The First Annual Oscar Hut Awards-revised edition

It seems that when I sat down on the morning of December 31st to post my first Oscar Hut awards for the year 2008, I somehow managed to jump the gun. That very same day i caught a quick showing of Revolutionary Road and Gran Torino which has seriously shaken things up quite a bit. I apologize to all the "Hutts" out there who continued to surf the Internet believing that my awards were finished, through, done for.

Well without further adu, here are the *Official* 2008 Oscar Hut Awards ! (TM)

Top Ten of 2008

*Note: The descriptions of the previous top ten still apply, so, with the exception of my #1, I will only provide reasoning for new additions.

Honorable Mention:

Cloverfield- Shocked me in ways I hadn't felt in years. The funnest, most breathtaking theater going experience I had been through since The Departed. However, the one hitch in the film for me was the actual reveal of the monster. The mystery of what was destroying NYC was one of the best aspects of Cloverfield for 2/3rds of the film.

In Bruges- I wish I had seen this more when it was out in theatres. I loved it upon seeing it, but it suffered the sands of time in my memory. Still great upon my second viewing, I just enjoyed it more the first time I saw it.

Tropic Thunder- No other movie from 2008 had me laugh as much or as often as Tropic Thunder did this past summer. Stiller, Black, and Mcconaghey were excellent. Tom Cruise was surprisingly funny(but in no way worthy of a golden globe nomination), and Robert Downey Jr. turned in what was without a doubt the funniest performance of this entire year.

Now for the Tops of 2008....

1. Doubt- One of the most pleasantly surprising films I've ever seen. I came in with low expectations and came out on a high. I absolutely adored the film, the direction and the acting which was sharply realized and crackled perfectly like chestnuts on a roasting fire.

2. Slumdog Millionaire

3. The Dark Knight

4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

5. Wall-e

6. Vicky Cristina Barcelona

7. Changeling

8. Milk

9. The Reader

10. Revolutionary Road- Depressing ? Yes. Somber ? Yes. However the tone and screenplay for a film can be excused when you see direction, acting and technical feats like the ones on display in Revolutionary Road. Just a top notch film, that I believe is receiving unfair treatment from a majority of critics.

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio for Revolutionary Road

Leo was an absolute revelation from the moment go. He went into depths I never thought I'd see from him, turning in his most emotional, most vulnerable, and most rage filled performance of his career. He was perfect. Better than the awards bodies have been treating him. An Oscar he deserves. Thus it is written. Thus it shall be done.
Runner Up: Sean Penn for Milk

Best Actress: Kate Winslet for Revolutionary Road
Kate the great delivered exactly as I had hoped and expected. Yet another performance head over heels better than anything most young actresses will ever do. I knew she had delivered the best performance of any other actress this year within 5 minutes of screen time. That look from the mirror got me hook, line and sinker.

Runner-Up: Meryl Streep for Doubt

Best Supporting Actor: Phillip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt.
Hoffman blew me away yet again with his performance as the priest accused of molesting a child. Though we never truly find out whether or not he is guilty, the fact that Phillip made such a vile character type sympathetic earns him an automatic spot on my short list. Whats more is that, he also was excellent in the film. His sermon scenes were sublime and his fiery encounter with Streep was incendiary.

Runner-Up: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams for Doubt

Adams is her character in this film. She is sweet, and pure and innocent. And at the same time she holds her own with Streeps' firm Sister Aloyisius and Hoffman's powerful Father Flynn. I have never been a fan of Adams' work, so after walking out of Doubt I felt floored by the work she displayed as the films emotional center. Viola Davis may be stealing all the praise but I feel Adams gave the better performance, end of story.

Runner-Up: Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Direction: David Fincher

To describe how beautiful the direction of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in words would do it no justice. Just go see the movie, and you will know why Fincher has this spot. But I cant leave this without saying the pull back character exit sequence at the end of the film was phenomenally done.

Breakthrough Actor and Actress of 2008: David Kross and Rebecca Hall

David Kross gave, in my opinion the 3rd best leading actor performance of 2008 behind only Leo DiCaprio and Sean Penn. His intense performance was gutsy and nuanced, and Kross literally and figuratively let it all hang out on the screen. I was surprised at the emotions his performance stirred in me, especially since this is his first English speaking role. Kross played Michael perfectly allowing himself and the character evolve from the innocence before his affair to an adult haunted by his past moral indiscretions. Forget Dev Patel, I predict that David Kross will have an Oscar in his hands within ten years, mark my words.

Rebecca Hall on the other hand gave a much different performance as Vicky in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Hall outshone Woody Allen's "muse" Scarlet Johansen as well as Javier Bardem and nearly gave Penelope a run for her money.Rebecca perfectly plays with the Woody Allen neurotic intellectual persona, creating a character that is endearing, witty, and extremely sexy. Bonus points for her look of terror during the plane scene, it reminded me of my favorite moment from Annie Hall in which Woody is forced to drive with Christopher Walkin's suicidal crash enthusiast. I loved her verbal exchanges with Javier Bardem, and rank them among some of Allen's best writings. Rebecca Hall is most definitely an actress to watch, and hopefully she will soon become the star she deserves to be.

Best Ensemble: The Dark Knight

It is beyond me that The Dark Knight somehow missed out on SAG's shortlist. Just look at the cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Eric Roberts and Cillian Murphy. And every single one of them turned in a good if not great if not excellent performance. They were cohesive, each serving not only their characters but the rest of the cast as well, all the while best in show scenes and performances were abundant. This was especially true of Heath Ledger's hypnotic agent of chaos, Aaron Eckhart's good man driven to evil by loss and heartbreak, and Gary Oldman's weary yet tireless performance as man who believes in doing good and sacrificing one's self for the better good. Just grade A work all around.

Runners-Up: Doubt, Milk, Rachel Getting Married, Synecdoche New York, Slumdog Millionaire, and Tropic Thunder. 2008 was truly a year filled with excellent ensemble work.

Now for the superlatives....

Most Inspiring: Slumdog Millionaire (cliched, yes. but a given)

Most Shocking: Cloverfield

Funniest: Tropic Thunder

Most Depressing: Revolutionary Road(but that don't mean it ain't good)

Most Literary Original Film: Vicky Crisitna Barcelona

Most Un-Literary Adaptation: The Dark Knight

Most Disappointing: Australia (to apply the term epic to a film, raises expectations way to high a-la Cold Mountain)

Most Cinematic Film: The Dark Knight

Least Cinematic Film: W. (If it were made for t.v., the awards would be rolling in)

I hope all of you enjoyed 2008 as much as I did. It may not have contained as many instant classics as last years crop, but there can be no doubt that there was certainly an abundance of true quality films, both mainstream and independent. And for that I thank the movie gods...lets hope for an amazing 2009!

Now lets take one last look back at '08, courtesy of Matt Shapiro...................