THE DESCENDANTS was chosen on Sunday as 2011's Best Film by The Los Angles Film Critics Association. The film, directed by Alexander Payne stars actor George Clooney as a father trying to care for his daughters after his wife falls into an accident-induced coma. The runner up for 'best film' at this year's awards was 'The Tree of Life'.
Also receiving prizes at the 37th Annual LA Film Critics Association Awards were:
Best Director - Terrance Malick, 'The Tree of Life'
Runner Up, Martub Scorsese, 'Hugo'
Best Actor - Michael Fassbender, "A Dangerous Method', 'Jane Eyre', 'Shame', 'X-Men First Class'
Runner Up, Michael Shannonm 'Take Shelter'
Best Actress - Yun Jung-Hee, 'Poetry'
Runner Up, Kristen Dunst 'Melancholia'
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, “Beginners.”
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain in six films: “Coriolanus,” “The Debt,” “The Help,” “Take Shelter,” “Texas Killing Fields” and “The Tree Of Life.”
Best Independent or Experimental Film: “Spark of Being.”
Best documentary or nonfiction film: “Cave Of Forgotten Dreams,” Werner Herzog.
Best production design: Emanuel Lubezki, “The Tree Of Life.”
Best music or score: The Chemical Brothers, “Hanna.”
Best animated film: “Rango.”
Best screenplay: Ashgar Farhadi, “A Separation.”
Best foreign film, “City Of Life And Death.”
Founded in 1975, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is comprised of Los Angeles-based, professional film critics working in the Los Angeles print and electronic media.
Each December, LAFCA members vote on the year’s Achievement Awards, honoring screen excellence on both sides of the camera. Plaques of recognition are presented to winners during LAFCA’s annual ceremony, held in mid-January.
Aside from honoring each year’s outstanding cinematic achievements, LAFCA has also made it a point to look back and pay tribute to distinguished industry veterans with its annual Career Achievement Award (which is announced in October), as well as to look forward by spotlighting fresh, promising talent with its annual New Generation Award.
Over the years, LAFCA Career Achievement winners have included filmmakers John Huston, Orson Welles and Billy Wilder, actors Robert Mitchum, Barbara Stanwyck, Myrna Loy and Robert Preston, producer Roger Corman, and, more recently, cinematographer Conrad L. Hall and composer Ennio Morricone.
