Entertainment

NY critics name ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ best picture

‘Zero Dark Thirty” — a thriller about the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden that led to his execution — got a major leg up on its Oscar competition yesterday after being named best picture of the year by the New York Film Critics Circle.

The nation’s oldest and most prestigious group of critics also named the film’s helmer, Kathryn Bigelow, as best director — three years after her “Hurt Locker” took the same two prizes from the NYFCC before victories at the Academy Awards.

“Zero Dark Thirty” also picked up the group’s cinematography award.

Also capturing three prizes was Steven Spielberg’s biopic “Lincoln,” with the NYFCC naming its star, Daniel Day-Lewis, best actor for the fourth time.

There were also awards for Sally Field as best supporting actress for her performance as the Great Emancipator’s troubled wife, as well as for Tony Kushner’s screenplay.

Because of the group’s arcane voting system, a third-ballot tie between “Zero Dark Thirty” star Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence of the quirky dramedy “Silver Linings Playbook” for best actress somehow led to a surprise fourth-ballot victory by Rachel Weisz as an unfaithful wife in the period drama “The Deep Blue Sea.”

Another offbeat choice was best supporting actor Matthew McConaughey, cited for his flamboyant turns in the dramatic comedies “Magic Mike” and “Bernie.”

Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” took animated feature honors, France’s “Amour’’ was named best foreign film and Ken Burns’ “The Central Park Five’’ was rated top documentary.

A last-minute rule change during the five-hour awards meeting led to “How To Survive a Plague” becoming the first documentary to receive the group’s prize for first film, previously limited to fictional films.

“We’re proud to offer up an especially distinctive slate of choices this year, reflective of the singular tastes of our membership,’’ said the group’s chairman, Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York. “There were definitely some squeaker votes. I’m very happy with our results.”

Among the high-profile Oscar contenders that were snubbed were “Les Misérables,” “Argo,” “The Master,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Django Unchained” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

The NYFCC, whose 35 members include two of The Post’s critics, has matched Oscar’s Best Picture winner four times in the last 10 years. The group will hand out its 77th annual awards Jan. 7.