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 no public knowledge. This is because essentially 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 even more frustrating. 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 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, 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 BAM. 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 this period of time share what I thought an 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 who was 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. So here goes… 2005 Typically, in my emailing days, I would lead with a message. I have decided to lead with that message here in lieu of statistical oddities.

A Message from the President If ever there was a year where I felt like doing a top 10 list, this year was it. Not because I thought there were 10 brilliant movies that I felt deserved being mentioned for Best Picture, but because the margin that separated #10 from #5, and similarly #5 to #1, was slim. There was not a slam dunk winner and the most consistently excellent film from beginning to end, especially at the end, won out. While this year’s field doesn’t necessarily stack up against that of year’s past. I feel that in 2005 we did get another addition to the list of truly great film adaptations. One oddity you’ll notice below is that generally Best Picture wins the most awards. When the year began and I learned of Ingmar Bergman releasing what was supposed to be his last film I wanted to institute a Lifetime Achievement Award. I may next year but this year it was unnecessary as Saraband earned 11 nominations. Without much further ado here are are the winners, and here’s to a stronger field next year.

Winners are in BOLD and pictured. Best Picture The Dust Factory Machuca Saraband Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Best Foreign Film March of the Penguins Les Choristes Machuca La Mala Educacion Saraband Best Director Andres Wood Machuca Eric Small The Dust Factory Ingmar Bergman Saraband Harry Newell Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Andrew Adamson The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Best Original Screenplay Robert Rodriguez, Racer Max Rodriguez The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D Eric Small The Dust Factory Charlie Kaufman Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Andres Wood Machuca Ingmar Bergman Saraband Best Adapted Screenplay David Koepp based on the novel by H.G. Wells War of the Worlds David Koepp based on the book by Chris Van Alsberg Zathura Paul Haggis based on the short stories by F.X. Toole Million Dollar Baby Steven Kloves based on the novel by J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Anne Peacock and Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely based on the novel by C.S. Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Warddrobe Best Actor David Strathairn Good Night, and Good Luck Ryan Kelley The Dust Factory Don Cheadle Hotel Rwanda Borje Alstedt Saraband Philip Seymour Hoffman Capote Best Actress Hilary Swank Million Dollar Baby Virginia Madsen Sideways Julia Dufvenius Saraband Emma Watson Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Rosario Dawson Rent Best Supporting Actor Armin Mueller-Stahl The Dust Factory Morgan Freeman Million Dollar Baby Erland Josephson Saraband Brendan Gleeson Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Skandar Keynes The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Best Supporting Actress Sophie Okonedo Hotel Rwanda Liv Ullmann Saraband Miranda Richardson Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Maggie Smith Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Tilda Swinton The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Best Visual Effects Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith War of the Worlds Zathura Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Best Original Song

Vois Sur Ton Chemin Les Choristes Caresse sur L’Ocean Les Choristes Lueur d’Ete Les Choristes La Nuit Les Choristes In Memoriam Les Choristes Best Cast Ryan Kelley, Hayden Panetierre, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Michael Angarano, Peter Horton and Kim Myers The Dust Factory Matias Quer, Ariel Mateluna, Manuela Martelli, Ernesto Malbran, Aline Kuppenheim, Francisco Reyes and Tiago Correa Machuca Borje Alstedt, Julia Dufvenius, Erland Josephson, and Liv Ullmann Saraband Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Miranda Richardson, Brendan Gleeson, Alan Rickman and Robbie Coltrane Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Tilda Swinton, and Liam Neeson The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Warddrobe Best Editing Andy Blumenthal and David Finfer Waiting… Michael Kahn War of the Worlds Glenn Farr The Dust Factory Mick Audsley Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Sim-Evan Jones and Jim May The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Best Soundtrack The Lords of Dogtown Les Choristes Saraband Rent The Squid and the Whale Best Sound Editing Batman Begins Star Wars- Episode III: Revenge of the Sith War of the Worlds Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire The Chrinicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Best Costume Design The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D Batman Begins Star Wars- Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Worst Picture Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life The Sandlot 2 Jack Nobody Knows Syriana Most Underrated Picture The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D Land of the Dead Zathura Rent The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Most Overrated Picture Batman Begins Jack Nobody Knows Rock School Syriana Best Makeup Star Wars- Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Land of the Dead Zathura Rent The Chornicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Best Performance by a Child Actor Dakota Fanning War of the Worlds Jonah Bobo Zathura Emma Watson Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Skandar Keynes The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Owen Kline The Squid and the Whale Best Cinematography Janusz Kaminski War of the Worlds Tom Stern Million Dollar Baby Stefan Eriksson, Jesper Holstrom, Per-Olof Lantto, Sofi Strindh and Raymond Wemmenlov Saraband Roger Pratt Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Donald McAlpine The Chronicles of Naria: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Nominations Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 14 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 13 Saraband 11 The Dust Factory 7 Les Choristes 7 War of the Worlds 6 Zathura 5 Machuca 5 Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith 4 Million Dollar Baby 4 Rent 4 The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D 3 Batman Begins 2 The Squid and the Whale 2 Hotel Rwanda 2 Syriana 2 Land of the Dead 2 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 1 March of the Penguins 1 La Mala Educacion 1 Waiting… 1 The Lords of Dogtown 1 Good Night, and Good Luck 1 Sideways 1 Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life 1 The Sandlot 2 1 Nobody Knows 1 Jack 1 Rock School 1