FINALLY. Some sanity. And it comes from, of all places, the National Board of Review year-end awards.
Most people pooh-pooh the NBR’s listings every year, particularly Roger Friedman of Showbiz 411. Basically, the group is a bunch of well-to-do New York City-based fans who pay a large fee (last time I checked, it was $800) each year to belong to the group. But they are very sincere in loving film, and I don’t think they should be faulted for that, especially as they usually do have some accuracy in predicting other major awards, most often the Golden Globes, which in itself is also not taken very seriously anymore.
However, I will NOT rag on NBR any more, because today they became the first critics’ group to formally recognize The Perks Of Being A Wallflower as one of the years’ best films. And it’s about time. And I STILL think there’s going to be an Oscar nom or two in Perks’ future, we’ll see in about a month. But when the Academy starts to see this film, they’re going to see more than most prognosticators see in it…
Anyway, thank you NBR for the mention. They gave their top award to the Osama bin Laden capture film Zero Dark Thirty, making that movie two for two in the year end race so far, with Boston and Los Angeles critics’ groups due to announce over this coming weekend and also expected to heap tons of praise on the film.
The full list of winners, and I have to admit, there’s not a clunker in the entire bunch for a change:
Best Film: ZERO DARK THIRTY
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, ZERO DARK THIRTY
Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain, ZERO DARK THIRTY
Best Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, DJANGO UNCHAINED
Best Supporting Actress: Ann Dowd, COMPLIANCE
Best Original Screenplay: Rian Johnson, LOOPER
Best Adapted Screenplay: David O. Russell, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Best Animated Feature: WRECK-IT RALPH
Special Achievement in Filmmaking: Ben Affleck, ARGO
Breakthrough Actor: Tom Holland, THE IMPOSSIBLE
Breakthrough Actress: Quvenzhané Wallis, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Best Directorial Debut: Benh Zeitlin, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Best Foreign Language Film: AMOUR
Best Documentary: SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN
William K. Everson Film History Award: 50 YEARS OF BOND FILMS
Best Ensemble: LES MISÉRABLES
Spotlight Award: John Goodman (ARGO, FLIGHT, PARANORMAN, TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE)
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: CENTRAL PARK FIVE
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: PROMISED LAND
Top Films
(in alphabetical order)
ARGO
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
DJANGO UNCHAINED
LES MISÉRABLES
LINCOLN
LOOPER
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
PROMISED LAND
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Top 5 Foreign Language Films
(in alphabetical order)
BARBARA
THE INTOUCHABLES
THE KID WITH A BIKE
NO
WAR WITCH
Top 5 Documentaries
(in alphabetical order)
AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY
DETROPIA
THE GATEKEEPERS
THE INVISIBLE WAR
ONLY THE YOUNG
Top 10 Independent Films
(in alphabetical order)
ARBITRAGE
BERNIE
COMPLIANCE
END OF WATCH
HELLO I MUST BE GOING
LITTLE BIRDS
MOONRISE KINGDOM
ON THE ROAD
QUARTET
SLEEPWALK WITH ME
Now, notice that NBR DID manage to throw some bones as they always do towards both Warner Bros, a studio they love and that loves them in return, and actor/director Clint Eastwood, who always gets SOMETHING from NBR. But Trouble With The Curve was supposedly so bad that they couldn’t give anything directly to it and not look ridiculous, so they went with a “Special Achievement” award called the Spotlight Award to John Goodman for all his films, which included Curve as well as Argo, Warner’s biggest Oscar-buzz film this year. And they gave a special award to Ben Affleck for Argo as well. So they’re still throwing their old favorites a bone, just in an indirect way for a change.
Stay tuned to PNR for more Red Carpet Monitor updates as the Awards season continues to get rolling…
