I'm a little later than most film websites (I really don't know why anyone even reads me) on posting my awards for 2009, but here they are for your enjoyment. Now, it might seem a bit arrogant and pretentious to do my very own 'awards' for a film year (actually more trivial than arrogant), but I have to say, it's a lot of fun to create your own awards and then pretend they actually mean something. This is what I have done with 'The Leaman Awards'. Technically the Leaman Awards have existed since 2003, they started out in paper only form amongst a couple of close friends. They first found their way online at my Myspace account in 2006. Last year's awards can be found here, and thus, this will be my second time posting my awards here on the Part-Time Critic blog.
It must be said from the outset that this is purely my subjective opinion. It's much a mixture of what I consider to be the 'best' with what I consider to be my 'favorite'. Thus, it's riddled with my bias. Of course, my bias in my own awards is much better than my awards containing someone else' bias, and it's infinitely better than it containing Len Bias or even Evan Bayh. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the awards, feel free to leave comments. First up, my Minor Award Nominees and Winners.
Best Makeup
- District 9
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Moon
- The Road
- Where the Wild Things Are
Winner: The Road
Runner-Up: District 9
Comments: District 9 would've been a frontrunner here, but it's honestly too difficult to tell just where the makeup starts and the CGI begins. Not far behind it lays a superb makeup job in The Road. There isn't a single shot in this film that the makeup on our actors doesn't stand out and sell the grittiness of this stark future. It's an essential aspect in selling the film and it's worthy of honor.
Best Costume Design
- The Brothers Bloom
- An Education
- Public Enemies
- Red Cliff
- The Young Victoria
Winner: The Brothers Bloom
Runner-Up: An Education
Comments: When it comes to determining the costume award winner I simply try to determine the film whose costumes not only best 'fit' the film, but deepened it so much, that it would represent a bigger loss to the film than the costume work of other films (this is the same thing I do with all the other technical awards). That being said, I love the bright, quirky, costuming of The Brothers Bloom. They fit the tone and theme of the film perfectly.
Best Sound
- Avatar
- A Christmas Carol
- District 9
- Inglorious Basterds
- Public Enemies
Winner: Avatar
Runner-Up: A Christmas Carol
Comments: Although the whole film features awards worthy sound work, one sequence stands out in particular; the destruction of hometree. The sound work for this sequence nearly becomes a character within itself, giving the viewer all sorts of detailed information about the scene. The bass literally pushed me in my seat and the sound detail felt so realistic I could've sworn there were fans rushing air in my face. One of the standout experiences of Avatar.
Best Original Score
- Avatar
- Invictus
- The Road
- Up
- The Young Victoria
Winner: The Road
Runner-Up: Avatar
Comments: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have collaborated before on scores for The Proposition and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, to excellent results. I find The Road to be their best work. Stark and minimalist, the score conveys the emptiness, the wandering, and the struggle our characters experience. The score feels lamentful for the situation our characters are in, but I ironically find it to be hopeful as well. A perfect mirror of what makes this film so great, I proudly give this award to The Road.
Best Visual Effects
- 2012
- Avatar
- District 9
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Star Trek
Winner: Avatar
Runner-Up: 2012
Comments: It's no secret that I'm not the biggest fan of Avatar and it's no secret that I wasn't bowled over by the experience of it. All of that being said, it didn't have to be a near religious experience in order for me to recognize that the visual effects work in Avatar is at a level we've never seen before. The best and most fully realized visual effects of the decade belong to the last blockbuster of the decade and will be remembered for years to come perhaps not for being revolutionary, but for their richness, depth, and stunning quality.
Best Art Direction
- Avatar
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
- The Road
Winner: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Runner-Up: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Comments: Wes Anderson's film The Life Aquatic won the Leaman Award for Best Art Direction in 2004, and he repeats the win here in 2009. Anderson's first foray into the animated world is a light and breezy caper based on a beloved children's book. Despite good voice work, the standout of the film is the creative and at times genius art direction. All the usual Anderson flairs are apparent, but they seem to find a natural home in this genre, where Anderson's creative and unique shot compositions seem to feel right at home in a children's film.
Best Cinematography
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Ip Man
- The Road
- State of Play
- Where the Wild Things Are
Winner: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Runner-Up: The Road
Comments: The most stunningly beautiful film of the year is hands down my favorite cinematography work of the year. In fact, it doesn't take but 10 minutes for the film to win the award. I can't remember a film to use shadows, dark browns, yellows and blues to better effect. While I have plenty of issues with the Harry Potter series, this is the bright spot for me. The story can be frustrating, the character arcs slow and ill-paced, but all the technical aspects seem to get better and better with each entry. I look forward to seeing how the next entry can even come close to the work here.
Best Film Editing
- (500) Days of Summer
- Crank: High Voltage
- The Road
- State of Play
- Up in the Air
Winner: State of Play
Runner-Up: Up in the Air
Comments: In no way does State of Play break any new ground like last year's Speed Racer. Despite it's lack of innovation, State of Play is an excellent example of a film that succeeds despite eschewing fancy quick cuts, chopped up timelines, and layered intercutting. The scenes get in and get out, only lingering when they need too. The editing keeps the pace constant giving the whole film a feeling of propulsion and energy that unfolds from its opening murder. Much like the other technical awards, no other film's editing meant as much and added as much at State of Play, 2009's best film editing.
Best Animated Feature
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
- Coraline
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur
- Up
Winner: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Runner-Up: Coraline
Comments: Despite the absence of an 'A' film in the category, this might well be the strongest animated year ever. Not only are the film's great, but every type of animation was present this year. From the stop-otion of Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox, the hand drawn animation of The Princess and the Frog (not nominated), to the CGI work in the other competitors, there hasn't been a deeper and more varied year that I can remember. Who would've thought that Up would be last in this category? Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the surprise of the year yielding great laughs and my award for best Animated Film of the Year.
Best Adapted Screenplay
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
- An Education
- The Road
- Sherlock Holmes
- State of Play
Winner: State of Play
Runner-Up: The Road
Comments: After my first viewing of State of Play I wasn't all that impressed. It was a strong film, but not much more. A second viewing opened me up to the pleasant unorthodox decisions the screenplay makes. For example, the screenplay hints at conspiratorial possibilities (some of these turn out to be true), while ultimately making the true villain a single person. It would have been easy, especially in today's environment, to place all blame entirely on the Blackwater like group in the film, but the screenplay ultimately takes a more intruiging route, a harder route, and one that makes for a better film.
Best Original Screenplay
- Adventureland
- Away We Go
- Inglorious Basterds
- Moon
- The Young Victoria
Winner: Moon
Runner-Up: The Young Victoria
Comments: Perhaps the film equivalent of The Road's score. Stark and minimalist, this film extracts a lot of entertainment, insight, and discussion out of what is essentially a short story premise. It's exactly the films penchant for lingering on daily activities and minutia that allows us to slip into the setting and get to know our character. Thus, when strange things begin to happen, it only takes one or two changes (who is that extra person?) to completely alter the film's universe. This is excellent writing with not a single wasted sequence.
It's a lot to take in (especially when I make Evan Bayh jokes), but there is more to come in the following days. Stay tuned for the major awards and more supplementary and superfluous awards than you shake a stick at.
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