AWARDS SEASON BEGINS -- NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW

Here are the various winners from the National Board of Review for 2007 (my comments are below) :

BEST FILM: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

TOP 10 FILMS OF THE YEAR (excluding NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN):

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
ATONEMENT
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
THE BUCKET LIST
INTO THE WILD
JUNO
THE KITE RUNNER
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
MICHAEL CLAYTON
SWEENEY TODD

DIRECTOR: TIM BURTON for SWEENEY TODD

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

ACTOR: GEORGE CLOONEY for MICHAEL CLAYTON

ACTRESS: JULIE CHRISTIE for AWAY FROM HER

SUPPORTING ACTOR: CASEY AFFLECK for JESSE JAMES

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: AMY RYAN for GONE BABY GONE

DOCUMENTARY: BODY OF WAR

ANIMATED FEATURE: RATATOUILLE

ENSEMBLE CAST: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR: EMILE HIRSCH for INTO THE WILD

BREAKTHROUGH ACTRESS: ELLEN PAGE for JUNO

DIRECTORIAL DEBUT: BEN AFFLECK for GONE BABY GONE

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (tie): DIABLO CODY for JUNO and NANCY OLIVER for LARS AND THE REAL GIRL

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: JOEL & ETHAN COEN for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN


Comments:

Right off the bat, 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. 2007 has been an amazing year for American cinema, and it's going to be all over the place for the rest of awards season with all the various critics groups and top 10 lists.