The winners have been announced. The Best Animated Film category seems to have been sidelined this year, but otherwise, the results are below. If an award is presented to Best Animated Film, I will update what follows.

My thoughts: This is a big win for The Artist, which from all appearances, is one of the year’s locked Best Picture nominees. The Tree of Life got healthy notices, but will still face an uphill battle with the Academy. Moneyball likewise got a boost as did Albert Brooks. Meryl Streep’s win will likely be seen as the first volley in a series of awards meant to try and force the Academy once again to give her a third Oscar. With Michelle Williams’ performance as Marilyn Monroe on the radar and Harvey Weinstein behind it, don’t expect Streep’s third Oscar to come easily or possibly even at all.

In addition to the nominees and/or winners listed below, this year, we’re giving you a quick background on each individual precursor including founding year, first awards year and a glimpse at how many predictions the group has gotten right in the last five years. This data can be found below.

Winner Tallies

(3) The Tree of Life
(2) The Artist
(2) Moneyball
(1) Cave of Forgotten Dreams
(1) Drive
(1) The Help
(1) The Iron Lady
(1) A Separation
(1) Take Shelter
(1) Margin Call

The Winners

Best Picture

The Artist

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist

Best Actor

Brad Pitt – Moneyball / The Tree of Life

Best Actress

Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady

Best Supporting Actor

Albert Brooks – Drive

Best Supporting Actress

Jessica Chastain – The Tree of Life / The Help / Take Shelter

Best Screenplay

Moneyball

Best Cinematography

The Tree of Life

Best Foreign Film

A Separation

Best Non-Fiction Film

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Best First Film

Margin Call

Special Award

Raoul Ruiz

GROUP Data

Year Founded: 1935
First Awards: 1935 (77)

Precursor Accuracy

KEY:

• Winner won the corresponding Oscar
• Winner was nominated for the corresponding Oscar
• Winner was not nominated for a corresponding Oscar

Picture: 3 W / 4 N / 1 I
Animated Feature: 2 W / 5 N / 0 I
Director: 3 W / 4 N / 1 I
Actor: 4 W / 5 N / 0 I
Actress: 1 W / 4 N / 1 I
Supporting Actor: 2 W / 5 N / 0 I
Supporting Actress: 4 W / 5 N / 0 I
Screenplay: 1 W / 4 N / 1 I
Cinematography: 3 W / 5 N / 0 I
Foreign Film: 0 W / 0 N / 5 I
Documentary: 2 W / 4 N / 1 I