After much agonizing debate (and plenty of Doug Harris' 18-year old scotch), the Houston Film Critics Society has selected their 2007 awards winners:
Best Picture - "No Country For Old Men"
Best Director of a Motion Picture - Tim Burton, "Sweeney Todd"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Daniel Day Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Javier Bardem, "No Country For Old Men"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast - "Hairspray"
Best Screenplay - Diablo Cody, "Juno"
Best Animated Film - "Ratatouille"
Best Cinematography - Roger Deakins, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Best Documentary Feature - "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters"
Best Foreign Language Film - "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Best Original Score - "Atonement" by Dario Marianelli
Best Original Song- "Falling Slowly" from "Once"
Honorary Texan Award - Joel and Ethan Coen
Outstanding Achievement in Cinema - Philip Seymour Hoffman (for appearing in "The Savages," "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," and "Charlie Wilson's War")
Outstanding Achievement in Cinema - The Greenway Three Theatre, for over thirty years of service to Houston's art-house film community
I'm mostly in agreement with these selections, with the exception of Burton and Cody. I'd have placed Sidney Lumet, Sean Penn, and the Coens higher on the director listing, and Cody's screenplay had me wishing I lived in the Amazon so I could grab some army ants and let them devour my eardrums.
Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, I'm just having a really hard time understanding all the accolades for Juno.
Also glad to see King of Kong on there. I lobbied hard for it.
The Houston Film Critics Society's Top Ten Films for 2007
1. No Country For Old Men
2. Juno
3. Atonement
4. Michael Clayton
5. Into the Wild
6. Sweeney Todd
7. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
8. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
9. Charlie Wilson's War
10. I'm Not There
I can't tell you how happy I am Juno didn't end up being our Best Picture, or how annoyed I am that it ranked as high as #2.
And if anyone's wondering why There Will Be Blood didn't make it, it's because the only screening was scheduled for us three days before Christmas. I know I wasn't the only one who couldn't make it.
I too have only seen one of those movies. I definitely need to get out more. But not so “out” that I’d fly to Vegas for a Spice Girls show. I STILL can’t get past that.
I’ve seen a total of one of those movies.
How embarrassing.
I need to get out more.