11th Annual Fergy Film Awards NOMINEES: Batch #4

BEST DOCUMENTARY
American Teen
Gonzo
Man On Wire
My Winnipeg
Young @ Heart

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Jon Brion (Synecdoche, New York)
Carter Burwell (Burn After Reading)
Carter Burwell (In Bruges)
Danny Elfman (Milk)
David Hirschfelder (Australia)
James Newton Howard (The Happening)
James Newton Howard & Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight)
Thomas Newman (Revolutionary Road)
Howard Shore (Doubt)
Claudio Simonetti (Mother of Tears)

BEST EDITING
Tariq Anwar (Revolutionary Road)
Pascale Chavance (The Last Mistress)
Robert Frazen (Synecdoche, New York)
Elliot Graham (Milk)
Joe Hutshing & Julie Monroe (W.)
Josh Noyes (The Wackness)
Lee Smith (The Dark Knight)
Tim Squyres (Rachel Getting Married)
Andrew Weisblum (The Wrestler)
Hughes Winborne (Seven Pounds)

BEST ART DIRECTION
Charley Beal (Milk)
Teresa Carriker-Thayer, John Kasarda, Nicholas Lundy (Revolutionary Road)
Michelle Day (Slumdog Millionaire)
Peter Francis (Hellboy II: The Golden Army)
Ian Gracie (Australia)
Alex Hajdu, John Richardson (W.)
Kevin Kavanaugh, Simon Lamont (The Dark Knight)
David Klassen (Iron Man)
Tom Reta (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Adam Stockhausen (Synecdoche, New York)

81st Annual Oscar Nominations = SADNESS

When the nominees for the Academy Awards were announced early this morning, I was expecting at least some major category recognition for the best and bravest film of the year, but there was nothing. What I feared would happen did, as Revolutionary Road, the powerhouse achievement from director Sam Mendes and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, did not receive either a best picture nomination nor the actor and actress. Nothing. 2008 was a very terrific year for American cinema, not slowing down from the jump-start that the year before had started, but to neglect the one film that succeeded on all accounts – and I’m assuming because the Academy voters as well thought it was too dark and bleak – is maddening. Whatever happens this year I will be sorely disappointed with the outcome, because the one I think deserves to win nearly every major category is not even in the running. Also, Bruce Springsteen did not receive a nomination for his tremendous title track to The Wrestler, which was good enough to garner a win let alone a nomination. The worst part about that is that we won’t have the pleasure of seeing him perform it live now. Hollywood is sad.

11th Annual Fergy Film Awards NOMINEES: Batch #3

BEST COMEDY
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Get Smart
Pineapple Express
Role Models
Tropic Thunder

BEST ANIMATED/FAMILY FILM
Marley & Me
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Wall-E

BEST HORROR/SCI-FI FILM
Cloverfield
The Happening
Mother of Tears
Teeth
The X-Files: I Want To Believe

BEST EFFECTS
Cloverfield
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Iron Man

BEST SEQUEL
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
The X-Files: I Want To Believe

11th Annual Fergy Film Awards NOMINEES: Batch #2

MOST SURPRISING FILM
Ghost Town
Marley & Me
Role Models
Run, Fatboy, Run
Zombie Strippers

MOST UNDERRATED FILM
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Lakeview Terrace
Revolutionary Road
Seven Pounds
The X-Files: I Want To Believe

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE
Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
Steve Carrell (Get Smart)
George Clooney (Burn After Reading)
Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder)
Anna Faris (The House Bunny)
James Franco (Pineapple Express)
Danny McBride (Pineapple Express)
Seth Rogen (Zack and Miri Make A Porno)
Paul Rudd (Role Models)
Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)

BEST SONG
“Dracula’s Lament” by Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
“Gran Torino” by Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood (Gran Torino)
“Lines” by Okkervil River (In Search of a Midnight Kiss)
“We’ve Got To Do Something” by Jason Segel, performed by Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
“The Wrestler” by Bruce Springsteen (The Wrestler)

BEST SOUNDTRACK
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Cake, Belle and Sebastian, The Smiths)
Henry Poole Is Here (Bob Dylan, Blur, Badly Drawn Boy, Ben Harper, Bruce Springsteen)
In Search of a Midnight Kiss (Okkervil River, Shearwater)
Slumdog Millionaire (M.I.A., A.R. Rahman)
The Wackness (A Tribe Called Quest, KRS-One, Raekwon, Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, De La Soul)