Spirit Award Nominations And New York Critics Winners Announced

And with that, the Oscar race is on! Tuesday (Nov 29) morning was a busy one for the films hoping to vie for Academy Awards in February. The NY Film Critics Circle listed its winners and the Film Independent Spirits announced its nominations simultaneously in a couple hours of dizzying Oscar buzz. Both awards are usually the earliest indication of which films could lead the pack when it comes time to announce the Academy Award nominees in January. The NYFCC were so early this year, in fact, that they had to delay their awards until after screening David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," to which they awarded nothing. Perhaps the biggest story coming out of both announcements was the emergence of Michael Hazanavicius's ode to golden-era silent film, "The Artist," as perhaps an early front-runner for Best Picture. The film had earned raves during the festival circuit a few months ago, but faced minor backlash during it's limited release last week. Now with a Best Picture and Best Director win from the NYFCC, "The Artist" is the film to beat. A welcome surprise came with Brad Pitt's NYFCC Best Actor win for both "Moneyball" and "Tree of Life." Meryl Streep earned the first of her expected many wins for "The Iron Lady." While the Spirit Awards focus on smaller films, the nominations cemented "Beginners" status as the indie charmer hit of the year. The movie, which stars Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer, surprised the night before when it won Best Ensemble and shared Best Picture with "Tree of Life" at the Gotham Independent Film Awards. Check out both the winners from the NY Film Critics Circle and Spirit Award nominations below. Spirit Award Nominations Best Feature 50/50 Beginners Drive Take Shelter The Artist The Descendants Best Director Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist Mike Mills, Beginners Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter Alexander Payne, The Descendants Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive Best Screenplay Joseph Cedar, Footnote Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist Tom McCarthy, Win Win Mike Mills, Beginners Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants Best First Feature Another Earth In the Family Margin Call Martha Marcy May Marlene Natural Selection Director Best First Screenplay Mike Cahill, Brit Marling, Another Earth J.C. Chandor, Margin Call Patrick deWitt, Terri Phil Johnston, Cedar Rapids Will Reiser, 50/50 John Cassavetes Award Given to the best feature made for under $500,000 Bellflower Circumstance Hello Lonesome Pariah The Dynamiter Best Female Lead Lauren Ambrose, Think of Me Rachael Harris, Natural Selection Adepero Oduye, Pariah Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn Best Male Lead Demin Bichir, A Better Life Jean Dujardin, The Artist Ryan Gosling, Drive Woody Harrelson, Rampart Michael Shannon, Take Shelter Best Supporting Female Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter Anjelica Huston, 50/50 Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs Harmony Santana, Gun Hill Road Shailene Woodley, The Descendants Best Supporting Male Albert Brooks, Drive John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene Christopher Plummer, Beginners John C. Reilly, Cedar Rapids Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris Best Cinematography Joel Hodge, Bellflower Benjamin Kasulke, The Off Hours Darius Khondji, Midnight in Paris Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist Jeffrey Waldron, The Dynamiter Best Documentary An African Election Bill Cunningham NY The Interrupters The Redemption of General Butt Naked We Were Here Best International Film A Separation Melancholia Shame The Kid With a Bike Tyrannosaur NY Film Critics Circle Winners Best First Feature: "Margin Call" Best Nonfiction Film: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain for "Tree of Life," "The Help" and "Take Shelter" Best Actress: Meryl Streep for "The Iron Lady" Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks for "Drive" Best Actor: Brad Pitt for "Moneyball," and "Tree of Life" Best Foreign Language Film: "A Separation" Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for "The Artist" Best Screenplay: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for "Moneyball" Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for "Tree of Life" 2011 Special Award to be given posthumously to filmmaker Raoul Ruiz Best Picture: "The Artist" Tell us what you think of the awards news in the comments section and on Twitter!