The movie has a foreign language Golden Globe nomination

The film, by Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro, follows a young girl's fantasy adventures against the backdrop of Spain's era of fascism.

The National Society of Film Critics named Briton Paul Greengrass best director for his 9/11 film United 93.

Dame Helen Mirren was best actress for The Queen, with Forest Whitaker best actor for The Last King of Scotland.

Honours for supporting performances went to Mark Wahlberg in crime drama The Departed, and Meryl Streep for her work in both the fashion industry satire The Devil Wears Prada and late director Robert Altman's final film A Prairie Home Companion.

The 41st annual critics' group awards named global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth best non-fiction film.

Peter Morgan's script for The Queen, which examines the Royal family's reaction to the 1997 death of Princess Diana, was named best screenplay.

Contenders

The New York Film Critics Circle presented its awards on Sunday, which had been announced in December, with United 93 collecting the best film prize.

Dame Helen and Whitaker, who plays former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, again won the acting honours.

Dame Helen has won numerous awards for her role in The Queen

The pair are considered strong Oscar contenders after several critics' awards and Golden Globe nominations.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival awards ceremony on Saturday presented its ensemble performance and director honours to the cast and director - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - of Babel.