The nominations are the fun part for me. The medals are even more excruciating and there isn't one year past that I don't wish I could go back and change things --I'll announce them Thursday I guess. But each year is a time capsule for how I felt right then. And here is the time capsule, complete, for how I feel now.
Page 1 Picture, Director Screenplays
Page 2 Acting, Lead and Supporting
Page 3 Technicals (cinematography, etcetera
Page 4 Technicals (original score, etcetera) and here ends my "Oscar ballot" if you will...
the extras
Page 5 Line Readings, Cameos, Ensembles, etcetera
Page 6 Divas, Villains, Heroes
Page 7 Musical Moments, Action Sequences
Page 8 Openings, Endings, Credits, and the statistics...
Page 9 Mash-ups and Readers Polls (this page still in progress -voting ends at midnight on Thursday 02/21)
Posts
27 comments:
I love you. Seriously.
Whatever our disagreements, I love how you simply celebrate film. Whenever my interest in film wanes for other media, you managed to revitalize it, whether it's with a rental suggestion I'd missed or a surprising overlap of taste. So thanks.
Brilliant stuff. I'd add that wonderful fast-zoom (by today's standards anyway) on Julie Christie's face (Don't they remember Vietnam?") to Scenes of the Year.
I loved JC in Away From Her, but that line "Don't they remember Vietnam?" sounded very misplaced and "free" at least in the context of the movie. It can happen if you want to put an anti-war message in a movie that has no connection with it whatsoever. And by saying that I am NOT saying that only war themed movies can discuss the matter. Well, JC is great anyway. And i just fuc**** LOVE The Host. I just wish there were more scenes of the monster throwing up bones. I heart you monster!
Felippe, I completely see what you mean... but it's exactly that misplacedness about the scene that I love. Christie's haunting line-reading coupled with that zoom only add to this disjointedness: apt for a film about memory/sensory loss. The line is obviously not in the Munro short story (pre-Iraq), so for me it's like, with one brief masterstroke, Polley is opening up a whole new contextual space within her film.
Oh Nathaniel…
You have no idea how much I cherish your annual awards. I liked how you described it- as a kinda of catalogue/scrapbook. Plus, it’s also like a little window into your cinephile brain. ☺ Anyway, here’s a few titles that I've rented over the years as a direct result of having obsessed over your Annual FB nominees…
“In the Mood for Love”
“Tadpole”
“Late Marriage” (I just had to see what you felt was a superior cinematic sex scene to that indelible train ride in “Unfaithful”- I still prefer the latter but I’m glad to have seen it.)
“Yossi & Jagger”
“Spider”
“Mean Girls”
“The Notorious Bettie Page”
Again, your work is a genuine treasure. Both for you and your readers.
What about completing the Top 10? When will you do that?
I love your own categories as well as the traditional Oscar-paralleled categories.
Michelle Pfeiffer for best villain!!!
Actually, I'd love if the Oscars honored things like ensemble and body of work. But it would probably be too much.
I'm a little surprised Blood's bowling alley didn't make your Best Ending category (too obvious?) but otherwise, great, great retrospective, Nat. Love it.
<333
Russ --i actually don't like the ending of THERE WILL BE BLOOD. I've tried to love. I've definitely had heated discussions with all of my friends about it (both pros and cons) and I just can't come to love it.
still love the movie though... it's the only thing that's held me back from giving it #1 of the year.
and yes... i'm still hashing that out in my head the order of the top 5 but obviously i'll have to finish that this week.
I guess that's why TWBB got an A- rather than an A. :)
Fair enough, Nat. I definitely appreciate the fact that you still consider the film highly despite your hesitancy about the ending. I felt like it was the extreme, undeniable cap on the central struggle between the two men, and solidified the script's themes of obsession, greed, and religious fanaticism. That said, I can see why people are put off by it, and I respect your opinion.
Btw, great call on "Goin' to Acapulco"--probably my absolutely favorite musical sequence from I'm Not There.
"I Can Hear the Bells" was probably my least favourite number, actually. That or "Big, Blonde and Beautiful (Reprise)". Still, I cheris "Welcome to the '60s" and "Run and Tell That". Also, it's funny how I really liked Sweeney Todd and thought the music was great, but there wasn't one singular scene that I would nominate either. Bizarre. And maybe I'm missing something, but "as soon as I saw the garbage truck I knew the film was in (improbably) good hands"??
I question about the scene of the year award. What scene in particular do you mean for Jindabybe "a wife explodes". The bit with the vase?
Aaanyway, love it all. Obviously I don't agree with them all (I wasn't as keen on TWBB, Michael Clayton, etc), but it's always an amazing fun and fascinating read. Well done!
I do agree with Kamikaze, if I made the list, "Bells" probably would take a backseat to "Can't Stop the Beat" or any of the other runners-up. But hey, all a matter of opinion.
And too true on Sweeney--it's hard to pin one musical scene as truly great. It's one of those films that works better as a whole rather than distinct musical sequences.
I also liked that all of the Sunshine pictures in the FB Awards have Michelle Yeoh. I just wish she'd make some better choices... The Mummy 3, a movie with Vin Diesel. Well, I'm still looking foward to The Children of Huang Shi. From Yeoh love to monster love: I've heard that there will be a sequel to The Host, well... a prequel with multiple monsters. Ah... the sight of tons of monsters thrwowing up bones just makes my heart beat with excitement. Too bad director Bong Joon-ho won't be back. I wonder if it will be as much fun.
I do not see how you can totally discard Marion Cotilliard as Best Actress !!??!!
I didn't like her performance very much.
rest assured Ric, that I'm in the tiny minority. The populace is with you!
No Michael Clayton for best opening sequence?
I am so glad to see Evening listed as Best Kiss-that film may have misted out of memory (the rest of the scene awards it was nominated for have faded from me), but the kiss still burns brightly. Had they chosen Dancy rather than Danes as the central character, this could have been a fine film.
No Michael Clayton for hero of the year? Sad. I guess you didn't think he qualified. But he took on a huge corrupt corporation and won! And especially sad since he just missed the best actor shortlist too.
I was also sad not to see Swinton's Karen Crowder in best villain, but I'll take heart in knowing that she will probably win best supporting actress. I suppose she was conflicted and suffering enough that she wasn't really comparable to the other purely evil (and awesome) villains you nominated.
Also, neither Pfeiffer character for best diva? Oh well. I guess they both made best villain, so it's OK.
And I'm also wondering what happened to "When Your Mind's Made Up" in Once. That was my second favorite number in the film, and I would've nominated it for sure. Also, "Can't Stop the Beat" is my favorite number from Hairspray and I'd put it a close second only to "Falling Slowly" in that category - it actually makes me both laugh and cry and almost fools me into thinking Hairspray's a great film - but there are a lot of great numbers in that film.
"I Can Hear the Bells" is probably my favorite number from the movie version of Hairspray. Really, any number in which Blonsky is featured prominently. She's so, so good in the movie.
Mmmm... I really thought I'd see one of the greatest scenes in the history of cinema (according to me of course :P) here...
The dinner scene in 4 months... just brilliant.
steve --yeah. some one agrees with me. It's my favorite scene in the movie because I LOVE Blonsky's voice. It's so clear and fun and perfect for Tracey.
bernardo --i do love the movie but i guess i don't think of it so much on a scene by scene basis. but yes, that scene was pretty riveting.
You know...I have always loved you, but I am plenty pissed off that you would finish the Film Bitch Awards musical categories without having seen Across The Universe! You are a film bitch!
There is no way in hell you will like the film after refusing to acknowledge it for so long now, but there are a some really great musical moments there that I believe even you might like. Personally, I loved them all, but then I'm an old broad who lived through those times.
Anyway, I am disasapointed, plus you haven't even given Jim Sturgess a chance yet! I think he and Miss Wood will be on the Best Kiss ballot when the MTV movie award rolls around.
All I'm saying!
Nat, Across the Universe is worth seeing if only to hear Evan Rachel Wood's voice; her singing is as good as her acting, and yes I know what a compliment that is.
Actually all the voices in that film are very good, so that's something in its favor. I know you hate jukebox musicals, but you should really see this. I doubt you'll love it, or even like it much, but there is some stuff in it worth seeing, especially for a lover of musicals.
It's been on my mind since I was just forced to see it a second time (the boy I'm seeing loves it), and I appreciated it more when I just stopped being critical and tried to enjoy it for what it was.
And I guarantee you, you'll be even more enamored of Evan after seeing it. Not only does she have Streep-like pipes, but she manages to pull a very good performance out of the endless sea of contrivances that is Taymor's vision.
well... it came down to this: you have to draw the line somewhere. If I saw everything i would never have time to write because I do have to work and I do have to have time to write ;)
i almost saw it toward that last week of screenings but it was only at one theater and I opted for Control instead... probably on account of that I hated Titus
Well, rent it sometime... I doubt it'd make any of your categories, but it's really worth seeing just for Evan Rachel Wood.
But yeah, Control is better. Good call on that.
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