| Best Film | Best Director |
| Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive*Tomas Alfredson – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy*Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris*Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist*Steve McQueen – Shame*John Michael McDonagh – The Guard*Alexander Payne – The Descendants*Martin Scorsese – Hugo*Steven Spielberg – War Horse*Tate Taylor – The Help |
| Best Actor | Best Actress |
| Ryan Gosling – Drive as the Driver*George Clooney – The Descendants as Matthew "Matt" King*Leonardo DiCaprio – J. Edgar as J. Edgar Hoover*Michael Fassbender – Shame as Brandon Sullivan*Brendan Gleeson – The Guard as Sergeant Gerry Boyle*Tom Hardy – Warrior as Tommy Riordan*Woody Harrelson – Rampart as Officer David "Dave" Brown*Gary Oldman – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy as George Smiley*Brad Pitt – Moneyball as Billy Beane*Michael Shannon – Take Shelter as Curtis LaForche | Viola Davis – The Help as Aibeleen Clark*Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs as Albert Nobbs*Olivia Colman – Tyrannosaur as Hannah*Vera Farmiga – Higher Ground as Corinne Walker*Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene as Martha / Marcy May / Marlene Lewis*Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher*Charlize Theron – Young Adult as Mavis Gary*Emily Watson – Oranges and Sunshine as Margaret Humphreys*Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn as Marilyn Monroe*Michelle Yeoh – The Lady as Aung San Suu Kyi |
| Best Supporting Actor | Best Supporting Actress |
| Albert Brooks – Drive as Bernie Rose*Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn as Laurence Olivier*Colin Farrell – Horrible Bosses as Bobby Pellit*Jonah Hill – Moneyball as Peter Brand*Viggo Mortensen – A Dangerous Method as Sigmund Freud*Nick Nolte – Warrior as Paddy Conlon*Christopher Plummer – Beginners as Hal Fields*Andy Serkis – Rise of the Planet of the Apes as Caesar*Christoph Waltz – Carnage as Alan Cowan*Hugo Weaving – Oranges and Sunshine as Jack | Jessica Chastain – The Tree of Life as Mrs. O'Brien*Elle Fanning – Super 8 as Alice Dainard* Lisa Féret – Mozart's Sister as Princess Louise of France*Judy Greer – The Descendants as Julie Speer*Rachel McAdams – Midnight in Paris as Inez*Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs as Hubert Page*Carey Mulligan – Shame as Sissy Sullivan*Vanessa Redgrave – Coriolanus as Volumnia*Octavia Spencer – The Help as Minerva "Minny" Jackson*Kate Winslet – Carnage as Nancy Cowan |
| Best Original Screenplay | Best Adapted Screenplay |
| The Tree of Life – Terrence Malick*The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius*The Guard – John Michael McDonagh*Mozart's Sister – René Féret*Shame – Abi Morgan and Steve McQueen*Tyrannosaur – Paddy Considine | The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash*The Adventures of Tintin – Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish*Albert Nobbs – Glenn Close and John Banville*The Help – Tate Taylor*Moneyball – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin*War Horse – Lee Hall and Richard Curtis |
| Best Animated or Mixed Media Film | Best Foreign Language Film |
| The Adventures of Tintin*Kung Fu Panda 2*The Muppets*Puss in Boots*Rango*Rio | Mysteries of Lisbon *13 Assassins *Faust *The Kid with a Bike *Las Acacias *Le Havre *Miss Bala *Mozart's Sister *A Separation *The Turin Horse |
| Best Documentary Film | Best Cinematography |
| Senna*American: The Bill Hicks Story*Cave of Forgotten Dreams*The Interrupters*My Perestroika*One Lucky Elephant*Pina*Project Nim*Tabloid*Under Fire: Journalists in Combat | War Horse – Janusz Kamiński*The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman*Drive – Newton Thomas Sigel*Faust – Bruno Delbonnel*Hugo – Robert Richardson*The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki |
| Best Original Score | Best Original Song |
| Soul Surfer – Marco Beltrami*Drive – Cliff Martinez*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Alexandre Desplat*Super 8 – Michael Giacchino*War Horse – John Williams*Water for Elephants – James Newton Howard | "Lay Your Head Down" – Albert Nobbs*"Bridge of Light" – Happy Feet Two*"Gathering Stories" – We Bought a Zoo*"Hello Hello" – Gnomeo & Juliet*"Life's a Happy Song" – The Muppets*"Man or Muppet" – The Muppets |
| Best Visual Effects | Best Art Direction and Production Design |
| Hugo*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2*Rise of the Planet of the Apes*Super 8*Transformers: Dark of the Moon*War Horse | The Artist*Anonymous*Faust*Hugo*Mysteries of Lisbon*Water for Elephants |
| Best Film Editing | Best Sound (Editing and Mixing) |
| The Guard*The Descendants*Drive*Shame*War Horse*Warrior | Drive*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2*Super 8*Transformers: Dark of the Moon*The Tree of Life*War Horse |
| Best Costume Design | Best Ensemble – Motion Picture |
| Water for Elephants*Anonymous*The Artist*Faust*Jane Eyre*Mysteries of Lisbon | The Help – Anna Camp, Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Nelsan Ellis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dana Ivey, Allison Janney, Leslie Jordan, Brian Kerwin,
Chris Lowell, Ahna O'Reilly, David Oyelowo, Sissy Spacek, Octavia Spencer,
Mary Steenburgen, Emma Stone, Cicely Tyson, and Mike Vogel |