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

1. 1966   BLOW-UP
2. 1967   PERSONA
3. 1968   SHAME
4. 1969   Z
5. 1970   M*A*S*H
6. 1971   CLAIRE’S KNEE
7. 1972   THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE
8. 1973   DAY FOR NIGHT
9. 1974   SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE
10. 1975   NASHVILLE
11. 1976   ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN
12. 1977   ANNIE HALL
13. 1978   GET OUT YOUR HANDKERCHIEFS
14. 1979   BREAKING AWAY
15. 1980   MELVIN AND HOWARD
16. 1981   ATLANTIC CITY
17. 1982   TOOTSIE
18. 1983   NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS
19. 1984   STRANGER THAN PARADISE
20. 1985   RAN
21. 1986   BLUE VELVET
22. 1987   THE DEAD
23. 1988   THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING
24. 1989   DRUGSTORE COWBOY
25. 1990   GOODFELLAS
26. 1991   LIFE IS SWEET
27. 1992   UNFORGIVEN
28. 1993   SCHINDLER’S LIST
29. 1994   PULP FICTION
30. 1995   BABE
31. 1996   BREAKING THE WAVES
32. 1997   L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
33. 1998   OUT OF SIGHT
34. 1999   TOPSY-TURVY and BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
35. 2000   YI YI
36. 2001   MULHOLLAND DRIVE
37. 2002   THE PIANIST
38. 2003   AMERICAN SPLENDOR
39. 2004   MILLION DOLLAR BABY
40. 2005   CAPOTE
41. 2006   PAN’S LABYRINTH
42. 2007   THERE WILL BE BLOOD
43. 2008   WALTZ WITH BASHIR
44. 2009   THE HURT LOCKER
45. 2010   THE SOCIAL NETWORK
46. 2011   MELANCHOLIA
47. 2012   AMOUR
48. 2013   INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
49. 2014   GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE
50. 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.