The Artist, Downton Abbey, Mildred Pierce top Golden Globe noms

Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo, stars of "The Artist," have struck gold in black and white.

Todd Haynes's HBO miniseries remake of the 1945 film starring Bette Davis holds 4 nominations, including 1 for its star Kate Winslet.

The “indie” film critics and awards organizations apparently love to love, The Artist, leads all works nominated with 6 of the big ones. The Descendants and The Help follow closely with 5. Of the TV nominees, Todd Haynes’s Kate Winslet-starring period-piece remake Mildred Pierce and PBS’s Downton Abbey lead with 4 nominations.

Film

Best Motion Picture – Drama

• The Descendants
• The Help
• Hugo
• The Ides of March
• Moneyball
• War Horse

Best Motion Picture – Comedy

• 50/50
• The Artist
• Bridesmaids
• Midnight in Paris
• My Week with Marilyn

The Descendants best, Your Highness worst in Houston

Winners from the 5th annual Houston Film Critics Society (HFCS) Awards:

Best Picture

• The Descendants, Fox Searchlight

Best Director

• Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive

Best Actor

• Michael Fassbender, Shame

Best Actress

• Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

The Descendants, Terrence Malick surprise at 37th LAFCA Awards

• Best Picture:
  • The Descendants
  • Runner-up: The Tree of Life

• Best Director:
  • Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
  • Runner-up: Martin Scorsese – Hugo

• Best Actor:
  • Michael Fassbender – A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame and X-Men: First Class
  • Runner-up: Michael Shannon – Take Shelter

• Best Actress:
  • Yoon Jeong-hee – Poetry (Shi)
  • Runner-up: Kirsten Dunst – Melancholia

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.

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.