Anthony Lane was awarded the 2001 National Magazine Award for Reviews & Criticism, for three of his articles:
- The Maria Problem (February 14), on The Sound of Music
- The Eye of the Land (March 13), on the photographs of Walker Evans
- The Light Side of the Moon (April 10), on photographs from the Apollo program
Lane has also been nominated for National Magazine Awards on a number of other occasions, including
- 1996 award for Special Interest, for the article Look Back in Hunger (December 18), a humorous piece about cookbooks
- 2000 award for Reviews & Criticism, for the articles
- The Man in the Mirror (August 9), on André Gide
- In Love with Fear (August 16), on Alfred Hitchcock
- Waugh in Pieces (October 4), on Evelyn Waugh
In 2008, Lane was named one of the top 30 critics in the world by
More Intelligent Life, the web version of the lifestyle publication from
The Economist. Our Guide to the Best Critics: Film — Candour and Donnish Intellect, March 10th 2008, More Intelligent Life, part of Our Guide to the Best Critics: An Introduction — Reviewers Revered, March 5th 2008