NBR Makes Its Picks.

The National Board of Review announced its winners for 2009.

Best Film:
Up In The Air

Top Eleven Films (In alphabetical order):
An Education
(500) Days Of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Star Trek
Up
Up In The Air
Where The Wild Things Are

Best Director:
Clint Eastwood, "Invictus"

Best Actor:
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus" and George Clooney, "Up In The Air" (tie)

Best Actress:
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"

Best Supporting Actor:
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"

Best Supporting Actress:
Anna Kendrick, "Up In The Air"

Best Foreign Film:
A Prophet

Best Documentary:
The Cove

Best Animated Feature:
Up

Best Ensemble Cast:
It’s Complicated

Breakthrough Performance by an Actor:
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

Breakthrough Performance by an Actress:
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious"

Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut:
Duncan Jones, "Moon"
Oren Moverman, "The Messenger" and Marc Webb, "500 Days of Summer" (tie)

Best Original Screenplay:
Joel & Ethan Coen, "A Serious Man"

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up In The Air"

Special Filmmaking Achievement Award:
Wes Anderson, "The Fantastic Mr. Fox"

William K. Everson Film History Award:
Jean Picker Firstenberg

NBR Freedom of Expression:
Burma Vj: Reporting From A Closed Country,
Invictus,
The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellseberg And The Pentagon Papers

Top Ten Independent Films (In alphabetical order):
Amreeka
District 9
Goodbye Solo
Humpday
In The Loop
Julia
Me And Orson Welles
Moon
Sugar
Two Lovers

Top Six Foreign Films (In alphabetical order):
The Maid
A Prophet
Revanche
Song Of Sparrows
Three Monkeys
The White Ribbon

Top Six Documentary Films (In alphabetical order):
Burma Vj: Reporting From A Closed Country
The Cove
Crude
Food, Inc.
Good Hair
The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg And The Pentagon Papers

OK so they loved handing out awards this year.
All the Clooney and Eastwood love, no surprise, the NBR has always adored them.
It's odd though that "Precious" wasn't featured in any of their top tens.
Yay Carey Mulligan and "Up"!