Oscar Beat: NBR Names Slumdog Millionaire Best Film

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on December 5, 2008

It is that time of year again — time to kick the tires and light the fires on my Oscar Beat column, the official home of the chase for the little golden man. And no, we are not going to be chronicling the time that we painted Peter Dinklage gold, lubed him up and let him loose during the Golden Globes ceremony. That is a story for another day. This is all about who is going to win an Academy Award or two come February, so lets get to it.

The first major award-giving organization to chime in once again this year is the National Board of Review, the oldest organization in America dedicated to motion pictures as art and entertainment. The Board is made up of knowledgeable film buffs, academics, young film professionals, and students in the New York metropolitan area. This year the NBR has chosen Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire as the Best Film of the Year. As Dave Itzkoff over at The Carpetbagger appropriately asks, “How much longer can Slumdog Millionaire be classified as an Oscar longshot?” This win for Slumdog should help solidify its chances, showing that it could very well be this year’s Cinderella story. Last year the NBR was one of the first organizations to recognize No Country for Old Men as Best Film, only to see it go on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

At this point though, the Oscar landscape is still so very crowded with many contenders, including Doubt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Revolutionary Road still awaiting their theatrical releases. Not to take anything away from the National Board of Review, but it is still anyone’s game.

Also receiving honors were Clint Eastwood for best actor for his portrayal of an elderly, bigoted widower who befriends his Asian immigrant neighbors in Gran Torino. Anne Hathaway earned best actress for her role as a troubled young woman overcoming her demons in Rachel Getting Married. David Fincher was named best director for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Josh Brolin and Penelope Cruz recieving best supporting performance awards for Milk and Vicky Cristina Barcelona respectively.

What is interesting is that many of these winners are the same as what I have been tracking, save for Clint Eastwood’s Best Actor win for Gran Torino. So far all of the buzz is leaning the direction of Mickey Rourke for his performance in The Wrestler, a film that did make the NBR’s list of the ten best films of the year. As it stands and as far as I’ve seen, Anne Hathaway has a commanding lead in the Best Actress category. Her performance in Rachel Getting Married is the stuff that great careers are made of.

For the full list of awards given by the National Board of Review, head on over to their website here. As I do every year, I will be keeping an eye on all of the happenings of Award season and will be reporting back to you often with all of my predictions. And if years past are any indicator, those predictions will likely miss the mark by mere inches.

For more check out the Oscar Beat ‘08 homepage.


| MovieBlips: vote it up! | Read more articles by Neil Miller

« Previous Article | Next Article »

Related Topics:

Oscar Beat '08, Site Features, , , , , , ,

Related Reading:

Your Ad Here

Comment Policy: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Film School Rejects reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. We also reserve the right to modify any curse words in your comments and make you look like an idiot. Thank You!

  • Josh Brolin's role in Milk is terrible. If there was anything wrong with that movie, it's that. Why would he be nominated?
  • lordbeagle
    I would not put "Burn After Reading" in the top 10...I just got back from an advance screening of Tom Cruise's "Valkyrie" and that movie blows the lid off of "Burn." That should be in the top 10. Other than that I agree with most of their list except Penelope Cruz, she sucks big time. (btw no pictures of "Valkyrie", would've sent them but they don't allow cells with cameras and they wand you before you go in the theater...sorry guys)
  • Nick
    Sigh...Once again they are going for weird, unheard movies that the general public doesn't care about. And then they wonder why their ratings are dropping so much every year.

    Call me silly, but I'm in the Dark Knight camp. Yes, some might argue that these unheard of films are more deserving than a big Hollywood blockbuster, but I have not been moved by a film so much in comparison to the crap they've picked every year.

    Yes, I know this is why they have the People's Choice Awards, but it's still way more awesome to see comic book films and other similar things like Return of the King rock the Academy.
  • Is Slumdog Millionaire weird? It's very possible to like both the 'unheard' of movies AND the blockbusters. Personally I would like The Dark Knight in there with Slumdog and Benjamin Button.
  • Dan
    i agree with nick. They need to go back to giving the Best Movie award to movies that are both very good, and very popular. Hmm...i think im gonna go with the Dark Knight on this one. It had the most hype, made the most money, and was one of the best, if not, the best, reviewed movie of the year. not to mention one of the best performances anyone has ever seen.
  • I agree bu you must admit it is mighty rare to have popularity and quality meet in such a way. I mean No Country didn't make all that much money but was far more deserving than Spiderman 3 that couldve bought a small country with its grosses.
  • 790
    "Slumdog" best picture no way!
    Just goes to show how consistently AMPAS members have their head up their ass!

    "The Fall" clearly should be best picture. The little girl in "The Fall" should win best supporting. Actress.
    TDK, Ledger should win Best supporting actor, easily.
    Brolin should win Best Actor for "W."
    The rest , hmmm I'm still thinking on those.
  • critic101
    i think you guys should give slumdog Millionaire a chance...I was supporting dark knight as the best movie of the year...but after seeing slumdog millonaire i had to change my mind...even samuel l jackson in an interview said that the best movie for him was slumdog millonaire.
  • Nick
    What I meant was their ratings are going down the toilet further every year because nobody cares. Last year was their lowest rated show ever, from what I heard. It's starting to lose the glamor and status as the biggest event for films in the world.

    While I agree they shouldn't give in to the public demands, they should still remember its because of us that we go to see those films. And yes, it's cool seeing indie film-makers getting in there with the big dogs. Maybe we're divided on what we see as "deserving" to best picture. Big, Hollywood blockbusters that the public follows and adores, or well-made indie films that most people have not heard of.
  • xSilencio
    I really like The Dark Knight, but best film of 2008? Hardly. How can you give it over Milk, Slumdog, or Synecdoche?
blog comments powered by Disqus