Dracula Presents: The Second Annual Golden Stake Awards

Dracula 01-19-2009 10:09 PM

Dracula Presents: The Second Annual Golden Stake Awards



Last year I gather a year in review into the format of a personal award show which covered both traditional Oscar type awards and other fun categories. It was a rewarding experience and I'm doing it again this year.



Basically what I'm doing here is posting one category a day for four weeks. The First week will be scene based categories (best fight etc.), The second week will be technical awards (best editing etc.), The third week will be acting awards, and the last week will be genre awards and will culminate in Best picture which will be announced in a top ten form.



These awards will be entirely based on my opinions, but I don't plan to have this being an entirely self indulgent pursuit. I hope that each category will lead to discussion and that people will find themselves playing along and giving their opinions about these various categories.



So, without further ado I'll give out the first of the scene based awards:



Fight of the Year

There are three golden stakes that specifically honor action scenes, and this is the first. Later we’ll look at shootouts and chases, but this is the award for the simple fight scene. The award is for physical fights that are melee based, guns can be present but there must be a distinction between fight and shootout.



Joker at the Party- The Dark Knight: Creepy as the Joker was, he never seemed like one to pose a physical threat to Batman. But he acquits himself nicely in this brief but memorable scene. Nolan ratchets up the tension as the joker holds a knife to Rachel’s face, then Batman enters the scene taking out some goons before the Joker kicks him and sends Rachel flying out the window.



Hellboy vs. Prince Nuada- Hellboy II: The Golden Army: Coming off of Pan’s Labyrinth, Del Toro was very much known as “the creature design guy.” With Hellboy II he showed that off in droves, but he also reminded audiences of how fond he is of filming action scenes. This climactic fight scene has Hellboy fighting in a slower muscular style, while his rival fights with greater speed and agility.



Hulk vs. Blomsky at the University- The Incredible Hulk: I quickly stopped caring about The Hulk’s villain as soon as he turned into an entirely CGI creature, but while he still looked like Tim Roth he was pretty cool. In this fight a newly super powered Roth rushes toward The Hulk, he looks outmatched but he holds his own. This was a very cool moment in an otherwise mediocre comic book film.



Temudgin vs. Merkit Guards- Mongol: While most of his troops are fighting a very cool battle, the young Gengis Kahn is sneaking into a Merkit village to save his woman. Once he arrives he realizes there are still a few guards around he needs to “deal with.” What follows is a very quick but bloody and memorable fight scene culminating in a very satisfying spear throw.



Randy “The Ram” Robinson vs. Necro Butcher- The Wrestler: There’s nothing fun about this fight scene, in fact it actively disturbing and unpleasant, but it’s also a very well constructed scene that’s important to the film. This is a “hardcore” wrestling match, which means that the participants fight using barbed wire, broken glass, and a staple gun. The bloodshed here is a thousand times more affecting than most movies that involve fatal violence.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



JBond 01-19-2009 10:24 PM

No Iron Man, huh?



How about Kung Fu Panda - Bridge scene?



Dracula 01-19-2009 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBond (Post 2539951)

No Iron Man, huh?



How about Kung Fu Panda - Bridge scene?

The Iron Man fight scene didn't really work for me, whenever you have a fight between entirely CGI things I tend to lose interest. Never saw Kung Fu Panda, though I gather you already guessed that .



Doomsday 01-19-2009 10:32 PM

Agreed, which is why I'm one of the 3 people who wasn't too turned on by Transformers.



rosncranz 01-19-2009 10:33 PM

Thank god you didn't go with TDK.



Circus Boy 01-19-2009 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rosncranz (Post 2539957)

Thank god you didn't go with TDK.

yea its quite refreshing



IanTheCool 01-19-2009 11:38 PM

Awesome. I love the Golden Stake awards.



jbailey84 01-20-2009 01:27 AM

that fight in Hellboy II was pretty awesome.



Carnage Escobar 01-20-2009 02:33 AM

Ah, another Dracula strokefest, eh?



ZombieMan 01-20-2009 09:53 AM

Nice choice man!!!



DragnFire22 01-20-2009 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBond (Post 2539951)

No Iron Man, huh?



How about Kung Fu Panda - Bridge scene?

That bridge scene was awesome.



Dhamon22 01-20-2009 05:17 PM

Love these awards Drac. Glad you're doing them again.



I would've went with Temudgin vs. Merkit Guards personally, but not a bad choice.



iv3rdawG 01-20-2009 05:20 PM

Out of those (haven't seen Mongol) I'd have picked The Wrestler. Such a brutal fight.



Dracula 01-20-2009 06:43 PM

Musical Performance of the Year

I have two categories related to music. This category is for songs that are performed on screen by a character. The award is given for the scene as a whole, and not necessarily the performance itself.



“Dracula’s Lament” Forgetting Sarah Marshall: Jason Segal’s character is an aspiring musician who’s recently completed a rock opera based on Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. The musical is dramatized in the film’s finale, but this nomination is for a scene early in the movie where the Mila Kunis character pressures Segal to perform the song in a bar without really knowing what she’s in for.

"Can't Smile Without You" Hellboy II: The Golden Army: While this is an action movie at its heart, it sometimes plays out like a straight up comedy. When some of the film’s monster love triangles are at their most hopeless Hellboy and Abe Sapien find themselves depressed, getting drunk, and listening to Barry Manilow. As they listen to this cheesy-ass song, Abe points out that he can’t really smile and he doesn’t have tear ducts, but he can relate to the song. The two monsters then begin singing along to the song. It’s hilarious and surreal.

The Concert, Honeydripper: John Sayles’ film about a small bar in 1950s Alabama wasn’t overly noteworthy, but there was a lot of energy in its climactic concert. Gary Clark, Jr. plays some upbeat proto-Rock and Roll, which the audience reacts to enthusiastically. This is the first time any of them have heard an electric guitar, and it’s a moment to remember. I really wish Sayles had put more music into the film rather than focusing on the otherwise mundane story.

“Champagne & Reefer” Shine a Light: Nominating a concert film like this seems a little unfair, but I just couldn’t let Martin Scorsese’s concert film go unrepresented. The Rolling Stones are still putting on great shows, and the best performance was this bluesy number with guest performer Buddy Guy. Mick does good, but when Buddy guy really lets out in full blues thunder it’s a truly special moment.

“Dread Natty Congo” Rachel Getting Married: Jonathan Demme’s drama has a lot of music from live bands that are playing at the wedding, what Demme accomplishes musically in the film is very impressive. The most memorable of the film’s music is this performance from the dancehall reggae star’s ditty that plays out while the party-goers are dancing. The scene is important in establishing the main character’s isolation, and it’s also a really catchy song.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



Dracula 01-20-2009 07:02 PM

Examples:



Forgetting Sarah Marshall

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:





Hellboy 2

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:





Shine a Light

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:





Rachel getting Married (Same song, but not clip from movie)

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:



JBond 01-20-2009 08:46 PM

Hah, good choice.



Dhamon22 01-20-2009 09:09 PM

I agree with your choice. Classic scene.



shained 01-20-2009 10:25 PM

Haha I liked that scene as well was really funny and i'd agree with the Hellboy for the fight that was class.



Dracula 01-21-2009 06:00 PM

Shootout of the Year

While the “Fight of the Year” category is the domain of melee combat, this is the place for gunfights. While there are some non-firearm related moments in some of these shootouts, the primary weapons have to be guns. Pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, etc. this is where the shooters rumble.



First Encounter- Cloverfield: The first act of Cloverfield climaxed with this close encounter, in which the film’s survival party first sees the monster just as the army appears on the scene and begins firing at it. It’s a quick scene, but it’s made all the more intense because the viewer feels like he’s caught in the middle of the crossfire. As a shootout it was sort of one sided, but it was a great scene nonetheless.

Ten Kills, One Shot- Iron Man: We’ve all been annoyed at scenes where villains someone hostage as a human shield and the hero never just shoots the guy in the head. This scene turns that convention on its head when Iron Man uses his targeting system in order to kill ten hostage takers at once. It’s a funny gag not unlike the famous scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark in which Harrison Ford takes a sword wielding badass down with one shot.

Town Battle- Miracle at Saint Anna: Spike Lee’s World War Two epic was a massively flawed film, but it felt like a genuine war classic for at least ten minutes during its climactic battle sequence. It’s a scene that’s oddly gritty and brutal while acting as a finale to the film’s magical realist storyline. The scene is fast, realistic, and ultimately tragic. If only the rest of the film had worked as well as this finale

Grow House Shootout- Pineapple Express: I have a pretty good hunch what David Gordon Green was smoking when he dreamt this scene up, and I’m glad he had a big stash. This is a scene that involves Seth Rogan and James Franco running through an enemy base, while stoned, waxing bad guys with AK-47s, and that’s before the ninjas show up. Not everyone saw the humor in this, but I sure did.

Final Insanity- Rambo: I found Sylvester Stallone’s return to the Rambo franchise to be a morally reprehensible misfire, but the final shootout deserves some recognition simply for what it could have been. This scene may have set a record for most blank rounds fired off in a single scene, there is monumental bloodshed on display in this scene. If only Stallone had managed to create a more fun tone for the movie this scene would have been a shoe-in for the award.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



jbailey84 01-21-2009 09:27 PM

i love that crossfire shootout at the Cloverfield monster. the sound is intense.



and the grow house shootout was hilarious! i loved how they would run out of ammo, and a fully loaded gun just happens to be leaning against the wall near them lol



Dhamon22 01-21-2009 10:17 PM

I would've went with Iron Man, but Pineapple Express is certainly worthy as well.



DVDAVE 01-21-2009 11:56 PM

Great choices Dracula.



DAN! 01-22-2009 01:20 AM

this is tottally better than the oscars



shained 01-22-2009 09:22 AM

Rambo would have won it for me and Cloverfield second. Wasn't too impressed with that shoot out in Pineapple



Dracula 01-22-2009 06:41 PM

Best Scene Accompaniment by Source Music

This is another music based category. This isn’t about onscreen performances, rather it’s about the fine art of using pre-existing music to accentuate on-screen action. Again, this isn’t so much about the song so much as its ability to accentuate the scene.



“Twist and Shout” The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: For the longest time this film seemed to take place in the 30s, but once this Beatles tune kicked in it dawned on the audience how broad the scope of this movie was going to be. The song accompanies a really effective time montage. With this, and some similarly brilliant soundtrack choices in Zodiac, it’s clear that David Fincher is embracing source music in a way he wasn’t before.

“My First Lover” The Strangers: This is an unusual example, less than two seconds of this song actually play in the movie, but those two seconds are looped over and over and over in order to build suspense in an early scene. I looked up the rest of the song, it’s not very creepy at all, I have no idea how they managed to find this thing. This is a very creepy effect and that scene is easily the highlight of the movie, which fails to live up to its early brilliance.

“With or Without You” Tell No One: This is another really brilliant usage. To make a long story short, a major clue in the movie is when the protagonist is told to remember a concert he attended with his now dead wife, and the venue and year will act as a username and password. The result is a brilliant scene where the man begins having warm memories of this U2 concert come into his head the song (whose lyrics have relevance to the story) comes onto the soundtrack.

“Sweet Child O’ Mine” The Wrestler: The Wrestler makes great use of hair metal as a symbol of the main character’s former WWF glory. Through most of the movie he enters the ring to Quiet Riot’s “Metal Health,” but in the final scene it changes to this Guns and Roses classic. The song conveys the different tone of this last fight, and it’s lyrics of “childhood memories” fit the story really well.

“Hey” Zach and Miri Make a Porno: Kevin Smith has been using 90s music in his movies since, well, the 90s. At a key scene in Zach and Miri he uses this Pixies classic as Zach and one of the porn stars walk away into a room, presumably to shag. The camera remains focused on Miri’s face, between the song’s vague melancholy and the expression on her face, it’s clear what this action means.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



unity768 01-22-2009 06:43 PM

“Sweet Child O’ Mine” The Wrestler. Thought it was a great selection.



Dhamon22 01-22-2009 08:55 PM

Great choice Drac. I would've selected the same.



Jack 01-22-2009 10:07 PM

Dude, I ****ing love the U2 cue in Tell No One. I never, ever thought U2 would give me goosebumps!



FranklinTard 01-22-2009 10:43 PM

weird thats the only time ive ever appreciated u2 as well.... thought the movie was pretty convoluted though, and i really didn't like the lead actor.



JBond 01-22-2009 11:46 PM

'Hurdy Gurdy Man' in Zodiac was awesome...both times.



IanTheCool 01-23-2009 11:31 AM

I would have voted for Iron Man in the Iron Man Trailer



Dracula 01-23-2009 03:03 PM

Chase of the Year

This is the last of the specific action scene awards, and this one is generally all about the speed. The award is open to any type of chase, be it foot chase, car chase, or even aerial dogfight.



Helicopters and Jeeps- Body of Lies: Easily the highlight of Ridley Scott’s mediocre spy film, this chase involves Jeeps chasing each other through the Iraqi Desert. The scene puts itself on another level when American Helicopters show up and shoot one of the jeeps into the air with a well placed missile shot. If there's anything Ridley Scott can always be counted on to pull off, it's good explosions.

Escorting Dent- The Dark Knight: This scene earning a nomination will come as a surprise to no one except maybe the two or three people who missed the film. This long, well planned out scene begins with the joker attacking an armored car, turns into a chase between The Joker and the Bat mobile, turns into a motorcycle chase, a helicopter is taken down somewhere in the middle of all this chaos, and the scene finally ends with a semi-truck being flipped over vertically. Oh, and it was all done with minimal CGI.

Cop Car Chase- Pineapple Express: This sequence is a great gag, but David Gordon Green shoots it so well that it works as a great car chase in and of itself. It will probably best be remembered as the chase in which James Franco gets his foot stuck in a windshield. I might just go so far as to say it’s the best comedic chase scene since The Blues Brothers. Also, it’s the only chase scene nominated here to exclusively involve cars.

The Ruins- Final Escape: If you saw the early April horror film, The Ruins, then you know it isn’t that great. Still, the movie really picks up in its final ten minutes when Jonathan Tucker’s character distracts the Mayan guards allowing Jena Malone to run away. The scene is initially a foot chase, but finally Malone gets to her car and drives away full speed. On one hand you know she probably shouldn’t escape, but the scene is done well enough that you still root for her. Also the last shot of the scene is very cool.

Foot Chase Through Paris- Tell No One: Chases are usually the domain of Hollywood, but this French thriller showed us that action scenes are not strictly for blockbusters. The scene benefits greatly because the film’s hero is a wrongly accused everyman. The camera work is great and the scene involves a great stunt where the desperate man runs right across a busy freeway in order to elude the cops.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



 



JBond 01-23-2009 05:11 PM

Good choice. The car chase is a dying art. I watched "Vantage Point" yesterday and it had the dullest, longest car chase yet.



Dhamon22 01-23-2009 09:07 PM

Great choice.



IanTheCool 01-23-2009 10:00 PM

I generally cannot stand car chases in movies. They are the "go to the bathroom" moments for me. But Batman's was quite good, since it was a lot more than jsut a chase, really.



IanTheCool 01-24-2009 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dracula (Post 2539943)

Randy “The Ram” Robinson vs. Necro Butcher- The Wrestler: There’s nothing fun about this fight scene, in fact it actively disturbing and unpleasant, but it’s also a very well constructed scene that’s important to the film. This is a “hardcore” wrestling match, which means that the participants fight using barbed wire, broken glass, and a staple gun. The bloodshed here is a thousand times more affecting than most movies that involve fatal violence.

I'm glad you mentioned this scene. Because yeah, that was brutal.



Dracula 01-24-2009 04:57 PM

Set-Piece of the Year

This category is sort of a miscellaneous catch-all for any large scale sequence that doesn’t really fall into one of the other categories. It doesn’t have to be an action scene, but this is meant to award production expertise rather than say, an effective and well acted dialogue scene.



The Battle of Santa Clara- Che: If you go into Steven Soderbergh’s ambitious biopic/war film expecting nonstop action you’ll be disappointed with 90% of the film, but you wouldn’t be disappointed with this epic twenty minute urban battle scene. The scene begins with one of the best train derailments this side of Lawrence of Arabia and precedes to blow you away with an extended fight to the death.

Ship Battle- The Curious Case of Benjamin: This scene, set during Button’s time as a merchant marine during World War 2. The scene is a skirmish between Button’s lightly armored tug boat and a German submarine. I love the way Fincher depicts the orange machinegun fire between the two ships. After the volleys of fire the tugboat finally rams the sub, ending the frantic battle.

Opening Robbery- The Dark Knight: In The Dark Knight’s first seven minutes it delivers a full scale bank heist worthy of an Ocean’s movie. The scene could have been an awesome short film on its own, but here it introduces a great villain. The elaborate heist would prove to only be the tip of this twisted man’s devious plotting and scheming.

Plant Monster- Hellboy II: The Golden Army: If I had an award for “special effects creature of the year,” this scene would win easily. Guillermo del Toro does everything he can to bring this thing to life, and the brief fight Hellboy has with him plays well into the character’s arc. Also The thing really dies beautifully, and I like Ron Pearlman’s acting at the end of the scene.

The Pool- Let the Right One In: This is certainly one of the most cleverly framed scenes of the year if nothing else. The little boy in the film is about to be drowned by some of the most persistent bullies I’ve ever seen when suddenly he’s given a little vampiric aid. The scene plays out entirely from the child’s perspective underwater, leaving the viewer to imagine what’s going on outside of the pool as body parts start falling below the water’s surface.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



MasterChief117 01-24-2009 07:23 PM

Hmm, surprised that TDK didn't win the bank scene. I have heard some mixed opinions on Che, I might have to see it.



unity768 01-24-2009 08:02 PM

the pool scene was incredible



Drizzt240 01-25-2009 12:06 AM

Let me chime in.



I thought the action scenes of Pineapple Express were easily the weakest moments of the film and many have agreed with me.



Good choice with Dark Knight.


Dracula 01-25-2009 12:10 AM

We're going to have to agree to disagree about the Pineapple Express action scenes.



Technical catagories start tomarrow.



unity768 01-25-2009 12:11 AM

At first i didn't like those action sequences in Pineapple Express. Watched it again and I guess they kinda grew on me. A silly film, but effective and very funny.



Dracula 01-25-2009 02:33 PM

Best Makeup

Makeup is essentially a branch of the visual effects department, but it’s an important one. Makeup is of course used in order to prevent light from reflecting off actor’s faces, but sometimes a movie really needs something special.



The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Makeup effects are intrinsically required for a film about a dude who ages backwards, and the department doesn’t let the premise down. The film shows Benjamin Button as a young geezer an old teenager, and so on. Don’t forget that Kate Blanchet and Taraji P. Henson also need to age for the film.

The Dark Knight: First and most obviously, there’s the makeup effects used to create the Joker. There’s the well calculated amount of white on his face, and of course there’s the scars which have become pretty famous. But don’t forget that there’s another villain here, two face, and the effects work to create his mangled face are even more impressive.

Synecdoche, New York: This year’s other movie that explores aging through elaborate means. The aging makeup used in Synecdoche is not as showy as in David Fincher’s film, but it works just as well in its own low-fi way. If nothing else this feels more like traditional makeup than the CGI assisted work in the above mentioned films.

Tropic Thunder: This is a comedy that tackles a form of makeup that may have been best left alone: blackface. No this isn’t a minstrel show, and I’m not going to go through the trouble of explaining why Robert Downey Jr. is Black in this, but it is impressive that they found a way to make this work without causing offence. If nothing else, Kirk Lazarus looks a hell of a lot better than C. Thomas Howell in Soul Man. Don’t forget that this also features Tom Cruise as a fat guy, and some impressive gore effects.

The Wrestler: Darren Aronofsky’s film required some convincingly painful looking gore effects and just savage looking injuries. If these had looked fake it would have really hurt the film but they look disturbingly horrible. They also have the challenge of adding a lot of sweat and of giving Mickey Rourke a wig.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



Dracula 01-26-2009 06:22 PM

Sound Design

Now this is a tricky award for me. Sound design is something you really need to watch for in order to make this sort of judgment, and it’s not particularly easy to describe why stuff sounds good, but I’ll do my best.



Cloverfield: The sound design in Cloverfield was sort of a cheat on their concept, this obviously wasn’t recorded on a camcorder microphone, but something obviously had to give. For the film they had to record all sorts of destructive sounds and explosions, as well as the sound of a giant monster roaring.

The Dark Knight: Typical action movie stuff: explosions, car chases, pencil disappearances, punch sounds… But it’s all done with a lot of clarity and mixed together really well. The film never gratuitously uses the multiple sound channels and it grounds everything in naturalism.

The Incredible Hulk: The hulk smashes a lot of stuff in this, and I do mean a LOT of stuff. It takes a lot of CGI to depict that much smashing, but the audience also needs to be able to hear this smashing. That’s where the audio department comes in, to make all the smashing sounds and match them up with the smashing visuals.

Mongol: This is a movie that managed to be a loud action film in more of a medieval way. There’s a lot of horse trotting, lots of swords hitting shields, and lots of bodies being sliced. It’s all in a day’s work for a Mongol invader.

Che: If you ever wanted to know what being in a guerrilla war sounded like, check this movie out. Every gunshot is crisp and lifelike, every explosion sounds like it’s only a trench away. Also, this is a mix that isn’t afraid to use silence to great effect.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



 



IanTheCool 01-27-2009 10:50 AM

Hmm, for sound I would have actually given it to a film you didn't even nominate: WallE. That movie had a really unique set of sounds which fit the world brilliantly.



DAN! 01-27-2009 12:25 PM

how dare you mention an animation film in dracula's thread



JBond 01-27-2009 04:39 PM

Out of curiousity, Dracula, what do you think of stop motion films like Nightmare Before Christmas or the upcoming Coraline.



Dracula 01-27-2009 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBond (Post 2542981)

Out of curiousity, Dracula, what do you think of stop motion films like Nightmare Before Christmas or the upcoming Coraline.

I was probably seven years old when Nightmare Before Christmas came out, and I haven’t seen it since. I enjoyed it at the time, but I don't think I'd have a lot of interest in it anymore. I do remember that film having a subversive edge which might make it work better for me than other youth leaning films. I suppose I'd rather watch it again than sit through The Lion King again, which I saw around the same time and have less fond memories of.



I have no problem with stop motion in and of itself, again it's intended audience and general aesthetic rather than medium that generally kills my interest in these things. I definitely plan to see Waltz With Bashier when it opens in my area Friday for example.



Dracula 01-27-2009 05:45 PM

Best Art Direction

A film’s production designer works with the director and the art department in order to create the look of a film’s sets and physical effects. Essentially, they design everything and see to it that they are built in order to populate a film’s world.



Changeling: Clint Eastwood’s kidnapping saga not only takes place in, but also lives in 1920s Las Angeles. The film is populated by cable cars, switchboards, and period cars. It’s also really good at portraying areas outside the city, as well as detailed interiors.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: In this film, David Fincher has the challenge of creating a period New Orleans, while maintaining a fantastical tone in which the film’s curious story feels more at home. After he accomplishes this, he needs to seamlessly go forward in time while remaining in the world of the film

The Fall: In Tarsem’s under seen film, a strange and fantastical world is created. This world is a mix of time periods and regional styles and is unlike most movies you’re likely to see in theaters any given day. Additionally, the film’s framing story features a very interesting 1920s rest home and other period niceties.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army: Art direction is not all about sets, it’s a title given to the head of the art department, which in the case of something like Hellboy 2 includes the people who design creatures. The troll market sequence alone is an excellent example, it’s populated by all sorts of interesting and unusual monsters, very creative stuff.

Synecdoche, New York: They say that all the world’s a stage, but I never thought anyone would take that as literally as Charlie Kaufman does here. The film’s protagonist builds a city within a city within a city (don’t ask), and it’s done with some grandiose craftsmanship. It’s like a great big synthetic world, almost like a mini-golf course gone mad.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



halo7 01-27-2009 06:59 PM

I would have given it to The Fall personally.



Dracula 01-27-2009 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by halo7 (Post 2543080)

I would have given it to The Fall personally.

It's a close second, but one must consider that the people making that movie were pretty much given free reign to do whatever they want, the whole thing was a two hour excuse to show off. To me it's a lot harder to do great work in serivce of a story.



Dracula 01-28-2009 06:08 PM

Best Original Score

There are many people who closely watch film scores, buy CDs of orchestral film music, and know composers like the back of their had… but I’m not one of them. I’m more of a soundtrack guy then a score guy, so take this one with a grain of salt.



The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Whimsy can be a dangerous thing, but Alexandre Desplat is able to carefully use it without getting sappy or overbearing. This score should be congradulated both for what it is and what it isn’t. Desplat easily could have tried to be a John Williams wannabe and taken the whole thing too far, but he didn’t.

The Dark Knight: Batman’s a very different animal from Superman, and if they tried to give him a heroic theme it would have fallen flat. Instead Hans Zimmer gives the score a very dark, somewhat sexy sound rooted in the excellent Joker theme which is so perfectly layered that it almost sound electronic.

In Bruges: This film is a dark comedy, and Carter Burwell wisely focuses his score on the dark side of that duality. He subtly gives the score a medieval sound to match the city in which the film takes place, he also adds a great intensity to an action scene late in the film.

Mongol: A mix of epic Hollywood bombast and traditional world music. Composer Tuomas Kantelin uses Mongolian throat singers to give this Genghis Kahn biopic a very distinct sound throughout. This kind of originality goes a long way.

Slumdog Millionaire: In order to tell the story of this Mumbai street kid Danny Boyle hired the help of Bollywood legend A. R. Rahman who, along with some help by M.I.A., crafted a score that mixes Bollywood music with pulsating techno in a way that’s accessible to Western audiences.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



JBond 01-28-2009 06:19 PM

You are going to fill out my Oscar pool, yes?



Dracula 01-28-2009 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBond (Post 2543644)

You are going to fill out my Oscar pool, yes?

eventually



Dracula 01-30-2009 05:30 PM

Best Soundtrack

While original score is a category for composers and orchestras, this is a category for soundtracks that are compiled out of songs. Usually the songs exist before the movie came out, but there are exceptions. It’s also important to note that I’m judging these soundtracks based upon how they affect the film, not how they might sound if listened to as an album.



Pineapple Express: The soundtrack to David Gordon Green is almost like a 90s stoner mixtape. It has a mix of 80s New Wave (including a new song by Huey Lewis and the News), as well as a Cyprus Hill track and even some Peter Tosh. They’re even wise enough to avoid throwing in an obligatory Grateful Dead song.

Rachel Getting Married: Easily the most avante-garde entry on the list. Most of the music on this soundtrack is actually played live in the movie by various unknown musicians playing themselves. The music may not be perfect in and of itself, but it helps the world of the film greatly and it is a lot more creative than the average music compilation.

W.: Oliver Stone’s George Bush film has a soundtrack filled with Country music from the 70s. I for one hate this cracker-ass music, but that’s neither here nor there, what’s important is that it goes a long way toward establishing the Texas setting in which George W. Bush lived.

The Wackness: Jonathan Levine’s requiem to the 90s is one of those rare films to probably be more famous for its soundtrack than as a movie unto itself. Levine fills the film to the brim with 90s East Coast Rappers like Nas, Biz Markie, the Wu Tang Clan, Will Smith, and or course The Notorious B.I.G. (soon to be the subject of his own biopic).

The Wrestler: Most of The Wrestler’s soundtrack consists of 80’s Hair Metal, not an overly dignified genre, but it’s important to the film. It’s very important to the film as it represents the main character’s WWF glory days, and it’s a music that is thematically similar to wrestling itself.

Quiet Riot’s “Metal Health (Bang Your Head)” is used as The Ram’s entrance music, but it also makes use of Ratt’s Round and Round as well as Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child of Mine.”



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



IanTheCool 01-30-2009 10:56 PM

As far as fitting the theme of the movie, yeah, its a good choice.



Dracula 01-31-2009 06:53 PM

Best Editing

Of all the categories that are routinely examined by award shows, editing is the one I’m least comfortable commenting on. It’s hard to tell exactly what an editor does without seeing the elements he’s working with, and simply going with the movie that has the most cuts isn’t always correct. Many think editing should be an invisible art, and it’s not easy to judge invisibility. Still, editing is such an important part of cinema that it would be absurd not to acknowledge it, so I’ll do the best I can.



Cloverfield: The cutting in Cloverfield is special because it is trying to maintain the illusion that the film isn’t edited at all. The film is meant to look like all the edits occur when the cental camcorder is turned off. One can watch an early party scene where the filmmakers wisely but subtly establish this rule that carries on throughout the film.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Fincher’s film is really well cut throughout, but it really shines during three key sequences: the sea battle, Daisy’s car accident scene, and the “Twist and Shout” montage.

The Dark Knight: Christopher Nolan uses swift, economical cutting in order to drive his film through its relatively long running time. With this effective editing, among other things, he was able to disprove the common misconception that longer films cannot become big hits with the public.

Pineapple Express: Most producers see no need to use top of the line talent for comedies, Pineapple Express is a film that sought to buck this trend. The David Gordon Green production was shot and edited just as well as a summer action film even though it was a Seth Rogen comedy.

The Wrestler: Darren Aronofsky employs some great cutting during the fight scenes, but the editing is just as good during the rest of the film. The work is particularly good during the scenes set in the main character’s deli day job, especially a moment involving a meat slicer.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



Jack 01-31-2009 10:35 PM

I like that 3 of your 5 noms are bloated movies (Pineapple Express, The Dark Knight and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) with lots of fat that needed to be cut away...



As for The Dark Knight, I couldn't disagree more. The cutting back and forth between the main action sequence and those two cop drivers ("Oh! That's not good!") drove me nuts. The comic asides in other higher intensity scenes were so annoying. And the last 30 minutes were incredibly clunky. I wouldn't put all the blame on the editor, but a good one would have been able to make the material move a little faster.



I'd argue the editing in Milk (especially with it's seamless implementation of found footage), Let The Right One In, WALL-E, or Man on Wire were much stronger.



Dracula 02-01-2009 07:51 PM

Best Cinematography

Unlike editing, cinematography is something that most average people tend to have a good grasp on. In fact, cinematography is an extension of the even older art of photography. Still, there must be more to great editing than some kind of glossy image, the look must fit the film as a whole and innovation should be rewarded.



Che: If Steven Soderbergh weren’t one of our best directors, he’d still be one of our greatest cinematographers. In the first act of his Che Guevara biopic/war film Soderbergh films acts of small scale violence against the backdrop of beautiful scenery and then juxtaposes this with grainy black and white footage of Guevara’s 1964 diplomatic trip. In the second half the photography becomes much darker in order to better reflect that film’s tone.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: This film used lush cinematography that’s very much in keeping with David Fincher’s past work. They say one way to tell if a director is a auteur is to look at thirty seconds of a film without the sound on, if you can tell right away who directed it, he’s an auteur. It doesn’t work for everyone, but it certainly works for Fincher.

The Dark Knight: Director of Photography Wally Pfister took the slightly warmer work he did on Batman Begins and opted for a look that was slightly bluer and darker. This matched the tone of the film, which was more clearly about the city of Gotham then it was about Bruce Wayne. The long term collaboration between Pfister and Christopher Nolan has been fruitfull throughout both men’s careers.

Let the Right One In: Tone is a big part of what make this Swedish vampire movie work, and cinematography played a huge part in setting that tone. While most vampire films dwell in the shadows, this one take place over a white snowy landscape. The film has sort of a soft florescent look throughout and the sight of blood jumps out like a sore thumb.

Slumdog Millionaire: The photography in Slumdog Millionaire was clearly inspired by Fernando Meirelles’ City of God. Like that film, Danny Boyle is able to walk the line between slick and gritty. The camera is often handheld and the stock is relatively grainy. This look captures the vibrancy and dangers of the Mumbai streets wile still maintaining the film’s fairy tale tone.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



Drizzt240 02-01-2009 11:31 PM

Made me proud with The Wrestler.



Dracula 02-02-2009 09:35 PM

Villain of the Year

What constitutes evil? It’s a tough question and movies are often used to contemplate the answer. Bad guys are a major part of the language of cinema. There are many shades of grey, but bear in mind that this is an award for antiheros. No matter how unpleasant a character is, they aren’t eligible for this award unless they are an actual antagonist. So, for example, Daniel Plainview was not eligible last year.



Captain Jones in “Changeling”: How detestable do you have to be to be the least likable character in a movie which also has an insane child killing axe murderer in it? Pretty freakin’ detestable. This corrupt cop abuses his power and causes the main character a lot of pain simply to avoid causing the LAPD some embarrassment.

The Joker in “The Dark Knight”: Heath Ledger reinvented the iconic character of the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. He’s like an insane, scheming terrorist who will go to amazing lengths just because he wants to see the world burn. It was a treatment worthy of this classic character’s legacy.

Viarel in “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days”: This character is a back alley abortionist who is willing to perform on desperate women with no regard for anything except the chance to get paid. He’s like a drug-dealer with medical skills, and ridding the world of the like of Viarel is probably the most powerful argument you’re ever likely to hear for upholding Roe v. Wade.

Dan White in “Milk”: It’s amazing how much pain and torment was caused by assassins during the 60s and 70s. There was the Kennedy killings, the MLK shooting, and then there was the Harvey Milk shooting. I’d argue that Proposition 8 would not have passed last year were it not for Dan White. Most shockingly of all, Gus Van Sant shows a surprising amount of sympathy for White, who does appear to have been quite mad.

Glenn in “Snow Angels”: This disgruntled ex-husband of Kate Beckinsale’s character in David Gordon Green’s little seen drama seems harmless at first, but it quickly becomes apparent just how terrible a person alcoholism has made him. I don’t want to give away what makes this man so evil, but trust me, he belongs on the list.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



IanTheCool 02-02-2009 10:17 PM

Going against the grain. lol



Drizzt240 02-02-2009 11:54 PM

Well, Joker was the shoo-in.



Dracula 02-06-2009 05:17 PM

Cameo of the Year

For many, a cameo is a walk on role that occurs when a celebrity happens to be visiting a set. My definition of cameo is a lot broader. This is an award for actors (they don’t have to be famous) who manage to do a lot with very little screen time. Some of the nominees are actually rather big parts in their movies, but they serve their roles with only one or two scenes. Bear in mind that this is an award for the merit of a performance, not for the simple presence of an actor. That’s why you won’t see Samuel L. Jackson or Robert Downey Jr. show up here.



J.K. Simmons in “Burn After Reading”: Simmons, a TV actor who’s only recently getting the attention he deserves, only has a couple scenes in Burn After Reading; but he also has many of the film’s biggest laughs. His perfectly deadpan line deliveries perfectly encapsulate the general senselessness of all the hijinx the characters have gotten themselves into.

Viola Davis in “Doubt”: Viola Davis is in one, count em’ one scene, in the entirety of Doubt. That’s fewer scenes than most of the nominees here, an yet she’s getting a lot of awards for what she does in that one scene. As the mother of an allegedly abused little boy, Davis must tear her heart out onscreen while going toe to toe with a two time Oscar-winning legend.

Seth McFarlane in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”: This probably the most iffy of the nominations here. McFarlane is actually involved with a medium sized role in the film, but he creates that character using only his voice. Using one of the best camp German accents I’ve ever heard, his robotic character kept the film’s hero focused at all times. If the character had been featured in a few more scenes I’d probably have to disqualify him, but as it stands he’s a legitimate nominee.

Tom Cruise in “Tropic Thunder”: Of all the nominees, this role was probably the subject of the most water-cooler conversations. His cameo as an overweight, foul mouthed, and self absorbed movie producer was a Piven-esque achievement. Anytime a world famous superstar says something like “A nutless monkey could do your job” he has my support. Also he has a divinely stupid dance scene that had me cracking up.

Justin Long in “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”: Playing the gay porn star that inspires Zack into the film’s central scheme, Justin Long (an actor who usually annoys the hell out of me) goes all out in order to create a very funny scene. He plays his character out with a really funny gravelly voice and generally over the top behavior. He’s so good I might be giving a bigger benefit of the doubt to someone I used to know as “that apple commercial guy.”



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



 



jbailey84 02-06-2009 11:41 PM

to me a cameo is just a short presence on screen. like Jason Lee in Clerks II or Bill Murray in Get Smart. but we have our own opinions



I still need to see Doubt. and i dont think San Antonio ever got Che.



Dracula 02-08-2009 01:21 PM

Best Supporting Actress

It’s well known that actresses have a hard time getting quality roles in Hollywood. It’s so challenging that Best Lead Actress award categories tend to get filled up with glorified supporting roles. This leaves even few choices for Best Supporting Actress categories, and as a result this tends to be the weakest of all the acting categories. Still, five or so actresses are almost always able to step up and prove that they’re worthy of a nomination.



Taraji P Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”: Ms. Henson has been putting in solid performances going back to the late 90s, but it was her role in David Fincher’s epic which really brought her to attention. Henson has the benefit of playing an amazingly lovable character, she’s aggressively pleasant in the movie. The 38 year old actress also probably ages the most believably of all the actors in the movie. You can really see why Button would be proud to call her “mother.”

Laura Vasiliu in “4 Months, Three Weeks, 2 Days”: Vasiliu plays Gabriela Dragut, a university student seeking an illegal abortion in Romania circa 1987, under the Ceauşescu regime. Vasiliu is a confused, desperate character who is forced to go through a lot of anguish over the course of the film’s running time. This is a movie that relies heavily on naturalistic acting, and Vasiliu doesn’t let it down.

Rosemarie DeWitt in “Rachel Getting Married”: Pop quiz hotshot: who plays Rachel in Rachel Getting Married? If you said Anne Hathaway you’re wrong. And yes, I just dropped a Speed reference in a discussion about Rachel Getting Married. Anyway, Hathaway is getting most of the credit for this film, but Rosemarie DeWitt’s role is just as challenging. While Hathaway has a character who’s really out there, DeWitt needs to impress while playing someone who more or less has their **** together.

Penelope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”: Before Penelope Cruz shows up in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, her character is discussed frequently. Her character is built up to be a very strange and fiery person, that’s a lot to live up to, but once Cruz shows up she only exceeds audience expectations. This role could have easily descended into stereotype, but she sidesteps all those pitfalls. She really steals the show, and to many audiences she’s better remembered that Vicky or Christina.

Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler”: Most reviews have reductively made The Wrestler into The Mickey Rourke Show, but there’s more to this movie than its title character. Her character could have easily come across as an artificial male fantasy if she hadn’t injected the role with so much humanity and realism. No one watching the first season of “A Different World” would have thought that Tomei would have had such a consistent career.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



IanTheCool 02-10-2009 06:05 PM

I found Tomei quite good. but tahts the only one of those movies i've seen, so i guess , wahtever



DAN! 02-10-2009 06:20 PM

these movies need to make it to dvd so i can see them.



Dracula 02-10-2009 06:50 PM

Best Supporting Actor

This category is almost always either a blowout or a bitter fight to the death. There tend to be a lot of stand-out supporting roles for actors so there tend to be a lot of choices. The category is usually the domain of sidekicks and villains. Occasionally studios will lobby to put lead actors in supporting categories, but I don’t fall for that.



Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”: A lot has been said about the late Heath Ledger’s final completed performance. I was skeptical when he was first cast, I didn’t think anyone could improve upon Jack Nicholson’s take on the part, but I was wrong. Ledger disappears into the role; he’s like a human snake.

Vlad Ivanov in “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days”: For the longest time 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days builds tension through slow and quiet shots. But when Vlad Ivanov comes onto the scene a real sense of menace enters the picture. From here it becomes clear that the characters are playing a much more dangerous game than it initially seemed. If Ivanov had seemed like less of a brute than he does the film would have probably collapsed in on itself.

Brad Pitt in “Burn After Reading”: James Franco and Robert Downey Jr. both gave standout comedic supporting performances this year, but the king of them all was Brad Pitt’s role as a dim-witted personal trainer in Burn After Reading. Playing against his glamorous image, Pitt plays an over-perky moron who entertains from his little dance in the gym, to his phone call to Osbourne, to his last smile. He’s even more memorable than John Malkovich in his brilliant turn.

Sam Rockwell in “Snow Angels”: Sam Rockwell has been an amazing actor for years, solid in almost everything, and yet for whatever reason he never seems to break into the mainstream. Maybe it’s because he’s attracted to non-commercial indies like this little gem, David Gordon Green’s other great film from 2008. Rockwell’s character is a monster, but he’s a human monster. It would have been easy to make him into a stereotype, but Rockwell has the courage to play him like someone from the real world.

Richard Dreyfuss in “W.”: Oliver Stone’s Bush biopic wasn’t nearly as provocative as it should have been, but it certainly had a lot of very interesting performances. Among said performances was Richard Dreyfuss’ take on the strange, strange, man who was our former vice president. Dreyfuss nails all the mannerisms, and one can kind of see the gears going on behind the s.o.b’s head.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



DAN! 02-10-2009 06:52 PM

shocker!



IanTheCool 02-10-2009 07:28 PM

I agree. Just because his performance is hyped up so much, is not a reason to not recognize him for it.



ViRUs 02-10-2009 07:30 PM

yeah, but he is kind of right too, this one is kind of a blow out this year. Even in the Oscars, I dont see anyone else that can catch him at all.



DAN! 02-10-2009 07:37 PM

i admit, it was a great performance. but it isnt a surprise he won. it seems to be everyones pick. It would be mine too, but i haven't seen a lot of the "oscar contenders" this year



DragnFire22 02-11-2009 01:01 AM

I would have given it to Pitt.



"You thought it was a Scwinn..."



FranklinTard 02-11-2009 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAN! (Post 2550633)

these movies need to make it to dvd so i can see them.

all are available.



PG Cooper 02-11-2009 07:43 PM

This may sound like a stupid idea, but would you do the Golden Stake awards next year 1: for that year and 2: for the decade? I know you do an annual top ten of the year, and someone brought up a top ten of the decade, I think Golden Stake awards of the decade would be just as interesting if not better.



JBond 02-11-2009 07:55 PM

No offense, but that's odd coming from someone who registered this month.



Dracula 02-12-2009 12:56 AM

Best Actress

Some wonder if this category should even exist. Why separate actors and actresses simply because of gender? Well, mainly because there’s a good chance that men would dominate the category otherwise. It’s been said time and again that women have trouble getting the juicy roles that earn awards, hopefully that will change soon.



Angelina Jolie in “Changeling”: Angelina Jolie is one of the few women who can pull off being popular among sixty year old Academy voters and fifteen year old action movie fans. She’s a huge celebrity and also a highly respected actress, and in Clint Eastwood’s kidnapping epic she has a role that seems tailor-made to gather awards. This is a role that requires a lot of really big emotions on screen, she cries a lot and spends a lot of time angry. Impressing audiences with this role is probably like shooting fish in a barrel for Jolie, but this award isn’t all about degree of difficulty, she did a good job and deserves a lot of credit.

Meryl Streep in “Doubt”: Meryl Streep is not an unknown commodity; very few actresses have been this good for this long and garnered this much respect. She used to be known for using a different accent in every role and that’s true here too, she talks in a very subtle New York accent, a small acting choice that speaks volumes about her character, that’s dedication. Streep is given most of the movie’s best lines and she nails every one of them. This is the best work she’s done since the 80s, and that’s saying a lot.

Lina Leandersson in “Let the Right One In”: 99% of the time children should not be used in movies. Child actors are horrible and have ruined many an otherwise good movie. In making a movie that stars a pair of twelve year olds, filmmaker Tomas Alfredson was taking a huge risk. But somehow he was able to find this actress talented beyond her years. For the film Leandersson is playing someone who’s “been twelve for a very long time.” Needless to say, that presents a unique challenge.

Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married”: Like most of the actors in the film, Hathaway needs to have two sides to her performance, a genuine side and the façade she wears in order to fit in. This is a tough balance and Hathaway succeeds amazingly on both levels. As a guilt-ridden former drug addict she’s heartbreaking and as someone pretending to be normal she has a very natural awkwardness.

Rebecca Hall in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”: While she doesn’t have her co-stars’ star power, Rebecca Hall is the one doing the real work in that movie. Cruz, Johansson, and Bardem could always lean on their character’s eccentricity, but Rebecca Hall has to play the “straightman” to all this madness. She’s given some of the most thankless Woody Allen dialogue and pulls it all off. She’s the one who grounds the movie and I suspect that she’s going to be a much bigger star in the near future.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



PG Cooper 02-12-2009 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBond (Post 2551275)

No offense, but that's odd coming from someone who registered this month.

None taken, I realize it's odd, I have know I idea why I didn't get an account sooner. How do you fell about the idea though?



Dracula 02-12-2009 07:38 AM

I know I'll be doing something for the end of the decade, whether it will be a Golden Stakes or something else remains to be seen.


IanTheCool 02-12-2009 11:40 AM

Yeah, I've heard Hathaway is excellent. Too bad the Academy is going to give the Oscar to Winslett.



DAN! 02-12-2009 11:46 AM

i think the academy is going to give it to Meryl Streep. but that is just me guessing. I haven't seen any of these movies yet



IanTheCool 02-12-2009 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAN! (Post 2551580)

i think the academy is going to give it to Meryl Streep. but that is just me guessing. I haven't seen any of these movies yet

It doesn't matter what the performances are like. This is Winslett's 6th nomination I think? They'll give it to her just for that reason. It's what the Academy does.



DAN! 02-12-2009 12:30 PM

yeah, that is true. damn hollywood politics!



unity768 02-12-2009 07:42 PM

Good pick- Hathaway was phenomenal



JBond 02-12-2009 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanTheCool (Post 2551616)

It doesn't matter what the performances are like. This is Winslett's 6th nomination I think? They'll give it to her just for that reason. It's what the Academy does.

Then again, how many times did it take Martin Scorsese? Or how about Randy Newman?



Dracula 02-12-2009 11:58 PM

Best Actor

Actors, Actors, Actors. Hitchcock said they should be treated like sheep, others say they should be treated like royalty. The presence certain actors can be enough to sell a project to the masses, and the lack of a famous face can be the financial deathblow to some projects. Acting is over-rated among average audiences, and under-rated by certain critics. But the truth is, an actor can really affect a project and when people act on the level of the five people here it can be quite a sight.



Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon”: Frost/Nixon is a film that a generally disliked, but the one element that more or less lived up to the hype was Frank Langella’s portrayal of our 37th president at the bottom of his dignity. Langella doesn’t concern himself too much with the imitation, he wears the makeup and talks in the voice, but unlike some award winning performances as of late, impersonation isn’t the focus. Instead Langella focuses on the emotionality of his scenes, with putting you into the man’s mind as he struggles to maintain dignity even though the world knows he’s a crook.

Sean Penn in “Milk”: Many are saying that Penn’s work in Milk is transformative, that he disappears into the role. This is only partly true, physically the real Penn doesn’t look all that different from the way he appears in the film and the voice isn’t that different either. What feels so unique about his performance is that unlike the other roles Penn has been taking lately, Harvey Milk isn’t a tortured and morose character. Instead he seems like a gentle and passionate soul, and that’s what Penn is able to capture here.

Chiwetel Ejiofor in “Redbelt”: Redbelt was a movie that was ignored by many, and probably for good reasons. However, Chiwetel Ejiofor work in the film transcended everything that was wrong with the film. Ejiofor brings an invaluable sense of dignity to his character without which he would not have worked on screen. In a lesser actor’s hands Terry’s speeches about honor would have come off like cheesy relics of bad kung Fu movies and would have undermined the whole film, but Ejiofor makes them work.

Benicio Del Toro in “Che”: Del Toro probably looks even less like the person he’s trying to imitate than either Sean Penn or Frank Langella, and yet in many ways he evokes his character better than both actors. This is odd when one considers that his character is the subject of one of the most famous photographs in world history. The key is that Del Toro is trying to capture the passion that one can see in Guevara’s eyes in that photo, and he does it in a remarkably understated way. He easily could have shouted his way through the performance, instead he speaks like someone who truly lived.

Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler”: Many have called Mickey Rourke’s performance an amazing comeback. Frankly, I haven’t seen a single one of the movies Rourke made during the height of his career, so when I saw the film all I saw was a dude giving an amazing performance. You can see years of pain and abuse in Rourke’s face, this character study would not have worked without him.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



JBond 02-13-2009 12:02 AM

Of those 5 movies I've only seen the Wrestler, but I agree nonetheless.



unity768 02-13-2009 12:32 PM

good choice



IanTheCool 02-13-2009 02:47 PM

Very good choice.



MovieBuff801 02-13-2009 08:46 PM

No surprise.



Dracula 02-13-2009 09:33 PM

Best Acting Ensemble

Most award shows give out awards for individual performances, but only a few have awards for entire ensembles. This is odd because cast interactions can be just as important as any one person hamming it up. This is an award for a filmmakers ability to put together a well rounded cast that works together cohesively.



Burn After Reading: Burn After Reading is a film that manages to combine major celebrities with less appreciated character actors. I’ve already discussed the hilarity of Brad Pitt’s moronic character, but he’s at his best when he’s interacting with longtime Coen girl Frances McDormand. The other great supporting performance comes from John Malkovich who’s craziness sparks off the entire mess, and Tilda Swinton is pretty neat as his *****y wife. On the more obscure side of things there’s Richard Jenkins as the head of the central fitness center and J.K. Simmons as a cynical CIA chief. Oh, and George Clooney is in this too.

The Dark Knight: While Batman Begins kept complete focus on Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne character, its sequel works almost as a portrait of Gotham City. Gary Oldman is also reprising his role and has a bigger part as Commissioner Gordon, also returning are Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. Maggie Gyllenhaal replaced the much maligned Katie Holmes, but the bigger newcomer is Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two Face. Of course there’s also Heath Ledger’s final performance, but I’ve said plenty about that already.

Doubt: Doubt takes more of a quality over quantity approach to its ensemble, in fact the play it’s based on had only four characters. Meryl Streep is doing her best work in years, and Viola Davis is a revelation, the scene between the two is probably the best fifteen minutes of acting all year. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is appropriately creepy as the accused priest, and Amy Adams is doing the naïve thing she’s been perfecting her whole career.

Rachel Getting Married: While the other movies here use a lot of celebrities, Rachel Getting Married puts together its ensemble using a lot of almost unknown character actors. The one name actress here is Anne Hathaway (who may as well have been unknown to me). Aside from here we have a great turn from Rosemarie DeWitt as the title character and from Bill Irwin as the family’s father. Demme even finds a large role for Tunde Adebimpe, lead singer of the indie rock band TV on the Radio. Hell, Fab 5 Freddy even has a small part.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Like Doubt, Vicky Cristina Barcelona takes a quantity over quality approach to its casting. Beginning with the title characters; you have Scarlett Johansson who’s better than she’s ever been, but more importantly you have Rebecca Hall doing some really hard “straightman” acting. Then you have Javier Bardem completely delivering on his characters insane confidence, and Penelope Cruz playing the best fiery Latina role I’ve ever seen. Never have ethnic stereotypes seemed so real.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



Dracula 02-14-2009 08:32 PM

Best Line

Among the main pursuits of film-buffs is the desire to litter one’s conversations with famous lines of dialogue, that’s why I like to honor some of the better quotes of each year. Last year, I sort of dropped the ball with this category and I’m not so sure I’ll make up for it this year. Shifting through all the year’s cinema for individual lines is not easy, there were a lot of candidates, and not everything could make the cut.



“Some men aren't looking for anything logical like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”–The Dark Knight: This line, spoken by Alfred as an end to a story about his wartime experience, perfectly encapsulates the Joker as an agent of chaos. At the same time it excellently comments on the paradox of Bruce Wayne’s attempts to enact vigilante justice while maintaining a strict code of ethics.

"Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't." –In Bruges: I wasn’t a huge fan of In Bruges, but one thing it was pretty good at was generating fun quotable exchanges like this. Part of the brilliance of this line is that I sort of agree with the sentiments, I’m not a fan of these quaint “rustic” places being built up and I’d probably rather spend a vacation in Dublin too.

"If you do bad stuff you're going to come back as something bad like a slug or an anal bead. But if you do something heroic then you'll come back as like an eagle or a dragon, or Jude Law." –Pineapple Express: Stoners can be funny idiots. They say stupid nonsense like this all the time and think they’re being profound. This is a perfect rule of three joke; eagle makes sense, Dragon builds it up, and Jude law is a crazy non-sequitor.

“I would like to invite you both to spend the weekend. We'll eat well, we'll drink wine, we'll make love.” –Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Javier Bardem’s character is an insanely over-confidant European and the way Bardem delivers this frank pickup line is simply hilarious. The reason it works is that Bardem really makes you believe that this guy would say something like that. The scene only gets better and it leads up to a really nifty punch line.

“I will do what needs to be done, you should understand that or you will mistake me”-Doubt: The basic plot of doubt sounds like something that could be a cure for insomnia, but the movie itself is actually pretty fun to watch, and a lot of that has to do with John Patrick Shanley’s wordplay and his ability to write forceful lines like this. It probably doesn’t sound like much on paper, but when Meryl Streep belts it out there’s a real power to it.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



IanTheCool 02-15-2009 10:44 AM

I like Bruges better than Dublin. But I did laugh at that line. I laughed a lot in that movie actually.



Dracula 02-15-2009 11:03 AM

Adapted Screenplay

Many screenwriters say it’s even harder to adapt a work than it is to come up with an idea from scratch. I’m not so sure about that, still there’s a lot of great stuff that comes from the adaptation process. Whether you’re adapting a novel, short story, play, comic book, or even a damn video game this is the category to duke it out in.



Christopher and Jonathan Nolan- The Dark Knight: Most of these writers only need to adapt a single work, but the Nolan brothers needed to adapt years worth of material through careful selection. Do not underestimate the influence of the comic books on this film; Jonathan Nolan is on record saying that a lot of the ideas for the film were taken directly from the source. That’s a testament to how much great story telling goes on in comic books, but it’s also a testament to how these writers can take all that material, turn it into a coherent whole and add some fine dialogue.

John Patrick Shanley- Doubt: In 2004 John Patrick Shanley wrote a modest one act play called Doubt. Later that year he picked up a Pulitzer Prize in Drama for his work. Four years later he went to work turning this play into a film. In order to do this he needed to open up the world of the play, adding characters and juxtapositions while exploiting new visual opportunities.

John Ajvide Lindqvist- Let the Right One In: There seems to be a trend this year of authors adapting their own work, one of the quirkier examples of this is that of John Ajvide Lindqvist, who adapted his Swedish vampire novel into a feature film. Interestingly the book was titled “Let Me In” in the English translation, that novel never gained the mainstream following of a certain other vampire series, but it had a cult following of its own. It’s the movie version however, that really brought this story to the world’s attention.

Simon Beaufoy- Slumdog Millionaire: Simon Beaufoy’s script is the source of a lot of the problems I have with Slumdog Millionaire, but it’s also the source of the one thing I really like about it: its structure. As far as framing stories go, this “source of the answer” gimmick is a doozey. There aren’t many movies that have done this before. More importantly Beaufoy managed to make a feel good movie that didn’t seem completely stupid and pandaring, and that’s certainly an accomplishment.

David Gordon Green and Stewart O'Nan- Snow Angels: Snow Angels was an independent film that was never quite able to break above the radar, but I think it’s pretty special. The film manages to tell a story from parallel viewpoints and it builds up to a tragic conclusion. Everything seems very real to life and nothing seems formulaic or contrived, the characters are like people you’d really meet. Most critics forgot about the movie come award time, but now I like it even better than when I first saw it.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



IanTheCool 02-15-2009 11:06 AM

I don't think I realized just how many movies are adapted from novels until I started working in a bookstore.



unity768 02-15-2009 11:07 AM

Doubt had some awesome exchanges. Loving the Snow Angels praise, it's def an underrated flick.



JBond 02-15-2009 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanTheCool (Post 2553243)

I don't think I realized just how many movies are adapted from novels until I started working in a bookstore.

Sad, isn't it?



DAN! 02-15-2009 11:23 AM

ideas gotta come from somewhere, and hollywood has no imagination



IanTheCool 02-15-2009 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBond (Post 2553249)

Sad, isn't it?

It is kind of, because then I run into an identity crisis. I don't know whether to identify the story with the novel or with the movie. Because in cases like the Godfather or Gone with the Wind, even though the novels came first, I can't help but identify the story with the movies.

Others I am conflicted on, like Cuckoo's Nest and 2001.



JBond 02-15-2009 12:00 PM

You've worked in a bookstore, so maybe you can relate to this huge pet peeve of mine. I HATE when movies based on books find an influence on the cover of the books. Fellowship of the Ring with Elijah Wood on the cover? That book was writen before his father was born. I was thinking about buying "I, Robot" yesterday but it had Will Smith on the cover. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" doesn't only have the Blade Runner poster on it, it has been RENAMED Blade Runner on some copies! I could go on...



FranklinTard 02-15-2009 12:00 PM

well the movie came 2 weeks before the book for 2001.



it was written in conjunction with the film.



Dracula 02-15-2009 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanTheCool (Post 2553291)

It is kind of, because then I run into an identity crisis. I don't know whether to identify the story with the novel or with the movie. Because in cases like the Godfather or Gone with the Wind, even though the novels came first, I can't help but identify the story with the movies.

Others I am conflicted on, like Cuckoo's Nest and 2001.

Well, In the case of The Godfather you should identify with the movie, because the book isn't that good. But when the book is a classic in itself, like Cuckoo's Nest, you should maybe go wiht that.



JBond 02-15-2009 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanTheCool (Post 2553291)

Others I am conflicted on, like Cuckoo's Nest and 2001.

Funny thing about 2001, the movie and book were sort of written simultaneously. I forget the exact details, but I think he was working on the screenplay with Kubrick before the book was finished.



Dracula 02-15-2009 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBond (Post 2553297)

You've worked in a bookstore, so maybe you can relate to this huge pet peeve of mine. I HATE when movies based on books find an influence on the cover of the books. Fellowship of the Ring with Elijah Wood on the cover? That book was writen before his father was born. I was thinking about buying "I, Robot" yesterday but it had Will Smith on the cover. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" doesn't only have the Blade Runner poster on it, it has been RENAMED Blade Runner on some copies! I could go on...

Oh, hell yeah. That's a huge pain in the ass. Having that kind of cover is a huge scarlet letter that says "you didn't buy this until Will Smith made a movie out of it"



DAN! 02-15-2009 12:05 PM

which would be true in my case.... except mine didn't have will smith on the cover \o/. i have too much pride to have a visual piece of proof



IanTheCool 02-15-2009 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBond (Post 2553297)

You've worked in a bookstore, so maybe you can relate to this huge pet peeve of mine. I HATE when movies based on books find an influence on the cover of the books. Fellowship of the Ring with Elijah Wood on the cover? That book was writen before his father was born. I was thinking about buying "I, Robot" yesterday but it had Will Smith on the cover. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" doesn't only have the Blade Runner poster on it, it has been RENAMED Blade Runner on some copies! I could go on...

Yeah, I hate that a lot.



Quote:

Originally Posted by FranklinTard (Post 2553298)

well the movie came 2 weeks before the book for 2001.



it was written in conjunction with the film.

Oh yeah, I remember that now. Kind of hard to relate the story to the book then. Especially when the movie is one of the most important movies ever made.



On a side note- sorry Drac. I kind of hijacked your thread.



Dracula 02-15-2009 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanTheCool (Post 2553311)

Yeah, I hate that a lot.







Oh yeah, I remember that now. Kind of hard to relate the story to the book then. Especially when the movie is one of the most important movies ever made.



On a side note- sorry Drac. I kind of hijacked your thread.

No problem at all, provoking discussion is a big part of what this is about



Dracula 02-15-2009 03:11 PM

Best Original Screenplay

People writing original screenplays are always working without a safety net. It’s interesting the kind of movies that tend to be adapted and the types that tend to be original, the weightier prestige pictures tend to be adaptations and looser/quirkier works tend to be original. There are certainly exceptions to the rule, but that is the pattern I tend to notice. Neither is better, but it’s worth splitting the two.



Dustin Lance Black- Milk: Movies based on history compete in the Original Screenplay, this is odd because historical screenplays are the ultimate adaptation, often created using dozens of sources and interviews. Dustin Lance Black spent lots of time hanging out in Castro in order to soak up the atmosphere and create a script that was true to the life and story of Harvey Milk.

Jenny Lumet- Rachel Getting Married: It’s easy to write a script that’s set in a fantasy world, but it’s another thing to make a script that seems absolutely genuine to life. The whole movie is marvelously naturalistic, the dialogue sounds like real conversations, the characters are flawed, and the characters problems aren’t all solved over the course of a weekend. I’m not sure how much of the dialog was improvised, but I’m sure Jenny Lumet does deserve a lot of credit for this.

Charlie Kaufman- Synecdoche, New York: No one in the history of Hollywood has managed to make a name for them self entirely through screenwriting as well as Charlie Kaufman has. This is a very deep movie that requires the audience to contemplate deep themes like the meaning of life, the purpose of art, and the results of aging and mortality. The script makes no compromises in its quest for complete artistic expression. I’d be lying if I said I understood everything Kaufman was trying to say with this, but I certainly look forward to studying the DVD in order to figure it all out.

Robert D. Siegel- The Wrestler: This year’s big screenwriting success story comes from Robert Siegel, former editor of The Onion turned Hollywood screenwriter. Siegel and Darren Aronofsky worked out this story over the course many years until they were left with a very strong very real film about a man on the edge. The film is filled with (presumably) authentic moments depicting off-brand wrestling. Clearly Siegel did a lot of research into this subject.

Woody Allen- Vicky Cristina Barcelona: There are maybe three writers whose dialogue can be identified instantly after two or three lines are heard. Tarentino is one, Mamet is another, but the granddaddy of it all is the one and only Woody Allen. This man is able to churn out a movie every single year and more often than not they’re pretty good, but every once in a while he puts out something that’s truly special, and this is one such case. That dialogue sounds great and the European environment seems to have done wonders for him.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



halo7 02-15-2009 03:32 PM

I would have gone with Rachel Getting Married. The Wrestler is questionable, I am sure it was a great script but I know that there was quite a lot of improvisation amongst the cast, especially from Rourke. I still need to see Vicky Cristina Barcelona though, I have been putting it off.



(Just to add to the book discussion, I payed $10 extra to get a copy of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" without an "Oprah's Book Club" label on it.



Dracula 02-15-2009 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by halo7 (Post 2553411)



(Just to add to the book discussion, I payed $10 extra to get a copy of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" without an "Oprah's Book Club" label on it.

There's almost certianly a version with Viggo Mortinson on the cover comeing soon. lol



Now that I think about it, the copy I bought at a half priced bookstore doesn't have the oprah sticker on it. Sounds like you got gyped



shained 02-15-2009 07:54 PM

Dublin is way over-rated



IanTheCool 02-15-2009 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dracula (Post 2553451)

There's almost certianly a version with Viggo Mortinson on the cover comeing soon. lol



Now that I think about it, the copy I bought at a half priced bookstore doesn't have the oprah sticker on it. Sounds like you got gyped

There has been for a while already. (though i thought it was Christian Bale. oops.)



krushgroove19 02-16-2009 02:08 AM

the copy i bought at fye eight months ago didn't have the oprah sticker on it. it does now, though. i applied it myself.



Dracula 02-16-2009 08:21 AM

Best Trailer

While its intentions are capitalistic, there’s a real art to cutting a good trailer. They require you to show enough material to sell the movie without giving it away. Also one needs to add a real energy to propel the piece forward, often using a clever music selection. Last year I included trailers from 2008 movies that were already running at the time (Rambo and Cloverfield), but I’m not doing that anymore, I’m only doing trailers for 2008 movies regardless of when the trailers came out.



Be Kind Rewind:

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:



What do you do when you need to market a movie with a really quirky concept to mass audiences? You add a Billy Preston song, and that will make anything look like a lot of fun. The trailer has almost as much VHS nostalgia and attention to detail as the movie itself. Look at the font in the title cards, it’s meant to look like an LED readout and there’s even a reflecting effect behind it.

Burn After Reading “Redband”:

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:



If nothing else, this trailer should be a case study in why Redband trailers are important. Just about every joke on display here requires curse words or some other form of deadpan vulgarity in order to have the real impact. The Greenband version makes the movie look silly (what with a poorly dubbed “Stuff” in a key joke), but the underlying poetry of the deadpan humor really presents itself in the uncensored version. Of course this nomination isn’t all about swearing, they pick a cool song at the end as well.

Pineapple Express “Paper Planes (redband)”:

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:



Where do I begin? The trailer begins by establishing the movie’s humor, then it makes sure the audience knows this has an actual plot and isn’t just some Cheech and Chong silliness. But it really kicks in when M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” starts playing, then everything goes crazy. Every cut works perfectly with the song, the gunshots in the chorus are matched to gunshots onscreen, Seth Rogen’s movement match the song’s rhythm, and it breaks into dialog on just the right lines.

The Strangers:

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:



This trailer could be a study in making a movie look a lot better than it actually is. The trailer manages to capture some of the coolest moments in the movie, and they look pretty interesting when removed from the boring context. That record skipping effect is wisely used here; it was one of the better parts of the movie after all. The whole thing makes the project look like a haunting movie when it’s really more of a home invasion flick. The movie itself did little for me (it was a nice attempt), but the trailer still gives me chills.

W. “Once in a Lifetime”:

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:



The first W. trailer was all right, but this second trailer was the real sell. The Talking Head’s Once in a lifetime was the perfect song for the movie, it sold the casualty with which dubya conducted himself and it used lyrics like “You may find yourself in a beautiful [white] house” and “how did I get here” to great effect. It was an energetic trailer to sell a unique movie.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



IanTheCool 02-16-2009 10:57 AM

Agree with you on this one. The 'foot-through-windshield" had me rolling.



Drizzt240 02-16-2009 12:40 PM

Best line:



"The only place I get hurt is out there."



-Randy "The Ram" Robinson



iv3rdawG 02-16-2009 01:03 PM

"Then that Cobain pussy had to come and ruin it all."



- Randy "The Ram" Robinson



JBond 02-16-2009 02:26 PM

Hah, that was hilarious.



Dracula 02-16-2009 05:42 PM

Best Poster

Print advertising is one of the oldest forms of communication; unfortunately they’ve sort of become a secondary part of the advertising campaign. But that’s not all bad, the fact that it’s not the biggest part of the marketing gives the graphic designers a lot of freedom to make iconic images. But bear in mind, I’m limiting this to posters for movies I’ve seen, it would be way too hard without that limitation to narrow things down.



The Bank Job:

img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...TheBankJob.jpg

The Bank Job was a relentlessly average movie, albeit one with a good sense of what it was. In fitting with the 1970s setting the advertisers put out this very retro and very minimalistic poster. It has a simple image on top of an old-school blank background. It’s not very crowded but it has a power in its simplicity.

The Dark Knight (Teaser):

imagecache2.allposters.com/im...ht-Posters.jpg

I get pretty pissed whenever haters tell me that the only reason people were enthusiastic about The Joker was sympathy for the late Heath Ledger. That’s bull****, because people were just as excited about it when this now iconic poster was released. The creepiness mixed with humor on display was more than enough to sell people on the character, and it was long before Ledger passed.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:

img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ianaJones4.jpg

I wasn’t too thrilled about the first Indiana Jones 4 poster which only had Harrison Ford’s torso, but when this second poster came out I was like “hell yeah!” This recaptured the magic of the original series a lot better than the actual movie. Lucas can keep screwing with his franchises, but at least the posters are still up to snuff.

W.:

img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...0-17-2008W.jpg

Oliver Stone’s George Bush biopic was a disappointment, but the advertising was at least able to sell just the right satirical tone, and there wasn’t just one poster either. There was a text based teaser poster, a poster of him getting ready for a press conference, but the highlight was a set of posters with the man sitting in the oval office in a variety of bored, angry, goofy, and sad poses. The people running this campaign clearly went above and beyond the call of duty.

The Wrestler:

img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...heWrestler.jpg

What do you do when you have to advertise an independent movie about something as stupid as pro-wrestling? You make a poster that makes it look like serious business. This poster builds up Randy “The Ram” Robinson but also makes him a defeated figure. The real brilliance is in hiding Rouke’s face in darkness, preserving mystery. While most studios go out of their way to show actors faces, they deliberately hide it.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:




Dracula 02-17-2009 08:29 AM

Most Underappreciated Film

For the most part I think critics and movie pundits as a whole tend to be right. Individuals (myself included) are always prone to wild and incorrect judgments, but the critical community as a whole tends to be on the right side nine out of ten times. But every once in a while a movie come along that I think gets treated unfairly. This award goes out to the movie that I feel didn’t really get a fair shake either from critics or the public.



Be Kind Rewind: Of all the movies I saw this year, this is the one that grew on me the most after I initially disliked it. I think this movie suffered because people went in expecting nothing but a bunch of swedeing and forgot that there would be an actual movie between the bits of Gondry wackiness. Newsflash, a movie needs more than the gimmick you go in for and shouldn’t be punished for giving you more. I think the movie has a real sense of community which is really charming and overlooked. It’s a love letter to the less sophisticated side of movie loving and should have been taken for what it was.

Changeling: I think Clint Eastwood was held to an unreasonable standard with Changeling, a movie that was probably the victim of backlash and Oscar counter-lobbying. Make no mistake, this movie is not Oscar-worthy, but the people calling “bad” are also way out of line. Notice that Gran Torino, a movie that didn’t smell like Oscar-bait wasn’t held to this standard. Changeling is a good piece of storytelling and anyone looking for a good flick won’t be disappointed in it, turning them away from it over external bull**** is irresponsible criticism.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Make no mistake, the fourth Indian Jones film was sub-par and it deserved the two star review I gave it. However, this “they’re raping Indy” stuff is a bunch of nonsense. This was a below average movie that was railed against with the kind of bile that should be reserved for Uwe Boll movies. Oh, and frankly I think the aliens weren’t such a bad idea, why are they any more ridiculous than a head exploding ark?

Redbelt: This one is probably more of a personal preference choice than any of the other ones. I’m a pretty big David Mamet fan and I got a real kick out of watching the continuation of the recent stage of his career. I think Mamet’s on the verge of making an artistic breakthrough and this movie was a stage in that development. The dialogue was really cool, the characters were good, and Chiwetel Ejiofor was great in it. That said, there were a lot of flaws here, and the ending was pretty lame. Still I think this is a very good movie for people of a certain taste.

Tell No One: This one actually did get pretty decent reviews from critics, and it’s maybe a little less in the spirit of this category than some of the other nominees. The reason it’s in here is that I think it should have been able to break into the mainstream, but it never did. Frankly, I think there’s some kind of conspiracy among studios to hold back the bigger foreign films in order for them to release their stupid remakes with less people in on their source. Pricks.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



shained 02-17-2009 09:45 AM

I thought Be Kind Rewind was a decent film. Nothing spectacular but it did have heart and some really funny moments. Didn't know it wasn't received too well



DAN! 02-17-2009 11:01 AM

yeah, i think people took it the wrong way. I liked it, but for the same reason as drac. It was something i had to think about for awhile and after much thought i decided there were a lot of parts i liked. I think if the ending had more...... resolution, it would have set in better with me.



FranklinTard 02-17-2009 11:52 AM

hated mos defs voice... with a passion. and the second half fell apart i thought.



shained 02-17-2009 12:44 PM

His voice does grate especially in 18 (?) Blocks



JBond 02-17-2009 01:46 PM

Heh, I remember when you gave this movie a sub-par review. I dunno, I still agree with it. I think it had wonderful potential, but it wasn't executed correctly at the end. There was this great message he was trying to say about movies and film, and it came out a little rushed.



MovieBuff801 02-17-2009 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shained (Post 2554372)

His voice does grate especially in 18 (?) Blocks

That would be 16 Blocks. And I wanted to see Be Kind Rewind but never got around to it; but I do have it coming up in my Netflix queue.



shained 02-17-2009 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moviebuff801 (Post 2554534)

That would be 16 Blocks. And I wanted to see Be Kind Rewind but never got around to it; but I do have it coming up in my Netflix queue.

Thought I was wrong but it was quite a forgettable film



Dracula 02-17-2009 05:38 PM

Best Action Film

Action films, the domain of the idiot. I say that sarcastically of course, I love a good action movie as much as the next guy. But action movies look a lot different than they did back in the 80s, this year’s blockbusters have really just been dominated by Comic book adaptations. There wasn’t much in the line of traditional Gun-based action flicks.



The Dark Knight: Anyone surprised to see this nominated? This film comes complete with some nice martial arts, a golden stake winning car chase, a bank robbery, and if I had an award for best explosion of the year it probably would have won that too.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army: Guillermo del Toro has won critical acclaim for his sophisticated horror films, but he clearly also has an interest in Action filmmaking what with his involvement in Blade 2 and the original Hellboy. Hellboy 2 is the perfect merger of his interest in elaborate design and kinetic action. There are some very well choreographed fights and other more effects heavy scenes like the one with the plant monster.

Iron Man: I frankly think this movie is overrated by many, but it still has a lot going for it. Iron Man’s escape from the cave was pretty cool, his skirmish in Afghanistan was pretty neat, and there was that thing where he was flying with jets. The ending turned into a wacky CGI-fest, but still, there was some cool stuff here.

Mongol: This foreign made project was the epic life story of Genghis Khan, and as such it had some pretty awesome action scenes. The highlight was the Merkit Raid, in which there is a big battle, and while that’s going on the main character rushed into a village and took down some guards with a spear.

Tell No One: This French thriller/mystery focuses more on storytelling than actioneering, but midway through the stakes raise and there’s a big foot chase through the streets of Paris. The best moment of this involved the lead character running right onto a busy freeway and dodge oncoming cars. It’s pretty kickass.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



unity768 02-17-2009 06:07 PM

Don't worry, Wanted was trash.



halo7 02-17-2009 06:09 PM

Delicious, delicious trash.



MovieBuff801 02-17-2009 06:50 PM

Agreed; Wanted was a really fun ride.



Jack 02-17-2009 10:29 PM

Kung Fu Panda is probably my favorite action movie of the year.



Tornado 02-17-2009 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unity768 (Post 2554677)

Don't worry, Wanted was trash.

100% agreed.



ViRUs 02-18-2009 11:16 AM

It was ok. I never exactly figured that movie to be anything too realistic. I took it for it was. I turned off my brain, and it was decent.



DragnFire22 02-18-2009 11:23 AM

Wanted sucked horribly.



Boro 02-18-2009 11:50 AM

The Happening > Wanted. That's right, I said it.



Dracula 02-18-2009 07:54 PM

Horror Film of the Year

The horror genre is like the bastard stepchild of cinema. It’s a genre that is frequently victim to garbage, and yet it also has a really strong and dedicated following. I’m not the biggest fan of the genre, mainly because I’ve yet to find a movie that’s really able to scare me. While you’ll never hear me screaming in a theater, I do know good suspense and tension when I see it. This is the category where I try to find the five horror films that rise above the average, however, this is also a category where below average movies tend to sneak in for lack of competition.



Cloverfield: King Kong and Godzilla are both fine movies, and giant monsters are pretty cool. But one thing that those movies are not is suspenseful. That’s why Cloverfield is so brilliant, it found a way to take a genre which had previously just been about spectacle and managed to inject it with genuine suspense and tension.

Let the Right One In: I probably didn’t like this movie as much as some people, but what it gets right it really excels at. This is definitely a number of steps above most of the brain-dead horror movies that Hollywood cranks out on a regular basis. The film has a perfect horror tone and some strong acting by a pair of child actors who are talented beyond their years.

The Ruins: This is a movie I came into with very few expectations, and while it hardly blew me away, it did have more going for it than I expected. The film is based on a novel by Scott Smith, the man who wrote A Simple Plan. I wish that they’d make more horror movies from literary sources rather than movie formulas, aside from Stephen King we rarely see that.

The Strangers: If nothing else, The Strangers was a nice effort. This was a reaction to horror/slasher movies that try to explain too much and demystify their villains. The problem is that they went a little too far with this and ended up with a rather anticlimactic work. There are also a few too many clichés, especially the old make the bad guy disappear when you look the second time trick. Still, it was nice to see an attempt at hardcore horror getting into multiplexes.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe: All right, obviously this only got into here by default, it was either this or Diary of the Dead. That said, this has grown on me a little since I first watched it, I admire that Chris Carter tried to make a fairly adult plot out of the film and avoided some pitfalls. That said, the plot they chose was nothing special… at all. There was absolutely nothing cinematic about it to make it worth spending $7.50 on.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



Dhamon22 02-18-2009 07:58 PM

I like the choice, but I'll have to see LTROI first before I can say if I agree or not. But I like Cloverfield alot.



jbailey84 02-18-2009 08:58 PM

i havent seen LTROI either but Cloverfield was intense. although i really did like The Strangers alot too.



IanTheCool 02-18-2009 11:06 PM

I honestly don't get the hate for Cloverfield. I thought it was fantastic.



unity768 02-18-2009 11:23 PM

Let the Right One In was unquestionably the better film. But if your perspective is based on horror and horror only, then I can see why Cloverfield got the nod. But if it was up to me, LTROI would dominate.



unity768 02-18-2009 11:27 PM

Eden Lake should have been included here but I'm apparently the only one on these boards to have seen it. Def try and check that out.



JBond 02-19-2009 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanTheCool (Post 2555343)

I honestly don't get the hate for Cloverfield. I thought it was fantastic.

That...is why you fail.



Dracula 02-19-2009 01:18 AM

Comedy of the Year

Who doesn’t like to laugh? No one, but some people find themselves tickled by different things. I tend to have an odd sense of humor and have been quite critical of many of the so called classics from the last twenty years. But something strange has happened lately, the mainstream has finally caught up with my taste in comedy. In that sense, I think we’re in something of a golden age for comedy. That’s probably an exaggeration, but I’ve definitely been going to see comedies a lot more often today than I have for the longest time. I’d also like to add that I’m sticking to pure comedies for this; that is movies whose main goal is to make the audience laugh almost constantly. That’s why you won’t see Vicky Christina Barcelona or Synechdoche New York on the list.



Burn After Reading: I’ve always liked the Coen Brothers’ darker dramatic films, but their comedies are usually hit or miss. In this case it’s a hit. This is a beautifully cynical comedy which is absolutely filled to the brim with hilariously stupid people. The comedy is very dark and very dry. The plot is far more nihilistic than many dead serious affairs and I like that. It’s a meditation on the pointlessness of human ambition… with jokes.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall: This Judd Apatow production, the first of two nominated, operates on the classic comedy formula of assembling an ensemble of wacky characters and having the main character run into them a lot. Because the cast of characters is so large, none of the sub-plots wear out their welcome. Among the highlights are the bar-scene, the encounters with Paul Rudd’s surfing instructor, and Jason Segel’s raw breakup scene. Add to that a funny performance by Russell Brand and a fine leading woman turn by Mila Kunis and you’ve got quite a package.

Pineapple Express: I hate stoner culture and stoner movies, but I love Pineapple Express. The trick is that they never make the fact that these guys are stoned into a joke, the joke is that the weed makes them do stupid things and react to a complicated situation while completely inebriated. The action scenes are excellent examples of comedic anarchy, and they’re really well shot to boot. James Franco nails his character and David Gordon Green elevates the material as much as possible.

Tropic Thunder: Hollywood has long made itself a target for self deprecating humor, but this film is unique in that it pokes fun at Hollywood while rarely actually having scenes in L.A. Ben Stiller’s character is poking fun at movie stars, Jack Black pokes fun at low brow comedians, and Robert Downey Jr.’s character skewers character actors. All too often the film uses Ben Stiller, MTV-style comedy as a crutch, but there’s still some really interesting satire to be found.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno: I’ve always dug Kevin Smith and not just because of the comic book/Star Wars stuff either. In fact, I prefer his work when he’s delving into working class relationships and blunt sexual dialogue. This certainly wasn’t his best film, but it had a lot of good moments. There’s a great Justin Long cameo and some of the most graphic sexual jokes ever seen in a Hollywood movie.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



shained 02-19-2009 06:00 AM

Personally think Zack and Miri and Sarah Marshall are a lot better and funnier than Burn After Reading, which I enjoyed but think is highly over-rated



JBond 02-19-2009 01:59 PM

Great choice, Dracula. Right on.



Again, am I the only one who hated Tropic Thunder?



Tornado 02-19-2009 02:02 PM

Nice one Dracula.



I enjoyed Tropic Thunder Bond, but I thought it was a bit overrated.



Knerys 02-19-2009 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBond (Post 2555575)



Again, am I the only one who hated Tropic Thunder?

That is why you fail.





In all seriousness though, I think I liked Tropic Thunder because I went into it with very low expectations and was pleasantly surprise by it's unapologetic nature.



chewie 02-19-2009 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBond (Post 2555575)



Again, am I the only one who hated Tropic Thunder?

No



ViRUs 02-19-2009 06:33 PM

good choice there Drac. I liked all the other ones except for Sarah Marshall, I thought that was overrated. Definitely thought Burn deserved the stake though.



Doomsday 02-19-2009 07:37 PM

Nice to see other fans of Burn After Reading. Gets better every time I watch it.



Knerys 02-20-2009 12:29 PM

I missed it in theaters.



Really want to see it still.



FranklinTard 02-20-2009 02:05 PM

...don't believe the hype.



JBond 02-20-2009 02:13 PM

And don't listen to Franklin and realize people have different tastes.



FranklinTard 02-20-2009 02:23 PM

yes they do, we can tell this because burn after reading got an incredibly large amount of mixed bag reviews. don't go into it with huge expectations or you might be let down so... don't believe the hype... for your own good.



JBond 02-20-2009 02:24 PM

What hype if it got mixed reviews?



Knerys 02-20-2009 02:35 PM

Can I think for myself please?



JBond 02-20-2009 02:36 PM

NO!



That's what I was arguing...



Knerys 02-20-2009 02:42 PM

Fine!



*puts drone hat back on*



Yeah I know. But I'm perfectly capable of ignoring him on my own.

jbailey84 02-20-2009 03:08 PM

great chice Drac. Burn After Reading is one of my favs of 08.



DAN! 02-20-2009 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knerys (Post 2556164)



Yeah I know. But I'm perfectly capable of ignoring him on my own.

no you're not. You need a man to help you with everything



Dracula 02-20-2009 06:28 PM

Best Foreign Language Film

This hasn’t been the greatest year for Foreign film, but it has certainly been diverse. The films nominated are in languages as diverse as French, Swedish, Romanian, Hebrew, and Mongolian. That pretty good when you consider that West Europe usually dominates this. I haven’t done the best job keeping up with this stuff; I haven’t had access to anything that didn’t open at my local Landmark theater and I don’t make a habit of importing a bunch of stuff. Among the titles I missed were The Elite Squad, The Class, Revlanche, and [Rec]. I’m also disqualifying Che, which was basically an American film set in Latin America.



4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 days: This film won the Palm D’or at the Cannes Film Festival and saw its American release last February. It’s been almost a year since I saw it, but it’s stuck with me after all this time. The film is part of what’s been called a new wave coming out of Romania which utilizes Kitchen sink realism in a way that’s a lot less dull than that attitude so often is.

Let the Right One In: The film that is often glibly referred to as “Twilight for smart people” and the decision to release it as counter-programming for that movie was really sharp. This movie should have gotten a bigger audience, but I won’t go into my conspiracy theory about withheld distribution of foreign films again. The movie has an excellent tone and some really strong scenes. A very mature vampire film.

Mongol: This film is certainly the hardest to pin to one country of origin. It’s title, setting and language would suggest that it’s a product of Mongolia, but it was shot in China, its star is Japanese, its director is Russian, a lot of its financing was German and it was submitted to the Academy by Kazakhstan of all places. But none of those places are The United States, so it certainly belongs in this category. The first in a proposed trilogy of movies about Genghis Khan, this works well as both a historical biopic and as an Epic war movie.

Tell No One: While France is generally known for new waves and existentialism and all that jazz, you don’t need to know any of that to understand Tell No One, it’s a thoroughly unpretentious work. The film is a mystery and a wrong man thriller all in one and it plays out like a great beach reading novel. The film easily would have made eighty million dollars if it were in English, if only the general public would come to appreciate subtitles.

Waltz with Bashir: There are three Oscar catagories for feature films that are sometimes accused of ghettoizing genres: Best Foreign Film, Best Animated Film, and Best Documentary. Waltz with Bashir seems like an attempt to compete in all three of them. It takes the structure of a documentary, it’s animated, and it’s from Israel. Ari Foreman’s quest to find his past is quite compelling and it’s visual style reflects the reconstructing nature of his journey while helping the film stand out from the pack.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



Jack 02-20-2009 07:37 PM

Well, I would call it a great year for foreign film! Or at least, a great year for foreign films that were moderately-released in the US.



My pick would be (surprise surprise) Let the Right On In.



That said, The Class, Waltz With Bashir, 4 Months, A Christmas Tale, Tell No One are all fantastic grade-A films worth anyone's time. I admire them for different reasons, but they all stand as some of the best films that came my way this year.



And from what I've heard, Mongol, The Edge of Heaven, Reprise, Time Crimes,

and I've Loved You So Long are all really exceptional too.



Dracula 02-20-2009 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack (Post 2556303)

Well, I would call it a great year for foreign film! Or at least, a great year for foreign films that were moderately-released in the US.



My pick would be (surprise surprise) Let the Right On In.



That said, The Class, Waltz With Bashir, 4 Months, A Christmas Tale, Tell No One are all fantastic grade-A films worth anyone's time. I admire them for different reasons, but they all stand as some of the best films that came my way this year.



And from what I've heard, Mongol, The Edge of Heaven, Reprise, Time Crimes,

and I've Loved You So Long are all really exceptional too.

Well, I meant something more along the line of "it hasn't been a great year of foreign films that I've gotten around to seeing"



Dracula 02-20-2009 08:45 PM

Best Documentary

Truth is stranger than fiction or so they say and many filmmakers just don’t see the point of recreating things when they can just as easily film stuff while it’s happening. This whole decade has been great for documentary filmmaking and this year in particular has been applauded for it’s many solid Docs. This resurgence of the form is likely a reaction to the increasingly stupid coverage of world events featured in the mainstream media. Please note that I have not seen Trouble the Water or Dear Zachery and that I’ve decided to disqualify Waltz with Bashir from this.



Bigger Stronger Faster: Michael Moore is easily the most popular and in many ways most influential documentarians working today. Christopher Bell, director of Bigger Stronger Faster, is clearly one of his disciples. Bell borrows Moore’s style much more effectively than Morgan Spurlock ever has, and part of why this film works so well is that its subject isn’t a cliché of partisan politics. The film explores the hoopla about steroids and takes stances you maybe wouldn’t expect. The film doesn’t condone steroid use but does see a lot of hypocrisy in the fight against them.

Encounters at the End of the World: Werner Herzong is a goddamn nut, and I wouldn’t want him any other way. His latest documentary has him traveling to Antarctica where he does something that only he would do: he focuses on the people that work there rather than the cute penguins. The film is filled with interesting people and crazy stories, there’s even a decent landscape here and there. It isn’t as good as his 2005 documentary Grizzly Man, but it’s still pretty sweet.

Man on Wire: Easily the most popular documentary of the year, Man on Wire tells the story of Philippe Petit, a French lunatic who tightrope walked between the twin World Trade Center towers. The film works almost like a heist film, chronicling all the elaborate planning involved in Petit’s highly illegal and dangerous stunt. You really can’t make this stuff up, and James Marsh tells the story with perfect restraint.

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired: Roman Polanski is a brilliant filmmaker and a convicted rapist. I had already read about the Polanski case extensively and didn’t expect to hear anything I didn’t already know from this Documentary. But, to my surprise, the film actually brought a lot of new information to the table. There was a lot more to this case than meets the eye to this case, and the film presents this information in a very watchable way.

Standard Operating Procedure: Earlier I said that Michael Moore was the most popular documentarian and among the general public that’s certainly true, but in critical circles the star of the field is Errol Morris. Morris brought us such important non-fiction work as The Thin Blue Line, Fast Cheap and Out of Control, and The Fog of War. With his latest film he tackled the Abu Ghraib torture scandal through his signature interview style. Morris cuts below the surface of the scandal and his conclusions are smart, insightful, and shocking.



The Golden Stake goes to…

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:









That's the last regular award, I'll start posting my Top Ten List shortly



JBond 02-20-2009 09:13 PM

"Kitchen sink realism?"



Dracula 02-20-2009 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBond (Post 2556321)

"Kitchen sink realism?"

It's a term I casually misappropriated, it was really a specific cultural movement in british lituriture describing working class life with extreme honesty. The term derives from the phrase "everything and the kitchen sink. While it is really supposed to be used for that specific movement, I think it can apply to a broader form of gritty city dwelling reality, but it maybe wasn't the most careful or accurate terminoligy for the film.



en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_sink_realism



Dracula 02-20-2009 10:56 PM

The Number 10 Movie of the Year:

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



Drizzt240 02-20-2009 11:03 PM

I agree, underrated.



jbailey84 02-20-2009 11:04 PM

Cloverfield i think had one of thee best Teasers ever.



i remember seeing it before transformers and hearing the audience in all the questioning and confusion. loved it!



Dracula 02-20-2009 11:18 PM

The Number 9 Movie of the Year:

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



jbailey84 02-20-2009 11:20 PM

still have yet to see Doubt



unity768 02-20-2009 11:36 PM

Frost/Nixon gets nominated but not Doubt...mystery to me.



Dracula 02-20-2009 11:42 PM

The Number 8 Movie of the Year:

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



shained 02-21-2009 08:31 AM

I think you already know my opinions on 4 months from the film club, so I would have went with Let the Right One In personally. Also you really should try and get a watch of [Rec] it's a really good film



Dracula 02-21-2009 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shained (Post 2556509)

I think you already know my opinions on 4 months from the film club, so I would have went with Let the Right One In personally. Also you really should try and get a watch of [Rec] it's a really good film



I would, but it STILL hasn't gotten an official release here.



Tornado 02-21-2009 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unity768 (Post 2556358)

Frost/Nixon gets nominated but not Doubt...mystery to me.

I named Frost/Nixon as the best film of the year, as did several critics. It received over-overwhelmingly positive reviews as well (92% on RT). It's not that big of a mystery.



Dracula 02-21-2009 10:36 AM

The Number 7 Movie of the Year:

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



Dracula 02-21-2009 12:04 PM

The Number 6 Movie of the Year:

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



Dracula 02-21-2009 01:59 PM

The Number 5 Movie of the Year:

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



Dracula 02-21-2009 04:31 PM

The Number 4 Movie of the Year:

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



Dracula 02-21-2009 06:14 PM

The Number 3 Movie of the Year:

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



unity768 02-21-2009 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tornado (Post 2556566)

I named Frost/Nixon as the best film of the year, as did several critics. It received over-overwhelmingly positive reviews as well (92% on RT). It's not that big of a mystery.

I don't care what anyone says, that movie was a good movie, not a great one. I had a hard time finding the suspense and drama in Nixon confessing Watergate. Everyone kinda knew..its like Bush confessing his primary reason for invading Iraq was the availability of oil, not the mass genocides and atrocities. We already know this, and its just boring to watch on screen. Acting was superb tho.



Dracula 02-21-2009 08:15 PM

And finally...



The Number 2 Movie of the Year:

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:





The Number 1 Movie of the Year:

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:



DAN! 02-21-2009 08:48 PM

sweet! now where is the Golden Stakes after party?



Drizzt240 02-21-2009 09:38 PM

WTF on Getting Married.



Wrestler is my one.



halo7 02-21-2009 09:41 PM

Rachel Getting Married was third on my overall list but I am glad to see it get some love here, I feel it was slightly under appreciated by a lot of people and it deserves way way better.



Justin 02-21-2009 11:04 PM

Never got to see Rachel Getting Married.



unity768 02-21-2009 11:27 PM

def try and catch it on dvd- shows why independent films can quite possibly be the best type of entertainment in the field of cinema.



DAN! 02-22-2009 12:24 AM

indi films are my favorite just because they are different from the norm. some can be really awesome, and a lot of them really really suck. but when you find a gem, they are so worth it.



IanTheCool 02-22-2009 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustinW (Post 2556890)

Never got to see Rachel Getting Married.

Me neither. I would like to though.



FranklinTard 02-22-2009 01:34 AM

it was quite good, no arguments here.



shained 02-22-2009 08:38 AM

Not saw Rachel but my brother and his girlfriend did last night and neither of them thanked me for the copy I gave him lol



Knerys 02-23-2009 12:37 PM

I'll agree with everything you said about Rachel Getting Married. It's an excellent movie.



I was kinda annoyed that Winslet won over Hathaway. Granted I like Winslet and she absolutely deserves an Oscar. But she deserved it for Little Children. Hathaway was just....so good in this.