National Board of Review names 'Da 5 Bloods" da best.
Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 2:01PM by Nathaniel R
Big awards day, huh?!
Spike Lee's latest joint Da 5 Bloods has won both Best Film and Best Director (as well as Best Ensemble) from the National Board of Review. We must quickly point out that this does not mean that Chloe Zhao's remarkable critics-award complete sweep is broken. As I always have to remind everyone each year -- even those who should know better -- the NBR is not a "critics award". The National Board of Review, founded in 1909, is an anonymous collection of film enthusiasts, industry professionals, academics, students, and presumably a few critics though they never release the names of their organization. So they would be more accurately called an "industry honor" or a "juried prize" rather than lumped in with the 'what do film critics like?' discussion.
Minari and Sound of Metal were the only other films with multiple prizes. The NBR wins and top ten lists AND LOADS OF TRIVIA/STATS are after the jump...
Best Film: DA 5 BLOODS
This is the first time the NBR has ever chosen a film directed by a black person to win their top prize. 27 of the past 30 winners of this prize have gone on to Best Picture nominations. The exceptions were Quills, Gods and Monsters, and A Most Violent Year
Best Director: Spike Lee, DA 5 BLOODS
The NBR almost never chooses someone who isn't firmly in the Oscar conversation for this prize. But, here's the catch and it's interesting: they often choose people for this category who seem like they're going to get an Oscar nomination and who we remember having been nominated, but actually weren't! Recently that's happened to Ridley Scott for The martian, Clint Eastwood for American Sniper and Invictus, Bradley Cooper for A Star is Born, Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty, Ang Lee for Sense & Sensibility, Todd Field for In the Bedroom... and so on. So if you're superstitious this might not be a great omen for Spike. 15 of the last 30 winners have gone on to Oscar nominations (...but, to reiterate, about 25 of them looked like they were going to!)
Best Actor: Riz Ahmed, SOUND OF METAL
This is the third time an actor of Asian descent has won this prize. The previous examples were Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, 1982) and Victor Banerjee (A Passage to India, 1984) -- one went on to win the Oscar and the other was not nominated. 24 of the last 30 winners of this category have gone on to Oscar nominations. The most recent person to miss the Oscar nom after this prize was just last year when Adam Sandler won for Uncut Gems.
Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
This Carey Mulligan's second NBR win for Best Actress. She also won for An Education (2009). 25 of the last 30 winners of this category have gone on to Oscar nominations. The most recent people to miss Oscar nominations after landing this prize were Amy Adams in Arrival and Emma Thompson in Saving Mr Banks.
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Raci, SOUND OF METAL
An unusual pick for the NBR which almost always picks a famous actor for this prize. 26 of the last 30 winners of this category have gone on to Oscar nominations, although one of them (Anthony Hopkins) was promoted to lead for his Oscar nomination.
Best Supporting Actress: Youn Yuh-jung, MINARI
The NBR often steps outside of Oscar safety zone for this prize, but this choice is very not like them. Consider: unless you count Penelope Cruz's bilingual performance in Vicky Cristina Barcelona the only other time they went there was back in 1984 with Sabine Azéma's work in Bertrand Tavernier's A Sunday in the Country. So this win a big deal for Young. Yayyyy. 16 out of the last 30 winners of this category have gone on to Oscar nominations. The most recent person to miss an Oscar nom after landing this prize was Jessica Chastain in A Most Violent Year.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Greengrass & Luke Davies, NEWS OF THE WORLD
Nice get for this film which hasn't been getting much attention but still has Oscar dreams.
Best Original Screenplay: Lee Isaac Chung, MINARI
Yay!
Breakthrough Performance: Sidney Flanigan, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
Flanigan still cleaning up. If this were a normal season with all the red carpet opportunities she would surely be a bigger threat to the televised awards shows since her profile would have risen a lot.
Best Directorial Debut: Channing Godfrey Peoples, MISS JUNETEENTH
Nice get for this film and Peoples which, apart from Nicole Beharie's leading performance, hasn't been talked about a lot.
Best Animated Feature: SOUL
Best Foreign Language Film: LA LLORONA (Guatemala)
Best Documentary: TIME
NBR Icon Award: Chadwick Boseman
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
NBR Spotlight Award: Radha Blank for writing, directing, producing and starring in THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION
The Spotlight Award is something they don't give out every year and it isn't necessarily for a multi-hyphenate work. The last time I recall them giving this out was to Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins for Wonder Woman (2017)
Best Ensemble: DA 5 BLOODS
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Joshua James Richards, NOMADLAND
Top Films (in alphabetical order):
Judas and the Black Messiah
It's always a bit weird that they do this as the "winner" is its own separate thing so really it's a top 11.
Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order):
Apples (Greece)
Collective (Romania)
Dear Comrades (Russia)
The Mole Agent (Chile)
Night of the Kings (Ivory Coast)
It's always a bit weird that they do this as the "winner" is its own separate thing so really it's a top six.
Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order):
All In: The Fight for Democracy
The Truffle Hunters
It's always a bit weird that they do this as the "winner" is its own separate thing so really it's a top six.
Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order):
Driveways
The Outpost
Reader Comments (30)
So thrilled for Raci and Mulligan. My two favorite performances of the year.
Love these choices overall. Happy for Spike, La Llorona, Radha Blank and Sound of Metal(sadly have not seen Minari yet).
These acting winners are all superb. I'd be thrilled with a repeat at Oscar.
lol at THE MIDNIGHT SKY but happy if it replaced CHICAGO 7
Quite good choices for NBR.
Does Rhada Blank have ANY hope at the Oscars for anything?
Also yay for Riz Ahmed. I feel like he needed this to bolster his chances in such a competitive field this year.
Is there any chance of Flanigan breaking through to the Best Actress field? She's done remarkably well, and the film itself is getting plenty of good notices. The televised awards could revive some campaigns for missing folks, but I feel like she's got as good a shot as anyone else in the current 5-10 slot you have predicted for Actress at the moment.
Absolutely over the moon about Sound of Metal!
Wow, I'm totally shocked but super happy for Ahmed and Raci. and for that film overall. Could it be possible that Riz Ahmed takes Best Actor in a surprise over Chadwick Boseman? Maybe that would mean Boseman takes Supporting Actor and that would be just fine with me!
News of The World will be the unexpected guest at the Oscar party, wait and see. Happy for Promising Young Woman and Carey Mulligan.
I can see Da 5 Bloods narrative taking off here. It’s a compelling enough film, and Spike is due for the big Oscar win.
Yes, Carey Mulligan. Promising Young Woman all the way! \o/
I love Da 5 Bloods and think it is about time Spike won Best Director, so I am very happy! I am also on the Carey Mulligan train (assuming Frances won't win), so I'm so glad for any attention she gets here. And yay, Youn Yuh-Jung! I hope these are well-publicized.
Riz is cleaning up at the moment and deservedly so,I am thinking this film is more of a threa than some believe.
Interesting trivia. I was just about to watch "A Sunday in the Country." It's new on Criterion.
I have to watch Da 5 Bloods again. I really don't understand the awards attention it is getting. Apart from Delroy Lindo that is. He absolutely gives one of the best performances of the year.
And by the way, Nathaniel. Zhao has not done a total sweep. Spike Lee has won director at the Chicago Indie Critics and the Hawaii Critics :)
Michael W -- i dont really understand it either other than "Spike Lee has been under rewarded" but Delroy Lindo was indeed sensational in it. But it's no patch on Spike's best films, and not even as strong as BlacKkKlansman.
I thought Da 5 Bloods was a mess in parts although I enjoyed the acting which I think is more it's showcase than it's directing.
I thought Da 5 Bloods was a mess from start to finish. Lindo & all the actors were fine.
Da 5 Bloods is a mess, but it's an ambitious mess and Spike brings so much passion to the project, I'm glad to see it getting these notices if only to shake up the monotony of it all. I'm so curious to see if these critics awards will have an impact on the Oscars after this crazy/unusual year.
Da 5 Bloods is Da Mess, the consensus.
Da 5 Bloods is weirdly underrated. Sure, it's a mess, but Lindo's performance is worth the price of admission.
Ryan T. -- i think Radha has a chance in Original Song for "Poverty Porn"
Let's be honest: "Da 5 Bloods" is pretty shitty - but "Ma Rainey" and "Chicago 7" are shitty too.
I haven't seen "Nomadland" and "Minari" yet so for me "Mank", "First Cow", "I'm Thinking of Ending Things", and "Sound of Metal" are so far the only movies that deserve any recognition. :)
I just finished watching Da 5 Bloods and do not get all this talk of "mess" and dismissal of the film. Sure, it's too long and doesn't come close to my favorite Spike Lee joints (She's Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, 25th Hour, Inside Man, and that's without listing a single documentary), but that says more about the strength of Spike's previous work than about any deficiencies in this one. I was never bored, constantly engaged—and deeply moved. The ensemble is excellent, the filmmaking is off-kilter and vital. The Metacritic 82 score makes sense, as does the fact that the film has remained in the conversation since June. I do think the Supporting Actor citations should be going to Clarke Peters, but Boseman's performance is solid. And Lindo is outstanding.
My two cents.
Da 5 Bloods is a complete masterpiece - after analysis - and I find amusing "critics" that dislike it.
Ryan, I too would love to see her in contention for original song. I think the film is a little too rough around the edges to compete otherwise. But I'm super happy that Radha is getting that attention.
I don't quite get the Da 5 Bloods stuff either, but I often find with Spike Lee films that people gravitate towards the ones I don't care for (I didn't like Blackkklansman much either, although it's much stronger than Bloods).
I feel like those Freedom of Expression and Spotlight awards should maybe be swapped? That or I don't understand how Regina King making that movie is about freedom of expression.
The critical response to First Cow and Never Rarely Sometimes Always continues to baffle me.
The Freedom of Expression has been an embarrassment for years.
Apart from the Picture and Director wins of Da 5 Bloods, which is an incredibly unever film, the acting wins are wonderful. I hope all four winners will be nominated.
Chris and Glenn - Thanks! I didn't even know Radha's song is a possible contender. That'd be something at least. I admit her film is probably my favorite of the year and I truly didn't REALLY expect too much awards recognition for it... until she got some. And now I want it all! Anyways, I'm looking forward to seeing what more Radha Blank has in store for us. I hope plenty!