National Board of Review names best films of 2009

source: nbrmp.com

The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures last week handed out their awards for their favourite films of 2009.

The winners are as follows:

Best Film: Up in the Air

Top 10 Films (not including winner): An Education, (500) Days of Summer, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Invictus, The Messenger, A Serious Man, Star Trek, Up, Where The Wild Things Are

Best Foreign Film: A Prophet

Best Documentary: The Cove

Top Independent Films: Amreeka, District 9, Goodbye Solo, Humpday, In The Loop, Julia, Me and Orson Welles, Moon, Sugar, Two Lovers

Best Actor: George Clooney (Up in the Air) / Morgan Freeman (Invictus)

Best Actress: Carey Mulligan (An Education)

Best Supporting Actor: Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)

Best Supporting Actress: Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)

Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)

Best Directorial Debut: Mark Webb ((500) Days of Summer) / Oren Moverman (The Messenger) / Duncan Jones (Moon)

Best Director: Clint Eastwood (Invictus)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air)

Best Original Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen (A Serious Man)

Best Animated Feature: Up

You can see the whole list of winners here.

In 2008, four of the five Best Picture nominees were named amongst NBR’s top 11 films. However, the NBR’s Best Film has only matched the Oscar’s Best Picture three times in the past decade.

Australian audiences are yet to see big winners Up in the Air, Precious, Invictus and The Hurt Locker. Regardless, we’re sure that these films (including 500 Days of Summer, A Serious Man, Up, Moon, Inglourious Basterds, An Education and Where the Wild Things Are) will be among the significant Oscar contenders of 2009.

Discuss: Your thoughts on the victors?