Third and Fourth Silver Cine Results!

Before the awards get handed out, allow me to take a moment to mourn the utter failure of Black Dynamite. This highly amusing ode to blaxploitation cinema came into the Silver Cines with 7 total nominations and it finishes with absolutely no awards. It is now The Color Purple of the Picture Show Pundits world. On a related note, I advise people to check it out as it's well worth their time and will give you a serious case of the chuckles. And now, on with the show, as they say.

(for a full list of nominees go here)

And the Winners Are...

The 2008 Award Winners

This was something of a surprise, though the race was rather close from start to finish. The votes were split pretty evenly, though poor Trouble the Water didn't get a single vote, but the steroids documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster* edged the more widely acclaimed, Academy Award-winning doc, Man on Wire 33% to 29%. 

This is the first of several victories by the little robot who could. It had some competition from Kung Fu Panda (40%), but Pixar once again reigns supreme in the animation department. WALL-E won with 54% of the vote.

People love vampires, even Scandinavian vampires. This eerie, oddly touching Swedish love story was a favorite of the PSP staff and voters alike, winning with a dominant 66% of total votes. The closest competition was Reprise and Waltz with Bashir, each finishing with 17% of the vote.

With 57% of the vote, In Bruges proves to be the surprise-ing-est film for 2008. The Irish comic thriller easily bested its closest challenger, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which received 35% of the votes.

Another massive victory for this record-breaking box-office smash. From the narrative complexity, to the moral ambiguity, to the big ideas and big explosions, to Heath Ledger's stunning performance, we were all entertained. The Dark Knight won 65% of the votes, outpacing all competition. Slumdog Millionaire finished in second with 15% of the vote. Hey, at least it has its Oscars.

Taking on a little more heat, WALL-E wins the category with 40% of the votes, doubling the totals of its two chief challengers, The Wrestler and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Those Pixar artists can find beauty even when Earth is covered in garbage and decaying human remains.

This was close. Like really really close. The Dark Knight and WALL-E went back and forth for a while until it came to the wire, and WALL-E won by a single vote. A SINGLE VOTE! That's the difference. Still, I couldn't think of two finer films that epitomized the success of artistically viable studio films in 2008, and surely both of these movies will be fondly remembered for decades to follow.

 And now to the 2009 winners...

 Best Creative Achievements:

With 57% of the vote, Moon dominated the category, pulling far ahead of its leading competitor, Sin Nombre at 22%. Voters seemed to admire the intimate yet eerie lunar landscapes that Shaw beautifully photographed, as well as Sam Rockwell(s).

The first of many awards for the 2009 Academy Award winner for Best Picture. The Hurt Locker editing team made you feel in the middle of all the nail-biting action, so it's little surprise that they cleared the category with 67% of the votes. Coming in a distant second was District 9 with 17%. Interesting that both films followed a docu-drama approach with editing and they finished first and second in votes.

The awards season favorites had some competition from the crafty team behind the crafty satire In the Loop (26%), but Reitman and Turner pulled out a victory with 47% of total votes. Up in the Air was the kind of story filled with weight, heart, levity, and spot-on characterization, where adults got to act like complex adults. It all had to start somewhere, and that somewhere was a fantastic adapted screenplay.

Original even down to its spelling, Tarantino's World War II pop-opus conquered the category with 44% of the vote. Combine the Tarantino encyclopedic knowledge of cinema, some memorable characters, and that great dialogue that only Tarantino can write, and you get one crackerjack of a screenplay. Up finished in second place with 24%.

PSP voters fell in love with those twinkling piano chords of Giacchino's. Up finished with 65% of the vote. Add that to the 26% vote total for Star Trek, also by Giacchnio, and the man owned about 90 percent of the freaking category.

This one was a real surprise for me, but a pleasant one at that. Apparently, we have a lot of They Might Be Giants fans. Their jaunty tune from Coraline won the category with 36% of the votes, leaping ahead of rivals "All is Love" from Where the Wild Things Are and "Dynamite (Black Dynamite theme) from, well, you can guess. Both runners-up tied with 24% of the vote.

 

Best Costumes:

Monique Prudhomme - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

 

This is the start of a Parnassus surge. Coming out of nowhere, Terry Gilliam's trippy film dominates the category, winning 60% of the vote. The flamboyant costumes from Bruno finished a very distant second place with 16%.

 

Best Make-up:

Krista Young - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

 

 

A little closer race, narrowly beating Star Trek (35%), Parnassus picks up its second Silver Cine award. Young beat out her gorier competition and green space alien hot girls, and for that the win is even more impressive.

 

 

Best Art Direction:

Anatasia Masaro - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

 

 

And the glory keeps on coming for Gilliam and crew. With 52% of the vote, Parnassus more than doubled the totals of the second place finisher, Watchmen. If you're going to make a Gilliam movie, you have to have some awesomely weird sets, and this movie was no exception.

 

 

Best Special Effects:

Avatar

 

 

Was there any doubt? James Cameron's "game-changing" action movie waited over a decade for the technology to catch up. The film was a non-stop feast for the eyes and made you feel like you had landed on a living, breathing outer space ecosystem. Plus, the blue ladies looked pretty too. Avatar won 68% of the vote with District 9 showing a heartening 24% against fierce competition.

 

 

Best Collaborative Pair/Team:

Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp - District 9

 

 

This was a close race all around but eventually Peter Jackson and his wunderkind prodigy, Blomkamp, sealed the deal with 42% of the vote, edging out the 35% total from Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino. Before last summer, not many had confidence in Blomkamp as a director, but now Jackson is having the last laugh, all the way to the bank.

 

 

Breakthrough Achievement in Film:

Neill Blomkamp - District 9

 

 

Speak of the devil. Blomkamp won with 34% of the vote, while Duncan Jones of Moon finished with a close 31% of the vote and Marc Webb of 500 Days of Summer finished with 21%. What can we say? PSP voters, and movie goers alike, were greatly impressed by Blomkamp's relatively inexpensive but fully engaging social commentary/action thriller. I don't think he'll have trouble getting another directing gig now.

 

 

Best Direction:

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

 

 

Bigelow didn't just win the Acdemy Award for Best Director because she was a woman and the forces of politics said now was the time, she won because she was, in short, the best director. She deserved it, and PSP voters felt likewise. Bigelow finished with 56% of the vote, easily beating Blomkamp's 26% (he should find solace with the above award). Bigelow's direction was a masterclass in tension and The Hurt Locker isn't done yet when it comes to awards.

 

 

 Best Scenes of the Year:

 

Best Action Elements or Scene:

 District 9 - Wikus' Last Stand

 

 

The summer sci-fi smash managed to smash its competition as well, claiming 52% of the vote total. Watching a man in a mech suit plow through his mercenary antagonists, while helping an embattled alien refugee to escape -- well, it was as kick-ass as kick-ass got in 2009. The Hurt Locker finished in second with 24%.

 

 

Best Comedy Elements or Scene:

The Hangover - Premise

 

 

 

The highest-grossing comedy of all time seemed like a safe bet to win this category. The simple yet enjoyable premise of three guys trying to figure out their drunken shenanigans made for plenty of wacky comedy and outrageous surprises. The Hangover took 60% of the vote and the closest challenger was Black Dynamite with 18%.

 

 

Best Romantic Elements or Scene:

Away We Go - Checking the Baby's Heart Rate

 

 

 

This one shocked me. I didn't know we had so many fans of Away We Go, the small-scale yet intimate family-planning drama. There were real tender moments in this movie, and Bert (John Krasinski) fake arguing with his wife to raise the baby's heart rate, then checking it with a stethoscope and making goofy faces, was adorable. They were an onscreen couple that really loved each other, and 57% of you agreed. 500 Days of Summer came in second with 18% of the vote.

 

 

Best Dramatic Elements or Scene:

Up - Opening Montage

 

 

I knew this was going to win the category the second I thought of it as a nominee. That opening wordless montage that takes us through the life, marriage, and death of Ellie Fredrickson is a heart-breaker. I know people that were openly crying, and it's only the first 10 minutes of the movie. Up won 43% of the vote and The Messenger, with its death notification scenes, finished in second with 18.5% percent.

 

 

Best Suspense/Horror Elements or Scene:

Paranormal Activity - The Night Vision Tapes

 

 

This low-budget fright flick scared the crap out of a lot of you and caused some sleepless bedroom nights, as I can personally atest. Paranormal Activity conditioned you to dread those nightly recordings and that dread could tie your stomach in knots. With 40% of the vote, our winner narrowly beat out the 36% total from Drag Me to Hell and its seance sequence.

 

 

Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Elements or Scene:

Avatar - Planet Pandora

 

 

Pandora felt so real for people that there are now groups that meet to discuss their lingering depression that the worlds of Avatar are only make-believe. Seriously, this movie has made people contemplate suicide (insert snide comment here). Avatar took 48% of the votes while Watchmen and Where the Wild Things Are finished tied for second place with 18% apiece.

 

 

Best Musical Elements or Scene:

500 Days of Summer - Post-Sex Song and Dance

 

 

This smoked the competition. Nothing else in the category finished with higher than 9% of the vote total, and 500 Days of Summer had 73% of the votes. I suppose people really like Hall and Oates, or maybe people identified with the need to sing and dance if given the chance to have sex with the lovely Zooey Deschanel.

 

 

Best Ending:

Up

 

The sweet ending of an old man letting go of his grief and a young kid finding a father figure won over our voters, earning 47% of PSP votes. Tarantino's rewriting of history in Inglourious Basterds finished in second place with 26% of the vote. I guess talking dogs beat Hitler getting shot in the face. Good to know.

 

 

 

 Best Performances of the Year:

 

Best Walk-On/Cameo in a Film:

Bill Murray as Himself - Zombieland

 

 

This categeory was waaaaaay closer than I ever thought it would be. I thought Bill Murray's memorable appearance in Zombieland would be a slam-dunk with voters, and it did win with 37% of the vote. Nipping at Murray's heels were Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek (27%) and a CGI version of young Arnold in Terminator: Salvation (18%). Murray still proved unbeatable, albeit by a slimmer margin than I ever thought.

 

 

Best Protagonist:

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) - Taken

 

 

This one wasn't even close. Neeson finished with 70% of the vote proving that PSP voters approved of the royal beatdown that Mills gave on the various European baddies that kidnapped his daughter. Personally, after that speech over the phone, I was hooked and ready for action. Behind Taken, Zombieland's Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) and Basterd's Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) tied for second with a very distant 10%.

 

 

Best Antagonist:

Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) - Inglourious Basterds

 

 

And like our protagonist winner, there really wasn't much of a contest for antagonist. As soon as Landa walked on screen you knew you had a villain of superb wicked caliber. Landa destroyed all that stood in his way, clearing 75% of the votes and becoming the second most dominant winner this year. Stephen Lang from Avatar finished in second with 15% of the vote. Get ready to hear Waltz's name a lot.

 

 

Best Vocal Performance:

Bob Peterson as Dug the Dog - Up

 

 

Everybody loves talking dogs. The scene-stealer of Up was voiced by one of Pixar's own directors, and his loveable brain droppings made for some of the film's most memorable lines. Who wouldn't want to hear the mind of a dog? Peterson wins with a healthy 55% of the vote, beating out the better known actors George Clooney (18%) and James Gandolfini (17%).

 

 

Breakthrough Performance by a Female:

Carey Mulligan - An Education

 

 

This woman should be known as Carey "Crusher" Mulligan because she easily won with 62% of the vote, taking out Anna Kendrick and Gabourey Sidibe (both tied with 18%).

 

 

Breakthrough Performance by a Male:

Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

 

 

Chris Pine from Star Trek (26%) put up a valiant fight but Waltz wins his second Silver Cine award with 40% of the vote. Before Basterds, nobody outside select European audiences knew the German actor. Now thanks to Tarantino, the world knows Waltz's phenominal talent.

 

 

Best Supporting Performance by a Female:

Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air

 

 

 

A bit of a surprise given how donimant Mo'Nique has been throughout awards season, the PSP faithful chose to break from the herd and award Up in the Air's high-strung, chirpy Clooney sidekick, Kendrick. She wins with 35% of the vote while Mo'Nique topped out at 33%, giving us one of the closest races of the year.

 

 

Best Supporting Performance by a Male:

Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

 

 

What else can there be said when one performance manages to win three different awards, and all by mostly healthy margins of victory? Waltz wins again with 60% of the vote while Zachary Quinto from Star Trek mops up second place with 16%. Waltz was magnetic, terrifying in four languages, and an incredibly memorable villain thanks to that magic marriage of a terrific part and a terrific performance.

 

 

Best Lead Performance by a Female:

Carey Mulligan - An Education

 

 

I wasn't kidding when I suggested Mulligan should add "Crusher" as her middle name. This was the least competitive category as Mulligan wins with a whopping 76% of all votes. Nobody else got higher than 8%. PSP voters consider the tiny Brit an acting force to be reckoned with, and I think if you saw her enchanting coming-of-age turn in An Education you would agree.

 

 

Best Lead Performance by a Male:

Sharlto Copley - District 9

I was waiting for some kind of geek-friendly upset, and here it is. Copley takes 54% of the total votes and Up in the Air's George Clooney finishes in second with 32%. I'm surprised yet not surprised Copley didn't get more play during the awards season. He completely changed as a character and you bought it every step of the way, from pencil-pushing nabob to action hero. It's hard to believe that District 9 was his first acting gig. This guy's a pro.

 

 Best Films of 2009:

 

Best Documentary:

The Cove

With 48% of the vote, this eco-activist doc opened a lot of eyes about dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan, and it seems to have touched many hearts as well. It may just have the most buzz, and it did win the Academy Award after all, but I feel like the best candidate took home the award. Anvil! the Story of Anvil! finished in second place with a respectable 22%.

 

Best Animated Film:

Up

The category was pretty evenly split for a long while before the fans of Up pushed it ahead and secured a victory with a solid 57% of the vote. Coraline took 23% for second place. No love for Ponyo, as it didn't receive a single vote.

 

Best Foreign Film:

The White Ribbon

The controversial German film, from controversial filmmaker Michael Haneke, scrounged up 32% of the vote for the victory. France's A Prophet just could never keep up, finishing with 26% for second. Maybe there's just something about PSP voters enjoying villainous Germans this year. Maybe they were all afraid to say, "Nine."

 

Biggest Surprise Film:

Taken

A pretty tight race between Paranormal Activity and Taken, but ultimately Neeson's quest for justice was your final selection. Taken took 34% of the vote, finishing five percentage points higher than Paranormal Activity. I don't think anybody had a second thought about this movie before it opened in January. Now you know you can practically just hear TNT already claiming it as a "new classic."

 

Best Entertainment Film:

Zombieland

This was a really hard fought category, but zombies plus Woody Harrelson make a combination that's hard to beat, and Zombieland rose to the top with 40% of the vote. The rest of the crowd all finished with totals between 10-20%. Like the undead, Zombieland will rise again in a planned 3-D sequel.

 

Best Artistic Film:

The Hurt Locker

 

Perhaps a complete 180 from the above, The Hurt Locker was a finely crafted action thriller with brains and brawn, and it won with 44% of the vote. The Iraq War drama became a critics darling as it swept the awards season, but it looks like PSP voters are inclined to agree with their critical peers. Avatar finished in second with 26%. Its mountains of money will console them.

 

Best Film:

The Hurt Locker

The voters have spoken and for the third time out of four tries (2006's The Departed, 2007's No Country for Old Men), the Academy has followed suit with our own Best Picture winner. Coincidence? Probably, or maybe there just is enough of a consensus that The Hurt Locker was a movie that span genres and expertly quickened pulses. This was a neck-and-neck race with District 9 for so long. I didn't know which film would finish ahead by the time voting closed. Hurt Locker pulled 33% of the votes while District 9 was just behind with 30%. Kathryn Bigelow's war film has won the 2009 Silver Cine for Best Film of the Year, which is way better than those crummy old Oscars, if you ask me.

Thanks to everyone who voted and thanks to everybody for coming by the Picture Show Pundits. Please continue to return to the site and check out our many new reviews and columns from our talented team of writers. And feel free to speak your mind on anything movie related in our forum. Until next year, the Silver Cines are complete.

 

The breakdown of the 18 different winners:

Up - 5

The Hurt Locker - 4

District 9 - 4

Ingloruious Basterds - 4

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnasuss - 3

An Education - 2

Avatar - 2

Zombieland - 2

Taken - 2

Up in the Air - 2

Moon - 1

The Cove - 1

The White Ribbon - 1

Away We Go - 1

500 Days of Summer - 1

Coraline - 1

Paranormal Activity - 1

The Hangover - 1