Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

The next big critics group chimes in and it's another win for There Will Be Blood, which picked up directing and acting wins as well. Amy Ryan and Marion Cotillard show up again but Javier Bardem loses out for the first time — to an actor from 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, a Romanian film about abortion that picked up quite a few awards from the New York Critics.

Here we have the first mention of Once, for Best Music. Without some more attention in the early awards, that film is probably looking at a Best Song nomination (or two) and little else come Oscar time.

BEST PICTURE
There Will Be Blood
Runner Up: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Runner-up: Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
Runner-up: Anamaria Marinca, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days

ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Runner-up: Frank Langella, Starting Out in the Evening

SCREENPLAY
Tamara Jenkins, The Savages
Runner-up: There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Runner-up: Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Vlad Ivanov, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
Runner-up: Hal Holbrook, Into The Wild

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
Runner-up: The Diving Bell & The Butterfly

DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTION FILM
No End in Sight directed by Charles Ferguson
Runner-up: Sicko, Michael Moore

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Jack Fisk, There Will Be Blood
Runner-up: Dante Ferretti, Sweeney Todd

ANIMATION
tie - Ratatouille (Brad Bird) and
Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud/Marjane Satrapi)

MUSIC
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Once
Runner-up: Johnny Greenwood, There Will Be Blood

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Janusz Kaminski, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Runner-up: Robert Elswit, There Will Be Blood

NEW GENERATION
Sarah Polley - Away from Her

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
Sidney Lumet

New York Online Film Critics Awards

More hardware for Diving Bell — the question is whether it can be the rare foreign film to cross over into the Best Picture category — and the first mention of Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood. We probably won't get that film until after the New Year, but I'm excited to see it make the cut here.

Javier Bardem makes it three for three, and Cate Blanchett gets her first award on her way to a sure Oscar nomination. The younger Online Film Critics group shows some love to Wes Anderson, with a screenplay award and a spot in the top ten list, but I doubt that will be the start of a trend.

BEST PICTURE
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (tie)
There Will Be Blood (tie)

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie – Away From Her

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – I'm Not There

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
There Will Be Blood – Robert Elswit

BEST SCREENPLAY
The Darjeeling Limited – Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman, Roman Coppola

BEST FOREIGN PICTURE
The Lives of Others (tie)
Persepolis (tie)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Sicko

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Persepolis

BEST MUSIC/SCORE
There Will Be Blood – Jonny Greenwood

BEST BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE
Ellen Page – Juno

BEST DEBUT AS DIRECTOR
Sarah Polley – Away From Her

BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

BEST PICTURES (alphabetical)
Atonement (Focus Features)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (THINKFilm)
The Darjeeling Limited (Fox Searchlight)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Miramax)
I'm Not There (The Weinstein Company)
Juno (Fox Searchlight)
Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.)
No Country for Old Men (Miramax)
Persepolis (Sony Pictures Classics)
Sweeney Todd (DreamWorks)
There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage)

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Awards

Another win for No Country, which bodes well for the Coen Brothers. Oscar nods for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actor seem be to pretty much locks at this point.

Julie Christie is also in good shape, and here we see George Clooney's name show up for the first time. He's an Academy favorite who could well land in the Best Actor race. The actor who should be happiest about the first two announcements is Amy Ryan, recognized for her work in Gone Baby Gone. Her performance was singled out by just about every critic, but she and the film are low profile and need all the momentum they can get to make it to Oscar.

Best Film
No Country for Old Men

Best Director
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)

Best Actor
George Clooney (Michael Clayton)

Best Actress
Julie Christie (Away From Her)

Best Ensemble
No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)

Best Breakthrough Performance
Ellen Page (Juno)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin (Charlie Wilson's War)

Best Original Screenplay
Diablo Cody (Juno)

Best Animated Feature
Ratatouille

Best Foreign Language Film
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly

Best Documentary
Sicko

Best Art Direction
Sweeney Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

The first of the big four critics awards are in, with New York, Los Angeles and Chicago to follow soon. Then we'll see awards from pretty much every city in the United States. "Sean Penn named Best Director by the Little Rock Film Critics Circle!" I believe my parents make up the voting committee for Middlebury, Vermont.

As for the Boston picks, I'm very happy about No Country For Old Men and Javier Bardem, Marion Cotillard's Best Actress win and Brad Bird winning screenplay honors for Ratatouille. Also of note: A very good showing here for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which could wind up as a major player at the Oscars.

Best Picture: No Country For Old Men

Best Actor: Frank Langella for Starting Out in the Evening

Best Actress: Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone

Best Director: Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Screenplay: Brad Bird for Ratatouille

Best Cinematography: Janusz Kaminski for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Documentary: Crazy Love

Best Foreign-Language Film: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best New Filmmaker: Ben Affleck for Gone Baby Gone

Best Ensemble Cast: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead