The National Board of Review, a scandal-plagued freak show composed of wealthy fans and no actual reviewers, have issued their annual list. It’s the usual disgrace. They snubbed “Precious,” even though the film’s screenwriter, Geoffrey Fletcher, used to be on their board. More on that below.
Clint Eastwood, of course, has won for “Invictus.” Eastwood is the NBR poster boy. They give him something every year; “Letters from Iwo Jima” was a Best Picture. Last year, he was Best Actor. “Gran Torino” was on the top 10 list. “Mystic River” won a few years ago. You get the picture. In 2004, Eastwood got a Special Award for directing, starring in and producing “Million Dollar Baby.”
This is how it works: The group’s Jeanine Basinger, who teaches at Wesleyan University, has written extensively about Eastwood, produced a PBS show about him and brought his archives to her school. The actor has said in interviews: “You just don’t say ‘no’ to Jeanine Basinger.” Basinger was front and center the other night at the Eastwood tribute at the Museum of the Moving Image dinner. Her protege, David Laub, has been added to the board. Basinger’s position is solidified. Most galling about this is that she usurped the place of the group’s only respected member, Columbia professor and film journalist Annette Insdorf.
Then there’s George Clooney, who is the NBR’s other pet. Giving him best actor for “Up in the Air,” their best picture, was easy. Clooney already has a Best Picture for “Good Night and Good Luck,” which was, conveniently, a Warner Bros. movie. The NBR loves Warner Bros. as much as they do Eastwood and Clooney. Choosing “Up in the Air” as Best Picture is safe and conforms to their Clooney love. Giving Anna Kendrick Best Supporting Actress over M’Onique, Julianne Moore, Patty Clarkson and Penelope Cruz is utterly ridiculous. They don’t care.
And let’s not forget: Clooney is also the star of “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” which picked up a Special Award this year. To review: Clooney is attached to a Paramount film (”Up in the Air”) and 20th Century Fox (”Fantastic Mr. Fox”). Each studio will have to buy one or two tables at the NBR’s event. Ka-ching! More about their finances in my next report.
Who are ‘they’? The NBR is still run by Annie Schulhof, who maintains a close friendship with Warner’s Dan Fellner. She loves Warner Bros., that’s clear, as much as she does Eastwood and Clooney. If Schulhof can find an intersection of all of them, even better.
Schulhof presides over a group of five or so insiders. A larger fee-paying group ($600 a year, plus $600 to go to the annual dinner), votes overall. But Schulhof and her Politboro make the final decisions, and also decide who gets the “special” awards and citations.
What’s most upsetting this year: the absence of Lee Daniels‘ “Precious.” It’s not a total surprise. The NBR is not a multicultural organization. They completely ignored “Dreamgirls” in 2006. Snubbing “Precious” fits in with Schulhof’s track record perfectly. Let’s just say it: They do not like black movies, period. To make up for it, they threw Gabby Sidibe a bone with Breakthrough Performance. This is what they did to Jennifer Hudson from “Dreamgirls.” It’s pathetic. But the Oscars remedied this. She wound up winning Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars.
But here’s the really weird thing: “Precious” screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher used to be on the board of the NBR. He resigned last year. And when he did, sources say that Schulhof decided to ban him and the movie from competition. How utterly bizarre.
The sop: The NBR will say it gave Morgan Freeman a tie for Best Actor. It helps that he was in a) a Clint Eastwood movie and b) a Warner Bros. film.
That’s it for now. I’ll tell you more when we get close to their January event. But just to let you know, one board member has nothing to with film but is a certified sex therapist from California. That’s Daniel Goldstine. Another is a friend of the group’s attorney, who himself is the son of the group’s previous attorney.
More to come …
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I never really got the appeal of George Clooney. He seems, to me, to be a barely adequate actor portraying the same role in every film: aging bachelor who seems to enjoy his “single” life until finally settling down with a decade younger female and realizes what he has been missing up until that very moment. I’m not saying that Precious was a film without flaws, but it is definitely one of the better films I saw this year and the performances in that very film was touching and seemed to speak to me as a human being. George always seems wooden, using the same monotone voice, and quite stiff.
December 3rd, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Wow. Totally agree with this.
December 3rd, 2009 at 7:44 pm
[...] stars here or there who would have won anyway. The thing about the NBR is that they do come with their share of controversy. I don’t think I’ve ever read a funnier description of them, though, than Roger [...]
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Hell yeah!!!
Love it!!
Whether the gripe is legit or not doesn’t matter. Precious getting snubbed is fantastic news. Why?
Because a chorus of brand new chorus of people will whine and complain about their movie being snubbed. Within this new horde will be those that told Dark Knight fans to stuff-it last year after the biggest snub in the history of cinema. There will be those people who liked both The Dark Knight and Precious. These people get truly screwed. The angst!!! Times two!!! That sucks.
Ain’t it grand…
By the way. Clint Eastwood rocks the house. He should win every year no matter what movie he makes.
No one can hold a candle to him. The guy is Oscar. He should get a woman pregnant before he dies, hope the child is a boy, and name him Oscar. Oscar Eastwood. Yep.
Peace
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Your info doesn’t jibe with mine: Geoffrey Fletcher is no longer on the board of the NBR but is still part of the “screening group” which supposedly chooses the main awards. Of course, that is not, as you state in your article, what actually happens. The final decision is made by the fewer than ten members constituting the Photoplay Committee. It’s shocking that George Clooney and Clint Eastwood, filmmakers with talent, integrity and influence, go along with this nonsense.
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Oh of course.
If you dont like Precious, your a racist. Quite the statement someone can make without having anymore proof other than the fact they werent crazy about Dreamgirls and Precious.
You Precious fans are going to end up hanging yourselves much like the rabid fans of Dreamgirls did 3 years ago with your over the top rhetoric regarding the film.
BTW, the National Board of Review gave Halle Berry the best Actress award for Monster’s Ball in a year when the rest of the critics groups went for Spacek and Watts.
Not bad for an organization that “doesnt like black movies.”
Could it be that Precious, like Dreamgirls, was all hype and than when most people saw it were underwhelmed with the final product?
Nooo, of course not.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:14 pm
“Giving Anna Kendrick Best Supporting Actress over M’Onique, Julianne Moore, Patty Clarkson and Penelope Cruz is utterly ridiculous. They don’t care.”
Oh, please.
Moore didn’t make any impact in A Single Man, Clarkson has done much better work, and very few have actually seen Cruz in Nine. When it comes down to Kendrick vs. Mo’Nique, I’ll side with the former. The true injustice is that Farmiga wasn’t recognized. She’s the best in show.
December 4th, 2009 at 5:27 am
Precious was a story that need to be told, but it was not worth the money. It should have been a TV movie! The acting was not good!
December 4th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Adam: Makes no difference what Roger is. So what? He likes “urban” movies with good casts, he also likes the “underdog” movies.
My problem with Precious is that is was just a cut above a Hallmark or Lifetime TV movie, only because the actresses were stellar. At the least the actresses should be nom’d and awarded.
As for Dreamgirls, it held up the first half, fell down the second half (when it shifted to Deena’s story — Beyonce), but that was the problem with the play also. The first half came out swinging and then it meandered the second half.
The production of Dreamgirls was magnificent and it did win some technicals, but other than Jennifer and Eddie, the other actors did an adequate job.
December 4th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Ooops, did someone turn on the lights at the NBR?
December 5th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
^^^To Sally in Chicago: What Hallmark movie have you seen that tackled incest, rape and child abuse being perpetrated by both parents? I must have missed that one. I also must have missed the one that featured a lead character that was fat, black, illeterate and HIV-infected.
^^^To Adam, dude get a grip. The writer is dead-on with his assessment of the NBR. They are either racist or plain out ignorant to have disregarded one of the most amazing films in years.
December 6th, 2009 at 1:47 am
I saw “Precious” at Sundance and agree it is a terrific film. Haven’t seen Eastwood’s movie yet, so can’t compare. But Roger certainly shows his own ignorance with his comments about Jeanine Bassinger. She is fiercely independant and not anyone’s patsy. There are few people on this planet as knowledgeable about film or as widely respected by people who actually do know the film industry.