The 2011 Omie Award Winners

Another year has gone by. It is that time ladies and gentlemen to reveal to winners of the people and pictures that should have been nominated for Oscars. (Side note: There were a number of people who voted for people or pictures that were nominated for Oscars. It’s not the point of the awards. This is for the ones left out of the running.) Here are the winners of the third annual Omie Awards.

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Picture goes to…

for the showing that nerd hero could triumph at the end,

Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Producers: Eric Glitter, Nira Park, Marc Platt and Edgar Wright

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Director goes to…

for winning his second Omie award as making a dizzying thriller taking place in the human mind,

Christopher Nolan, “Inception”

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Actor goes to…

for portraying a husband that is desperately trying to keep his marriage together, Dean,

Ryan Gosling, “Blue Valentine”

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Actress goes to…

for portraying the bad-ass, highly-intellectual computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander,

Noomi Rapace, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Supporting Actor goes to…

for portraying the betrayed friend/lesser known co-founder of Facebook, Eduardo Severin,

Andrew Garfield, “The Social Network”

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Supporting Actress goes to…

for playing a determined stage mother that might have a screw or two loose, Erica Sayers,

Barbara Hershey, “Black Swan”

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Original Song goes to…

for making epitome of teenage rebellion,

“We Are Sex Bob-omb,” from ”Scott Pilgrim vs the World”

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Foreign Language Film goes to…

a film that showed the ramifications of adultery, betrayal  and lust,

“I Am Love” . Director, Luca Guadagnino

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Animated Feature goes to…

for re-telling the classic story of Brothers Grimm’s, “Rapunzel”

“Tangled”. Directors, Nathan Greno and Byron Howard

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Original Screenplay goes to…

for the story of a young ballerina trying to find her inner dark side,

“Black Swan”. Written by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John J. McLaughlin

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Adapted Screenplay goes to…

for adapting the geeky anime-style manga book,

“Scott Pilgrim vs the World”. Written by Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright. Based on the graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley

The Omie Award for Most Deserving Documentary goes to…

for displaying a pointed look at the way the educational system is in disarray,

“Waiting for Superman”. Producers: Leslie Chilcott and Michael Birtel

And for the granddaddy of them all, The Suck-It! Award goes to…

for Clint Eastwood’s disaster of movie about psychics, death and the Tsunami, 

“Hereafter” nominated for Best Visual Effects.

Congratulations to all of the winners that should have been nominated for Oscars instead of safe choices that were nominated this year. especially, the “Scott Pilgrim” was has won the most with three, followed by “Black Swan” with two. I hope to see you again next year as the Academy screw over more deserving nominees for blah movies and performances.

My Top Ten Favorite Films of 2010

I know that this is late, but I tried to get all the movies that were nominated, but to no avail. My list will not have “The Kids Are All Right”, “Winter’s Bone,”"Blue Valentine” or “Biutiful”. This year was lackluster to say the least and I haven’t seen that many movies this year as I have in the past. It might change in the future. Here are my top ten favorite films of 2010.

10. Shutter Island - Even though this movie came out in the middle of February, I thought that it was a great change of pace from the Film Dump Months. It was shame that the movie was taken out of Oscar consideration for 2009. The movie was a tight adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel that boasts some great performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley. The way that the movie was edited made you want to do a double take.

9. The King’s Speech - I think that buzz surrounding this movie has made it prime for backlash. The unlikely friendship between the future king of England and a speech therapist would not be moving, but it was. I thought that it was a gorgeous movie to look at. The performances were solid, but I have to single out Geoffrey Rush as Lionel. I was happy that this unsung hero of British society has been honored in such a great way.

8. True Grit - The Coen Brothers have done the unthinkable. They made a remake that didn’t suck donkey balls. Halleloo! This gritty look at revenge in the Old West made me want to live during that time. Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn chewed the scene as a wad of tobacco. The true star of this movie is Hailee Steinfeld as the vengeful teenager searching the varmit that killed her father. It would be a nice companion piece with No Country for Old Men.

7. Greenberg – This little movie shows that Ben Stiller can do a lot more than being the straight man in Meet the Parents or a dumb, clueless model in Zoolander. Ben showed that a bipolar loner could be somewhat likable. The lead character of Greenberg made me feel like I was looking the mirror. Sometimes you don’t like what is looking back at you.

6.  Black Swan - I was glad that Darren Aronofsky is getting much needed love from the Academy for his latest effort. This movie coined a new term of the “psychosexual thriller”. A truly groundbreaking movie would trigger a response like that. The decent of a ballerina’s psyche into madness is really compelling to watch.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

I decided to stop pitying myself. Other than my eye, two things aren’t paralyzed, my imagination and my memory.

– Jean-Dominique Bauby

I have wanted to watch Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly for years, but I have not had the chance to watch until I saw it at the local library. The #220 Movie of All-Time on IMDb was nominated for four Oscars including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. I was so happy that I watched this film.

Based on the book of the same name, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly recounts the harrowing story of French Elle editor, Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) who was living the life when he is suddenly struck by a massive stroke. He wakes up after a three-week coma in a hospital in Bereck-sur-Mer. The audience could hear Jean-Do talking, but he does not realize that he cannot speak or move anything on his body, except his left eye.

Most of the movie is shown at Jean-Do’s perspective. Very first person. The audience could connect with the lead character this way and gets a taste of his new state of being. His personal doctor Lepage (Patrick Chesnais) discusses with him that he had a cerebrovascular episode that rendered him a vegetable except for blinking in his left eye, otherwise called “Locked-In Syndrome.”

The staff starts the rehabilitation program to help him regain some range of motion. You notice more and more that Jean-Do is always internally flirting with his female speech therapist, Henriette Roi (Marie-Josée Croze). He communicates with blinking once for “yes” and two for “no”, which progresses to Henriette teaching the alphabet in order of frequently used.

Jean-Do does not want to live with Locked-in Syndrome. He wants to die. He has momentary glimpses of his former life being the toast of the town, having a family with his companion, Céline (Emmanuelle Seigner) and being in love with his mistress, Inès (Agathe de La Fontaine). He recounts his many regrets and missed opportunities in his life. Jean-Do wants to tell his story. He decided to dictate his memoirs through Claude (Anne Consigny) one letter at a time.

I cannot imagine anybody except for an artist like Schnabel to make this movie happen. He paints a picture of sorrow, heartbreak, regret, but ultimately it is hopeful. No matters what life throws at you, you can overcome all obstacles. This speaks to the determination of Jean-Do, who did not want to exist, he wanted to leave his mark on life.

The cinematography transfixes the audience to the mindset of Jean-Do, to experience what he is experiencing. It was a great piece of cinema to gaze upon. You would think that hearing the alphabet being repeated a million times would annoy the hell out of you, but it didn’t.

Judgment: This is a perfect example of art imitating life.

Rating: 9/10

I’m watching "Ebert Presents At the Movies" right now and they’re discussing the 5 movies that made them critics. What are the 5 that made you a critic or a film lover?

The five films that made me a film lover: the first is "Stand by Me", because I love a coming of age story with foolmouthed kids. Second is "The Shawshank Redemption", because it is the perfect movie. I dare you to find a flaw in it. I double dog dare you. Next are "Shakespeare in Love" and "Saving Private Ryan" because I was theater nerd in high school and they made me want to watch my first Oscars ever. Last but not least is "Brokeback Mountain", I recently reviewed and I shared my expierence of watching the movie when it was in limited release. Having that shared expierence made me love the cinema.

Ask me anything

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Ya know it could be like this, just like this always.

– Jack Twist

Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain was the seminal movie that ignited my passion for the cinemas. I was obsessed with this movie when it came out. I didn’t see most of the Best Picture nominees that year for that reason. It was the be all, end all for me. It went on to when three Oscars including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Score. The Oscars were on my “shit list” for a long time that it did not win Best Picture, instead of giving it to Crash.

Summer 1963. Wyoming. A gruff rancher named Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and brooding Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) help out sheep herder Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid) move his flock on Brokeback Mountain without the park rangers smelling him out. It seems like everyday is the same with eating beans, watching the sheep; Ang Lee brilliant direction makes it fascinating to watch their relationship unfolded. Jack’s innocence softens Ennis’s tough exterior. He begins to express himself more.

One night, their friendship is changed forever after a night of drinking they have sex. Multiple questions arise: did Jack forced himself Ennis? Did they come together because they were the only humans around? Afterwards, they try to shake it off as a one time only occurrence. They can’t because they are beginning to fall in love with each other.

They thought that they could keep their relationship secret, but it is the worst kept secret. The work they are sent to do suffers as Aguirre’s flock is confused with another sheep herder and a massive snow storm cut their time short. Jack and Ennis have to go their separate. They don’t work to leave each other’s side, but it was a different time in 1963. They can’t run away together and go to Greenwich Village or San Francisco.

Ennis marries his longtime girlfriend, Alma (Michelle Williams) and quickly starts a family with her. Jack tries to get back into the rodeo circuit, but he  meets the forward, Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway). I never realized that each guy married a female version of each other. Alma is passive like Jack and Lureen is more take charge like Ennis. They try to lead “regular” lives as fate steps in to turn their worlds upside down.

I remember the first time that I saw the film at the Landmark Theater back in Houston. It was a couple of days after it opened in limited release that December. The line for the movie was around the corner. It was amazing to see straight and gay couples wanting to see this movie. The movie was packed. It sat on the very back of the theater. I wanted to soak the experience in. I’m glad I did. I laughed. I cried. I went on a journey with these characters.

Oh, how I love this movie. Let me count the ways. The beautiful, breathtaking mountain peaks captured on video by Rodrigo Pietro, the haunting score by Gustavo Santaolalla, the excellent acting by Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Williams. I was surprised that the movie only won three Oscars. It boggles the mind.

The movie is not perfect. I did have some troubles with Anne Hathaway towards the end of the movie and some of the small female roles were throw aways like Anna Faris and Linda Cardellini. There was also the conclusion of the relationship. It was a little cliché.

Judgment: This is a prime example of why the Oscars don’t know what the fuck qualifies as the Best Picture of the year.

Rating: 9.5/10

2011 Omie Award Nominees

Hello, people. I cannot believe it has been a year since the last “Omies”. This year was so lackluster that I had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get some worthy nominees for this year. Here are the nominees. You can only vote once per category. Make it count. If you see a nominee that it NOT on the list, you can write it in. It will count as a vote. The winners will be announced on the day before the Oscars. Happy Voting!