‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Named Best Picture by National Board of Review

“Top Gun: Maverick” has been named best picture by the National Board of Review, the organization announced Thursday.

The big acting winners included Colin Farrell taking the best actor prize for “The Banshees of Inisherin” after coming off the New York Film Critics Circle win earlier this month. Two NBR winners in the last 12 years have translated to Oscar winners — Casey Affleck for “Manchester by the Sea” (2016) and Will Smith for “King Richard” (2021). For winners becoming eventual nominees, only three men were snubbed by the Academy in the end — Oscar Isaac for “A Most Violent Year” (2014), Tom Hanks for “The Post” (2017) and Adam Sandler for “Uncut Gems” (2019).

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Michelle Yeoh gets a huge boost to her day after being announced as Madame Morrible in the upcoming “Wicked” movies and featured on Variety’s Actors on Actors episode today. She can now add NBR best actress winner to her golden day for her turn as laundromat owner Evelyn in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Her awards campaign can look to Brie Larson in “Room” (2015) and Renée Zellweger in “Judy” (2019) as the two past recipients that went on to win the statuette. For nominees, four have missed out on an Oscar mention in the last dozen years — Lesley Manville for “Another Year” (2010), Tilda Swinton for “We Need to Talk About Kevin” (2011), Emma Thompson for “Saving Mr. Banks” (2013) and just last year’s Rachel Zegler for “West Side Story.”

The supporting races went to Farrell’s co-star Brendan Gleeson for “The Banshees of Inisherin” while musician-turned-actress Janelle Monáe picked up her first major prize for the “Knives Out” sequel, “Glass Onion.” The crossover between NBR and the Academy Awards in the acting races is sporadic with two or three nabbing Oscar nods by the season’s end.

THE FABELMANS, Gabriel LaBelle, 2022. ph: Merie Weismiller Wallace / © Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

Winning best director for “The Fabelmans,” Steven Spielberg’s picked up his second career win from NBR after “Empire of the Sun” (1987). It would probably take an act of God for the two-time Oscar winner to miss out on another Academy nod in January. However, it is notable that only six of the last 12 (50%) of NBR’s winners have gone on to be nominated for an Oscar. Also notable, none of them won the Academy Award. The last winner of NBR to translate into an Oscar winner was Martin Scorsese for “The Departed” (2006).

Some of the most notable omissions from wins and top 10 mentions included the two films centering around musicians — Todd Field’s “Tár” with Cate Blanchett and Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” with Austin Butler. There was also no love for Marvel Studios’ tentpole films including “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” by Ryan Coogler, nor for the auteurs and Hollywood legends such as Darren Aronofsky (“The Whale”), Sam Mendes (“Empire of Light”) and Ron Howard (“Thirteen Lives”).

Over the last 30 years, the winner of best film has gone on to receive an Oscar nomination for best picture, except for once every decade — 2014’s “A Most Violent Year,” 2000’s “Quills” and 1998’s “Gods and Monsters.” In the 1980s, there were technically two misses with 1987’s “Empire of the Sun” and 1983’s “Betrayal,” which tied with “Terms of Endearment.”

NBR’s most recent best film selections were Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” and George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Last year, Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” won the top prize but was only able to muster a single Oscar nom for original score (Terence Blanchard), so the jury is still out if that one will represent the 2020s.

See the full list of winners below.

Best Film: “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)

Best Director: Steven Spielberg, “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Best Actor: Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

Best Actress: Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Best Supporting Actor: Brendan Gleeson, “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

Best Supporting Actress: Janelle Monáe, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)

Best Original Screenplay: Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell, “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)

Breakthrough Performance: Danielle Deadwyler, “Till” (Orion/United Artists Releasing)

Breakthrough Performance: Gabriel LaBelle, “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Best Directorial Debut: Charlotte Wells, “Aftersun” (A24)

Best Animated Feature: “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” (A24)

Best International Film: “Close” from Belgium (A24)

Best Documentary: “Sr.” (Netflix)

Best Ensemble: “Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Claudio Miranda, “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)

NBR Freedom of Expression Awards: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” (Neon) and “Argentina, 1985” (Amazon Studios)

Top Films (in alphabetical order):

“Aftersun” (A24)
“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)
“RRR” (Variance Films)
“Till” (Orion/United Artists Releasing)
“The Woman King” (Sony Pictures)
“Women Talking”

Top 5 International Films (in alphabetical order):

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany)
“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina)
“Decision to Leave” (South Korea)
“EO” (Poland)
“Saint Omer” (France)

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order):

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” (Neon)
“All That Breathes” (HBO)
“Descendant” (Netflix)
“Turn Every Page – The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Wildcat” (Amazon Studios)

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order):

“Armageddon Time” (Focus Features)
“Emily the Criminal” (Roadside Attractions/Vertical Entertainment)
“The Eternal Daughter” (A24)
“Funny Pages” (A24)
“The Inspection” (A24)
“Living” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“A Love Song” (Bleecker Street)
“Nanny” (Amazon Studios)
“The Wonder” (Netflix)
“To Leslie” (Momentum Pictures)

To see the current rankings for each individual category, visit Variety’s Oscars Hub. The first set of SAG Awards predictions for film has also been revealed.

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