkin gave a better performance in Argo than Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook.
Prometheus is stunning to look at and a fun pastiche of sci-fi concepts. Hating on it is sort of stupid. It’s goofy in a good way, Houston haters.
kind of petty and immature of them to put anna karenina among their worst
Cloud Atlas for BP = EPIC WIN!
Anna Karenina worst film? Damn. I didn’t love it, but I thought at least the style and visuals were at least good enough to warrant a watch.
Glad someone finally nominated “The Song of the Lonely Mountain.” Despite the disappointment some have in the movie (I saw it this afternoon and thought it was pretty wonderful), I’ve liked the song since it was released.
Anna Karenina for worst film. Oh dear…..
I love that they gave Cloud Atlas a Best Picture nomination. Absolutely love it. Not so much because I love the film–though I like it–but because it’s nice to see an anomaly in a semi-full awards season, and because it was a fascinating and ambitious, if flawed, work.
The Worst Film nom for Prometheus is silly. Even recognizing its faults, I would take it over Argo, Beasts, or Life of Pi any day.
Cloud Atlas as BP nominee = Houston, you have a problem. Instant evaporation of cred for your critics circle…
Cheers for cinematography nomination for Life of Pi and nominations for Bardem and Adele – Jeers to a worst nomination for Prometheus!