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Top Films  |  Archive

    • Special Achievement In Filmmaking
    • Special Achievement in Producing
    • Creative Innovation in Filmmaking Award
    • Top 10 Independent Films
    • Outstanding Achievement in Special Effects
    • Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
    • Best Actor
    • Top 5 Documentaries
    • Career Achievement in Music Composition
    • NBR Icon Award
    • Best Actress
    • NBR Freedom Of Expression
    • Best Film or Mini-Series Made for Cable TV
    • Best Film
    • Spotlight Award
    • Producers Award
    • Best International Film
    • Best Supporting Actor
    • Top 5 Foreign Language Films
    • Outstanding Film Music Composition
    • Top 5 International Films
    • Best Supporting Actress
    • Top Films
    • Billy Wilder Award for Excellence in Directing
    • Best Adapted Screenplay
    • William K. Everson Award for Film History
    • Special Citations
    • Best Animated Feature
    • Breakthrough Performance
    • Humanitarian Award
    • Best Director
    • Top Independent Films
    • International Freedom Award
    • Best Directorial Debut
    • Production Design Award
    • Special Award for Visionary Cinematic Achievement
    • Best Documentary
    • Best Ensemble Cast
    • Best Screenplay
    • Best Foreign Language Film
    • Career Achievement in Cinematography
    • Outstanding Dramatic Music Performance
    • Best Original Screenplay
    • Career Achievement Award
    • Outstanding Cinematic Series
    • Breakthrough Performance Actor
    • Career Achievement in Producing
    • Top Foreign Films
    • Breakthrough Performance Actress
    • Special Recognition for Excellence in Filmmaking
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2022 Top Films

Aftersun  Avatar: The Way of Water  The Banshees of Inisherin  Everything Everywhere All at Once  The Fabelmans  Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery  RRR  Till  The Woman King  Women Talking  

2021 Top Films

Belfast  Don’t Look Up  Dune  King Richard  The Last Duel  Nightmare Alley  Red Rocket  The Tragedy of Macbeth  West Side Story 

2020 Top Films

First Cow  The Forty-Year-Old Version  Judas and the Black Messiah  The Midnight Sky  Minari  News of the World  Nomadland  Promising Young Woman  Soul  Sound of Metal 

2019 Top Films

1917  Dolemite is My Name  Ford v Ferrari  Jojo Rabbit  Knives Out  Marriage Story  Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood  Richard Jewell  Uncut Gems  Waves 

2018 Top Films

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs  Black Panther  Can You Ever Forgive Me?  Eighth Grade  First Reformed  If Beale Street Could Talk  Mary Poppins Returns  A Quiet Place  Roma  A Star is Born 

2017 Top Films

Baby Driver  Call Me By Your Name  The Disaster Artist  Downsizing  Dunkirk  The Florida Project  Get Out  Lady Bird  Logan  Phantom Thread 

2016 Top Films

Arrival  Hacksaw Ridge  Hail, Caesar!  Hell or High Water  Hidden Figures  La La Land  Moonlight  Patriots Day  Silence  Sully 

2015 Top Films

Bridge of Spies  Creed  The Hateful Eight  Inside Out  The Martian  Room  Sicario  Spotlight  Straight Outta Compton 

2014 Top Films

American Sniper  Birdman  Boyhood  Fury  Gone Girl  The Imitation Game  Inherent Vice  The Lego Movie  Nightcrawler  Unbroken 

2013 Top Films

12 Years a Slave  Fruitvale Station  Gravity  Inside Llewyn Davis  Lone Survivor  Nebraska  Prisoners  Saving Mr. Banks  The Secret Life of Walter Mitty  The Wolf of Wall Street 

2012 Top Films

Argo  Beasts of the Southern Wild  Django Unchained  Les Misérables  Lincoln  Looper  The Perks of Being a Wallflower  Promised Land  Silver Linings Playbook 

2011 Top Films

The Artist  The Descendants  Drive  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2  The Ides of March  J. Edgar  The Tree of Life  War Horse 

2010 Top Films

Another Year, The Fighter, Hereafter, Inception, The King’s Speech, Shutter Island, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone 

2009 Top Films

An Education  (500) Days of Summer  The Hurt Locker  Inglorious Basterds  Invictus  The Messenger  A Serious Man  Star Trek  Up  Where the Wild Things Are 

2008 Top Films

Burn After Reading, Changeling, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Defiance, Frost/Nixon, Gran Torino, Milk, WALL-E, The Wrestler 

2007 Top Films

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford  The Bourne Ultimatum  The Bucket List  Into The Wild  Juno  The Kite Runner  Lars and the Real Girl  Michael Clayton  Sweeney Todd 

2006 Top Films

Babel  Blood Diamond  The Departed  The Devil Wears Prada  Flas of Our Fathers  The History Boys  Letters from Iwo Jima  Little Miss Sunshine  Notes On A Scandal  The Painted Veil 

2005 Top Films

Brokeback Mountain  Capote  Crash  A History of Violence  Match Point  Memoirs of a Geisha  Munich  Syriana  Walk the Line 

2004 Top Films

The Aviator  Closer  Collateral  Finding Neverland  Hotel Rwanda  Kinsey  Million Dollar Baby  Ray  Sideways  Vera Drake 

2003 Top Films

21 Grams  Cold Mountain  House of Sand and Fog  In America  The Last Samurai  Lost in Translation  Master and Commander  Mystic River  Seabiscuit   The Station Agent 

2002 Top Films

Adaptation  Chicago  Far From Heaven  Frida  Gangs of New York  The Hours  The Pianist  The Quiet American  Rabbit-Proof Fence  Thirteen Conversations About One Thing 

2001 Top Films

A.I. Artificial Inteligence  Black Hawk Down  In The Bedroom  The Man Who Wasn't There  Memento  Monster's Ball  Moulin Rouge  Mulholland Drive  Ocean's Eleven  The Pledge 

2000 Top Films

Before Night Falls  Billy Elliott  Croupier  Dancer in the Dark  Gladiator  Quills  Sunshine  Traffic  Wonder Boys  You Can Count On Me 

1999 Top 10 Films

American Beauty  Being John Malkovich  Boys Don´t Cry  Cradle Will Rock  The Insider  Magnolia  The Straight Story  The Talented Mr. Ripley  Three Kings  Tumbleweeds 

1998 Top Films

The Butcher Boy  Dancing at Lughnasa  Elizabeth  Gods and Monsters  Happiness  Lolita  Saving Private Ryan  Shakespeare in Love  A Simple Plan  The Thin Red Line 

1997 Top Films

As Good As It Gets  Boogie Nights  The Full Monty  Good Will Hunting  Jackie Brown  L.A. Confidential  The Rainmaker  The Sweet Hereafter  The Wings of the Dove  Titanic 

1996 Top Films

Breaking the Waves  The English Patient  Everyone Says I Love You  Evita  Fargo  Jerry Maguire  The People vs. Larry Flynt  Secrets & Lies  Shine  Sling Blade  Trainspotting 

1995 Top Films

The American President  Apollo 13  Braveheart  Carrington  Leaving Las Vegas  Mightly Aphrodite  Persuasion  Smoke  The Usual Suspects 

1994 Top Films

Bullets Over Broadway  Ed Wood  Forrest Gump  Four Weddings and a Funeral  Heavenly Creatures  The Madness of King George  Nobody's Fool  Pulp Fiction  Quiz Show  The Shawshank Redemption  Tom & Viv 

1993 Top Films

The Age of Innocence  In the Name of the Father  The Joy Luck Club  Much Ado About Nothing  Philadelphia  The Piano  The Remains of the Day  Schindler's List  Shadowlands  Short Cuts 

1992 Top Films

Bob Roberts  The Crying Game  A Few Good Men  Glengarry Glen Ross  Howards End  Malcolm X  One False Move  Peter's Friends  The Player  Unforgiven 

1991 Top Films

Boyz N the Hood  Bugsy  Dead Again  Frankie and Johnny  Grand Canyon  Homicide  Jungle Fever  Rambling Rose  The Silence of the Lambs  Thelma & Louise 

1990 Top Films

Avalon  Awakenings  Dance With Wolves  GoodFellas  The Grifters  Hamlet  Metropolitan  Miller's Crossing  Mr. & Mrs. Bridge  Reversal of Fortune 

1989 Top 10 Films

Born on the Fourth of July  Crimes and Misdemeanors  Dead Poets Society  Driving Miss Daisy  The Fabulous Baker Boys  Field of Dreams  Glory  Henry V  My Left Foot  Sex, Lies, and Videotape 

1988 Top Ten Films

The Accused  Big  Dangerous Liasions  Gorillas in the Mist  The Last Temptation of Christ  Midnight Run   Mississippi Burning   Running on Empty  Tucker: The Man and His Dream  The Unbearable Lightness of Being 

1987 Top Ten Films

Broadcast News  Cry Freedom  Empire of the Sun  Fatal Attraction  Full Metal Jacket   Gaby: A True Story  Hope and Glory  The Last Emperor  The Untouchables  Wall Street 

1986 Top Ten Films

Children of a Lesser God  The Color of Money  The Fly  Hannah and Her Sisters  The Mission  My Beautiful Laundrette  Peggy Sue Got Married,   A Room With A View  ´Round Midnight  Stand By Me 

1985 Top Ten Films

Back to the Future  Blood Simple  The Color Purple  Dreamchild  Kiss of the Spider Woman  Out of Africa  Prizzi´s Honor  The Shooting Party  The Trip to Bountiful  Witness 

1984 Top Films

Birdy  Careful  Country  He Might Hear You  The Killing Fields  Mass Appeal  Paris, Texas  A Passage to India  Places in the Heart  A Soldiers Story  Under the Volcano 

1983 Top Ten Films

Betrayal, Terms of Endearment  The Big Chill  Cross Creek  The Dresser  Educating Rita  Local Hero  The Right Stuff  Tender Mercies  Testament  Yentl  

1982 Top Ten Films

The Chosen  E.T.  Gandhi  Missing  Moonlighting  An Officer and a Gentleman  Sophie´s Choice  Tootsie  The Verdict  The World According to Garp 

1981 Top Ten Films

Atlantic City  Breaker Morant   Chariots of Fire  Gallipoli  Heartland  On Golden Pond  Prince of the City  Raiders of the Lost Ark  Reds  Stevie  Ticket to Heaven 

1980 Top Ten Films

Coal Miner´s Daughter  The Elephant Man  The Great Santini  Melvin and Howard  My Bodyguard  Ordinary People  Raging Bull  Resurrection   The Stunt Man  Tess 

1979 Top Ten Films

Apocalypse Now  Being There  Breaking Away  The China Syndrome  The Europeans  Kramer vs. Kramer  Manhattan  North Dallas Forty  Time After Time  Yanks 

1978 Top Ten Films

Comes a Horseman   Coming Home  Days of Heaven  Girlfriends  Interiors  Midnight Express  Movie Movie  Pretty Baby  Superman  An Unmarried Woman 

1977 Top Ten Films

Annie Hall  Close Encounters of the Third Kind  Equus  Harlan County, USA  Julia  The Late Show  The Picture Show Man  Saturday Night Fever  Star Wars  The Turning Point 

1976 Top Ten Films

All the President´s Men  Family Plot  The Front  The Last Tycoon  Network  Obsession  Rocky  The Seven-Per-Cent Solution  The Shootist  Silent Movie 

1975 Top Ten Films

Alice Doesn´t Live Here Anymore   Barry Lyndon  Conduct Unbecoming  The Day of the Locust  Dog Day Afternoon  Farewell, My Lovely  Hearts of the West  Lies My Father Told Me  Nashville  One Flew Over the Cuckoo´s Nest  The Passenger 

1974 Top Ten Films

Chinatown  The Conversation  Daisy Miller  The Last Detail  Harry and Tonto  Lenny  Murder on the Orient Express  Thieves Like Us  The Three Musketeers   A Woman Under the Influence 

1973 Top Ten Films

Bang the Drum Slowly  The Day of the Dolphin  The Hireling  The Homecoming  The Last American Hero  O Lucky Man!  Paper Moon  Serpico  The Sting  The Way We Were  

1972 Top Ten Films

1776  The Candidate  Cabaret  Deliverance  The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds  Frenzy   The Godfather  Man of La Mancha  The Ruling Class  Sounder 

1971 Top Ten Films

The Boyfriend  Death in Venice   The French Connection  The Go-Between  King Lear  The Last Picture Show  Macbeth  Nicholas and Alexandra  One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich  Peter Rabbit and Tales of Beatrix Potter 

1970 Top Ten Films

Diary of a Mad Housewife  Five Easy Pieces  I Never Sang for My Father  Kes  Love Story  Patton  Tora! Tora! Tora!   Ryan´s Daughter  The Virgin and the Gypsy  Women in Love 

1969 Top Ten Films

The Battle of Britain  Goodbye, Mr. Chips  The Loves of Isadora  Midnight Cowboy   The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie  Ring of Bright Water  Support Your Local Sheriff  They Shoot Horses, Don´t They?  Topaz  True Grit 

1968 Top Ten Films

2001: A Space Odyssey  Charly  The Lion in Winter  Oliver!  Planet of the Apes  Rachel, Rachel  Romeo and Juliet  The Shoes of the Fisherman  The Subject was Roses  Yellow Submarine 

1967 Top Ten Films

Accident  The Comedians  Doctor Doolittle  The Family Way   Far from the Madding Crowd  The Graduate  In Cold Blood  The Taming of the Shrew  Ulysses  The Whisperers 

1966 Top Ten Films

Alfie  The Bible  Born Free  Days of Drums  Georgy Girl  It Happened Here  A Man for All Seasons  The Russians are Coming,   Shakespeare Wallah  Who´s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?  Years of Lightning 

1965 Top Ten Films

The Agony and the Ecstasy  Darling  Doctor Zhivago  The Eleanor Roosevelt Story  The Greatest Story Ever Told  Ship of Fools  The Spy Who Came in From the Cold  The Sound of Music   A Thousand Clowns  The Train 

1964 Top Ten Films

Becket  The Chalk Garden  The Finest Hours  Four Days in November  The Girl with Green Eyes  My Fair Lady  Séance on a Wet Afternoon   Topkapi  The World of Henry Orient  Zorba the Greek 

1963 Top Ten Films

All the Way Home  The Cardinal  The Great Escape  How the West Was Won  Hud  Lilies of the Field  Lord of the Flies  The L-Shaped Room  This Sporting Life  Tom Jones 

1962 Top Ten Films

Billy Bud  Birdman of Alcatraz  Lawrence of Arabia  Long Day´s Journey Into Night  The Longest Day  The Miracle Worker  Requiem for a Heavyweight  A Taste of Honey  War Hunt   Whistle Down the Wind 

1961 Top Ten Films

Fanny  The Hoodlum Priest  The Hustler  The Innocents  Judgment at Nuremberg  One, Two, Three  Question 7  Summer and Smoke  West Side Story  The Young Doctors 

1960 Top Ten Films

The Alamo  The Apartment  The Dark at the Top of the Stairs  Elmer Gantry  Home from the Hill  Inherit the Wind  Sons and Lovers  The Sundowners  Sunrise at Campobello  Wild River 

1959 Top Ten Films

Anatomy of Murder  Ben-Hur  The Diary of Anne Frank  Last Summer  The Man Who Understood Women  Middle of the Night  North by Northwest   The Nun´s Story  On the Beach  Some Like it Hot  Suddenly 

1958 Top Ten Films

The Brothers Karamazov  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof  Gigi  The Goddess  The Last Hurrah  The Long Hot Summer  Me and the Colonel  The Old Man and the Sea  Separate Tables  Windjammer 

1957 Top Ten Films

12 Angry Men  Albert Schweitzer  The Bachelor Party  The Bridge on the River Kwai  The Enemy Below  A Farewell to Arms  Funny Face  A Hatful of Rain  The Rising of the Moon  The Spirit of St. Louis 

1956 Top Ten Films

Anastasia  Around the World in 80 Days  Bus Stop  The Catered Affair  Friendly Persuasion  The King and I  Lust For Life  The Man Who Never Was  Moby Dick  Somebody Up There Likes Me 

1955 Top Ten Films

The African Lion  Bad Day at Black Rock  East of Eden  A Man Called Peter  Marty  Mister Roberts  Not as a Stranger  Picnic  The Rose Tattoo  Summertime 

1954 Top Ten Films

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea  Beat the Devil  The Country Girl  Executive Suite  On the Waterfront  Sabrina  Seven Brides for Seven Brothers  A Star is Born  The Unconquered  The Vanishing Prairie 

1953 Top Ten Films

From Here to Eternity  Julius Caesar  Lili  The Little Fugitive  Magambo  Martin Luther  The Robe  Roman Holiday  Shane  Stalag 17 

1952 Top Ten Films

Above and Beyond  The Bad and the Beautiful  Five Fingers  High Noon  Limelight  My Son John  The Quiet Man  Singin´ in the Rain  The Snows of Kilimanjaro  The Thief 

1951 Top Ten Films

An American in Paris  Death of a Salesman  Decision Before Dawn  Detective Story  Fourteen Hours  A Place in the Sun  Quo Vadis?  The Red Badge of Courage  Strangers on a Train  A Streetcar Named Desire 

1950 Top Ten Films

All About Eve  The Asphalt Jungle  Cyrano de Bergerac  Edge of Doom  The Men  No Way Out  Panic in the Streets  Stage Fright  Sunset Boulevard  Twelve O´Clock High 

1949 Top Ten Films

The Bicycle Thief  Devil in the Flesh  The Fallen Idol  Germany Year Zero  The Heiress  Home of the Brave  Intruder in the Dust  A Letter to Three Wives  The Quiet One  Quartet 

1948 Top Ten Films

Day of Wrath  Hamlet  Joan of Arc  Johnny Belinda  Louisiana Story  Paisan  The Red Shoes  The Search  The Snake Pit  The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 

1947 Top Ten Films

Boomerang!  Crossfire  Gentleman´s Agreement  Great Expectations  It´s a Wonderful Life  To Live in Peace  Monsieur Verdoux  Odd Man Out  The Overlanders  Shoeshine 

1946 Top Films

The Best Years of Our Lives  Brief Encounter  The Diary of a Chambermaid  Henry V  It Happened at the Inn  The Killers  My Darling Clementine  A Walk in the Sun 

1945 Top Ten Films

The Clock  The Fighting Lady  The Last Chance  The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp  The Lost Weekend  The Southerner  The Story of GI Joe  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn  The True Glory  The Way Ahead 

1944 Top Ten Films

Going My Way  Hail the Conquering Hero  Lifeboat  Meet Me in St. Louis  The Miracle of Morgan´s Creek  None But the Lonely Heart   The Song of Bernadette  Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo  Thunder Rock  Wilson 

1943 Top Ten Films

Air Force  Bataan  Casablanca  The Hard Way  Holy Matrimony  Lassie Come Home  The Moon Is Down  The Next of Kin  The Ox-Bow Incident  Watch on the Rhine 

1942 Top Ten Films

In Which We Serve  Journey for Margaret  The Major and the Minor  The Male Animal  The Moon and the Sixpence  Mrs. Miniver  One of Our Aircraft is Missing  The Pied Piper  Sullivan´s Travels  Wake Island 

1941 Top Ten Films

Citizen Kane  Dumbo  Here Comes Mr. Jordan  High Sierra  How Green Was My Valley  The Lady Eve  The Little Foxes  The Road to Zanzibar  The Stars Look Down  Tom, Dick, and Harry 

1940 Top Ten Films

The Biscuit Eater  Fantasia  Foreign Correspondent  Gone With the Wind  The Grapes of Wrath  The Great Dictator  The Long Voyage Home  Of Mice and Men  Our Town  Rebecca 

1939 Top Ten Films

Confessions of a Nazi Spy  Crisis  Goodbye Mr. Chips  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington  Ninotchka  The Roaring Twenties  Stagecoach  U-Boat 29  Wuthering Heights  Young Mr. Lincoln 

1938 Top Ten Films

The Beachcomber  The Citadel  The Edge of the World   Jezebel  Of Human Hearts  Sing, You Sinners  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs  South Riding  Three Comrades  To the Victor 

1937 Top Ten Films

Black Legion  Camille  Captains Courageous  The Good Earth  The Life of Emile Zola  Make Way for Tomorrow  Night Must Fall  Stage Door  A Star is Born  They Won´t Forget 

1936 Top Ten Films

Ceiling Zero  Mr. Deeds Goes to Town  The Devil is a Sissy  Fury  Green Pastures  Modern Times  The Prisoner of Shark Island  Romeo and Juliet  The Story of Louis Pasteur  Winterset 

1935 Top Ten Films

Alice Adams  Anna Karenina  David Copperfield  The Gilded Lilly  The Informer  The Lives of a Bengal Lancer  Les Miserables  Mutiny on the Bounty  Ruggles of Red Gap  Who Killed Cock Robin? 

1934 Top Ten Films

The Count of Monte Cristo  Crime Without Passion  Eskimo  The First World War  It Happened One Night   The Lost Patrol  Lot in Sodom  No Greater Glory  The Thin Man  Viva Villa! 

1933 Top Ten Films

Berekely Square  Cavalcade  Little Women  Mama Loves Papa  The Pied Piper  She Done Him Wrong  State Fair  Three Cornered Moon  Topaze  Zoo in Budapest 

1932 Top Ten Films

As You Desire Me  A Bill of Divorcement  A Farewell to Arms  I Am a Fugitive From a Chang Gang  Madame Racketeer  Payment Deferred  Scarface  Tarzan the Ape Man  Trouble in Paradise  Two Seconds 

1931 Top Ten Films

Cimarron  City Lights  City Streets  Dishonored  The Front Page  The Guardsman  Quick Millions  Rango  Surrender  Tabu 

1930 Top Ten Films

All Quiet on the Western Front  Holiday  Laughter  The Man From Blankey´s  Men Without Women  Morocco  Outward Bound  Romance  The Street of Chance  Tol´able David 

National Board of Review © 2013

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