Ripping Good Yarns: Movie Award Extravaganza

There are awards designed just for Rippers!  These are the Saturn Awards that will be presented in June, honoring the very best in different genre oriented categories of entertainment.  No two hour movies of people drinking tea here!  Just good old fashioned melodrama and entertainment!

Four weeks ago I presented the category of Science Fiction films, and expressed my opinion the Marvel's The Avengers was the best of the bunch.  Chronicle also received Ripper support, and Prometheus starts on HBO this month so I hope to catch that.

Three weeks ago I presented the category of Fantasy Films, and felt like the two major contenders were Life of Pi and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey   I asked my son Benjamin, the only one I know who has seen both which one he enjoyed the most, and he chose The Hobbit.  So there you go!

Two weeks ago I presented the category of Horror/Thriller.  In that group, I thought the front runner might be Argo, but the film I most looked forward to seeing was The Cabin In The Woods. 

Last week I presented the Action/Adventure category.  Les Miserables was  the one contender in this group that was also an Oscar nominee.  Other major contenders were The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall. Not diminishing Les Miserables in any way, thinking in terms of Action/Adventure, I am inclined towards Skyfall.

Here is a complete list of the remaining movie nominations:

Best Independent Film Release
Compliance - Magnolia
Hitchcock - Fox Searchlight
Killer Joe - LD Entertainment
The Paperboy - Millennium
Robot and Frank - Samuel Goldwyn Films
Safety Not Guaranteed - FilmDistrict
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - Focus Features

I have not seen any of these of these movies.  I welcome comments from anybody who has.

Best International Film

Anna Karenina - Focus Features
Chicken With Plums - Sony Pictures Classics
The Fairy - Kino Lorber
Headhunters - Magnolia
My Way - Well Go USA
Pusher - Radius

I have not seen any of these of these movies.  I welcome comments from anybody who has.

Best Animated Film

Brave - Pixar / Walt Disney Studios
Frankenweenie - Walt Disney Studios
ParaNorman - Focus Features
Wreck-It Ralph - Walt Disney Studios

Between the family, we've seen these, except for Frankenweenie.  Brave is by far the best of this class.

Best Actor
Christian Bale, The Dark Knight Rises
Daniel Craig, Skyfall
Martin Freeman, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Looper
Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe

I have not seen all of these, but I think Hugh Jackman would be the standout.

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Ann Dowd, Compliance
Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks
Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible

Given what I suspect is the composition of the Saturn voters, Jennifer Lawrence would have to be a favorite, although I have heard that Naomi Watts is extraordinary in The Impossible.

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Michael Fassbender, Prometheus
Clark Gregg, Marvel's The Avengers
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, The Dark Knight Rises
Ian McKellen, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Chirstopher Waitz is the most esteemed performance in this group.  I really enjoyed Javier Bardem in Skyfall, the Bond villain in a very long time.

Best Supporting Actress
Judi Dench, Skyfall
Gina Gershon, Killer Joe
Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
Charlize Theron, Snow White and the Huntsman

Anne Hathaway's performance in Les Miserable is a runaway here, I don't care what the voter fan bases is.

Best Performance By a Younger Actor
CJ Adams, The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Tom Holland, The Impossible
Daniel Huttlestone, Les Miserables
Chloe Grace Moretz, Dark Shadows
Suraj Sharma, Life of Pi
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

I have no opinion or input here.  I welcome yours.

Best Direction
William Friedkin, Killer Joe
Peter Jackson, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Rian Johnson, Looper
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises
Joss Whedon, Marvel's The Avengers

Is this supposed to be a contest?  Joss Whedon by a country mile!

Best Writing
Tracy Letts, Killer Joe
David Magee, Life of Pi
Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Joss Whedon, Marvel's The Avengers
Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods

The two major contenders I see here are Quentin Tarantino and Joss Whedon (Marvel's The Avengers).

The rest of the categories I present without comment, but I certainly welcome any input you may have.

Best Production Design
Hugh Bateup, Uli Hanisch, Cloud Atlas
Sarah Greenwood, Anna Karenina
David Gropman, Life of Pi 20th
Rick Heinrichs, Dark Shadows
Dan Hennah, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Eve Stewart, Les Miserables

Best Editing
Stuart Baird, Kate Baird, Skyfall
Alexander Berner, Cloud Atlas
Bob Ducsay, Looper
Jeffrey Ford, Lisa Lassek, Marvel's The Avengers
John Gilroy, The Bourne Legacy
Tim Squyres, Life of Pi

Best Music
Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
Danny Elfman, Frankenweenie
Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
Thomas Newman, Skyfall
Howard Shore, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Hans Zimmer, The Dark Knight Rises

Best Costumes
Jacqueline Durran, Anna Karenina
Kym Barrett, Pierre-Yves Gavraud, Cloud Atlas
Sharen Davis, Django Unchained
Bob Buck, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Paco Delgado, Les Miserables
Colleen Atwood, Snow White and the Huntsman

Best Make-Up
Heike Merker, Daniel Parker, Jeremy Woodhead, Cloud Atlas
Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Julie Hewitt, Hitchcock
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater, Tami Lane, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
David Marti, Montse Ribe, Vasit Suchitta, The Impossible
Naomi Donne, Donald Mowat, Love Larson, Skyfall
Jean Ann Black, Fay Von Schroeder, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2

Best Special Effects
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick, Marvel's The Avengers
Grady Cofer, Pablo Helman, Jeanie King, Burt Dalton, Battleship
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Chris Corbould, Peter Chiang, Scott R. Fisher, Sue Rowe, John Carter
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan de Boer, Donald R. Elliott, Lif of Pi
Cedric Nicholas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Courbould, Michael Dawson, Snow White and the Huntsman

Next up:  Television!!! Stay tuned!