Last year the National Board of Review decided that Her was the best film of 2013, and its choices this year were equally unconventional, as the Board gave the top prize to A Most Violent Year, which has flown slightly under the radar this awards season. The film’s stars, former Juilliard classmates Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, also took home Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively (though Isaac had to share his award with Birdman’s Michael Keaton). Dang, and this was the week you benched Violent Year in your Oscar-season fantasy league, too.
The full list of winners is below.
BEST FILM
A Most Violent Year
BEST DIRECTOR
Clint Eastwood, American Sniper
BEST ACTOR
Oscar Isaac, A Most Violent Year, and Michael Keaton, Birdman
BEST ACTRESS
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Edward Norton, Birdman
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, The Lego Movie
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
How to Train Your Dragon 2
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Jack O’Connell, Starred Up and Unbroken
BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT
Gillian Robespierre, Obvious Child
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Wild Tales
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Life Itself
WILLIAM K. EVERSON FILM HISTORY AWARD
Scott Eyman, biographer of John Wayne
BEST ENSEMBLE
Fury
SPOTLIGHT AWARD
Chris Rock, Top Five
NBR Freedom of Expression Award
Rosewater and Selma
TOP FILMS (in alphabetical order)
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
Fury
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
The Lego Movie
Nightcrawler
Unbroken
TOP 5 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS (in alphabetical order)
Force Majeure
Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem
Leviathan
Two Days, One Night
We Are the Best!
TOP 5 DOCUMENTARIES (in alphabetical order)
Art and Craft
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Keep On Keepin’ On
The Kill Team
Last Days in Vietnam
TOP 10 INDEPENDENT FILMS
Blue Ruin
Locke
A Most Wanted Man
Mr. Turner
Obvious Child
The Skeleton Twins
Snowpiercer
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Starred Up
Still Alice
