Monday, March 18, 2024

LOL: Screwy National Board of Review Goes Big For Spike Lee and “Da 5 Bloods,” Spanks “Mank,” Ignores “Nomadland,” “The Father”

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The totally screwy National Board of Review named “Da 5 Bloods” best film and Spike Lee best director today.

Reliably screwy, the NBR is run by one woman, Annie Schulhof, who determines the awards after letting fans who pay huge membership fees “vote” for the winners.

Schulhof is motivated by her own operandi, which is never clear. A lot of it has to do with the annual NBR gala. But this year there is no gala unless Schulhof is charging for virtual tickets to a virtual ceremony.

The pandering to and exclusion of certain studios is always a Kremlin-esque affair with them. Choosing ‘Da 5 Bloods’ is interesting because the NBR never liked black movies or actors in the past. But “Da 5 Bloods” is from Netflix, which has the money these days. On the other hand, the NBR snubbed Netflix’s big movie, “Mank.” NBR has never liked Fox Searchlight much, so they’ve totally ignored “Nomadland,” the likely Oscar winner. They also don’t have much use for Sony Pictures Classics, hence no mention of “The Father” and Anthony Hopkins.

In documentaries, these shmegeggies ignored “The Dissident” and “Crip Camp.” Idiots.

NBR is in alternative universe. So enjoy with a grain of salt. Will anyone buy a $600 ticket to see these awards online?

Best Film
DA 5 BLOODS

Best Director
Spike Lee, DA 5 BLOODS

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed, SOUND OF METAL

Best Actress
Carey Mulligan, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Best Supporting Actor
Paul Raci, SOUND OF METAL

Best Supporting Actress
Youn Yuh-jung, MINARI

Best Adapted Screenplay
Paul Greengrass & Luke Davies, NEWS OF THE WORLD

Best Original Screenplay
Lee Isaac Chung, MINARI

Breakthrough Performance
Sidney Flanigan, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS

Best Directorial Debut
Channing Godfrey Peoples, MISS JUNETEENTH

Best Animated Feature
SOUL

Best Foreign Language Film
LA LLORONA

Best Documentary
TIME

NBR Icon Award
Chadwick Boseman

NBR Freedom of Expression Award
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI

NBR Spotlight Award
Radha Blank for writing, directing, producing and starring in THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION

Best Ensemble
DA 5 BLOODS

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Joshua James Richards, NOMADLAND

Top Films
(in alphabetical order)

First Cow

The Forty-Year-Old Version

Judas and the Black Messiah

The Midnight Sky

Minari

News of the World

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

Soul

Sound of Metal

Top 5 Foreign Language Films
(in alphabetical order)

Apples

Collective

Dear Comrades

The Mole Agent

Night of the Kings

Top 5 Documentaries
(in alphabetical order)

All In: The Fight for Democracy

Boys State

Dick Johnson is Dead

Miss Americana

The Truffle Hunters

Top 10 Independent Films
(in alphabetical order)

The Climb

Driveways

Farewell Amor

Miss Juneteenth

The Nest

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

The Outpost

Relic

Saint Frances

Wolfwalkers

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.
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