"Mystic River" has become an early Oscar favorite!

In the last two weeks, "Mystic River" has been flooded with awards and award nominations, a good sign that Oscars will come in February.

A round up:

• The National Board of Review choose "Mystic River" as the best film of 2003. Sean Penn won for best actor for his work in "Mystic River" and "21 Grams."

• Rolling Stone named "Mystic River" the best movie of the year.

• The American Film Institute put "Mystic River" on its Top 10 list.

• Newsweek put "Mystic River" on its Top 10 list (at #6).

• The Boston Film Critics Society named "Mystic River" the best film of the year. They also gave it the award for best ensemble.

• The Broadcast Film Critics Association nominated "Mystic River" for eight of their film awards: Best Picture, Actor (Sean Penn), Supporting Actor (Tim Robbins), Supporting Actress (Marcia Gay Harden), Acting Ensemble, Director (Clint Eastwood), Screenplay (Brian Helgeland), and Composer (Clint Eastwood).

• The London Critics Circle nominated "Mystic River" for four of their annual film awards: Best Picture, Director (Eastwood), Actor (Penn), and Screenplay (Helgeland).

• "Mystic River" was nominated for eight Golden Satellite Awards: Best Picture, Actor (Penn), Supporting Actress (Harden), Director (Eastwood), Screenplay (Helgeland), Cinematography (Tom Stern), Editing, and Sound.