Voted best film of the year, "Manchester by the Sea," is the top choice of the National Board of Review, It stars Casey Affleck who also won the best actor award as the grieving janitor. It signals the return of Kenneth Lonergan, writer, and director who suffered from the disputes of his last project, "Margaret" that had gone through lawsuits.
"Manchester by the Sea" got numerous good reviews and is expected to harness more awards at the end of the year from different award bodies. Affleck, who is also Gothams' best actor, is now very close to the Oscar counterpart, says Daily Mail.
Nevertheless, things can still take a different turn like last year's "Mad Max: Fury Road" as the best film of the National Board of Review, but "Spotlight" got the Oscar equivalent. Also in 2014, the highest honor went to "A Most Violent Year," that was totally ignored by Oscar judges.
The National Board of Review plays it safe this time by spreading the awards. Barry Jenkins got the best director recognition of the "Moonlight." Naomie Harris is the best-supporting-actress winner as a doping mother. "Arrival's" Amy Adams is best-actress for trying to connect with aliens. Jeff Bridges gained the best-supporting-actor as the Texas Ranger in "Hell or High Water" who's going through retirement, according to Variety.
The adapted screenplay choice went to "Silence," which is about Jesuit priests who are in trouble with Japanese authorities. That's the result of Martin Scorsese's persistence to finally do. He dedicated ample time to edit "Silence" until it started filming. Scorsese is a nominee for best scriptwriter together with co-writer Jay Cocks.
"O.J. Made in America" is the best documentary. "Hidden Figures," that shows the struggle of African-American scientists and mathematicians during old times for space programming is best-ensemble. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Kirsten Dunst, Janelle Monáe, Jim Parsons, and Kevin Costner are the members of the cast.
