Zero Dark Thirty gains traction on the road to the Oscars

Zero Dark Thirty, the movie about the hunt for Bin Laden directed by Kathryn Bigelow, is picking up steam ahead of next year's Academy Awards.

Zero Dark Thirty, the movie about the hunt for Bin Laden directed by Kathryn Bigelow, is picking up steam ahead of next year's Academy Awards. Following the words of praise emanating from the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC), the movie hit the right note with the National Board of Review (NBR).

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The organization founded in 1909 hailed Zero Dark Thirty as the best film of 2012, it announced on December 5. Kathryn Bigelow was also bestowed with best director honors, and the film's lead, Jessica Chastain, was ranked as best actress.

The NBR also awarded Silver Linings Playbook and Beasts of the Southern Wild. The former was singled out for its screenplay (an adaptation penned by David O. Russell) and Bradley Cooper's performance, while the latter earned a breakthrough actress award for Quvenzhané Wallis and a best directorial debut award for Benh Zeitlin.

Ann Dowd and Leonardo DiCaprio were awarded best supporting performance honors for their roles in Compliance and Django Unchained, while musical Les Misérables was deemed to offer the best ensemble cast. Ben Affleck won a Special Achievement in Filmmaking award for Argo, and John Goodman earned the Spotlight Award thanks to his supporting roles in Argo, Flight, ParaNorman and Trouble With the Curve. Amour was awarded the prize for the best foreign film of the year.