The Bob Awards!

Here be the winners! You don't like it...start your own meaningless movie awards.

Bob Awards for the Movie Year, 2007

Best Art Direction: Ratatouille- Harley Jessup’s imaginative take on Paris. There was no other movie whose world I wanted to visit more.

Cinematography: The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford- Roger Deakins is considered by many to be the best in the business. The genuinely magical Blue Cut train robbery scene shows why.

Costume Design: Blades of Glory- Julie Weiss’s costumes went a long way towards making this very silly comedy work.

Film Editing: Hot Fuzz- I usually find frenetic editing to be empty flash but the work of Chris Dickens enhanced the comedy tremendously.

Makeup: La Vie en Rose- Covering the entire life of singer Edith Piaf made for a unique challenge which was more than lived up to.

Original Score: Assassination of Jesse James- No other score more effectively established a film’s tone than the mournful music of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

Original Song: Music and Lyrics- “Pop Goes My Heart” by Andrew Blakemore and Alanna Vicente really could have been an infectious ‘80s pop song.

Sound: No Country For Old Men- The most tense moments on film in 2007 were silent as Brolin and Bardem listened for each other.

Visual Effects: Transformers- Ahhh this movie was fun.

Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck- Assassination of Jesse James- From wide-eyed child to killer, Affleck plays Robert Ford’s transformation with nuance and subtlety.

Sup. Actress: Sigourney Weaver- The TV Set- Her hilarious work in this underrated film is all the more impressive because the character was originally written as a man. Not one line of dialogue changed.

Actor: Brad Pitt- Assassination of Jesse James- My favorite performance of the year. The audience doesn’t know what Jesse James will do next any more than those on screen do.

Actress: Julie Christie- Away From Her- This is not simply “actor plays disease, actor wins awards.” As a woman slipping away into Alzheimer’s Christie is truly heartbreaking.

Monty Python Award for Best Ensemble Cast: Knocked Up- A prime example of true ensemble acting. Everyone contributes something special and -most importantly- funny.

Adapted Screenplay: Zodiac- James Vanderbilt- A great film about obsession and time, it takes us through the history of the legendary case while giving us fantastic, authentic dialogue.

Original Screenplay: Hot Fuzz- Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright- Very clever and well-constructed comedy with great dialogue and real character development.

Director: (tie) Edgar Wright- Hot Fuzz; Joel & Ethan Coen- No Country For Old Men; Paul Thomas Anderson- There Will Be Blood- I couldn’t pick just one. Wright blends comedy and action perfectly, the Coens are as sharp as they’ve ever been, and Anderson’s cinematic eye is second to none.

Best Picture: Hot Fuzz- Comedy and action, it’s like the anti-awards film. I choose it as my number one film of 2007 because it manages to brilliantly satirize cop and action films while also working as a cop and action film. The story structure would work in a serious drama just as well. That it’s an extraordinarily witty comedy makes it even better. Besides, I hadn’t enjoyed watching a movie that much in a long time.

And now for the fun stuff…

Funniest and Most Entertaining Movie: Hot Fuzz

Funniest Performance: Michael Cera- Superbad

Favorite Quote: “I am Stanley Kubrick, and I have shaved off my beard off!”- Color Me Kubrick

Funniest Scene and Best Action Sequence: Sandford Shootout- Hot Fuzz

Best Dramatic Scene- The Assassination Scene- Assassination of Jesse James

Best New Word: “Mind-bottling”- Blades of Glory

“Withnail and I” Award for Best Friendship: Michael Cera and Jonah Hill- Superbad

Best Villain: Billy Mitchell- The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Best Animated and Family Film: Ratatouille

Best Foreign Language Film: The Lives of Others

Best Documentary: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Best Couple: Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore- Music and Lyrics

Best Mustache: Paddy Considine- Hot Fuzz

Worst Male Performance: Robert De Niro- Stardust (How did he come to this?)

Worst Female Performance: Lisa K. Wyatt- Southland Tales

Worst Villain: Danny Glover- Shooter

Worst Screenplay and Director: Richard Kelly- Southland Tales

Worst Picture: License to Wed

Most Pretentious Movie: Southland Tales

Worst Cameo: Bono- Across the Universe

Best Cameo: Paul Rudd (John), Jack Black (Paul), Justin Long (George), and Jason Schwartzman (Ringo)- Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Don’t Worry, It’s Not Your Fault: The Rock- Southland Tales; Ricky Gervais- Stardust

Actors to Remember: Elizabeth Reaser- Puccini For Beginners; Fran Kranz- The TV Set; Thomas Turgoose- This Is England; Saoirse Ronan- Atonement; Sam Riley- Control; Paul Schneider- Assassination of Jesse James, Lars and the Real Girl

Filmmakers to Remember: Andrew Dominik (Writer/Director)- Assassination of Jesse James; Michael Davis (Writer/Director)- Shoot ‘Em Up; Douglas Coupland (Writer)- Everything’s Gone Green; Sarah Polley (Writer/Director)- Away From Her

“Unforgiven” Award for Most Badass Movie: Hot Fuzz

Clint Eastwood Award for Most Badass Performance: Simon Pegg- Hot Fuzz

“XXX” Award for Best Over the Top Action Movie: Shoot ‘Em Up

“Idiocracy” Award for Movie Most Inexplicably Mistreated By Its Studio: The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford (Warner Bros.)

Best Internet Short: Always Crashing In the Same Car (Re-uniting the leads of my favorite movie, “Withnail and I,” Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann)

Best Trailer: Control

Worst Trailer: Alvin and the Chipmunks

Trailer So Pretentious I Almost Puked: I’m Not There

Best Movies You Probably Missed: “Fido,” “Color Me Kubrick,” “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,” “The TV Set,” “Waiter,” “Everything’s Gone Green.”

Best Car Chase: (tie) New York City- The Bourne Ultimatum; The End of “Death Proof”- Grindhouse

Best Sequel: The Bourne Ultimatum

“Hoosiers” Award for Inspirational Movie That’s Genuinely Inspirational: Amazing Grace

Movie with the Most Positive Message: Lars and the Real Girl

Best Soundtrack: Walk Hard

Best Monologue: Ego’s review- Ratatouille

Best Use of a Classic Rock Song: Zodiac- “Hurdy Gurdy Man” by Donovan

Movies That Wisely Used the Kinks- Hot Fuzz; The Darjeeling Limited; Juno; The Savages

Performer of the Year: Michael Cera- Superbad; Juno

Filmmaker of the Year: Judd Apatow- The TV Set (Producer), Knocked Up (Writer/Director), Superbad (Producer), Walk Hard (Co-Writer/Producer)

Best Ending: No Country For Old Men