comment #1

TakeMeBackToManhattan says ...

I already posted this on the previous thread, but now that the NBR thread is here:

Aside from the glaringly dubious inclusion of "The Bucket List", does anyone have a problem with "The Bourne Ultimatum" being on here? It's very, very good, but a top ten selection in such a strong year? Not really buying it.

comment #2

Crow T Robot says ...

Showing love to The Bourne Ultimatum proves that NBA is on top of it. If only the Oscars reflected the quality (and with the Affleck choice, apolitical) cinema chosen in this list. Nice.

comment #3

Aguirre says ...

well, as i posted on tapley's blog, i've seldom been so happy to be wrong on that front. rest assured it was a very close contender for the prize. feeling compelled to salvage what little self-respect i have left despite the group being notoriously unpredictable, i would like to point out that (as evidenced on tapley's blog), i called the (surprising) winner for best doc, best breakthrough actress, best supporting actor, and hairspray not being short-listed (the last of those things i know is an impressive achievement in prescience ... but seriously, folks). i may not get a whole cookie for that... but maybe a nibble?

comment #4

corey3rd says ...

NBR is merely a sneak preview society. It's nice that they vote, but do we care about all those other Learning Annex classes that get to see sneak previews around NYC?

I'm going to start up the Party Favors Cinema Awards - except people will be voting for films that came out in 1997. What films held up over the decade?

comment #5

le corbeau says ...

LA Confidential, Boogie Nights, Jackie Brown, Chasing Amy, Ulee's Gold, Donnie Brasco, Grosse Pointe Blank, Austin Powers, and Starship Troopers.

comment #6

mongstrol says ...

No acknowledgment for There Will Be Blood in any way? Huh.

comment #7

K. Bowen says ...

Casey Affleck.... yay!

comment #8

Edward Havens says ...

Someone on another board I frequent threw together a quick list of the NBR winners over the past twenty years, along with the number of Oscar nominations that film ended up getting. It's not like they are totally pulling things out of left field with their top pick, no matter how wacky some of their other choices are...

1986: Room with a View (8)
1987: Empire of the Sun (6)
1988: Mississippi Burning (7)
1989: Driving Miss Daisy (9)
1990: Dancing with Wolves (12)
1991: Silence of the Lambs (7)
1992: Howards End (9)
1993: Schindlers List (12)
1994: Forest Gump/Pulp Fiction (tie)(13/7)
1995: Sense and Sensibility (7)
1996: Shine (7)
1997: L.A. Confidential (9)
1998: Gods and Monsters (3)
1999: American Beauty (8)
2000: Quills (3)
2001: Moulin Rouge (8)
2002: The Hours (9)
2003: Mystic River (6)
2004: Finding Neverland (7)
2005: Good Night, and Good Luck (6)
2006: Letters from Iwo Jima (4)

comment #9

actionman says ...

I am very pleased to see some love for JESSE JAMES and INTO THE WILD. Obviously, the best picture win for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is terrific, as it's classic crime film already. AMERICAN GANGSTER, ZODIAC, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD, ONCE, THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE, and EASTERN PROMISES all got snubbed, which is a shame as those are some of the best films of the year. Though I have only seen the trailer for THE BUCKET LIST, I can't honestly say that I think it will be as good as any of those films I just listed above; it looks like Hollywood polished crap with two solid actors anchoring a mountain of cliches. Again, haven't seen it, but something tells me that ZODIAC is a better film. Just a hunch. I haven't seen ATONEMENT or JUNO either but the advance buzz has been phenomenal for both. Also haven't seen THE KITE RUNNER (I'm hearing solid buzz but not masterpiece level) so I can't say anything on that. It's nice to see an action movie on the list with THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM; it was certainly excellent, a true four-star action picture. I pretty much hated the script to LARS AND THE REAL GIRL so I never went to see it. Paul Thomas Anderson's THERE WILL BE BLOOD, which won't open until Christmas, has gotten some of the best reivews of any year, yet it went unnoticed. The early word on SWEENEY TODD is excellent, so I'm not surprised that Burton picked up best director. The fact of the matter is that this year has been an embarrassment of riches at the movies, and there are so many outstanding films out there that picking a top ten list or 5 best picture candidates is going to be virtually impossible. While I loved MICHAEL CLAYTON and thought George Clooney gave an excellent movie-star performance, there is no way that his work was better than Benicio Del Toro in THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE or Emile Hirsch in INTO THE WILD. Ben Affleck did a terrific job with GONE BABY GONE, and I was super excited to see that Amy Ryan picked up best supporting actress for that film; not only was she incredible in Affleck's film, she was also excellent in BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD and DAN IN REAL LIFE; what a year for her. I am very anxious to see THE DIVING BELL & THE BUTTERFLY (planning on seeing it this weekend) but it strikes me as weird that it's being called a foreign film. Granted, the dialogue is spoken in French, but it was financed with American money so....doesn't make sense to me. I haven't seen BODY OF WAR, but for it to have beaten CRAZY LOVE as best documentary means that it must be a masterwork of some kind. I haven't seen AWAY FROM HER, but I have heard nothing but remarkable things about the film, and Julie Christie's performance. All in all, a solid group of films and decisions by the National Board of Review.

comment #10

Mike Schaefer says ...

Re: Body of War... maybe they just like Phil Donahue.

comment #11

p.Vice says ...

Taint things how? That a bunch of proven retards actually "got" a movie that apparently only the thread-counters are hip to?

However, today is a day, Wellsy, because you and I are actually in complete agreement about Clooner being a pathetic choice for Best Actor. Not that I'm on your Del Toro trainwreck, but this is skimming the shallow pool of movie star vanity for a performance, not looking at real acting. The only worse choice possible would have been Uncle Denzel sleepwalking his way through yet another hip-hop cliche.

Judging by these awards this has been an incredibly weak year for performances all around... Affleck gave about the third best supporting performance in that movie (Paul Schneider and Jeremy Renner obviously lack the benefit of being Ben Affleck's brother), Ryan's was a shrill, laughable white trash sterotype, and Christie is a where-you-been kowtow. ZZZZZZ

comment #12

MiraJeffAICN says ...

Actionman, Amy Ryan was excellent in Dan in Real Life? Really? For how long? Maybe 5 minutes, tops. She's barely even in the film. Easy there on the hyperbole, buddy.

comment #13

actionman says ...

sorry...what I meant to say is that she nailed her little role in that film. It took me by surprise to see her acting so nice in Dan in Real Life after watching her bitterly nasty performances in Gone Baby Gone and Before the Devil. I saw both of those films before I saw Dan in Real Life so it was just funny to see her playing a nice person. But her few mins of screen time was certainly well-played. I'll save the "excellent" comment for Gone and Devil.

comment #14

Fudge Ripple says ...

"Body of War" -- and I say this as someone ardently against the war in Iraq -- is basically an extended gimmick, juxtaposing the day-to-day life of a disabled Iraq veteran-turned-antiwar activist with clips of Congress debating the 2002 war resolution. That's all there is to it. As a five-minute YouTube clip, it would have been powerful. As a 90-minute movie, it wears very thin. "No End in Sight" is a much more interesting, much more powerful and just a much better made movie, and it'll be a real shame if the inferior "Body of War" becomes the de facto Iraq war doc during awards season.

comment #15

Josh Massey says ...

Check her out on "The Wire." (She's reason #12,388 to check out "The Wire," incidentally).

The Bucket List is better than Zodiac, huh? Uh, ok. And I haven't even seen Juno but am already annoyed by it.

comment #16

Wrecktum says ...

What's wrong with the Clooney win? Clooney had an excellent "movie star" role in Michael Clayton and played it perfectly. There are, of course, better performances this year, but the Academy and other orgs like to occasionally honor a big star lending their wattage to a competent performance in a great film (Humphrey Bogart, Bill Holden, Bing Crosby come to mind). It's not all about the craft. It's about the glitz too.

comment #17

Bilge says ...

Yeah, as much as I try not to think of the NBR, I can't help but have some fondness for them for picking BARRY LYNDON the Best Picture of 1975 (which it was). And I'm pretty sure they didn't just hand out the award because they thought Kubrick was going to show up for the awards ceremony.

comment #18

romeoisbleeding says ...

Their list of top ten films is simply insane. I cannot believe the great movies they left out. What on earth were they thinking??????????????

comment #19

York "Budd" Durden says ...

This NBR list has never had any credibility with me in the first place, but in 2007 to leave off Zodiac is just sheer intellectual folly. The trailer to The Bucket List alone is enough to convince me that it is not a piece of art on a par with any number of films this year beyond the other nine. Feh.

comment #20

I,Claudius says ...

Re: Clooney winning Best Actor, Why do people put any merit into Jeffrey Welles' opinions. Ask ANYONE in the industry and he/she'll tell you the guy's considered an idiot. One notch above Dave Poland.

comment #21

I,Claudius says ...

Re: Clooney winning Best Actor, Why do people put any merit into Jeffrey Welles' opinions? Ask ANYONE in the industry and he/she'll tell you the guy's considered an idiot. One notch above Dave Poland.

comment #22

plastiqueelephant says ...

um, i'm in the industry and i was pretty darn blown away by george clooney's performance in michael clayton. on a scene level he removed all his tics, his choices were constantly unexpected. yeah, he's such an idiot steve soderberg chose to make films with him for five years and such an idiot he directed good night and good luck. if you like a performance better (i preferred sam riley in control, james mcavoy in atonement and look forward to DDL in TWBB) argue that case. but dismiss great craft and you sound like you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

comment #23

tophertilson says ...

I have no problem with Clooney. I quite enjoyed his performance in MICHAEL CLAYTON. It's a swell movie star turn, akin to Tom Cruise in JERRY MAGUIRE. But c'mon, is it really in the same league as Daniel Day Lewis in THERE WILL BE BLOOD or Johnny Depp in SWEENEY TODD? Or Philip Seymour Hoffman in DEVIL for that matter?

If this was the Golden Globes, I'd get it. They love to award movie stars for being movie stars.

comment #24

AJW says ...

plastiqueelephant, it looks like Claudius is referring to Wells not to Clooney.

comment #25

BurmaShave says ...

THE BUCKET LIST is better than ZODIAC? Huh? Before I kill them I'm going to throw their baby out the window.

comment #26

PerfectTommy says ...

Hey Claudius,
How about you hold off calling anyone an idiot until you have mastered the mysteries of the Type Key. Many of us enjoy Wells' commentary. If you don't care for it, why are you here?

comment #27

daneko3 says ...

Anyone else find it bizarre that NBR named No Country as best pic, but not as one of their top 10 films of the year?

comment #28

adaml says ...

Jeff, your repeated jibes at Clooney are completely misguided. It's a tremendous performance. I'd say it was better than Julie Christie's, which you don't seem to have a problem with. I'd say Gordon Pinsent in Away From Her gave a better performance than either but that's another story.

Also the Bourne film on that top 10 is ludicrous. This has been an unbelievably good year. Putting on a threquel that offers very little new is silly.

comment #29

PerfectTommy says ...

Daneko3 - From Variety's story:

In previous years, the NBR included the winning film in its list of the top 10 films of the year. This round, the org changed its rules to keep the year’s best film separate, creating what amounts to a top 11 list.

comment #30

christian says ...

THE BUCKET LIST over GRINDHOUSE?

comment #31

guermaxl says ...

Is the movie "I'm Not There" and Cate Blanchett in trouble are far as awards are concerned? These are glaring omissions that no one seems to be talking about. NBR chose Amy Ryan over Blanchett in the supporting actress category. If Ryan wins a couple more of these type of awards, that would make her the frontrunner for an academy award. Oscar voters may not want to give Blanchett another supporting award...

There is another upset in the best actress category. Julie Christie's role in "Away With Her" won over Marion Cotillard's in "La Vie En Rose". It has been my contention all along that
"Rose would lose steam because the promotion was put soley behind Cotillard's performance and nothing else. On the other hand, "Away With Her has an Oscar-worthy screenplay adaptation and a terrific song at the end to go with Christie's performance. To me, that makes Christie the Oscar winner this year.

comment #32

guermaxl says ...

Is the movie "I'm Not There" and Cate Blanchett in trouble are far as awards are concerned? These are glaring omissions that no one seems to be talking about. NBR chose Amy Ryan over Blanchett in the supporting actress category. If Ryan wins a couple more of these type of awards, that would make her the frontrunner for an academy award. Oscar voters may not want to give Blanchett another supporting award...

There is another upset in the best actress category. Julie Christie's role in "Away With Her" won over Marion Cotillard's in "La Vie En Rose". It has been my contention all along that
"Rose would lose steam because the promotion was put soley behind Cotillard's performance and nothing else. On the other hand, "Away With Her has an Oscar-worthy screenplay adaptation and a terrific song at the end to go with Christie's performance. To me, that makes Christie the Oscar winner this year.