Toronto film critics pick the best of 2012

It's that time of year — you know, when holiday music can't be escaped and everybody wants to tell you what they thought the best of the 2012 was. We'll get in on the fun soon enough, but in the meantime, the Toronto Film Critics Association has announced its favourites for this year, which include a noteworthy four awards for Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. The TFCA might not be the most influential out there, but they certainly have better taste than the Hollywood Foreign Press, so have a gander of what our local critics thought was memorable from 2012.

Oh, and don't forget the CanCon. Along with awards in the conventional categories, the TFCA also awards the Rogers $100,000 Best Canadian Film Award, which will be announced at a gala dinner at the Carlu on January 8, 2013. In the running are Bestiaire, Goon, and Stories We Tell.

BEST PICTURE

• The Master (eOne)

Runners-up:

• Amour (Mongrel Media)
• Zero Dark Thirty (Alliance Films)

ROGERS BEST CANADIAN FILM AWARD FINALISTS

• Bestiaire, directed by Denis Côté
• Goon, directed by Michael Dowse
• Stories We Tell, directed by Sarah Polley

BEST ACTOR

• Denis Lavant, Holy Motors

Runners-up:

• Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
• Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

BEST ACTRESS

• Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea

Runners-up:

• Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
• Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master

Runners-up:

• Javier Bardem, Skyfall
• Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Gina Gershon, Killer Joe

Runners-up:

• Amy Adams, The Master
• Ann Dowd, Compliance
• Anne Hathaway, Les Miserable

BEST DIRECTOR

• Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master

Runners-up:

• Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
• Leos Carax, Holy Motors

BEST SCREENPLAY, ADAPTED OR ORIGINAL

• The Master, written by Paul Thomas Anderson

Runners-up:

• Lincoln, written by Tony Kushner, based on the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• Zero Dark Thirty, written by Mark Boal

BEST FIRST FEATURE - TIE

• Beasts of the Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin
• Beyond the Black Rainbow, directed by Panos Cosmatos

Runner-up:

• The Cabin in the Woods, directed by Drew Goddard

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• ParaNorman (Alliance Films)

Runners-up:

• Brave (Disney*Pixar)
• Frankenweenie (Disney)

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

• Amour (Mongrel Media)

Runners-up:

• Holy Motors (Mongrel Media)
• Tabu (filmswelike)

ALLAN KING DOCUMENTARY AWARD

• Stories We Tell (Mongrel Media)

Runners-up:

• The Queen of Versailles (Mongrel Media)
• Searching for Sugar Man (Mongrel Media)

Still from the Master