'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' & 'Drive' Lead London Film Critics Nominations

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The London Film Critics' Circle has released their nominees this morning, with some surprising frontrunners. Tomas Alfredson's Cold War thriller "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and Nicolas Winding Refn's pulpy blast "Drive" were the top nominees, with six nominations apiece, while Lynne Ramsay's chilling "We Need to Talk About Kevin" and Asghar Farhadi's emotionally devastating "A Separation" each picked up five nominations. Steve McQueen's sex addiction drama "Shame" and indie black-and-white silent thingee "The Artist" each secured four nominations. Sadly "Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star," was, again, overlooked.

In the British Film of the Year category, we were happy to see "Kill List," Ben Wheatley's mind-bending horror mash-up, which melted our brain at South by Southwest this year, get a mention (Michael Smiley also got a nod for Best Supporting Actor). Another of our favorites, "Attack the Block," got multiple nominations, including the Virgin Atlantic Breakthrough British Filmmaker category (got to love that they're selling sponsorship of awards) for Joe Cornish, and a much deserved mention for John Boyega in the Young British Performer of the Year category. Also, the reaction to "Margaret," Kenneth Lonergan's messy, novelistic drama, continues to be stronger abroad than it ever was here, with Lonergan getting a nod for Screenwriter of the Year, while Anna Paquin deservedly picked up an Actress of the Year nomination.

Also, how cool is it that there's a Technical Achievement section, with nominees as diverse as Robert Richardson for his 3D cinematography for "Hugo," Joe Letteri (who we just chatted with) for his visual effects for "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," and Paul Davies' sound design nomination for his jaw-dropping work on "We Need to Talk About Kevin." And we'd be remiss of we didn't give the Critics' Circle mad props for giving their Dilys Powell Excellence in Film Award to none other than Nicolas Roeg, to which we can only say FUCK YEAH. Roeg, despite his dramatic drop off in quality in recent years (although we never saw "Puffball"), is one of our all-time favorite directors and hopefully accolades like this will insure his place in the canon, since he's all-too-frequently ignored.

The London Film Critics' Circle nominees probably won't have much bearing on the major stateside awards, with their emphasis on "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "Drive" (movies we're pretty sure will almost entirely be passed up by Academy voters). Still, it's fun to read and talk about what was nominated. Full list below [via Deadline].

FILM OF THE YEAR
The Artist (Entertainment)
Drive (Icon)
A Separation (Artificial Eye)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (StudioCanal)
The Tree Of Life (Fox)

The Attenborough Award: BRITISH FILM OF THE YEAR
The Guard (StudioCanal)
Kill List (StudioCanal)
Shame (Momentum)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (StudioCanal)
We Need To Talk About Kevin (Artificial Eye)

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Mysteries Of Lisbon (New Wave)
Poetry (ICO/Arrow)
Le Quattro Volte (New Wave)
A Separation (Artificial Eye)
The Skin I Live In (Fox/Pathé)

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (Picturehouse)
Dreams Of A Life (Dogwoof)
Pina (Artificial Eye)
Project Nim (Icon)
Senna (Universal)

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Asghar Farhadi – A Separation (Artificial Eye)
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist (Entertainment)
Terrence Malick – The Tree Of Life (Fox)
Lynne Ramsay – We Need To Talk About Kevin (Artificial Eye)
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive (Icon)

SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Asghar Farhadi – A Separation (Artificial Eye)
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist (Entertainment)
Kenneth Lonergan – Margaret (Fox)
Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (StudioCanal)
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash – The Descendants (Fox)

The Virgin Atlantic Award: BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH FILM-MAKER
Richard Ayoade – Submarine (StudioCanal)
Paddy Considine – Tyrannosaur (StudioCanal)
Joe Cornish – Attack The Block (StudioCanal)
Andrew Haigh – Weekend (Peccadillo)
John Michael McDonagh – The Guard (StudioCanal)

ACTOR OF THE YEAR
George Clooney – The Descendants (Fox)
Jean Dujardin – The Artist (Entertainment)
Michael Fassbender – Shame (Momentum)
Ryan Gosling – Drive (Icon)
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (StudioCanal)

ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Kirsten Dunst – Melancholia (Artificial Eye)
Anna Paquin – Margaret (Fox)
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady (Fox/Pathé)
Tilda Swinton – We Need To Talk About Kevin (Artificial Eye)
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn (Entertainment)

SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Simon Russell Beale – The Deep Blue Sea (Artificial Eye)
Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn (Entertainment)
Albert Brooks – Drive (Icon)
Christopher Plummer – Beginners (Universal)
Michael Smiley – Kill List (StudioCanal)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Sareh Bayat – A Separation (Artificial Eye)
Jessica Chastain – The Help (Disney)
Vanessa Redgrave – Coriolanus (Lionsgate)
Octavia Spencer – The Help (Disney)
Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom (StudioCanal)

BRITISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Tom Cullen – Weekend (Peccadillo)
Michael Fassbender – A Dangerous Method (Lionsgate), Shame (Momentum)
Brendan Gleeson – The Guard (StudioCanal)
Peter Mullan – Tyrannosaur (StudioCanal), War Horse (Disney)
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (StudioCanal)

The Moët & Chandon Award: BRITISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Olivia Colman – The Iron Lady (Fox/Pathé), Tyrannosaur (StudioCanal)
Carey Mulligan – Drive (Icon), Shame (Momentum)
Vanessa Redgrave – Anonymous (Sony), Coriolanus (Lionsgate)
Tilda Swinton – We Need To Talk About Kevin (Artificial Eye)
Rachel Weisz – The Deep Blue Sea (Artificial Eye)

YOUNG BRITISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
John Boyega – Attack the Block (StudioCanal)
Jeremy Irvine – War Horse (Disney)
Yasmin Paige – Submarine (StudioCanal)
Craig Roberts – Submarine (StudioCanal)
Saoirse Ronan – Hanna (Universal)

The Sky 3D Award: TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Manuel Alberto Claro, cinematography – Melancholia (Artificial Eye)
Paul Davies, sound design – We Need To Talk About Kevin (Artificial Eye)
Maria Djurkovic, production design – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (StudioCanal)
Dante Ferretti, production design – Hugo (Entertainment)
Alberto Iglesias, original score – The Skin I Live In (Fox/Pathé)
Chris King & Gregers Sall, editing – Senna (Universal)
Joe Letteri, visual effects – Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (Fox)
Cliff Martinez, original score – Drive (Icon)
Robert Richardson, cinematography – Hugo (Entertainment)
Robbie Ryan, cinematography – Wuthering Heights (Artificial Eye)

The Dilys Powell Award: EXCELLENCE IN FILM
Nicolas Roeg