ROTTEN TOMATOES: National Board Says No Country for Old Men Is 2007's Best Film

National Board Says No Country for Old Men Is 2007's Best Film

What, no love for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer?

by Jeff Giles | December 07, 2007

December 31 is just a few weeks away, and you know what that means -- 'tis the season for year-end lists and awards.

The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, traditionally the first group to announce its favorites, made its list of 2007 winners public yesterday. The Board's pick for best film? No Country for Old Men.

The Coen Brothers' latest, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin, currently boasts an impressive 96 percent Tomatometer rating.

The Board's best-director nod went to Tim Burton, for his work on this month's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Advance reviews for the film, opening in wide release on December 21, have been uniformly positive -- Sweeney Todd currently sits at 100 percent on the Tomatometer.

Best actor? George Clooney, for his role in Michael Clayton (90 percent on the Tomatometer); on the distaff side, the Board agreed with Away From Her's 95 percent Tomatometer rating, giving Julie Christie the best actress award.

Among supporting actors, Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 75 percent) and Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone, 93 percent) led the pack.

Rounding out the major awards were nods for Diablo Cody (Juno, 92 percent) and Nancy Oliver (Lars and the Real Girl, 78 percent) who tied in the screenwriting category.

To read more about the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures' 2007 awards, click on the link below!

Source: Associated Press

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(1-20 of 36 posts) | Reply

dahluzz writes:
on Dec 07 2007 06:46 AM

good choice with 'no country,' but, as a related article on the site pointed out, it's hard to take the board of review serioiusly whern they select 11 films for their top 10 and 6 films for their top 5 foreign language. '3:10 to yuma' needs some love. that was one of the more notable snubs (with 'the bourne ultimatum' getting selected instead? c'mon...)

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jasperoosterveld writes:
on Dec 07 2007 07:30 AM

I saw it, the movie was really amazing, i can't believe how good it was, so thrilling! Oef!

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EdwardBlake writes:
on Dec 07 2007 08:35 AM

No Country for Old Men is hands down the best movie I've seen in a long damn time. It should easily get Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and compete in the acting categories with Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin.

Bourne Ultimatum deserves to at least be nominated in several categories. Particularly Director, Cinematography, and acting nods to Matt Damon and David Strathairn.

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Scarborough Fair writes:
on Dec 07 2007 08:38 AM

I saw No Country For Old Men in the theatre, and Javier Bardem walked out of the place as I was going in. Scared the hell out of me.
I loved the first hour and half of that movie, and hated the final half hour. Hated. It was like the Coens pooped in my face and said "Remember how exciting and interesting certain parts of this movie were? How about we unceremoniously remove those elements, and leave you with this less interesting bit. Because this crappy element, was secretly the whole point. Didn't you see?"

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unbreakable_samurai writes:
on Dec 07 2007 09:38 AM

I'm going to No County tomorrow, and I just rented Away From Her, so I should be in for a good weekend. Clooney was solid in Clayton, but he didn't deserve to win anything. Along with 3:10, American Gangster needs some love too.

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Phobiabuzz writes:
on Dec 07 2007 09:41 AM

I would defiently say No COuntry for Old Men was the best film i saw this year too

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Poor_Frisco writes:
on Dec 07 2007 09:52 AM

i loved No Country for Old Men and it deserves all the psotive press it gets, but has everyone forgot about a little film called Zodiac? i was absolutely stunned when i saw that movie and think it's damn close to a masterpiece. David Fincher directed brilliantly and every shot was fantastic. Gyllenhaal, Downey Jr, and Ruffalo all gave excellent performances. i know this movie came out in spring but i really think this film deserves some attention in awards season

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BatsInTheBelfry writes:
on Dec 07 2007 10:31 AM

No Country deserves it. However, along with Zodiac as early year great movies was The Lookout. I think both deserved a nod over the way overrated Michael Clayton.

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arendr writes:
on Dec 07 2007 11:23 AM

No Country is fantastic. The Assasination of Jesse James was excellent too. Michael Clayton is not overrated, it's great. I usually don't care for that type of movie very much, either.

Let's see, what else?

3:10 to Yuma is good, but I didn't think it was amazing. I'm a big Western fan and the first 2 films I mentioned were better Westerns, in my opinion. Rescue Dawn is another excellent one.

Looking back, this seems to have been a great year for movies. And don't forget that There Will Be Blood comes out soon too.

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reavus4983 writes:
on Dec 07 2007 12:29 PM

I hope this doesn't mean that There Will Be Blood isn't good, and that it is simply too late in the year for this list or that they didn't see it yet. It looks like it has potential for a multitude of these categories, and reviews so far are great. The trailer itself is better than almost anything.

No Country for Old Men deserves this though; best movie I've seen in a very long time, and one of the best ever. The ending was fitting despite complaints, and following the themes throughout the movie it was expected.

Rescue Dawn and 3:10 to Yuma to deserve some acting nods though. I don't even like Christian Bale and he was incredible in Rescue Dawn. And I wish Yuma was on the top 10 list, especially if Bourne is.

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ColdBloodedBMC writes:
on Dec 07 2007 12:46 PM

In reply to this comment (#1335364)
Wow, someone else actually saw The Lookout? I just saw it and loved it, great film. Jeff Daniels was brilliant in it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is turning into one of the best actors of his generation. Where most young actors would be in high school/college romance/comedy/drama's he is actually picking interesting, adult roles. The way he chooses roles actually reminds me of a former young actor, Johnny Depp.

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rt_hire_me writes:
on Dec 07 2007 12:48 PM

Good, other people are advocating for Rescue Dawn. I don't know how it compares to the others mentioned above because I haven't seen them yet, but I haven't been sucked into a movie storyline like this one for quite some time. By the time Dieter and the posse started their escape, my cardiovascular system was ready to shut down. And to think after all those glam Vietnam escape/rescue movies, this is the only story to be authentic (according to the DVD extras). Good job Bale, German director, joker guy from That Thing You Do, and skinny translator guy from Saving Private Ryan!

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A Lapse In Reason writes:
on Dec 07 2007 01:40 PM

Rescue Dawn was and Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford were my two favorite films of the year. No Country for Old Men comes in a close third. Also screw that putting Bourne on that list those movies are well crafted but by no means does Damon deserve an acting nod and the director sure as hell does not deserve a directing nod.

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arendr writes:
on Dec 07 2007 02:45 PM

I saw The Lookout. I thought it was decent, but not incredible.

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EdwardBlake writes:
on Dec 07 2007 06:58 PM

Gotta put Rescue Dawn on my netflix queue.

Completely agreed about Zodiac. Deserves some love, particularly David Fincher and Robert Downey Jr. It was the movie I saw to wet my appetite for 300, but is a bone-chilling movie about obsession and paranoia. The murder sequences were hauntingly realistic and memorable, but it was all that dialogue between Gyllenhal, Downey Jr, Ruffalo, et al that made the movie. A bit long though, especially the final act of the movie that centered most closely around Gyllenhal.

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Bloody Mathias writes:
on Dec 07 2007 07:49 PM

B.S.!

Bourne Ultimatum and 3:10 to Yuma, Sicko and Zodiac is 2007s best films.

NCFOM is the most overrated film this year by far.

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jasperoosterveld writes:
on Dec 08 2007 05:04 AM

"NCFOM is the most overrated film this year by far. "

You are nuts!

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I Am Remote writes:
on Dec 08 2007 01:53 PM

Bourne Ultimatum. lol

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thetruebastard writes:
on Dec 08 2007 02:59 PM

Here's my top five (of course, I'm expecting "There Will Be Blood" to kick absolute ***):

1. No Country for Old Men
2. The Host
3. Rescue Dawn
4. 3:10 to Yuma
5. Zodiac

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zooman writes:
on Dec 08 2007 06:31 PM

I agree in that Zodiac should receive more attention even if it premiered at the wrong time for the attention, not that I think it should necessarily win. The Lookout was a good Independent Film, but I don't see it as a masterpiece, its the type of movie that it might ache to some that is overlooked, but which if indeed received lots of attention, there would be more of a reaction against it or it would easily be considered overrated, so I guess its better to just leave it as an interesting independent thriller/drama.

I am excited for this movie season, together with No Country and Zodiac, I think Tim Burton's movie (which I really want to see and hope it deserves all the hype it s caused) could get a lot of hopefully deserved attention. Other than that, I really hope that Ratatouille and Persepolis get their due respect beyond animated film category. I am not gonna argue if they are the best movies of the year or not, but at least, comparing them to last years highly respected films (The Departed, Babel and Pan's Labrynth), Ratatouille (and only from what I hear only, maybe Persepolis too), is a better accomplished movie in almost every respect, starting from script, portrayals, editing, rhythm of the movie, effect, characterization, and even in topical relevance (no matter its simplicity) when compared to the ultimately simplistic purpose of the impressive The Departed (or purpose which at least falls short of possible pretentions by the end); the inneffective one of the interesting and still somewhat satisfying Babel, and the rather forced one that rather seemed an excuse for the movie of Pan's Labrynth (even if it for some accomplishes originality and dramatic effect). I would actually love to see Ratatouille competing for best movie, and not only for the golden globes in the comedy nominations, but also from others..

Beowulf was another good movie, but not NECESSARILY for getting all the nominations... Knocked up should get some good stuff too, I think..

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Movie:	Awards Tour 2007
	Lars And The Real Girl
	Juno
	Gone Baby Gone
	The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
	Away From Her
	Michael Clayton
	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Celeb:	George Clooney
	Ethan Coen
	Nancy Oliver
	Diablo Cody
	Javier Bardem
	Tommy Lee Jones
	Amy Ryan
	Josh Brolin
	Casey Affleck
	Julie Christie
	Tim Burton
	Joel Coen

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