Now that the movie awards season has officially kicked off with the announcement of the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, speculation has begun as to who will win top honors come February. A few surprises came out of the NYFCC Awards this year and the race for the gold has become a lot closer than the past. See the full results after the break.

Argo, Les Misérables, and Lincoln have been the big talk of the town as the major contenders for Best Picture, but it was Zero Dark Thirty that shook things up at the NYFCC Awards on December 3. A film that has yet to reach the public, Zero Dark Thirty has had some pretty high expectations as the follow up to Best Director Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker.

Now with four films in the running, does anyone else stand a chance? Silver Linings Playbook and Django Unchained are also under the microscope, but I’m not sure they have the same clout the previously mentioned films carry. The past three years has been close between two films, so I’m excited to see what will happen with all four features.

Another upset to me has to be Frankenweenie winning best animated feature over Brave or Wreck-it Ralph. It was all right, but not nearly as entertaining, deep, or compelling as the other two. Lincoln for best screenplay also makes me scratch my head. Cinematography going to Zero Dark Thirty is also interesting. Seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Life of Pi this past week has me curious as to how ZDT beat those out.

We’ll have to watch carefully over the next few months as more awards are handed out. There is a full calendar leading up to the Oscars, but only one can win. But without further ado, here is the winners list of the NYFCC Awards:

Best Picture  

• Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director    

• Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty 

Best Screenplay    

• Tony Kushner, Lincoln

Best Actress    

• Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea 

Best Actor    

• Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Best Supporting Actress    

• Sally Field, Lincoln 

Best Supporting Actor    

• Matthew McConaughey, Bernie; Magic Mike

Best Cinematographer    

• Greig Fraser, Zero Dark Thirty 

Best Animated Film    

• Frankenweenie

Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary)    

• The Central Park Five

Best Foreign Film    

• Amour

Best First Film

• David France, How to Survive a Plague

Special Award    

• Milestone Films

The Special stand-alone awards are also given to individuals and organizations that have made substantial contributions to the art of cinema, including producers, directors, actors, writers, critics, historians, film restorers and service organizations.

The New York Film Critics Circle awards were presented on Monday, December 3, 2013

Source: NYFCC