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Welcome to my seventh 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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| 127 Hours | Inception | Shutter Island | The Social Network | The Town |
| What this film proves is that sometimes less is more. It seems nearly impossible to make an entertaining movie where the majority of the time it's just one actor stuck at the same location unable to do almost anything. But because the film delved so much into emotion, psychology and of course pain. A boring premise makes for a surprisingly riveting film. | Inception proves two things: that Hollywood still has some truly original ideas for film, and that there are such things as films for smart people. The brilliance of this film comes not only from the originality of the story, but every scene does something that has never been done before. That combined with several of the best technical aspects of the year certainly make it one of the best films of the year. | It's great to know that Scorsese isn't limited to just gangster flicks. He'a apparently also a master of the psychological thriller. In this piece he generated great performances from the entire ensemble, kept the suspense levels high, and created one of the greatest twist endings that seemed so obvious after hearing it. Well done Marty. | What's most remarkable is how a story of such inspiration, drama, and character could have come from a recent slice of real life. Aside from Aaron Sorkin's great dialogue and the intense performances, I love this film for finally putting it on display what socializing in the modern world has become: a detached and ugly thing, just like the people who started it. | Combined with Gone Baby Gone, Ben Affleck is proving himself to be a reliable action thriller director to the likes of Scorsese. He made The Town an exciting chase and a thoughtful cultural analysis full of several well-acted performances. Plus, there's a certain thrill you get out of an action scene that takes place at Fenway Park. |
Best Popcorn Flick
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Winner
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| How to Train Your Dragon | Inception | Scott Pilgrim vs. The World | Toy Story 3 | Tron: Legacy |
| It's no Pixar film, but apparently Dreamworks is getting really close to Pixar levels of animated film quality. They've nailed down the heart of the story, the stylization of animation and music, and the broad age-range. I just think they need to start casting based more on talent and less on star power, and they'll be in the zone. | I believe Christopher Nolan is the new master of the entertainment blockbuster. Not only does he invent original stories and action sequences that have never been done before, but he makes movies for the thinking man. The brilliance behind something so complicated yet so perfect makes for an awesome braingasm, while never loosing sight of the characters and fun at the base. | It takes a lot for me to like a romantic comedy since most of them are formulaic cliched factory rollouts. But when it's truly something unique and fun like this one, I am delightfully intrigued. The relatively believeable romantic plotline is coated with visual candy of aweseome fight sequences and pop culture video game references. It's the rom-com for fanboys. | I've said this several times before but I think I have to say it again. This is Pixar's best film ever! It had all the humor, memorable characters, stylish animation, and clever sequences that the studio has been known for. But also, it has more heart than any of its predecessors. An animated film that fequently makes grown men cry is truly something unique. | If modern action films are going to be this highly dependent on CGI with few if any stunts, then they should really consider making their action sequences as thrilling and original as those in Tron. Plus the story was original and had heart. And the film marks the best use of 3D for the year. |
Worst Picture
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Loser
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| Blue Valentine | The Expendables | I Am Love | The Kids Are All Right | Winter's Bone |
| Like I said with Revolutionary Road, just because a film has good acting does not make it a good film. I believe films should be artistic and original, but their main purpose is to be entertaining. If this film did one thing to people, it did not entertain them. It depressed them. No good person should have to endure this film. | The idea of stuffing all classic action stars from the '80s into one bloody grindhouse action movie sounded good at first. But something got lost in the making, like action. A film that promises to be the most hardcore testosterone-fueled fist bump ended up being relatively tame for itself. Have the guys really gotten too old for it? | THIS is why Americans don't like seeing foreign films. Because most of the time they are amazingly boring and incredibly stupid. You know how in Inception, they talk about how if you die you'll be stuck in limbo for decades until you grow old and your brains turn into scrambled mush? That's exactly what it feels like to watch this film. | Like I said with Milk and A Single Man, this film is doing more harm than good when it comes to creating a more accepting image for the gay community. Couldn't they have given lesbian couples a little more credit than this? Besides, is it me or did they forget to film a few wrap-up scenes near the end? | I can often measure how much I dislike a film by how frequently I look at my watch. During this film, I didn't go more than five minutes without looking. The film was so dull that I kept on trying to convince myself that a girl walking from one house to another is a stunning turn of events. Obviously, I was kidding myself as boredom relief. |
Director
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Loser
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| Danny Boyle (127 Hours) | Debra Granik (Winter's Bone) |
| Two years ago I was debating whether to give this award to Christopher Nolan or Danny Boyle. I'm going through the same debate this year, and since I went with the former last time, I'll go with the latter this time. Combined with his work in Slumdog Millionaire Boyle intensifies every moment of a dull simple situation through his cuts, angles and shots. This was likely the most difficult film of the year to direct, and Boyle did it miraculously. | Perhaps you read my non-PC rant column last week about how woman-directed films always seem to suck. Don't believe me? I give you Winter's Bone. I believe Granik belongs in the company of Julie Taymor, Sofia Coppola and Mira Nair as women directors who make one cruddy film after another and yet still manage to get green lights. Something must be done. |
Best Actor
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Winner
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| Jeff Bridges (True Grit) | Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) | Colin Firth (The King's Speech) | James Franco (127 Hours) | Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine) |
| It's rare and always comforting to see an actor put in multiple career-best performances so late in their career. Bridges' performance in Grit was just about as impressive as his work last year for Crazy Heart, but it's a totally different role. It's much more solumn and much less easier to comprehend. | Even Shia Labeouf couldn't have done such a great job playing a fast-talking anti-social college Jew. Whether this character is the real Mark Zuckerberg or not, Eisenberg really created an original character that will be studied for the ages like Michael Corleone or Charles Foster Kane. He's just that complex. | I've sort of given Firth flack in the past for always playing the same Mr. Darcy type characters without much range. I take it all back since now he has given by far his best performance ever as the stuttering introverted confidence-lacking king. With so many elements crammed into one neurotic role, I'll forget all about how terrible A Single Man was. | It's partially about how I relate to this character, being a native Utahn who's enjoyed hiking the canyons of Arches Park. It's also because Franco shows a canyon-wide range of emotions spanning from cheery adventurer to a mournful soul, and topping it off with the most painfully accurate portrayal of self-inflicting pain on screen. | I have a theory. Playing a villain is easy because it's fun. Playing a comical jerk is easy because it's fun. But playing a realistic heartless jerk is extremely hard because every impulse fights doing it. That's why Gosling's realistic performance as an abusive careless self-centered husband is so challenging and so memorable. |
Worst Actor
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Loser
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| Nicolas Cage (Kick-Ass) | Sylvester Stallone (The Expendables) | Sam Worthington (Clash of the Titans) |
| These days Cage does about six films every year, a likely effort to solve his own tax issues. Consequently he does a terrible job at picking scripts. And even good scripts like Kick-Ass are ones that he treats without effort as if it's just another paycheck. | I think Sly Stallone has gotten to an age where his fighting and action skills have become as slow and handicapped as his speech has always been. Come to think of it, perhaps The King's Speech should have been about Stallone's inability to speak instead of the King's. | He may be the lead star of the highest grossing film of all time, but Worthington's career is on shaky ground. If he doesn't start showing some real emotion in his performances, he's going to go the way of Orlando Bloom and become a has been pretty boy actioneer. |
Best Actress
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Winner
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| Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right) | Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone) | Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right) | Natalie Portman (Black Swan) | Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine) |
| Despite her performance not being quite as strong as Julianne Moore's, and despite my distaste for her personally, I admit Bening did a decent job of essentially playing the man of the house. Often it's anti-feminine roles that end up being the strongest performances for actresses, and this role is the perfect example of that. | To be honest, I'm not THAT enthusiastic about Lawrence's performance, and this nomination is due mostly to a lack of options. It doesn't seem that challenging of a role once you get into it, but I'll still give Lawrence kudos for being willing to take on a risky role in a risky project. And I'll acknowledge that it's a good performance when you consider her lack of significant experience. | Contrary to what all other awards would have you believe, I found Moore to be much better than Bening in this film. As the renegade lesbian who goes rogue and has an affair with a man, her character had more of a story arc, more development, and more conflict. This helps top off the always impressive career from the always impressive yet unrewarded Julianne Moore. | I've been a fan of Portman for almost twelve years now, more often because of her looks than her talent. But now I can honestly say that her acting is undeniably among the best of modern actresses. In one film she goes from sweet aspiring dancer to schizophrenic masochistic cut-throat (literally) competitor. Range is a virtue and Portman is a treasure. | Like she did in Brokeback Mountaion, Williams is a master of playing a realistic woman going through the worst kind of relationship issues. In both the subtle and extravagant scenes, she delivers just the right emotions. She also deserves big credit for the underrated brilliant supporting performance in Shutter Island this year. |
Worst Actress
Loser
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| Tilda Swinton (I Am Love) | Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) | Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) |
| I honestly think Swinton has done nothing but bad work since her Oscar win. That's an unfortunate curse that sometimes occurs. Sure she did a decent job speaking Italian in this, but she did nothing else amazing. And FYI, Swinton is one of those actresses that I did NOT need to see naked. | I do think this up and rising star has a lot of promise in her. But when your first major role essentially involves you walking around in a green-screen world where you show no emotion other than confused, it doesn't really help to pad your resume. | Winstead may be cute with her Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine inspired hair, but was sort of a drag on the whole film. Why would Scott Pilgrim fight life and limb for a girl that hardly expresses the slightest amount of interest in him? More accuratley, Winstead hardly expressed the slightest interest in the role. |
Best Supporting Actor
Winner
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| Christian Bale (The Fighter) | Matt Damon (True Grit) | Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) | Jeremy Renner (The Town) | Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech) |
| I've always heard about Bale's dedicated Daniel Day-Lewis-like method acting, but I never really saw the same quality in the results. That was until now. His going to any lengths method is on full display as the crack-addicted thick Boston-accented charismatic personality. When you see the real Dickey Ecklund at the end, you realize just how spot on Bale was. | Damon has sort of had a string of performances where he was good but not great, and this is another which only barely makes the final five. But Damon still fit into the Coen Brothers' vision well as the loosehand ranger searching for his bounty and caring only about his prize. Plus he feels like he fits in the classic westerns of the '50s. | Though there were many great supporting actors in this film like Armie Hammer and Justin Timberlake, it's Garfield whose conned young aspiring former-CFO character stands out among a sea of talent. In that final scene where he's panting out of the mere shock of betrayal is a heart-breaking slice of how corporate business really works and how humanity is forgotten. | I just realized there are lots of actors I'm giving credit to this year for nailing Boston accents (Bale, Leo, Lively, Dicaprio), but none of them do it with the combined brutal tenacity of Renner. This category has been known for some great scene-stealing villains, and Renner is the fiercest one of the year. | Though it's not nearly as great as Rush's thespian work in Shine, Quills, or even Pirates of the Caribbean, being one of my favorite actors means Rush always puts in a spectacular performance. This time it was more somber and reserved than his other work, but I still appreciated it for his diction and theatrics. |
Worst Supporting Actor
Loser
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| Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2) | Ralph Fiennes (Clash of the Titans) | Brandon Routh (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) |
| I gave Terrence Howard a nomination in this category two years ago for the same role. Some would say it's the role, but I think it's the actors. Cheadle continues the tradition of making Rhodey a dull emotionless unreadable sidekick. | Fiennes is one of those actors who has just as many good performances in bad films as bad performances in good films. This is a rare case where it is a bad performance AND bad film. Someone needs to tell him that Hades is not a 80 year old stroke victim. | I've only seen two movies with Routh in it (hasn't done many more than that) and both times he has appeared on my worst acting list. I would call that a challenging feat in of itself. Although I am grateful that his character was killed before he was given anymore challenging lines. |
Best Supporting Actress
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Winner
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| Amy Adams (The Fighter) | Barbara Hershey (Black Swan) | Mila Kunis (Black Swan) | Melissa Leo (The Fighter) | Blake Lively (The Town) |
| Adams now joins Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet as actresses with four of my Breach Award nominations. This proves that Adams is one of the most talented actresses working today. Every performance of hers is so different and comes right out of her soul, including this inner-city down-beat bartender character. It's so different than the good girl characters she usually does. | Black Swan was a showcase for several talented actresses inluding Portman, Kunis and Winona Ryder. But I'm giving Hershey this last slot for being a freaky model of the pageant mother that we all hear about. Her obsession with living through her own daughter's success is a scary thing and I'm glad to see Hershey make something of a comeback late in her career. | Kunis has recently surpassed Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace as the alum of That '70s Show with the greatest movie career prospects. She nearly got Oscar nominated for her sumptuous sphinx role as the friend/enemy ballerina. I think we'll be seeing a lot more of Kunis in both comedies and dramas in years to come. | I may have given her some flack for her last nomination since I really didn't like Frozen River. But now my opinion of her has switched around as she puts in another great performance full of meat. Her character embodies everything that's wrong with pageant moms who force their children into competitions with no regard for their happiness or safety in order to live out their own lost dreams. | I really don't think Lively got enough credit during the season for this role. I never had her pegged as a talented actress prior to this, but she really immersed herself into this inner city drug addict baby mama role so naturally. I think this is an actress that directors should start considering more for serious roles. |
Worst Supporting Actress
Loser
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| Gemma Arterton (Clash of the Titans) | Ellen Page (Inception) | Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man 2) |
| Between this and Prince of Persia, Arterton is proving herself to be the next Megan Fox: a pretty face but with no real acting talent on the inside. I also nearly gave her the worst body of work of the year award, but I didn't feel that cruel. | Christopher Nolan is good at casting actors. Actresses are another story. Page follows the footsteps of Katie Holmes and Scarlett Johanson as a miscast Nolan girl. Page may be smart but I didn't buy it for a minute that she knew anything about architecture. | What should have been Paltrow's big comeback performance this year of Country Strong turned out to be a country western dud. Therefore, this is her greatest accomplishment of 2010, and that that doesn't say much. Scarlett Johanson wasn't any better, but at least she was something to look at. |
Best Screenplay
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Winner
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| Black Swan | Inception | The Social Network | The Town | Toy Story 3 |
| This was a great idea for an original story. Taking a known tale like that of Swan Lake and having the life of its lead performer parallel exactly what happens in the tale, but through a much darker and scarier way. This is the kind of original story that I wish Hollywood would write more of. It's something original and yet familiar. | What Inception's screenplay lacks in dialogue, it makes up for in story, and I mean one of the most original stories ever written. Nobody has ever written anything similar to the concept of dream sharing let alone making it several levels deep. It's by far the most complicated story of the year, and yet when all is said and done it makes perfect sense. I hate it when films don't make sense. | The keywords everyone uses in describing this film are "snappy dialogue." And I agree. I've given Breach Award nominatiosn to a lot of screenplays because of their clever dialogue (Inglourious Basterds, Little Miss Sunshine, any film by Jason Reitman). And Aaron Sorkin's script is right up there with them, wrapped around a factual but still entertaining storyline. | For all the complaints about Ben Affleck, lest we forget that he is an Oscar-winning screenwriter for the inspriring Good Will Hunting. Now he's done it again by not only writing a thrilling and original story, but once again gets in deep with the inner-city cultural references and dialects. | The geniuses at Pixar have come up with some brilliantly original screenplays over the years. And though Toy Story 3 may not be the funniest, the most stylized, or the most action-packed, it certainly is the one where emotions run the highest. Not since The Lion King have I cried at an animated film. That's the power of the story. |
Worst Screenplay
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Loser
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| The Expendables | The Fighter | I Am Love | Shrek Forever After | Winter's Bone |
| This is what happens when you start with a good idea, but allow too many external forces to interfere with that idea. The concept of putting a bunch of legendary action stars into one film sounded good until the script was made too short, too cliche, too non-violent, and without any memorable catchlines that these actors are known for. | What happens when you take Rocky, Raging Bull, three other boxing movies, plus some Ray for good measure, put them in a blender and see what smoothie it makes? Appartently it's this "original" screenplay that is anything but original. True story or not, everything in this film feels completely borrowed. | I'll just throw it out there: Eurotrash almost always sucks. Like a lot of indie Euro films, this screenplay had no story whatsoever. It's just a bunch of unconnected events. They're not even events, they're just people talking and having sex. At best, the film's dialogue is on par with that of a softcore porn movie. | While I admit the story improved a bit over the overcrowded poorly-lessoned threequel, the problem with the fourth film is that it managed to be the least funny of the notoriously funny franchise. During the script's surgery, they seemed to have thrown in an extra heart, but pulled out the funny bone. | Speaking of bones, what exactly does this film's title mean anyways? Not only was the title poorly written, but the story was overly simple with no development of anykind, and no character says more than two words at a time. That's no script. That's just some director telling actors to walk around and look depressed. |
Art Direction
Winner
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Loser
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| Shutter Island | Clash of the Titans |
| The sets of Shutter Island were an integral part of the film. Art director Dante Ferretti had to build gigantic sets of an entire insane asylum that had to create the mystery and the thrills of the film, while still serving practical purposes and looking decades old. | The sets of Clash looked like they were made on the budget for an HBO movie at best. Plus all CGI sets, and there were a lot of them, looked too fake for appreciation. Anything bigger than an apartment was made with CGI. What ever happened to taking a little effort to try and build something in the real world? |
Cinematography
Winner
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Loser
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| 127 Hours | I Am Love |
| Narrowly beating out Inception and Black Swan, I'm choosing 127 for it's ability to find a variety of unique camera angles from a very limited cramped space. Through the personal camcorder, inside the water bottle, sliding through the drinking straw; these are all unique shots that made the simple film all that more complicated and unique. | I hated many things about this film, and the cinematography just adds to it. The shots were all wide and unfocused, without giving a clue as to what's supposed to be going on. That really would have helped since most of the time I had no idea what was going on. It seems like the director wanted the easy way out and shot everything the simplest way possible. |
Editing
Winner
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Loser
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| Inception | Iron Man 2 |
| Even people who know nothing about editing know that this was one of the worst Oscar snubs. Action sequences like the ones in Inception always require tricky editing, but the film's simultaneous multi-dream level sequences required lots of quick cutting between levels with perfect timing and without losing anyone. Lee Smith pulled it off perfectly and would have deserved the Oscar. | I'm still getting the hang of what makes good editing and bad editing. But I believe a film like this where the action sequences are cut in such a pattern that keeps it difficult to keep track of where you are and who you are looking at is a bad case. Plus I can think of three or four scenes that could have been completely edited out. |
Costumes
Winner
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Loser
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| Alice in Wonderland | Kick-Ass |
| Colleen Atwood's costumes in Tim Burton films have always been a lavish sight to bear. Their collaborative work in Alice is right up there with Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd. The lush wardrobes of the Red Queen, the White Queen, and the Mad Hatter are imaginatively and hauntingly appropriate for the Burtonesque fantasy. | I know these are supposed to be accurate to the comic books, but why couldn't they have been like the Christopher Nolan Batman costumes which combined accuracy with practicality. Lots of the superhero suits in this film looked like they would be more of a burden than a helpful disguise. Even amateur superheroes like this would understand the need for practicality. |
Makeup
Winner
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Loser
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| Alice in Wonderland | Blue Valentine |
| After Dark Knight and District 9, filmmakers have discovered how makeup and visual effects could be used in sync to create some of the most irregular faces. Alice continues that tradition by giving Johnny Depp some creepy clown makeup then digitally enlarging his eyes and giving Helena Bonham-Carter some crazy hair and enlarging her head. | The makeup artists may have done a good job at aging Ryan Gosling by five years as the film progresses, but they didn't seem to do anything to age Michelle Williams. It creates a weird lack of symmetry as if she stepped into a time machine and he didn't. Perhaps that's an underlying plot which explains that sci-fi hotel room. |
Visual Effects
Winner
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Loser
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| Inception | Clash of the Titans |
| The last several years I have chosen the film with the most realistic CGI as the best visual effects of the year. Now that lots of films have perfect CGI, I'm doing something different and going with a film with more tricky practical non-CGI effects. That film is Inception which brilliantly performed anti-gravity and spinning room effects with little or no CGI. The lack of CGI makes it more challenging and more impressive. | As visual effects are quickly being perfected and easier to access, it's becoming more difficult for find films worthy of the worst visual effects title. But Clash certainly deserves the title this year, not only for its poorly- texturized giant scorpions or its crudely-animated Medusa, but for leading the way in showing what rushed 3D rendering can look like. |
Sound
Winner
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Loser
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| Tron: Legacy | The Expendables |
| Tron was a triumph of several technical categories. But I'm most interested in highlighting its sound effects and sound mix. Aside from creating the digital sounds of jets, speed bikes and disc games, it did some creative effects you wouldn't expect such as the synthesized voices of the female programs. This was all assembled in a perfectly fluid sound mix. | The sounds of an action-heavy movie like this were all a blur. The fight sequences at the end had too much going on and yet the sound mixers hardly gave each their own unique mix in order to distinguish one from another. This combined with the film's poor editing job make it a case of how action sequences can be poorly done even with big action stars. |
Score
Winner
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Loser
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| Hans Zimmer (Inception) | Randy Newman (Toy Story 3) |
| With the semi-retirement of John Williams, films have been somewhat lacking in great scores the last few years. Then Inception came along and provided the most memorable score since Lord of the Rings. Hans Zimmer is one of the greatest composers ever, and in this film with it's soft/power interchanges help make it one of the best films of the year. THWOOOOOONG | Is it me, or does Randy Newman not have the same spunk and heart in his scores that he used to have? Toy Story 3 managed to be an entertaining and emotional film, but I think it did that despite it's lack of a memorable or hardly even noticeable score. He's still a really good song writer though. |
Song
Winner
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Loser
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| Avril Lavigne "Alice" (Alice in Wonderland) | A.R. Rahman, Dido "If I Rise" (127 Hours) |
| To be honest, this was a pretty weak year for songs on film. This pop song that played during the end credits of Alice and came with its own music video was the only one I liked. I judge song by how long they stay in my head and whether or not I mind it. This one was stuck in there for a while and I didn't mind one bit. | After obligating myself to listen to the original song contenders again and again, this one tormented my brain again and again like nails on a blackboard. It's hardly even creative. There's few if any lyrics and the music is repetitive and droaning like a vacuum cleaner. I don't think A.R. Rahman's score for the film was that impressive either. |
Young Actors
Male
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Female
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| Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) | Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) |
| Though I admit that this choice is partially due to a complete lack of any competition, it shouldn't diminish the fact that Hutcherson makes for a good up and rising young actor. He did a great job portraying the discomfort and embarassment that every teenager gets from their parents, without even treating his lesbian parents any differently as he would normal ones. | I didn't think she was quite up to the level of being in the supporting actress race, but I have no problem giving Steinfeld the young actress award in a crowded year besting Jennifer Lawrence and Chloe Moretz. Hailee was really the heart of this film by taking on such a mature rugged role and pulling it off so naturally. I wonder if we have a new child actor prodigy on our hands. |
Ensemble
Winner
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Loser
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| The cast of: Shutter Island | The cast of: Alice in Wonderland |
| What makes this cast great is that it is large and every actor gets a scene to shine, possibly their only scene. Within an hour we go from Jackie Earle Haley's locked-up murdering scarred psycho to Patricia Clarkson's paranoid hiding wise woman to Emily Mortimer's faked mental patient performance. Then Michelle Williams, Ted Levine, Max Von Sydow and the rest dazzle the remaining time. | I know Tim Burton is one of those directors who likes to work with the same actors over and over again, but sometimes it's a little much. Burton favorites like Alan Rickman, Michael Gough and Christopher Lee were painfully squeezed into roles that they didn't fit. Plus the idea of giving the Mad Hatter and the Red Queen exceedingly large roles for the sake of Johnny and Helena seemed like too much of a cheat. |
Most Overrated
Film
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Performance
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| The Fighter | Helena Bonham-Carter (The King's Speech) |
| The Fighter is not a bad film, but I fail to see what makes it belong among the reptitive ranks of every other boxing film ever made. Why does it necessarily get more Oscar attention than what Ali or Cinderella Man got? As far as I can tell, they're all essentially the same and essentially as good. | Now don't get me wrong, I love Helena and her work. I just think that if the Academy was going to give her a second Oscar nomination, they should have done it for her far superior work in Mighty Aphrodite, Fight Club, or most certainly Sweeney Todd. Recognizing her lame one-dimensional work in King's Speech almost seems like an insult by comparison. |
Most Underrated
Film
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Performance
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| Scott Pilgrim vs. The World | Ted Levine (Shutter Island) |
| A film like this which I believe appeals to both genders of the younger generation should have made much more at the box-office than it did. Though I suspect that over the next few years it might become an underground cult film to the likes of Office Space or The Big Lebowski. Sometimes it just takes time for films to get appreciated. | "If I were to sink my teeth into your eye, right now, could you stop me before I blinded you?" That's just one of the freakishly well-delivered lines the Warden says in what is essentially his only scene in the film. When an actor like Levine can take such a small role and make it so memorable, you know that he has some talent deserving of bigger roles. Also, remember him as Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs? |
Best Body of Work
Male
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Female
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Mark Ruffalo Sympathy for Delicious Shutter Island Date Night The Kids Are All Right |
Chloe Moretz Kick-Ass Diary of a Wimpy Kid Let Me In |
| Mark Ruffalo has been doing solid work for a decade now, and it apparently took him this long to get his first Oscar nomination. But it happened in a full year for him where he got his nom for Kids Are All Right, took a key role in Scorsese's Shutter Island, made his directorial debut with Sympathy and still had time for a comedy cameo in Date Night. | Last year, I distinguished Moretz's talent before anyone else noticed when I gave her the best young actress award. I didn't think so soon she would be getting a best body of work award. But she managed to do it with three roles in well-received films. Her most notable is clearly the violent foul-mouthed thirteen year old superhero in Kick-Ass. |
Worst Body of Work
Male
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Female
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Liam Neeson Chloe Clash of the Titans The A-Team The Next Three Days The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader |
Anne Hathaway Valentine's Day Alice in Wonderland Love and Other Drugs |
| I remember five years ago when I gave Neeson the best body of work of the year award. He hasn't changed his tactic of doing as many films as he can in a year, but he seems to have gotten less selective in his script choices. Since he still puts in good performances no matter what, you know he's a great actor, and he has the right to be a lot more selective than this. | Despite the fact that Hathaway's career is flourishing, and I have come to accept her as a skilled actress, she made some bad script decisions this year. Her performances may not have been bad, but these films got mixed to putrid-poor reviews. But with Oscar hosting and The Dark Knight Rises coming, perhaps her career will start to do better. |
Best Hero
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Winner
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| Rooster Cogburn (True Grit) | Hit-Girl (Kick-Ass) | Scott Pilgrim (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) |
| Sometimes it's the unconventional heroes that make the best ones. Cogburn is an old drunk half-blind marshal with a penchant for shooting first and asking questions later. But as is shown, when in a bad predicament his heart is always in the right place. His selfless acts to save Mattie make him a classic hero of the old west. | There have been dozens of movie heroes that shoot guns, beat up bad guys with ease and talk filthy trash without ever stuttering. But nobody has ever seen that done by a thirteen year old girl. I couldn't get enough of Hit-Girl. Everything she said and did in the film was a shock to mild-mannered audiences. And all of the kudos should go to the new prodigy Chloe Moretz. | I think a lot of twenty-something nerdish guys (perhaps myself included) relate to Scott Pilgrim. He may not have a lot of money or the best of looks, but he's got a big caring heart and he'll do anything for the girl he's fallen in love with, even if it means defeating her seven evil exes. It's a big symbolism for what a lot of guys feel like they have to go through and are more than willing to do. |
Best Villain
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Winner
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| Clu (Tron: Legacy) | James Coughlin (The Town) | Lotso (Toy Story 3) |
| One of the coolest things about Tron was seeing the old gentle Jeff Bridges fight against the young evil Jeff Bridges. What makes Clu a great villain is knowing that he is a representation of what Kevin used to be and desire for and what happens when that desire becomes its own uncontrollable entity. | You know, one of the best supporting actor nominees and/or winners has also been one of the best villains of the year for four years in a row now. Renner's great performance as the heartless business-only gangster robber and killer makes for a great supporting actor performance as well as one of the most frightening villains of the year. | Ned Beatty, best known for his southern small-towner from Deliverance was perfectly cast as the big huggable bear who seems like the perfect generous host and leader of the day care center who in fact has a troubled history and a dark side to him. It's a very Shakespearian character transformation, and an ironic blend of cuddler pink fur covering a cold black heart. |
Best Action Choreography (my favorite category)
Winner
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Inception Arthur vs. Projections in the Hallway |
Kick-Ass Hit-Girl vs. the Thugs |
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Scott Pilgrim vs. Evil Ex #7 |
Toy Story 3 The Escape |
Tron: Legacy Speed Bike Game |
| Pardon my language, but this scene almsot made me splooge. When you can't change the fight style, change the environment, and choreographing a fight in a spinning hallway is something that has never been attempted onscreen. The speed, the efficiency, and the sense that it's all happening for real made this the most exciting single scene of the year. | Having a superhero beat up a bunch of thugs is nothing new and not very interesting. But if you make that superhero a thirteen year old girl, it suddenly becomes thrilling and full of new opportunities. Making use of Chloe Moretz's small size and weight plus agility makes her one tiny but deadly killing machine. She puts all other heroes in the film out to shame. | For someone like me who loves his action sequences to be well-choreographed and totally real, the scenes in Scott Pilgrim were perfectly done. But none better than the climactic battle between Michael Cera and Jason Schwarzmann, two nerds you would never expect to see as good fighters. But with fists and flaming swords, they make it happen. | This isn't exactly a fight sequence, but there was just as much planning and choreorgraphy involved. The writing and execution with the multiple-participant complexity of this sequence make it as clever and enjoyable as the Ocean's Eleven heist. Plus that sequence with the tortilla was the funniest part of the whole film. | I'm not entirely sure which came first, the Tron video game, or this type of film sequence. Either way it's brilliant how they constructed a real-world game that mimics a retro Donkey Kong-grade arcade game from the '80s. The idea of speeding around on bikes and avoiding crashing into the stream they leave behind lead to some clever choreography and a thrilling sequence. |
Second-Best Action Choreography
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Winner
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Alice in Wonderland Final Epic Battle |
How to Train Your Dragon Hiccup and Toothless vs. The Giant Dragon |
Iron Man 2 Iron Man vs. Whiplash |
The Town Car Chase Sequence |
Tron: Legacy Fighter Jet Chase |
| Big epic fights with several characters are always hard to do, especially when each character has a different fighting style. The Mad Hatter, the Dormouse and the Tweedles each did their share of sword swining. And Alice's eventual decapitation of the Jabberwocky made for an exciting climax to the story. | I think the big thing that made Dragon a success was the well-choreographed flight sequences. Every time Hiccup rides Toothless, it's a dynamic spectacle thanks to the aerobatic movements and the startegic cinematography of the sequences. And the fight with the giant dragon at the end is the best example of this. | Overall I've been pretty disappointed with the level of action in the Iron Man movies. Often it's too much CGI to be appreciated. But this one wasn't bad since much of it is Robert Downey Jr. and Mickey Rourke bare bones taking whacks at each other. It sure beat the all too simple climax fight sequence. | Chase sequences are hard to choreograph and even harder to film without losing the audience. But this multi-layer escape through the narrow roads of Boston was executed with the same quality as those in the Bourne films. Not only can Ben Affleck direct good drama, but he is proving himself to be a veritable action director as well. | Between the bikes and the disc games, there are a lot of great action sequences in Tron. But I thought I'd highlight this sequence near the end of the film which, like How to Train Your Dragon performs brilliant aerial maneuvers with perfect camera tracking in a thrilling sequence. And the 3D really paid for itself with this scene. |
Best Original Filmmaking Concept
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Winner
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| Danny Boyle (127 Hours) | Tim Burton and Linda Woolverton (Alice in Wonderland) | Christopher Nolan (Inception) | Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) | Michael Ardnt and Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3) |
| For the concept of graphically depicting the bloody amputation. A lot of directors would either show a more edited version of this or not show it at all. But I commend Danny Boyle for sacrificing what could have been more box-office revenue in favor of accuracy. In films like this and Braveheart, it can be really important for the audience to be able to feel the character's pain. | For the concept of changing a classic story to make it more developing. There are those who dislike the idea that the story was changed, but when you look at the original story, it's not much of a plot, just a bunch of sequences. So I don't criticize filmmakers when they make a bold move to change something iconic if they believe it's for the better. | For the concept of leaving the film's interpretation open-ended. Nolan said in interviews that he knows exactly how the film ended, but he won't tell anyone and wants the audience to decide for themselves. This is a brilliant move to leave a film open to interpretation with multiple plausible conclusions in order to stimulate discussion, and so that to each his own ending. | For the concept of bringing a realistic romance story into the nostalgic video game world. I mean, people are always saying Hollywood is out of ideas, and this type of film is the counterargument I refer them to. Giving a film a whole new style that has never been done in the form of video game sights and sounds help make this its own unique film. | For the concept of opening the film inside of a child's imagination. The first two Toy Story films included a scene near the beginning involving Andy playing with his toys. But it's a completely different experience to see it inside of Andy's head in the world that he imagines. It's the perfect interpretation of what it's like to be young and and have in imagination. |
Most Creative Casting
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Winner
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| Walt Dohrn as Rumplestiltskin (Shrek Forever After) | Armie Hammer as the Winklevoss Twins (The Social Network) | Michael Keaton as Ken (Toy Story 3) | Pete Postlethwaite as Fergie (The Town) | Timothey Spall as Winston Churchill (The King's Speech) |
| I always like it when animated films are willing to put complete no-name actors in key roles because they fit the part. Dreamworks is normally very reluctant to do that, which is why I commend them for this rare instance where they did it and it payed off well. Dohrn gave one of the best voice-acting performances in the history of the Shrek franchise. | Though he wasn't a well-known name prior to this year, once you see Armie Hammer you know that he's perfect for the role of the Winklevoss twins. He has the exact upper body physique of a professional Ivy League crew rower. And he has that voice and demeanor that really nails the "We are gentlemen of Harvard" elitist entitlement persona. | The long lost talent of Michael Keaton is a hilarious comedic talent when we remember him. He was easily the best new thing about Toy Story 3 for his portrayal of the world's first metrosexual animated character. Apparently Keaton has thoroughly studied that kind of personality that is acceptable for a straight male to have these days. | The passing of this underappreciated actor last month was devastating. But I'm really glad to see that Ben Affleck gave him an excellent role as a swan song. Postlethwaite who normally plays gentle good-hearted or mysterious characters actually makes one badass villain who openly threatens his employees like it's any other day. Even so late in his life, this legend surprised us with talent we didn't know he had. | Spall is right up there with Albert Finney and Brendan Gleeson as one the the best actors to portray prime minister Winston Chruchill. Aside from already having the physical embodiment of the man, he expresses the slow gruff wavey voice of the prime minister. It was a small role in the film, but small roles like this can be extremely important. |
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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Inception Cobb: Well dreams, they feel real while we're in them, right? It's only when we wake up that we realize how things are actually strange. |
The Social Network Erica: You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole. |
True Grit LaBoeuf: I thought you gonna say the sun was in your eyes. That is to say, your Eye. |
Clash of the Titans Zeus: Release the Kraken! |
| This line as well as several others that disect the behavior of dreams are intriguing. Never have I heard dreams described so thoroughly and yet I understand everything that is said despite never thinking about it before. Christopher Nolan really did his work in disecting the nature of what he was making his film about. | Aaron Sorkin's script for Social Network is full of one-liners worth quoting. But I choose this one because it's the ultimate "put you in your place" type of line. This has to be the ideal way for a girl to breakup with her asshole boyfriend. And because it occurs in the very first scene it helps set the stage for the rest of the film. | This is one of those lines that comes out every year in an Oscar film and you hear it so often that it starts to lose its meaning ("I Drink Your Milkshake"). Some may find it clever but even I didn't think it was that good the first time I heard it. I really wish people would stop repeating it everywhere. | Here is one of those quotes that is clearly written only for the movie trailer and really doesn't make sense in the context of the film. There was a similar case in Terminator Salvation last year. Liam Neeson's delivery may look cool when watching the trailer, but when watching the film you realize that the way he says it makes no sense. |
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Well, I hope that you enjoyed my Seventh and Final Annual Breach Awards. What a year it has been, and what a set of seven years that I've been doing this it has been. Thank you for reading. |
