NBR Loves Manchester by the Sea

The National Board of Review, the only non-industry and non-journalist/critic group of note that passes out awards each year have announced their winners. They are notoriously secretive and hard to predict apart from three things: their eternal love for Clint Eastwood (even when no one else is loving him as with titles like Hereafter) so we knew Sully would be on their list; their recency bias (they love December releases historically more than Oscar); and their magical not-at-all suspicious divvying up of prizes to make sure each studio must purchases a table at their banquet.

Their top winner this year were Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea which won four awards and Moonlight which won two. No other film took multiple prizes though some received a prize plus a citation on one of their top five / top ten lists. Notable Oscar hopefuls that received no mentions whatsover: Jackie, Lion, Loving, Fences, Florence Foster Jenkins, Toni Erdmann and Love & Friendship.

The winners and list are after the jump...

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Got any FYCs ?

Ballots went out today for the Critics Choice Movie Awards (so early. too early) and though I've already reminded fellow voters who is eligible for Young Performer (since you need lists / reminder jogs for the less discussed categories) it occurs to me that I don't keep the best records about some my own awards categories.

This is where you can FYC at me! Why not share yours in our off-Oscar categories like Cameo, Diva, Villain, Hero, Sexpot, Musical Sequence, Credit Sequence, Opening Scene, Ending, Best Kiss and Best Sex Scene to jog my memory so I make good decisions. And what sort of "year in review" lists would you most love to read? All of that starts in December so let your voice be heard.

After the jump, for the curious without twitter, the FYCs I shared today...

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Annie Award Nominations: Kubo, Zootopia, The Red Turtle...

Nominations for the 44th annual Annie Awards have been announced. Zootopia leads with 11 nominations with Laika's Kubo and the Two Strings just behind with 10 nominations. Because the Annies have two separate feature categories (the regular one plus an "indie" category which basically means "foreign") you can probably safely assume that the eventual Oscar lineup will be some mishmash between the two.

nominees and more after the jump...

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Doc Corner: China Comes Into Focus in Documentaries

by Glenn Dunks

Two weeks ago (I had to take a week off to help put on an award show!) when discussing Zhang Zanbo’s The Road, I mentioned the rise of documentaries not just by Chinese filmmakers, but about China in general. A fascinating convergence in the rise of China as a global and controversial super-power with the rise of documentary filmmaking as a populist artform. It seems appropriate then to look at a recent trio of documentaries that focus on China and that each tackle a compelling and important subject: women’s sexual rights, animal poaching, and the destruction of the Earth...

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In Case You Missed The Gothams...

vous m'aimeChris here. Did you catch the Gotham Awards last night? The ceremony is always streams online for easy access - this year on Facebook to glitchy results. It always serves a spunky start thanks to a lack of jadedness that the just beginning season will bring and the idiosyncratic results from separately juried categories.

However, this year those juries were almost unanimous in their love for Barry Jenkins's Moonlight...

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