The New York-based National Board of Review has announced its list of award winners for the year, kick-starting the precursor circuit on the march through the 2007 film awards season.

The Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men" took the Best Picture prize, leading a top ten list that included somewhat surprising mentions for "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "The Bucket List."

George Clooney won the Best Actor award for his performance in Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton," while Julie Christie took down Best Actress for her portrayal in Sarah Polley's "Away from Her."

Casey Affleck ("The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford") and Amy Ryan ("Gone Baby Gone") won in the supporting categories, while Tim Burton was named Best Director for "Sweeney Todd."

The last NBR Best Picture winner to miss a nomination from the Academy was "Quills" in 2000, and "Gods and Monsters" before that in 1998.  With "Charlie Wilson's War" coming up short (though some would argue this point), the film looks better for placement with AMPAS now than it did when it only had critics championing the cause.  Oh the give and take of Oscar season.

Winners from the press release:

Best Film: "No Country for Old Men"
Best Director: Tim Burton, "Sweeney Todd"
Best Actor: George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
Best Actress: Julie Christie, "Away from Her"
Best Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Best Foreign Film: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Best Documentary: "Body of War"
Best Animated Feature: "Ratatouille"
Best Ensemble Cast: "No Country for Old Men"
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Emile Hirsch, "Into the Wild"
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Ellen Page, "Juno"
Best Directorial Debut: Ben Affleck, "Gone Baby Gone"
Best Original Screenplay (tie): Diablo Cody, "Juno" and Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"

The top ten (in alphabetical order):
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
"Atonement"
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"The Bucket List"
"Into the Wild"
"Juno"
"The Kite Runner"
"Lars and the Real Girl"
"Michael Clayton"
"Sweeney Todd"

Top five foreign films (in alphabetical order):
"4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days"
"The Band's Visit"
"The Counterfeiters"
"La Vie en Rose"
"Lust, Caution"

Top five documentary films (in alphabetical order):
"Darfur Now"
"In the Shadow of the Moon"
"Nanking"
"Taxi to the Darkside"
"Toots"

Top independent films (in alphabetical order):
"Away from Her"
"Great World of Sound"
"Honeydripper"
"In the Valley of Elah"
"A Mighty Heart"
"The Namesake"
"Once"
"The Savages"
"Starting Out in the Evening"
"Waitress"

Career Achievement: Michael Douglas
William K. Everson Film History Award: Robert Osbourne
Career Achievement in Cinematography: Roger Deakins
The BVLGARI Award for NPR Freedom of Expression: "The Great Debaters" and "Persepolis"

Congrats to my soft-spoken editor-in-chief Peter Bart, who has been tapped by the U.K.-based RAAM conference and trade show to receive the 2008 International Award "in recognition of his outstanding contributions to film production and the media."

I haven't had my eyes fixed upon an awards calendar or anything recently (believe it or not), so the fact that the National Board of Review is announcing their top 10 films of the year and list of categorical winners on Wednesday completely caught me by surprise this week.  But I guess it is that time of year.

Say what you will about this easily swayed group of east coasters (the running joke is that the spoils go to the studio that pays the most for catering), their annual announcement is the first word on the film awards season, and groups take note thereafter.  Nicole Kidman and Halle Berry first saw their campaigns pick up steam here for "Moulin Rouge!" and "Monster's Ball" respectively.

The NBR top ten list tends to include at least four of the eventual five Best Picture nominees, and, as Awards Daily points out, the 2004 and 2005 lists included all five.  The only winners of the Best Picture award since 1987 to miss out on an Oscar nomination were "Quills" and "Gods and Monsters."

Who knows how this thing will shake out?  I have my ideas, but I could be totally off base.  They tend to like sexy time at the NBR ("Quills," "Brokeback Mountain," "Kinsey), and they are fine with championing GLBT-centric filmmaking ("Brokeback," "Chuck & Buck," "Gods & Monsters," "The Hours").  But one can never tell who's spending the most this year or that, so we'll have to wait and see.

After Wednesday's awards, the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association won't be far behind.  Then it really starts to get crazy.

Welcome to December.

•  Jeffrey Wells draws a rather...definitive line between this year's Best Picture contending product. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Anne Thompson offers some thoughts on the supposed non-campaign campaign for "Atonement." [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  David Poland flails about wildly and takes Thompson's comparisons to other Oscar epics WAY too seriously on his way to being "a dick about it." (his words, not mine) [The Hot Blog]

•  Susan King talks method and "Blood" with Best Actor hopeful (frontrunner?) Daniel Day-Lewis. [The Envelope]

•  Romanian Oscar entry "4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days" wins big at the European Film Awards. [Variety]

•  Tom O'Neil responds... [Gold Derby]

•  ...then he chats it up with "Lust, Caution" helmer Ang Lee... [Gold Derby]

•  ...and Best Supporting Actress hopeful Amy Ryan ("Gone Baby Gone"). [Gold Derby]

•  Ramin Setoodeh responds to "Sweeney Todd," calls it "good, not great." [The Gold Digger]

•  Sasha Stone thinks "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is a formiddable contender in the Oscar race.  Duh! [Awards Daily]

•  Rebecca Ascher-Walsh forecasts indie Oscar hopefuls. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Variety had a story cooking on the Satellite nominations yesterday, but it came down pretty quick.  Anyway, it's back, and the International Press Academy prove themselves willing to hand out nominations to pretty much anything yet again.

It's nice to see "The Lookout" pop up somewhere, an interesting earl-year release with a stellar lead performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt (one that went unnominated, though co-star Jeff Daniels made it in).

Josh Brolin's Best Actor nod, meanwhile, might signify a direction the Academy could end up taking.  That performance is gaining traction as Brolin continues to work it as a great spokesman for the film.

And, of course, "3:10 to Yuma" sparks some Best Picture fire with a nod in the drama ranks.

Check out the full list at Award Central.

•  "Into the Wild" wins the season's first major Best Picture prize at the Gotahm Awards. [Variety]

•  David Carr reports from the scene. [The Carpetbagger]

•  Anne Thompson racks up "No Country" talk across the web, including this and that about the film's ending. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Martin Grove speaks up on behalf of Christopher Plummer's performance in "Man in the Chair." [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  T.L. Stanley blogs the campaign strategy for the performance. [Gold Rush]

•  Tom O'Neil compares the Gothams and the Indie Spirits. [Gold Derby]

•  Ramin Satoodeh was no fan of "Charlie Wilson's War." [The Gold Digger]

•  Nathaniel Rogers runs down a list great performances in not-so-great films. [The Film Experience]

•  Steven Spielberg is set to receive the HFPA's Cecil B. DeMille award. [Variety]

•  Tom O'Neil sees 17 minutes of "Sweeney Todd" in NYC. [Gold Derby]

•  And he talks to Tim Burton about the film. [Gold Derby]

•  Sasha Stone responds. [Awards Daily]

•  The Gurus 2.0 stick with "Into the Wild" and welcome The Gold Digger. [Movie City News]

•  Steve Pond thinks the Golden Globes will go light in a year of dark. [The Envelope]

•  Sandy Cohen talks to Oscar telecast scribe Bruce Vilanch about a ceremony sans script. [The Envelope]

•  Pete Hammond talks indie hopefuls. [The Envelope]

•  Ramin Setoodeh goes ga-ga for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"... [The Gold Digger]

•  ...and Keri Russell. [The Gold Digger]

•  Nathaniel Rogers expresses some surprises over "Beowulf." [The Film Experience]

•  The Hollywood Reporter is giving the Oscar blog game a go with "Gold Rush."  Welcome.  Good luck. [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  Anne Thompson has "Beowulf" reactions.  [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Jeffrey Wells finall unleashes his "There Will Be Blood" review, smartly acknowledges that it takes a few moments of gathering oneself before fully appreciating the value of the film.  Calls it "diseased greatness." [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Elizabeth Snead talks to Paul LeBlanc about Bardem's do in "No Country." [The Envelope]

•  The Buzzmeter gets a fresh update. [The Envelope]

•  As do the Gurus, this time taking a stab at the screenplay races.  Good showing for Tony Gilroy. [Movie City News]

•  Noah Forrest makes an awards case for subtle performers. [Movie City News]

•  Scott Feinberg talks to Tabu from "The Namesake," getting an agressive push from Fox Searchlight. [And the Winner Is...]

•  Yet ANOTHER award...this time, Tommy Lee Jones is tapped to win the Santa Barbara Fest's American Riviera Award. [Variety]