Though the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures named their choices for the best of 2007 last Wednesday, the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. is the first major critics' group to announce their selections for the top films of the year.

2007 LAFCA Awards
Best Picture: "There Will Be Blood"
Runner-up: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"
Runner-up: Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

Actress: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie En Rose"
Runner-up: Anamaria Marinca "4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days"

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Runner-up: Frank Langella, "Starting Out In The Evening"

Screenplay: Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages"
Runner-up:Paul Thomas Anderson for "There Will Be Blood"

Supporting actress: Amy Ryan for "Gone Baby Gone" and "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"
Runner-up: Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"

Supporting actor: Vlad Ivanov, "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"
Runner-up: Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"

Foreign language film: "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"
Runner-up: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

Documentary/Non-fiction film: "No End in Sight" directed by Charles Ferguson
Runner-up: "Sicko" directed by Michael Moore

Production design:Jack Fisk, "There Will Be Blood"
Runner-up: Dante Ferretti, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

Animation: "Persepolis" and "Ratatouille" (tie)

Music: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, "Once"
Runner-up: Jonny Greenwood, "There Will Be Blood"

Cinematography: Janusz Kaminski, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Runner-up: Robert Elswit, "There Will Be Blood"

New generation: Sarah Polley, "Away From Her"

Douglas Edwards Indie Award: "Colossal Youth" directed by Pedro Costa

Career Achievement: Sidney Lumet

Legacy Awards: Milestone Film and Video and the Outfest Legacy Project

LAFCA's eclectic selections last year -- "Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen tied with Forest Whitaker of "The Last King of Scotland" for best actor -- make other critics' organizations, the Hollywood Foreign Press and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences stand up and take notice.

Back in 1985, the LAFCA championed Terry Gilliam's "Brazil," which Universal was blocking from release because the studio wanted a happy ending. When the critics' group named it best of 1985, Universal released the film with Gilliams' darker ending.

Founded in 1975, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is comprised of Los Angeles-based, professional film critics working in the Los Angeles print and electronic media.

Each December, LAFCA members vote on the year's Achievement Awards, honoring screen excellence on both sides of the camera.

Plaques of recognition are then presented to winners during LAFCA's annual awards ceremony, held in mid-January.