2010 National Board of Review winners!

My predictions are somewhat off but i picked the best picture winner and i am quite happy for that. Some of my acting alternates were the eventual winners and i got no complaints either. The selection of Jesse Eisenberg for best actor is not a total surprise as i have him in my Oscar shortlist but i would have wanted to see Andrew Garfield win, too.

Christian Bale turns in an amazing, if not disturbing, performance in "The Fighter" so i am not totally surprised why he won. He is in my Oscar shortlist as well.

Don't ask me my opinion on their best actress pick because i haven't seen Mike Leigh's "Another Year" yet and Leigh's an actor's director and he delivered Imelda Staunton from obscurity some years back so Lesley Mansville's win puts her on track for a possible Oscar nom but my money is still on Annette Bening (for "The Kids are All Right") and Natalie Portman (for "Black Swan") to duke it out the entire winter season.

Melissa Leo was my pick to win in the best supporting actress category for her incredible performance as an overbearing mother whose parenting ability is questionable. Jacki Weaver, however, delivered a critically-acclaimed turn in the Aussie indie "Animal Kingdom" and i am not totally disappointed. I still have to watch that film though.

Below is the full list of winners:

Best Film: The Social Network

Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network

Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Best Actress: Lesley Manville, Another Year

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter

Best Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Foreign Language Film: Of Gods and Men

Best Documentary: Waiting for “Superman”

Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3

Best Ensemble Cast: The Town

Breakthrough Performance: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone

Debut Directors: Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, Restrepo

Spotlight Award: Sylvain Chomet and Jacques Tati, The Illusionist

Best Original Screenplay: Chris Sparling, Buried

Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Special Filmmaking Achievement Award: Sofia Coppola for writing, directing, and producing Somewhere

William K. Everson Film History Award: Leonard Maltin

NBR Freedom of Expression: Fair Game, Conviction, Howl

Production Design Award: Dante Ferretti, Shutter Island

Ten Best Films

Another Year

The Fighter

Hereafter

Inception

The King’s Speech

Shutter Island

The Town

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter’s Bone

  

Five Best Foreign-Language Films 

I Am Love

Incendies

Life, Above All

Soul Kitchen

White Material

Five Best Documentaries

A Film Unfinished

Inside Job

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

Restrepo

The Tillman Story

  

Top Ten Independent Film 

Animal Kingdom

Buried

Fish Tank

The Ghost Writer

Greenberg

Let Me In

Monsters

Please Give

Somewhere

Youth in Revolt