The awards race continues to get interesting. Spike Jonze's latest film "Her" was named the Best Film of the year by the National Board of Review.
The win comes as a surprise as most pundits believed "Gravity" would win the award. However, the NBR tends to surprise with its choices. Jonze was also named Best Director, boosting the film's buzz.
The Best Actor award went to Bruce Dern who has been a contender ever since he won the Cannes Film festival Best Actor prize for "Nebraska." His co-star in the film Will Forte was also named Best Supporting Actor of the year.
Meanwhile, Emma Thompson was named the Best Actress for her role in "Saving Mr. Banks." The film that garnered the most awards was "Fruitvale Station," which won the Best Supporting Actress award for Octavia Spencer as well as the Breakthrough Performance award for Michael B. Jordan. The film's director, Ryan Coogler, won the Directiorial Debut award.
Joel and Ethan Coen received the Best Original Screenplay award for their work on "Inside Llewyn Davis" and Terrence Winter won the award for adapted screenplay for "The Wolf of Wall Street."
The Best Documentary award went to Sarah Polley's "Stories We Tell" while Iranian film "The Past" won the Foreign Film of the year accolade. "The Wind Rises" won Best Animated Film while Saudi Arabian film "Wadjda" received the award for Freedom of Expression.
"Prisoners" took home the Best Ensemble award and also landed a spot in the top 10 films of the year, which also included "12 Years a Slave," "Gravity," "Lone Survivor" and "Inside Llewyn Davis."
Meanwhile, "American Hustle," which won the New York Film Critics Best Picture award, was completely shut out.