The second oldest film awards body in the United States is a bad barometer of Oscar contention. Typically announcing their list before most other precursors are announced, the NBR is going much later this season. Yet, that extra time hasn’t done much to improve their selections. While the Clint Eastwood/Warner Bros. bias appears to be over, their inability to put their winners into their top 10/top 5 lists shows just how little they’ve grown. Looking at these awards, some of them seem on track with what appear to be Oscar contenders, but others don’t seem to be advancing much. This should ultimately result in the continued irrelevance of this organization in terms of foreshadowing the Oscars.
Award Tallies
(3) Da 5 Bloods (2) Minari, Sound of Metal
The Awards
Best Picture
Da 5 Bloods
Best Animated Film
Soul
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 Original Screenplay
Minari
Best Adapted Screenplay
News of the World
Best Cinematography
Nomadland
Best Foreign Language Film
La Llorona
Best Documentary
Time
Best Ensemble
Da 5 Bloods
Best Breakthrough Performance
Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Best Directorial Debut
Channing Godfrey Peoples – Miss Juneteenth
Freedom of Expression
One Night in Miami
Icon Award
Chadwick Boseman
Top Films
Da 5 Bloods
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 Independent Films
The Climb
Driveways
Farewell Amor
Miss Juneteenth
The Nest
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
The Outpost
Relic
Saint Frances
Wolfwalkers
Top Foreign Films
Apples
Collective
Dear Comrades
La Llorona
The Mole Agent
Night of the Kings
Top Documentaries
All-In: The Fight for Democracy
Boys State
Dick Johnson Is Dead
Miss Americana
Time
The Truffle Hunters
National Board of Review Data
Year Founded: December 24, 1908 First Awards: 1929 (92)
The second oldest film awards body in the United States is a bad barometer of Oscar contention. Typically announcing their list before most other precursors are announced, the NBR is going much later this season. Yet, that extra time hasn’t done much to improve their selections. While the Clint Eastwood/Warner Bros. bias appears to be over, their inability to put their winners into their top 10/top 5 lists shows just how little they’ve grown. Looking at these awards, some of them seem on track with what appear to be Oscar contenders, but others don’t seem to be advancing much. This should ultimately result in the continued irrelevance of this organization in terms of foreshadowing the Oscars.
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