Awards season has kicked off, as it always does, with the National Board of Review’s handing out of accolades, and top prize went to LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA. Looks like Warner Bros. may have made the right decision in moving LETTERS up from February to a December 20th release after it appeared FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS wasn’t about to get as much as love as most originally assumed. Also, it’s nice to see that THANK YOU FOR SMOKING got some props (Best Directorial debut for Jason Reitman). Check out the full list of winners below…
Best Film
Letters From Iwo Jima
Top Ten Films
Letters From Iwo Jima, (and, in alphabetical order) Babel, Blood Diamond, The Departed, The Devil Wears Prada, Flags Of Our Fathers, The History Boys, Little Miss Sunshine, Notes On A Scandal, The Painted Veil
Best Foreign Film
Volver
Breakthrough Performance – Male
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Breakthrough Performance – Female
(2) Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls and Rinko Kikuchi, Babel
Best Director
Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Best Directorial Debut
Jason Reitman, Thank You For Smoking
Best Adapted Screenplay
Ron Nyswaner, The Painted Veil
Best Original Screenplay
Zach Helm, Stranger Than Fiction
Best Documentary
An Inconvenient Truth
Best Animated Feature
Cars
Career Achievement Award
Eli Wallach
Billy Wilder Award For Excellence In Directing
Jonathan Demme
William K. Everson Award For Film History
Donald Krim
Career Achievement in Producing
Irwin Winkler
The Bvlgari Award for NBR Freedom of Expression
Water and World Trade Center