‘The Artist,’ ‘The Help’ & ‘Bridesmaids’ big winners at Critics’ Choice awards

Silent film The Artist was the top winner at the Critics’ Choice Awards on Thursday, boosting its profile as the Hollywood season heats up ahead of the Oscars.

The comedy, shot in black and white, picked up four awards, including best picture and best director for Frenchman Michel Hazanavicius, and hailed “a love letter to American cinema,” by co-producer Thomas Langmann.

Comedy/drama box office hit The Help was the night’s other big, and surprise, victor. The tale of black maids and their white employers in the 1960s U.S. South brought acting honors for both Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer in their roles as maids. The movie also won best ensemble cast.

George Clooney was voted best actor for his role as a distracted dad in family drama The Descendants.

The Critics’ Choice Awards were given by the 250-member Broadcast Film Critics Association, the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada.

The awards were handed out in Los Angeles before the Golden Globes ceremony on Sunday and a slew of other award shows that narrow the field for the Oscars – the movie industry’s top honors – on February 26.
          
The Artist, the story of a famous silent movie actor whose star crashes when talking pictures come in, is considered a front-runner for Oscar glory.
          
“I don’t know what best director means actually, I mean, strongest director, I can understand, best, I don’t know,” says Michel Hazanavicius in accepting his prize.
          
Martin Scorsese’s family film Hugo came away with just one award, for art direction, out of 11 nominations. But Scorsese was presented with a special award for the use of music in films like The Last Waltz and Shine a Light and was serenaded by Bob Dylan in a rare awards show performance.
          
The Help took movie critics and box-office experts by surprise last summer, despite being based on a best-selling novel of the same name. Davis, who beat the likes of Meryl Streep in the best actress category, said she was in “complete and utter shock” at her win.
          
“You know, they say that the two most important days in a person’s life is the day you were born, and the day you discover why you were born,” says Viola Davis, in her acceptance speech.  

“And that’s something absolutely that Abilene was not afforded.  I considered it my honor to pay homage to these women at this time period, who were not allowed to dream, and not allowed to find their purpose,” she added, speaking of the character she portrays in The Help, a black maid in civil rights era Mississippi.

Christopher Plummer, 82, was another popular winner for his best supporting actor role as man who comes out of  the closet in old age in Beginners.

“I feel terribly young tonight suddenly and at my age I need all the help I can get in that department. So thank you. You have brought back my youth,” said Plummer, who is still best known for playing Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music in the 1960s.

The best foreign film award went to Iranian family drama A Separation, which also is seen as an Oscar contender next month.

Sean Penn was presented with a humanitarian award for his work in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake there.
     
Penn, who was in Haiti for Thursday’s second anniversary of the quake, told the Hollywood audience by video link,
     
“There is change coming to Haiti but it can’t happen without more help.”

The other big winner for the evening, was the Judd Apatow-produced film Bridesmaids, which won best comedy.
     
In his acceptance speech, he took a shot at legendary comic actor Jerry Lewis, who once famously remarked that women were not funny.
         
“And you know, Jerry Lewis once said that he didn’t think women were funny, so I just like to say, with all respect, f— you,” said Apatow, using language that was bleeped out for television.
          
The 84th Annual Academy Awards will be handed out in Hollywood on Feb. 26.