National Board of Review

And now the National Board of Review chimes in with its Top Ten...well, Top Eleven really. The NBR gives a Best Picture prize in addition to their Ten of the Year, which is bizarre, but I guess they can do what they want, right?

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Jason Reitman/Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Great novel. I hope their adaptation does it justice. It helps that I have a lot of faith in Reitman, who is two-for-two as far as I'm concerned.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Ethan Coen/Joel Coen, A Serious Man

Yes! Keep those awards rolling in! A Serious Man is surely the best Coen Brothers movie since The Big Lebowski, maybe ever.

SPOTLIGHT AWARD FOR DIRECTORIAL DEBUT

Duncan Jones, Moon

Oren Moverman, The Messenger

Marc Webb, (500) Days of Summer

Jeez, do I really need to see The Messenger? The world seems to demand it. Congrats, of course, to Jones and Webb. I've met Webb, a well-spoken and down-to-earth kind of guy, so more power to him!

BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR

Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Amen to that.

BREAKTHROUGH ACTRESS

Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

As expected. She's going to sweep these, I bet. It's like when Directorial Debut awards in 2007 were exclusively Ben Affleck/Sarah Polley; this category is going to be Sidibe/Carey Mulligan.

BEST ENSEMBLE

It's Complicated

Well. Way to get me even more excited, NBR.

BEST DIRECTOR

Clint Eastwood, Invictus

Cool, cool. I mean, perfectly harmless. The movie's not out yet, so I really can't judge.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

Curious: they misspelled Zombieland. Is this movie going to come to Tally? Or will I have to catch it in SoFla over Christmas?

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air

And yet, all I can do is think of her in New Moon. I know what sins against cinema I'm committing in admitting that.

BEST ACTOR

George Clooney, Up in the Air

Morgan Freeman, Invictus

As far as actors go, this is probably the safest tie ever. Still: I need to see the films.

BEST ACTRESS

Carey Mulligan, An Education

I don't know if she's my pick (not yet), but I will whole-heartedly support any award thrown at her.

BEST FILM
Up in the Air
In limited release tomorrow. Limited does not mean my city, though. Poop.

TOP TEN

(500) Days of Summer

An Education

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Invictus

The Messenger

A Serious Man

Star Trek
Up

Where the Wild Things Are

OK, so I haven't seen Invictus or The Messenger. But otherwise....pretty cool Top Ten. Star Trek was on mine until Fantastic Mr. Fox came into my life. Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man and (500) Days of Summer are on mine (so far). Where the Wild Things Are and An Education came pretty close in mine. The Hurt Locker is a solid film. The odd man out here is Up, which I like OK. I mean, you know, it's decent, kinda, I guess. This is big for The Messenger though, which looks like it may be the little indie that could for this year. Precious, meanwhile, is M.I.A. How curious.