Tiscali Celebrity

THERE WILL BE BLOOD has been hailed as the Best Picture of the Year for 2007 by the National Society of Film Critics.

The movie, which was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, beat competition from Joel and Ethan Coen's No Country for Old Men and Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly to take the award, while he beat the same filmmakers for the Best Director prize.

There Will Be Blood was also praised for Daniel Day Lewis' portrayal of an oil-hungry businessman, winning him the honour for Best Actor. Best Actress went to Julie Christie for her starring role in Away From Her, while Best Supporting gongs were awarded to Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and Cate Blanchett for I'm Not There.

Other winners included the Romanian 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days as Best Foreign-Language Film, while No End in Sight, by Charles Ferguson, won the award for Best Non-Fiction Film.

The National Society awards - voted for by America's top movie critics - is a good indicator as to who will go on to Oscar glory. (MT/WNWCRV+WNWA)

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