The first major awards of the 2004 season were announced on Wednesday, December 1st, by the New-York based National Board of Review, and top honors went to FINDING NEVERLAND, voted Best Picture of the Year! Following their usual pattern of spreading the awards around to as many pictures as possible, the National Board of Review chose Jamie Foxx in RAY and Annette Bening in BEING JULIA as Best Actor and Actress, while supporting awards went to Thomas Haden Church in SIDEWAYS and Laura Linney in KINSEY. Michael Mann won Best Director for COLLATERAL, and the cast of Mike Nichols’ CLOSER nabbed the award for Best Acting by an Ensemble. To read the full story by Gregg Kilday in the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, click HERE.

The ZONE congratulates everyone who worked on FINDING NEVERLAND–given how long this movie lingered unseen, it is a special joy to see its excellence rewarded. All Depp fans are of course disappointed that Johnny’s magnificent portrayal of J. M. Barrie did not receive the Best Actor award; we know that his work, and Kate Winslet’s luminous Sylvia and Freddie Highmore’s hearbreaking Peter, and the sensitive direction of Marc Forster, made FINDING NEVERLAND unforgettable. Thanks to the many Zoners who posted the Best Picture news, including Juno, Emilia, and axelsgirl.

The National Board of Review will present its awards on January 11th at the Tavern on the Green in New York City. This is the day after the Critic’s Choice awards will be held in Los Angeles. No word yet on which members of the FINDING NEVERLAND team will attend which events.