National Board of Review and NY Film Critics Announce 2013 Winners

‘American Hustle’ Wins the New York Films Critics

The 2013 awards season is in full swing as we enter the end of the year derby to see which film(s) and performances appear on their way to Oscar gold.  The New York Film Critics Circle, the one of the oldest and most venerable film critics societies (they were founded in 1935) announced their picks for the best of the year yesterday and the National Board of Review, which is headed not by film critics but by film teachers and academics, announced their prizes this morning.  The takeaway of the two announcements may just be that the 2013 film year may be one the most competitive in recent years as the two bodies made widely different choices across the field.

The NYFCC named David O. Russell’s American Hustle the Best Picture of the 2013, a film that just recently started screening for critics and members of the industry, but one that is still currently under critical embargo (that’s why no official reviews for the film have been published as of yet), while the NBR choose Spike Jonze’s sci/fi romantic comedy Her as their Best Picture.  Interestingly, Steve McQueen’s slavery epic 12 Years a Slave, while mentioned on both lists, was snubbed from the major award despite it’s overwhelming critical acclaim and assumed frontrunner status.  The film also failed to win at the Gotham Awards two nights ago despite earning the most nominations.

Suggesting the competitive nature of this year’s slate,  the two groups only agreed on three prizes. Here are all the winners for both:

2013 NYFCC WINNERS:

BEST PICTURE: American Hustle

BEST DIRECTOR: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

BEST ACTOR: Robert Redford, All is Lost

BEST ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

BEST SCREENPLAY: American Hustle, written by Eric Singer & David O. Russell

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: The Wind Rises

BEST NON-FICTION FILM: Stories We Tell

BEST FOREIGN FILM: Blue is the Warmest Color

BEST FIRST FILM: Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station

SPECIAL AWARD: Frederick Wiseman, documentarian

‘Her’ Wins the National Board of Review

2013 NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW WINNERS:

BEST PICTURE: Her

BEST DIRECTOR: Spike Jonze, Her

BEST ACTOR: Bruce Dern, Nebraska

BEST ACTRESS: Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Will Forte, Nebraska

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Octavia Spencer, Fruitvale Station

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Inside Llewyn Davis, written by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Wolf of Wall Street, written by Terence Winter

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: The Wind Rises

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Stories We Tell

BEST FOREIGN FILM: The Past

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: Prisoners

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE (male): Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE (female): Adéle Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color

BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT: Ryan Cooger, Fruitvale Station

CREATIVE INNOVATION IN FILMMAKER AWARD: Gravity

NBR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AWARD: Wadjda

SPOTLIGHT AWARD: Career Collaboration of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio

WILLIAM K. EVERSON FILM HISTORY AWARD: George Stevens, Jr.

TOP TEN OF 2013 (in alphabetical order):

  • 12 Years a Slave
  • Fruitvale Station
  • Gravity
  • Inside Llewyn Davis
  • Lone Survivor
  • Nebraska
  • Prisoners
  • Saving Mr. Banks
  • The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
  • The Wolf of Wall Street

TOP FIVE FOREIGN FILMS OF 2013

  • Beyond the Hills
  • Gloria
  • The Grandmaster
  • A Hijacking
  • The Hunt

TOP FIVE DOCUMENTARIES OF 2013

  • 20 Feet From Stardom
  • The Act of Killing
  • After Tiller
  • Casting By
  • The Square

TOP TEN INDEPENDENT FILMS OF 2013

  • Aín’t Them Bodies Saints
  • Dallas Buyers Club
  • In a World…
  • Mother of George
  • Much Ado About Nothing
  • Mud
  • The Place Beyond the Pines
  • Short Term 12
  • Sightseers
  • The Spectacular Now
James Tisch: Managing Editor, mxdwn Movies || Writer. Procrastinator. Film Lover. Sparked by the power of the movies (the films of Alfred Hitchcock served as a pivotal gateway drug during childhood), James began ruminating and essaying the cinema at a young age and forged forward as a young blogger, contributor and eventual editor for mxdwn Movies. Outside of mxdwn, James served as a film programmer for one of the busiest theaters in the greater Los Angeles area and frequently works on the local film festival circuit. He resides in Los Angeles. james@mxdwn.com
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