'Hugo' and 'The Artist' Top the Broadcast Film Critics' Nominations

"Hugo" and "The Artist," two films that pay tribute to the early days of moviemaking, led the pack with 11 nominations each as the Broadcast Film Critics Association announced its nominees Tuesday for its 17th annual Critics Choice Movie Awards.

They were followed closely by "The Help" and, in a surprising show of strength for a genre-based movie, "Drive," with eight noms each, while "The Descendants" and "War Horse" both collected seven noms.

The BFCA, which is comprised of more than 250 TV, radio and online critics, prides itself as being a predictor of Academy Award nominations, although its extensive list of nominations outlines the general field without actually suggesting who will make the final cut. That's particularly true this year, since the critics have nominated 10 movies for best picture, while the Academy could settle on as few as five films.

Rounding out the BFCA's top 10, in addition to the above-mentioned movies, are "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," "Midnight in Paris," "Moneyball" and "The Tree of Life."

In addition, while the Academy will nominate five performers in each of its acting categories, the BFCA stacks the deck with six noms each.

Its best actor line-up includes established leading men such as George Clooney ("Descendants"), Leonardo DiCaprio ("J. Edgar") and Brad Pitt ("Moneyball") as well as rising stars like Ryan Gosling ("Drive"), Michael Fassbender ("Shame") and France's Jean Dujardin ("The Artist"). Clooney actually picked up three noms, since he also shares in acting ensemble nominations that went to "Descendants" and "The Ides of March," and he now holds the record for the most Critics Choice nominations -- 13.

Among the actresses, Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady") will be contesting for her third Critics Choice Award; she previously won best actress for "Doubt" and "Julie & Julia." She will be competing with Viola Davis ("The Help"), Elizabeth Olsen ("Martha Marcy May Marlene"), Tilda Swinton ("We Need to Talk About Kevin"), Charlize Theron ("Young Adult") and Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn").

Martin Scorsese, who was nominated for directing "Hugo," also picked up a second nom for his documentary "George Harrison Living in the Material World" and is guaranteed not to go home empty handed when the Critics Choice Awards are held Jan. 12 at the Hollywood Palladium with a live broadcast on VH1. The group previously announced that it also plans to give him its Music+Film Award.

In the directing contest, he will face off against Stephen Daldry ("Loud"), Michel Hazanavicius ("Artist"), Alexander Payne ("Descendants"), Nicolas Winding Refn ("Drive") and Steven Spielberg ("Horse").

In the best supporting actor category, Andy Serkis broke new ground by earning a mention for his performance capture work in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." The category also embraced Kenneth Branaugh ("Marilyn"), Albert Brooks ("Drive"), Nick Nolte ("Warrior"), Patton Oswalt ("Young Adult") and Christopher Plummer ("Beginners").

Two of the actresses from "The Help," Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer, picked up supporting nominations. Their competition consists of Berenice Bejo ("Artist"), Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids"), Carey Mulligan ("Shame") and Shailene Woodley ("Descendants").

For best acting ensemble -- a category that the Screen Actors Guild will also serve up when it announces its nominations Wednesday -- the nominees are "Artist," "Bridesmaids," "Descendants," "Help," and "Ides."

The animated movies that nailed down nominations are "The Adventures of Tintin," "Arthur Christmas," "Kung Fu Panda 2," "Puss in Boots" and "Rango."

For all of the BFCA's largesse, though -- the group showered three of its five best song nominations on tunes from "The Muppets" -- several movies still came up short.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" had just four nominations, all in crafts categories. Beyond DiCaprio's best actor nom, "J. Edgar" got just one other nomination for its makeup -- nothing for director Clint Eastwood. "Albert Nobbs" also got a makeup nom, but nothing for its actresses Glenn Close and Janet McTeer. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" got only two mentions, for its editing and its score. And the spy tale "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and the financial thriller "Margin Call" were ignored altogether.

– The Hollywood Reporter