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Welcome to my sixth annual Breach Awards. I am including the best and worst of categories that are important to me. I also threw in a few creative categories that I like.
The number of nominations/winners varies depending on how much I care about the category. By my rules, I can be biased for unrelated reasons (usually political), and I
can only include films that I have actually seen for this year (except for the body of work category since that includes too many films). I may change a few of my choices
later based on films I have yet to see. I welcome both compliments and criticism, so feel free to email me here. Enjoy!
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Winner
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| Avatar | The Blind Side | The Hurt Locker | Inglourious Basterds | Up in the Air |
| Its unoriginal story prevents it from winning this prize. But it still deserves its spot among the nominees for being a film that revolutionizes filmmaking technology. James Cameron has paved the way for motion capture CGI and live action 3D for films to come. | This may not have fancy sets, costumes or direction, but it's just a really solid feel-good movie. In such bleak times it's good to be able to go to the theater and just watch a film about good people doing a good thing and having it pay off. | First of all, I'm glad there is finally a film about the Iraq war that isn't political in any way. Second, I nominate this film because it just makes one solid thriller, like a Hitchcock film. Several of the bomb-defusing scenes were my most intense moments in the theater this year. | Tarantino's best film yet. Not only does he have killer dialogue, fascinating characters, and a picture-perfect ending, but also there's a sense of enjoyment in watching how WWII should have ended. Despite all the death and horror, I consider this to be the feel-good film of the year, because everybody got what they deserve in it. | Critics said that Crash and There Will be Blood were films reflecting the Bush era. Well I think Up in the Air is a film reflecting the Obama era: a time where the economy is falling apart and those high up have other things to worry about. It's one of the best of the year for its snappy dialogue and relevance to the time. |
Best Popcorn Flick
Winner
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| Avatar | District 9 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Up | X-Men Origins: Wolverine |
| Unlike others, I'm not calling it best picture winner material due to its cliched story, but in a slow year, it makes for one awesome action movie. The numerous action sequences make it thrilling, the beautiful scenery make it wondrous, and the running time makes it worth the money. | I think what District 9 shows us is that you no longer need a huge inflated budget to make a great action movie. All you need is a creative story, one talented frontman, and knowing how to make something just as intriguing as it is entertaining. | Though it wasn't as great as the first Transformers, and though it clearly has its flaws, Michael Bay's Mega-hit is a Prime example of how people like me can be easily entertained by throwing as much visual and sound action at us. It's not pretty, but darn it, it works! | Runner-up for best popcorn flick is this year's Pixar film, which I think was their best since Toy Story 2. No other Pixar film had as much realism and heart as this one. And it marks the first film I've seen in 3D, a fad that looks like it's here to stay. | Though it's certainly not the strongest X-Men film, I still love it for the same reasons I've loved all the X-Men films before it: creative mutant action sequences, a stellar performance from Hugh Jackman, and an analogy to the prejudice of the real world. |
Worst Picture
Loser
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| Bright Star | The Last Station | Nine | A Serious Man | Terminator Salvation |
| I can measure how much I dislike a film by how many times I look at my watch during it. For this it was at least 20. I was on the verge of sleeping through this artsy dull cliched period romance that's a mere excuse to create lavish costumes like so many films before it. | All these actors did so much scenery chewing, I feared somebody might choke on the drywall. Fortunately, it wouldn't be a loss since the sets and other aspects were less flashy than the predictable story. | This film was like a terrible science experiment. What happens when you take some of the most talented actors of our time and put them all in a film where they receive absolutely no direction? Can they still act? The answer is a resounding no. | The Coen Brothers created a film that can be enjoyed by nobody but the Coen Brothers. As if anybody wants to see a guy's life collapse from every angle, and then leave out any sort of conclusion. That's what OUR lives are like, and we don't want to see them on screen! | To preserve my memory of how great the Terminator franchise is, I must forget this film ever happened. Or better yet, maybe I'll travel back in time and kill the producer who greenlit the film so that it will have never happened. |
Director
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Loser
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| Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) | Joel and Ethan Coen (A Serious Man) |
| James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino come close to winning this. But unlike their films, The Hurt Locker's quality I think is dependent almost entirely on the direction. There's not much to the screenplay or the performances, but Bigelow makes it exciting through her suspenseful tense-minded direction of the bomb defusing scenes. Plus I'd like to finally give this award to a woman for a change. | I think the Coen Brothers have gone mad with power, like Julius Caesar. But likewise, this will be the fall of their empire. No audience wants to see one man's depressing life onscreen without a single moment of uplift. Joel and Ethan, you guys have bored me to the point of no return. But if you make another Big Lebowski, I'll forgive you. |
Best Actor
Winner
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| Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) | Sharlto Copley (District 9) | Daniel Day-Lewis (Nine) | Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer) | Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) |
| To me, Jeff Bridges will always be "The Dude." But if he couldn't win an award for that film, then I'm happy to at least give him one for this film. It was a weak year for lead actor, but Bridges is still the standout for fully embodying a drunk has-been country singer, not to mention doing his own singing. The Dude abides. | Copley didn't get the awards attention he deserved, especially for such a newcomer. District 9 wouldn't have been the same without his character's transformation from chirpy South African diplomat to desperately mad alien weapon. But I'm sure the role has opened up many great opportunities for him now. | I think Daniel Day-Lewis is THE most talented actor in history. However, this performance wasn't nearly up to his brilliant standards. I guess he didn't get much direction since everybody else in this film was terrible. But even without good direction, he still managed to put in a good enough performance to make the final five. That's how talented he is. | Gordon-Levitt seems to be one of the fastest rising stars, and has the talent to back it up. 500 Days of Summer could have been merely a cutesy rom-com, but his performance of a guy who becomes a wreck after losing his love makes it all the more unique of a film. I see an Oscar nomination in his future some day. | When I first saw this film last summer I didn't think Renner had a chance to make the actor list. Later in the year I realized the competition wasn't so strong, so Renner was going to get in anyway. But he still put in a solid performance as the adrenaline-junkie bomb defuser. He made the character totally believable. |
Worst Actor
Loser
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| Christian Bale (Terminator Salvation) | Johnny Depp (Public Enemies) | Tom Hanks (Angels and Demons) |
| It seems as though Bale took a class at the Tom Cruise school of acting where he learned that intense stares and occasional teary-eyed yelling are what make a great performance. | It's difficult to see an actor as talented as Depp do so little with such a great role. It's like watching Michael Jordan miss and easy layup. | Once again, Hanks makes Robert Langdon a boring walking encyclopedia. At least this time he ditched the mullet. |
Best Actress
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Winner
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| Sanrda Bullock (The Blind Side) | Helen Mirren (The Last Station) | Carey Mulligan (An Education) | Zoe Saldana (Avatar) | Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia) |
| I'm happy to see after nearly 20 years, Bullock is finally getting the Oscar attention and strong roles that she has deserved. Her performance as the dominant Southern mother was as fiery and sweet as a hot tamale. | Nobody chews the scenery better than Helen Mirren, or possibly Judi Dench. Mirren really throws her whole weight into the performance of playing the most emotionally unstable woman ever. | Mulligan played a character that mentally ages several years on the screen and perfectly feels tortured by the responsibilities that come with it. I see a bright future ahead for this young starlet. | I still call Andy Serkis as Gollum the finest CGI performance to date, but Saldana comes close for creating a strong and prominent heroine, that falls right in place next to Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley. | After two prior nominations, I'm happy to finally give a Breach Award to Meryl Streep, who I believe might be the most talented actress in history. Every year she seems to outdo even herself, and this year was one of her best for embodying the iconic Julia Child head to toe. |
Worst Actress
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Loser
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| Malin Akerman (Watchmen) | Marion Cotillard (Nine) | Megan Fox (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) |
| I think they got the roles mixed up. She should have played Dr. Manhattan: the superhero who's emotionless and becoming increasingly detached from humanity. | Like the rest of the cast in this film, Cotillard can't do much when she's given no direction. Not to mention her real-life beliefs are completely disrespectful to victims of disaster. | Of course her only purpose in this film was to look good, and she did a good job at that. Maybe one day she'll bring some actual acting talent to her looking good talent. |
Best Supporting Actor
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Winner
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| Peter Capaldi (In the Loop) | Stephen Lang (Avatar) | Alfred Molina (An Education) | Peter Sarsgaard (An Education) | Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) |
| Now I see why so many critics groups went for him. Capaldi played the British director of communications like an English Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder. He was hilarious for his sadistic control over his employees through repeated insult, and plenty of movie character references. I could make a list of my favorite movie quotes, several of which will come from this guy. | So much attention in this film was given to the CGI characters that people completely overlooked Lang's performance as the victory by any means Col. Quaritch. Avatar wouldn't be the same without this futuristic Full Metal Jacket one man militia controlling the situation by turning it into chaos. | Molina keeps coming close to Oscar nominations but keeps coming up short. I've never been too impressed by his work, but enjoyed him in An Education for the dual performance of being a controlling turned permissive parent. In a stronger male acting year, he wouldn't have made the list, but I think it's still a career best for him. | Barely making the list is Peter Sarsgaard, someone I personally admire for going to the same university that I did. This performance doesn't quite live up to the ones he gave in Shattered Glass and Kinsey, but I think it was a pretty strong one nonetheless. And like always, there's something creepy and sinister behind his character. | Waltz made the most memorable Nazi performance since Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List. But Col. Landa has a different type of villainy, one that was perfectly played out by Waltz with his cheery gimmicks and metaphorical conversations. Basterds wouldn't have been nearly the same without him. |
Worst Supporting Actor
Loser
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| Eric Bana (Star Trek) | Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) | B.J. Novak (Inglourious Basterds) |
| Bana's performance was just splattered onto the walls. Was he trying to be evil or funny? I honestly couldn't tell. | Huston had none of the manipulative charm that Brian Cox brought to the character six years ago. If I didn't know better I'd say his character was a mutant himself, with the mutation of not being able to show any emotion. | I loved the Basterds cast, but why would Tarantino ask Ryan from The Office to fit in with a group of murdering scalping rebels? Somehow he just doesn't seem to be enough of a Basterd. |
Best Supporting Actress
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Winner
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| Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart) | Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) | Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) | Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) | Mo'Nique (Precious) |
| I've always thought Gyllenhaal never got the respect, nor awards attention that she deserved. Now I'd say she has one of her best performances yet playing the single mother looking for a father figure who won't hurt her again. I'm glad the Academy finally noticed. | Who would have thought that somebody from the Twilight franchise actually had acting talent? Kendrick was captivating and yet funny in a role that I see reflecting myself in many ways. | I almost regret giving her a Breach Award nomination for worst actress five years ago. But she's come a long way since Troy and has discovered the great roles that Quentin Tarantino always writes for women. | Slightly ahead of Kruger, I think Laurent had the best female performance in Basterds for playing the French girl who lost everything and is now willing to sacrifice everything else for revenge. She's like a WWII Beatrix Kiddo. | It's funny how the best of performances can come out of the unlikeliest of people. I never would have thought that the comedian Mo'Nique could have put in such a brutal, but heavily layered performance that she did. I always love pleasant surprises. |
Worst Supporting Actress
Loser
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| Nicole Kidman (Nine) | Rachel McAdams (Sherlock Holmes) | Sigourney Weaver (Avatar) |
| It's hard to pick a worst supporting actress from this film since there are so many great candidates. I think Kidman has the edge over Sophia Loren for being completely dull in a role that was clearly only cast for star power, even though that power seems to be fading. | She doesn't exactly fit into Victorian England. Sure Holmes needs a love interest, but couldn't it be somebody who doesn't seem like they missed their West Side Story audition? | We know Weaver and James Cameron are old buddies, but that's no reason to miscast her in his film. Why couldn't the Aliens have killed Ripley so she wouldn't come back to life in this film? |
Best Screenplay
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Winner
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| 500 Days of Summer | District 9 | Inglourious Basterds | Up | Up in the Air |
| It's hard to get me to like a romantic comedy. But when there's one that's truly original with a fresh approach and some clever methods, like in 500 Days of Summer, then I have to credit its screenplay for being so original and gratifying. | It may be an adapted screenplay, but I consider it to be truly original. The concept of writing an alien sci-fi movie as a metaphor for real-world politics and prejudices, and come up with a way to make it look like a documentary is a brilliant credit to the direction and the writing. | Tarantino is a brilliant writer. We all knew that already. But I didn't know he was THIS brilliant. He improved his extensive conversation dialogue skills by making them relevant to the plot. And he improved his story structure by creating three parallel plots that converge in a grand finale. Plus he knows how to write surprises. Well done, Quentin. | I think this is one of the best Pixar screenplays yet. It may not be the funniest or most action-packed. But I enjoyed it because it was the most real-world story they've written and one of the most heart-touching ones as well. I got quite emotional during some of these scenes. | First I credit Jason Reitman for his real-feeling snappy dialogue. Second I credit him for creating a very modern story where everybody is on the go and business is business without being personal. It's a story that makes you think about the times we live in. |
Worst Screenplay
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Loser
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| Invictus | Precious | Public Enemies | A Serious Man | Terminator Salvation |
| It feels as if this screenplay was written by somebody while reading an encyclopedia and a sports almanac. There is nothing learned from this film that couldn't have been learned from doing a little research and repeating cliched sports slogans in our heads like, "This is our destiny!" | I know this film impacted a lot of people. But frankly I think it's easy to impact people when you just throw every inner city problem into one script (ie, abuse, obesity, unwanted pregnancy, AIDS). The script just seems written to make everyone on the outside more grateful for their own lives. | Dillinger is such an awesome antihero that I eagerly awaited a film about him. Yet the screenplay doesn't make any caricature out of him. It just makes him a guy who robbed a few banks. This is not the thrilling Robin Hood story that I had envisioned. | I never thought the Coen Brothers would be on the worst screenplay list, but they did it. I could swear they've forgotten how to come up with random stuff and throw it all into a cohesive script. Now they just seem to be writing while watching their family home videos. Thanks for putting in the effort. | This is less the next chapter in the Terminator franchise than a mere episode of the Terminator television series. The majority of the script serves no purpose to fill in the holes of what is supposed to happen. Plus all the dialogue is campy and forced. |
Art Direction
Winner
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Loser
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| Sherlock Holmes | X-Men Origins: Wolverine |
| Though I enjoyed the fantasy world created in Avatar, I'll have to give the award to the art directors of Sherlock who are part of a dying breed that build real sets on a big action film instead of using complete CGI. | After four X-Men films, I'm beginning to notice a pattern. They always have the scene that takes place in some sort of underground concrete bunker that's falling apart, and it always looks the same. Couldn't they have tried a new direction this time? |
Cinematography
Winner
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Loser
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| Inglourious Basterds | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen |
| I'm a sucker for long tracking shots, and Basterds had quite a few. We get a tour of the entire French theater and where all characters are in a single shot. Plus I think the shots helped build the tension in some cases. | After the first Transformers, I told Michael Bay it was great but he has to pull the camera back a little, otherwise the action is too close to understand what's going on. For the sequel he didn't listen, so for that I give a worst cinematography award. |
Editing
Winner
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Loser
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| Avatar | Public Enemies |
| Editing is difficult in an action film since it has to cover all the elements but not be so fast you can't tell what's going on. For such a challenge, Avatar handled it perfectly. | I think the editing may have been the single biggest flaw of this film. Because of the poor job, I actually thought Dillinger was killed in a scene where he wasn't. The editing totally messed up my sense of things in this film. |
Costumes
Winner
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Loser
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| Bright Star | Star Trek |
| Why is it that it's always the worst films that have the best costumes? Well I suppose it's pretty easy to be recognized for your costumes when the main character wears something totally different each scene. But I have to admire the design for the color schemes and detail that was added to them. | I think they did a good job aging up the series in every aspect except for the costumes. Do you really think those pajama suits still really work for the film? I sure don't. |
Makeup
Winner
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Loser
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| District 9 | Terminator Salvation |
| Similar to the Two-Face makeup in The Dark Knight last year, this film did a fine job blending makeup and CGI into one seamless effect. | I think the "robot under the skin" makeup from Terminator 2 is one of the best makeup jobs in history. Odd how 17 years later they do an even worse job at it. |
Visual Effects
Winner
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Loser
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| Avatar | Angels and Demons |
| Each year it's getting harder to impress me and audiences with visual effects, because we seem to be at a point where finally ANYTHING can be done. But James Cameron finally found something that has never been done before. He was able to create several realistic CGI characters with fully-integrated human performances at once. The result is some of the best performances from CGI characters yet. Plus Cameron broke a few barriers in the 3D realm. | There weren't too many effects in this film, but those that existed didn't look that great. Most notably, when Ewan McGregor's character jumps out of the helicopter and parachutes down, something about the textures in that sequence didn't look quite right. Shame since Ron Howard often directs great effects in his films. |
Sound
Winner
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Loser
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| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Watchmen |
| Avatar is a close second, but I'm going to have to go with Transformers which had so many more layers of action going on at once compared to Avatar, that the mix must have been impossible. And the sound effects, everything from Ravage to the Constructicons, was perfectly mechanical but lifelike. | Like I said last year, you know there's a problem with a film's sound mix when they try and cover it all up with music. I could barely hear a single effect going on in this film. |
Score
Winner (original)
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Winner (re-mixed)
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Loser
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| Michael Giacchino (Up) | Steve Jablonsky (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) | Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders (The Hurt Locker) |
| Giacchino has done great work for Pixar before in The Incredibles and Ratatouille. But this might be his best yet for creating a whimsical score of adventure in the midst of a simple retirement life. | A lot of this is a rehash of the score from the first Transformers, but I think they integrated it well, particularly the hero theme during Optimus' big fight in the middle of the film. Plus the integration of Linkin Park's rock music into the score made it more awesome. | I liked Hurt Locker, but I don't know how it managed to get Oscar nominated for score when I can barely recall it having any music at all. Often when watching the film I thought it could have used some music cues. Plus, why did they need TWO composers for so little music? |
Song
Winner
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Loser
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| Linkin Park "New Divide" (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) | Beth Rowley "Wrapped Around Your Little Finger" (An Education) |
| I loved Linkin Park's "What I've Done" which played over the end credits to the first Transformers. Now their newest song "New Divide" plays not just in the credits, but into the context of the film as well. Even without the film though, it's a song I listen to over and over again at home. I wish I had it on Guitar Hero. | Of the film's I've seen, this one has the most boring song of all. But if you really want to be annoyed by a song, listen to "All is Love" from Where the Wild Things Are, performed by the reluctant underrehearsed children's choir. |
Young Actors
Male
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Female
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| Jae Head (The Blind Side) | Chloe Moretz (500 Days of Summer) |
| In some ways, he was the heart of Blind Side. This little guy with so much energy and self-confidence makes him a beacon of well-meaning but fun-loving kids everywhere. | She had such an odd role. Who would have thought that a guys significantly younger sister could also be his wise mentor? Moretz somehow felt so comfortable in the weird role that it worked out perfectly. |
Ensemble
Winner
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Loser
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| The cast of: Inglourious Basterds | The cast of: Nine |
| I have to credit Tarantino for casting mostly all unknown and foreign actors for a film, something you don't often see when you have a big budget. Giving significant parts to Europeans not known in the US like Melanie Laurent and Christoph Waltz, as well as finding acting talent in writer/directors like Eli Roth, and even finding the long lost talent of Mike Myers make Tarantino one special casting director. | Why would you cast so many Oscar winners, then give them roles that require no Oscar-winning talent at all? Beats the heck out of me. I know these actors are talented, but this was a career-worst performance for many of them. Even somebody like Daniel Day-Lewis had his high standards drop significantly. |
Most Overrated
Film
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Performance
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| The Hangover | George Clooney (Up in the Air) |
| Sure it was funny and clever. But I don't see what makes it so much better than any regular crude comedy churned out on an annual basis starring Will Ferrell or Seth Rogen. It makes for a good comedy, but I don't see what made it an awards contender and the highest grossing R-comedy ever. | I've been saying it for years and nobody's listened. So now I have to make it clear with an award for it. Clooney is an okay actor, but he ALWAYS plays the same guy. His character in Up in the Air is no different than if Danny Ocean switched jobs, or if Michael Clayton weren't so depressed. Clooney is decent, but he has no range and I don't understand why he keeps on getting nominated. The only exception might be O Brother Where Art Thou, but that was 10 years ago. |
Most Underrated
Film
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Performance
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| Zombieland | Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) |
| I'm not normally a fan of zombie movies, but I enjoyed Zombieland for combining gore with humor and throwing in some oddball characters. I think if more people had seen this film, they would have enjoyed it for its girl meets nerd love subplot, and for Woody Harrelson's slack-jawed zombie-killing machine. | Odd how three years ago, I gave Haley the award for most OVERrated actor for Little Children. Well I've reversed myself since I think Rorschach is the role that he should have been Oscar-nominated for. He really embodied the psychopath superhero. And when he took off the mask, you could see all the inner psycho built into his face. He was really the only decent thing about Watchmen. |
Best Body of Work
Male
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Female
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Christopher Plummer Up The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus 9 The Last Station |
Meryl Streep Julie and Julia Fantastic Mr. Fox It's Complicated |
| It's always great to see elder actors do their best work so late in their career. In the same year that Plummer turned 80, he got his first Oscar nomination for the drama Last Station, expanded to fantasy with Dr. Parnassus, and even got his share of animated films with Up and 9. | Two years ago I gave Streep the worst body of work award. I'd say she's gotten her act together since then. She gave an Oscar-worthy performance in Julie and Julia, earned great box-office from the female audience in It's Complicated, and like all great bodies of work, she did some animation in Mr. Fox. |
Worst Body of Work
Male
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Female
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Ewan McGregor Angels and Demons Men Who Stare at Goats Amelia |
Penelope Cruz G-Force Broken Embraces Nine |
| Ironic how I had McGregor in my year in advance predictions to get nominated for at least one of his several films this year. I certainly didn't expect ALL of them to bomb. Average RT score between these three: 36%. He didn't have that good of an '08 either. | To heck with her Oscar nomination, I still thought Nine was a bad film. I'm not a fan of Pedro Almodovar, so I won't give her the benefit of the doubt on Broken Embraces. But at least she had that superspy guinea pig movie to keep her career afloat. |
Best Hero
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Winner
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| Captain James Kirk (Star Trek) | Bryan Mills (Taken) | Tallahassee (Zombieland) |
| Though I'm not at all familiar with the classic Shatner version, I did enjoy Chris Pine's version for making Kirk a futuristic James Dean who just wants to get out there and take on the world, and get a few chicks while he's at it. | It's good to see even an older actor like Liam Neeson making such a bankable action star of himself. You have to love his character for doing anything he has to to find his kidnapped daughter, even torturing people to death. It's horribly necessary and enjoyable. | Nobody could have created such a unique character as Woody Harrelson did. He made a proficiently experienced zombie-killing machine who has an encyclopedic knowledge of movie quotes and a long yearning for Twinkies. He's adorably killer. |
Best Villain
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Winner
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| Devastator (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) | Col. Hans Landa (Inglourious Basterds) | Col. Miles Quaritch (Avatar) |
| Clearly this choice isn't based so much on character or acting, but on design. Seven contruction vehicles and over 52,000 rendered CGI parts combine to make one giant badass robot. He's the best Decepticon to date, and the only one with balls... literally! | After seeing this film, I spent weeks deciphering Col. Landa. He's not your typical Nazi movie villain interested in killing as many as possible. Landa doesn't care who he's working for, he just wants to be on the winning side. Perhaps that's the greatest evil of all. At least he got the most fitting ending imaginable. | Colonel's made for good villains this year. Stephen Lang stole every scene he was in with his all-controlling marine. His character's finest aspects came from line deliveries like, "It's my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed. Not with all of you." |
Best Action Choreography (my favorite category)
Winner
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Avatar Jake & Neytiri vs. Quaritch |
Taken Bryan vs. The Mob |
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Optimus Prime vs. Megatron, Starstream & Grindor |
X-Men Origins: Wolverine Wolverine & Sabretooth vs. Mutant X |
Zombieland Tallahassee vs. The Zombies at the theme park |
| This is the best action sequence of the year because other than being very long lasting, like any good action sequence it has phases. Each character gets more and more broken down as their weaponry gets taken away and the stakes get higher. The action was fast and the effects brilliant. | Any sequence in this film where Liam Neeson takes on multiple guys is great. But I'm going to have to go with the car chase sequence mid-way through for featuring cars, guns and fist fights all in one. | In a very close second for the win is this massive long-lasting robot battle, the kind that was sort of missing from the first Transformers. Watching Optimus take on three Decepticons at once smoothly and brutally shows us why he's the leader of the Autobots. | Wolverine has one on one matches with practically every character in this film. But I'd say the best is the climactic battle where Wolverine and Sabretooth team up to stop the mutant with a dozen combined powers. It's like ultimate mutant fighting. | This was SO creative. There is fun and humor in watching Woody Harrelson shotgun down zombies while riding the wild mouse, or seeing him rack up bodies with the oozie while hanging from the flying aces. Rides + weapons + zombies = one great action scene. |
Second-Best Action Choreography
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Winner
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District 9 Wikus vs. the Army |
Public Enemies Dillinger's Prison Escape |
Star Trek Kirk & Sulu vs. The Romulans |
Terminator Salvation Highway Chase |
Watchmen The Comedian vs. Ozymandias |
| This one had some pretty cool parts of blood and gore caused by high-tech weapons. It was pretty sweet seeing Wikkus walking around in the mechanical alien suit fighting. Come to think of it, both District 9 and Avatar had something just like that. Well I don't care. | This is kind of a slow and simple action sequence, but it was nicely choreographed. Dillinger gets through one level of the prison at a time by threatening each guard with a fake gun he whittled out. It's clever and fun. | In terms of action, I always prefer Wars over Trek. But this sequence wasn't bad. Sulu pulling out his retractable sword and showing off his fencing skills was pretty exciting. | This is nowhere as good as the classic highway chase from T2, or even the one in T3. Those ones were better since they were real instead of relying heavily on CGI. But this one was mildly entertaining nonetheless. | This is a neat little fist fight since it's fast, hard and alternates between fast and slow speed. It's like the fight sequences from 300 if you removed the swords. Zach Snyder really does fight scenes well. |
Best Original Filmmaking Concept
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Winner
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| Marc Webb, Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber (500 Days of Summer) | James Cameron (Avatar) | Neil Blomkamp (District 9) | Kathryn Bigelow & Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) | Jason Retiman (Up in the Air) |
| For the concept of the expectation/reality split screen. This was a really clever scene comparing what Tom thought would happen with what actually happened at the party. It's a clever way of showing in real time how Tom keeps getting disappointed. | For the concept of creating performance capture to duplicate all aspects of a performance. Though I agree with the EW columnist who said that you can't duplicate 100% of a performance, it was still impressive being able to capture voice, body movement, and facial expressions of multiple actors at once. The results really showed on the screen. | For the concept of creating a sci-fi film documentary-style. I'm sure the idea was initially gawked at since sci-fi films and documentaries rarely share the same audience. But the style allowed the viewer to see the alien situation in a more global context and see more political parallels than if the story were just told up front in third person. | For the concept of making a film about the Iraq war non-political. The reason why previous post-9/11 films like Lions for Lambs and Rendition failed is because nobody wants to see some political lecture onscreen. But Boal and Bigelow smartly took politics out of the picture and just made a thrilling story about the suspense of bomb defusion. It was fun without being preachy. | For the concept of firing real people. It was Reitman's decision to film several scenes of real-world people's reactions when they really did get fired. The effect is showing the impact the failing economy has had on millions of people, and real people rather than actors. And it shows that, dare I say, the new white house leadership won't be solving this problem any time soon. |
Most Creative Casting
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Winner
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| Ed Asner as Carl Fredricksen (Up) | Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach (Watchmen) | Mike Myers as General Ed Fenech (Inglourious Basterds) | Simon Pegg as Scotty (Star Trek) | Meryl Streep as Julia Child (Julie and Julia) |
| Ed Asner has often been typecast as the grumpy old retired guy. But Carl Fredricksen is more than just that, he's an adventurer, and Asner was perfect to play his grumpy recluse side as well as his sympathetic and adventrous side. | Post Oscar nomination, it seemed difficult to find a role that would suit an actor as oddball as Haley. But he found it as the psychotic superhero Rorschach. With the mask on, he's a faceless killer, but with the mask off he remains a faceless killer. Haley is the only guy who could have portrayed him so perfectly. | When an actor goes through disaster film after disaster film, what they really need is a fresh start with a new type of role. I'm glad to see Myers did just that in abandoning his crude comedies for a supporting role in a serious drama. His scene was small but he gave the character the British wit that Myers knows so well. | Star Trek must have been a nightmare for the casting directors, and a fun game for fanboys. They ended up with some pretty good choices to restart the iconic characters, but I'd say the best move is casting British comic actor Simon Pegg as Scotty. I guess you could say he's, "giving it all he's got." | Playing the most iconic television chef with one of the most unique personalities and voices is not easy. So you might as well go with the most talented actress out there: Meryl Streep. In full makeup Streep looked a lot like the French culinary expert. I'd take a cooking lesson from her any day. |
Best/Worst Line (Last Category)
Winner 1
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Winner 2
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Loser 1
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Loser 2
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Inglourious Basterds Lt. Aldo Raine: We will be cruel to the Germans, and through our cruelty they will know who we are. And they will find the evidence of our cruelty in the disemboweled, dismembered, and disfigured bodies of their brothers we leave behind us. And the German won't not be able to help themselves but to imagine the cruelty their brothers endured at our hands, and our boot heels, and the edge of our knives. And the German will be sickened by us, and the German will talk about us, and the German will fear us. And when the German closes their eyes at night and they're tortured by their subconscious for the evil they have done, it will be with thoughts of us they are tortured with. Sound good?. |
In the Loop Toby Wright: Well, I remember,the day that war was declared, I turned to the Minister, and he said..."That's that, then. Anyone want a mint?" |
Invictus Francois Pienaar: No Mr. President. Thank you. |
Terminator Salvation John Connor: What are you?! Marcus Wright: I don't know. |
| It's hard to pick just one quote from Basterds since there are so many great ones. But I'll have to go with Lt. Aldo Raine's speech to his Basterds. Such a fiery and graphic address, charismatically performed by Brad Pitt, get's me all fired up. After hearing it, I'm eager to go out and do some Nazi scalping myself. | In the Loop was one of the funniest movies of the year. I think this line made me laugh the loudest. It may not work out of context, but when you've seen the film, understand the characters, and have an appreciation for dry British wit, you'll be on the ground too. | This is such a cliched line. I saw it coming and could have said it aloud with the film. One person says thanks and the other says thanks back. That's how this film ends. The greatest achievement of one of the greatest political leaders of the modern time comes to an end with the line, "thank you." Come on! | This is the kind of line that looks good in the trailer but makes no sense in context. With the scene that this line is occurring in, it makes no sense for either character to be saying such a thing. The writers of this film are no better at dialogue than they are at a go-nowhere plot. |
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Well, I hope that you enjoyed my Sixth Annual Oscar Breach Awards. What a year it has been. Now we must wait another year for my Seventh Annual Breach Awards. Thank you for reading. |
