National Board of Review, Top 10 Independent Films of 2008:
(In alphabetical order)
- FROZEN RIVER
- IN BRUGES
- IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS
- MR. FOE
- RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
- SNOW ANGELS
- SON OF RAMBOW
- WENDY AND LUCY
- VICKY CRISTINA BARCELON
- THE VISITOR
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Saturday, January 23, 2010: Nominations polls close 5 p.m. PT
Tuesday, February 2, 2010: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PT, Samuel Goldwyn Theater
Wednesday, February 10, 2010: Final ballots mailed
Monday, February 15, 2010: Nominees Luncheon
Saturday, February 20, 2010: Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards presentation
Tuesday, March 2, 2010: Final polls close 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, March 7, 2010: 82nd Annual Academy Awards presentation


Awards So Far
NBR Winner+/top ten*
LAFCA Winner+
BFCA Critics Choice Win+/Nominee*
NYFCC Winner +/*
SEFCA Winners+/*
Golden Globes Nominee+/*
SAG Winner+/Nominee*
National Society of Film Critics winners+
Producers Guild Winner+/Nominees*
Directors Guild Winners+/Nominees*
Art Directors Guild Nominees*
Writers Guild Nominees*
American Cinematographers Society*
American Cinema Editors*
Cinema Audio Society*
BAFTA Nominations*
Best Picture
The Hurt
Locker*+++**+++******
Avatar*+********
Inglourious Basterds***+****
Up in the Air+*+*******
Precious******
District 9*****
A Serious
Man*****
An
Education*****
Up****
The Blind Side
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart++++*
George Clooney, Up in the Air+*++***
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker**+*
Colin Firth, A
Single Man****
Morgan Freeman, Invictus+***
Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side+++
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia++++**
Carey Mulligan, An Education+****
Gabby Sidibe, Precious****
Helen Mirren, The
Last Station**
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds+++++++*
Woody Harrelson,The Messenger+***
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones****
Matt Damon, Invictus***
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station*
Best Supporting
Actress
Mo'Nique, Precious+*+++++*
Anna Kendrick, Up
in the Air+****
Vera Farmiga, Up
in the Air****
Penelope Cruz, Nine**
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker++++*++*
Jim Cameron, Avatar*+**
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds****
Jason Reitman, Up in the
Air***
Lee Daniels, Precious**
Best Original
Screenplay
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds+*
Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man+*+*
Mark Boal, The Hurt
Locker***
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Up*
Oren Moverman, Alessandro Camo The Messenger
Best Adapted Screenplay
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner,
Up in the Air+++++*
Armando Iannucci, In the Loop+
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious**
Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell, District 9**
Nick Hornby, An
Education*
Best Editing
Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron, Avatar+**
Chris Innis, Bob Murawski,
The Hurt Locker***
Julian Clarke, District 9**
Joe Klotz, Precious
Sally Menke, Inglourious Basterds**
Best
Cinematography
Mauro Fiore, Avatar+**
Christian Berger, White Ribbon+++*
Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker***
Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds***
Bruno Delbonnel, Harry Potter
Best Art Direction
Avatar+**
Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus*
Nine*
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria
Best Sound Mixing
Avatar+**
The Hurt Locker***
Star Trek* **
Inglourious Basterds
Transformers: Revenge of the
Fallen*
Best Sound Editing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Up
Star Trek
Inglourious Basterds
Best Costume Design
Sandy Powell, The Young Victoria +*
Catherine Leterrier,Coco Avant Chanel*
Janet Patterson, Bright Star**
Colleen Atwood, Nine*
Monique Prudhomme, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Best Original Score
Michael Giacchino, Up+*
Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, The Hurt Locker!
James Horner, Avatar*
Alexandre Desplat, The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Hans Zimmer, Sherlock Holmes*
Best Foreign Language Film (submissions)
A Prophet, France+*
The White Ribbon, Germany**
El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Argentina
Ajami, Israel
The Milk of Sorrow, Pru
Best Documentary Feature
The Cove++**+
Food, Inc.**
The Beaches of Agnes++*
Burma VJ*
The Most Dangerous Man in America
Which Way Home
Best Animated
Feature
Up+++**
The Fantastic Mr. Fox+*+***
Coraline****
The Princess and the Frog***
The Secret of Kells
Best Visual
Effects
Avatar+*
District 9* *
Star Trek**
Best Makeup
The Young Victoria**
Star Trek*
Il Divo*
Best Song
The Weary Kind – T Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham, Crazy Heart ++
Down in New Orleans, The Princess and the Frog
Almost There – Randy Newman, The Princess And The Frog***
Loin de Paname, Paris 36
Best Live Action Short
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants
Best Animated Short
French Roast
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death
Best Documentary Short
China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of
Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin


29 Responses for "National Board of Review, Top 10 Independent Films"
“Snow Angels” is amazing and David Gordon Green one of the most interesting directors working in USA right now.
Not surprisingly, this list is HOTT.
No ‘Ballast’? Seriously?
hurray for Snow, Vicky, Rachel, and The Visitor.. i wana cry..
I think their independent list makes more sense than the other list.
My top 5 films of the year are on this list: In Bruges, Frozen River, The Visitor, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Rachel Getting Married.
Well done, NBR!
So much better than their big list, LOL.
Huh? So since Slumdog won, it doesn’t get included on the “best” lists?
“Huh? So since Slumdog won, it doesn’t get included on the “best” lists?”
Yes. That’s the way it works at NBR.
While I didn’t care for Frozen/River, I’m glad to see The Visitor, Rachel Getting Married, Vicky Christina Barcelona and In Bruges get some recognition. Also I know almost all the films on this list have their fans even if I have only personally seen half of them.
fantastic list
the visitor, frozen river, rachel getting married, vicky cristina barcelona, wendy and lucy, and in bruges
This list is so much better than the top 10 films list!!!
With a Best Picture Comedy/Musical and a Best Actor Comedy/Musical mention at the Satellites, mentions for Picture, 2 mentions for Actor, Screenplay, and Editing at the British Independent Film Awards (with a win for Screenplay,) and now a mention today on the short list of the National Board of Review’s Best Independent Films, this strange boycotting of In Bruges on this site must come to an end! This film is very much a contender! It’s time you took the time to see it Sasha!
How many years before the “main” top ten starts looking like the ghettoized one?
Cecilia, it’s not bias on Sasha’s part. In Bruges has a shot at a screenplay nomination, but that’s it.
This was a lame year for movies, and looking at that list you can see the indies weren’t exempt from that either. I think the only really good movie I saw this year was Wall-E. I saw most of the movies on that list, and none of them sat well with me.
The inclusion of Snow Angels and Son of Rambow over Ballast and some of the foreign indies this year is puzzling to me.
I in no way suggested it was Sasha’s fault, but I am pretty sure that Sasha will only put films on the Contender Tracker that she herself can vouch for. Since it is not on the contender tracker, I assume she hasn’t seen it. I’d say it’s chances at getting a nomination for Best Original Screenplay are pretty good, though I would expect nothing more.
Also, I hope that this mention can maybe build a momentum for Frozen River to receive a Best Picture Nomination?!? I know it is an INCREDIBLE longshot, but it is still the only film to be shortlisted by the ISAs, SAs, Gothams, and NBR!
Such a lovely film. In a perfect world, Courtney Hunt would be nominated for Best Director.
Nice to see Son of Rambow getting some love. It is one of my favorites of the year.
“Mister Foe” is a great little film. Glad to see it on this list (a much more respectable list to wind up on, I might add).
Does anyone know what category “I’ve Loved You So Long” would have fallen under? It didn’t make any of these lists? Not Indie, not Foreign Language, not general top 10?
What happened to the Wrestler?
Not sure I would classify Vicky as an “indie” film, though I did love it.
Nice to see “Snow Angels” getting some recongnition.
@Mr.Sizemore
The Wrestler made their main list.
Snowangels is a perfect choice. In a perfect and just world, Sam Rockwell would be getting a nomination for his absolutely outstanding performance. And it was cool to see Amy Sedaris give a serious (well, somewhat) performance.
Cecilia, I have to agree with you.
I think it’s quite strange how “In Bruges” is being silenced. So what if it’s best shot is at a screenplay nomination. I also don’t suggest that it’s Sasha’s fault, and in fact Gentle Benj I truly think you might be right about the slim chances.
However I’ve already commented on another post that I just find it really strange that its seven nominations at the BIFAs didn’t impress anyone. I think it’s a pretty big compliment, and you can’t just completely take it back just because “it might not win”. It’s a good film that deserves lobbying. If we stop having faith in films that probably won’t take home more than one award, what’s the use of these events anymore? Honestly I think we can all say Slumdog Millionaire, a fantastic film, will probably do best this year. So is it over, then? I mean, we can just stop talking about it now because we know anyway. I’m not trying to be in any way unfriendly, I’m just trying to point out that for me that’s just not an attitude I can adapt to.
I think In Bruges deserves nominations, even if there’ll be no wins, because it was a good film. And rewarding it by giving it attention, regardless of its bankability or putting it on any bandwagon, is important to me. I think Martin McDonagh is a very promising feature film maker and I support every bit of praise that this film gets, because it will make a next one more likely, and I do love film.
I do honestly wish it would be mentioned or supported a little more.
wow… Julianna…
LOL sorry Glimmer, I’m a little fanatic about In Bruges
it’s cool, your not an inanimate object.
i’m rooting for this film too !!!!
LOL! I love that quote. That has to be one of the best lines ever.
Does ANY ONE out there care for rewarding exceptional, breath-taking performances? Aka Sophie Okonedo in “Skin”! She was Amazing!
Maybe the release date for “Skin” is in 2009? I sure hope so because this film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and Okonedo was Unbelievably Incredible and Brilliant!
Crazy list. i cant believe no black film makers were on the list. this is the year of obama and we all have to love all black people even if they deserve it or not. republican racists!!!!
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