As we inch closer and closer to movie awards season, and on the heels of the Independent Spirit Awards, the National Board of Review announced its annual list of winners, and this year, it was dominated by The Social Network. The David Fincher film grabbed awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor for Jesse Eisenberg, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The National Board of Review is generally the first measuring stick for Oscar success, and it’s the second year in a row they’ve given the award to a film making a statement on our generation (last year’s winner, Up in the Air focused on the recession). Other notable winners include Best Actress to Leslie Manville for her terrific performance in Another Year, and Best Supporting Actor to Christian Bale for The Fighter. Toy Story 3 was an obvious winner for Best Animated Film, and Of Gods and Men took the award for Best Foreign Film. See the complete list of winners below.
Best Film: The Social Network
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Best Actress: Lesley Manville, Another Year
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Best Foreign Film: Of Gods and Men
Best Documentary: Waiting For “Superman”
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Ensemble Cast: The Town
Breakthrough Performance: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut: Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, Restrepo
Best Original Screenplay: Chris Sparling, Buried
Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Special Filmmaking Achievement Award: Sofia Coppola, for for writing, directing, and producing Somewhere
William K. Everson Film History Award: Leonard Maltin
NBR Freedom of Expression: Fair Game, Conviction, Howl
Top Eleven Films
Another Year
The Fighter
Hereafter
Inception
The King’s Speech
Shutter Island
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Top Ten Independent Films
Animal Kingdom
Buried
Fish Tank
The Ghost Writer
Greenberg
Let Me In
Monsters
Please Give
Somewhere
Youth in Revolt
Top Six Foreign Films
I Am Love
Incendies
Life, Above All
Of Gods And Men
Soul Kitchen
White Material
Top Six Documentary Films
A Film Unfinished
Inside Job
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Restrepo
The Tillman Story
Waiting For “Superman”
After taking home the top prize at last night’s Gotham Awards, Winter’s Bone leads the pack in nominations for the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards, just announced a little bit ago. The dark story of a girl searching for her estranged, meth-addled father netted seven nominations, which combined with its Gotham win, could strongly bolster its chances with the Academy Awards. The comedy The Kids Are Alright mustered up five nominations itself, while Blue Valentine, which both 
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