The National Board of Review – a New York-based group composed of film historians, students and educators – are always the first one out of the gates to announce their winners of the year. Now while they, as well as the other critic associations, aren’t necessarily an accurate barometer on what or who will win an Oscar, they do help create a certain consensus of who the major players are going to be – and so to get the ball rolling for 2009, they choose Up in the Air as best film.
Not surprising they picked the dramedy from Juno writer/director Jason Reitman, about a traveling workaholic (George Clooney) who is forced to re-evaluate life, since it is already gaining serious frontrunner buzz from the award prognosticators out there. The film seems to be a shoo-in for a nomination and a strong possibility to win Best Picture. It fits a certain criteria Academy voters like – quirky, life affirming – plus, they seem to like Reitman’s style, having nominated Juno a few years before.
What IS surprising is what NBR neglected to include on their list, namely the dark urban drama Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, which has been gaining equal amounts of Oscar attention as Up in the Air. They also snubbed Nine, The Lovely Bones and A Single Man – all strong contenders. Instead, they picked Star Trek and Where the Wild Things Are – not bad choices but Oscar worthy? Hmmm. NBR also named District 9 as one of the 10 best independent films of the year, which I totally agree with and feel that if there’s one summer favorite to snag a nod for Best Picture, District 9 would be it.
Clint Eastwood took best director for his rousing Invictus, which focuses on Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) and his struggle to unite South Africa after becoming its president. Not sure if Eastwood could get another Academy Award out of it, but certainly the crowd-pleasing film has Oscar nominations written all over it.
As for the acting categories, NBR named both Clooney and Freeman best actor, while the young British actress Carey Mulligan won best actress for her sweetly defiant role in An Education. For best supporting actor, they chose Woody Harrelson for his moving turn in the war drama The Messenger, while Anna Kendrick won best supporting actress for her role as Clooney’s protege in Up in the Air. Breakthrough performance awards went to Gabourey Sidibe for her turn as an abused teen in Precious and Jeremy Renner for his performance as a bomb diffuser in The Hurt Locker. Each of these actors have all been heavily touted and are pretty much guaranteed spots on the Academy Award’s big list, save for maybe Harrelson and Renner – but it now bodes well for them, too.
The awards will be handed out Jan. 12 in a New York gala hosted by Meredith Vieira. Here is some of the other winners:
Top 10 Films:
“An Education”
“(500) Days of Summer”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Invictus”
“The Messenger”
“A Serious Man”
“Star Trek”
“Up”
“Where the Wild Things Are”
Best Original Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, “A Serious Man”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”
Best Foreign-Language Film: “A Prophet”
Best Documentary: “The Cove”
Best Animated Film: “Up”
Best Ensemble Cast: “It’s Complicated”
Best Directorial Debut: Duncan Jones, “Moon;” Oren Moverman, “The Messenger;” Marc Webb, “(500) Days of Summer”
Top 10 Independent Films:
“District 9”
“Amreeka”
“Goodbye Solo”
“Humpday”
“In the Loop”
“Julia”
“Me and Orson Welles”
“Moon”
“Sugar”
“Two Lovers”