The National Board of Review announced their 2009 winners yesterday, with Up in the Air winning best film, Clint Eastwood winning best director for Invictus, Morgan Freeman and George Clooney sharing best actor nods for Invictus and Up in the Air, and best actress going to Carey Mulligan for her performance in An Education.

You can see the full list of awards, including their top ten films of 2009, by clicking here.

I haven’t seen Up in the Air yet, so I can’t comment, nor can I make a judgement on Invictus, which Dan and I will be viewing on Monday, but one thing is certain – the National Board of Review has been a barometer for the best picture Oscar for the last two years with No Country for Old Men (2007) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008).

The Utah Film Critics society will vote on the best of 2009 on December 17th and we’ll be sure to have the winners listed at AATM.com. Dan and I will also have our “best of” and “worst of” lists as we slide nearer to 2010, and we’ll also have a Best of the Decade list to spur some debate.