Movies News

The Artist named best film by NY critics, leads indie nominations

Nov 30, 2011, 11:38 GMT

Los Angeles - The Artist, a silent movie that pays homage to the golden age of Hollywood before the advent of talking pictures, was named the year's best picture Tuesday by the influential New York Film Critics Association.

The nostalgic film by French director Michel Hazanavicius also garnered a leading five nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards, the premier US competition for independently funded movies, emerging as an early front-runner for the Oscars.

Also competing for best picture at the Spirit Awards was the joint leading nominee, Take Shelter, the wry cancer tale 50/50, action thriller Drive and the family dramas Beginners and The Descendants. The Artist earned a lead actor nomination for Jean Dujardin, as well as director and screenplay nominations for Michel Hazanavicius and cinematography for Guillaume Schiffman.

Michelle Williams earned a lead actress nod for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn. She competes with Lauren Ambrose (Think of Me), Rachael Harris (Natural Selection), Adepero Oduye (Pariah) and Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene).