Awards: AFI Names Best Of 2011; LA And Boston Critic Groups Honor 'The Descendants' And 'The Artist'

We're getting into the full swing of the awards season for 2011, and this evening four organizations announced their picks for best achievement in film in 2011. The biggest group is the American Film Institute, which released a simple unranked list of ten 'movies of the year,' which includes Bridesmaids, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo and The Tree of Life.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association named The Descendants as best picture of 2011, while the Boston Society of Film Critics named The Artist best film of the year, which was also voted as the top film by the New York Film Critics Online.

Lists from all four organizations are below.

AFI

MOVIES OF THE YEAR

Bridesmaids

The Descendants

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The Help

Hugo

J. Edgar

Midnight In Paris

Moneyball

The Tree Of Life

War Horse

TV PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR

Breaking Bad

Boardwalk Empire

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Game Of Thrones

The Good Wife

Homeland

Justified

Louie

Modern Family

Parks And Recreation

SPECIAL AWARDS

The Artist

The Harry Potter Series

Los Angeles Film Critics Association

BEST PICTURE: The Descendants

Runner-Up: The Tree of Life

BEST ANIMATION: Rango

Runner-Up: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

BEST DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Runner-Up: Martin Scorsese, Hugo

BEST ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class

Runner-Up: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

BEST ACTRESS: Yun Jung-hee, Poetry

Runner-Up: Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: City of Life and Death

Runner-Up: A Separation

BEST INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL: Spark of Being

BEST DOCUMENTARY/NONFICTION: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Runner- Up: The Arbor

BEST SCREENPLAY: Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

Runner-Up: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Runner-Up: Patton Oswalt, Young Adult

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, Tree of Life

Runner-Up: Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life

Runner-Up: Cao Yu, City of Life and Death

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Dante Ferretti, Hugo

Runner-Up: Maria Djurkovic, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

BEST MUSIC/SCORE: The Chemical Brothers, Hanna

Runner-Up: Cliff Martinez, Drive

NEW GENERATION: The creative team behind Martha Marcy May Marlene (Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin, Josh Mond and Elizabeth Olsen)

Boston Society of Film Critics

Best Picture: The Artist

Runners-up: Hugo and Margaret

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Runner-up: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Best Actor: Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Runners-up: George Clooney, The Decendants and Michael Fassbender, Shame

Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Runner-up: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Runner-up: Jeannie Berlin, Margaret

Best Screenplay: Moneyball

Runner-up: Margaret

Best Foreign Film: Incendies

Runners-up: A Separation and Poetry

Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life

Runner-up: Hugo

Best Documentary: Project Nim

Runner-up: Bill Cunningham, New York

Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer): The Clock

Runner-up: Hugo

Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy): Sean Durkin, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Runner-up: JC Chandor, Margin Call

Best Ensemble Cast: Carnage

Runner-up: Margaret

Best Use of Music in a Film: The Artist and Drive

Runner-up: The Descendants

New York Film Critics Online

Picture: The Artist

Actor: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Breakthrough Performer: Jessica Chastain, Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, The Tree of Life

Debut Director: Joe Cornish, Attack The Block

Ensemble Cast: Bridesmaids

Screenplay: The Descendants

Documentary: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Foreign Language: A Separation

Animated: The Adventures of Tintin

Cinematography: The Tree of Life

Film Music or Score: The Artist