National Board of Review Predictions

The National Board of Review (NBR) are usually the first group to hand out awards, but this year, they will be second, as we won't see their winners until Wednesday, December 5. Here are my predictions for this group.

Best Picture: Argo

The Top 10:
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director: Ben Affleck, Argo
Best Debut Director: Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Lead Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Best Lead Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games and Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Actor: John Goodman, Argo, Flight and Trouble with the Curve
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises and Les Miserables
Best Breakthrough Actor: Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Best Breakthrough Actress: Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Spotlight Award: Matthew McConaughey, Bernie, Killer Joe, Magic Mike and The Paperboy
Best Ensemble: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Best Original Screenplay: Moonrise Kingdom
Best Adapted Screenplay: Argo

Best Animated Feature: Frankenweenie
Best Documentary: The Central Park Five
Best Foreign Language Film: Amour

Freedom of Expression Award: Promised Land
Special Achievement in Filmmaking: Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tkywer, Cloud Atlas

Top 10 Independent Films:
Arbitrage
Bernie
Damsels in Distress
Hello, I Must Be Going
Killer Joe
Middle of Nowhere
Quartet
Safety Not Guaranteed
The Sessions
Your Sister's Sister

Top 5 Documentaries:
The House I Live In
Maria Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
The Queen of Versailles
Searching for Sugar Man
West of Memphis

Top 5 Foreign Films:
Caesar Must Die, Italy
The Intouchables, France
No, Chile
A Royal Affair, Denmark
Rust and Bone, France