The second oldest film awards body in the United States is a bad barometer of Oscar contention. Typically announcing their list before most other precursors are announced, the NBR is going much later this season. Yet, that extra time hasn’t done much to improve their selections. While the Clint Eastwood/Warner Bros. bias appears to be over, their inability to put their winners into their top 10/top 5 lists shows just how little they’ve grown. Looking at these awards, some of them seem on track with what appear to be Oscar contenders, but others don’t seem to be advancing much. This should ultimately result in the continued irrelevance of this organization in terms of foreshadowing the Oscars.

Award Tallies

(3) Da 5 Bloods
(2) Minari, Sound of Metal

The Awards

Best Picture

Da 5 Bloods

Best Animated Film

Soul

Best Director

Spike Lee – Da 5 Bloods

Best Actor

Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal

Best Actress

Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman

Best Supporting Actor

Paul Raci – Sound of Metal

Best Supporting Actress

Youn Yuh-jung – Minari

Best Original Screenplay

Minari

Best Adapted Screenplay

News of the World

Best Cinematography

Nomadland

Best Foreign Language Film

La Llorona

Best Documentary

Time

Best Ensemble

Da 5 Bloods

Best Breakthrough Performance

Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Best Directorial Debut

Channing Godfrey Peoples – Miss Juneteenth

Freedom of Expression

One Night in Miami

Icon Award

Chadwick Boseman

Top Films

• Da 5 Bloods
• First Cow
• The Forty-Year-Old Version
• Judas and the Black Messiah
• The Midnight Sky
• Minari
• News of the World
• Nomadland
• Promising Young Woman
• Soul
• Sound of Metal

Top Independent Films

• The Climb
• Driveways
• Farewell Amor
• Miss Juneteenth
• The Nest
• Never Rarely Sometimes Always
• The Outpost
• Relic
• Saint Frances
• Wolfwalkers

Top Foreign Films

• Apples
• Collective
• Dear Comrades
• La Llorona
• The Mole Agent
• Night of the Kings

Top Documentaries

• All-In: The Fight for Democracy
• Boys State
• Dick Johnson Is Dead
• Miss Americana
• Time
• The Truffle Hunters

National Board of Review Data

Year Founded: December 24, 1908
First Awards: 1929 (92)