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
