The London Critics have really switched things around this year. Gone are both of the British Supporting Acting trophies and in their place are universal supporting categories. In addition, the British Director category is gone. Also added are a category for documentary and several technical achievement awards. As for statistics. Of course, we only have data on what has gone before and now that there are separate lead and supporting categories, one of the addendum’s we have at the end of this article is more informational than anything. Before, the London critics added supporting players to the all-around acting categories, resulting in several Oscar nominees in Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress making it into the top-tier list edging out potential predictions for the lead categories. Also, the release window in London is different than the U.S., so there is some part of the history that lacks accuracy due to this fact. So, take the statistics at the end with a grain of salt. As for what we do have here?

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a quintessential British drama, so it’s no surprise the film went over well with this group. They also love international filmmakers, so Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation and Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist did well also. Apart from a handful of head-scratching inclusions in the supporting categories, this is a fairly straightforward list. NOTE: Because the technical achievement awards are awards and not nominations, the information is not included in the Nomination Tallies list.

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

(5) Drive / A Separation / Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
(4) The Artist / Shame / We Need to Talk About Kevin
(3) The Guard / Submarine / Tyrannosaur

The Nominations

Best Picture

The Artist
Drive
A Separation
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Tree of Life

Best Director

Asghar Farhadi – A Separation
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
Lynne Ramsay – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive

Best Actor

George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Michael Fassbender – Shame
Ryan Gosling – Drive
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Actress

Kirsten Dunst – Melancholia
Anna Paquin – Margaret
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor

Simon Russell Beale – The Deep Blue Sea
Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks – Drive
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Michael Smiley – Kill List

Best Supporting Actress

Sareh Bayat – A Separation
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Vanessa Redgrave – Coriolanus
Octavia Spencer – The Help
Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom

Best Screenplay

The Artist
The Descendants
Margaret
A Separation
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

Best Foreign-Language Film

Mysteries of Lisbon
Poetry
Le Quattro Volte
A Separation
The Skin I Live In

Best Documentary

Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Dreams of a Life
Pina
Project Nim
Senna

Best British Film

The Guard
Kill List
Shame
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best British Actor

Tom Cullen – Weekend
Michael Fassbender – A Dangerous Method, Shame
Brendan Gleeson – The Guard
Peter Mullan – Tyrannosaur, War Horse
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best British Actress

Olivia Colman – The Iron Lady, Tyrannosaur
Carey Mulligan – Drive, Shame
Vanessa Redgrave – Anonymous, Coriolanus
Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Rachel Weisz – The Deep Blue Sea

Best Young British Performer

John Boyega – Attack the Block
Jeremy Irvine – War Horse
Yasmin Paige – Submarine
Craig Roberts – Submarine
Saoirse Ronan – Hanna

Breakthrough British Filmmaker

Richard Ayoade – Submarine
Paddy Considine – Tyrannosaur
Joe Cornish – Attack the Block
Andrew Haigh – Weekend
John Michael McDonagh – The Guard

Technical Achievements

Original Score: Alberto Iglesias – The Skin I Live In
Original Score: Cliff Martinez – Drive
Editing: Chris King & Gregers Sall – Senna
Cinematography: Manuel Alberto Claro – Melancholia
Cinematography: Robert Richardson – Hugo
Cinematography: Robbie Ryan – Wuthering Heights
Production Design: Maria Djurkovic – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Production Design: Dante Ferretti – Hugo
Sound Design: Paul Davies – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Visual Effects: Joe Letteri – Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film:

Nicolas Roeg

London Film Critics Circle Nominations Data

Year Founded: 1907
First Awards: 1980 (32)

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: 16 (5-3-3-2-3) N / 9 (0-2-2-3-2) I
Director: 13 (3-3-3-2-2) N / 12 (2-2-2-3-3) I
Actor: 12 (3-2-3-3-1) N / 13 (2-3-2-2-4) I
Actress: 16 (4-2-4-2-4) N / 9 (1-3-1-3-1) I
Original/Adapted Screenplay: 18 (4-3-4-4-3) N / 7 (1-2-1-1-2) I
Foreign Language Film: 4 (1-2-1-0-X) N / 16 (4-3-4-5-X) I

Oscar-nominated Supporting Actors/Actresses nominated in LFCC’s Actor/Actress Categories: 2009- Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds); Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air); Mo’Nique (Precious) / 2008- Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight); Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) / 2007- Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James)