Brendan Gleeson: San Diego Film Critics Announce 2011 Nominees: ABOUT.COM

By Rebecca Murray

 

The San Diego Film Critics Society (of which I'm a member) just announced their nominees for the best of 2011. We normally don't march to the beat of other critics groups, and this year's no exception. Notable differences between SDFCS' selections and other groups is the inclusion of Drive in the Best Film category, Brit Marling in the Best Actress group for her outstanding work in Another Earth, Brendan Gleeson for The Guard as Best Actor, and Jessica Chastain for The Help in the Supporting Actress category (our rules do not allow us to combine the work of an actor in multiple films under one nomination).
Also standing out from the pack of already-announced nominees and winners, the SDFCS included Andy Serkis' performance in a motion capture suit bringing Caesar the ape to life in Rise of the Planet of the Apes in the Best Supporting category (a category loaded with possible nominees this year) and gave a nod to the much-overlooked performance of Nick Nolte in Warrior.

Here are highlight's from the SDFCS list of 2011 nominees:

Best Film - Drive, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, The Artist, and The Tree of Life
Best Director - Martin Scorsese (Hugo), Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive), Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life), and Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)

Best Actress - Brit Marling (Another Earth), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), and Viola Davis (The Help)

Best Actor - Brad Pitt (Moneyball), Brendan Gleeson (The Guard), George Clooney (The Descendants), Jean Dejardin (The Artist), and Michael Shannon (Take Shelter)

Best Supporting Actress - Bérénice Bejo (The Artist), Carey Mulligan (Shame), Jessica Chastain (The Help), Mélanie Laurent (Beginners), and Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)

Best Supporting Actor - Albert Brooks (Drive), Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Christopher Plummer (Beginners), Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), and Nick Nolte (Warrior)

Best Ensemble Performance - Carnage, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Margin Call, Midnight in Paris, and The Help

For a full list of the nominees, visit the San Diego Film Critics Society website. Voting for the winners takes place on December 14, 2011.
_{(Photo from Drive © FilmDistrict)}


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