SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - The suspense thriller Drive won three awards at the annual
meeting of the Utah Film Critics Association, including best picture of 2011.
Drive also was recognized for Albert Brooks' male supporting performance, as well as for Newton Thomas Sigel's cinematography. Michael Hazanavicius won best achievement in directing for the silent film The Artist.
In other performance categories, Michelle Williams won female lead performance for My Week With Marilyn. Amy Ryan received the award for female supporting performance for Win Win, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt won male lead performance for 50/50. Will Reiser's original screenplay for 50/50 also was recognized, with Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash receiving adapted screenplay honors for The Descendants.
Rango took honors for best animated feature. In the documentary feature category, Senna was recognized, while best non-English language feature went to A Separation.
The Utah Film Critics Association is made up of film journalists from print, online and broadcast media based in Utah. Members include: Rich Bonaduce, TheReelPlace.com; Luke Hickman, TheReelPlace.com/KEGA-FM; Jimmy Martin, SLUG Magazine/Big Movie Mouth-Off; Sean P. Means, Salt Lake Tribune; Dan Metcalf, KTVX ABC-4; Andy Morgan, KNVU-AM; Ryan Michael Painter, KUTV 2; Aaron Peck, Logan Herald-Journal; Scott Renshaw, Salt Lake City Weekly; Steve Salles, Standard-Examiner (Ogden); Mike Thiriot, KTHB 94.9 FM; Missy Bird, Tooele Transcript-Bulletin; Tony Toscano, Talking Pictures; Jeff Michael Vice, KXRK-FM/Big Movie Mouth-Off; and Doug Wright, KSL Movie Show.
The complete list of winners and nominees follows:
2011 Utah Film Critics Association Awards
Best Picture
Drive (runner-up: The Artist)
Best Achievement in Directing
Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist (runner-up: Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive)
Best Lead Performance by an Actor
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: 50/50 (runner-up: Jean Dujardin, The Artist)
Best Lead Performance by an Actress
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn (runner-up: Rooney Mara, The Girl
With the Dragon Tattoo
Best Supporting Performance by an Actor
Albert Brooks, Drive (runner-up: Christopher Plummer, Beginners)
Best Supporting Performance by an Actress
Amy Ryan, Win Win (runner-up: Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus)
Best Original Screenplay
Will Reiser, 50/50 (runner-up: Mike Mills, Beginners)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants (runner-up: Jason Segel & Nicholas Stoller, The Muppets)
Best Cinematography
Newton Thomas Sigel, Drive (runner-up: Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life)
Best Documentary Feature
Senna (runner-up: Project Nim)
Best Non-English Language Feature
A Separation (runner-up: 13 Assassins)
Best Animated Feature
Rango (runners-up: The Adventures of Tintin and Kung Fu Panda 2)
----Information from: The Utah Film Critics Association.
