James Marsh's Man On Wire is best documentary and Wall-E is best animated feature. Clint Eastwood is named best actor for his performance in Gran Torino and Anne Hathaway best actress honour for Rachel Getting Married.
David Fincher was voted best director for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button while Courtney Hunt receives the directorial debut honour for Frozen River.
The top ten films of the year in alphabetical order are: Burn After Reading, Changeling, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Defiance, Frost/Nixon, Gran Torino Milk, Wall-E and The Wrestler.
The top five foreign language films in alphabetical order are: The Edge Of Heaven, Let The Right One In, Roman De Gare, A Secret and Waltz With Bashir.
The top five documentary films in alphabetical order are: American Teen, The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), Dear Zachary, Encounters At The End Of The World and Roman Polanski: Wanted And Desired.
This year's recipient of the BVLGARI Award for NBR Freedom Of Expression was given to Trumbo directed by Peter Askin.
The National Board Of Review winners are:
Best Director: David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Best Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, Milk
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Foreign Language Film: Mongol
Best Documentary: Man On Wire
Best Animated Feature: Wall-E
Best Ensemble Cast: Doubt
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Viola Davis, Doubt
Best Directorial Debut: Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Best Original Screenplay: Nick Schenk, Gran Torino
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire and Eric Roth, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Spotlight Award: Melissa Leo, Frozen River and Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
The BVLGARI Award for NBR Freedom Of Expression: Trumbo
William K Everson Film History Award: Molly Haskell and Andrew Sarris
'Several of the films from our Top ten list, along with our best film of the year, share the universal message about the resilience and the strength of the human spirit,' NBR President Annie Schulhof said. 'Slumdog Millionaire, with brilliant direction by Danny Boyle and incredible performances, shares a passionate story about one man's courage and determination for the woman he loves.'
The NBR screened more than 330 films, of which 209 were narratives, 63 were documentaries, 53 were foreign-language films and ten were animated.
The 2008 NBR Awards will take place at the annual gala on January 14 at Cipriani's in New York.
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