National Board of Review 2014 Winners; Analysis: 'A Most Violent Year' Wins Best Picture; Is it a Front-runner for the Oscars?

By Francisco Salazar First Posted: Dec 02, 2014 04:27 PM EST

The National Board of Review announced its annual awards Tuesday and gave "A Most Violent Year" the Best Picture of the Year.

The film also won Best Actor for Guatemalan-born Oscar Isaac's performance and Best Supporting Actress for Jessica Chastain.

The win for "A Most Violent Year" is significant because, in the last 10 years, every single Nation Board of Review winner has gone on to get a Best Picture nomination. However, only two of the winners actually took home the Oscar. That happened in 2007 with "No Country for Old Men" and 2008 with "Slumdog Millionaire." The other NBR winners have included "Her," "Zero Dark Thirty," "Hugo," "The Social Network," "Up in the Air," "Letters from Iwo Jima," "Good Night and Good Luck" and "Finding Neverland."

"A Most Violent Year" had been not been on the Best Picture radar, especially after having missed nominations at the Indie Spirit Awards and Gotham Awards.

The Best Director award went to Clint Eastwood for his film "American Sniper." The award was not a big surprise, especially since all of Eastwood's films have figured into the NBR's previous awards. However, this does not guarantee the director a nomination at the Oscars. As a matter of fact, the last two winners, Kathryn Bigelow and Spike Jonze did not get nominated for Academy Awards.

The win for Isaac seems like a long shot for the Academy Awards, as well, since the category is one of the most crowded in years. Isaac also tied with Michael Keaton, who is expected to get a nomination for his performance in "Birdman."

The last five NBR winners have all been nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars. The last time an NBR winner did not get nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars was in 2008, when Clint Eastwood won for "Gran Torino."

Julianne Moore continued her winning streak for her work in the little seen "Still Alice." Meanwhile, "Birdman" took home the prize for Best Supporting Actor for Edward Norton. Both performances are expected to be nominated at the Academy Awards.

Chastain's win in the Best Supporting Actress category could change the tides for the NBR. As of late, the organization has been one of the weakest predictors of the Academy Awards in the Best Supporting Actress race. In the past three years, the society has went for performances that were not even nominated. Last year, Octavia Spencer won the award for acclaimed performance in "Fruitvale Station" and in 2012 Ann Dowd won for "Compliance." In 2011, Shailene Woodley won for "The Descendants." Chastain is sure to get nominated for the Best Supporting Actress come January.

Argentina also surprised, as it won the Best Foreign Film award for "Wild Tales." The movie is the country's official selection at the Oscars and many pundits expect it to get nominated in the foreign film category.

"The Lego Movie" won the Best Original Screenplay award while Paul Thomas Anderson surprised by winning the Best Adapted Screenplay for "Inherent Vice."

"How to Train Your Dragon 2" won the Best Animated Feature award while the cast of "Fury" won the Best Ensemble prize.

The organization gave two Freedom of Expression Awards. This year it was handed out to "Selma" and the Gael Garcia Bernal starrer "Rosewater."

The organization also hands out a Top Ten list and "American Sniper," "Birdman," "Boyhood," "Fury" and "Gone Girl" made the list. "Inherent Vice," "The Imitation Game," "The Lego Movie," "Nightcrawler" and "Unbroken" rounded out the top 10.