Ben Afflecks Wins Critics Choice Award for Best Director; Snubbed by Oscars

He may have been denied an Oscar nomination yesterday, but Ben Affleck’s luck changed on a dime when he accepted the Critics Choice Award for Best Director.

The director and star of “Argo”, who attended with wife Jennifer Garner, looked completely shocked when his name was announced during the ceremony at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar.

He was even more shocked later in the evening when his film took home the coveted “Best Picture” trophy, beating “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Django Unchained,” “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” “The Master,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Zero Dark Thirty.”

Affleck confronted the elephant in the room upon winning his trophy, joking: “I would like to thank the Academy,” before adding, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. This is the one that counts.” He added, “It’s very very cool for me. .. there was a time that a Ben Affleck critics award was a ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch.”

He beat out directors Steven Spielberg, Kathryn Bigelow, Tom Hooper, Ang Lee and David O. Russell.

Other big winners during the Thursday evening event included Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Craig, Anne Hathaway and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

WINNERS OF THE 18TH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS

Best Picture – Argo

Best Actor – Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Actress – Jessica Chastain

Best Supporting Actor – Philip Seymour Hoffman

Best Supporting Actress – Anne Hathaway

Best Young Actor/Actress – Quvenzhane Wallis

Best Acting Ensemble – Silver Linings Playbook

Best Director – Ben Affleck

Best Original Screenplay – Quentin Tarantino

Best Adapted Screenplay – Tony Kushner

Best Cinematography – Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi)

Best Art Direction – Sarah Greenwood/Katie Spencer (Anna Karenina)

Best Editing – William Goldenberg/Dylan Tichenor (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Costume Design – Jacqueline Durran (Anna Karenina)

Best Makeup – Cloud Atlas

Best Visual Effects – Life of Pi

Best Animated Feature – Wreck-It Ralph

Best Action Movie – Skyfall

Best Actor in an Action Movie – Daniel Craig

Best Actress in an Action Movie – Jennifer Lawrence

Best Comedy – Silver Linings Playbook

Best Actor in a Comedy – Bradley Cooper

Best Actress in a Comedy – Jennifer Lawrence

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie – Looper

Best Foreign Language Film – Amour

Best Documentary Feature – Searching for Sugarman

Best Song – Skyfall

Best Score – John Williams

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