Austin Critics Make a Case for Drive/Take Shelter
On Tuesday December 26th Oscar Nomination Ballots were mailed out to each and every member of the Academy, and they have until the middle of January to make their selections. Therefore, when the Austin Film Critics Association announced their annual winners yesterday, I hope everyone listened closely.

Being from the Philadelphia area, I thought the only thing I had in common with someone from Texas was our mutual hatred of our beloved football teams (the Cowboys, not the Texans). However, I managed to put our gridiron disputes aside and applaud Austin's selections for the cinematic year. For starters, Hugo out muscled the competition and walked away victorious in the Best Picture category, garnering the highest honor. Like I've mentioned before, the Best Picture race is down to three films (Hugo, The Artist, and The Descendants).

Looking at individual work, I was thrilled to see the success of two films that the Academy may ignore. Drive and Take Shelter (number 7 and 8 on the top 10 list for the year) took home wins for Best Director (Nicolas Winding Refn - Drive), Best Supporting Actor (Albert Brooks - Drive), Best Actor (Michael Shannon - Take Shelter), and Best Supporting Actress (Jessica Chastain - Take Shelter). With all of these precursor awards, Drive has received steady support from all around the globe and it stands a much larger chance at receiving a Best Picture nomination than Take Shelter.

For complete coverage and a full list of winners, click the link below (courtesy of Peter Knegt at Indiewire.com):