It is now December, which can only mean one thing: end-of-the-year lists and awards! Soon they'll be pouring in from all over the place, with each new list becoming one more spinning plate in the Oscar conversation. Spotlight won Best Picture at last night's Gotham Awards, which many see as the official start of awards season. But now the National Board of Review, one of the biggest players in this early awards conversation, just announced its picks for the year, but it wasn't Spotlight that took home the big prize.
It also wasn't any number of other intimate dramas already in the awards conversation, like Carol, Brooklyn or The Revenant. No, the voting body of the National Board of Review thinks the best film of 2015 is a little movie about a man and woman teaming together to overthrow a tyrant. That's right, we're talking about Mad Max: Fury Road.
We certainly can't blame them for the choice. George Miller's movie is one of the most profoundly impressive pieces of filmmaking we've seen this year or any year. It uses every weapon in the cinematic tool chest to deliver the impossible, and it does so while telling a surprisingly compelling and emotional story. It's a great, great movie and it's exciting to see an organization like the NBR throw its weight behind it.
Here's the full list of the rest of the winners, which includes a few more pleasant surprises.
Best Film: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Director: Ridley Scott – The Martian
Best Actor: Matt Damon – The Martian
Best Actress: Brie Larson – Room
Best Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone – Creed
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino – The Hateful Eight
Best Adapted Screenplay: Drew Goddard – The Martian
Best Animated Feature: Inside Out
Breakthrough Performance: Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation & Jacob Tremblay – Room
Best Directorial Debut: Jonas Carpignano – Mediterranea
Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul
Best Documentary: Amy
William K. Everson Film History Award: Cecilia De Mille Presley
Best Ensemble: The Big Short
Spotlight Award: Sicario for Outstanding Collaborative Vision
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Beasts of No Nation & Mustang
Top Films
Bridge of Spies
Creed
The Hateful Eight
Inside Out
The Martian
Room
Sicario
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Top 5 Foreign Language Films
Goodnight Mommy
Mediterranea
Phoenix
The Second Mother
The Tribe
Top 5 Documentaries
Best of Enemies
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
The Diplomat
Listen to Me Marlon
The Look of Silence
Top 10 Independent Films
'71
45 Years
Cop Car
Ex Machina
Grandma
It Follows
James White
Mississippi Grind
Welcome to Me
While We’re Young
