Board Games

Actor/director Clint Eastwood got an early gift from The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures--for his film Letters From Iwo Jima...

Clint Eastwood arrives for the Japan premiere of his new movie "Letters from Iwo Jima" in Tokyo in this November 15, 2006 file photo.. Photo Credit: REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao


Steven Zeitchik of Variety has all of the NBR winners of the event:

The kudos season kicked off Wednesday with a nod to Clint Eastwood and Warners as the helmer's Japanese-language "Letters From Iwo Jima" took the National Board of Review's prize for best picture.

NBR is a group made up of film educators and other professionals with no official ties to the biz. While its workings are not well known in Hollywood, an NBR nod can help set the tone for the awards season and top 10 lists that follow.

Martin Scorsese nabbed the director prize for his mob Warner Bros. drama "The Departed."

Searchlight's "Last King of Scotland" brought home the actor prize for Forest Whitaker, who portrays dictator Idi Amin. Helen Mirren scored the actress nod for her role as a conflicted Queen Elizabeth II in Miramax's "The Queen."

Pedro Almodovar's female-centric "Volver" won the prize for foreign film. Al Gore's environmental warning "An Inconvenient Truth" won for docu while Pixar's "Cars" nabbed the prize for animated feature.

It was a red-letter day for Warners, which in addition to Scorsese's nod made the top 10 list with "The Departed" and "Blood Diamond." And Warner Independent grabbed a spot on the list with "The Painted Veil." "Flags of Our Fathers" is a co-production between Par and Warners.

Fox Searchlight also turned in a stellar performance, landing three films in the top 10: "The History Boys," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Notes on a Scandal," while Fox 2000's "Devil Wears Prada" also rated a spot.

All told, Fox and Warner Bros. units scored eight out of the 10 spots; Par Vantage's "Babel" and Paramouunt's "Flags of Our Fathers" were the only films that didn't come from one of the two companies...

Djimon Hounsou of "Blood Diamond" and Catherine O'Hara from "For Your Consideration" were the winners in the supporting acting categories....

Get more NBR winners here