The Poscars Ceremony

The “big night” has come and gone. No, not that “big night,” the other “big night.” Last Saturday I presented the Poscars at an exclusive, invite-only soiree on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

For the five of you sitting on the edge of your seats awaiting the results, I present the first ever “PoscarCast Semi-Live Blog.”

Saturday, Feb. 17, 2008, 5:45 PM: Let the cheap beer, one-pound Sumo Burgers and milkshakes flow as I wait for the nominees to stroll up the “Cold Concrete” and into Big Nick’s famed burger joint.

My carefully planned Poscar look is inspired by two finalists: a bath towel to honor clothing nominee “Viggo Mortensen’s Bath Towel” and an Anton “Chigurh-Chic” hairdo.

6:00 PM: Nobody has arrived yet, but I’ll give out a few awards and the first Honorary Poscar to kick off the festivities.

First up, Favorite Picture. The nominees are Atonement, Ratatouille, No Country for Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

And the Poscar goes to…

No Country for Old Men: It reflects our violent times, yet I don’t see it as a completely hopeless commentary. If that were the case, nobody would question the darkness. The world is cold and unyielding, but the real horror comes when we stop asking why.

The second category of the night is Favorite Performance by a Prop. The nominees are the McLovin ID from Superbad, Coins from No Country for Old Men, Home Pregnancy Tests from Juno/Knocked Up and Razor Blades from Sweeney Todd.

And the Poscar goes to…

The McLovin ID: The funniest thing in a very funny film, the ID also managed to cross over into pop culture to the point of silly government complaints. Reportedly, Wal-Mart removed copies of the special edition Superbad DVD from Hawaii stores after Honolulu’s mayor complained about the inclusion of the fake driver’s license.

I seriously doubt an underage Hawaiian would attempt to use the McLovin ID, but you never know—smart people make mistakes, like the finalists for Dumbest Behavior by a Character Who Should Know Better. The nominees are Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men, when he decides to return to the standoff scene in the middle of the night, Emile Hirsch, when he goes into the wild in Into the Wild and everyone in Before the Devil Knows Your Dead.

And the Poscar goes to…

Josh Brolin: Definitely not a smart move, but I think his decision here—and later when he stays in the hotel room to await Chigurh—is related to the film’s fatalistic and dreamlike quality. It’s telling that Brolin wakes up at the beginning of both scenes. The problem is that once things are set in motion, he can’t awake from the nightmare.

The first Honorary Poscar of the night is The Christopher Walken Award for Outstanding Performance in an Otherwise Bad Movie. This year’s winner is Thomas Haden Church for his lackluster-film-defying portrayal of Sandman/Flint Marko in Spider-Man 3. He can’t save the movie, but he definitely makes it more bearable.

6:45 PM: The waitress is starting to give me attitude since I’m taking up the entire back section of this fine establishment. I offer up several categories—starting with Favorite Director—and the promise of a good tip to keep her from seating other customers. The nominees are Brad Bird for Ratatouille, Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men, Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Tim Burton for Sweeney Todd and Joe Wright for Atonement.

And the Poscar goes to…

The Coen Brothers: Everything about the film is sublime and whether they did it themselves or shaped the work of others, each scene is a testament to their brilliance. I’m not sure I’d call it a peak, because they’ve been doing amazing, memorable work for years, but it’s definitely a showcase.

For Favorite Actress in a Supporting Role, the nominees are Saoirse Ronan in Atonement, Jennifer Jason Leigh in Margot at the Wedding, Jennifer Garner in Juno and Tabu in The Namesake.

And the Poscar goes to…

Saoirse Ronan: Innocent, bossy and dangerously adamant in her skewed vision, she can’t see beyond or comprehend her own mixed-up-pent-up desires. I admired all of these actresses, but was riveted by Ronan as young Briony.

For Favorite Actor in a Supporting Role, the nominees are Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones, both in No Country for Old Men, Irfan Kahn in The Namesake, Michael Biehn in the “Planet Terror” half of Grindhouse and James Marsden in Enchanted.

And the Poscar goes to…

Tommy Lee Jones: A touchstone for an audience that feels as lost and resigned as his character. That’s a lot to ask of an actor and Jones delivers in every way.

7:23 PM: The first guest has arrived! It’s my boyfriend, wearing his “Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan” ensemble and a fetching Dylanesque sneer. He’s just in time for Favorite Performance by an Animated Character. The nominees are Peter O’Toole in Ratatouille and Danielle Darrieux in Persepolis.

And the Poscar goes to…

Peter O’Toole: His vocal performance as food critic Anton Ego is complimented with wonderful character touches, like the portrait of Ego looking blasé and the name of the publication he writes for: The Grim Eater.

The second Honorary Poscar of the night is The Queen Elizabeth Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mimicking a Real Person. This year’s winner is Cate Blanchett, who took on Queen Elizabeth I and Bob Dylan. And of course she earned her first Oscar as Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator.

7:45 PM: Still waiting for the nominees to show up, but my curly fries are getting cold, so I better move on to the acting awards. For Favorite Actor the nominees are Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises, Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd, Mathieu Amalric in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and James McAvoy in Atonement.

And the Poscar goes to…

Viggo Mortensen: I’m an admitted Viggomanic, but this was the toughest category for me to choose. Mortensen gives an incredibly layered and enigmatic performance. He nails the Russian accent and we see him raw, bloodied, beaten and in the buff… Hmmmmmm. Sorry, momentary lapse into “Nude Viggo” fantasy land… Anyway, his finest moments are in his face. No, really. The humor that underlies each expression, his observations of others: it’s all there. He creates a real and compelling character out of what another actor may have turned into caricature.

7:55 PM: Alone again, as the boyfriend was miffed at my glazed over Viggo-induced trance. Time for Favorite Actress. The nominees are Laura Linney in The Savages, Ellen Page in Juno, Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose, Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart and Amy Adams in Enchanted.

And the Poscar goes to…

Amy Adams: Commenter Silencio helped clarify my feelings about the performance, writing, “I love how she darkens while retreating from [Patrick Dempsey’s] chest…she bumps into the arm of the chair as she sits down. No more floating and fluttering. She isn’t a fairy tale princess anymore…she’s a woman.” I couldn’t agree more. It isn’t just that Adams is able to earnestly create a “Disney Cartoon.” Like Giselle, she comes to life.

1:50 AM: As you can see from the timestamp I’ve run into a slight snag. Turns out a few of Big Nick’s other patrons claimed my very classy towel look constituted “indecent exposure.” I’ve spent the last several hours “being processed” and have finally convinced a friendly officer to return my laptop so I can share the last two awards of the night.

The nominees for Favorite Performance by an Article of Clothing are the Chef’s Hat in Ratatouille, the Spartan Uniform in 300 and Viggo Mortensen’s bath towel in Eastern Promises.

And the Poscar goes to…

The Chef’s Hat: According to Brad Bird, the hat’s most important feature—that Remy can see through it, but that nobody can see him under it—came about during the filmmaking process. Originally he was supposed to peak out, which never would have worked. A film about a rat chef still stretches credulity well beyond its limits, but within the universe of Ratatouille, the hat does the trick.

Finally, the last award of the night: The Anthony Michael Hall Geek of the Year. While there were plenty of geeky performances to choose from, the real life video game enthusiasts in Donkey Kong documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, impressively proved that even the best actors can’t fake true, epic geekiness.

And with that we’ve reached the “Kill Screen” for this year’s Second Annual Poscars. Here’s to all of this year’s great films and performances. And here’s hoping that at least one of my nominees will show up and bail me out.

Kazakhstan Gets its Glory with Mongol

A year ago, British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s Oscar-nominated Borat made Kazakhstan the butt of a massive joke. The “glorious nation” was not amused.

In true cinematic fashion, this year’s Oscars offer a chance for redemption. For the first time ever, the country has a Best Foreign Language nominee with Mongol.

Russian director Sergei Bodrov says he personally liked Cohen’s film—which skewers pretty much everyone who gets in the way, but Kazakhs didn’t appreciate the joke.

“People in Kazakhstan were very upset, they took it really personally, they couldn’t believe how it was possible to make this kind of movie,” he says. Among the character sins committed against them, the film portrays Kazakhs as urine-drinking, incestuous racists. Borat put the country on the map, but not in a positive way.

“For them [Mongol getting the Oscar nomination] is a big deal. It’s good for the Kazakhstan film industry and for the country,” Bodrov says.

Fittingly, the film offers up its own kind of historical redemption, as Bodrov tracks the early years of Temudgin, the Mongolian who would become the conqueror Genghis Khan—perceived by many to be a raping, pillaging and murdering brute. To Mongolians he’s a larger-than-life hero and the father of their nation—literally. A February 2003 study published by the American Journal of Human Genetics estimated that he has more than 17 million descendants living today.

“Genghis Khan wasn’t really a bad guy,” said former Mongolian Prime Minister Elbegdorj Tsahkia in a 2005 interview. “He just had bad press.”

That bad press has been generated by those on the losing side of his military victories, such as China, India, Iran, and Russia. According to estimates, Khan and his followers killed 40 million people across Asia and Europe.

Bodrov’s film—at least the first part in a planned trilogy—takes a sympathetic view. Temudgin defends himself, his family, his woman and his people—not necessarily in that order. He’s very much in touch with nature and the spiritual world (in fact, his armies get divine assistance during a key battle). If some history books have painted him as a genocidal maniac, Mongol turns him into a respectful Jedi Master.

The script (co-written by Arif Aliyev, who also collaborated with Bodrov on the Academy Award nominated Prisoner of the Mountains) highlights the relationship between Temudgin, ably played by Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano and his wife Borte, played by sturdy newcomer Khulan Chuluun, a Mongolian student discovered by the filmmakers.

Their love story begins when they are children and Temudgin chooses her for his future bride, going against the wishes of his father. The film makes much of their bond. As portrayed in the film, Borte’s the ultimate supportive badass wife, at one point sacrificing her own freedom to save him. While the Mongol custom would be to forget about her and take a new wife (or two), Temudgin is determined to rescue her. He seeks the help of his blood brother and eventual rival Jamukha (Chinese actor Honglei Sun) and the episode culminates with one of the film’s visceral battle sequences.

Bodrov says these scenes included real stunts. They’re an impressive feat, with bloody poetry on display.

The film uses CGI to enhance the scope, but he drew visual inspiration from legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Mongol comes close to that high standard, giving these epic scenes the gritty realism Bodrov intended.

The entire shoot lasted about 25 weeks and was shot in two segments. The initial leg, which showed Temudgin’s childhood and a few years into adulthood, was shot by Dutch director of photography Rogier Stoffers. When he was unavailable for the second part, Bodrov turned to Russian cinematographer Sergey Trofimov.

“We were shooting for two years for two seasons and of course it’s difficult for a cinematographer to be available, but they were great. It worked out,” Bodrov says.

Even as he borrowed visual cues for the battles and had books to provide some of the historical background, there were gaps in the story. Rather than fearing these, the director says he found it an interesting challenge to fill them in.

One example is a period of about 10 years when Temudgin’s life is suddenly off the charts. Bodrov followed the lead of Russian historian Lev Gumilev, who theorized that maybe he had been captured and imprisoned. As a result, the film shows the warrior sold into slavery, and locked away in a Tangut prison.

Bodrov’s take on the man who would be Khan was not without its detractors on both sides of the “hero or villain” debate.

Early on a group of Mongolian academics reportedly accused the filmmakers of “profaning and humiliating the national pride of the Mongolian people.”

“There was resistance, but you have to understand in Mongolia he’s a God, and how do you make a movie about a God,” Bodrov explains.

One way the production—shot in remote areas of Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan—deflected criticism was through its multinational crew that included representation from those countries.

“It was really important to do my best and I was working with people who knew the culture in their bones,” he says.

Bodrov and production designer Dashi Namdakov even visited with and got the blessing to make the film from one of Mongolia’s chief shamans.

On the other side, Bodrov says some of his countrymen questioned his decision to make a film about a civilization that had ruled over Russians.

“My answer was good or bad, it’s a part of our history,” he says.

In the end, he says the film has been well received in both countries. Now it’s up to Oscar to decide.

This article first ran on Awards Daily.

The Second Annual Poscars

By Susan Thea Posnock

Even as the fate of this year’s Oscar ceremony hangs in the balance between the glitzy and the clips-y, fans of the former can breathe a deep sigh of relief: The Second Annual Poscars will take place as scheduled.

For those of you who don’t know, the Poscars are the Oscars’ more prestigious and self-indulgent, “father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate.” An “expert panel of judges” gives them out. (Translation: Me and me alone, displaying my omniscient power.)

I’d also like to note that Sasha Stone graciously allows me to present my views at her site, but the rumor that she and I are the same person is completely untrue—though I’m flattered by any confusion!

I make the rules and therefore can bend them to my will. Last year I nominated three contenders in each category, but this time I’ve widened the field to include as many as five. This year I’ve also added several “Honorary Poscars” to ensure the “Poscarcast” runs the requisite three and a half hours.

Individual nominees are invited to join me for beers and burgers (the veggie kind if necessary) at Big Nick’s Burger Joint (pictured above) on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on Feb. 17. Afterward, James McAvoy and Viggo Mortensen are invited back to my place to “discuss politics.”

And the Finalists are:

Favorite Picture:

Atonement: It captured me from the first notes of its exquisite score and the steady tap of Briony’s typewriter. Everything that follows is just as beautiful—the images, the performances (and yes, the performers). Disguised as an epic romance, its take on storytelling—and its power to obscure and redeem—stayed with me after the lights went up.

No Country for Old Men: The three compelling characters who make up its core—Josh Brolin’s Llewelyn Moss, Tommy Lee Jones’ Ed Tom Bell and Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh—would be enough to make this a very good movie. But the nearly flawless bit players who surround them (from Garret Dillahunt’s hilariously observant deputy Wendell to Kathy Lamkin’s sassy trailer park manager) push the film into greatness.

Ratatouille: The epitome of film magic. Not only does it transform rats into cute critters (and believe me, if you’ve ever seen a real one, you know they’re NOT), but it’s a clever meditation on art and how even the most cynical critics yearn to be moved.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: Just because you’ve got a great “triumph over diversity” story doesn’t mean you can make it work. But director Julian Schnabel’s film traps us inside that silent and suffocating diving bell, and lifts us up when we become the butterfly.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: A dark and bloody tale of vengeance that’s flavored with melancholy.

Favorite Performance by a Prop:

The McLovin ID in Superbad: “The guy’s either going think ‘here’s another guy with a fake ID’, or here’s McLovin, 25 year old Hawaiian organ donor.” A great gag, that’s supported by the wonderful Christopher Mintz-Plasse. By the end of the film, he’s earned the McLovin moniker.

Home Pregnancy Tests in Juno and Knocked Up: Now, if only condoms had been a more prominent prop.

Coins in No Country for Old Men: “Call it.” A central element in two of the film’s best scenes, made all the more powerful because they’re so different.

Razor blades in Sweeney Todd: “At last, my arm is complete again!” That’s good news for Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop, bad news for everyone else.

Favorite Actor in a Lead Role:

Mathieu Amalric as Jean-Dominique Bauby in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: From his sardonic humor to every deep sigh of frustration, you feel the pain of this trapped but brilliant mind.

Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood: Somehow manages to make his hateful self-loathing palatable.

Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai in Eastern Promises: Disappears into the role, much as Nikolai drowns into the world of Russian mobsters that lurk in the London underworld.

Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd: What he lacks in technical ability as a singer is more than compensated for by his gravitas as an actor.

James McAvoy as Robbie Turner in Atonement: The film’s main story thread focuses on Briony’s lifelong betrayal, regret and redemption, but McAvoy’s object of youthful desire sets it all in motion.

Favorite Actress in a Lead Role:

Laura Linney as Wendy Savage in The Savages: Selfish and self-delusional, yet Linney still manages to make you care.

Ellen Page as Juno MacGuff in Juno: The first 30 minutes or so are all distancing cool, but slowly and effectively, Page reveals the cracks in Juno’s Daria-like façade.

Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose: Like Forest Whitaker last year, it’s more possession than performance.

Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart: I dreaded seeing this film, having vividly remembered Daniel Pearl’s tragic story. But I think Jolie’s touching portrayal honors his memory.

Amy Adams as Giselle in Enchanted: It’s like she swapped brains with a 5-year-old who dreams of being a Disney Princess. The end result is uncanny and very funny.

Favorite Performance by an Animated Character:

Peter O’Toole as Anton Ego in Ratatouille: Oh the glorious snobbery. The film’s best moment doesn’t work without him.

Danielle Darrieux as Marjane’s Grandmother in Persepolis: The perfect balance of love and firmness, and I’m not talking about the trick she uses to keep her boobs from sagging—but that’s also classic.

Favorite Actor in a Supporting Role:

Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men: One friend called his villainy here “one note,” but despite his purely evil ways, I think Bardem layers the performance with Chigurh’s twisted logic.

Tommy Lee Jones as Ed Tom Bell in No Country for Old Men: I don’t think the film would be bearable without his steady presence.

Irfan Kahn as Ashoke Ganguli in The Namesake: Quiet and impressive as he conveys a father’s wisdom, hesitancy, and regret.

Michael Biehn as Sheriff Hague in the “Planet Terror” half of Grindhouse: I fully admit to a certain amount of 1980s-crush bias here, but Biehn is hilarious as he tries to save the world and his own ass.

James Marsden as Prince Edward in Enchanted: His excessively charming prince is pitched perfectly: The broad, brilliant smile, the twinkle in his eye. Parodies are hit or miss, but here the sincerity makes it work.

Favorite Actress in a Supporting Role:

Saoirse Ronan as Briony Tallis, aged 13, in Atonement: I was going to cheat here and present a three-way tie that also included Romola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave, but in the end it’s Ronan’s performance I can’t shake.

Jennifer Jason Leigh as Pauline in Margot at the Wedding: Nails that persistent and nagging need for approval from a sibling, seasoning it with a strong dose of resentment.

Jennifer Garner as Vanessa Loring in Juno: Isn’t teen pregnancy funny? Yes, in this movie it manages to be. But Garner grounds the jokes with real emotion.

Tabu as Ashima Ganguli in The Namesake: Delicate and bold, whether she’s trying on the shoes of her future husband—a man she’s about to meet for the first time—or returning to her homeland to re-find her voice.

Favorite Director:

Brad Bird for Ratatouille: Continues to create works that shouldn’t be relegated to the Academy’s animation ghetto. Original director Jan Pinkava—who came up with the initial concept—also deserves mention.

Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men: Film renaissance men at their finest.

Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: Makes the “un-filmable” soar off the screen.

Joe Wright for Atonement: Creates a beautiful and complex tapestry. The Dunkirk retreat in particular is a tour de force.

Tim Burton for Sweeney Todd: Returns to the form of his best works, maintaining a tone that keeps the gore (and the less than stellar singing) from overwhelming the beautiful bleakness of Todd’s tale.

Favorite Performance by an Article of Clothing:

The Chef’s Hat in Ratatouille: The plot device that makes it all work.

The Spartan Uniform (or lack-thereof) in 300: Yeah, this one is all about man candy.

Viggo Mortensen’s bath towel in Eastern Promises: Effectively (and realistically) disappears.

Dumbest behavior by a character that should know better:

Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss in No Country, when he decides to return to the standoff scene—in the middle of the night—with “agua.” And while we’re at it, when he discovers the moneybag has a tracking device, why not just ditch it and get out of the room before Chigurh can blast the door in?

Emile Hirsch as Chris McCandless, when he decides to go into the wild in Into the Wild. (And yes, I realize that it’s a true story—still dumb and all the more tragic.)

Everyone in Before the Devil Knows Your Dead: From the mom’s Rambo-act during the jewelry store robbery to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s decision to go to a fence that could recognize him, they make the wrong choices at every turn.

Honorary Poscars

I’ve already picked my favorites—which I’ll reveal during the “official” ceremony—but feel free to share your choices in the following honorary categories:

The Queen Elizabeth Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mimicking a Real Person

The Christopher Walken Award for Outstanding Performance in an Otherwise Bad Movie

The Anthony Michael Hall Geek of the Year Award

So there you have it. Overall, I’d say 2007 was a very strong year for cinema. Keep in mind that these are personal favorites—I admired a number of other films and performances, these simply registered the most for me. Please feel free to join the Poscar celebration by sharing your own choices (and honorary awards) in the comments.

*First posted on Awards Daily.