Another big group going for The Artist which picked up seven nominations, two more than its nearest competitor. This is also the first sighting of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which could be a fluke or the start of a trend (after all, it was screened late for critics).

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 Artist
(5) The Descendants / The Help
(4) Drive / Win Win
(3) Midnight in Paris / The Tree of Life / War Horse

The Nominations

Best Picture

The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Midnight in Paris
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Win Win

Best Animated Film

The Adventures of Tintin
Happy Feet Two
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
Winnie the Pooh

Best Director

Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Nicholas Winding Refn – Drive

Best Actor

George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Michael Fassbender – Shame
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Michael Shannon – Take Shelter

Best Actress

Viola Davis – The Help
Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor

Albert Brooks – Drive
Armie Hammer – J. Edgar
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Andy Serkis – Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Alex Shaffer – Win Win

Best Supporting Actress

Jessica Chastain – The Help
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer – The Help
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants

Best Screenplay

50/50
The Artist
The Descendants
Midnight in Paris
Win Win

Best Score

The Adventures of Tintin
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Shame
War Horse

Best Song

“Lay Your Head Down” – Albert Nobbs
“Life’s a Happy Song” – The Muppets
“Star-Spangled Man” – Captain America: The First Avenger
“The Living Proof” – The Help
“Think You Can Wait” – Win Win

Best Cinematography

The Artist
Drive
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Foreign Film

13 Assassins
The Artist
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
I Saw the Devil
The Skin I Live In

Best Documentary

Buck
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Project Nim
The Elephant in the Living Room
Undefeated

Worst Film of the Year

Breaking Dawn, Part 1
Jack and Jill
Red Riding Hood
The Sitter
The Smurfs
Your Highness

Houston Film Critics Society Data

First Awards: 2007 (5)

Precursor Accuracy

KEY:

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

Picture: 23 (9-7-3-4) N / 7 (1-3-2-1) I
Animated Film: 10 (2-4-2-2) N / 10 (3-1-2-3) I
Director: 13 (3-5-4-1) N / 7 (2-1-1-3) I
Actor: 16 (4-4-5-3) N / 5 (1-1-1-2) I
Actress: 16 (4-4-4-4) N / 7 (1-2-2-2) I
Supporting Actor: 14 (3-3-3-5) N / 6 (2-2-2-0) I
Supporting Actress: 16 (4-4-5-3) N / 4 (1-1-0-2) I
Original/Adapted Screenplay: 19 (5-5-4-5) N / 1 (0-0-1-0) I
Original Score: 13 (4-4-3-2) N / 5 (1-1-1-2) I
Original Song: 7 (1-2-2-2) N / 14 (4-4-4-2) I
Cinematography: 12 (3-2-4-3) N / 8 (2-3-1-2) I
Foreign Language Film: 1 (1-0-0-0) N / 21 (4-7-5-5) I
Documentary Feature: 11 (3-4-1-3) N / 12 (2-2-5-3) I