As the fast pace of awards season continues to spread, one of the big critic groups have unveiled their nominations which contains almost thirty (!) categories.

Steven Spielberg’s upcoming biopic Lincoln leads the way at the 2012 Critic Choice Awards with a record-breaking thirteen mentions including Best Picture, Best Director (Spielberg), Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis), Best Supporting Actor (Tommy Lee Jones) and Best Supporting Actress (Sally Field).

Tom Hooper’s musical Les Misérables finished just behind with eleven nods including Best Picture, Best Director (Hooper), Best Actor (Hugh Jackman) and double Supporting Actress slots for Samantha Barks and Anne Hathaway. David O. Russell’s romantic dramedy Silver Linings Playbook is the other major film to make double figures with ten nominations including Best Picture, Best Director (Russell), Best Actor (Bradley Cooper), Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence) and Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro).

Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, The Master, Moonrise Kingdom and the critic’s darling Zero Dark Thirty all completed the Best Picture line-up. No big shocks in the acting categories though Leonardo Di-Caprio missed out on a Supporting Actor mention with Javier Bardem nominated (alongside his co-star Judi Dench) for his villainous role in Skyfall.

The Critics Choice have added some new categories this year which include acting awards specific to comedy and action films. Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises), Robert Downey, Jr. (The Avengers), Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games, one of four nominations for her today) and Daniel Craig (Skyfall) were amongst the big names mentioned on the short-lists.

The full list of nominations are below (with my predictions highlighted).

BEST PICTURE
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck – Argo
Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty
Tom Hooper – Les Misérables
Ang Lee – Life of Pi
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg – Lincoln

BEST ACTOR
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
John Hawkes – The Sessions
Hugh Jackman – Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
Denzel Washington – Flight

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard – Rust and Bone
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva – Amour
Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts – The Impossible

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin – Argo
Javier Bardem – Skyfall
Robert De Niro – Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master
Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln
Matthew McConaughey – Magic Mike

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams – The Master
Judi Dench – Skyfall
Ann Dowd – Compliance
Sally Field – Lincoln
Anne Hathaway – Les Misérables
Helen Hunt – The Sessions

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Elle Fanning – Ginger & Rosa
Kara Hayward – Moonrise Kingdom
Tom Holland – The Impossible
Logan Lerman – The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Suraj Sharma – Life of Pi
Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Misérables
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained
John Gatins – Flight
Rian Johnson – Looper
Paul Thomas Anderson – The Master
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola – Moonrise Kingdom
Mark Boal – Zero Dark Thirty

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Chris Terrio – Argo
David Magee – Life of Pi
Tony Kushner – Lincoln
Stephen Chbosky – The Perks of Being a Wallflower
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Master
Skyfall

BEST ART DIRECTION
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln

BEST EDITING
Argo
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Anna Karenina
Cloud Atlas
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables
Lincoln

BEST MAKEUP
Cloud Atlas
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables
Lincoln

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Avengers
Cloud Atlas
The Dark Knight Rises
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Brave
Frankenweenie
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
ParaNorman
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph

BEST SCORE
Argo – Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi – Mychael Danna
Lincoln – John Williams
The Master – Jonny Greenwood
Moonrise Kingdom – Alexandre Desplat

BEST SONG
Act of Valor – For You
Brave – Learn Me Right
Skyfall – Skyfall
Paul Williams Still Alive – Still Alive
Les Miserables – Suddenly

BEST ACTION MOVIE
The Avengers
The Dark Knight Rises
Looper
Skyfall

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Christian Bale – The Dark Knight Rises
Daniel Craig – Skyfall
Robert Downey Jr. – The Avengers
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Looper
Jake Gyllenhaal – End of Watch

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt – Looper
Gina Carano – Haywire
Judi Dench – Skyfall
Anne Hathaway – The Dark Knight Rises
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games

BEST COMEDY
21 Jump Street
Bernie
Silver Linings Playbook
Ted
This Is 40

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Jack Black – Bernie
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
Paul Rudd – This Is 40
Channing Tatum – 21 Jump Street
Mark Wahlberg – Ted

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Mila Kunis – Ted
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
Shirley MacLaine – Bernie
Leslie Mann – This Is 40
Rebel Wilson – Pitch Perfect

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
The Cabin in the Woods
Looper
Prometheus

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Amour
The Intouchables
A Royal Affair
Rust and Bone

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Bully
The Central Park Five
The Imposter
The Queen of Versailles
Searching for Sugar Man
West of Memphis

The Critics Choice Awards will air on January 10th, 2013. The next two days will see the SAG and the Golden Globes announce their nominees….

Source: Indiewire