“Moonlight” and “Manchester by the Sea” Win at National Board of Review, Making This the Season of the Tearjerker
The National Board of Review doled out another win to Moonlight‘s Barry Jenkins, along with Casey Affleck, Amy Adams, and more stars of 2016.
If the Independent Spirit Award nominations were any indication — not to mention the last few months of rapturous reviews — this year’s award season is set to be one for the tearjerkers, thanks to both Moonlight and Manchester By the Sea.
Upping the ante for the Academy Awards nominations in January, the National Board of Review’s announcements of winners today saw the 107-year-old organization endorse Manchester By the Sea as the best film of 2016, and its star Casey Affleck as the year’s best actor. And while Kenneth Lonergan didn’t make the best director cut — though he did nab best original screenplay — Moonlight‘s Barry Jenkins picked up his slack, with Naomie Harris doing her part for his film with a best supporting actress win, too.
Both, of course, will likely leave you a bit weepy on your way out of the theater — “that s–t broke my heart” was the rapper Vic Mensa‘s recent Moonlight review — though a few more lighthearted films also made the board’s cut, too, like The Eagle Huntress, a documentary on a 13-year-old girl quest’s to buck centuries of Mongolian tradition and become an eagle hunter. Also in the way of inspiration: Amy Adams’ best actress-winning role as an Earth-saving linguist in Arrival; Tom Hanks saving the day in Sully; and Emma Stone providing her perennial sunshine in La La Land. The full list of award winners below:
Best Film: Manchester By the Sea
Best Director: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Best Actor: Casey Affleck, Manchester By the Sea
Best Actress: Amy Adams, Arrival
Best Supporting Actor: Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Best Supporting Actress: Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Best Original Screenplay: Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By the Sea
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese, Silence
Best Animated Feature: Kubo and the Two Strings
Breakthrough Performance (Male): Lucas Hedges, Manchester By the Sea
Breakthrough Performance (Female): Royalty Hightower, The Fits”
Best Directorial Debut: Trey Edward Shults, Krisha
Best Foreign Language Film: The Salesman
Best Documentary: O.J.: Made in America
Best Ensemble: Hidden Figures
Spotlight Award: Creative Collaboration of Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Cameraperson
Top Films Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Moonlight, Patriots Day, Silence, and Sully.
Top Five Foreign Language Films Elle, The Handmaiden, Julieta, Land of Mine, Neruda.
Top Five Documentaries De Palma, The Eagle Huntress, Gleason, Life, Animated, and Miss Sharon Jones.
Top Ten Independent Films 20th Century Women, Captain Fantastic, Creative Control, Eye in the Sky, The Fits, Green Room, Hello, My Name Is Doris, Krisha, Morris from America, and Sing Street.
