Friday, March 29, 2024

“Zero Dark Thirty” Best Film from National Board of Review, er, Fans

Share

The National Board of Review, er, fans, named Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty” Best Picture just now. They follow the New York Film Critics Circle even though the NBR are not reviewers but fans who pay $700 a year membership to watch movies. It took hundreds of thousands of dollars for the NBR to reach the same conclusion as the NYFF– and they did it for nothing.

Today I spoke to several older members who told me they’d recently been forced out of the NBR based on age and perceived disabilities by the group’s leader, Annie Schulhof. One member told me Schulhof said she couldn’t come to screenings on a walker because of “liability from the studios.” I am awaiting comment from Schulhof.

The group made some strange choices, as usual. “Compliance” is a movie only the NBR has seen. To give Ann Dowd Best Supporting Actress, the NBR had to skip over Sally Field, Anne Hathaway, Amy Adams, Jacki Weaver, Jennifer Ehle, at least, to find someone obscure and who will not be nominated for an Oscar.

“Looper” was Best Original Screenplay? What? But everyone gets something because the NBR charges the studios $13,000 per table to attend their gala in January. Plus members pay around $600 a ticket to attend. Hilarious. Everyone gets their picture taken with a star. The big surprise is so many wins for The Weinstein Company. Schulhof, according to my sources, had been keeping them out the last few years. But the prospect of Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper at the dinner must have made Schulhof delirious.

Cut out this year: the Warner Bros. crowd, where Schulhof has always had a soft spot, no Clooney or Eastwood as I predicted back in October. Maybe the column I wrote scared them away. But a couple of wins for “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” directed by Benh Zeitlin, a graduate of Wesleyan. NBR board member Janine Basinger, who runs the film department at Wesleyan, is said to have been one of his instructors. She must be very proud.

PS Ann Dowd, who won Best Supporting Actress for “Compliance,” had her Wikipedia updated 18 minutes after the announcement was sent out. Wow.

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

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
spot_img

Read more

In Other News