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
