And with that, the Oscar race is on!
Tuesday (Nov 29) morning was a busy one for the films hoping to vie for Academy Awards in February. The New York Film Critics Circle listed its winners and the Film Independent Spirits announced its nominations simultaneously in a couple hours of dizzying Oscar buzz.
Both awards are usually the earliest indication of which films could lead the pack when it comes time to announce the Academy Award nominees in January. The NYFCC were so early this year, in fact, that they had to delay their awards until after screening David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," to which they awarded nothing.
Perhaps the biggest story coming out of both announcements was the emergence of Michael Hazanavicius's ode to golden-era silent film, "The Artist," as perhaps an early front-runner for Best Picture. The film had earned raves during the festival circuit a few months ago, but faced minor backlash during it's limited release last week. Now with a Best Picture and Best Director win from the NYFCC, "The Artist" is the film to beat.
A welcome surprise came with Brad Pitt's NYFCC Best Actor win for both "Moneyball" and "Tree of Life." Meryl Streep earned the first of her expected many wins for "The Iron Lady."
While the Spirit Awards focus on smaller films, the nominations cemented "Beginners" status as the indie charmer hit of the year. The movie, which stars Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer, surprised the night before when it won Best Ensemble and shared Best Picture with "Tree of Life" at the Gotham Independent Film Awards.
Check out both the winners from the New York Film Critics Circle and Spirit Award nominations below.
In addition to 
The decision was expected quickly, and they didn't disappoint: Rosamund Pike is Tom Cruise's "One Shot" gal!
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Brad Pitt Wants To Retire: Picking His Last Five Films
Posted 11/14/11 4:51 pm EST by Kevin P. Sullivan in Commentary, News
When news broke that Brad Pitt had told "60 Minutes Australia" he would like to retire in three years, most people justifiably took it as the actor speaking in the hypothetical, with no serious threat of him leaving business behind. Pitt is only the most recent of many actors and directors who have come out to declare their plans for retirement, few of which—if any—have actually followed through.
But let's assume for a second that Pitt is serious, and that in three year's time, he will say goodbye to acting forever. With 26 films listed as "in development" on his IMDb profile, three years doesn't leave time for much. Even though most of those credits are projects he hopes to produce one day with his company Plan B, it would be safe to say that Pitt's final acting credits are listed there and that he won't get to everything.
If Pitt only has roughly five movies left in him, which should he choose? Here are our picks for Brad Pitt's last five films.
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Tags brad pitt, david o russell, the fighter, The Silver Linings Playbook, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy