Affleck jokingly "thanked the Academy" as he accepted best director, but added: "This is the one that counts." The movie was also named best film.

Oscar favourites Daniel Day Lewis and Jessica Chastain won the best actor and actress prizes respectively.

In a separate comedy category, Silver Linings Playbook swept the board.

The film won best comedy actor and actress for leads Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, best comedy film, and best ensemble for a cast which includes Oscar nominees Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver.

Director David O Russell dedicated his award to his son - who, like the film's male lead has bipolar disorder - saying: "I made it to give him hope," adding, "That's my silver lining."

Lawrence, who bagged an Oscar nomination for best actress on Thursday, also took home the best actress in an action movie for The Hunger Games, based on the bestselling book.

"Critics aren't so bad," she joked, as she accepted the award,

Skyfall was named best action movie, a day after it failed to become the first Bond film to secure a best picture Oscar nomination.

Its star Daniel Craig also picked up the best actor in an action film prize, and Adele won the best song award for the title song Skyfall - a prize she is tipped to win at the Oscars.

The awards are handed out by the 250-member Broadcast Film Critics Association, the largest film critics organisation in the United States and Canada.

Les Miserables' Anne Hathaway, who attended the ceremony in Los Angeles with her co-star Hugh Jackman received the best supporting actress prize, while Philip Seymour Hoffman was named best supporting actor for his turn as a cult leader in The Master.

Nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, who this week became the youngest actress to secure an Oscar nomination, won in the best young actor or actress category.

Other notable winners included Michael Haneke's Amour, which won best foreign film and Quentin Tarantino, who picked up best original screenplay for his spaghetti western-style film Django Unchained.

Munich screenwriter Tony Kushner won Lincoln's second award of the night, for best adapted screenplay. The presidential drama leads the Oscar hopefuls with 12 Academy Award nominations.

However, Life of Pi - nominated for 11 Oscars - only won two technical awards.

Comedy writer and director Judd Apatow, best known for box office hits such as The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, received a special "genius" award created to honour "an unprecedented demonstration of excellence in the cinematic arts".

The awards precede Sunday's Golden Globes ceremony.