The Artist, Scorsese top D.C. Area film awards

Michelle Williams was one of a couple of "surprise" awardees when the awards were announced earlier today.

Octavia Spencer joined her, winning unexpectedly in the "Supporting" category.

Like many other regional awards organizations, the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association is young — 8 years exactly. As a rookie, the association, made up of 34 Washington D.C.-area film critics in television, radio, print, and Internet, has largely stuck to the script for the past few years. This year though, the members changed it up a bit. Michelle Williams was one of the odd choices this year. Though certainly a strong contender for this year’s “Best Actress,” Williams’s win over early frontrunners like Meryl Streep, Tilda Swinton, and Viola Davis, for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn, a film with mixed critical reviews, was definitely unexpected. Octavia Spencer was another surprising pick at this point, winning for her role as feisty maid Minny Jackson in The Help. The Artist added another honor to its “Best Picture” pile, over other favorites like Hugo and The Descendants. Hugo didn’t go away empty-handed though, winning “Best Director” for Martin Scorsese as well as “Best Art Direction.” George Clooney jumped to the front of the “Best Actor” race with his win for The Descendants, which also won for “Best Adapted Screenplay.” Other winners below.

Martin Scorsese’s Hugo tops 83rd NBR Awards

Asa Butterfield (left) plays the titular character and Chloë Grace Moretz (right) plays his friend Isabelle in Martin Scorsese's fantasy film.

Hugo, adapted from Brian Selznick’s historical-fiction novel The Invention of Hugo Cabaret, received universal acclaim and most recently won the hearts of National Board of Review members. The Martin Scorsese-directed film, about an orphaned boy from the 1930s who lives in a train station fixing one special clock he believes contains a message from his father, also snagged Martin Scorsese the “Best Director” award. It won the top spot out of the NBR’s unique “Top 10 films of…” annual list. George Clooney won “Best Actor” for his lead performance in The Descendants, Tilda Swinton prevented Meryl Streep from gaining yet more momentum with her “Best Actress” win for her work in We Need to Talk about Kevin; and the NBR continued its love affair with Clint Eastwood, honoring his decently reviewed biopic J. Edgar as one of the top 10 films of the year. Rango received the “Best Animated Feature” award and the entire Harry Potter franchise was award a “Special Achievement Award.” The rest of the winners and “top” films after the break.

Gotham Awards begin the awards season anew

Elizabeth Olsen (left) as Martha, a young woman who runs away from her cult for a "normal" life, in Durkin's "Martha Marcy May Marlene."

It’s pretty early. The Emmys finished up about a month ago and here we’re back — handing out awards! Or writing about them at least. The Gotham Awards, in this their 21st edition, gave The Descendants, a tragicomic film starring George Clooney by Sideways director Alexander Payne, and first-time director Sean Durkin’s psychological thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene the most nominations at 3. Elizabeth Olsen, the lead in Marlene and younger sister of do-it-all duo Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, scored rave reviews and a “Breakthrough Actor” nomination for her performance as the cult escapee Martha. Oscar nominee John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone) also appears in Durkin’s film, as the charismatic cult leader Patrick. Terrence Malick’s epic The Tree of Life (starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn), about faith in a 1950s Midwestern family, is also nominated in “Best Feature.” Acclaimed acting veteran Vera Farmiga and her directing debut Higher Ground, another faith-questioner on a larger scale (a tight-knit community), face off against Durkin and Marlene in the “Breakthrough Director” category.

Clooney as Matt King, a man dealing with a mid-life crisis and a Hawaiin house sale after his wife's death, in Alexander Payne's "The Descendants."

If you haven’t heard of any of these films (and you’re feeling guilty), no worries. The Gotham Awards, though its parent organization has the largest membership for an organization devoted to independent film, nominates films solely from the U.S.’s Northeastern region (i.e. New York films, with occasional works from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, thrown in there) in only 6 categories. It’s little competition but it can be a telling precursor for more glamorous, future awards; just ask The Hurt Locker, Winter’s Bone, and Melissa Leo.