The Movie Rat

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…

1998

Here are some tidbits as they pertain to this year in the BAM Awards.

-This is the first time a film earned double-digit nominations.

-This was the first time a film not in the English Language won Best Picture. Another reason the Foreign Language process is a bit convoluted in the Oscars is that only official submissions of nations are eligible. Any and all foreign films are eligible at the BAM Awards.

-This is the first director-film split. Kind of hard to argue against Spielberg‘s work in Ryan though.

-Here again you see young performers in all categories. Predicting the need for equality in acting categories.

This is Nick Nolte’s 3rd nomination and 2nd win. He is the first actor to win both in lead and supporting categories.

Actresses Jessica Lange and Melanie Griffith get 2nd nominations.

This marks Janusz Kaminski’s 3rd nomination and 2nd win for Cinematography

Winners are BOLD and pictured. Also, if you’re a stat geek (like I am), I’ll be compiling these observations and more in a post when these are done. Things like writer credits will be taken into account, and incorporated into that post.

Best Picture

As Good as It Gets
Central do Brasil
The Mighty
U Turn
Wide Awake

Best Director

James L. Brooks As Good as It Gets
Walter Salles Central do Brasil
Oliver Stone U Turn
M. Night Shyamalan Wide Awake
Steven Spielberg Saving Private Ryan

Best Actor

Vinícius de Oliveira Central do Brasil
Jack Nicholson As Good as It Gets
Kieran Culkin The Mighty
Samuel L. Jackson The Negotiator
Joseph Cross Wide Awake

Best Actress

Helen Hunt As Good as It Gets
Jessica Lange Hush
Fernanda Montenegro Central do Brasil
Dominique Swain Lolita
Sharon Stone Sphere

Best Supporting Actor

Nick Nolte U Turn
Edward Norton American History X
Kevin Spacey The Negotiator
Ian McKellen Apt Pupil
Ed Harris The Truman Show

Best Supporting Actress

Sharon Stone The Mighty
Marília Pêra Central do Brasil
Jennifer Lopez U Turn
Alexandra Dahlström Show Me Love
Melanie Griffith Lolita

Best Visual Effects

U Turn
What Dreams May Come
Sphere
Small Soldiers
The Faculty

Best Original Screenplay

M. Night Shyamalan Wide Awake
Robert Rodat Saving Private Ryan
Lukas Moodyson Show Me Love
James DeMonaco and Kevin Fox The Negotiator
Marcos Bernstein, João Emanuel Carneiro and Walter Salles Central do Brasil

Best Adapted Screenplay

John Ridley U Turn
Rodman Philbrick and Charles Leavitt The Mighty
Eddie Little, Christopher B. Landon and Stephen Chin Another Day in Paradise
Brandon Cole and John Turturro Illuminata
Michael Crichton, Kurt Wimmer, Paul Attanasio and Stephen Hauser Sphere

Best Cinematography

Janusz Kaminski Saving Private Ryan
Walter Carvalho Central do Brasil
Sven Nyqvist Celebrity
Ulf Brantås Show Me Love
Adam Holander Wide Awake

Best Score

Antonio Pinto and Jacques Morelebaum Central do Brasil
Bill Whalen Dancing at Lughnasa
John Williams Saving Private Ryan
Elliot Goldenthal Sphere
Ennio Morricone U Turn

Best Performance by a Child Actor

Vinícius de Oliveira Central do Brasil
Joseph Cross Wide Awake
Kieran Culkin The Mighty
Dominique Swain Lolita
Jeremy James Kissner Great Expectations

Best Cast

Central do Brasil
Saving Private Ryan
As Good as It Gets
Illuminata
U Turn

Most Underrated Film

Hush
Lolita
Wide Awake
U Turn
The Mighty

Most Overrated Film

There’s Something About Mary
Luminous Motion
Living Out Loud
Shadrach
Great Expectations

Worst Film

Hurlyburly
The Secret Kingdom
There’s Something About Mary
Billboard Dad
Billy Frankenstein

Nominations

Central do Brasil 10
U Turn 9
Wide Awake 7
The Mighty 6
As Good as it Gets 5
Saving Private Ryan 5
Lolita 4
Sphere 4
Show Me Love 3
The Negotiator 3
Hush 2
Great Expectations 2
There’s Something About Mary 2
American History X 1
Apt Pupil 1
The Truman Show 1
What Dreams May Come 1
Small Soldiers 1
The Faculty 1
Another Day in Paradise 1
Illuminata 1
Celebrity 1
Dancing at Lughansa 1
Luminous Motion 1
Living Out Loud 1
Shadrach 1
Hurlyburly 1
The Secret Kingdom 1
Billboard Dad 1
Billy Frankenstein 1

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 reasons.

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…

1997

The fact of the matter is whether I’ve referred to it as The Titus Conundrum or “The Butcher Boy Rule” late-year release dates have long been an issue I’ve had to contend with. When it comes to thew 2012 edition I will explain what counted and what didn’t just note that in past years there will likely be year-end limited releases shifted into the following year.

-Yes, this one had revisions in later years, and it lead to a goof I’ve left intact. I accidentally assigned Little Men to 1997 even though it was released in 1998. This is a prime example of why I’m not into revisionism any longer. This error was made about 10 years ago I’d guess, has been perpetuated and I have no records as to what it replaced. So this year, like 2003 where I lost the nominees and only have the winners bears a blemish. Alas, this is why I lament my storage concerns above. Had I only known I’d keep them.

– Again, there are lots of comedy nominees here. Porbably many more when I was younger but they always seem to be aroun. In this year they are: Mike Myers, Meg Ryan, Scott Thompson, Lisa Kudrow and Jeneane Garofalo.

-Henry Thomas was the first performer to be nominated for multiple films in the same year (Actor, Supporting Actor and Cast (twice)).

-If you look carefully at the 1996 nominees you’ll notice logical conundrums so far as acting nominations are concerned, namely young actors in open categories snubbed in the young ctor category. Another reason Young Actor categories needed expanding. Here it occurs anew. Recently, much deliberation has been spent trying to reason a split. A picture/director split occurs here, which is rare and I typically have good cause for it. Usually it has to to with the driving force of vision. Mandt and Thronton each played similar roles in their films and awards were divvied accordingly.

–Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion and A Thousand Acres each had three acting nominations, but no others.

-Janusz Kaminski is the first person nominated twice in the same category in the same year.

–Lost World does end up in worst of the year but nominated and winning in others. I try and compartmentalized that and there were many fewer films in the running back then.

-Charlie Sheen has been a in a Worst Picture winner, Emilio Estevez has not.

Winners are BOLD and pictured.

Best Picture

The Sweet Hereafter
Hijacking Hollywood
Contact
Sling Blade
Mother Night

Best Director

Atom Egoyan The Sweet Hereafter
Neil Mandt Hijacking Hollywood
Robert Zemeckis Contact
Billy Bob Thronton Sling Blade
Keith Gordon Mother Night

Best Actor

Nick Nolte Mother Night
Henry Thomas Hijacking Hollywood
Billy Bob Thornton Sling Blade
Mike Myers Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Dominic Zamprogna The Boy’s Club

Best Actress

Jodie Foster Contact
Jena Malone Bastard Out of Carolina
Jessica Lange A Thousand Acres
Mira Sorvino Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion
Meg Ryan Addicted to Love

Best Supporting Actor

Henry Thomas Suicide Kings
Lucas Black Sling Blade
Dustin Hoffman Wag the Dog
Jason Robards A Thousand Acres
Scott Thompson Hijacking Hollywood

Best Supporting Actress

Michelle Pfeiffer A Thousand Acres
Jena Malone Contact
Jeaneane Garofalo Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion
Lisa Kudrow Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion
Julianne Moore Boogie Nights

Best Cinematography

Tom Richmond Mother Night
Janusz Kaminski Amistad
Janusz Kaminski Jurassic Park: The Lost World
Don Burgess Contact
Peter Deming Lost Highway

Best Score

John Williams Jurassic Park: The Lost World
George Clinton Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Mychael Danna The Sweet Hearafter
Mark Korven Cube
Milan Khymlicka Little Men

Best Visual Effects

Cube
Contact
Jurassic Park: The Lost World
Snow White: A Tale of Terror
The Peacemaker

Best Original Screenplay

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Addicted to Love
Deconstructing Harry
Hijacking Hollywood
Uncle Sam

Best Adapted Screenplay

Little Men
Contact
Sling Blade
Snow White: A Tale of Terror
The Sweet Hereafter

Best Performance by a Child Actor

Jena Malone Bastard Out of Carolina
Lucas Black Sling Blade
Dominic Zamprogna The Boy’s Club
Ben Cook Little Men
Joseph Ashton The Education of Little Tree

Most Underrated Film

Hijacking Hollywood
The Education of Little Tree
Contact
Little Men
The Peacemaker

Most Overrated Film

La Vita é Bella
Afterglow
The Ice Storm
Boogie Nights
Men in Black

Worst Film

Lost Highway
Leave it to Beaver
Bad Day on the Block
Shadowbuilder
Jurassic Park II: The Lost World

Best Cast

Suicide Kings
Hijacking Hollywood
Sling Blade
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
O Que é Isso Companheiro?

Nominations

Contact 8
Sling Blade 7
Hijacking Hollywood 7
The Sweet Hereafter 4
Mother Night 4
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery 4
Little Men 4
A Thousand Acres 3
Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion 3
Jurassic Park: The Lost World 3
Addicted to Love 2
The Boy’s Club 2
Bastard Out of Carolina 2
The Suicide Kings 2
Boogie Nights 2
Lost Highway 2
Cube 2
The Education of Little Tree 2
Peacemaker 2
Amistad 1
La Vita é Bella 1
Afterglow 1
The Ice Storm 1
Men in Black 1
Leave it to Beaver 1
Bad Day on the Block 1
Shadowbuilder 1
O Que é Isso Companheiro? 1
Snow White: A Tale of Terror 1

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…

1996

As I have mentioned in that past, as the years moved on I tried to back track to my year of birth, and before I shared them I made changes, but since then I’ve taken the approach that it’s really a yearbook. I’m capturing my own personal zeitgeist.

So in the first few years there’s some muddling between how it was in the year of and how it was in the years after, but it’s mostly identical, about 90% plus for this year, they get more immutable as the years pass.

Some general observations here:

-One thing I’ve always had a tendency to do is include comedic performances, see Carrey, Williams, Hawn, Alda, and all but one of the Supporting Actress nominees.

-With behind-the-scenes positions I’ve gone back and forth between wanting to learn the name of every person under consideration and just judging the work and finding the name later. Most of this year I’ve done the latter.

-Any newer award, it would seem, adds a category to to try and stand apart; I added three. I’ve done more of this as the years have passed but the first was adding a category for young actors. This has since expanded.

-I’ve altered the order I’ve written these in. This is presented “as is.”

Winners are in BOLD and pictured.

Best Picture

Bound
Everyone Says I Love You
Freeway
Harriet the Spy
Mulholland Falls

Best Director

Woody Allen Everyone Says I Love You
Ben Stiller The Cable Guy
Matthew Bright Freeway
Francis Ford Coppola Jack
Lee Tamahori Mulholland Falls

Best Actor

Nick Nolte Mulholland Falls
Jim Carrey The Cable Guy
Kiefer Sutherland Freeway
Robin Williams Jack
Mel Gibson Ransom

Best Actress

Reese Witherspoon Freeway
Michelle Trachtenberg Harriet the Spy
Goldie Hawn The First Wives Club
Carla Gugino Jaded
Sonia Braga Tieta do Agreste

Best Supporting Actor

Tony Shaloub Big Night
Chazz Palminteri Mulholland Falls
Alan Alda Everyone Says I Love You
Gregory Smith Harriet the Spy
John Leguizamo Romeo + Juliet

Best Supporting Actress

Diane Keaton The First Wives Club
Bette Middler The First Wives Club
Natasha Lyonne Everyone Says I Love You
Melanie Griffith Mulholland Falls
Marília Pêra Tieta do Agreste

Best Original Screenplay

The Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy
Everyone Says I Love You
Freeway
The Cable Guy
Mulholland Falls

Best Adapted Screenplay

Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Movie
Harriet the Spy
Mondo
A Midsummer-Night’s Dream
Tieta do Agreste

Best Cinematography

Eric Guichard Mondo
Edgar Moura Tieta do Agreste
Donald McAlpine Romeo + Juliet
Ian Wilson A Midsummer-Night’s Dream
Haskell Wexler Mulholland Falls

Best Score

Howard Shore and Adam Schlesinger That Thing You Do!
Caetano Veloso Tieta do Agreste
Jamshied Sharifi Harriet the Spy
John Ottman The Cable Guy
Dick Hyman Everyone Says I Love You

Best Visual Effects

Independence Day
Mars Attacks!
Mondo

Best Performance by a Child Actor

Michelle Trachtenberg Harriet the Spy
Gregory Smith Harriet the Spy
Adam Zolotin Jack
Mario Yedidia Jack
Brawley Nolte Ransom

Most Overrated

The English Patient
Fargo
One Fine Day
Independence Day
Romeo + Juliet

Most Underrated Film

Mulholland Falls
Harriet the Spy
Jack
The Cable Guy
Mars Attacks!

Worst Film

Fargo
The English Patient
Kazaam
Fever Lake
Girl 6

Best Cast

Jack
Harriet the Spy
Everyone Says I Love You
Mulholland Falls

Freeway

NOMINATIONS

Harriet the Spy- 9
Mulholland Falls- 9
Everyone Says I Love You- 7
Jack-6
Freeway- 6
The Cable Guy- 5
Tieta do Agreste- 5
Mondo- 3
The First Wives Club- 3
Romeo + Juliet- 3
A Midsummer-Night’s Dream- 2
Independence Day- 2
Mars Attacks!- 2
The English Patient-2
Fargo- 2
Bound, Jaded, Diabolique, Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Movie, That Thing You Do!, One Fine Day, Kazaam, Fever Lake, Girl 6, Bastard Out of Carolina-1