The 2011 Knight Award Winners!

Traditionally the Knight Award Winners are announced the day before the Oscars.  Time simply got away from me this year.  But I was determined to get them posted by the following day.  To be honest, this was a tough year for me on deciding the ultimate winners.  Best Picture and Best Director gave me the most trouble, as did a couple of the acting categories.  What you will find below is as final of a decision as I can possibly make.  In a week I’ll probably have changed my mind, but for now this will do.  2011 was a very good year for movies, despite my constant groaning about the Academy’s decisions on what was “best”.  True, there were few, if any, “masterpieces”, but we can’t expect the likes of The Social Network, Inception, Black Swan and True Grit to grace the silver screen every year.  2012 is now upon us, so its time to look forward to the coming films and fondly remember the movies of old.  Without further ado, here are the 2011 Knight Award Winners.  Enjoy.

Best Visual Effects

Rise of the Planet of the Apes – WINNER

Tree of Life – Honorable Mention

Best Make-Up

Morag Ross, Anni Buchanan – Hugo – WINNER

Deborah La Mia Denaver - Super 8 – Honorable Mention

Best Sound Editing

Lon Bender, Victor Ray Ennis – Drive – WINNER

Christopher Scarabosio – Hanna – Honorable Mention

Best Sound Design

Erik Aadahl, Craig Berkey - The Tree of Life – WINNER

Gary Rydstrom - War Horse – Honorable Mention

Best Musical Score

John Williams – War Horse – WINNER

Alberto Iglesias – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Honorable Mention

Best Production Design

Maria Djurkovic, Tom Brown - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – WINNER

Dante Ferretti – Hugo – Honorable Mention

Best Costume Design

Sandy Powell – Hugo – WINNER

Jacqueline Durran – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Honorable Mention

Best Editing

Mathew Newman – Drive – WINNER

Dino Jansater - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Honorable Mention

Best Cinematography

Emmanuel Lubezki - The Tree of Life – WINNER

Hoyte Van Hoytema - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Honorable Mention

Best Original Screenplay

Andrew Haigh – Weekend – WINNER

Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris – Honorable Mention

Best Adapted Screenplay

Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – WINNER

Hossein Amini – Drive – Honorable Mention

Best Ensemble

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – WINNER

Super 8 – Honorable Mention

Best Animated, Motion Capture, Voice Over, or Mixed Media Performance

Andy Serkis – Rise of the Planet of the Apes – WINNER

Johnny Depp – Rango – Honorable Mention

Best Actress in a Limited Role

Kathy Burke – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – WINNER

Anjelica Huston – 50/50 – Honorable Mention

Best Actor in a Limited Role

Niels Arestrup – War Horse – WINNER

Philip Baker Hall – 50/50 – Honorable Mention

Best Supporting Actress

Carey Mulligan – Shame – WINNER

Jessica Chastain – The Help – Honorable Mention

Best Supporting Actor

Albert Brooks – Drive – WINNER

Brad Pitt – The Tree of Life – Honorable Mention

Best Actress

Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs – WINNER

Viola Davis – The Help – Honorable Mention

Best Actor

Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – WINNER

Michael Fassbender – Shame – Honorable Mention

Best Director

Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive – WINNER

Tomas Alfredson – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Honorable Mention

Best Picture

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – WINNER

Drive – Honorable Mention

 And thats all she wrote.  Until next year...

Sean and J.J's Top 5 Most Anticipated Films of the Oscar Season

Below are our Most anticipated films of the Awards Season with commentary and trailers.  Enjoy!

Sean:

5. The Artist

Ever since The Artist’s debut at the Cannes Film Festival it has won numerous accolades and has steam rolled it’s way into the Awards Season.  Many are expecting the Academy to go for this in a big way, which would be slightly odd.  It is, after all, a French film about Hollywood in the 1920’s, it has a no name lead star, it was filmed in black and white, and to top it off it is a silent film.  But audiences have loved the film and it has managed to snag quite a few awards at various film festivals.  The movie is also backed by the Weinstein brothers, so you can bet that they are going to push this as far as it can possibly go.  Nobody plays the Oscar game better than the Weinstein’s.  Out of every film opening this season, this is the one that people need to watch out for.  I myself will be seeing the film this Thursday at an advance screening and will have my review out by the weekend. Trailer and the rest of our list after the jump...