The 5th Houston Film Critics Society Awards were announced on December 14, 2011. These awards for "extraordinary accomplishment in film" are presented annually by the

Houston Film Critics Society The Houston Film Critics Society is a non-profit film critic unincorporated voluntary organization in Houston, Texas, in the United States. The group presents an annual set of film awards for "extraordinary accomplishment in film" in a ceremony h ...

(HFCS) based in Houston, Texas. The organization, founded in 2007, includes 26 film critics for print, radio, television, and internet publications in the greater Houston area. The awards are co-sponsored by the Houston Film Commission, WorldFest, and the Houston Cinema Arts Society. The nominations for the 2011 awards were announced on December 10, 2011. Eligible films do not need to have played or opened in a Houston movie theater prior to the nomination deadline, merely made available to the HFCS membership at a screening or on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

. Along with the usual 13 "best of" category awards, this year also continued the category for "Worst Movies of the Year" and introduced a new category for "Best Texas Independent Film". '' The Artist'' led the field with seven nominations, including the Best Picture, Actor, Direction, Screenplay, Cinematography, Original Score, and Foreign Language categories. ''

The Descendants ''The Descendants'' is a 2011 American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne. The screenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash is based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The film stars George Clooney in the mai ...

'' and ''

The Help ''The Help'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Kathryn Stockett and published by Penguin Books in 2009. The story is about African Americans working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early 1960s. A ''USA To ...

'' each received five nominations. ''

'' was the HFCS's most awarded film of 2011 taking top honors in the Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (

Shailene Woodley Shailene Diann Woodley (born November 15, 1991) is an American actress. Born in San Bernardino, California, Woodley was raised in Simi Valley, and started modeling at the age of four and began acting professionally in minor television roles. She ...

), and Best Screenplay ( Alexander Payne,

Nat Faxon Nathaniel Faxon (born October 11, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. A frequent presence on comedic films and TV series, he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing '' The Descendants'' (2011) ...

Jim Rash James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He portrayed the role of Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Bes ...

) categories. '' Drive'' was the only other film to garner multiple awards, winning both Best Director ( Nicolas Winding Refn) and Supporting Actor ( Albert Brooks) prizes. The other acting honors went to

Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition t ...

as Best Actress for '' We Need to Talk About Kevin'' and Michael Fassbender as Best Actor for ''

Shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...

''. The other individual awards included Best Original Score to

Ludovic Bource Ludovic Bource (; born 19 August 1970 in Pontivy) is a French composer best known for his work in film scoring. He rose to international critical acclaim in 2011 for composing the Golden Globe- and Academy Award-winning score for '' The Artist' ...

for '' The Artist'' and Best Cinematography to

Emmanuel Lubezki Emmanuel Lubezki Morgenstern (; born November 30, 1964) is a Mexican cinematographer. He sometimes goes by the nickname Chivo, which means "goat" in Spanish. Lubezki has worked with many acclaimed directors, including Mike Nichols, Tim Burton, ...

for ''

The Tree of Life ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. The remaining category honors went to '' Rango'' as Best Animated Film, '' Project Nim'' as Best Documentary, and South Korea's ''

I Saw the Devil ''I Saw the Devil'' () is a 2010 South Korean action thriller film directed by Kim Jee-woon and written by Park Hoon-jung. Starring Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik, the film follows NIS agent Kim Soo-hyun (Lee), who embarks on a quest of revenge ...

'' as Best Foreign Language Film. " Life's A Happy Song" by

Bret McKenzie Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand musician, comedian, music supervisor, and actor. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's c ...

from ''

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...

'' was named the Best Original Song. The HFCS's second annual award for "Worst Picture" was given to ''

Your Highness ''Your Highness'' is a 2011 American stoner comic fantasy film directed by David Gordon Green. It stars Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel and Justin Theroux. Written by McBride and Ben Best, the film was release ...

'' starring

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

. In addition to the category awards, the HFCS announced that 2011's Lifetime Achievement Award will honor actor

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...

and the 2011 Humanitarian Award honors Houston socialite Joanne King Herring. She was selected for "her work in Afghanistan, as noted in the film '' Charlie Wilson's War''". (

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and th ...

portrayed Herring in the 2007 film.) The HFCS awards for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema were presented to Hunter Todd and Mary Lampe. A special Technical Achievement honor was announced for ''

Rise of the Planet of the Apes ''Rise of the Planet of the Apes'' is a 2011 American science fiction film directed by Rupert Wyatt from a screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. It is a reboot of the ''Planet of the Apes'' film franchise, which is based on the 1963 nov ...

''.

Ceremony

The 2011 awards will be presented at a ceremony to be held at the Museum of Fine Arts on January 7, 2012. The award ceremony is free and open to the general public. While organizers do not expect any of the nominees in the "best of" category awards to be in attendance, recipients in some individual categories are scheduled to attend. The ceremony will also include clips of nominated films plus special tributes, and will be followed by a catered reception with the members of the HFCS in the museum gallery. A new award will be presented for the first time during the ceremony: Best Texas Independent Film, for "a work mostly financed and filmed in Texas". The nominees are ''Deadbeat TV, Volume 2'' from Invisible Studios, ''The Great American Moon Rock Caper'' from Flock of Film Productions, ''Jacob'' from Odyssee Pictures, ''

Puncture Puncture, punctured or puncturing may refer to: * a flat tyre in British English (US English "flat tire" or just "flat") * a penetrating wound caused by pointy objects as nails or needles * Lumbar puncture, also known as a spinal tap * Punctu ...

'' from

Millennium Entertainment Alchemy (formerly Millennium Entertainment) was an American independent global film distributor based in Los Angeles, California. The company acquired and distributed feature films, television series and specialty programming. History Millennium ...

, and ''Stick 'Em Up'' from Shoot Edit Sleep. The winner of this category will be announced at the January 7 ceremony.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted with boldface.

Category awards

Individual awards

Lifetime Achievement Award

Humanitarian Award

* Joanne King Herring

Outstanding Achievement

* Hunter Todd * Mary Lampe

Technical Achievement

* ''

References

External links

Houston Film Critics Society official website
{{Houston Film Critics Society 2011 2011 film awards 2011 in Texas

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...