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

Terrence Malick and his Tree of Life continue to roll at 2011 SFFCC Awards

Best Picture
The Tree of Life

Best Director
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Best Original Screenplay
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call

Best Adapted Screenplay
Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Colin Firth continues streak at European Film Awards; Melancholia surprises

Kirsten Dunst stars as Justine in Lars von Trier's "Melancholia," which picked up 3 awards Friday

After a 2010-2011 awards season that saw Colin Firth snatch up about every “Best Actor” trophy for his portrayal of King George VI in Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech, you’d think it would all be over? But no. In what appears to be the aftermath of differing release dates or of eligibility periods, Colin Firth nabbed the “Best Actor” accolade from the 2,500-member strong European Film Academy. The group, comprised exclusively of film producers, composers, screenwriters, and directors, handed out it’s top prize, “Best Film,” to a surprising awardee: Melancholia. Lars von Trier’s apocalyptic epic starring Kirsten Dunst and Keifer Sutherland nabbed the former a “Best Actress” honor at the Cannes Film Festival, but other nominated, more “awards-friendly” films like The Artist and The King’s Speech figured more probable winners. Melancholia also picked up awards for “Best Cinematographer” and “Best Production Designer,” tying it with The King’s Speech at 3 wins, the most of all nominated films. The other winners and nominees from the 24th Annual European Film Awards are as follows:

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.