My overdue Halfway Awards for 2009....

I know that most of what you're about to see will have changed dramatically by the time the Oscars draw near, but hell, it's fun to do this now to have something to compare. It's as simple as it sounds: I'm going to reveal where my personal Oscars (the Texans) would go at this point in the year (I waited a little longer, so that now I'm judging out of 30 films total). I'm just putting up the nominations (and I won't do 10 Best Picture nominees until my lineups are just about finalized in early 2010). So, without further adieu, your current (picture-free) slate of nominees for the 2009 Texan Awards ("winners" will be revealed later this week)...

Best Picture:

(500) Days of Summer

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Moon

Star Trek

Best Director:

JJ Abrams - Star Trek

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

Duncan Jones - Moon

Marc Webb - (500) Days of Summer

David Yates - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Best Actor:

Johnny Depp - Public Enemies

Jesse Eisenberg - Adventureland

Joseph Gordon-Levitt - (500) Days of Summer

Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Sam Rockwell - Moon

Best Actress:

Amy Adams - Sunshine Cleaning

Emily Blunt - Sunshine Cleaning

Zooey Deschanel - (500) Days of Summer

Michelle Pfeiffer - Cheri

Maya Rudolph - Away We Go

Best Supporting Actor:

Michael Gambon - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Jackie Earle Hayley - Watchmen

Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker

Jeffrey Dean Morgan - Watchmen

Zachary Quinto - Star Trek

Best Supporting Actress:

Marion Cotillard - Public Enemies

Eva Green - Franklyn

Maggie Gyllenhaal - Away We Go

Kristin Scott Thomas - Easy Virtue

Rachel Weisz - The Brothers Bloom

Best Original Screenplay:

(500) Days of Summer

Adventureland

Away We Go

The Hurt Locker

Sunshine Cleaning

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Cheri

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Star Trek

State of Play

Watchmen

Best Editing:

(500) Days of Summer

Franklyn

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Star Trek

Best Cinematography:

Cheri

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Public Enemies

Watchmen

Best Art Direction:

Cheri

Easy Virtue

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Franklyn

Watchmen

Best Costume Design:

Cheri

Easy Virtue

Franklyn

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Watchmen

Best Original Score:

Alexandre Desplat - Cheri

Michael Giacchino - Up

Elliot Goldenthal - Public Enemies

Clint Mansell - Moon

Hans Zimmer - Angels and Demons

Best Original Song:

N/A

Best Animated Film:

Coraline

Up

Best Foreign Language Film:

N/A

Best Makeup:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Star Trek

Watchmen

Angels and Demons

Best Visual Effects:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Star Trek

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen

Watchmen

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The day has arrived: the 2nd annual Texan Awards

There isn't much to say that I didn't already say when I released my nominees. Basically, 2008 was a solid year for movies, with a tiny handful of great films, with everything else worth mentioning being either good or very good. With award season 2008 finally ending tomorrow night with the Oscars, here's one last group of awards before the big night. Enjoy (or hate) the winners, and let's all finally start looking forward to what 2009 holds in store for us.

And here. we. go...

The Texan Awards for Excellence in Film for: 2008


Best Tagline:
"Welcome to a world without rules..." The Dark Knight


Best Poster:
The Fall

Best Trailer:


Most Unfairly Overlooked:
The Fall

Best Picture Presentation #1
CLICK HERE


Breakthrough Female:
Cantinca Untaru - The Fall


Breakthrough Male:
Brandon Walters - Australia


Breakthrough Writer or Director:
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges


Best Acting Duo:
Meryl Streep and Viola Davis - Doubt


Performer of the Year:
Robert Downey Jr. - Iron Man and Tropic Thunder


Best Animated Film:
WALL-E

Best Picture Presentation #2:
CLICK HERE



Best Sound Editing:
The Dark Knight


Best Sound Mixing:
The Dark Knight


Best Visual Effects:
Iron Man


Best Makeup:
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Best Picture Presentation #3:
CLICK HERE



Best Foreign Language Film:
Waltz with Bashir (Israel)

Best Original Song:


Best Ensemble Cast:
Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson (not pictured), Ralph Fiennes (not pictured), Clemence Poesy, Jordan Prentice, Thekla Reutan (not pictured) - In Bruges


Best Costume Design(TIE)

Australia

and


The Fall

Best Picture Presentation #4:
CLICK HERE



Best Art Direction:
Australia


Best Original Score:
Max Richter - Waltz with Bashir


Best Editing:
The Dark Knight

Best Cinematography:
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Picture Presentation #5:
CLICK HERE


Best Adapted Screenplay:
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire


Best Original Screenplay:
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges



Best Supporting Actress:
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona



Best Supporting Actor:
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight



Best Actress:
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married



Best Actor:
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon


Best Director:
Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight


and Best Picture 2008 goes to.....


*drumroll*





Best Picture:

It's time: nominees for the 2nd Annual Texan Awards (it's like the Oscars, minus the acceptance speeches)

With the 2008 Award Season entering its last few weeks, I've decided to unveil my own set of nominees. This year was particularly difficult to narrow down to five-per-category, and in a few I've made an exception and allowed a sixth nominee. While this would seem to indicate that I found 08 to be an amazing year for movies, it's actually quite the opposite. There were only a handful of GREAT films, with everything else worth watching landing in "solid", "good", or "very good" territory. At times I was banging my head over who should get the "fifth slot" in a certain category, but hopefully, these are really the people/movies that I think are the top 5 in their respective categories. You'll see some that may surprise, delight, or even disgust you (which is another similarity the nominees have with the Oscar roster); there are a few unconventional choices, and nominees that come from films that deeply divided critics and/or audiences. So, without further adieu, your 2008 Texan Award Nominees are.....(I've tried my best to keep them in alphabetical order)

PS: If you haven't seen the 2007 Nominees and Winners, click HERE and HERE

BEST PICTURE




BEST DIRECTOR


Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire


Ari Folman - Waltz With Bashir


Baz Luhrmann - Australia


Martin McDonagh - In Bruges


Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight



BEST ACTOR




Colin Farrell - In Bruges


Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon


Sean Penn - Milk


Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler


Michael Sheen - Frost/Nixon




BEST ACTRESS




Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married


Sally Hawkins - Happy Go Lucky


Melissa Leo - Frozen River


Meryl Streep - Doubt


Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long


Kate Winslet - The Reader




BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR




Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder


Ralph Fiennes - In Bruges


Ralph Fiennes - The Duchess


Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight


Brandon Walters - Australia




BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS




Amy Adams - Doubt


Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona


Viola Davis - Doubt


Samantha Morton - Synecdoche, New York


Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler


Evan Rachel Wood - The Wrestler



BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Australia: Baz Luhrmann, Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood
Happy Go Lucky: Mike Leigh
In Bruges: Martin McDonagh
Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Woody Allen
WALL-E: Andrew Stanton

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Doubt: John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon: Peter Morgan
Let the Right One In: John Lindqvist
Slumdog Millionaire: Simon Beaufoy
The Dark Knight: Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, David S. Goyer

BEST EDITING
Australia
In Bruges
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Waltz With Bashir



BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Australia


In Bruges


Slumdog Millionaire


The Dark Knight


The Fall



BEST ART DIRECTION & SET DESIGN

Australia

Hellboy II: The Golden Army


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


The Fall


Slumdog Millionaire


Waltz With Bashir



BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Australia


Hellboy II: The Golden Army


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


The Duchess


The Fall

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Carter Burwell - In Bruges
David Hirschfelder - Australia
AR Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
Max Richter - Waltz With Bashir
James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
By The Boab Tree by Angela Little - Australia(CLICK)
Rock Me Sexy Jesus by The Ralph Saul Experience - Hamlet 2(CLICK)
The Wrestler by Bruce Springsteen - The Wrestler(CLICK)
Jai Ho by AR Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire(CLICK)
Little Person by John Brion - Synecdoche, New York(CLICK)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

I've Loved You So Long (France)


Let the Right One In (Sweden)

Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
WALL-E
Waltz With Bashir

BEST MAKEUP
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
The Dark Knight
007: Quatum of Solace

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Australia
Iron Man
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
007: Quantum of Solace

BEST SOUND MIXING
Australia
In Bruges
Iron Man
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight

BEST SOUND EDITING
Australia
In Bruges
Iron Man
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight

The winners will be announced on February 21st, the day before the Oscars. Additional "special" categories will also be revealed that day.