Daniel Day-Lewis wins New York Film Critics Circle award

And …

… the …

… winner … of … the …

… Best Picture … prize … is …

… Zero Dark Thirty!

The New York Film Critics Circle has spoken. Instead of announcing their decisions all at once, the esteemed East Coast collection of critics revealed its annual awards list only after its members debated, deliberated, and decided on each category.

Best Picture: Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Screenplay: Tony Kushner, Lincoln

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Best Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea

Best Foreign Language Film: Amour

Best Animated Film: Frankenweenie

Best Supporting Actor: Matthew McConaughey for Bernie and Magic Mike

Best Supporting Actress: Sally Field, Lincoln

Best Cinematography: Greig Fraser, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Non-Fiction Film: The Central Park Five

Best First Feature: How to Survive a Plague

The NYFCC is an important award for those in the long-haul race for the Oscars because it can highlight a previous fringe-dweller and get the guild-award groups to pay closer attention, which in turn means Academy voters may do the same. But the NYFCC has a hit-and-miss record of predicting the ultimate Best Picture-winner.

Past top honorees include The Artist, The Hurt Locker, and No Country For Old Men — which did go on to Oscar victor — and The Social Network, Milk, United 93 and Brokeback Mountain, which came close, but didn’t.

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