Every year, a slew of ambiguous critics groups and Hollywood types vote to award various actors, actresses, directors and producers accolades for a job well done. The SAG Awards, the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards—and those are just the top dogs, with seemingly everyone and anyone throwing in their two cents on who was the year's best of the best.

So why not us? Having seen most of the good, the bad and the ugly from 2011, we feel sufficiently qualified to give nods of our own. Prepare the drum roll! There's a drum roll, right?

Here are our picks for the standouts of the year, filling in all the usual categories you might find at an awards show. Top performances, directors, screenplays, scores and more. Then, later this week, we'll unleash our Top Films of 2011 (so keep your eyes peeled)!

Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Shame

The early buzz was all about George Clooney in The Descendants, but at the end of the day, it was Michael Fassbender, who dominated Hollywood with four roles this year (Jane Eyre, X-Men: First Class, A Dangerous Method and Shame) who takes our top honors. In Shame, Fassbender wows with a Jekyl/Hyde-type role, a delicate balance between restrained New York everyman and the carnal beast that he attempts to control. The man doesn't mind baring all for his turn as a sex addict and the result is terrifying and powerful.

Runners-Up: Brad Pitt, Moneyball, Michael Shannon, Take Shelter, Steve Coogan, The Trip

Best Actress: Charlize Theron, Young Adult

Great female performances aren't uncommon, but it's a rarity to see Hollywood give an actress the chance to tackle someone so despicable, yet, at the same time, undeniably sympathetic. Charlize Theron riffs on her own good looks to play former-prom-queen-turned-Young-Adult-Fiction-writer Mavis, who travels back to her small hometown to hopes of winning back her ex-boyfriend. Her characterization is impeccable—Mavis is a familiar type of monster, and as Theron proves, one that may have a more complex dimension then we see on the surface.

Runners-Up: Viola Davis, The Help, Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia, Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor: Bobby Cannavale, Win Win

Win Win may have slipped under the radar back in March, but you owe it to yourself to check out the movie—at least for one of the funniest, sharpest performances of the year. The under-appreciated character actor Bobby Cannavale plays Paul Giammati's best friend in the family dramedy, a loud-mouthed bird on his shoulder always ready to throw in his two sense. Whereas most Supporting Actor awards go to performances that showcase one killer scene or a devastating dramatic archetype, Cannavale shows up in Win Win to pepper every scene with laughs and hard knock truths. He doesn't steal every scene. He makes them better.

Runners-Up: Sir Ben Kingsley, Hugo, Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life, Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter

Her co-star Michael Shannon spends the duration of Take Shelter battling mental breakdown and suffering from apocalyptic visions, but Jessica Chastain's even more spectacular, as a wife who must witness her husband's destruction. Chastain is another actress having a amazing year, with The Help, The Debt, Tree of Life, Take Shelter and Coriolanus all dropping in 2011. But it's Take Shelter where she really shines, matching Shannon's intensity with the naturalistic fervor of her farm town surroundings. After a few seconds locked up in a fall out shelter with Chastain, you'll understand why her work is the best of the year.

Runners-Up: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants, Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids, Carey Mulligan, Shame

Best Director: Steve McQueen, Shame

While we've seen directors paint everything from the creation of the universe to the claustrophobic interiors of a Paris train station this year, nothing stood out as much as Steve McQueen's (Hunger) calculated, expressive and nuanced portrait of one man's raw addiction. McQueen works in perfect tandem with Michael Fassbender, ignoring convention and Hollywood rules (the movie has an NC-17 rating) in an effort of capturing truth. McQueen employs long takes as Fassbender jogs New York streets, uncomfortable close ups on familiar subways and uses light to depict a gloomier side of the city. Easily one of the scariest movies of the year, Shame drips with cinema, without McQueen showing off.

Runners-Up: Terrance Malick, The Tree of Life, Martin Scorsese, Hugo, Lynne Ramsay, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Animated Film: Rango

We dug deep into Rango for our "Making the Case" feature, but the gist of the movie's greatness comes down to his creativity. Bizarre, hilarious and beautiful, Gore Verbinski's imaginative Western is high on an entire century of cinema, but still manages to pack in colorful characters and exciting action for the young ones. The perfect mix.

Runners-Up: The Adventures of Tintin, Arthur Christmas, Happy Feet 2

Check Out Our Picks for Screenplay, Song, Score, Cinematography and More!

You can contact Matt Patches directly on Twitter @misterpatches and remember to follow @Hollywood_com!