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BAM Award Winners: Best Visual Effects

Posted on January 8, 2013 by bernardovillela

So here is the eye candy award. As always there are a few things to note: first, among my favorite winners are the back-to-back tandem of Jurassic Park: The Lost World and Small Soldiers simply because I like to award combined efforts whenever possible. Combined efforts meaning many techniques were used to create the effects of a film like robotics, prosthetic, models in tandem with CGI. Had I known how some effects were achieved for Inception it may have swayed my 2010 vote, having said that I was glad it won the Oscar. Second, one curious thing to note is that you have at times here streaks like 20th Century Fox is on a run as a studio and the Narnia series is 3-for-3 as they always up the ante in combining their work with real elements.

Lastly, I must’ve learned something about how certain shots in The Patriot were achieved in 2000 that influenced my vote but I honestly cannot recall what but as I have stated before I am not revisiting these awards merely posting them for posterity. I, of course, could never have predicted my fatigue of disaster films in 1996 or how much more unsavory that White House shot in Independence Day would grow over the years.

Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy the winners as much as I have.

2024 Dune

2023 Oppenheimer

oppenheimer-071723-2-b381da3f9c314ca7b2325ba2056c50c3

2022 Avatar: The Way of Water

2021 Ghostbusters: Afterlife

2020 Color Out of Space

2019 Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

2018 Annihilation

2017 Bladerunner 2049

2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

tarkin-palpatine-and-vader-in-revenge-of-the-sith

2015 Mad Max: Fury Road

2014 The Boxtrolls

2013 Gravity

2012 Cloud Atlas

2011 Real Steel

Real-Steel-Hugh-Jackman-011824-48ec2f2e405f404db2f8ba625c5a1dfb

2010 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010, 20th Century Fox)

2009 Avatar

2008 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

2007 The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep

2006 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

2005 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (2005, Disney)

2004 The Polar Express

2003 Peter Pan

2002 Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)

2001 Artificial Intelligence: A.I.

Artificial Intelligence: A.I. (2001, DreamWorks)

2000 The Patriot

1999 The Matrix

1998 Small Soldiers

Small Soldiers (1998, Universal/DreamWorks)

1997 Jurassic Park: The Lost World

Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World (1997, Universal)

1996 Independence Day

Independence Day (1996, 20th Century Fox)

BAM Award Winners: Best Cast

Posted on January 7, 2013 by bernardovillela

A few notes worth mentioning when it comes to the Best Cast category: First, I did borrow this concept from the SAG Awards. I just love the idea of honoring an entire cast from top to bottom and just wish they’d list and/or invite more people. There have been years when, if I was patient enough, I listed many of the players in the cast. Needless to say if one cast member wins they all do whether listed or not.

Second, there is one statistical oddity I noticed while assembling this list is that only four of the winners of Best Cast also were awarded my Best Picture prize. This kind of illustrates my point that acting is very important in a film but a film is so collaborative that its success does not necessarily hinge on its players’ ability.

Also interesting to note is that the Harry Potter series has two wins here whereas it has not captured Best Picture in a rather Susan Lucci-like fashion. Lastly, when looking closely enough you’ll note some actors played parts, whether lead, supporting or tertiary, in multiple Best Casts. One such case would be Trevor Morgan, who only really had one major scene in The Sixth Sense wherein he bullies Haley Joel Osment but then plays a much more significant part in Mean Creek. I have not yet verified it but then there’s also the odd case of Hugh Mitchell, who was Colin Creevey in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Boy Nicholas Nickleby in Nicholas Nickleby and thus, is to my knowledge, the only actor to ever get nominated twice in the same year for the Best Cast category.

Were I to dig deep enough I’m sure there’d be other interesting stats to find like Alan Rickman’s three wins but alas here are the winners…

2024 Conclave

2023 Oppenheimer

2022 Everything Everywhere All at Once

2021 The Power of the Dog

2020 We Can Be Heroes

2019 It: Chapter 2

2018 Black Panther

2017 Wind River

2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

2015 Krampus

still-of-toni-collette,-conchata-ferrell,-david-koechner,-allison-tolman-and-emjay-anthony-in-krampus-(2015)-large-picture

2014 Into the Woods

2013 Time of My life

Time of My Life (2012, Strand Releasing)

2012 North Sea Texas

North Sea Texas (2011, Strand Releasing)

2011 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (2011)

2010 The White Ribbon

The White Ribbon (2009, Sony Pictures Classics)

2009 A Single Man

2008 Let the Right One In

2007 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

2006 Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine (2006, Fox Searchlight)

2005 Saraband

2004 Mean Creek

Rory Culkin, Trevor Morgan, Carly Schroeder, Scott Mechlowicz, Ryan Kelley and Josh Peck in Mean Creek (Paramount Classics)

2003 Love Actually

2002 Nicholas Nickleby

2001 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

2000 Pay it Forward

1999 The Sixth Sense

The Sixth Sense (1999, Touchstone Pictures)

1998 As Good as it Gets

1997 Hijacking Hollywood

1996 Mulholland Falls

BAM Award Winners: Worst Picture

Posted on January 6, 2013 by bernardovillela

I’ll try and make my commentary on these films brief but there are several noteworthy selections that deserve some preface.

Firstly, I slam the Razzies on an annual basis because they never pick anything low budget. Birdemic became infamous due to its cheesy nature, it was “snubbed” conversely Alice in Wonderland was reviled by many critics but due to the fact that it was nominated for a handful of technical Oscars it was left out. Now I do have some widely seen films down below but my mandate is not to find and slam the worst of the worst. I try and seek out that which I will like and comment on what I find to be the worst. Mind you I do not choose some of the more popular titles for shock effect either. I literally fell asleep during the Pirates film “honored” below and liked others in the series.

As I said in my Overrated category there are people who participated in, and in some cases made, the films below that I really like and it pains me to have to include them on this list. However, I find it hilarious that Charlie Sheen is in one of them. He’d call that winning even if I don’t.

Anyway, just a few more caveats, yes, here, like in other categories, Made for TV Movies are not expressly forbidden so a few will be of that nature and a few will be direct-to-video I believe. I knock them because I didn’t like them, though, not because of the distribution path. Straight-to-video and Made for TV have earned nominees in positive categories also.

In 2002 I skipped the Award, I believe I brought it back the next year and in reconstructing ’03 (lost records) I added a “winner.”

My 2006 film was one I saw at a film festival that doesn’t have a one-sheet up anywhere. I have included a YouTube clip of the opening.

2012 Award Discontinued. This post will remain for archival. Please check 2012 winners post, which is linked here for the reasoning.

2011 The Darkest Hour

2010 Paranormal Activity 2

2009 Orphan

2008 The Happening

2007 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

2006 The Babysitter

2005 Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life

2004 Pixel Perfect

2003 George of the Jungle 2

2002 Not Awarded

2001 Believe

2000 Stigmata

1999 Durango Kids

1998 The Secret Kingdom

1997 Bad Day on the Block (aka Under Pressure)

1996 Fever Lake

BAM Award Winners: Young Actors

Posted on January 6, 2013 by bernardovillela

From 1996–2009 I had been satisfied with having but one category in which to honor the talented youths on film. This was one of the only places to honor them alongside their counterparts who are of age. In 2011, and perhaps more so in 2012, the nominating process became more difficult than ever as the talent pool seemed to be, if not the deepest ever, then one of them. Suddenly, I realized that I would have been eliminating people based on the size of their role and not on the quality of their performance. People like Janina Fautz in The White Ribbon and Billy Unger in You Again would be shutout of the nominating process. One of the benefits of creating your own awards is the ability to improvise.

Looking at the films and performances I’d seen I was able to create two new categories: I was able to make unisex categories for lead and supporting performances and one for ensemble work by youths, which seemed equally overdue. The goal in the 2011 awards was parity, meaning male and female lead and supporting categories and ensemble. This was achieved.

These categories have always been of great importance to me, not just because I was 15 when I started picking these awards but because youth performers are and have been greatly overlooked and under-appreciated and deserve some recognition. Especially when you consider that the Academy used to have a Juvenile Award and stopped awarding it.

UPDATE 2012: To venture even further away from negative connotations, I have decided to rename this post to remove the ‘child actor’ moniker, which to some can be seen as a slight. It’s a symbolic and semantical gesture, but no less significant for that. The group of categories and individual category names will be adjusted as necessary in the 2012 awards. Previous year will retain the same verbiage, but this post and future winners will not.

UPDATE 2013: To give each of the Youth Categories their due and for browsing convenience this post will act as a jump station to the new posts created for each of five youth categories, plus an additional post for the 1996-2009 winners.

Best Youth Ensemble

Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Leading Role

Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Leading Role

Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Supporting Role

Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Supporting Role

Best Performance by a Child Actor 1996-2010

Top 25 Films of 2012: 10-1

Posted on January 5, 2013 by bernardovillela

I try to keep my mind as open as possible during the year, and as you start assembling a list like this you see there could be perceived slights. The fact of the matter is making this list was brutal. More than once I had to consider if I can stick to a previously made proclamation, more than once I jotted down additional titles to see if they could slide into the top 25.

10. Kauwboy

Few films can go for lyrical simplicity and capture it so well. Equally difficult is capturing the unspeakable wonders of childhood creativity and a young protagonist alone. This film succeeds in all those areas and more. It truly deserves a worldwide audience.

9. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

This film is one of the best heartfelt teen movies in quite some time. Yes, there was Easy A a few years ago, but that was primarily satirical comedy. There’s humor here but it’s mostly a drama, and has three characters you end up knowing and caring about a great deal.

8. The Dynamiter

I could’ve mentioned this for quite a few entries, but aside from all these films being quality pieces, this was really a year of tear-jerkers crowding this list. Making someone cry is one thing, but doing so and being all around great is something else. This film works so subtly and softly I never felt it coming, but when it hit, it hit so hard.

7. Les Misérables

The rip-your-heart-out-bawl-your-eyes-out emotions of the show are here cinematic, raw, in your face here and I for one love it. Some songs are redefined, others reinvented; the cast breathes new life into this classic tale.

6. The Cabin in the Woods

If there’s one genre that needs a jolt of energy every so often, it’s horror. The proliferation of horror films will continue, so originality and reflexivity need to be injected to keep it vibrant. This is one of the best films in the genre in years.

5. North Sea Texas

Here you see the benefits of festival-going, for had I not made a point of attending QFest in Philadelphia I wouldn’t have seen it. The limited release of this film never really came anywhere close to me.

Thus, I haven’t been fortunate enough to re-view the film, but I firmly believe what I said prior: this will stand the test of time as an important work.

4. The Dark Knight Rises

I love Batman. I do. Had I not gotten bogged down, and behind schedule, I would’ve written a Hero Whipped about it. Nolan’s trilogy is brilliant, but mostly due to the way this one closes it. Enjoyable as the first two were, I always felt I didn’t like them as much as everyone else. This one I love a lot and was very emotionally involving.

3. Anna Karenina

This and the title that follows on the list are the ones that really grew upon thought. I never expected this to be such an emotionally involving experience and I was very glad it turned out to be one.

2. The Turin Horse

This film is about as perfect a swan song as you could want.

1. Django Unchained

I wrote a bit about this in the BAM Award Winners post. To summarize here: this is a film about slavery that’s as funny as it is smart, and as brash as it is enjoyable.

BAM Award Winners: Best Adapted Screenplay

Posted on January 5, 2013 by bernardovillela

As I have stated in a series of articles not yet transcribed to this blog, a good adaptation is not necessarily a literal one but a vital and cinematically compelling and vibrant one. In these winners I feel there is communicated more story than is written on the screenplay’s page, hints at other avenues and imbues within its narrative a spirit of a story that was not originally written for the screen but was made so through much thought, love and skill.

2024 Cord Jefferson, Percival Everett American Fiction