US critics' awards help The Artist and Drive open throttle on road to Oscars

The Artist, Terrence Malick, Bridesmaids' Melissa McCarthy and Drive's Albert Brooks were among the big winners at the weekend as awards season hit full stride with the announcement of four influential critics bodies' end-of-year lists.

The New York Film Critics Online joined the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Boston Society of Film Critics in naming its best movies of the year. There was relative disappointment for films such as The Help, Tate Taylor's adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel about downtrodden black maids in 1960s Mississippi, and Steven Spielberg's first world war-themed War Horse, two films which were tipped for Oscars success but failed to figure in any of the major categories.

The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius's black-and-white, silent romance about Hollywood's golden era, continued its push for the best film gong at the Oscars with honours from the New York and Boston critics in that category. The New York critics also chose Hazanavicius as best director. San Francisco and LA plumped for Malick's The Tree of Life and Alexander Payne's The Descendants, the Sideways director's George Clooney-starring comedy-drama about a property owner trying to relate to his daughters after his wife falls into a coma.

Malick was also named best director by both the San Francisco and LA critics. The Tree of Life, his sprawling Palme d'Or-winning drama about a middle-aged man's memories of growing up in 1950s Texas, is emerging as one of the frontrunners for Oscars glory next February.

In an outpouring of critical opinion not seen since … well, this time last year … the American Film Institute also named its top 10 movies of the year at the weekend. Both The Help and War Horse made it in this time, and there were also places for Martin Scorsese's 3D fantasy Hugo, Clint Eastwood's J Edgar (another film that missed out elsewhere despite early buzz), Moneyball, David Fincher crime remake The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Bridesmaids, The Tree of Life, Woody Allen comedy Midnight in Paris and The Descendants.

The Guardian