Dracula Presents: The Eleventh Annual Golden Stake Awards

Best Editing
Editing is essential to cinema but at times kind of hard to judge after the fact, especially when you aren’t necessarily watching for every individual cut when you go to a movie. For my nominations I think I came up with five choices that show a good swath of what film editing can do.

Baby Driver: As with a lot of technical categories Baby Driver needs to engage in a lot of the great editing that are expected of a solid action movie but also has the challenge of doing thing to the beat of various songs. Now of course “cutting to the beat” isn’t an unheard of challenge as it’s often done in music videos and the like, but those usually don’t need to also tell stories. I’m not entirely sure how many of these edits were choreographed ahead of time but the effect certainly works on screen.

Dunkirk: Dunkirk has three major challenges: Firstly it needs to intercut three distinct stories, secondly it needs to account for the differing timelines of these stories to make things clear for the audience, and thirdly it just needs to be cut like a solid action/war movie. The movie certainly does what it needs to do in order to communicate all this but I like that it also leaves a little bit of chaos in there to keep the audience in the same state of mind as the participants.

I, Tonya: I, Tonya comes from the Goodfellas/American Hustle/The Big Short school of energetic movies based on a true story that cover a lot of little anecdotes and needs to cram a lot into a short run time and keep things moving at a fast clip. The addition of “to the camera” interviews by the various principals adds an extra little tool that the editor can go to if needed. Add that to some good comic timing and some neat figure skating editing this is certainly a good category for it.

Lady Bird: Every year I try to get out of the usual editing showcase type movies and give one slot to a movie that exemplifies great naturalistic editing and this year I chose Lady Bird for that honor. Lady Bird has a lot of sneaky little editing challenges. Some of its more comedic moments require good timing to make laugh lines land and it also needs to show the passage of time really smoothly and make the occasional arguments develop naturally. Also, anything that can cut an entire year of a life down to 93 minutes without feeling slight has to be doing something right.

mother!: Darren Aronofsky’s mother! would be a great example of cutting for purposes of mystery and tension. Much of the movie consists of our protagonist, with whom the movie is unwaveringly told from the point of view of, being somewhat in the dark about what’s going on around her and the movie very carefully cuts away from certain hints. Additionally it very effectively cuts as tensions build in the scenes where she has to endure these uninvited crowds and it also effectively cuts when things are going absolutely crazy.

And the Golden Stake Goes To…

Nah, it's, like, one of the best things.

Best Soundtrack

Soundtrack is generally one of my favorite categories year to year. It’s the category where I look at the consistent use of existing popular music in a movie with a focus on said music’s impact on the movie rather than how they play on an album. 2017 was an interesting year for the category, in part because it was a year where I kind of got sick of movies being lazy with their music selections and just throwing in whatever the biggest hits of whatever year its set in (looking at you Kong: Skull Island, Atomic Blonde, and I, Tonya). I think my selections reflect movies that went the extra mile and really tried to select some out of the box choices.

Baby Driver: Unquestionably the most upfront and center of the soundtracks this year was Edgar Wright’s soundtrack for Baby Driver. The movie, which features wall to wall music manages to actually make the few moments that don’t have music in them really stand out. What’s also a bit surprising is that the song selections seem fairly personal to Edgar Wright and a lot of them are actually fairly obscure cuts. Outside of a couple songs like “Easy” by the Commodores and “Tequila” there really wasn’t a lot here that I instantly recognized and the movie even managed to bring in some songs that I only recognized for having been sampled later on by bigger hits.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: The original Guardians of the Galaxy kind of shocked the industry with how receptive the public was to its quirky choice to incorporate a bunch of 70s pop songs to entertaining effect. For his follow up James Gunn seems to have been emboldened and while that hasn’t led him to fill the movie with super deep cuts it has caused him to broaden the scope of what fits and led him away from jokey selections like “Hooked on a Feeling.” Highlights include the “Mr. Blue Sky” opener and the previously nominated “Come a Little Bit Closer” and the thematically appropriate use of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” but the soundtrack also manages to make seemingly questionable choices like Cat Stevens’ “Father and Son” work.

Lady Bird: This would be something of a quality over quantity choice as this isn’t a movie that’s necessarily filled to the brim with music, but the choices they do make are an interesting riff on how music plays into day to day life. Most nostalgic coming of age movies carefully curate period soundtracks to represent the best of the music from when a movie is set, and there is a little bit of that here like its use of Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River” at a party scene and it’s rather strange use of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s “The Crossroads” at an extremely white school dance where it clearly doesn’t belong but the song that Lady Bird herself shows the most appreciation for is the decidedly uncool Dave Matthews Band song “Crash,” which she ends up defending in a sign of her rising above peer pressure and forming her own identity.

The Shape of Water: The Shape of Water is primarily a movie driven by its original score but it does have a handful of period songs that play into the film’s story in interesting way, primarily from a variety of pre-rock 60s songs that Elisa plays on her portable record player in order to reach out to the creature. The film uses some very 50s-ish tunes like Glenn Miller’s big band instrumental “I Know Why” as well as songs like Andy Williams’ “A Summer Place” which sets the period while also having lyrics that kind of play into the characters’ longing to escape from their situation. The film also curiously incorporates some classic crossover latin music like Carmen Miranda’s “Cica Cica Boom Chic” and Catarina Vilente’s “Babalu.” Most memorable though is the film’s use of Madeleine Peyroux’s jazzy French language number “La Javanaise” as a love theme of sorts.

T2: Trainspotting: T2 is the sequel to a movie with a truly legendary soundtrack so it has a lot of pressure put on it. Does it live up to that first set of OSTs? No, but it certainly tries. That first soundtrack primarily consisted of the newest and hippest music of the 90s and partially of some classic tracks by the likes of Iggy Pop and Lou Reed which were in many ways made cooler by their presence in that movie. Here they stick to the 90s/70s motif despite twenty years having passed which says that this is going to be a movie about people who are either living in or revisiting the past. Hearing music by the likes of Underworld and The Clash here doesn’t have quite the same impact but they are nonetheless well chosen songs that are integrated into the film quite well.

And the Golden Stake Goes To…

In previous years you've talked about how lopsided the musical performance category is when there's a genuine musical in the mix and I think there's a similar thing going on here with Baby Driver. Personally, I think the Guardians 2 soundtrack packed a much bigger emotional punch, but Wright mixes music with film so well and it's so integral to the film that it's really hard to argue with.


Oh, and I don't think Guardians is overdue. Boyhood used its soundtrack better. Guardians is more flashy and fun, but Boyhood feels more appropriate and emotionally resonant. Plus "Hooked on a Feeling" blows.

Best Cinematography

Cinematography is special amongst the visual tech categories in that it’s the one where people actually know the names of the tech person involved. Only the most dedicated know art directors or even costume designers by name but most decent film watchers know a cinematographer or two. This wasn’t necessarily the best year for recognizable names in this category but there were some veterans to nominate as well as some new faces. 

Blade Runner 2049: The original Blade Runner had rather innovative cinematography that was darker and slicker than what audiences usually expected from films in the early 80s and to live up to that Denis Villeneuve hired the legendary Roger Deakins. Shooting on digital in 4K Deakins captures the world of future L.A. and its surrounding areas in an incredibly smooth fashion. The movie does fall prey to shooting certain scenes under some blunt color filters but when everything is this stylish you’re ready to accept it.

A Cure for Wellness: And here I am, once again giving a Golden Stake nomination to this flawed horror movie no one cares about anymore. Cinematographer Bojan Bazelli shot the film on high definition digital and isn’t exactly trying to hide this fact but instead kind of leans into it and makes everything look incredibly crisp to the point of almost being creepily sterile, which matches with the film’s hospital-like setting.

Dunkirk: To bring the battle of Dunkirk to life Christopher Nolan employed Hoyte van Hoytema and decided to shoot a majority of the movie with IMAX cameras and the remaining scenes in 65mm. I’m still not a huge fan of his shifting aspect ratio format to go between these two formats, but when it’s in full IMAX mode the imagery they’re able to capture really is stunning and the fact that they needed to capture some of these images like this while flying in midair is also really impressive.

The Florida Project: With his last movie Sean Baker managed to earn a Golden Stake for a movie that was actually shot on a (heavily modified) iPhone but for his follow-up he’s gotten a bigger budget and this is actually the only film nominated this year to be shot on 35mm film. Baker and cinematographer Alexis Zabe certainly reap the benefits of that and find ways to convey that Florida sunshine and accentuate the garish colors of the buildings, but it also doesn’t sacrifice the grit that’s needed for this story at time.

Mudbound: Dee Rees and Rachel Morrison had hoped to shoot Mudbound on film but ultimately had to opt for digital out of budget concerns but didn’t seem to miss a step along the way. The photography in Mudbound is crisp and rich with beautiful lighting. It captures the sunlight excellently but also looks great during night scenes and during the rain. It also has a notably classical look but never resorts to using some hokey trick to convey this like sepia tones or anything.

And the Golden Stake Goes To…

I'd gone Deakins. Maybe that makes me a sheep, but that's how I feel. Think I might have gone with The Florida Project as my second choice.

I like to think that when the victors come on stage to collect their award, Drac plunges it deep into their hearts.

Villain of the Year

Villain of the Year is certainly a category that’s somewhat self-explanatory, but there are certain conditions I have in place that are pretty important. Firstly, the character needs to be more or less human or at least sentient, so no wild animals or monsters and no abstract concepts like “poverty” or something. Secondly, the villainous character needs to actively be an antagonist in the movie, so evil people who are basically the star of the film don’t count.

Ego – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: It took a while but in 2017 Marvel finally started to solve its villain problem. The first good sign was the presence of this character in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 who initially seems like a father figure for our hero but who actually has more sinister intentions. Introduced initially as a “small ‘g’ god” Ego in fact turns out to be living planet who can occasionally create human versions of himself who go out and do rather sinister things. In Kurt Russell mode the character is likable and he even manages to remain a pretty compelling concept when he turns into a CGI planet.

Martin – The Killing of a Sacred Deer: Martin is a character who doesn’t exactly seem like a villain when you first meet him, but there’s clearly something off about him even in this movie where there seems to be something off about everybody. Soon it becomes clear that Martin is a very malevolent force who has a sort of undefined supernatural power that is causing a sort of curse that is causing the rather harrowing situation that the protagonist finds himself in. Martin may have a slightly righteous reason to want vengeance, but make no mistake he’s a killer and his actions are rather evil.

Pennywise – It: Though the character obviously isn’t original to this movie, Pennywise remains one of the great supernatural horror villains and this particular iteration of him is noticeably strong. Bill Skarsgård, who is close to being the only name actor in the movie, manages to find a real good hybrid of the evil and the comical without feeling like a ripoff of The Joker or some other comparable villain and Pennywise manages to show up in the film in all sorts of interesting forms.

The Vulture – Spider-Man: Homecoming: Did I mention that Marvel started solving its villain problem in 2017? Well this is exhibit B. Unlike most Marvel villains The Vulture is human and actually has a decent backstory and understandable motivations. A blue collar contractor who was sort of ripped off by Tony Stark, this character has taken to the relatively down to earth crime of selling weapons to criminals that have been augmented with alien technology. The character also has a costume that does a good job making a very comic book concept seem kind of down to earth.

The Colonel - War for the Planet of the Apes: Towards the end of the 1970 film Beneath the Planet of the Apes out heroes stumble upon a group of mutated humans who worship a doomsday device with the greek letters alpha and omega written on it. Forty three years later this third film in the franchise reboot/prequel explores the roots of this cult, which was apparently led by an unnamed military man played by Woody Harrelson. Harrelson probably deserves a lot of credit for this as his character is a bit stock on paper but he really makes him this really imposing figure in the movie.

And the Golden Stake Goes To…

Having not seen Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Colonel would be my choice out of the other candidates.  The scene alone where he has that heart-to-heart with Caesar in his quarters is captivating.  Between that and Three Billboards, Woody Harrelson had a great year.

No love for the richly nuanced and in-depth villain of Steppenwolf?

Cameo of the Year

The Cameo of the Year award goes to brief performances in movies. It doesn’t strictly need to go to someone who is a celebrity but it does seem to have mostly gone that way this year. It’s not strictly judging the appearance on the acting that’s going on but that doesn’t hurt. Basically anyone I was happy and surprised to see in a movie can go here.

Mark Hamill – Brigsby Bear: In Brigsby Bear Mark Hamill plays a key role but one that doesn’t have an abundance of screen time. As the kidnapper who put the film’s protagonist in his predicament in the first place. His role is interesting as he seems benign when you first see him, then he disappears from the movie, making you wish you’d paid more attention to him when he was around before he finally returns in one of the final scenes of the movie. The film also adds in a fun little nod towards Hamill’s career as a voice actor by making it known that he was the voice of all the characters in the fictional Brigsby movies and he delivers one of these voices during his scene at the end.

Judd Apatow – The Disaster Artist: Judd Apatow is primarily a writer and a director, but he is capable of being a performer and he does so when he steps into The Disaster Artist as a character not unlike himself. In his scene he’s eating at a restaurant when Tommy Wiseau walks up to his table and, knowing him to be a producer attempts to read lines to impress him before being escorted out. The cameo comes with something of a meta element in that it’s set in a time period when Apatow would have been working on the cult favorite TV show “Freaks and Geeks” which introduced audiences to a young man named James Franco.

Bonnie Prince Billy – A Ghost Story: Will Oldham, AKA Bonnie Prince Billy, is a singer-songwriter famous for indie-music that I’m not terribly familiar with but he was the right choice for this memorable moment in A Ghost Story. During the scene the house that the ghost is essentially haunting becomes the site of a college party which is attended by this professor, who finds himself giving this rater pessamistic speech about the folly of building legacy which ties in a lot with the themes of the film. It’s a very talky scene in a movie that isn’t very talky at all and that makes it stand out.

Kristen Wiig – mother!: Kristen Wiig has a slightly bigger part in mother! than your average cameo but likely only has a few minutes of screen time and is certainly a surprise appearance of a celebrity so I think it counts. Wiig plays the agent/publisher of the Bardem character’s poetry, meaning that in the allegory she represents the pope or something and is basically the one ushering the most destructive misinterpretations of the poem and bringing more and more people into the house. That this role is being filled by a famous comedian makes the role stand out and Wiig does a good job fitting within the dramatic nature of the film.

Chris Evans – Spider-Man: Homecoming: There are good ways to make uses of a “cinematic universe” and there are bad ways, and this little Easter egg is one of the good ways. In it Peter Parker’s gym teacher (played by Hannibal Buress, himself a good cameo) is lazily playing the students a bunch of seemingly district mandated videos about a fitness challenge that are hosted by none other than Captain America. Of course back in Captain America: Civil War Steve Rogers and the U.S. government were on the outs, leading Buress to quip “pretty sure this guy’s a war criminal now, but whatever,” which is a good continuity save and a nice dig at how slow schools are to update stuff like that.

And the Golden Stake Goes To…

Best Supporting Actress

I didn’t plan for it to happen this way but in coming up with my five Best Supporting actress nominees a theme emerged. All of the women nominated here are playing characters who are mothers, usually mothers of daughters, and most of these characters are defined by their motherhood. Not exactly sure what was in the air this year which made that such a running theme in this year’s prestige films but that’s how it turned out.

Holly Hunter – The Big Sick: This first nominee is the one playing the character who could most objectively be called a “good” mother. Playing the mother of Kumail Nanjiani’s comatose girlfriend Hunter needs to be both frantically concerned about her sick daughter and also realistically passive aggressive towards Nanjiani. Over the course of the movie we see her warm up to Nanjiani in her own way and by the end you really get a sense for how loving she is.

Bria Vinaite- The Florida Project: Bria Vinaite would very decidedly not be considered to be one of the better mother characters here but she’s fascinating in the ways she is and isn’t a good mother. Vinaite is a non-actor and it would perhaps be easy to view her as simply playing herself on some level, but I’m opting to mostly give her the benefit of the doubt in this regard. I love how she can go from being completely ratchet and irresponsible one moment to being a genuinely lovable parent the next.

Allison Janney – I, Tonya: As much as Bria Vinaite’s character in The Florida Project makes you want to call Child Protective Services I’d probably still ultimately say she’s a better mother in a number of ways than the truly frightening mothering displayed by Allison Janney’s character in I, Tonya. Janney plays a winking devil of sorts, a really over the top character who nonetheless feels believable within the heightened tabloid reality of the film.

Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird: As the mother of the contentious teenager at the center of Lady Bird Laurie Metcalf is not the best of the mothers here but she’s also far from the worst. The character that Greta Gerwig wrote is certainly a prickly individual prone to doing some potentially unsympathetic things like her class based self-loathing and some of the less encouraging things she says to Lady Bird. Metcalf’s job is to find ways to make the audience understand where this woman is coming from and make her feel realistic and human.

Michelle Pfeiffer – mother!: Interestingly enough, the nominee here who is least defined by motherhood is the one who’s in a movie called mother!. Pfeiffer’s character in the movie has in fact reproduced and this is brought up at times in the movie but for the most part she serves more as a symbolic personification of humanity’s carelessness. Pfeiffer makes the character into an incredibly pushy lady who almost seems to have been programed to push the buttons of Jennifer Lawrence’s more meek character but Pfeiffer also manages to avoid being annoying to the audience while doing it.

And the Golden Stake Goes To…