My Very Own Oscars

As it was Oscar night last night (and it was about time Martin Scorsese won one!) I thought I would have my own film awards. These awards are not for this years films but for films from my own DVD collection from all years. The categories are just different genre.

There is no real point to doing this apart from a burning desire to share some of my favourite films with you all. You have probably seen most of them already but maybe I will recommend one you have not seen which you will watch and enjoy. Doesn't that make it all worthwhile? :-)

OK let's begin:

Category 1: Best Action Movie
I love action movies. Most of them are rather brainless but sometimes they are nothing short of brilliant.

The nominations are :
Con Air - Nick Cage in possibly his finest film. Pure popcorn and VERY cool.
Die Hard - Bruce Willis. We have all seen this film and it is still excellent to this day.
Leon - The Luc Besson classic. Not only a great action film but one of my all time favourite ever films.

The winner is :
Con Air - This is a perfect example of the action movie. A cool hero, nasty baddies throw away lines ("put the bunny back in the box") and exploding helicopters. Add to that the all star cast and we have a winner!

Category 2: Best Fantasy Movie
Some fantasy films are rubbish and too elf and wizard based. Not the classics we have for you today!

The nominations are:
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy - These were written as one book and filmed as one film so I'm putting all three together here. Just.....classic. Wonderful adaptations of the books.
Highlander - Great story, great music. I watched this recently and really enjoyed it. Pity the sequels were rubbish.
The Princess Bride - If you have not seen this you MUST watch it. It is amazing!

The winner is :
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy - I've read the books a trillion times and these movies capture everything that is good about them. I love these films.

Category 3: Best Comedy
Everyone loves a comedy, except when it is a romantic comedy when only women like them.

The nominations are:
Withnail And I - Love this film. Richard E Grant's best role.
Hot Fuzz - Still in the cinemas and obviously not in my DVD collection but one damn funny film.
Life Of Brian - Pythons best film.

The winner is :
Life Of Brian - Very funny and it annoyed lots of religious types. What could possibly beat it.

Category 4: Best Sci-Fi
Obviously being a geek this category was overflowing with possible nominations. I managed to narrow it down to three though.

The nominations are:
The Matrix - Say what you want about the trilogy as a whole, The Matrix is still a sci-fi classic.
Metropolis - 1927 silent classic. This film invented sci-fi. Literally!
Serenity - Joss Whedons big screen version of the Firefly TV series is another example of perfect sci-fi.

The winner is:
Metropolis - This film is stunning. When they made it they had to invent the special effects as they went along. It also created most of the modern themes in most sci-fi today, such as the concept of 'The One'. It also has a robot in it that must have inspired everything H R Giger has ever created. It has recently been re-released on DVD as a totally digitally restored version. You MUST see this movie if you like sci-fi. Don't let the fact that it is silent put you off. You will be gripped from start to finish.

Category 5: Best Foreign Language Film
I had so many films I wanted to list that I had to miss out on some real classics. Betty Blue, Save The Green Planet and Pan's Labyrinth among them.

The nominations are:
The Three Colours Trilogy - Three films treated as one again but yet again you can't separate them. Wonderful films all of them.
City Of God - Gangs in Brazil. Violent, frightening, amazing.
Oldboy - Korean film about a man held captive for years who goes on a revenge spree when he is released. Another movie you must see if you have not done so already.

The winner is:
The Three Colours Trilogy - Three French films named Blue White and Red all deal with different aspects of modern life in France. They are sad, funny and thought provoking. All three are a work of genius.

Category 6:Best Drama
I must be getting old! I love a good drama these days!

The nominations are:
Closer - Four very messed up individuals try to mess each others lives up more than their own is. This is a brilliant film with a brilliant cast.
Crash - Several interweaving stories about characters in LA and their attitudes to different race and class. Last year this film won 3 Oscars, and rightly so.
Million Dollar Baby - Directed by Clint Eastwood, this film is about a female boxer who needs a trainer. Once again an Oscar winning film.

The winner is:
Crash - The first time I watched this film it exhausted me. The drama, the acting, the music and the stories are just incredible. Another of my all time favourites.

Category 7:Best Musical
This was a hard one as I don't really like musicals.

The nominations are:
The Blues Brothers - Outstanding musical comedy written, performed by and starring Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi.
Evita - I love this movie. The story is sad and the music is amazing. Madonna is perfect in the role of Eva Peron.
South Park The Movie - OK, so it's only just a musical. I loved it.

The winner is:
Evita - I've never been a fan of Rice/Webber musicals and I am still not. This film however (and I have recently seen it live) has some of the most wonderful music I've ever heard. The fact it was directed by Alan Parker means it has class from the start. Don't let the fact it has Madonna in it put you off. She was born to play this role.

Category 8:Best Horror
I love horror films. I saw Scanners when I was 8 and have been hooked ever since.

The nominations are:
Evil Dead 2 - More of a remake of the first film, this is hilarious, gory and violent. It also has Bruce Campbell in it which makes it instant quality.
Dawn Of The Dead(1978) - George A Romero's best zombie film and the best zombie film of all time. Reminds me of Meadowhall except that the zombies are friendlier than the shoppers.
The Thing - Actually a remake of The Thing From Another World made in 1951. Easily the best thing John Carpenter has ever done.

The winner is:
The Thing - Kurt Russell fights a recently unfrozen alien in the Antarctic. The effects are great and it is one scary film. Anyone who watches the blood testing scene and is not seriously on edge is already dead. Genius!

Category 9: Crime/Prison movies
Had to combine crime and prison movies as I had too many categories.

The nominations are:
Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarrantino's best movie to date. Violent, funny and best of all very cool.
The Shawshank Redemption - Based on a Stephen King short story, this film will have you grabbing for the tissues.
Godfather part 2 - Even better than the classic first film due to Robert De Niro as a young Vito Corleone.

The winner is:
The Shawshank Redemption - This film is fantastic. It is a film in the tradition of Cool Hand Luke and Papillion. Man gets sent to prison and has to survive any way he can. If you watch this expect to be crying at the end.

Category 10: Childrens movie
OK, so I'm 37. It does not mean I don't like to see kids films. :-)

The nominations are :
Monster Inc - My favourite Pixar movie.
The Goonies - Just......genius. Has everything a child would want in a film.
Happy Feet - I loved this film. The music and animation was brilliant.

The winner is :
The Goonies - What other choice could there be? It has lost treasure, pirates, ghosts and best of all Sloth!

Category 11: Best Bio
These seem quite popular these days with big stars queuing up to play other big stars.

The nominations are:
Ali - Will Smith was incredible as Muhammad Ali. He proved his acting ability in this film.
Walk The Line - Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Johnny Cash and wife.
Ray - Ray Charles story staring Jamie Foxx

The winner is :
Walk The Line - The two leads played all their own instruments and sang all the songs in this film even though they could not play before. It also introduced me to Johnny Cash's music for which I am very grateful.

Category 12: Best Comic adaptation:
Very trendy these days. Some are good and some are not. I wanted to include the Crow in this as it is one of my fav films but the three I selected instead we even better.

The nomination are:
Batman Begins - This film mends Batman after the last two films. Christian Bale is great.
Sin City - Pure class. An all star cast, this film contains 3 or 4 joined stories about the violent life in Sin City.
V For Vendetta - A freedom fighter called 'V' fights against a totalitarian society with the aid of Evey, played by Natalie Portman.

The winner is:
V For Vendetta - I bet most people would have though I would chose Sin City but as good as that film was I enjoyed V For Vendetta even more. Hugo Weaving manages to emote through a static mask and Natalie Portman shows what a good actress she is when she has a good script (take note George).

Well that is it, except for the winner of the best film ever award. That has to go to The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy. Some would say it could never happen but Peter Jackson managed to bring these amazing book to the big screen brilliantly.

This is a long post and I doubt that many people are still reading at this point. Makes it like the Oscars doesn't it. :-)

I love watching films and if anyone has any suggestions for me to see after reading my favourites above please let me know.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Far too much effort went into this post. Quite good choices though.
I did it over about 3 lunchtimes at work. It was that or Solitare!!

I admit it took longer than I originally thought though.
Nick said…
at least you didn't put bloody rubbish superman returns and bores the shit out of everyone in.
The Author said…
I enjoyed reading your list - but I haven't seen some of the films. But where's "Oliver - the Musical" in your list? Surely it should be in there somewhere?

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