THE AWARDS KEEP COMING

The awards are now coming fast and furious with Boston, Los Angeles and New York online critics groups announcing their picks for the best of this year in film. The American Film Institute has also delivered their choices for this year and while the films are good but they're awfully safe and predictable.

There are now finally some front runners starting to emerge with the films, "The Artist", "Hugo", "Moneyball" "The Descendants" "A Separation" and "The Tree of Life" (specifically for the work of cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki who is deservedly sweeping this category) and actors, Michael Fassbender, Albert Brooks, Christopher Plummer, Melissa McCarthy and Jessica Chastain who should get an Oscar nomination for at least one of the six films she made this year.

AFI 2011 FILMS OF THE YEAR

"BRIDESMAIDS"

"THE DESCENDANTS"

"THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO"

"THE HELP"

"HUGO"

"J. EDGAR"

"MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"

"MONEYBALL"

"THE TREE OF LIFE"

"WAR HORSE"

THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS

PICTURE: "The Artist"

DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"

ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"

ACTOR: Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, "Drive"

SCREENPLAY:  Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin, "Moneyball"

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Tree of Life"

DOCUMENTARY: "Project Nim"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "Incendies"

ANIMATED FILM: "Rango"

FILM EDITING: Christian Marclay, "The Clock"

NEW FILMMAKER: Sean Durkin, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

ENSEMBLE CAST: "Carnage"

USE OF MUSIC IN FILM: (tie) "Drive" and "The Artist"

LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

PICTURE: "The Descendants"

DIRECTOR: Terence Malick, "The Tree of Life"

SCREENPLAY: Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation"

ACTRESS: Yun Jung-hee, "Poetry"

ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, "A Dangerous Method", "Jane Eyre", "Shame", and "X-Men: First Class"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, "The Tree of Life", "The Help", "The Debt", "Take Shelter", "Coriolanus" and "Texas Killing Fields"

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Tree of Life"

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Dante Ferretti, "Hugo"

DOCUMENTARY: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

ANIMATION: "Rango"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "City of Life and Death"

NEW GENERATION: The creative team behind "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL: "Spark of Being"

BEST MUSIC/SCORE: The Chemical Brothers, "Hanna"

THE NEW YORK FILM CRITICS ONLINE

PICTURE: "The Artist"

DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"

SCREENPLAY: Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, "The Descendants"

ACTRESS: Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"

ACTOR: Michael Shannon, "Take Shelter"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, "Drive"

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Tree of Life"

DOCUMENTARY: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

ANIMATED FEATURE: "The Adventures of Tintin"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "A Separation"

DEBUT DIRECTOR: Joe Cornish, "Attack the Block"

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER: Jessica Chastain

ENSEMBLE CAST: "Bridesmaids"

MUSIC: Ludovic Bource, "The Artist"