The Social Network

If you follow the ins and outs of the Academy Awards every year, you know that Oscar campaigns and prognostications really kick into high gear once an organization called the National Board of Review doles out best-of-year kudos.

Who’s the National Board of Review? Funny you should ask. It’s not really clear. (Their website identifies the members as “a select group of knowledgeable film enthusiasts, academics, film professionals, and students.” Selected by whom?) However, by dint of being first out of the gate every year with “Best of” plaudits, the NBR is guaranteed lots of publicity mileage, though once the various industry guilds and critics groups weigh in, it’s debatable how much influence these folks actually have.

Anyway, the group this year throws its weight behind director David Fincher’s Facebook opus The Social Network, citing it for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Screenplay (Adapted). The NBR doesn’t make picks in Oscar’s so-called “craft categories,” such as cinematography and editing, but I’d expect this film to make waves in those areas, too.

Toy Story 3 got the nod for Best Animated Feature, the criminally under-distributed low-budget thriller Buried was called out for best original screenplay, and Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington share debut-director honors for the Afghanistan war documentary Restrepo. The NBR has lots of odd little categories — check ’em all out at the organization’s web site.