And the Oscar goes to...well, we're not quite there. But, the National Board of Review -- traditionally the first critics group out of the gate -- has just announced their favorites.

The verdict? It's good to be independent, and good to be bloody.

No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers' modern day western-suspense-thriller, won Best Film, while Tim Burton was named Best Director for the upcoming, ultra-violent Johnny Depp musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Except for a few titles like Ratatouille and The Bourne Ultimatum, it's an indie world the NBR lives in. That's not a bad thing, especially for minis that may turn into major releases like Juno, which opened limited today to rave reviews. See it soon. It is that good.

Other NBR winners:

Actor: George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Actress: Julie Christie, Away From Her
Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Foreign Film: The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
Documentary: Body of War
Animated Feature: Ratatouille
Ensemble Cast: No Country for Old Men
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Emile Hirsch, Into The Wild
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Ellen Page, Juno
Best Directorial Debut: Ben Affleck, Gone Baby Gone
Best Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, Juno and Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real Girl
Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men

Top Movies of 2007 (in no particular order):

Juno
Into The Wild
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Michael Clayton
The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
The Bourne Ultimatum
Atonement
The Bucket List
The Kite Runner
Lars and the Real Girl