Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2012 Nominations.

Chicago Film Critics Association announced their nominees for the year 2012. The Master leads with 10 nominations while Beasts of the Southern Wild got 9, Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty got 8 nominations. I am really happy with the attention given to both The Master and Beasts of the Southern Wild specially in the main categories. Another lovely surprise was seeing Denis Lavant being nominated in Best Lead Actor for his powerful performance in Holy Motors. This is also the second time when Helen Hunt was nominated as lead instead of supporting. While some other newcomers in the acting nominations includes Emily Blunt in Looper and Jason Clark in Zero Dark Thirty.

Below is the full list of nominees:

BEST PICTURE

Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Lincoln
The Master
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST DIRECTOR

Ben Affleck, Argo
Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST ACTOR

Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Denis Lavant, Holy Motors
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight

BEST ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Jason Clarke, Zero Dark Thirty
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams, The Master
Emily Blunt, Looper
Judi Dench, Skyfall
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Django Unchained by Quentin Tarantino
Looper by Rian Johnson
The Master by Paul Thomas Anderson
Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty by Mark Boal

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Argo by Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
Lincoln by Tony Kushner
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Silver Linings Playbook by David O. Russell

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

Amour
Holy Motors
The Intouchables
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Rust & Bone

BEST DOCUMENTARY

The Central Park Five
The Invisible War
The Queen of Versailles
Searching For Sugar Man
West of Memphis

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Secret World of Arrietty
Wreck-It Ralph

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi
Janusz Kaminski, Lincoln
Mihai Milaimare Jr., The Master
Roger Deakins, Skyfall
Greig Fraser, Zero Dark Thirty

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Alexandre Desplat, Argo
Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Jonny Greenwood, The Master
Alexandre Desplat, Moonrise Kingdom
Alexandre Desplat, Zero Dark Thirty

BEST ART DIRECTION

Anna Karenina
Les Miserables
Lincoln
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom

BEST EDITING

Willian Goldenberg, Argo
Alexander Berner & Claus Wehlisch, Cloud Atlas
Leslie Jones & Peter McNulty, The Master
Stuart Baird, Skyfall
William Goldenberg & Dylan Tichenor, Zero Dark Thirty

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER

Samantha Barks, Les Miserables
Kara Hayward, Moonrise Kingdom
Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Tom Holland, The Impossible
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER

Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Drew Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods
Nicholas Jarecki, Arbitrage
Colin Trevorrow, Safety Not Guaranteed
Benz Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild