The National Board of Review Names Green Book the Best Film of 2018
Awards season has officially kicked off today with the National Board of Review naming Peter Farrelly's delightful comedy-drama "Green Book" as the best film of 2018. The film was also awarded Best Actor for Viggo Mortensen.
Other big winners included "A Star is Born," which took Best Director (Bradley Cooper), Best Actress (Lady Gaga), and Best Supporting Actor (Sam Elliott), in addition to being named one of the year's ten best films, and "If Beale Street Could Talk," which was awarded Best Supporting Actress (Regina King) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Barry Jenkins).
Probably the single biggest surprise of the lot is the complete absence of Yorgos Lanthimos' "The Favourite," which is still assumed to be a major player in the upcoming awards. Very curious as to how films like "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," "A Quiet Place," "Black Panther," and "A Star is Born" managed to be named to the top ten list, and yet Lanthimos' incredible film was left off.
However, you have to remember that the NBR doesn't exactly have the best track record when matching The Academy. After all, just last year, Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water" missed out on the top ten list and ended up winning the Best Picture Oscar. This is not to mention that they've only matched Best Picture three times in the last 20 years and only once in the last ten, which would seem to effectively eliminate "Green Book" from winning The Academy's top prize.
However, things are just getting started. Next up, we have The New York Film Critics Circle announcing on Thursday, so be sure to check back to see who wins as awards season continues. In the meantime, please see below for a complete list of today's NBR winners:
Best Film: GREEN BOOK Best Director: Bradley Cooper, A STAR IS BORN Best Actor: Viggo Mortensen, GREEN BOOK Best Actress: Lady Gaga, A STAR IS BORN Best Supporting Actor: Sam Elliott, A STAR IS BORN Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK Best Original Screenplay: Paul Schrader, FIRST REFORMED Best Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK Best Animated Feature: INCREDIBLES 2 Breakthrough Performance: Thomasin McKenzie, LEAVE NO TRACE Best Directorial Debut: Bo Burnham, EIGHTH GRADE Best Foreign Language Film: COLD WAR Best Documentary: RBG Best Ensemble: CRAZY RICH ASIANS William K. Everson Film History Award: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND and THEY’LL LOVE ME WHEN I’M DEAD NBR Freedom of Expression Award: 22 JULY NBR NBR Freedom of Expression Award: ON HER SHOULDERS
Top Films (in alphabetical order) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Black Panther Can You Ever Forgive Me? Eighth Grade First Reformed If Beale Street Could Talk Mary Poppins Returns A Quiet Place Roma A Star Is Born
Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order) Burning Custody The Guilty Happy as Lazzaro Shoplifters
Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order) Crime + Punishment Free Solo Minding the Gap Three Identical Strangers Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order) The Death of Stalin Lean on Pete Leave No Trace Mid90s The Old Man & the Gun The Rider Searching Sorry to Bother You We the Animals You Were Never Really Here
Follow me on Twitter @BeckFilmCritic.