In Contention

By Josh Spiegel

December 4, 2009

What's that you say? We're in the NBR's top 11 list?

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Well, it's officially December. I know what you're thinking: December means it's time for the holidays, right? Wrong! No, in some parts of the country, December means that it's time for the yearly awards push for some of the biggest and best movies out there: it's Oscar season once again. This year, Oscar season will go a full three months, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to move back its yearly ceremony from February to March 7th. Of course, there's already been plenty of Oscar speculation already, but this is the first week with a relatively serious awards announcement, from the common first group, the National Board of Review.

Before we get to the NBR awards, though, it's worth pointing out one other major awards group that announced its nominations for 2009: the Film Independent Spirit Awards, which is essentially the indie version of the Oscars. Their Best Feature nominees are Sin Nombre, Precious, The Last Station, (500) Days of Summer, and Amreeka. Other notable nominees include the Coen Brothers as Best Director nominees for A Serious Man, Paranormal Activity, the low-budget, high-profit ghost story as Best First Feature nominee, Greg Mottola's script for Adventureland getting nommed for Best Screenplay, and Jemain Clement of Flight of the Conchords receiving a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Gentlemen Broncos.

It's worth noting that, even though movies such as Precious and possibly (500) Days of Summer or The Last Station will get some Oscar love, the Independent Spirit Awards are not often a solid predictor of Oscar gold; though they have sometimes predicted Best Picture Oscar nominees, including Juno, Brokeback Mountain, and Sideways, in the past ten years, none of their nominees or winners of the Best Feature award have ever gone on to won the Best Picture Oscar. Granted, the current buzz would tell us that not only is Precious going to be nominated for the big prize, but will likely walk away with it. If anything, the Independent Spirit Awards are interesting to consider, and worthy of recognition, but not a solid arbiter of anything Best Picture-related.




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This year, the NBR has chosen Up in the Air, the George Clooney comedy-drama from Juno director Jason Reitman as its best picture of the year. In alphabetical order, the NBR's other top ten films of the year are An Education, (500) Days of Summer, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Invictus, The Messenger, A Serious Man, Star Trek, Up, and Where the Wild Things Are. Other notable winners are Clint Eastwood as Best Director for Invictus, Woody Harrelson as Best Supporting Actor for The Messenger, Morgan Freeman and Clooney tying as Best Actor winners, and It's Complicated winning for Best Ensemble Cast. The most notable exclusions are Precious, Nine, and The Lovely Bones. So what does this all mean?

For me, among the list of the NBR's best films of 2009, the final three films are most notable. Science-fiction films usually don't float the NBR's proverbial boat; though it's certainly one of the most commercial sci-fi films of recent years and extremely accessible, that Star Trek got on the list is a pleasant surprise. Up, still my favorite film of the year, getting on the list is also encouraging for its Best Picture Oscar prospects. This wild adventure about an elderly man flying to Venezuela via house and balloons is considered a relatively sure thing for Oscar, but getting nominations in as many places as possible is nothing but great. The final slot, for Spike Jonze's indie kiddie movie, is a bit of a surprise, as well, as the film divided many critics and moviegoers. What does this mean for the three surprising snubs? The Lovely Bones is meeting some criticism in a few circles, as is Nine. Still, the race has just begun and the NBR isn't always the best arbiter of Oscar gold.


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