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The 1st Annual Edgy Award Winners
Well, Hollywood’s biggest night is this Sunday. However, the biggest night for this particular blog is right here and now. I announced the nominees for this year’s Edgy Awards last week and it’s now time to bestow said honors upon the winners. As the results will show, several films have proven their excellence by taking a high number of awards. However, much of the love has been equally spread out. Interestingly, four films out of my Top Ten List went home empty handed, while a film that I would consider quite a disappointment still propelled itself to a win in one category.
Overall, these awards are a very accurate depiction of my opinion on films this year. Now, if only the Oscars had this type of taste. However, if the Oscars always matched exactly what one person thought the best, where’s the fun in that? That kind of reality would eliminate the fun of having an opinion in the first place. It would do away with genuine discussion and healthy argument over film. And, most importantly, it would take away from making this site it’s own unique vision.
NOTE: I have been awesome enough to include a video selection for each award chosen, either a short documentary describing the category or a clip from the film that best exhibits what it has been awarded. However, I can not guarantee that any of the clips selected do or do not contain spoilers. Therefore, if you haven’t yet seen the chosen film, do not watch the clip. Simple.
Also, a number of the clips do not allow embedment. But don’t give up, so easily. Just click the link and it will take you directly to the video’s Youtube link where you can view it. Once again, simple.
Without further adieu, here are the winners of the 2011 Edgy Awards!
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“If I Rise” featured in “127 Hours”
Music by A.R. Rahman and Lyrics by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
Runner-Up: “Bred and Buttered” featured in “Winter’s Bone”
The 1st Annual Edgy Award Nominations
I have now been watching the Oscars, consecutively, for the last fourteen years. I love it. Even when I end up screaming at the television and throwing chairs around the room, I love the experience. Oscar night is like the Super Bowl, the World Series and Christmas all rolled into one night. However, if there’s one thing I enjoy more than watching the biggest awards of the year, it’s choosing my own.
I’ve been picking my own personal nominees and winners since before I can remember. Obviously, these particular honors don’t get as much attention as the actual Academy Awards, but they’ve always been amusing to me. Now, my awards not only get a home, but a name, as well. Welcome to the 1st Annual Edgy Award Nominations. They include all of the usual categories that the AMPAS offer. The final presentation will also contain a few other awards that tickle my fancy. Below, the nominees are listed in alphabetical order, not preferential. Expect my decision on the final winners some time next week. Hope that everyone enjoys them.
NOTE: Even though these are the first “published” Edgy Awards, I do have a solid, written record of them going back to 1940. Therefore, I’ve included a feature of noting how many nominations and wins that each individual has received from me in the past. This gives some extra input as to my own tastes in the nominees, how they’ve surprised me or continue to impress me. The connotations refer, however to how many mentions each person has had in each individual category, aside from all the acting categories included together. Once again, enjoy!
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Bred and Buttered”
featured in “Winter’s Bone”
Music and Lyrics by John Hawkes (1st Nom)
“If I Rise”
featured in “127 Hours”
Music by A.R. Rahman (3rd Nom)
Lyrics by Dido and Rollo Armstrong (1st Nom)
“Shine”
featured in “Waiting for Superman”
Music and Lyrics by John Legend (1st Nom)
“We Belong Together”
featured in “Toy Story 3”
Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman (3rd Nom)
My Top Ten List – 2010
Last year, I can remember the huge uproar against the AMPAS extending the amount of Best Picture nominees to ten. I can also remember, that through it all, I was one of this notion’s strongest supporters. I recognize the faults in the logic. It allows for lesser films that have no business being considered one of the year’s best to fight their way in due to endless campaigning and the votes of stupid people. This flaw took shape last year in the form of “The Blind Side” getting nominated for Best Picture.
However, the upsides of the expansion are far greater. It gives the field a more diverse look, for one. It’s nice to see films from a wide range of directors and collaborators. If allows also a mix of both intelligent box office hits and scrappy indy favorites. More than anything else, however, is that five films is just two few to sum up a year in cinema. Had the Academy enacted this ruling ten years ago, one would look back on certain films and think it a crime had they not been nominated, which they haven’t. Imagine a world if films like “The Wrestler,” “The Dark Knight,” “WALL-E,” “Into the Wild,” “Once,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “United 93,” “Little Children,” “Children of Men” and “Pan’s Labyrinth” could have been Best Picture nominees, and that’s only the last five years.
It must be for that reason that critics, for over fifty years, have been issuing top ten lists of their favorite films, rather than top five lists. It’s about that time, therefore, for The Edge of the Frame to release its own list for the 2010 year. I have now seen sixty films from 2010, which is low for me and not quite an respectable amount. Over the years, I’m sure that this list will change a spot or two as I see more, but for now, I believe that I’ve seen an acceptable sum to create an adequate list.
This has been a good year for film, but not really a great one. Out of sixty films, I gave only two films “A” grades. The year has had its high points and low points. For instance, it has been a great year for lead acting performances, but a rotten year for cinematography. For sure, I will always remember 2010 as the year that the Oscars snubbed its nose at great film and went home to their comfort zones. More than anything else, however, 2010 has been the year of the documentary. Never have I seen a year in cinema in which so many documentaries have captured my interest, let alone made it into my top ten.
As always there are a few stragglers that, even though they don’t qualify for my top ten, they still deserve an honorable mention. Therefore, this next selection of films are all very good, but just not good enough. They may be packed with amazing moments, but there’s also one too many flaws that have kept them down. So without further adieu, here are the films that just didn’t quite make it:
THE RUNNERS-UP
“127 Hours”
Directed by Danny Boyle
Written by Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy
Click HERE to see the rest of the list
National Society of Film Critics Goes with “Social Network”
As Darth Vader once famously said, “The circle is now complete.” Well, that saying now rings true for David Fincher’s “The Social Network,” at least as far as the critics go.
At long last, the National Society of Film Critics, one of the oldest and perhaps most prestigious (as well as my favorite) film journalism organizations, convened today to vote on cinema’s best of 2010. To my joy and elation, they have gone with “The Social Network,” not just with a win, but a sweep.
What a fitting end to “The Social Network”‘s history-making run. It began with a sweep of the National Board of Review, and ends the same way. What a magnificent year for a magnificent film. Regardless of what happens from here on out, whether “The Social Network” gets killed by politics or voter age. At least at this point, it is on top of the world.
Here is the full list of winners, which will eventually be updated with runners-up and hopefully voting tallies:
BEST PICTURE
***”The Social Network” – 61 votes***
“Carlos” – 28 Votes
“Winter’s Bone” – 18 Votes
BEST DIRECTOR
***David Fincher – “The Social Network” – 66 votes***
Oliver Assayas – “Carlos” – 36 votes
Roman Polanski – “The Ghost Writer” – 29 votes
BEST ACTOR
***Jesse Eisenberg – “The Social Network” – 30 votes***
Colin Firth – “The King’s Speech” – 29 votes
Edgar Martinez – “Carlos” – 29 votes
BEST ACTRESS
***Giovanna Mezzogiorno – “Vincere” – 33 votes***
Annette Bening – “The Kids Are All Right” – 28 votes
Lesley Manville – “Another Year” – 27 votes
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
***Geoffrey Rush – “The King’s Speech” – 33 votes***
Christian Bale – “The Fighter” – 32 votes
Jeremy Renner – “The Town” – 30 votes
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
***Olivia Williams – “The Ghost Writer” – 37 votes***
Amy Adams – “The Fighter” – 28 votes
Melissa Leo – “The Fighter” – 23 votes
Jacki Weaver – “Animal Kingdom” – 23 votes
BEST SCREENPLAY
***”The Social Network” – 73 votes***
“The King’s Speech” – 25 votes
“The Ghost Writer” – 19 votes
BEST DOCUMENTARY
***”Inside Job” – 25 votes***
“Exit Through the Gift Shop” – 21 votes
“Last Train Home” – 15 votes
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
***”Carlos” – 31 votes***
“A Prophet” – 22 votes
“White Material” – 16 votes
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
***”True Grit” – 31 votes***
“Black Swan” – 27 votes
“Somewhere” – 18 votes
Okay, so this year, my favorite critics group almost entirely lives up to that distinction. Why are they my favorite you might ask? Because in the last six years, their choice for Best Picture has at least been included in my Top five films of the year; three of those times, my favorite has matched theirs.
Aside from “The Social Network,” which deserved every award that it got, I am most pleased with their choice of Giovanna Mezzogiorno for Best Actress in “Vincere.” An absolutely stunning performance with such a high caliber of emotion, I was stunned when I watched it. The film, as a whole, is a standout. Yet her performance stands above it all and has not gotten any awards recognition thus far.
I can take or leave the Supporting Awards. Rush and Williams were both good, but neither deserving of serious awards recognition in my mind. Especially not Williams. I thought she was one of the more forgettable aspects of “The Ghost Writer.” Geoffrey Rush is one of my favorite actors, but I have to say that this is not one of his most exciting performances.
“Inside Job” got a big win, here. Hopefully, it can push through to February. I also really need to check out “Carlos” as soon as possible. It’s obviously a pretty phenomenal experience. I’m sure when the voting tallies come out, it will be the runner-up to “The Social Network.”
Cheers to “The Social Network.” It has been a phenomenal run with the critics. If hoping counts for anything it will continue that streak with the guilds and different broadcasted awards. I will soon re-post my article featuring a tally of all the accolades that the film has incurred. It’s kind of nice to see them listed out on the screen. I wonder what it must be like for Scott Rudin with them all out on his coffee table.
The Edge of the Frame 