The Coen brothers' dark crime thriller "No Country for Old Men," was honored with best film of the year award on Monday by the New York Film Critics Circle.

The movie based on Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy's novel, "No Country for old Men" also brought brothers Joel and Ethan Coen the trophies for best director and best screenplay, Reuters reported.

Stephen Witty, film critic for The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., and New York Film Critics Circle president, said he considers "No Country for Old Men" the Coen brothers' best film since 1996's Fargo.

"It's been a couple years of fairly light movies from them and I thought this was really dark and mature and controlled and really had something to say about changing times," said Witty. "A lot of us are Coen brothers' fans but I think this film really struck a deeper chord with most people."

The Washington and Boston critics overlapped in several key categories beyond their similar best picture tastes, with both groups recognizing "No Country" co-star Javier Bardem, who plays an implacable killer in the film, and "Gone Baby Gone" co-star Amy Ryan, who plays a single mom with a missing child, as best supporting actor and actress and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" as best foreign language film.

Actor/director Ben Affleck received the best new director award for "Gone Baby Gone," his Boston-set adaptation of the novel by local author Dennis Lehane.

Also picking up awards for best actor and actress were Daniel Day-Lewis, for his performance in "There Will Be Blood," and Julie Christie, for portraying an Alzheimer’s disease sufferer who puts herself into a nursing home in "Away from Her."

Best documentary went to the Iraq war film "No End in Sight," and France's "Persepolis" was named best animated film. Both movies were also selected by the Los Angeles' critics on Sunday, with "Persepolis" tying with "Ratatouille."

Founded in 1935, the New York Film Critics Circle includes critics from daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, and magazines. Every year in December the organization meets in New York to vote on awards for the previous calendar year's films. Their awards ceremony will take place at Spotlight Club in New York City on Sunday, January 6th, 2008.

The New York film critics awards are as follows:

Best Picture – No Country For Old Men
Best Director - Joel & Ethan Coen / No Country For Old Men
Best Actor - Daniel Day Lewis / There Will Be Blood
Best Actress - Julie Christie / Away From Her
Best Supporting Actor - Javier Bardem / No Country For Old Men
Best Supporting Actress - Amy Ryan / Gone Baby Gone
Best Cinematography - Robert Elswit / There Will Be Blood
Best Screenplay - Joel & Ethan Coen / No Country For Old Men
Best Animated Film - Persepolis
Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary) - No End in Sight
Best Foreign-Language Film - The Lives of Others
Best First Film- Away From Her
Lifetime Achievement Award - Sidney Lumet
Special Critics Award - Killer of Sheep by Charles Burnett