National Board of Review

[Big Magilla]

Interesting.

I had a hunch they would vote for Green Book over A Star Is Born but wasn't really sure about anything so I didn't make predictions and won't for any of the critics' awards this year.

I suspect it will be the same with most of the groups that really like A Star Is Born. They'll honor it in other categories but find something else to give the top prize to, which will be their way of saying it's good, but not as good as the first two of the previous three versions.

The breakdown between "top films" and "top 10 independent films" gets blurrier and blurrier. They really mean "top 10 independent films not listed as one of the independent films on the "top films" list which is another list of ten, but not called "ten" because the very Best "best film" is not included.

It will be interesting to see how Green Book fares with the New York Film Critics two days hence.

[anonymous1980]

The winners:

The full list of 2018 National Board of Review winners is below.

Best Film: GREEN BOOK

Best Director: Bradley Cooper, A STAR IS BORN

Best Actor: Viggo Mortensen, GREEN BOOK

Best Actress: Lady Gaga, A STAR IS BORN

Best Supporting Actor: Sam Elliott, A STAR IS BORN

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Best Original Screenplay: Paul Schrader, FIRST REFORMED

Best Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Best Animated Feature: INCREDIBLES 2

Breakthrough Performance: Thomasin McKenzie, LEAVE NO TRACE

Best Directorial Debut: Bo Burnham, EIGHTH GRADE

Best Foreign Language Film: COLD WAR

Best Documentary: RBG

Best Ensemble: CRAZY RICH ASIANS

William K. Everson Film History Award: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND and THEY’LL LOVE ME WHEN I’M DEAD

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: 22 JULY

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: ON HER SHOULDERS

Top Films (in alphabetical order)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Eighth Grade
First Reformed
If Beale Street Could Talk
Mary Poppins Returns
A Quiet Place
Roma
A Star Is Born

Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order)
Burning
Custody
The Guilty
Happy as Lazzaro
Shoplifters

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order)
Crime + Punishment
Free Solo
Minding the Gap
Three Identical Strangers
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order)
The Death of Stalin
Lean on Pete
Leave No Trace
Mid90s
The Old Man & the Gun
The Rider
Searching
Sorry to Bother You
We the Animals
You Were Never Really Here

[Mister Tee]

I don't really know what to make of NBR these days. It was easier predicting them in the old days, when, for best film, they'd either go for the costume picture (which would be The Favourite) or something sloppy-sentimental (like Green Book). But the last of either of those was probably Finding Neverland, 14 years back. These days, you could say they like public service/contemporary history movies (Good Night and Good Luck, Letters from Iwo Jima, Zero Dark Thirty, The Post)...which would point to Vice or First Man. But maybe their most consistent trait is wild favoritism to Warner Brothers releases -- the connective tissue among Mystic River, Letters from Iwo Jima, Her, and Mad Max: Fury Road.

I'm going the Warners route, because, hey, A Star is Born seems their kind of deal anyway.

The rest is pure guesswork, but I'll ask this: Doesn't Glenn Close kind of NEED this? It's where actresses ignored by the main critics but with good narratives have turned up (Moore in '14, Larson in '15) to begin their Oscar runs. I don't see Close beating out the heavyweights at the primary critics groups, so, if she misses here, it's possible the whole year will turn out to have been a mirage.

So:

Best Film: A Star is Born

Ten Best:

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
BlackkKlansman
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
The Favourite
First Man
Green Book
If Beale Street Could Talk
The Mule
Vice
Widows

Best Actor: Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born)
(Christian Bale (Vice))
Best Actress: Glenn Close (The Wife)
(Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?))
Best Sup. Actor: Timothee Chalamet (Beautiful Boy)
(Sam Elliott (A Star is Born))
Best Sup. Actress: Elizabeth Debicki (Widows)
(Rachel Weisz (The Favourite))

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)
(Spike Lee (BlackkKlansman)
Best Adapted Screenplay: BlackkKlansman
(Widows)
Best Original Screenplay: The Favourite
(Vice)

Best Documentary: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
(RBG)
Best Animated Film: Incredibles 2
(Wreck-it Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet)
Best Foreign-Language Film: Roma
(Burning)

Best Breakthrough Performance: Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)
Best Directing Debut: Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You)
Best Ensemble: Widows (The Favourite)

I think it's possible Bradley Cooper gets one of those "Special Achievement" prizes for writing/directing/acting

[Big Magilla]

This is the first year I can remember where I don't have a clue as to what any of the groups are going to do.

It reminds me of 1988, exactly 30 years ago, when the NBR, NYFC, LAFC and NSFC all had different winners in the top six categories. The only thing that any of them agreed on was NYFC and NSFC's choice of Dean Stockwell for Best Supporting Actor for both Married to the Mob and Tucker: The Man and His Dream. Oscar only agreed with one of the 24 winners, and it wasn't Stockwell!

Best Picture winners were Mississippi Burning, The Accidental Tourist, Little Dorrit and The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Oscar went to Rain Man.

Best Actor winners were Gene Hackman, Jeremy Irions, Tom Hanks and Michael Keaton, The Oscar went to Dustin Hoffman.

Best Actress winners were Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep, Christine Lahti and Judy Davis. Oscar agreed with NBR's pick of Foster.

Best Supporting Actor winners, in addition to Stockwell,were River Phoenix and Alec Guinness. The Oscar went to Kevin Kline.

Best Supporting Actress winners were Frances McDormand, Diane Venora, Genevieve Bujold and Mercedes Ruehl. The Oscar went to Geena Davis.

Best Director winners were Alan Parker, Chris Menges, David Cronenberg and Philip Kaufman, The Oscar went to Barry Levinson.

[anonymous1980]

My predictions!

BEST PICTURE: A Star Is Born
Top 10:
BlacKkKlansman
Black Panther
The Favourite
First Man
Green Book
If Beale Street Could Talk
The Mule
A Quiet Place
Vice
Widows
Top 10 Independent Films:
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Eighth Grade
First Reformed
Hereditary
Leave No Trace
The Rider
Sorry to Bother You
We The Animals
Wildlife
You Were Never Really Here
BEST DIRECTOR: Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite
BEST ACTOR: Clint Eastwood, The Mule
BEST ACTRESS: Glenn Close, The Wife
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Claire Foy, First Man
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Adam McKay, Vice
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Incredibles 2
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born
BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT: Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Roma
Top Foreign Language Films:
Burning
Capernaum
Cold War
I Am Not A Witch
Shoplifters
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Top Documentaries:
Free Solo
Quincy
RBG
Shirkers
Three Identical Strangers
BEST ENSEMBLE: BlacKkKlansman
SPOTLIGHT AWARD: The Other Side of the Wind
NBR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AWARD: Vice