On the eve of the Academy Awards, McBone is proud to present the first annual McBone Awards. No red carpet. No gowns. No bad jokes. No sickening aftertaste of pomp and excess. No interest from the general public whatsoever. The McBone awards are based solely on the opinion of a panel of judges (me).
And in a truly banner year for film, the McBoners go to:
No Country for Old Men--Best film. Barely beats out There Will be Blood. And I mean just barely. This film is a poem.
Daniel Day-Louis--Best actor, in There Will be Blood. It kills me not to give this award to Josh Brolin for his flawless portrayal of Llewellyn Moss in NCFOM, but DD-Louis is transcendent and terrifying as Daniel Plainview.
Ellen Page--Best actress, in Juno. It feels odd to give this award to the star of a film I was lukewarm about. That's just how good Page was in this role.
Javier Bardem--Best supporting actor, in No Country for Old Men. Bardem's Anton Chigurh is one of the ten greatest villains ever to menace the screen. What else needs be said? "Call it." I should note that Philip Seymour Hoffman is the hard luck loser for his superb work in Charlie Wilson's War.
Vanessa Redgrave--Best supporting actress, in Atonement. I wanted to give this to Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton, but Redgrave defines what a great supporting actor should do--make the most of a minimal part. Her five minutes at the film's end are mesmerizing.
The Coen Brothers--Best director, No Country for Old Men. These guys have made many unforgettable films, and NCFOM ranks near the top of them. Flawless in nearly every way.
Don't agree with me? Maybe The Alex Awards will be more to your taste:
Best film: Atonement
Best actor: James McAvoy in Atonement
Best actress: Keira Knightley in Atonement
Best supporting actor: Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton
Best supporting actress: Vanessa Redgrave in Atonement
Best director: Joe Wright for Atonement
A NOTE FROM ALEX: I apologize for the ridiculous one sidedness of my selections, but in a film year like no other I've ever witnessed, where going to the movies felt miraculous over and over again, Atonement was the one that cut the deepest into me. I have yet to get away from its tragic, beautiful spell and I hope not to do so for a few weeks yet. It is not going to win any of the big awards tonight, but it gets all of mine! Do watch it!
nwb
5 comments:
McBone,
We're on the same wavelength with Best Film, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, but Best Director has to go with PT Anderson. That film was the commanding epic much like Giant. I'd also give them Best Cinematography. I mean the visual shot of the camera looking up from the oil well as the oil hits the lens. Or the reflection of the clouds in the pools of oil. Simply Beautiful!
I must say, I'm quite shocked that Alex is going against all of Peter Travers' picks this year, but since neither n & i have seen atonement we just don't know what the hell we're talking about. Netflix, here we come!
kb
Cinematography. I think you're right about that one kb. Striking, epic images. I really think TWBB and NCFOM are two of the great films of the decade. A lot of the awards could be tossups between the two.
nwb
Definitely the two best, if not, THE BEST.
NCFOM was such a tight script & incredibly acted. Perfect use of camera & sparse dialogue. & no music!! It's amazing even to see a film without little to no music in it these days.
The last great epic film I remember seeing was Once Upon A Time In America. Sergio Leone was the master.
Gangs of NY had potential to be one too, but it got too wrapped up in the Cameron Diaz syndrome (the need for a triangular love affair to make story move along & keep large audiences remotely interested).
I demand for more epics!!
kb
ps: Julie Christie will win for Best Actress & Cate Blanchett for I'm Not There. Gotta hand it to Blanchett for morphing into the androgynous Bob of '66. She's hands down the greatest actress of this generation.
I am sorry to have abandoned P.T. for my voting this year, kb! Actually, P.T. really liked Atonement (he gave it four stars) and complained about Keira not getting nominated for best actress. I am sure that NCFOM and TWBB are better movies (I really liked them both), but this one, as I said, just reached down and shook me, still does, and that's for me what film is ultimately about, emotion.
I loved Giant, by the way... if that's the kind of epic you guys are calling for, I'm there!
I have to say that I thought the Oscars chose beautifully last night. I am thrilled that Marion Cotillard won, in spite of her movie having been in French. However, the montages were ghastly. I was especially enraged to see that they spent two seconds on Ingmar Bergman's legacy. Two seconds for Bergman??????? Usually if you are a more important filmmaker, they spend more time on you, and actually sometimes you get your own little section like they did with Katherine Hepburn. How dare they insult Bergman that way? So as much as I love the Oscars, and all their glamorized foolishness, I am very mad at them at the moment.
At least the movies were great this year, I guess.
Alex
Alex,
That "death montage" was hands down the worst. I think they throw all of the people who they have never heard of in the middle while having the big stars at the beginning (ex. Heath Ledger). But Heath Ledger over Bergman AND Michaelangelo Antonioni is beyond repair. That was pathetic.
N was also outrage not only at Marion Cotillard won, but Tilda Swinton wins an Oscar where she plays a character with black hair. For all red heads, that is an abomination!
kb
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