Friday, February 6, 2009

by Ari

Just a little update on the Muriel Awards.

Best Film of 1983: Scorsese's The King of Comedy.

Best Film of 1998: went to Wes Anderson's Rushmore

Best Film Related Website: The House Next Door

Cinematic Breakthrough: Martin McDonagh. I wrote a little piece for this:

"Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges is a major announcement by a singular, boisterous new voice. McDonagh’s debut feature is packed with mischievous humor and splashes of brutal violence, yet it still manages to somehow mix together tender male bonding, existential contemplation and even a racist American midget. Who knows what madness is brewing inside McDonagh’s head, but I for one am more than pleased to see such a brazen, uncompromising imagination come from a new personality in the film world. Between the devilish thrills of In Bruges lies a touching examination of real, identifiable themes; McDonagh never reduces the material to lewd emptiness or violent excess. There’s a depth of real-life experience beneath the surface of the characters, a maturity to the story that elevates a lean dark comedy to something greater than one might initially expect. It’s impressive, memorable filmmaking by a talented artist breaking into an entirely new field of storytelling (McDonagh is a successful playwright), a debut that hopefully marks the beginning of a tremendous career in film."

Cinematography: The Dark Knight

Music: The Dark Knight

Director: Jonathan Demme

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Today marks the beginning of The Muriels, a blog critics poll I had the pleasure of contributing to alongside fellow online writers like Craig Kennedy of Living in Cinema, Chuck Bowen of Bowen's Cinematic, Alexander Coleman of Coleman's Corner and many, many more (click the Muriels link for the full list). It runs from today, February 6, till the 22nd, honoring the best of 2008 and a few anniversary awards as well. The first category announced was the 50th Anniversary Award for Best Film of 1958, which went to Hitchcock's classic thriller, Vertigo.

I'll update when all the winners are announced.