After an informal poll of my fellow Boston Society of Film Critics members, the winner of the 2011 "Where's Whitey? Award for Best Animal Actor" has been decided.

It wasn't even close.

For a performance all the more impressive because it was done without resorting to any dialogue, barked or otherwise, and.

The turmoil in Egypt dominates the news from the Middle East, overshadowing the recent oppressive measures imposed by the Iranian despots. Apparently in an attempt to stifle any anti-regime resistance inspired by the events in Cairo, the Tehran government has hanged at least 73 people in recent weeks, many of them political prisoners.

The surprise Director's Guild Award for Tom Hooper and the awards from the Screen Actors Guild -- Best Actor for Colin Firth and Best Ensemble Cast -- pretty much guarantee an Oscar sweep for "The King's Speech," the lush period biopic about King George VI, who, with the help of a non-elitist therapist managed to shake off a debilitating stutter, a toffee-nosed dissolute, Nazi-leaning elder brother, and a paralyzing father complex, and, apparently, go on to win World War II singlehandedly.

Marwencol

After you've attended the Boston Society of Film Critics Annual Awards ceremony, the Oscars might seem anticlimactic. Among those expected at this year's extravaganza is Jeff Malmberg, winner of the society's Best Documentary and Best Newcomer awards for his brilliant, sui generis film Marwencol, which will screen after the event.