The Air Apparent?

Is Up in the Air the heir apparent to the Best Picture statuette?

At this point it is tough to know, but it did jump out to a strong lead with the films win for Best Picture at the National Board of Review. It also won Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

Precious had been up to this point thought to be the Best Picture frontrunner, however it wasn’t even listed amongst the NBR top ten. A surprising snub especially when Star Trek, Where the Wild Things Are and (500) Days of Summer were included in the Top Ten. Also interesting was Best Supporting Actress frontrunner Mo’Nique snubbed in favor of Anna Kendrick. Precious was thrown a bone when Gabby Sidibe won Best Breakthrough Actress.

The Lovely Bones and Nine also lost a lot of ground in the race when both were left off the Top Ten list. I suspect Nine will still make it into the list of ten best picture nominees. However based on early reviews, I suspect The Lovely Bones will go belly up. I was also very surprised to see A Single Man left off the top ten list, however I think this is just an oversight and I don’t really think it will affect its ultimate Oscar chances.

It seems as though Invictus is the real deal. Clint and Morgan Freeman’s wins seem to confirm this. It’s safe to say Carey Mulligan is the official Best Actress frontrunner.

Bring on LA, New York, and Golden Globe noms please!