Yesterday the Central Ohio Film Critics Association announced its 4th annual awards. Much to my relief, the winners varied enough from perceived frontrunners in the Oscar race (and winners of other critics groups' awards) to make them worth discussing.
There's nothing inherently wrong with mass agreement, but in matters as highly subjective as best films and performances, it seems suspicious when everyone is in lockstep. Of course, this process tends to award the compromise selections, films seen by most of the voters that don't generate many diametrically opposed opinions. This doesn't diminish the achievement of such films and performances--the winners would still have to rank highly on the majority's ballots even if they weren't top-ranked--so don't think I'm slagging the winners. I'm just reviving my consensus vs. passion argument.
I had hoped MURDERBALL, which was exceptionally well-reviewed locally and nationally, might muscle its way to Best Film; however, 2005 was a big year for genre filmmaking, so it's appropriate that A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE won the most awards, including the top prize. David Cronenberg took a genre set-up and used it as a potent commentary on American idealism and role-playing in interpersonal relationships. It's also fitting that Maria Bello, whose character best integrates the natural and artificial, was recognized.
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN didn't win the most awards, but in winning Lead Performance and Screenplay, being a key factor in Actor of the Year, and piling up plenty of runners-up, it was anything but an awards also-ran.
Before I post my ballot, I should qualify my nominations. All nominees are listed alphabetically. While I try to avoid gamesmanship in how I nominate, it comes into play, mostly in the case of not nominating films I know most of the membership hasn't seen. (Still, you'll notice some of my nominees likely never stood a chance.) Thus, the top ten films I nominated is not necessarily how my final top ten list will shake out. Per COFCA's decision, the performance categories make no distinction between male and female performances, and the screenwriting category makes no distinction between original and adapted screenplays.
Here is my nomination ballot:
Film
-Brokeback Mountain
-Grizzly Man
-Kings & Queen
-Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
-Munich
-Murderball
-Nobody Knows
-Pride & Prejudice
-Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
-War of the Worlds
Direction
-Arnaud Desplechin, KINGS & QUEEN
-Werner Herzog, GRIZZLY MAN
-Hirokazu Kore-eda, NOBODY KNOWS
-Ang Lee, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
-Steven Spielberg, MUNICH
Lead Performance
-Jeff Daniels, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE
-Emmanuelle Devos, KINGS & QUEEN
-Joaquin Phoenix, WALK THE LINE
-Gwyneth Paltrow, PROOF
-Reese Witherspoon, WALK THE LINE
Here's where pie in the sky mentality trumped practicality. Emmanuelle Devos probably didn't get any other votes, but her stunning performance in Desplechin's film was far and away one of the year's best. I had to stick to my guns in her cas. You may notice the conspicuous absence of Heath Ledger and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I figured neither needed my help--they didn't--so I could try to rally some support for Phoenix. Remember when he was considered a favorite?
Supporting Performance
-Amy Adams, JUNEBUG
-Kevin Costner, THE UPSIDE OF ANGER
-Richard Jenkins, NORTH COUNTRY
-Val Kilmer, KISS KISS BANG BANG
-Michelle Williams, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Actor of the Year
-Joan Allen, OFF THE MAP, THE UPSIDE OF ANGER, and YES
-Terrence Howard, CRASH, FOUR BROTHERS, GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN', and HUSTLE & FLOW
-Heath Ledger, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, THE BROTHERS GRIMM, CASANOVA, and LORDS OF DOGTOWN
-Rachel McAdams, THE FAMILY STONE, RED EYE, and WEDDING CRASHERS
-Cillian Murphy, BATMAN BEGINS, BREAKFAST ON PLUTO, and RED EYE
With a body of work award, it might seem like nominees were selected on the basis of how many films they were in. In actuality, I've listed all of 2005 films in which these actors appeared. I admired Allen's work in all of her films, but Ledger's nom is based on BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and LORDS OF DOGTOWN.
Ensemble
-Crash
-A History of Violence
-The Squid and the Whale
-Syriana
-Walk the Line
Screenplay
-Brokeback Mountain
-Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
-Munich
-Pride & Prejudice
-The Squid and the Whale
Formal Design
-2046
-Brokeback Mountain
-Pride & Prejudice
-Sin City
-War of the Worlds
Sound Design
-Brokeback Mountain
-Murderball
-Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
-Walk the Line
-War of the Worlds
Sound isn't always about the most effects. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN'S score, MURDERBALL'S clanging wheelchairs, and WALK THE LINE'S music were just as pivotal to their films as all of the space age sounds. (That said, WAR OF THE WORLDS terrifying sound design got my top vote.)
Breakthrough Film Artist
-Amy Adams, JUNEBUG (actor)
-Steve Carell, THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN (actor and writer)
-Tony Jaa, ONG-BAK: THE THAI WARRIOR (actor)
-Michelle Monaghan, KISS KISS BANG BANG, MR. & MRS. SMITH, NORTH COUNTRY, and WINTER SOLSTICE (actor)
-Joe Wright, PRIDE & PREJUDICE (director)
This is a tricky category because the definition of "breakthrough" is up to the individual voters. I didn't vote for Terrence Howard because he'd been visible for some time. (I first noticed him in 1999's THE BEST MAN.)
Adams did a nice job with a small role in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, but JUNEBUG put her on the map. Carell won good notices for his supporting work, often in less than stellar films, but the mispunctuated 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN vaulted him to a new level. (That film's success also gave a higher profile to the excellent U.S. version of THE OFFICE, which Amy Adams has made a few guest appearances on.)
Monaghan's roles ran the gamut, with her KISS KISS BANG BANG performance being the primary one. (Her 2005 filmography would have been longer if she weren't cut out of CONSTANTINE and SYRIANA.) Wright's PRIDE & PREJUDICE was one of the year's most pleasant surprises, largely due to his direction.
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