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IWO JIMA TOPS NBR
With the Gothams passed out last week and the National Board of Review giving their top nods last night, the award season is beginning to blossom.
The NBR named Clint Eastwood‘s second film on World War II this year, Letters From Iwo Jima, its Best Film (scroll down for full list). Shot around Southern California in 33 days on a substantially lower budget than Flags of our Fathers, most believed Iwo Jima – which is in Japanese and its only actor familiar to American audiences is Ken Watanabe – was to play second fiddle to its star-studded predecessor. But when its release date changed from February to December 20 you could see the Warner Bros. strategy beginning to change.
Though Fathers will not be ignored during awards season – it’s an excellent film and Adam Beach‘s performance is one of the best this year – it’s not getting the patented Eastwood word-of-mouth push that Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby got. But I doubt Mr. Eastwood is complaining. Must be nice to have two tries at Oscar gold in the same year.
And one comment about the list below. Starting now, can we stop giving Ryan Gosling Breakthrough Performance awards. He broken through a while ago! Let’s start calling him a great actor.
Best Film
Letters From Iwo Jima
The Top Ten
Letters From Iwo Jima
Babel
Blood Diamond
The Departed
The Devil Wears Prada
Flags Of Our Fathers
The History Boys
Little Miss Sunshine
Notes on a Scandal
The Painted Veil
Best Documentary
An Inconvenient Truth
Top Five Documentaries
An Inconvenient Truth, (and, in alphabetical order) 51 Birch Street, Iraq In Fragments, Shut Up & Sing, Wordplay
Best Foreign Film
Volver
Top Five Foreign Films
Volver, (and, in alphabetical order) Curse Of The Golden Flower, Days Of Glory, Pan’s Labyrinth, Water
Top Independent Films
(in alphabetical order) Akeelah And The Bee, Bobby, Catch A Fire, Copying Beethoven, A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, Half Nelson, The Illusionist, Lonesome Jim, Sherrybaby, 10 Items Or Less, Thank You For Smoking
Best Director
Martin Scorsese
The Departed
Best Actor
Forest Whitaker
The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress
Helen Mirren
The Queen
Best Supporting Actor
Djimon Hounsou
Blood Diamond
Best Supporting Actress
Catherine O’Hara
For Your Consideration
Best Animated Feature
Cars
Best Ensemble Cast
The Departed
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor
Ryan Gosling
Half Nelson
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel
Best Directorial Debut
Jason Reitman
Thank You for Smoking
Best Original Screenplay
Zach Helm
Stranger Than Fiction
Best Adapted Screenplay
Ron Nyswaner
The Painted Veil
Career Achievement Award
Eli Wallach
Billy Wilder Award For Excellence In Directing
Jonathan Demme
William K. Everson Award For Film History
Donald Krim
Career Achievement in Producing
Irwin Winkler
The Bvlgari Award for NBR Freedom of Expression
Water and World Trade Center
