Who Needs The Oscars? Ben Affleck Wins Best Director At Critics' Choice Awards (Pictures)

Ben Affleck jokingly thanked the Academy as he accepted Best Director at the Critics' Choice Awards in Santa Monica, California, last night. The 40-year-old was rewarded for his work behind the camera on hostage drama Argo, just hours after he was snubbed in the Oscar nominations.

Affleck's lauded drama - starring himself, John Goodman, Alan Arkin and Bryan Cranston - also picked up the award for Best Picture. "This is the one that counts," said Affleck after accepting the evening's main prize. Argo could yet walk away with the Oscar for Best Picture though it looks unlikely given Lincoln and Les Miserables are already stepping up their marketing campaigns. Elsewhere, Oscar favorite Daniel Day Lewis won Best Actor, while Jessica Chastain won Best Actress for Zero Dark Thirty. In a separate comedy category, David O'Russell's Silver Linings Playbook won pretty much everything, including Best Film, Best Comedy Actor and Actress for Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence and Best Ensemble Cast (including Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver.) Director O'Russell dedicated his award to his son who - like the film's main character - has bipolar disorder. "I made it to give him hope.That's my silver lining."

The awards ceremony - organized by the 250-member Broadcast Film Critics Association - also saw Skyfall win Best Action Movie despite its Oscar snub, while Daniel Craig picked up Best Actor In An Action Film. Adele's 007 song Skyfall won Best Song and is widely tipped to do so at the Oscars.

Other notable winners included Michael Haneke's Armour, which won Best Foreign Film and Quentin Tarantino, who scooped Best Original Screenplay for his well-received spaghetti western-style movie Django Unchained. Munich writer Tony Kushner won Best Adapted Screenplay for Lincoln, though Ang Lee's Life Of Pi took just two technical awards despite being nominated for a huge 11 Oscars.

Watch The Argo Trailer: