Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Viggo Mortensen Given Top Awards by National Board of Review

Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Viggo Mortensen Given Top Awards by National Board of Review
radley Cooper, Lady Gaga, and Steven Spielberg
Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, and Steven Spielberg

It might have been cold outside on January 8th in New York City, but it was definitely warm and festive inside Cipriani 42nd Street where the annual National Board of Review Awards Night was held.

For 2018, the NBR named Green Book as Best Film of the Year, Bradley Cooper as Best Director of the Year for A Star is Born, Viggo Mortensen as Best Actor of the Year for his performance in Green Book, and Lady Gaga as Best Actress of the Year for her performance in A Star is Born.

NBR President Annie Schulhof said, “We are proud to honor Green Book as our best film – it is a warm and heartfelt look at a remarkable friendship, brought to the screen at a moment where its story of love, compassion, and shared humanity deeply resonates. We are also thrilled to award Bradley Cooper as our best director – he is an extraordinary talent behind the camera, bringing a fresh and modern perspective, as well as superb craftsmanship and tremendous heart, to the classic story of A Star is Born.”

Below is a full list of the 2018 award recipients, announced by the National Board of Review:

Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga

Best Film: GREEN BOOK
Best Director: Bradley Cooper, A STAR IS BORN
Best Actor: Viggo Mortensen, GREEN BOOK
Best Actress: Lady Gaga, A STAR IS BORN
Best Supporting Actor: Sam Elliott, A STAR IS BORN
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Best Original Screenplay: Paul Schrader, FIRST REFORMED
Best Adapted Screenplay: Barry Jenkins, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Best Animated Feature: INCREDIBLES 2 Breakthrough Performance: Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, LEAVE NO TRACE
Best Directorial Debut: Bo Burnham, EIGHTH GRADE
Best Foreign Language Film: COLD WAR
Best Documentary: RBG
Best Ensemble: CRAZY RICH ASIANS
William K. Everson Film History Award: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND and THEY’LL LOVE ME WHEN I’M DEAD
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: 22 JULY
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: ON HER SHOULDERS

Top Films (in alphabetical order)
Rchard Gere
Richard Gere wearing a Giorgio Armani dark gray bird’s eye patterned suit along with a navy textured shirt and a red neck tie. Gere presented honoree Paul Schrader with the Best Original Screenplay award for his work on “First Reformed.”

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Eighth Grade
First Reformed
If Beale Street Could Talk
Mary Poppins Returns
A Quiet Place
Roma
A Star Is Born

Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order)

Burning
Custody
The Guilty
Happy as Lazzaro
Shoplifters

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order)

Crime + Punishment
Free Solo
Minding the Gap
Three Identical Strangers
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order)

The Death of Stalin
Lean on Pete
Leave No Trace
Mid90s
The Old Man & the Gun
The Rider
Searching
Sorry to Bother You
We the Animals
You Were Never Really Here

The 2018 awards continue the NBR’s tradition of recognizing excellence in filmmaking, going back 109 years. This year 261 films were viewed by this select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals, academics, and students, many of which were followed by in-depth discussions with directors, actors, producers, and screenwriters. Voting ballots were tabulated by the accounting firm of Lutz & Carr, LLP.