The National Board of Review has selected Sony's drama "The Social Network" as its top film of the year along with Jesse Eisenberg as the top actor, David Fincher as best director and Aaron Sorkin for adapted screenplay.
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The NBR, which made the announcement Thursday in New York, listed "Network" and nine other films as their top 10 in alpabetical order — "Another Year," "The Fighter," "Hereafter," "Inception," "The King's Speech," "Shutter Island," "The Town," "Toy Story 3," "True Grit" and "Winter's Bone."
Awards will be presented on Jan. 11 with Meredith Vieira hosting.
"The Social Network," centering on the founding of Facebook, has been a solid performer at the box office with $90 million in domestic grosses during two months of release.
"We believe the film portrays a dramatic story that will stand up over time and appeal to many generations," NBR president Annie Schulhof said. "The NBR screened over 250 films this year, from big studios to small independents, and I think our winners reflect the diversity and goal of the organization, which is to honor excellence in filmmaking."
Lesley Manville won best actress for "Another Year" and Christian Bale won the best supporting actor award for "The Fighter." Jacki Weaver took the supporting actress trophy for "Animal Kingdom."
Chris Sparling won the original screenplay award for "Buried."
"Of Gods and Men" won the foreign film award and "Waiting for Superman" took the docu trophy. "Toy Story 3" was selected as the animated film winner and "The Town" won for best ensemble cast.
"Jennifer Lawrence won the breakthough award for "Winter's Bone." The bleak drama won at the Gotham Awards on Monday for top feature and cast, then led the Spirit Awards with seven noms on Tuesday.
The NBR, comprised of 110 film critics and historians, is the oldest such group in the United States.
Its picks last year didn't match Oscar winners in any major categories with "Up in the Air" as the top film and the comedy-drama's George Clooney as top actor along with Morgan Freeman for "Invictus." "Up in the Air" also copped NBR trophies for Anna Kendrick in the supporting actress category and for Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner in adapted screenplay. Carey Mulligan ("An Education") won the actress award and Woody Harrelson took the supporting actor category for "The Messenger."
None ended up winning an Oscar, but all of them were nominated.
"Slumdog Millionaire" and "No Country For Old Men" won the NBR top film awards in the previous two years.
THE FULL LIST OF THE AWARDS GIVEN BY THE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW:
Film: "The Social Network"
Director: David Fincher, "The Social Network"
Actor: Jesse Eisenberg, "The Social Network"
Actress: Lesley Manville, "Another Year"
Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, "The Fighter"
Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom"
Foreign Language Film: "Of Gods and Men"
Documentary: "Waiting for Superman"
Animated Feature: "Toy Story 3"
Ensemble Cast: "The Town"
Breakthrough Performance: Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"
Debut Directors: Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, "Restrepo"
Spotlight Award: Sylvain Chomet and Jacques Tati, "The Illusionist"
Original Screenplay: Chris Sparling, "Buried"
Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, "The Social Network"
Special Filmmaking Achievement Award: Sofia Coppola for writing, directing, and producing "Somewhere"
William K. Everson Film History Award: Leonard Maltin
NBR Freedom of Expression: "Fair Game," "Conviction," "Howl"
Production Design Award: Dante Ferretti, "ShutterIsland"
Ten Best Films
· "Another Year"
· "The Fighter"
· "Hereafter"
· "Inception"
· "The King's Speech"
· "ShutterIsland"
· "The Town"
· "Toy Story 3"
· "True Grit"
· "Winter's Bone"
Five Best Foreign-Language Films
· "I Am Love"
· "Incendies"
· "Life, Above All"
· "Soul Kitchen"
· "White Material"
Five Best Documentaries
· "A Film Unfinished"
· "Inside Job"
· "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work"
· "Restrepo"
· "The Tillman Story"
Top Ten Independent Films:
· "Animal Kingdom"
· "Buried"
· "Fish Tank"
· "The Ghost Writer"
· "Greenberg"
· "Let Me In"
· "Monsters"
· "Please Give"
· "Somewhere"
· "Youth in Revolt"
