'Silver Linings' Sweeps 2012 Satellite Award Winners

The winners of the 17th Annual Satellite Awards have been announced, with "Silver Linings Playbook" sweeping the top categories, taking best picture, director, as well as actor and actress honors for Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

While the awards - handed out by International Press Academy - are generally disregarded as a serious Oscar precursor due to their often inexplainable decisions, this year's batch definitely offered a lot of worthy nominees, particularly from the specialty and foreign-language sector.

There were loads of unexpected nominations from tiny, often deserving films among major Oscar contenders. Laura Birn and Emile Dequenne got best actress nominations for "Purge" and "Our Children," for example, over the likes of Marion Cotillard ("Rust and Bone"), Helen Mirren ("Hitchcock") and Naomi Watts ("The Impossible"). And despite a general love for "Lincoln," Sally Field got snubbed in supporting actress in favor of Helene Florent from Quebecois import "Cafe de Flore."  They also seemed to love "Les Miserables" and "Life of Pi" overall, but nominated Kim Ki-Duck -- director of "Pieta" -- over Tom Hooper and Ang Lee in the best director category. Unexpected all, but at least interesting.

As for the winners, the Satellites somehow loved "Silver Linings" enough for to give it those top prizes, but then snubbed its arguably most worthy attribute -- screenplay -- in favor of "Life of Pi."  They also oddly awarded "Rise of the Guardians" and "Chasing Ice" animated feature and documentary honors, and "Flight" best visual effects over "Life of Pi," "Prometheus," "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Cloud Atlas."

Full list of winners and nominations below:

Motion Picture
ARGO                                                    WARNER BROS.
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK             THE WEINSTEIN CO.
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD     FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
LES MISÉRABLES         UNIVERSAL
SKYFALL                                               COLUMBIA PICTURES
MOONRISE KINGDOM                       FOCUS FEATURES
THE SESSIONS                                     FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
LINCOLN                                                   DREAMWORKS/TOUCHSTONE
LIFE OF PI                                                 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
ZERO DARK THIRTY         COLUMBIA PICTURES

Director
DAVID O. RUSSELL        SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK THE WEINSTEIN CO.
BEN AFFLECK            ARGO WARNER BROS.
KIM KI-DUK            PIETA DRAFTHOUSE FILMS
BEN LEWIN            THE SESSIONS FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
STEVEN SPIELBERG         LINCOLN DREAMWORKS/TOUCHSTONE
KATHRYN BIGELOW        ZERO DARK THIRTY COLUMBIA PICTURES

Actress in a Motion Picture Name        
JENNIFER LAWRENCE    SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK THE WEINSTEIN CO.
EMILIE DEQUENNE    OUR CHILDREN VERSUS PRODUCTION
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY    ANNA KARENINA FOCUS FEATURES
EMMANUELLE RIVA    AMOUR SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
LAURA BIRN        PURGE SOLAR FILMS
LAURA LINNEY        HYDE PARK ON HUDSON FOCUS FEATURES
JESSICA CHASTAIN    ZERO DARK THIRTY COLUMBIA PICTURES

Actor in a Motion Picture
JOHN HAWKES            THE SESSIONS FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
OMAR SY                THE INTOUCHABLES THE WEINSTEIN CO.
HUGH JACKMAN            LES MISÉRABLES UNIVERSAL
JOAQUIN PHOENIX        THE MASTER THE WEINSTEIN CO.
DENZEL WASHINGTON        FLIGHT PARAMOUNT PICTURES
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS        LINCOLN DREAMWORKS/TOUCHSTONE
BRADLEY COOPER        SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK THE WEINSTEIN CO.

Actress in a Supporting Role
AMY ADAMS        THE MASTER THE WEINSTEIN CO.
HELENE FLORENT    CAFÉ DE FLORE ADOPT FILMS
ANNE HATHAWAY    LES MISÉRABLES UNIVERSAL
HELEN HUNT        THE SESSIONS FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
JUDI DENCH         SKYFALL COLUMBIA PICTURES
SAMANTHA BARKS    LES MISERABLES UNIVERSAL

Actor in a Supporting Role
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN    THE MASTER THE WEINSTEIN CO.
ROBERT DE NIRO        SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK THE WEINSTEIN CO.
JOHN GOODMAN            FLIGHT PARAMOUNT PICTURES
JAVIER BARDEM             SKYFALL COLUMBIA PICTURES
TOMMY LEE JONES        LINCOLN DREAMWORKS/TOUCHSTONE
EDDIE REDMAYNE        LES MISÉRABLES UNIVERSAL

Motion Picture, International Film
AMOUR SONY PICTURES CLASSICS        AUSTRIA
A ROYAL AFFAIR MAGNOLIA PICTURES    DENMARK
THE INTOUCHABLES THE WEINSTEIN CO.    FRANCE  (tie)
OUR CHILDREN LE FILMS DU LOSANGE    BELGIUM
KON-TIKI THE WEINSTEIN CO.        NORWAY
PIETA DRAFTHOUSE FILMS        SOUTH KOREA (tie)
BEYOND THE HILLS SUNDANCE SELECTS    ROMANIA
WAR WITCH TRIBECA FILM        CANADA
CAESAR MUST DIE ADOPT FILM        ITALY

Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
PARANORMAN                                                                         FOCUS FEATURES
WRECK-IT RALPH                                                            WALT DISNEY STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES
RISE OF THE GUARDIANS                                      DREAMWORKS ANIMATION BRAVE                                                                                   WALT DISNEY STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES
ICE AGE 4: CONTINENTAL DRIFT                                        TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX ANIMATION FRANKENWEENIE                                                             WALT DISNEY STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES
MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED     DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

(Lots) more winners and nominations on the next page.