The National Board of Review is a voting body made up of a group of film enthusiasts, industry professionals, academics, and filmmakers.
What does NBR picking Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun: Maverick” as they best film mean for the Oscar race? Well, we’re not entirely sure. If you remember, last year Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” won their top prize and the year before that it was Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods.”
What I do know is that “Top Gun: Maverick” got a boost today from NBR. So did Janelle Monáe (Glass Onion) who won Best Supporting Actress. Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin) won another Lead Actor award — his co-star Brendan Gleeson nabbed the Supporting Actor prize. Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once) won Lead Actress.
A few notes:
TÁR, Babylon and Elvis completely shut out. Not even appearing in the top 10.
Janelle Monáe is on the rise.
Colin Farrell over Brendan Fraser seems to be a theme this awards season.
Claudio Miranda (Top Gun: Maverick) sweeping the early Cinematography awards is somewhat surprising.
Completing NBR’s top ten of the year were “Aftersun”, “Avatar: The Way of Water”, “The Banshees of Inisherin”, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, “The Fabelmans,” “Glass Onion”, “RRR”, “Till”, “The Woman King” and “Women Talking.”
I’m officially off the Fabelmans-is-our-frontrunner train. It’s looking like it’ll be a race between “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and Spielberg’s film.