'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,' 'Drive' Lead London Critics’ Circle Nominations
Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer from "The Help" will go head-to-head in the supporting actress of the year category.
LONDON – This year’s London Critics’ Circle nomination list is a tale of two Scandis with Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn leading the charge with six shots at glory apiece.
This year’s nominations also put Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer from The Help head-to-head in the supporting actress of the year category, both up against Sareh Bayat (A Separation), Vanessa Redgrave (Coriolanus) and Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom) in the battle to win the trophy.
Alfredson and Refn, both Scandinavian, find their films vying for the London Critics’ Circle’s top accolade, film of the year.
But both Drive and Tinker Tailor find themselves in heady competition with The Tree of Life, The Artist and Iranian drama A Separation also tilting at the top prize.
Alfredson misses out on a berth in the director of the year category with Refn going up against Lynne Ramsay (We Need To Talk About Kevin), Asghar Farhadi (A Separation), Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) and Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) for the nod.
Voted for by over 120 U.K. film critics, broadcasters and writers, this year’s actor of the year will be one from George Clooney (The Descendants), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Michael Fassbender (Shame), Ryan Gosling (Drive) and Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).
Kirsten Dunst(Melancholia), Anna Paquin (Margaret), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin) and Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn) all take nomination slots for actress of the year.
The Critics’ choice of supporting actor will be from Simon Russell Beale (The Deep Blue Sea), Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn), Albert Brooks (Drive), Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Michael Smiley (Kill List).
The 32nd London Critics' Circle Film Awards will be dished out its annual awards at a ceremony on January 19 at BFI Southbank.
This year’s nods will be in aid of its charity partner, the British Film Institute, to help with the preservation and restoration of British film, in particular Hitchcock's nine silent features, as part of the BFI's landmark 'Rescue the Hitchcock 9’ campaign.
