The real question with today’s National Board of Review announcement wasn’t who won, but who didn’t win.
A couple of ties and a list of honorees that seemed to canvas the entire crop of filmmaking product from 2009 adds something of a diluted quality to the proceedings, I must say. Of course, it is worth noting that major titles like “The Lovely Bones” and “Nine” were not only absent from the list of the group’s top 10 films of the year, but they weren’t visible anywhere, in any category.
The big winner was Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air,” which took down Best Film, Best Actor (George Clooney in a tie with “Invictus” star Morgan Freeman), Best Supporting Actress (Anna Kendrick) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
“Invictus” also did well, nabbing a Best Director citation for Clint Eastwood (someone the NBR has shown, time and again, that they can’t resist) in addition to Freeman’s shared award and a mention in the Freedom of Expression category.
(More, including a full list of winners, after the jump.)
Carey Mulligan took Best Actress for her work in “An Education,” the Coens were rightfully recognized for their original screenplay “A Serious Man” and Jeremy Renner and Gabourey Sidibe predictably took down the breakthrough performance awards for “The Hurt Locker” and “Precious” respectfully, but Sidibe’s film was something of a surprise no-show in the top 10 list. What is it with the east coast and that film these last few weeks?
Anyway, the most refreshing surprise by far: Woody Harrelson nabbing the Best Supporting Actor prize for his magnificent work in “The Messenger,” a film that also landed on the top 10 and could have more heat in this race than some might expect. In case you missed my interview with Harrelson last week, give it a look here.
Full list of winners:
Best Film: “Up In the Air”
Ten Best Films
(in alphabetical order)
“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 Director: Clint Eastwood, “Invictus”
Best Actor: (tie) Morgan Freeman, “Invictus” and George Clooney, “Up In The Air”
Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Best Supporting Actor: Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
Best Supporting Actress: Anna Kendrick, “Up In The Air”
Best Foreign Film: “A Prophet”
Best Documentary: “The Cove”
Best Animated Feature: “Up”
Best Ensemble Cast: “It’s Complicated”
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut: (tie) Duncan Jones, “Moon,” Oren Moverman, “The Messenger” and Marc Webb, “(500) Days of Summer”
Best Original Screenplay: Joel & Ethan Coen, “A Serious Man”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, “Up In the Air”
Special Filmmaking Achievement Award: Wes Anderson, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox”
William K. Everson Film History Award: Jean Picker Firstenberg
NBR Freedom of Expression:
“Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country”
“Invictus”
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
Five Best Foreign-Language Films
(in alphabetical order)
“The Maid”
“Revanche”
“Song of Sparrows”
“Three Monkeys”
“The White Ribbon”
Five Best Documentaries
(in alphabetical order)
“Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country”
“Crude”
“Food, Inc.”
“Good Hair”
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
Top Ten Independent Films:
(in alphabetical order)
“Amreeka”
“District 9”
“Goodbye Solo”
“Humpday”
“In the Loop”
“Julia”
“Me and Orson Welles”
“Moon”
“Sugar”
“Two Lovers”
Comments
125 responses to “‘Up in the Air’ wins big at NBR”
Very glad Star Trek and The Messengers made the cut.
Wow… Precious really got… shut out.
Hurrah for Up in the Air!
Clint for Best Director is all kinds of L-O-L though.
Wow, no Precious or Nine. Great to see Star Trek and Where the Wild Things Are, as well as the recognition for Goodbye Solo and Moon.
The Cove!
The Hurt Locker sucks!
WOW. “A Single Man” got shafted.
I knew that Freeman was gonna win. I didn’t want to believe it, but of course “Invictus” got a big heap of love. Hopefully this is all it gets–fanboys and their fucking Eastwoodies.
Great news for “(500) Days of Summer” and “Moon”. Really thrilled for Harrelson! So glad Renner won.
I guess “Where the Wild Things Are” is their misfit movie this year.
That’s that, then. Kendrick and Harrelson seem to pick-up steam in the supporting categories. And very good that they recognized (500) days of summer.
Cool to see films like (500) Days of Summer, Inglourious Basterds, Star Trek and Where the Wild Things are make their top ten cut too, they’re not exactly the kind of films one would expect to see get noticed by the NBR.
Oh, and I just realized.. NO Nine! And this is the musical/period loving group historically, isn’t it?!
Go Woody! Happy for the indie love for “Julia,” “Moon,” and “Sugar.”
I thought Kendrick was great in Up In the Air. Congrats to her.
And ya… totally forgot about Nine. Ouch… And The Lovely Bones.
Holy crap, I just noticed the “Nine” and “Precious shafts. Dayum!
Nice to have things shaken up a bit.
“It’s Complicated” for Best Ensemble, eh…?
Again, we’ll know how well “Invictus” will play out based on other groups. These folk just have a clear bias.
OMG…I can’t believe Precious was shut out of the top ten. On the flip side though, I’m glad to see love for Where the Wild Things Are and Woody Harrelson for The Messenger. Nice to know the Best Supporting Actor category isn’t as predictable as we all thought it would be.
SO happy that Where the Wild Things Are got in. I’m hoping it can sneak in for Best Pic still.
Interesting that Anna Kendrick won for Supp. Actress. I wonder if she’ll be able to nab some more prizes from Mo’Nique.
WTF, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE?! Anna Kendrick over Monique?! This is by far the worst NBR list I’ve ever seen!! It’s ridiculous!
The Messenger is definitely gaining momentum! It seems it wasn’t that very many weeks ago people had barely even heard of it, and here it is grabbing three big notices.
As for Precious, I’m not too surprised. It didn’t seem like a movie the NBR would go for, though I didn’t expect it to miss the top ten.
Yay for Where the Wild Things Are, Up, and Star Trek!
How the hell can they see “Julia” and NOT give best actress to swinton? Mulligan is so overrated. the performance was pleasant and un-histrionic…. but please. A dozen decent actresses could have achieved the level of success she did with the role. Happy about the supporting categories, I don’t want Mo’Nique to steamroll through awards season and win everything ala Hudson, Zellwegger or Connelly…. I need some surprises this season.
Huzzah, this list is very great. Six of my top ten of the year are on the Top 10 list, and another 3 are on the Top Independent Film List, which is incidentally fucking amazing.
You clearly haven’t seen many NBR lists, De-Garryan.
SHAAAARK I am with you, very similar to my list from this year (so far)…
A very interesting start to the season. That Top 10 list is pretty far from what most have been predicting will be on Oscar’s eventual Top 10. In fact, the only ones from that list that you could call “locks” for BP are “The Hurt Locker”, “Invictus”, and “Up”. And “Up in the Air” is now obviously locked in as well. Don’t forget, though, that this was one of like three groups total last year that didn’t award Heath for the Joker, so you never know which of these categories may take a sudden turn.
Hopefully this starts a rumble of a buzz for Star Trek…….
I see no film beating Up in the Air at the Oscars. The only two that could – Nine and The Lovely Bones – got mixed reviews. It really looks like a ”Slumdog Millionare”.
Bemused by the Mulligan win – I really did thing an Education was one of those movies that Male Critics fawn over.
But do have suspicion that Mulligan could be this years Anne Hathaway.
I am happy that Gabourey Sidibe
won something given the Precious backlash.
Gutted over Bridges, I have loved Jeff Bridges since Fearless.
Forgot to say I am pleased for Harrelson – he is so under rated.
is It’s Complicated winning best ensemble some sort of joke?
I really doubt Up In the Air is going to win best picture. Is one of the frontrunner, no doubt, but it doesnt have what is needed to win, not yet.
Kendrick is locked as well as Renner, Freeman, Mulligan and Sidibe. Mo’Nique, no matter what the NBR says, is still the frontrunner in supporting actress.
Very cool that Harrelson got noiced as well as Star Trek (which could be in instead of Avatar come Oscar time), 500 Days of summer (great ovie, maybe the comedy choice for Oscar?) and Basterds.
So the season begins. What the awards schedule then ?
I am…kinda shocked Crazy Heart was snubbed from the indie list. Wtf?
What a snooze, could the winners be more obvious.
But yeah Precious, Nine, The Lovely Bones, A Single Man & Avatar shut out is interesting. Can anyone confirm that they did not see Avatar.
And what the fuck is up with 500 days. Its 1 of the 10 best films of the year??? Jesus.
I’ve been saying in my comments for a while now that I think (500) is being severly underestimated! It’s both a veritable contender for Fox Searchlight, always a player, and a nice comedic spice to a lineup mostly heavy in tone. I think it could be among the final 10.
I wonder if both D9 and ST or just one can crack the Top 10. I guess I’ll lean towards ST. But D9 would be a second dream come true.
Avatar most certainly wasn’t screened for them, wine.
The Crazy Heart snub just occurred to me, though. Odd. Whatever. It’s the NBR.
Their top ten is actually the most interesting top ten they’ve offered in.. forever?
Not that the NBR matters that much in the grand scheme of things, I highly doubt this means Precious is heading for trouble or anything of that sort, but it is nice to see them shake things up a bit. Their list certainly feels more like a vote of the heart than just listing the top contenders.
I don’t see why anyone would doubt that Up in the Air could win Best Picture. Out of all the alternatives, it’s the biggest crowd pleaser and would not be an embarrassing choice like A Beautiful Mind or Crash.
But there are still a lot of awards to be handed out.
is Avatar shut out or just not seen yet?
Can anyone confirm that they did not see Nine or The lovely bones?
This is a joke! Best Ensemble Cast: “It’s Complicated” jajaja, and Anna Kendrick, “Up In The Air” over Mo´nique!!!!!
Just wondering but what does this mean to Oscar campaigns of people like Streep/Sidibe and Bridges to win? Is it a huge blow.
These would be my sentimental choices to win as I do think (bar Bridges – whose performance I have not seen) the best acting of this year imho – came outside the Oscar probables.
I would assume that a lot of members didn’t get to Crazy Heart. I’m wondering about A Single Man as well.
interesting, certainly more then one suprise. Waltz really deserved the best supporting actor nod. Where the Wild things are is nice to see. Inglourious Basterds in the top 10.. no precious, a single man, lovely bones, nine, im stumped
@ Nel,
it means nothing to their campaigns simply because the NBR means nothing and critics’ awards mean very little. They could boost a contender, but losing is not considered that crucial. Think of how many actors or directors or writers got snubbed by the critics and still won Oscars. The Oscars are voted by the industry. That’s why losing the guild’s award could matter, but critics could only boost somebody’s chances.
Notice that the past decade 5 out of 9 best director pics were shut out at the academy nominations.
see: tim burton, ed zwick, michael mann, todd field, phillip noyce.
That doesn’t look good for clint…
sure noms though for mulligan and harrelson (yesss!)
“is It’s Complicated winning best ensemble some sort of joke?”
Meryl Streep gets back-to-back Best Ensemble. Last year “Doubt” won.
“And what the fuck is up with 500 days. Its 1 of the 10 best films of the year?”
Yes?
And Kris, the Avatar screenings, will they take place in Imax 3D or the regular 2D small screens?
Because showing it on a small 2D screen would be showing off the movie to a huge disadvantage. I wouldn’t see the film that way.
@PJ: Don’t tease me. But please, let your hunch be right =).
I wonder what exactly will happen this year. From 2001-2006, the NBR winner lost BP to another film at the Oscars. Then, these past two years, NBR chose the consensus winner. I wonder which way it will go this season….
KRIS, Can you confirm that they did not see Nine or The lovely bones?
KRIS, Can you confirm that they did not see THE LOVELY BONES OR NINE?
Disappointing to see a retread like Star Trek included over something original like District 9, and Neill Blomkamp totally snubbed in best first feature. Wow, I guess NBR really is lame.
and ensemble win for Doubt is a no-brainer. But if they just felt like giving Meryl something, why not ensemble for Julie & Julia?
Yes for “Up”! Is this the first Pixar film to be in NPR’s top ten? In the past, it seems like they’ve always been relegated to a win in the animated category… but no mention of the Top 10.
Other than the more obvious snubs, I’m actually a little surprised at no love for “Julie & Julia” anywhere…
So wait…they have the Best Film of the Year but it’s not listed in their Top 10 of the Year…so is it really their Top 11 of the Year?
“And Kris, the Avatar screenings, will they take place in Imax 3D or the regular 2D small screens?
Because showing it on a small 2D screen would be showing off the movie to a huge disadvantage. I wouldn’t see the film that way.”
I am not OK with the idea that you MUST see “Avatar” in 3D for it to be good. Personally, I hate 3D because I wear glasses, but shouldn’t a movie be good in any format?
The whole “Avatar-in-3D-only” thing comes perilously close to the movie caveat “You must be ______ (female, Catholic, American, etc.) to understand why this is a good movie,” which I can’t stand.
@ Ross – Sad I know, but that is what I hoped!!
I really want Bridges to win his first Oscar but looking at the NBR Awards have to give them props for giving Julianne Moore the best actress nod in 2002!!