海角大神

The National Board of Review has gone with a box office blockbuster for its choice of the best film of the year, naming the movie 鈥淢ad Max: Fury Road鈥� as the best picture to be released recently.聽

鈥淢ax鈥� stars Tom Hardy as the title protagonist, who is living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland and encounters Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), who is attempting to drive several young women to safety.

The movie, which was directed and co-written by original 鈥淢ad Max鈥� director George Miller, became a box office and critical hit, grossing more than $153 million domestically.聽

鈥淢ax鈥� beat out such lauded competition as the journalism drama 鈥淪potlight,鈥� Steven Spielberg鈥檚 Cold War film 鈥淏ridge of Spies,鈥� and the science fiction film 鈥淭he Martian,鈥� though the National Board of Review gave 鈥淢artian鈥� director Ridley Scott the best director prize and 鈥淢artian鈥� actor Matt Damon won the best actor award.

By awarding the best film prize to 鈥淢ax鈥� and the best director award to Mr. Scott, the National Board of Review honored films that were also box office hits. Like 鈥淢ax,鈥� 鈥淢artian,鈥� which is based on the book of the same name by Andy Weir, became a box office smash and is currently the sixth-highest-grossing movie of the year, having taken in more than $218 million domestically.

Meanwhile, Brie Larson won the best actress prize for the film 鈥淩oom鈥� and Sylvester Stallone won the best supporting actor award for the movie 鈥淐reed.鈥� 鈥淭he Hateful Eight鈥� actress Jennifer Jason Leigh won the best supporting actress award for the upcoming Quentin Tarantino film.聽

How often does the National Board of Review predict the eventual Best Picture winner? Not often within the past decades. Since 1995, only three of the National Board of Review鈥檚 picks (鈥淎merican Beauty,鈥� 鈥淣o Country for Old Men,鈥� and 鈥淪lumdog Millionaire鈥�) have gone on to take the big prize at the Oscars.聽

At the very least, though, the National Board of Review often selects movies that end up being a nominee. Many critics liked 鈥淢ax,鈥� but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rarely goes for action-oriented blockbusters when selecting Best Picture nominees, so some viewed 鈥淢ax鈥� as a longer shot for a nomination than, say, 鈥淪potlight,鈥� 鈥淩oom,鈥� or the historical drama 鈥淏rooklyn.鈥澛�

But this choice by the National Board of Review may have Oscar voters paying renewed attention to the summer blockbuster. Of those same movies since 1995, all but three of the National Board of Review winners were at least nominated for Best Picture.聽

So, Mad Max is a long shot. But it鈥檚 not unheard of for blockbuster movies to get nominated for Best Picture and even win. One of the leading contenders for the prize recently was the 2013 movie 鈥淕ravity,鈥� which became a box office hit like 鈥淢ax,鈥� as did the 2012 movie 鈥淎rgo,鈥� which won the prize. Two 2010 films 鈥� 鈥淭he King鈥檚 Speech鈥� and 鈥淭he Social Network鈥� were widely viewed as leading contenders for Best Picture that year, also succeeded at the box office.聽

Those behind the Oscars TV event are no doubt hoping a box office hit will be a nominee. While many factors influence the ratings for an Oscars telecast, including the choice of host (this year, it鈥檚 Chris Rock), the telecast saw record ratings the year that 鈥淭itanic,鈥� one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, won Best Picture.聽

Meanwhile, last year, when two low-grossing films, 鈥淏oyhood鈥� and 鈥淏irdman,鈥� were battling for Best Picture, the ratings for total viewers were the lowest since 2009.聽

Will 鈥淢ax鈥� find its name on the shortlist when Oscar nominees are announced? Stay tuned on Jan. 14.