The National Board of Review is always an interesting group to be among the first to drop their annual awards. Their picks tend to go against the mainstream of thinking, which is why I always like to highlight them while ignoring some of the others which tend to go as predicted. And they were again a bit out-of-step once again, by choosing Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza as the top movie of the year.
Not only was Licorice Pizza given the award for Best Film, but Anderson was named Best Director. Full disclosure: my picks will look the same when the year is up, so I feel a sense of solidarity with the National Board of Review’s choices.
In terms of acting, Will Smith won Best Actor for his role in King Richard, while newcomer Rachel Zegler’s powerful breakthrough performance in West Side Story earned her Best Actress. Quite an achievement. Ciaran Hinds, who to me was the heart of Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, won for Best Supporting Actor, while King Richard‘s Aunjanue Ellis won Best Supporting Actress. All really good choices.
Most surprising of all is who got absolutely zip from the group. Jane Campion’s Power of the Dog, tick, tick…BOOM!, Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, and Kristen Stewart in Spencer got nothin’.
Full list of honors below:
Best Film: LICORICE PIZZA
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, LICORICE PIZZA
Best Actor: Will Smith, KING RICHARD
Best Actress: Rachel Zegler, WEST SIDE STORY
Best Supporting Actor: Ciarán Hinds, BELFAST
Best Supporting Actress: Aunjanue Ellis, KING RICHARD
Best Original Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi, A HERO
Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
Breakthrough Performance: Alana Haim & Cooper Hoffman, LICORICE PIZZA
Best Directorial Debut: Michael Sarnoski, PIG
Best Animated Feature: ENCANTO
Best Foreign Language Film: A HERO
Best Documentary: SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)
Best Ensemble: THE HARDER THEY FALL
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: FLEE
Top Films (in alphabetical order)
Belfast
Don’t Look Up
Dune
King Richard
The Last Duel
Nightmare Alley
Red Rocket
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order)
Benedetta
Lamb
Lingui, The Sacred Bonds
Titane
The Worst Person in the World
Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order)
Ascension
Attica
Flee
The Rescue
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order)
The Card Counter
C’mon C’mon
CODA
The Green Knight
Holler
Jockey
Old Henry
Pig
Shiva Baby
The Souvenir Part II
