'The Descendants' Is Best, Say L.A. Film Critics

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association, which took a typically idiosyncratic path with its 2011 awards, has named Alexander Payne's The Descendants the best film of the year.

The win came out of the blue, with Payne's delicate blend of drama and comedy not figuring in any of the other awards handed out by LAFCA. But Payne has been a favorite of the group for years, with previous wins for his films About Schmidt and Sideways.

Earlier in a day filled with critics' awards, The Descendants was named to the American Film Institute's Top 10 list. But it has not been named the year's best film by another other critics groups, most of which have gone for Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist.

That film was shut out of LAFCA awards.

In a clear indication of how the Los Angeles group goes its own way, its Best Actor and Best Actress awards went to Michael Fassbender and Yun Jung-hee.

Fassbender won for four separate movies: A Dangerous Method, Shame, Jane Eyre and X-Men: First Class -- making the LAFCA awards certainly the first time that last film has been mentioned in the acting categories this year.

The selection of Yun Jung-hee for her performance in the Korean film Poetry was entirely in keeping with the LAFCA, which nearly always gives one of its top acting awards to a performer entirely outside the mainstream and outside the awards conversation.

Terrence Malick was named Best Director for the unconventional and ambitious The Tree of Life, with Martin Scorsese taking the runner-up spot for Hugo.

The group named Christopher Plummer and Jessica Chastain the year's best supporting actor and actress, respectively.

Plummer was honored for Beginners. Chastain was saluted for the remarkable six films in which she appeared in 2011: Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields and The Tree of Life.

In other early awards, the critics honored the screenplay to A Separation, the cinematography of The Tree of Life, the production design of Hugo and the music from Hanna.

Werner Herzog's 3D Cave of Forgotten Dreams was named Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film, while City of Life and Death was named Best Foreign-Language Film.

Known as a contentious group split between mainstream critics and those with more adventurous tastes, LAFCA is not generally a reliable Oscar precursor.

In recent years, the organization has given its top award to The Social Network, The Hurt Locker, WALL-E, There Will Be Blood, Letters from Iwo Jima, Brokeback Mountain and Sideways. Of those winners, only Hurt Locker went on to win the Best Picture Oscar – something no other LAFCA winner had done since Schindler's List in 1993.

The 35-year-old organization also has a history of making unexpected choices in the acting categories, including Sacha Baron Cohen (2006 co-Best Actor for Borat), Kim Hye-ja (2010 Best Actress, Mother), Yolande Moreau (2009 Best Actress, Seraphine) and Vlad Ivanov (2007 Best Supporting Actor, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days).

The winners:

Picture: The Descendants

Runner-up: The Tree of Life

Director: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Runner-up: Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Actor: Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame and X-Men: First Class

Runner-up: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

Actress: Yun Jung-hee, Poetry

Runner up: Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia

Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Runner-up: Patton Oswalt, Young Adult

Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, The Tree of Life