Always good to inject some interest into the Original Score category, the Chicago critics are strong are a frequently strong prognosticating body, though they have their own strange quirks that make them interesting. This eyar, most of those oddities appear in Best Actress where Anna Paquin who’s gotten no attention for most of the year for Margaret competes Elizabeth Olsen who hasn’t been seen a lot so far this season and Meryl Streep, Kirsten Dunst (surprisingly resilient, though absent from too many races to be considered) and Michelle Williams. It’s good to see Gary Oldman again, though his chances are swiftly fading even with this mention and outside of a nomination for A Separation in Original Screenplay and Hanna in Original Score, their selections seem somewhat milquetoast, following a line laid down by prior critics groups. Let’s remember that this group was one of the few to recognize the magnificent score The Truman Show, so at least they know their music.

Strangely enough, in the last five years, their most predictive category has been Best Actress, but I’d be surprised if more than two of this year’s selections made it through to the Oscars.

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.

Nomination Tallies

(7) The Tree of Life
(6) The Descendants / Drive
(5) The Artist / Hugo
(4) Martha Marcy May Marlene

The Nominations

Best Picture

The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Hugo
The Tree of Life

Best Animated Film

The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Puss In Boots
Rango
Winnie the Pooh

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive
Martin Scorsese – Hugo

Best Actor

George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Michael Fassbender – Shame
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Michael Shannon – Take Shelter

Best Actress

Kirsten Dunst – Melancholia
Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Anna Paquin – Margaret
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor

Albert Brooks – Drive
Nick Nolte – Warrior
Patton Oswalt – Young Adult
Brad Pitt – The Tree of Life
Christopher Plummer – Beginners

Best Supporting Actress

Jessica Chastain – The Tree of Life
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Carey Mulligan – Shame
Octavia Spencer – The Help
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants

Best Original Screenplay

The Artist
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Midnight In Paris
A Separation
The Tree of Life

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Descendants
Drive
Hugo
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Original Score

The Artist
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hanna
Hugo

Best Cinematography

Drive
Hugo
Melancholia
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Foreign Film

In a Better World
Incendies
A Separation
The Skin I Live In
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Best Documentary

Cave of Forgotten Dreams
The Interrupters
Into the Abyss
Pina
Project Nim
Tabloid

Most Promising Performer

Liana Liberato – Trust
Brit Marling – Another Earth
Hunter McCracken – The Tree of Life
Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants

Most Promising Filmmaker

J.C. Chandor – Margin Call
Simon Curtis – My Week With Marilyn
Drake Doremus – Like Crazy
Sean Durkin – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Tate Taylor – The Help

Chicago Film Critics Data

Year Founded: 1990
First Awards: 1988 (24)

Precursor Accuracy

KEY:

• Nominee was nominated for the corresponding Oscar
• Nominee was not nominated for a corresponding Oscar
• Total (2010-2009-2008-2007-2006)

Picture: 19 (5-4-3-3-4) N / 6 (0-1-2-2-1) I
Animated Feature: 12 (3-4-3-2-X) N / 8 (2-1-2-3-X) I
Director: 18 (3-3-3-4-5) N / 7 (2-2-2-1-0) I
Actor: 18 (4-3-4-3-4) N / 7 (1-2-1-2-1) I
Actress: 20 (4-3-4-4-5) N / 6 (1-2-1-1-1) I
Supporting Actor: 18 (4-3-4-5-2) N / 8 (1-2-1-0-4) I
Supporting Actress: 19 (5-3-3-3-5) N / 7 (0-2-2-2-1) I
Original Screenplay: 18 (3-4-3-4-4) N / 7 (2-1-2-1-1) I
Adapted Screenplay: 17 (4-3-4-3-3) N / 8 (1-2-1-2-2) I
Original Score: 13 (2-3-4-1-3) N / 12 (3-2-1-4-2) I
Cinematography: 15 (3-3-3-5-1) N / 9 (1-2-2-0-4) I
Foreign Language Film: 3 (1-1-0-0-1) N / 23 (4-4-5-6-4) I
Documentary Feature: 11 (3-2-1-2-3) N / 14 (2-3-4-3-2) I