"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" was one of a very few films added to the awards circuit by the BFCA.

"War Horse" was another one of those (un)expected nominees.

The BFCA Awards, more popularly known as the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, decided that this year was not the year to change it up. They usually don’t though. With a 10-nominee listing for movies and 6 nominees apiece for the acting and directing categories, the BFCAs usually provide that one hopeful/forgotten/unexpected nominee while still staying well within the bounds of expected nominees. In very expected fashion, Hugo and The Artist lead all nominees with 11 each. There are a few surprises, though. 9/11 family drama with a Hugo-esque father-son dynamic Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, directed by always Oscar-nominated director Stephe Daldry, and War Horse, Steven Spielberg’s World War I epic adapted from a novel and stage play of the same name, are recent additions to the “Best Picture” and “Best Director” fields; they’ll be showing up more often in future awards shows. Charlize Theron, Ryan Gosling, and Carey Mulligan were surprising but not entirely unexpected finds among the acting nominees. One glaring omission from the directing list is Terrence Malick, who about ties Martin Scorsese for most wins thus far. The more expected fare appears below.

Nominees:
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse


BEST ACTOR

Nominees:
George Clooney – The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio – J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Michael Fassbender – Shame
Ryan Gosling – Drive
Brad Pitt – Moneyball


BEST ACTRESS

Nominees:
Viola Davis – The Help
Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Charlize Theron – Young Adult
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Nominees:
Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks – Drive
Nick Nolte – Warrior
Patton Oswalt – Young Adult
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Andrew Serkis – Rise of the Planet of the Apes


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Nominees:
Berenice Bejo – The Artist
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Carey Mulligan – Shame
Octavia Spencer – The Help
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants


BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Nominees:
Asa Butterfield – Hugo
Elle Fanning – Super 8
Thomas Horn – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Ezra Miller – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Saoirse Ronan – Hanna
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants


BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

Nominees:
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Help
The Ides of March


BEST DIRECTOR

Nominees:
Stephen Daldry – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Steven Spielberg – War Horse


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Nominees:
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
50/50 – Will Reiser
Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
Win Win – Screenplay by Tom McCarthy, Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
Young Adult – Diablo Cody


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Nominees:
The Descendants – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – Eric Roth
The Help – Tate Taylor
Hugo – John Logan
Moneyball – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, Story by Stan Chervin


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Nominees:
The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman
Drive – Newton Thomas Sigel
Hugo – Robert Richardson
The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki
War Horse – Janusz Kaminski


BEST ART DIRECTION

Nominees:
The Artist – Production Designer: Laurence Bennett, Art Director: Gregory S. Hooper
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – Production Designer: Stuart Craig, Set Decorator: Stephenie McMillan
Hugo – Production Designer: Dante Ferretti, Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo
The Tree of Life – Production Designer: Jack Fisk, Art Director: David Crank
War Horse – Production Designer: Rick Carter, Set Decorator: Lee Sandales


BEST EDITING

Nominees:
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius and Anne-Sophie Bion
Drive – Matthew Newman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker
War Horse – Michael Kahn


BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Nominees:
The Artist – Mark Bridges
The Help – Sharen Davis
Hugo – Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre – Michael O’Connor
My Week With Marilyn – Jill Taylor


BEST MAKEUP

Nominees:
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Iron Lady
J. Edgar
My Week With Marilyn


BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Nominees:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
The Tree of Life


BEST SOUND

Nominees:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Super 8
The Tree of Life
War Horse


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Nominees:
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango


BEST ACTION MOVIE

Nominees:
Drive
Fast Five
Hanna
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8


BEST COMEDY

Nominees:
Bridesmaids
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Horrible Bosses
Midnight in Paris
The Muppets


BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Nominees:
In Darkness
Le Havre
A Separation
The Skin I Live In
Where Do We Go Now


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Nominees:
Buck
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Page One: Inside the New York Times
Project Nim
Undefeated


BEST SONG

Nominees:
“Hello Hello” – performed by Elton John and Lady Gaga/written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin –Gnomeo & Juliet
“Life’s a Happy Song” – performed by Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie –The Muppets
“The Living Proof” – performed by Mary J. Blige/written by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman and Harvey Mason, Jr. – The Help
“Man or Muppet” – performed by Jason Segel and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – The Muppets
“Pictures in My Head” – performed by Kermit and the Muppets/written by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis and Chen Neeman – The Muppets


BEST SCORE

Nominees:
The Artist – Ludovic Bource
Drive – Cliff Martinez
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Hugo – Howard Shore
War Horse – John Williams