I was doing a bit of sleuthing last night, asking around about what was in contention at the New York Film Critics Circle. Of course, the group doesn’t reveal the runners-up, but I personally know a few members from the group who were happy to divulge some details.

First things first, “Drive My Car,” which was the surprise Best Film winner, barely edged out Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog.” There was debate about rewarding Campion’s film, but the voting body ended up settling on Hamaguchi’s film. Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” finished a distanced third. According to my sources, nothing else came close to winning. “The Souvenir Part II” was another film some members were passionate about.

Campion did end up nabbing the Best Director prize. I’m told Hamaguchi came very close to winning that category for both “Drive My Car” and “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy.” Anderson finished a distant third, but, at some point, was leading during the first few ballots.

On the Best Actress front, it was a rouser of a vote. Obviously, Lady Gaga winning wasn’t a unanimous decision, but the passion for her performance far outweighed runners-up Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) and Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers). Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter) was also mentioned.

In the Best Actor category, Oscar frontrunner Will Smith (King Richard) was very much in contention to win the award, I’m told. However, eventual winner Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog) managed to overpower any other actor, which is why this was one of the first awards announced. I’m told the biggest threats were Smith and actor Hidetoshi Nishijima (“Drive My Car”).

Supporting Actress was a barnburner, Kathryn Hunter (“Tragedy of Macbeth”) took the prize, but not without heavy contention from Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) and Ruth Negga (“Passing”) who finished second and third, respectively. Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter) was also in contention at some point, finishing a distant fourth.

I have no details on the Best Supporting Actor category. Kodi Smit-McPhee won that award.

There’s a certain faction of people on social media, some of which are NYFCC members, who are calling the above reporting not factual. That is nothing more than a smear campaign on their part. The NYFCC has a strict rule of not revealing the runners-up. Notice how those critical of the article are mostly zeroing in on the “debating” and “detractors” aspect of the piece and not on the actual runners-up, which are all accurate and have been sourced/vetted via three separate members of the New York Film Critics Circle.

I’ve retracted the “debate” and “detractors” aspect of the article, but left the rest untouched.