George Clooney nabs Critics' Choice Award

George Clooney won big at the 17th annual Critics' Choice Awards. He earned the Best Actor statue for his performance in Alexander Payne's The Descendants.

Clooney faced stiff competition from fellow A-listers Brad Pitt (Moneyball) and Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar), but walked away top dog. When his name was announced, the audience applauded as he embraced friends and supporters, including girlfriend Stacy Keibler.

While Clooney took Best Actor, his longtime friend and The Help star Viola Davis won Best Actress. The duo recently appeared on the Oscar race issue of Entertainment Weekly where they discussed the disadvantages for women in Hollywood.

Clooney wants babes of all ages to get good work, not just starlets.

He told the magazine, "There's this strange thing that's happened over the last 25 or 30 years where there's this decision being made that women aren't able to carry the box office. When a man hits 40 is when roles just begin to happen. And for women it doesn't happen. I find that to be a very concerning issue."

That's one of the reasons we love Clooney. He's brutally honest and generous to his acting peers.

If you missed last night's broadcast of the Critics' Choice Awards, we have the complete list of winners below.

• Best Picture: The Artist
• Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
• Best Actress: Viola Davis, The Help
• Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help
• Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
• Best Acting Ensemble: The Help
• Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
• Best Animated Film: Rango
• Best Foreign Film: A Separation
• Best Young Actor or Actress: Thomas Horn, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
• Best Documentary Feature: George Harrison: Living in the Material World
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Moneyball, Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, story by Stan Chervin
• Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
• Best Cinematography (Tie): The Tree Of Life and War Horse
• Best Art Direction: Hugo
• Best Editing: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
• Best Costume Design: The Artist
• Best Make-up: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Best Visual Effects: Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
• Best Sound: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Best Comedy: Bridesmaids
• Best Action Movie: Drive
• Best Song: "Life's A Happy Song" – The Muppets, Performed By Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Walter, Written By Bret Mckenzie And The Muppets? ?
• Best score: The Artist
• Joel Siegel Award: Sean Penn
• Critics' Choice Music and Film Award: Martin Scorsese

Photo credit: FayesVision/WENN