Once again the National Board of Review manages to confuse us all with their picks and not because they are all that much of a surprise, but more because the film they consider to be the best film of 2008 doesn’t make it into their list of Top Ten Films. Can someone explain that to me please?
Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire came out on top as the group’s Best Film of the year while the film’s star, Dev Patel, nabbed kudos for Breakthrough Performance by an Actor and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy won Best Adapted Screenplay in a tie with Eric Roth for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which also took home an award for David Finsher as well as being named inside the group’s list of top ten films of 2008, a status Slumdog didn’t manage to achieve. Therefore I guess it shouldn’t be a big surprise that Man on Wire was named Best Documentary but then not named as one of the top five documentaries of the year. Screwy.
Clint Eastwood was named by the group for Best Actor for Gran Torino while the start of a big award year for Anne Hathaway may be just beginning as she was named Best Actress for Rachel Getting Married.
You can check out all the winners below and stay tuned as I am off to see The Reader right now and when I return will be putting together my latest batch of Oscar predictions and after seeing Doubt and Revolutionary Road yesterday there are certainly a few changes.
Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director: DAVID FINCHER, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Actor: CLINT EASTWOOD, Gran Torino
Best Actress: ANNE HATHAWAY, Rachel Getting Married
Best Supporting Actor: JOSH BROLIN, Milk
Best Supporting Actress: PENELOPE CRUZ, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Foreign Language Film: Mongol
Best Documentary: Man on Wire
Best Animated Feature: WALL•E
Best Ensemble Cast: Doubt
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: DEV PATEL, Slumdog Millionaire
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: VIOLA DAVIS, Doubt
Best Directorial Debut: COURTNEY HUNT, Frozen River
Best Original Screenplay: NICK SCHENK, Gran Torino
Best Adapted Screenplay: SIMON BEAUFOY, Slumdog Millionaire and ERIC ROTH, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Spotlight Award: MELISSA LEO, Frozen River and RICHARD JENKINS, The Visitor
The BVLGARI Award for NBR Freedom of Expression: Trumbo
Top Ten Films (In alphabetical order)
- Burn after Reading
- Changeling
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- Defiance
- Frost/Nixon
- Gran Torino
- Milk
- WALL•E
- The Wrestler
Top Five Foreign Language Films (In alphabetical order)
- Edge of Heaven
- Let the Right One In
- Roman de Gare
- A Secret
- Waltz with Bashir
Top Five Documentary Films (In alphabetical order)
- American Teen
- The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
- Dear Zachary
- Encounters at the End of the World
- Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
William K. Everson Film History Award: MOLLY HASKELL and ANDREW SARRIS
