The National Board of Review Names Green Book the Best Film of 2018
November 27, 2018

Awards season has officially kicked off today with the National Board of Review naming Peter Farrelly's delightful comedy-drama "Green Book" as the best film of 2018. The film was also awarded Best Actor for Viggo Mortensen.
Other big winners included "A Star is Born," which took Best Director (Bradley Cooper), Best Actress (Lady Gaga), and Best Supporting Actor (Sam Elliott), in addition to being named one of the year's ten best films, and "If Beale Street Could Talk," which was awarded Best Supporting Actress (Regina King) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Barry Jenkins).
Probably the single biggest surprise of the lot is the complete absence of Yorgos Lanthimos' "The Favourite," which is still assumed to be a major player in the upcoming awards. Very curious as to how films like "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," "A Quiet Place," "Black Panther," and "A Star is Born" managed to be named to the top ten list, and yet Lanthimos' incredible film was left off.
However, you have to remember that the NBR doesn't exactly have the best track record when matching The Academy. After all, just last year, Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water" missed out on the top ten list and ended up winning the Best Picture Oscar. This is not to mention that they've only matched Best Picture three times in the last 20 years and only once in the last ten, which would seem to effectively eliminate "Green Book" from winning The Academy's top prize.
However, things are just getting started. Next up, we have The New York Film Critics Circle announcing on Thursday, so be sure to check back to see who wins as awards season continues. In the meantime, please see below for a complete list of today's NBR winners:
Best Film: GREEN BOOK
Best Director: Bradley Cooper, A STAR IS BORN
Best Actor: Viggo Mortensen, GREEN BOOK
Best Actress: Lady Gaga, A STAR IS BORN
Best Supporting Actor: Sam Elliott, A STAR IS BORN
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Best Original Screenplay: Paul Schrader, FIRST REFORMED
Best Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Best Animated Feature: INCREDIBLES 2
Breakthrough Performance: Thomasin McKenzie, LEAVE NO TRACE
Best Directorial Debut: Bo Burnham, EIGHTH GRADE
Best Foreign Language Film: COLD WAR
Best Documentary: RBG
Best Ensemble: CRAZY RICH ASIANS
William K. Everson Film History Award: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND and THEY’LL LOVE ME WHEN I’M DEAD
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: 22 JULY NBR
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: ON HER SHOULDERS
Top Films (in alphabetical order)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Eighth Grade
First Reformed
If Beale Street Could Talk
Mary Poppins Returns
A Quiet Place
Roma
A Star Is Born
Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order)
Burning
Custody
The Guilty
Happy as Lazzaro
Shoplifters
Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order)
Crime + Punishment
Free Solo
Minding the Gap
Three Identical Strangers
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order)
The Death of Stalin
Lean on Pete
Leave No Trace
Mid90s
The Old Man & the Gun
The Rider
Searching
Sorry to Bother You
We the Animals
You Were Never Really Here
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