Introduction

As those who are my friends on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter know, in December I am gearing up for my annual film awards (The BAM Awards), and that only partially explains my recent reposting of all past winners.

Since these are picks made by one person, the nominating process is even more important. Aside from the the past years, the full slate of nominees from all years past was not public knowledge.

This is because the first time I did them, in 1996, I created them by myself, for myself. At the time, I knew a lot less about how these decisions are made, campaigning, the year-end barrage of contenders and the like, such that the releasing of the Academy Award nominees was more frustrating than it could be otherwise. Rather than just bemoan it I decided to create an award slate based on what I had seen.

Back then I was ticket-stub pack rat, at the time it was the only way I had to track anything. So I created the list, picked winners and printed it out. The fact that I stuck with hard copies and no back-up created issues later. However, it was just for me at the time.

I called them the BAM Awards because I needed a name. I suppose I came up with Bernardo Academy of Movies because I was being reactionary to The Academy. How one man by himself can be an Academy I didn’t fully consider. I thought it was kind of a silly name, even at the time, so eventually it just became the BAM Awards.

Slowly, the awards widened: soon I emailed a select group of friends (that created eventual storage issues), a few years ago when I was on the Site That Must Not Be Named I decided to really take it public. I didn’t think about it ahead of time, it just occurred to me roundabout late November of ’09 that I could.

The publication was an exciting and unnerving process, regardless of how many or how few people would actually care to see them. While there are a two categories (which I now and again consider ending, and have skipped on occasion) which are negative, it is a positive emotion that brings me to these announcements. I want to at the end of the year share what I thought and why, and all winner announcements come with some explanation, and I do belabor them and struggle with them.

So it is heartening that last year, for the first time, the actual honorees, be they nominees or winners, on occasion acknowledged it. Now that may seem like a self-aggrandizing statement, but what I liked was knowing the news reached them, and other people, and they were pleased to hear it. The design of these awards are to cement what performances, works and films most affected me, I make no bones about that, and sharing that felt like a gamble, but it’s been rewarding for that and many other reason.

Of course, if you see a film missing from any year you may inquire, and there is room for intelligent discourse, but the above statements are true: trolling or disrespectful comments aimed at those chosen won’t be tolerated. Your own awards are just a blog post away.

I apologize for even needing to insert that statement but I did have cause to make similar points last year. Anyway, with how much I enjoyed last year’s and how much I’m looking forward to this year’s awards, I thought it’d be a good idea to put all I have out there in a “reverse” countdown, a count -up if you will.

So here goes…

2000

-Comedic performances back with Drew Barrymore

-Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson are first mother-daughter nominees.

-Perhaps the year most in need of youth categorical equality. There are many splits. Young performers making “open” categories, but not making the child actor cut.

-This was the first time a special achievement award was included in the proceedings, and I handed out two. The interesting thing about the Billy Elliot selection is that it circles around the idea that it should be a musical before that ever happened.

-There are only four nominees in Best Score, I’m not certain that’s intentional, but it may well have been based on the special achievements.

-Jessica Lange here earns her 4th nomination and 3rd win. She is the first, and only actress to date, to win back-to-back Best Actress prizes, and one of two to have a win in both lead and supporting categories, along with Melanie Griffith.

-Not only does a woman win Best Director here long before the Oscars, but Taymor also does so against a fellow female nominee (Leder).

-The 11 nominations for Titus was a record.

– The 10 nominations for Pay it Forward is likely the most for a film not nominated for Best Picture.

The Bernardo Academy of Movies

Best Picture

The Patriot
The Red Violin
Titus
Ma Vie en Rose
Cradle Will Rock

Best Actress

Julia Roberts Erin Brockovich
Susan Sarandon Anywhere But Here
Jessica Lange Titus
Helen Hunt Pay It Forward
Drew Barrymore Charlie’s Angels

Best Actor

Georges DuFresne Ma Vie en Rose
Mel Gibson The Patriot
Anthony Hopkins Titus
Kevin Spacey Pay it Forward
Jamie Bell Billy Elliot

Best Supporting Actress

Laura Fraser Titus
Kate Hudson Almost Famous
Julie Walters Billy Elliot
Cameron Diaz Charlie’s Angels
Kathleen Turner The Virgin Suicides

Best Supporting Actor

Jean-Luc Bideau The Red Violin
Osheen Jones Titus
Haley Joel Osment Pay It Forward
Bill Murray Charlie’s Angels
Stuart Wells Billy Elliot

Best Director

Julie Taymor Titus
Mimi Leder Pay it Forward
Stephen Daldry Billy Elliot
Tim Robbins Cradle Will Rock
Francois Girard The Red Violin

Best Original Screenplay

Steve Martin Bowfinger
Tim Robbins Cradle Will Rock
Robert Rodat The Patriot
James Toback Black and White
Lee Hall Billy Elliot

Best Adapted Screenplay

Julie Taymor, William Shakespeare Titus
Leslie Dixon, Catherine Ryan Hyde Pay It Forward
Scott Spencer and Robert Dillon Waking the Dead
Tim Sandlin Skipped Parts
John Hodge and Eric Garland The Beach

Best Cinematography

Alain Dostie The Red Violin
Luciano Tovoli Titus
Brain Tufano Billy Elliot
Eduardo Serra Unbreakable
Paul Laufer The Cell

Best Visual Effects

The Patriot
The Cell
Hollow Man
Mission to Mars
X-Men

Best Score

Elliot Goldenthal Titus
Thomas Newman Pay It Forward
John Corigliano The Red Violin
John Williams The Patriot

Best Performance By A Child Actor

Trevor Morgan The Patriot
Osheen Jones Titus
Haley Joel Osment Pay It Forward
Cristoph Koncz The Red Violin
Frankie Muniz My Dog Skip

Special Achievement Awards

The Exorcist

For its re-releaseshowing the world how classics should be seen.

Billy Elliot

Stephen Daldry, Stephen Warbeck and Peter Darling for unparalleled musical arrangements and choreography in a new kind of musical.

Most Overrated Film

The Contender
American Psycho
Frequency
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Meet the Parents

Worst Picture

The Talented Mr. Ripley
Stigmata
Next Friday
Mission to Mars
Hollow Man

Best Cast

Titus
Pay it Forward
Billy Elliot
The Red Violin
The Virgin Suicides

Nominations

Titus 11
Pay it Forward 10
The Red Violin 8
Billy Elliot 6 (wins Special Achievement)
The Patriot 6
Cradle Will Rock 3
Charlie’s Angels 1
Ma Vie en Rose 2
The Virgin Suicides 2
Hollow Man 2
Mission to Mars 2
The Talented Mr. Ripley2
Almost Famous 1
Erin Brockovich 1
Anywhere but Here 1
Bowfinger 1
Black and White 1
Waking the Dead 1
Skipped Parts 1
The Beach 1
Unbreakable 1
The Cell 1
My Dog Skip 1
The Contender 1
American Psycho 1
Meet the Parents 1
Next Friday 1
Stigmata 1
Frequency 1