ARGO, LINCOLN Top CRITICS CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS; Winners Announced!

The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) announced the winners of the 18th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards last night. Hosted by KTLA anchor Sam Rubin, the ceremony aired live on The CW for the first time, from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, with "Argo" taking home the prize for Best Picture, and Ben Affleck winning the award for best director for the film.

Other big winners of the night included: Daniel Day-Lewis winning the Best Actor trophy for his performance in "Lincoln," Jessica Chastain awarded Best Actress for her role in "Zero Dark Thirty," Jennifer Lawrence receiving both Best Actress in a Comedy and Best Actress in an Action Movie, and Quvenzhane Wallis winning as Best Young Actress for her breakout performance in "Beasts of the Southern Wild."

Writer-producer-director Judd Apatow received the "Critics' Choice Louis XIII Genius Award," presented to him by Rebel Wilson. The award was created to honor "an unprecedented demonstration of excellence in the cinematic arts."

Movie fans also voted for Twilight as their favorite film franchise, in the first ever fan-voted award in the history of the Critics' Choice Movie Awards. The other nominees included: Batman, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, James Bond/007, Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Toy Story.

Nominees in attendance included: Amy Adams; Ben Affleck; Christian Bale; Kathryn Bigelow; Jack Black; Emily Blunt; Gina Carano; Jessica Chastain; George Clooney; Bradley Cooper; Marion Cotillard; Daniel Day-Lewis; Robert De Niro; Ann Dowd; Elle Fanning; Sally Field; John Goodman; Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Anne Hathaway; John Hawkes; Kara Hayward; Tom Holland; Tom Hooper; Helen Hunt; Hugh Jackman; Tommy Lee Jones; Jennifer Lawrence; Ang Lee; Leslie Mann; Matthew McConaughey; Joaquin Phoenix; David O. Russell; Amanda Seyfried; Suraj Sharma; Steven Spielberg; Omar Sy; Chris Tucker; Quvenzhane Wallis; Naomi Watts; Jacki Weaver; and Rebel Wilson.

Presenters at the gala included: THE Vampire Diaries stars Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley; star of Hart Of Dixie Jaime King; Henry Cavill; Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Famke Janssen; Melissa Leo; Ray Liotta; Eva Longoria; Matthew McConaughey; Cory Monteith; Rob Riggle; Emmy Rossum and Octavia Spencer.

The Critics' Choice Movie Awards are bestowed annually by the BFCA to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. The BFCA is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing more than 270 television, radio and online critics. BFCA members are the primary source of information for today's film going public. Eligible films were released in 2012. The accounting firm of CMM, LLP tallied the written ballots.

Since its inception in 1995, the Critics' Choice Movie Awards has been a star-studded bellwether event of the movie awards season. Historically, the Critics' Choice Movie Awards are the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations. 28 of 34 of this year's Academy Award nominees for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress were also Critics' Choice Movie Award nominees.