Top Ten Films

2001 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerA.I. Artificial IntelligenceA highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother.AmazonBlack Hawk Down160 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis.AmazonIn the BedroomA New England couple's college-aged son dates an older woman who has two small children and an unwelcome ex-husband.AmazonMementoA man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.AmazonMonster's BallAfter a family tragedy, a racist prison guard re-examines his attitudes while falling in love with the African-American wife of the last prisoner he executed.AmazonMoul...

2002 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerAdaptation.A lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.AmazonChicagoTwo death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer's attention.AmazonFar from HeavenIn 1950s Connecticut, a housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.AmazonFridaA biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.AmazonGangs of New YorkIn 1862, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer.AmazonRabbit-Proof FenceIn 1931, three half-white, hal...

2003 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films Winner21 GramsA freak accident brings together a critically ill mathematician, a grieving mother, and a born-again ex-con.AmazonCold MountainIn the waning days of the American Civil War, a wounded soldier embarks on a perilous journey back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina to reunite with his sweetheart.AmazonHouse of Sand and FogAn abandoned wife is evicted from her house and starts a tragic conflict with her house's new owners.AmazonIn AmericaA family of Irish immigrants adjust to life on the mean streets of Hell's Kitchen while also grieving the death of a child.AmazonLost in TranslationA faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.AmazonMaster and Commander: The Far Side of the WorldD...

2004 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerCloserThe relationships of two couples become complicated and deceitful when the man from one couple meets the woman of the other.AmazonCollateralA cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.AmazonFinding NeverlandThe story of Sir J.M. Barrie's friendship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan.AmazonHotel RwandaPaul Rusesabagina was a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda.AmazonKinseyA look at the life of Alfred Kinsey, a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research, whose 1948 publication "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" was one of the first recorded w...

2005 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerA History of ViolenceA mild-mannered man becomes a local hero through an act of violence, which sets off repercussions that will shake his family to its very core in this action thriller.AmazonBrokeback MountainThe story of a forbidden and secretive relationship between two cowboys, and their lives over the years.AmazonCapoteIn 1959, Truman Capote learns of the murder of a Kansas family and decides to write a book about the case. While researching for his novel In Cold Blood, Capote forms a relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith, who is on death row.AmazonCrashLos Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.AmazonGood Night, and Good Luck.Broadcast journalist Edward R...

2006 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerBabelTragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.AmazonBlood DiamondA fisherman, a smuggler, and a syndicate of businessmen match wits over the possession of a priceless diamond.AmazonFlags of Our FathersThe life stories of the six men who raised the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in World War II.AmazonLetters from Iwo JimaThe story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.AmazonLittle Miss SunshineA family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus...

2007 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerAtonementFledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a thirteen-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.AmazonInto the WildAfter graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters aAmazonJunoFaced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.AmazonLars and the Real GirlA delusional young man strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.AmazonMichael ClaytonA law firm brings...

1996 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films WinnerBreaking the WavesOilman Jan is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when Jan urges her to have sex with another.AmazonEveryone Says I Love YouA New York girl sets her father up with a beautiful woman in a troubled marriage while her stepsister gets engaged.AmazonEvitaThe hit musical based on the life of Evita Duarte, a B-picture Argentinian actress who eventually became the wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón, and the most beloved and hated woman in Argentina.AmazonFargoJerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.AmazonJerry MaguireWhen a sports agent has a moral epiphany and i...

2009 National Board of Review - Top Ten Films Winner500 Days of SummerAn offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for her.AmazonA Serious ManLarry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics teacher, watches his life unravel over multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking meaning and answers amidst his turmoils, he seems to keep sinking.AmazonAn EducationA coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.AmazonInglourious BasterdsIn Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.AmazonInvictusNelson Mandela, in his first term a...