NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS 50th Anniversary
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The National Society of Film Critics has been advancing the cause of great filmmaking and criticism for half a century.
To celebrate, member critics have teamed up with curators from Boston to L.A. to choose from among the group’s fifty Best Pictures in order to present screenings with talks.
Presentations have included Blue Velvet, Stranger Than Paradise, There Will Be Blood, and Life is Sweet.
Here is a list of the events and venues; other events are in the works.
March – Film Forum, New York City
May and June – the Music Box Theatre, Chicago
October – Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
December – American Cinemateque, Los Angeles
A N N U A L A W A R D S F O R B E S T F I L M
- 1966 BLOW-UP
- 1967 PERSONA
- 1968 SHAME
- 1969 Z
- 1970 M*A*S*H
- 1971 CLAIRE’S KNEE
- 1972 THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE
- 1973 DAY FOR NIGHT
- 1974 SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE
- 1975 NASHVILLE
- 1976 ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN
- 1977 ANNIE HALL
- 1978 GET OUT YOUR HANDKERCHIEFS
- 1979 BREAKING AWAY
- 1980 MELVIN AND HOWARD
- 1981 ATLANTIC CITY
- 1982 TOOTSIE
- 1983 NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS
- 1984 STRANGER THAN PARADISE
- 1985 RAN
- 1986 BLUE VELVET
- 1987 THE DEAD
- 1988 THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING
- 1989 DRUGSTORE COWBOY
- 1990 GOODFELLAS
- 1991 LIFE IS SWEET
- 1992 UNFORGIVEN
- 1993 SCHINDLER’S LIST
- 1994 PULP FICTION
- 1995 BABE
- 1996 BREAKING THE WAVES
- 1997 L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
- 1998 OUT OF SIGHT
- 1999 TOPSY-TURVY and BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
- 2000 YI YI
- 2001 MULHOLLAND DRIVE
- 2002 THE PIANIST
- 2003 AMERICAN SPLENDOR
- 2004 MILLION DOLLAR BABY
- 2005 CAPOTE
- 2006 PAN’S LABYRINTH
- 2007 THERE WILL BE BLOOD
- 2008 WALTZ WITH BASHIR
- 2009 THE HURT LOCKER
- 2010 THE SOCIAL NETWORK
- 2011 MELANCHOLIA
- 2012 AMOUR
- 2013 INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
- 2014 GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE
- 2015 SPOTLIGHT
A complete list of members and awards in all categories can be found at NationalSocietyofFilmCritics.com.
OTHER ACTIVITIES OF THE NSFC
The National Society of Film Critics counts among its members many of the country’s leading film critics. Its purpose is to promote the mutual interests of film criticism and filmmaking. Founded in l966, the Society differs from other critical associations in a number of significant ways. In the first place, it is truly national. Secondly, membership is by election. The 54 members include the critics from major papers and outlets in Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Its members also include critics not just of The Wall St. Journal, The L.A. Times and The New Yorker, but also of The Village Voice, The Christian Science Monitor and NPR.
The Society represents movie criticism in the United States by supplying the official critic delegate to the National Film Registration Board of the Library of Congress and abroad as the official American representative in FIPRESCI, the international federation of members of the film press.
Besides publishing themed anthologies and responding to specific issues, such as imprisoned filmmakers, film preservation, or the ratings system, the Society regularly meets early in January to vote on the Society’s awards for the finest film achievements of the year.
The Society’s most recent anthologies are The B List: The National Society of Film Critics on the Low-Budget Beauties, Genre-Bending Mavericks, and Cult Classics We Love; The X List: The National Society of Film Critics’ Guide to the Movies That Turn Us On; and The A List: 100 Essential Films. In the 1990’s, the Society published Produced and Abandoned: The Best Films You’ve Never Seen; Foreign Affairs, its counterpart for foreign films; Love and Hisses, a guide to the most controversial films and issues; They Went Thataway: Redefining Film Genres; and Flesh and Blood: The National Society of Film Critics on Sex, Violence, and Censorship. Earlier, the Society published six volumes of annual reviews, as well as The National Society of Film Critics on Movie Comedy and The National Society of Film Critics on the Movie Star. The group can genuinely be said to represent the best of contemporary American film criticism.
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