The National Society of Film Critics announced its 2013 honorees this afternoon and gave a much needed boost to the Oscar nomination chances for “Inside Llewyn Davis.” 

“Davis” earned best film, best director (Joel and Ethan Coen), best actor (Oscar Isaac) and best cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel) honors. The NFSC also gave kudos to “American Hustle’s” Jennifer Lawrence for best supporting actress and “Spring Breakers'” James Franco for best supporting actor.  Cate Blanchett once again won another best actress honor for “Blue Jasmine.”

The NSFC has over 60 members from publications around the nation and their choices have historically not always lineup with their own local critics groups. The past five previous best film winners include “Amour,” “Melancholia,” “The Social Network,” “The Hurt Locker” and “Waltz with Bashir.”  “The Hurt Locker” and “Million Dollar Baby” are the only films the organization has chosen as best film that also won the Oscar for best picture in the past 20 years. You can find a somewhat dated list of the membership on their official website here.

The complete list of winners and runners up, with vote totals and commentary, are listed below.

Picture: “Inside Llewyn Davis” (23)
Runners-up: “American Hustle” (17); “12 Years a Slave” (16); “Her” (16)

Lowdown: It appears the strong East Coast membership of NFSC gave a nice boost to “Hustle” in second place.

Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, “Inside Llewyn Davis” (25)
Runners-up: Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity” (18); Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave” (15)

Lowdown: If the Coens can snag a DGA nomination this Tuesday they might make the Oscar five.

Actor: Oscar Isaac, “Inside Llewyn Davis” (28)
Runners-up: Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave” (19); Robert Redford, “All Is Lost” (12)

Lowdown: Wonderful honor for Isaac. Cracking the Oscar five may be a lost cause.

Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine” (57)
Runners-up: Adele Exarchopoulos, “Blue Is the Warmest Color” (36); Julie Delpy, “Before Midnight” (26)

Lowdown: If she wins the SAG Awards honor, the race is effectively over.

Supporting actor: James Franco, “Spring Breakers” (24)
Runners-up: Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club” (20); Barkhad Abdi, “Captain Phillips” (14)

Lowdown: Too little too late for Franco?  Should A24 Films invested a bit more in campaigning for him? 

Supporting actress: Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle” (54)
Runners-up: Lupita Nyong”o, “12 Years a Slave” (38); Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine” (18); Lea Seydoux, “Blue Is the Warmest Color” (18)

Lowdown: Anyone who thinks the Academy or SAG or the HFPA is afraid to honor Lawrence with a win in back to back years is gravely mistaken. We’ve been waiting for the new Meryl for almost 25 years. She may be the Girl on Fire.

Screenplay: Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, “Before Midnight” (29)
Runners-up: Joel and Ethan Coen, “Inside Llewyn Davis” (26); Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, “American Hustle” (18)

Lowdown: Nice win for the almost forgotten “Before Midnight” crew. Adapted is always competitive for Oscar, but they hopefully will sneak in later this month.

Foreign-language film: “Blue Is the Warmest Color” (27)
Runners-up: “A Touch of Sin” (21); “The Great Beauty” (15)

Nonfiction: “The Act of Killing” and “At Berkeley” (tie, 20)
Runner-up: “Leviathan” (18)

Lowdown: “The Act of Killing” is the only documentary out of the three with a shot to earn an Academy Award nomination.

Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel, “Inside Llewyn Davis” (28)
Runners-up: Emmanuel Lubezki, “Gravity” (26); Phedon Papamichael, “Nebraska” (17)

Lowdown: Huge fan of Belbonnel’s work in “Davis,” but words fail me.

Film Still Awaiting U.S. Distribution: “Stray Dogs” and “Hide Your Smiling Faces”

Film Heritage:
“Too Much Johnson”
“American Treasures From the New Zealand Film Archive”
“Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios”
“The Hitchcock 9″

What do you think of the NSFC picks? Share your thoughts below.