NSFC TOES THE AWARDS SEASON LINE WITH 2016 AWARDS PICKS

The National Society of Film Critics is the last of the major critics groups to announce each awards season, often offering up an alternative to the consensus thus far. Maybe its members aren't feeling terribly alternative this year, or maybe it's a sign that this season has been high on quality, but they're offering up nothing but the same old same old this time. Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea hit their marks very nicely, while La La Land and Hell or High Water make decent showings in the runner-up slots.

Best Picture

1. Moonlight

2. Manchester by the Sea

3. La La Land

Best Director

1. Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

2. Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

3. Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Actress

1. Isabelle Huppert (Elle / Things to Come)

2. Annette Bening (20th Century Women)

3. Sandra Huller (Toni Erdmann)

Best Actor

1. Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

2. Denzel Washington (Fences)

3. Adam Driver (Paterson)

Best Supporting Actress

1. Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

2. Lily Gladstone (Certain Women)

3. Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Best Supporting Actor

1. Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

2. Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)

3. Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Screenplay

1. Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

2. Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

3. Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water)

Best Cinematography

1. James Laxton (Moonlight)

2. Linus Sandgren (La La Land)

3. Rodrigo Prieto (Silence)

Best Nonfiction Film

1. O.J.: Made in America

2. I Am Not Your Negro

3. 13th

Best Foreign Language Film

1. Toni Erdmann

2. The Handmaiden

3. Elle
=  Things to Come

Film Heritage Award

Kino Lorber's five-disc collection Pioneers of African-American Cinema

Special Citation for a Film Awaiting American Distribution

Sieranevada (Cristi Puiu)