Thursday, December 28, 2006

2006 Review - Part Two: The Awards

Best Picture

1 The New World
The New World is a truly astonishing work of art. Malick’s filmmaking language is unlike anything else in contemporary cinema and his latest film is a breathtakingly imaginative, visionary and beautiful achievement which took my breath away

2 Brokeback Mountain
This adaptation of Annie Proulx’s devastating short story is one of the purest and most emotionally affecting romantic films to hit the big screen in living memory

3 Pan’s Labyrinth
This is the work of a filmmaker who has reached a new level of maturity in his work, a filmmaker who is pushing his abilities to the limit, and his picture is overflowing with creativity and passion

4 Caché
Caché is a stunningly clinical and intelligent film which commands the utmost attention throughout and will haunt the viewer’s thoughts long after it has finished

5 Keane
It is astonishing, emotionally lacerating filmmaking which left me breathless

6 Shortbus
John Cameron Mitchell’s new film is an explosion of joy; an exuberant celebration of love, sex and humanity

7 Grizzly Man
I’ve never seen anyone like Timothy Treadwell, and I’ve never seen a documentary quite like Grizzly Man

8 Children of Men
Children of Men is about as intelligent, gripping and adult as mainstream cinema gets

9 The Death of Mr Lazarescu
It certainly won’t be to everyone’s liking, and it will be too dark and emotional a journey for some, but I found it to be an incredibly powerful and involving experience

10 London to Brighton
This is the first film from writer/director Paul Andrew Williams - made on a shoestring budget with a cast of unknowns - and it’s a truly astonishing debut.
Honourable Mentions:
Capote
Casino Royale
A Cock and Bull Story
The Departed
The Host
Inside Man
The Queen
Red Road
The Squid and the Whale
Volver
Worst Picture

1 Tideland
This is a staggeringly self-indulgent, grating and ugly piece of work

2 Container
Container is a black-and-white film which runs for little over 70 minutes, but that’s just about 70 minutes too many.

3 The Wicker Man
A ghastly mish-mash of flashbacks, red herrings, bad acting and atrocious storytelling

4 Lady in the Water
The film seems completely rudderless, as if Shyamalan simply wrote down every idea that popped into his head one night and set himself the challenge of giving it all some sort of narrative shape

5 The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code is an illogical, uninteresting, borderline incompetent film which is a failure on almost every level

6 X-Men: The Last Stand
If this is, as the title indicates, the last in the X-Men series, then it’s a sad way for a once promising franchise to end

7 Shopgirl
This is nothing more than Steve Martin's middle-aged fantasy being played out on screen; and it ain't pretty

8 Hard Candy
Hard Candy is a nasty piece of work; utterly lacking in meaning and vaguely offensive for the way it uses this painfully serious subject for what is ultimately little more than an ugly exploitation flick

9 The Break-Up
Even though the film has three writers credited, none of them seem to have the faintest idea where this story is going.

10 The Black Dahlia
De Palma stopped being an interesting filmmaker about twenty years ago, and he stopped being a remotely competent filmmaker about ten years ago.
Dishonourable Mentions:
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Breaking and Entering
Derailed
Jarhead
Marie Antoinette
Match Point
Nacho Libre
Proof
Two for the Money
World Trade Centre
Best Actor
1 Damian Lewis - Keane
2 Ioan Fiscuteanu - The Death of Mr Lazarescu
3 Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
4 Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
5 Jeff Daniels - The Squid and the Whale
Best Actress
1 Helen Mirren - The Queen
2 Penélope Cruz - Volver
3 Ivana Banquero - Pan’s Labyrinth
4 Kate Winslet - Little Children
5 Lee Young-ae - Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Best Supporting Actor
1 Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain
2 Mark Wahlberg - The Departed
3 Michael Sheen - The Queen
4 Ray Winstone - The Proposition
5 Johnny Harris - London to Brighton
Best Supporting Actress
1 Amy Adams - Junebug
2 Q’Orianka Kilcher The New World
3 Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain
4 Georgia Groome - London to Brighton
5 Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada
Best Director
1 - Terrence Malick - The New World
2 - Michael Haneke - Caché
3 - Guillermo Del Toro - Pan’s Labyrinth
4 - Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
5 - Alfonso Cuarón - Children of Men
Best Original Screenplay
1 - The Queen
2 - Caché
3 - Pan’s Labyrinth
4 - Volver
5 - London to Brighton
Best Adapted Screenplay
1 - Brokeback Mountain
2 - Children of Men
3 - The Departed
4 - Capote
5 - A Cock and Bull Story
Documentary
1 - Grizzly Man
2 - Once in a Lifetime
3 - Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
4 - Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait
5 - Pucker Up: The Fine Art of Whistling
Cinematography
1 - The New World
2 - Miami Vice
3 - Superman Returns
4 - Pan’s Labyrinth
5 - Red Road
Editing
1 - Caché
2 - The Departed
3 - United 93
4 - The New World
5 - Shortbus
Original Score
1 - The New World
2 - Grizzly Man
3 - Brokeback Mountain
4 - The Proposition
5 - Superman Returns
Visual Effects
1 - Pan’s Labyrinth
2 - Children of Men
3 - Superman Returns
4 - The Host
5 - World Trade Centre
Production Design
1 - Children of Men
2 - Casino Royale
3 - Pan’s Labyrinth
4 - World Trade Centre
5 - The Queen
Costume Design
1 - The Devil Wears Prada
2 - Marie Antoinette
3 - The New World
4 - Brokeback Mountain
5 - Casino Royale
Best non-2006 cinema screening
1 - Sherlock Jr. (1924)
2 - The Fallen Idol (1948)
3 - La Belle Noiseuse (1991)
4 - I am Cuba (1964)
5 - The Dead (1987)
Cinema Experience of the Year
1 - Kinoautomat: One Man and His House
2 - Shortbus
3 - The New World
4 - Superman Returns (IMAX 3D)
5 - Caché