George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” is the best film of the year, according to the National Board of Review. The studios did well with the NBR this year. The 106-year-old organization, made up of “knowledgeable film enthusiasts and professionals, academics, young filmmakers and students,” leads a month in which critics groups, not to mention the Golden Globe nominations, will bring the Oscar race ever more into focus. (The New York Film Critics Circle votes Wednesday.)
This year, while some awards contenders remain out in front, the field is disparate enough to encompass multiple surprises, including possible Best Picture and Director Oscar nominations for “Fury Road” along with expected technical nods.
Stark omissions among the NBR winners include Monday night’s Gotham winner “Spotlight” (Open Road), which is included in the Top Ten list below, as well as Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle’s “Steve Jobs” (Universal), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “The Revenant” (Fox), and David O. Russell’s “Joy” (Fox), which are not. “The Big Short” (Paramount) didn’t make the Top 10 list but had to settle for a “Best Ensemble” prize.
The group is inconsistent at best: they do not name top animated features as they do documentary and foreign; and they include some indie films in the Top 10 (limited releases “Spotlight,” “Room”) and not others (A24’s “Ex Machina,””While We’re Young” and “Mississippi Grind”), which serves to render the indie list more second-tier. Is it studio, big-budget, wide release theatrical, high-grossing Top 10? Indie distributor, small-budget, limited/VOD release, low-grossing Indie Top 10? The criteria are not transparent. Nor is the group itself, which has never released the names of its members. But of course, like the much-excoriated Hollywood Film Awards, award-season players are happy to play along and buy tables at the NBR award ceremony to reap the PR benefits.
Below is a full list of this year’s NBR awards:
Best Film: “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Best Director: Ridley Scott “The Martian”
Best Actor: Matt Damon “The Martian”
Best Actress: Brie Larson “Room”
Best Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone “Creed”
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Jason Leigh “The Hateful Eight”
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino “The Hateful Eight”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Drew Goddard “The Martian”
Best Animated Feature: “Inside Out”
Breakthrough Performance: “Abraham Attah “Beasts of No Nation” and Jacob Tremblay “Room”
Best Directorial Debut: Jonas Carpignano “Mediterranea”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Son of Saul”
Best Documentary: “Amy”
Best Ensemble: “The Big Short”
William K. Everson Film History Award: Cecilia De Mille Presley
Spotlight Award: “Sicario” for Outstanding Collaborative Vision
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: “Beasts of Nation” (Netflix) and “Mustang” (France Oscar entry, Cohen Media Group)
Top Films of 2015:
“Bridge of Spies” (Disney/DreamWorks)
“Creed” (Warner Bros./New Line/MGM)
“The Hateful Eight” (The Weinstein Co.)
“Inside Out” (Disney/Pixar)
“The Martian” (Fox)
“Room” (A24)
“Sicario” (Lionsgate)
“Spotlight” (Open Road)
“Straight Outta Compton” (Universal)
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