NBR Picks Zero Dark Thirty

The National Board of Review announced their winners today, and like the NYFCC on Monday, rewarded Zero Dark Thirty in a big way, with the film taking the prizes for Best Picture, Director for Kathryn Bigelow, and Actress for Jessica Chastain. 

Bradley Cooper beat Daniel Day-Lewis for Best Actor (DDL also lost for There Will Be Blood; does the NBR have some beef with him?) while the supporting prizes went to Leonardo DiCaprio for Django Unchained and Ann Dowd for Compliance.  Leo already had buzz before Tarantino's latest was even seen, but it's great for Dowd to receive recognition for one of the best performances of the year.

While the National Board of Review rarely matches up with the Oscars, as one of the earliest groups, and one that tends to make solid choices each year, they can certainly help build buzz for certain films and performers.  In the case of Dowd, hopefully she fares better than past winners in the category, such as Shailene Woodley, who failed to garner an Oscar nomination for her stellar work in The Descendants.

Lincoln was also upset in the Adapted Screenplay race, which went to David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook.  While Lincoln made the group's Top Films list, maybe it was a little too serious for the NBR to fully embrace?  Remember, this is the group that excluded There Will Be Blood in favor of The Bucket List five years ago.

The complete list of winners:

Best Picture: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Best Supporting Actress: Ann Dowd, Compliance
Best Original Screenplay: Rian Johnson, Looper
Best Adapted Screenplay: David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Animated Feature: Wreck-It Ralph
Special Achievement in Filmmaking: Ben Affleck, Argo
Breakthrough Actor: Tom Holland, The Impossible
Breakthrough Actress: Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Best Directorial Debut: Behn Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Best Foreign Language Film: Amour
Best Documentary: Searching for Sugar Man 
William K. Everson Film History Award: 50 Years of Bond Films
Best Ensemble: Les Miserables
Spotlight Awards: John Goodman, Argo, Flight, ParaNorman, and Trouble with the Curve
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: The Central Park Five
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Promised Land

Top Films
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Lincoln

Looper

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Promised Land

Silver Linings Playbook

Top 5 Foreign Language Films
Barbara
The Intouchables
The Kid with a Bike
No
War Witch

Top 5 Documentaries
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
Detropia
The Gatekeepers
The Invisible War
Only the Young

Top 10 Independent Films 
Arbitrage
Bernie
Compliance
End of Watch
Hello I Must Be Going
Little Birds
Moonrise Kingdom
On the Road
Quartet
Sleepwalk with Me