Awards season is hitting its stride as various American critics' organisations give out their prizes. To nobody's surprise, The Artist,a French silent monochrome romance, is making all the early running.

The New York Film Critics Online and the New York Film Critics Circle all named the film as the best of 2011. The LA scribes went for The Descendentswhile the San Francisco mob plumped for The Tree of Life.

Meryl Streep, still searching for a third Oscar after nearly 30 years as a runner-up, is not achieving the expected clean sweep. She won both the New York bodies' best actress awards for her turn as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.But the other critics passed gongs to Tilda Swinton (San Francisco), Yun Jung-hee (LA) and Michelle Williams (Boston). I wouldn't clear that space on the mantelpiece just yet, Meryl.