NBR Abnormalities: The Misfit List

Thomas: What are you doing here?
Carter Chambers: Fighting for my life.
~ The Bucket List

For all its earliest bellwether mystique, The National Board of Review manages every year to bewilder us by naming at least one film that fails to advance much further than square one. Here’s a look at some of the titles honored as one of the NBR’s Top 10 that unfortunately found little to no traction with the Academy.

2008 – Defiance
2007 – The Bucket List
2006 – The History Boys
2005 – Match Point
2004 – Kinsey
2003 – The Station Agent
2002 – Thirteen Conversations About One Thing
2001 – The Pledge
2000 – Croupier*
1999 – Cradle Will Rock
1998 – Lolita
1997 – The Rainmaker
1996 – Everyone Says I Love You
1995 – (tie) Carrington, Persuasion, Smoke

There’s another exchange from The Bucket List that could easily represent a metaphysical argument between the NBR and the Oscars.

Thomas (NBR): I’m proud of you.
Edward (Oscars): Nobody cares what you think.

Toasted one day; toast the next. Care to wager which movie named to the 10 best of 2009 will see its Oscar dreams begin and end with the NBR this morning?