2008 FB AWARDS Completed

Whew. So that took even longer than usual. Which is saying a lot. I've been giving out some kind of virtual awards for my favorite movies since I was a wee kid... only they weren't public back when I was only seeing 12-15 movies a year and I thought Karate Kid and Splash ruled! I like to think of my own nominations and medals not so much as a publicity circus / popularity contest like the Oscars but more like a scrapbook of a moviegoing year. [editors note: Pssst. When December 2009 rolls around I plan to have a book of some sort ready for purchase celebrating 10 years of these awards. I hope you'll buy it to support the site.]

Nominations and medals in all 41 categories are up since, well, time is up!

FiLM BiTCH Awards 2008
traditional
Page 1: Picture, Director and Screenplays
Page 2: Traditional Acting Categories
Page 3: Visual Technical Categories
Page 4: Aural Technical Categories (and nom' tallies)
extras
Page 5: Extra Acting Categories
Page 6: Heroes, Villains, Divas, more...
Page 7: Best Individual Scenes
Page 8: Even More Scenes (and nom' tallies)

The last categories I added were Action Sequence and Best Individual Scenes in case you missed that as I did it on the sly in the wee hours last night. Rachel Getting Married led the pack with 16 nominations but WALL•E took home the most medals of various colors, 11. Milk and The Wrestler did well for themselves. The Class (France) and Reprise (Norway), my two favorite foreign films of '08 also scored gold. The Dark Knight and Australia were the most honored films that I didn't wholly take to but they sure had great moments.

Nathaniel is a francophile. French films hogged 17 noms / 7 medals

I hope you enjoy the awards and above all I hope you take this in the spirit it was intended. A nomination is a win after all. I enjoy nominating things more than picking wins which always feels so exclusive and which I always wish I could change days later (like the 5th spot in any category after nominations, actually). I always hope the awards inspire amusement, discussion starters and especially rental fodder. These 41 categories of things, people, elements, scenes, stars are what made it all worthwhile for me in 2008. I love the cinema. We fight sometimes but we always kiss and make up in the end.

up next: Indie Spirits live blogging today @ 4:30 PM. Oscar coverage and review over the next few days. Then on to 2009. Wheeeee
*

Only Got One Scene? Make it Count!

update: I did some tinkering here. Messed up on my awards spreadsheet. Oops

I used to really love giving prizes for limited or cameo roles and I used to fantasize that one day some struggling actor would write me an email saying "i can't believe someone noticed what I was doing in that scene! ur my new BFF" and whatnot. But this bizarre fantasy never became reality and now I find that my awards for limited and cameo roles only torture me by reminding me of the major studio's continual campaign tricks between lead and supporting roles with Oscars. Having a third category makes things yet more confusing still! For instance, are all those female roles in Rachel Getting Married supporting characters or limited roles? Of course if you have one you have the other which makes it infinitely more confusing.

Exactly what is a limited role? I guess I'm masochistic like that to even ask. But I like to recognize the lesser known actors, the blue collar faces of cinema if you will, when they make an impression or lift a scene in some noticeable way. So here's to them

Best Line Readings, Best Limited / Cameo Performances
Starring people from Savage Grace, The Reader, Valkyrie, Reprise, Iron Man and more

*

The Top Dozen Films of the Year

Year in Review Part 5 of 5

And we've finally come to it...

Generally the making of a top ten list is cause for Sophie's Choice style agony but drafting 2008's list was unusually pleasant. Which is to say that the best films this year weren't as aggressively audacious or as eager to thrown down artistic and technical gauntlets as There Will Be Blood and No Country were last year (with the possible exception of Steve McQueen's prison drama Hunger which opted not to open in New York, thus making it ineligible for my list). Perhaps filmmakers were ahead of the curve and foresaw the wave of cautious optimism that was about to start rolling around the world. Consider the turn about from the following filmmakers who are no strangers to dour moods: Mike Leigh opted for cheer and generosity of spirit, Woody Allen made his sunniest film (quite literally) in years, and Gus Van Sant understood that "you gotta give them hope".

Honorable Mentions / Runners Up

Moodily stalking this year's top ten films, is a lonely Swedish girl who reluctantly goes by the name of "Eli". She's 12 years old. She's been 12 years old for a very very long time. She's both the love interest and the monster in the haunting horror flick Let the Right One In. Director Tomas Alfredson obviously has filmmaking in his blood (his dad, brother and girlfriend are also in the business) and his breakout hit pulses with memorable creepy imagery and smart directorial choices, especially in its first half...

READ THE REST
for thoughts on Burn After Reading, A Christmas Tale, The Class, Happy-Go-Lucky, In Bruges, Let the Right One In, Milk, Rachel Getting Married, Reprise, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Wrestler and an adorable Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth Class (also known as WALL•E)

New Podcast: Oscar 2008 Foreign Film Competition

Pick your jaw up off the floor.

Yes, yes, it's been [ahem] several months since the last podcast. But the new episode is now playing and hopefully it'll only be a few weeks until the follow up. We can dream.

In the 3rd installment I'm speaking with Boyd Van Hoeij of European Films about the current Oscar Best Foreign Film race. [The official 67 film-wide submission list has been announced. You can see the full list here]. But this installment of the podcast kicks off with an interview with one of cinema's future bright lights, director Joachim Trier who talks about the inspiration for his first feature Reprise (yes, I'm still plugging that one now that it's out on DVD. I love it), working with non-actors, writing as metaphor, Norway, and even a meeting with Jeanne Moreau. He's an articulate film buff as well as a fine new director.


Click here to listen to the enhanced podcast with the service of your choice or, if you don't have an enhanced player like iTunes or somesuch you can just listen to the plain ol' mp3.
*

Puny Movies. Streep Smash!

Labor Day essentially drew a big chalk line between the summer movie season ended and the serious realms of back to school and fall film season, so let's briefly check back in to the year's box office. Where we stand now as it were.

Best Picture (if Oscar were like "People's Choice")
01 The Dark Knight $505 and climbing
It's finally slowing down going into its 8th week but damn... now that is a zeitgeist picture. The term gets overused (I'm guilty too) but that's a real one. So many people responding to it. It's the only modern film that's ever turned itself into a threat to Titanic.
02 Iron Man $317
03 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull $315
I finally watched this. I thought 'Oh, Nat. Don't be such a stick in the mud just because you sometimes think franchises should die noble deaths rather than be exhumed.' But um... even as I found myself completely ready for F-U-N --I guarantee I was in the right mood -- I wasn't having much. Cate Blanchett was sort of a hoot even if her accent was both half baked and deliciously burnt...but that wasn't much of a character to play. I was happy in concept and sometimes in execution to see Marion and Indy reunited. But yikes, this movie is lame. CGI gophers?
04 Hancock $227
05 WALL•E $218
I heart this movie. Should probably see again. I still can't fathom how Cars was a bigger hit than this? Ah well, at least with Pixar, they're always hits and $200+ is nothing to complain about.

Runners Up
06 Kung Fu Panda $213
07 Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who! $154
08 Sex & The City $152
09 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian $141
This is why everybody does and should make sequels: People will go to them dutifully even if they're not particularly enthused. Force of habit.
10 Mamma Mia! $ 133 and still singing
I haven't seen it which you must know is madness. I know it's supposed to be terrible (which wouldn't surprise me) but Nathaniel missing musicals and Meryl... [gasp]. Still, I can't bear to think of seeing that one alone and I don't have my movie going buddies around since I'm still a hotel dweller.


Technically, at the day of this writing, The Incredible Hulk holds that number ten spot, somehow eking out a teensy victory over Wanted which people seemed to like a whole lot more at the time but which didn't have any legs to speak of, barring Angelina's. Still: Streep Smash! Mamma Mia! (#12 as of right now) will outdistance them both this weekend since it's still in the top ten. That big green giant just can't catch a break. First he struggled all summer just to beat the original outing (by a narrow 2 million) and with that big monkey of a budget on his back, cutting into his profits.

If the (redundant) Mamma Mia! Sing-Along idea catches on, Streep will have an even bigger hit than she already has. What was that about female led films being box office poison? Remember that panic when Jodie Foster couldn't make her usual numbers with The Brave One? Never mind. If The Women tanks on September 12th you'll start hearing that tired meme all over again. "Women can't sell movies. Pay no attention to those many films behind the curtain (of your short term memory)!"

Films that should have been bigger hits...
A Girl Cut in Two (France) $95,000 in the states / $7.6 million abroad
I think it would be fascinating if, for just one year, we who weren't present for the American craze for the foreign film (60s and 70s) could experience what it was like when hipsters, at least, flocked to them.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (US) $13.7 million
It's doing very well if you look at it on the Woody Allen curve... but given the solidity of its performance, shouldn't it be getting more than a couple of dozen new theaters in its fourth weekend?
In Bruges (UK) $7.8 million in the States / $18.5 million abroad.
I keep thinking this will become more widely loved on DVD
Reprise (Norway) $554,000 in the states / $647,000 abroad
It didn't cross that 1 million threshold that used to be the mark of a foreign hit here at the arthouses but the number of subtitled pictures that are able to do that per year has dwindled. Half a million is a very respectable gross these days once you cross the ocean. Still, one wishes it were more.

Will the Fall Film Season bring any real box office players or just golden hopefuls?
*

1/2 Way Mark: The Acting

These are not Oscar predictions. They are my preferences -- the five performances in each category I have loved most this year from the 50 films I've screened. I'm doing this since the year is half over... and also just begun. (Oh, you know how Hollywood waits and waits to release the juicy stuff...) Unfortunately none of them will get any traction for acknowledgements later in the year when various groups start giving prizes. It's all in the timing...

Best Leading Actress
Amy Adams -Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day (review)
Irene Azuelas -Burn the Bridges
Famke Jannsen -Turn the River (interview)
Frances McDormand -Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day
Julianne Moore -Savage Grace (review)

Watch out people. Julianne comes roaring back into psychosexual territory and none too soon. I need redheads experiencing mental breakdowns in dramas like most people need warm blondes falling in sweet love in romcoms. I just do. Adams and McDormand are appealing if not extraordinary in Miss Pettigrew (though I was tempted to replace one of them with Katharine Heigl who was ready to do a lot more for 27 Dresses if the film or screenplay had only figured out what to ask of her), Azuela holds all the threads of Burn the Bridges to her bosom like a protective makeshift mother (any Mexican readers know anything about this young talent?), and Janssen announces again that Hollywood isn't properly utilizing her talents. She's strong in Turn the River.

Best Leading Actor
Robert Downey Jr -Iron Man
Colin Farrel -In Bruges
Brendan Gleeson -In Bruges
Espin Klouman -Reprise
Dominique Pinon -Roman de Gare (review)

[note: Before anybody gets their panties in a twist: I have not seen The Visitor. I do enjoy Richard Jenkins work generally so...] The hyperbole was really out of control on Robert Downey Jr's Tony Spark/Iron Man spin. It's not like he was reinventing the wheel. Still it was thrilling to see this great actor headline a big star vehicle for a change. Every other performance here was more surprising in a way but you can't fault RDJ for being reliable. He's been consistently charismatic and spot on since way back in the 1980s.

The other men didn't get even 1/100th of RDJ's praise but they deserve some as well. Colin Farrel especially. He gives his best performance yet in the deceptively simple but intricately enjoyable In Bruges (from the amazing playwright Martin McDonaugh --I'd also highly recommend his Oscar winning short film Six Shooter.) He plays a hitman with a guilt-ridden conscience and it's amazing to see him drift away from his sadness whenever something amuses or surprises him (dwarves, drugs, women) only for it to snag hold of him again as his mind invariably snaps back. There's so much happening in his face. Gleeson partners him well. Klouman (in his first major role) is beautifully attentive to all of his scene partners and a true natural. Finally, Pinon improbably transforms his weird self into something resembling a romantic leading man. Wow.

Best Supporting Actress
Audrey Dana -Roman de Gare
Shirley Henderson -Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Claude Sarraute -The Last Mistress
Charlize Theron -Sleepwalking (review)
Victoria Winge -Reprise

My apologies have to go out to Patricia Clarkson in Married Life (review), Eva Amurri in The Life Before Her Eyes (review) both of whom I talked up previously but I couldn't do without Henson's mesmerizing schemer, Sarraute's hilarious horny grandma, Dana's accidental muse, Theron's film stealing mojo and Winge (stealing a line from Pajiba here) "who looks like Björk if Björk was from Earth"

Best Supporting Actor
Eugenio Derbez -Under the Same Moon (review)
Ralph Fiennes -In Bruges
Val Lauren -True Love (previous notes)
Victor Razuk -Stop-Loss (review)
Channing Tatum -Stop-Loss

I am commentless at this moment.

Best Cameo / Tiny Role
Steven Coogan Finding Amanda
Ernesto D'Alessio Under the Same Moon
Henrik Mestad Reprise
Jérémie Renier In Bruges

I couldn't think of five but these men added wonderful notes to their films.

Drrrty (Most Indecently Luscious)
Asia Argento -The Last Mistress
Angelina Jolie & James McAvoy -Wanted
Gilles Marini -Sex & the City: The Movie
Julianne Moore & Stephen Dillane & Hugh Dancy & Eddie Redmayne & Elena Anaya & Unax Ugalde -Savage Grace (Too bad they're all such pervs)

*

Which of these performances have you seen? Were you impressed? Whose acting reel (circa 2008) would you watch again?

Related Post: top ten of the year so far (Jan-Jun)

Tuesday Top Ten: Best of the Year (Thus Far)

tuesday top ten: for the listmaker in me and the listlover in you

Naturally the year will get better from here. "It will, won't it?" he asked in a panicky sweat. These are the ten best of 2008 from January to June (from what I've seen). The most serious omission on my part is In Bruges which won fine reviews. I'll get to it soon. [UPDATE: Have now seen it and would place it at #3 on this list and make the double feature must see, a triple feature] I expect only two of these to make my year-end top ten list. I'm discounting stuff that didn't or won't be getting proper theatrical releases though some (Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, Russia's Cargo 200 and miniscule indie True Love) are better than those that did.


10 Iron Man
The year's most popular picture is a fun ride. It lags a little at times, that final action sequence sure was drab (The Incredible Hulk's is much stronger for what it's worth) and I'm less impressed than most about that teaser coda but I'm totally ready for the sequel so it must have done something several things right. The most obvious smart move was casting Tony Stark to perfection rather than casting on bankability. Well done Marvel Studios. You must be feeling pretty 'hot rod red' cocky right about now. So, challenge yourself with something a little riskier and less instantly saleable. See how much of a movie empire you can build: Cloak & Dagger, The StarJammers, Doctor Strange ... surprise us! And for gods sake... if something needs a 'pretend it didn't exist' shame-faced reboot It's not Ang Lee's Hulk, it's The Fantastic Four or Daredevil. Get on it.

09 Savage Grace
Remember when Julianne Moore used to say the word "cock" all the time in movies. Yeah. They had me at 'Julianne Moore has a dirty mouth again' (review)

08 Roman de Gare
A French thriller with two very fine performances (Dominique Pinon and César nominated Audrey Dana) saving the movie from its structural red herrings and plotholes (review)

07 Stop-Loss (review)

06 Under the Same Moon (review)

05 Sex & The City: The Movie
I realize this ranking overstates its case. It's not without sizeable problems (chief among them time spent with Jennifer Hudson in an embarrassing role when the movie was already so long) but with 80% of the critical population trying desperately to undermine it any ludicrous way they can, I'm just here for a little balance. Consider the reviews for Wanted versus the reviews for Sex & The City and be alarmed that so many critics think the former was all in good fun and yet called the second for shallow and morally questionable. Hmmmm.


Anyway, my point is this: It was fun. The clothes were a hoot. The familiar friendships were lovingly put on display for one last nostalgic round. Best of all, with Samantha's plotline they corrected the biggest stumble of the series finale. Despite a fine last season on air, the finale had a weird need to pair everyone up. The series was always about the trial and error of the romantic journey --and the friends with whom you walked that road --rather than the 'happily ever after' part. I hope they don't make a sequel but I'm glad they made this.

04 Young @ Heart
I resisted. Like the film at #6, I went in with a not entirely open mind. I'm allergic to excessive sentiment in movies so if a film has that in its very DNA, I'm always wary. (It's why I don't trust Steven Spielberg the way everyone else does) But by the time an old grieving man with oxygen sits down to croak out a lived-in cover of Coldplay's "Fix You" I was a goner. The movie got to me. [sniffle]


okay I'm just going to tear up again

03 Kung Fu Panda
A total surprise. Who knew that Dreamworks Animation, so previously reliant on instantly stale pop-culture humor (think Shrek) and bad anthropomorphics (think Shark Tale) had this gorgeously animated comedy in them? Panda's got a sophisticated color palette plus action sequences that are more inventive than anything in The Incredible Hulk or Iron Man... and a pathetic-schlub-becomes-an-incredible-force-of-nature plot that isn't quite as mainstream pandering or morally repugnant as the office dweeb turned super assassin plot of Wanted. I don't want to overstate its quality but I thoroughly enjoyed.

Double Feature Must-See ~What are you waiting for?

02 Wall•E
Post-acolyptic fare with heart? Oh my. Pixar recovered easily from their one stumble (that'd be Cars) with Ratatouille and the follow up is just as rewarding. This tale of a lonely trash collector might even be right up there with The Incredibles (i.e. better than most live-action films) as its vivid with invention, smart but accessible humor and sweet humanity... even though it's about robots.

<-- 01 Reprise
Yes, clearly I'm on a mission to get you to this film about two young novelists in Oslo, Norway. But it's not just me who wants you to go. Consider Manohla Dargis's rave, smartly trumpeted in the trailer.

...one of the most passionately and intellectually uninhibited works from a young director I've seen in ages...

Reprise has a lightness of touch to match its seriousness of mind, and it may move you to laughter as well as tears.

What she said. Smart girl. We both insist that you go.

Later this week: 2008's best performances thus far
Previous Top Tens: new Academy members, 2008 box office, cinematic princes, TV shows, weirdos and more...

Teensy Update

Here's the first still from Chéri (2009... um, it's threatening to be released in 2008 now. ayiyiyiyi) --thanks Juanita & Boyd!


This marks Michelle Pfeiffer's return to period romantic drama for the first time in 15 years. Not that I'm counting. Not that I'm counting down. The costumes here are by Consolata Boyle who was Oscar nominated recently for dressing Helen Mirren as The Queen. I've written about the film [ahem]... a few times.

In other TFE news...
I've updated both the review index (which you can always access from this blog's sidebars) and added a 2008 by grades page now that we're 5 months into the year. The Oscar predictions and the Actress Psychic contest will both be updated in June... and I hope to have a major relaunch of everything in July (I'm talking to web designers at the moment about how to streamline and make prettier, more user friendly). There will also (finally) be a new episode of the podcast this weekend, which will celebrate the US release of the Norwegian film Reprise.



Reprise is super. Best of the year thus far. It's actually a couple of years old but you know how foreign films take their sweet time arriving. I hope you will all give it a chance rather than seeing Iron Man a 4th time or Prince Caspian twice. Live a little.

And OK... this isn't such a teensy update anymore since I keep adding to this post. Here is the trailer for Woody Allen's newest film, Vicky Christina Barcelona. Enjoy. Anticipate. Comment. Ignore. The choice is always yours.