Burton himself was honored with the Best Director Award for his work on "Sweeney Todd." Tony Award-nominated actress Amy Ryan (A Streetcar Named Desire, Uncle Vanya) took the prize for Best Supporting Actress for her turn in "Gone Baby Gone." And, the film "The Great Debaters" – directed by Denzel Washington (Julius Caesar) — earned one of The BVLGARI Awards for NBR Freedom of Expression.

"2007 was an extremely exciting and challenging year for the NBR in determining the winners in the various categories," said NBR president Annie Schulhof in a release. "We screened 282 films and the diversity of these narratives is reflected in our 2007 Ten Best Films." 

"No Country for Old Men" nabbed the top Best Film award. Joining "Sweeney Todd" on the list of Top Ten Films were (listed alphabetically) "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," "Atonement," "The Bourne Ultimatum," "The Bucket List," "Into the Wild," "Juno," "The Kite Runner," "Lars and the Real Girl" and "Michael Clayton."

Other films of note to theatre fans include "The Savages" (starring stage veterans Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney) and "Starting Out In the Evening" (featuring Tony Award winner Frank Langella and Lauren Ambrose) — both works were among the Top Independent Films. And "La Vie en Rose," featuring Marion Cotillard (who is slated to appear in the upcoming "Nine" film adaptation), earned a spot among the Top Five Foreign Films.

* Burton's take "Sweeney Todd" will hit movie theatres nationwide Dec. 21. John Logan ("The Aviator," "Gladiator," Never the Sinner) penned the DreamWorks/Warner Bros. film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical.

The film stars Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen and also features Laura Michelle Kelly (Fiddler on the Roof), Jamie Campbell Bowen, Jayne Wisener and newcomer Edward Sanders. For more information visit sweeneytoddmovie.com.