Myclofig Mea Culpa

It's been one month since I listed the 2007 Oscar nominees. Each year I try to do my own awards, and the Myclofigs generally allow my readers to vote on movies we all actually saw the year before. I'd be the first to admit that The Bourne Ultimatum, Transformers or The Simpsons Movie are not award winning features, yet they are among my favorites from 2007. Every year, the Oscar list seems to focus on films that just barely came out in time to be eligible, and ignore movies from the beginning of the previous year. Additionally, I'll often learn of the existence of certain films upon their nomination.

I try to catch up before the awards show, but somehow I never do. It was about a week ago that I finally watched Babel, for example, a 2006 winner in one category and nominee in six others. Having my mom in the hospital for over four days certainly distracted me, but missing a specific blog post is a small and trivial toll. My dad seems more exhausted every day, and on Monday when I went to work and he had to visit her on his own, he forgot where he parked his car. When I returned with him to the hospital after I got home from work, he told me how he missed a turn while walking and didn't realize it until he was at the end of the street, I'd say about a quarter of a mile. Now that she's out of the ICU and being weaned off IV drips in lieu of pills, she should be home in a day or two and all our lives can get back to normal.

Some people are capable of multitasking, capable of taking whatever life throws at them and trucking onward. I've always been easily distracted and can only focus on a few things at a time, albeit with great attention and dedication. In searching the web for old Myclofig posts for instance, I found a Carnage Blender Wall of Remembrance, listing notable players who'd stopped playing an online game. When the developer released a second version of the game and subsequently deleted all records of the original, a game I'd played for five years under the username “Myclofig”, I decided it was a good time to quit. My achievements were lost forever, and I wasn't about to start over from scratch on a new version of the game. It's nice that someone kept a record of my character TMII BoGo® though, “a single tank, 2 million plus pr character that accumulated over 3 million hit points and fought without ranged weapons.” Three Million Hit Points. That's insane, but it does show how focused I was when I was younger, even if the game itself was probably a distraction from other things I should have been doing.

As for the thing I should have been doing last week, I dropped the ball and can only promise to pick it up again next year. At the time I listed the 2007 nominees, Sweeney Todd was the only one I'd seen. I managed to add a whopping three to the list since then with Juno, Eastern Promises, and No Country For Old Men. Here's how they did:

BEST PICTURE
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day Lewis - THERE WILL BE BLOOD

BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard - LA VIE EN ROSE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Tilda Swinton - MICHAEL CLAYTON

BEST ANIMATED FILM
RATATOUILLE

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel and Ethan Coen - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Joel and Ethan Coen - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody - JUNO

Of the two best picture nominees I managed to see, I'd agree with No Country For Old Men, and I'm glad Javier Bardem got the Best Supporting Actor award. The villain he portrayed in that film was a terrifying, unstoppable force of nature with a unique weapon. I was afraid for anyone that crossed his path, and though it's cliché to say, I genuinely was on the edge of my seat with every close call and hopeless situation.

I enjoyed Juno tremendously and I'm glad it won for screenplay, though I think Ellen Page deserved an award as well. I didn't see any of the films her fellow best actress nominees were up for, but her quirky wit reminded me of a young Janeane Garofalo, and as with Hard Candy she continues to show her talent and range as an up and coming actress. Between her and Ben Foster, I'm beginning to realize that X3 had some amazing talent in underutilized roles. They've both amazed me in subsequent projects.

There's not much else I can comment on, though I should make Ratatouille and There Will Be Blood priority rentals as soon as possible. Also, I noticed Transformers was nominated in sound and visual effects categories, and didn't win. Really? Millions of independently animated moving parts lost to a polar bear with a compass? That had to be some bear, and so my movie list continues to grow.

Sorry again for not holding Myclofigs this year! Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

275 Movies

I've done some rough math that may be slightly off. I average about 5 movies a week at home, and I make it to the theaters at least 15 or 20 times, more or less. So I figure I watch 275 movies a year. And yet, every year, when Oscar nominations are announced, I find that I've not only missed most of the movies, there are a few I haven't heard of. I'm still catching up on previous years, and I may or may not do Myclofig predictions/awards when we get closer to the actual ceremony next month. Since I saw the list over at Swimming In Champaign, I decided I'd weigh in and see which I've seen, which I want to see, and which ones I didn't even know about:

BEST PICTURE
ATONEMENT Want to See It
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Want To See It
MICHAEL CLAYTON
THERE WILL BE BLOOD Never Heard of It
JUNO Want to See It

BEST ACTOR
Johnny Depp - SWEENEY TODD Saw It
Tommy Lee Jones - IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH Never Heard of It
Daniel Day Lewis - THERE WILL BE BLOOD Never Heard of It
George Clooney - MICHAEL CLAYTON
Viggo Mortensen - EASTERN PROMISES Want to See It

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett - ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
Laura Linney - THE SAVAGES Never Heard of It
Marion Cotillard - LA VIE EN ROSE Never Heard of It
Ellen Page - JUNO Want to See It
Julie Christie - AWAY FROM HER Never Heard of It

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Want To See It
Tom Wilkinson - MICHAEL CLAYTON
Hal Holbrook - INTO THE WILD
Casey Affleck - THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD Want to See It
Philip Seymour Hoffman - CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR Want to See It

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Ryan - GONE BABY GONE Want to See It
Cate Blanchett - I'M NOT THERE Want to See It
Ruby Dee - AMERICAN GANGSTER Want to See It
Saoirse Ronan - ATONEMENT Want to See It
Tilda Swinton - MICHAEL CLAYTON

BEST ANIMATED FILM
PERSEPOLIS Never Heard of It
RATATOUILLE Want to See It
SURF'S UP

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel and Ethan Coen - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Want To See It
Tony Gilroy - MICHAEL CLAYTON
Jason Reitman - JUNO Want to See It
Paul Thomas Anderson - THERE WILL BE BLOOD Never Heard of It
Julian Schnabel - THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY Never Heard of It

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Joel and Ethan Coen - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Want To See It
Sarah Polley - AWAY FROM HER Never Heard of It
Christopher Hampton - ATONEMENT Want To See It
Ronald Harwood - THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY Never Heard of It
Paul Thomas Anderson - THERE WILL BE BLOOD Never Heard of It

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody - JUNO Want To See It
Nancy Oliver - LARS AND THE REAL GIRL Never Heard of It
Tony Gilroy - MICHAEL CLAYTON
Brad Bird - RATATOUILLE Want To See It
Tamara Jenkins - THE SAVAGES Never Heard of It

* * * * *

I watched about 275 movies last year, and only one was nominated for an award. I have, as always, some catching up to do...

Phantasmic Links 2.26.07

I escaped on Sunday. I didn't know that I needed to until I did, but afterwards I realized how good it was to be somewhere else thinking of other things. I'll be less cryptic in a few days of course, with photos.

In other news, my Myclofigs matched the Oscars in 9 out of 24 categories, which isn't bad given my qualifications. Next, I'll have to actually watch a lot of these movies, starting with The Departed

Now, without further adieu, here are this week's PHANTASMIC LINKS:

I think we've all “evolved” to be sophisticated enough to hang out at the Caveman's Crib. There's little you can't interact with, and some things will annoy your host more than others...

In a semi-related story, chimps are now using weapons...

This hauntingly beautiful melody explains why I'll stick with my PS2 for now....

Meanwhile, senior citizens say “wii!” I can't wait to reach my Wiitirement age...

By now, everyone's probably seen the cool chair Otis posted. That would be such a cool thing to relax on when I Wiitire....

The Justice League may be coming to the big screen. How awesome would it be to have an all-star cast with Routh and Bale and oh, let's say, Smulders? A man can dream...

Speaking of dreams coming true, Avengers vs. Transformers definitely sounds like the kind of project that would only dwell in my subconscious.

Watch the video that makes even I want a dog. Of course, in my case the dog would probably help the bull instead...

Virus 2 at first glance looked like twenty other games I've played, but quickly became my addictive Flash game of the week. With each successful round, your number of moves decreases, until it becomes impossible to continue. I lasted until my maximum number of moves was 30, my best round took 29 moves, and my final score was 28,812.

This frozen car may be what I find in my driveway soon. A chilly omen is brought to us from B13, who just returned from warmer environs with some great pictures!

Is it a giant sculpture or just a giant? This lifelike gallery is also brought to you by the letter “B” and the number “13”.

Finally, was Bruce Lee vs. Burt Ward really a fair fight? Holy mismatch!

Have a link to a game, movie, article, or anything else you think might be “phantasmic”? E-mail me and it just might appear in an upcoming PHANTASMIC LINKS!

2006 Myclofigs

Hello, and welcome to the 2006 Myclofigs! Will my extensive experience in watching movies allow me to predict the outcome of this year's Oscars, even though I haven't actually seen most of the films that were nominated? These are going to be guesses, educated and otherwise. I'll do my best, and even if the movies I choose don't win an Oscar, at least they'll have their Myclofig.


Performance by an actor in a leading role:
Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness”
This looked like an inspirational movie, high on my list of film priorities. Will has come a long way from hip hop and sitcoms, and established himself as a solid actor. I expect this more mature role to be a departure that shows his true range and talent. Oscar will probably say differently here, but this is my pick.


Performance by an actor in a supporting role:
Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed”
Again, I'm picking the movie I most want to see, and a star who began in music and proved his talent on the big screen. This is probably another longshot as predictions go.


Performance by an actress in a leading role:
Kate Winslet in “Little Children”
I don't know much about any of the films in this category, so this is a complete guess and wishful thinking, since I think she's due for an Oscar.


Performance by an actress in a supporting role:
Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls”
I really want to see “Babel” most out of the films in this category, but Dreamgirls has gotten a lot of buzz, and I've read that Jennifer Hudson was an American Idol finalist, so that may play in her favor.


Best animated feature film of the year:
“Happy Feet”
Before I saw Happy Feet yesterday, “Monster House” would have gotten my vote as the only one of the three in this category I had viewed. I was very impressed with the animation and more mature story of that one, with some genuinely scary moments and motion capture technology that brought the essence of the voice actors into their animated counterparts. But Happy Feet was a lot more than penguins dancing and singing, as I expected, and actually had more of a classic animated story that will make it a timeless classic while Monster House becomes a seasonal favorite. Not only did I like the outcast underbird hero and his plight to prove himself, some real-world concerns were brought in to the story and kids will get a message as well as catchy songs.


Achievement in art direction:
“Pan's Labyrinth”
I've been looking forward to this ever since Otis posted the trailer. It looks magical and unreal. The sea creatures in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest” impressed me and they seamlessly interacted with the human characters, but I don't know how well the Academy will consider a sequel.


Achievement in cinematography:
“Pan's Labyrinth”
If Pan's Labyrinth doesn't get art direction, it will get cinematography. If it doesn't get cinematography, then one of those two movies about magicians that I need to see will probably win this one.


Achievement in costume design:
“Marie Antoinette”
Kirsten Dunst looks really good in the trailer. ‘Nuff said, true believers.


Achievement in directing:
“The Departed”; Martin Scorsese
This looks like a fantastic story with a phenomenal cast, and the type of thing Scorsese excels at. I can't wait to see it, and though the current demand for it at Netflix means I'll have a long wait, I really hope it wins.


Best documentary feature:
“An Inconvenient Truth”
It's the only one I heard of in this list, and B13 told me it was very thought provoking. Yes, I'm afraid that's my only basis in this category. I hope no one is taking my awards too seriously...


Best documentary short subject:
“Two Hands”
I can't help but root for the true story of a pianist who overcame a disability.


Achievement in film editing:
“Babel”
If it's edited anything like Iñárritu's earlier film, 21 Grams, I expect it to be very sharp and distinct as it intercuts separate yet connected lives and plots.


Best foreign language film of the year:
“Pan's Labyrinth”
The more categories I choose for this one, the odds will increase toward me guessing correctly at least once.


Achievement in makeup:
“Apocalypto”
In true improbable fashion, the one category in which I don't guess Pan's Labyrinth is probably the one it will actually win. I personally loved “Click” and thought they did an excellent job aging the characters, heartbreakingly so in some instances, but I can't see that being enough to compete with recreating ancient tribes or manufacturing mythical creatures. This will go to one of the other nominees for sure.


Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score):
“The Queen”
This was a tough one. I watched the trailers to get a sense of the music, hoping that the trailers actually used some of the actual scores. I'm doubt they did, so I expect to be way off in this prediction.


Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song):
“Listen” from “Dreamgirls”
I listened to all five, and chose the one I thought was the best.


Best motion picture of the year:
“The Departed”
I'm a fan of the director and of the cast. I'm rooting for this one.


Best animated short film:
“No Time for Nuts”
I loved Ice Age and I haven't seen the sequel yet or any of the shorts in this category, but Scrat cracks me up and I could easily relax into a vegetative state watching his mindless pursuit of that acorn. With time travel thrown in, I'm betting this is a great one. If I have time, I'll see if I can find these online and amend my pick if necessary.


Best live action short film:
“Helmer & Son”
Based solely on the descriptions, this is the one that stood out to me in this category. Again, I may amend this if I have a chance to watch these.


Achievement in sound editing:
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest”
From creaking boats to crashing waves to sword clanging swashbuckling goodness, the sound editing was tight.


Achievement in sound mixing:
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest”
Um...they also mixed up the sounds real nice.


Achievement in visual effects:
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest”
This was the only category in which I'd actually seen every movie, so it was tough to choose. In all three instances, we really didn't see anything we hadn't seen before since they were all sequels and/or remakes. “Poseidon” was a very tempting choice but Pirates is ultimately the better movie, and did more to outdo its predecessor.


Adapted screenplay:
“Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
It was so wrong, and so funny. Technically, the best bits were the ones that weren't scripted, but since those wouldn't have been possible without the right prompts, props go to the writing.


Original screenplay:
“Pan's Labyrinth”
OK, I'll give this one another vote. I'd be happy if “Letters from Iwo Jima” won too, but Pan's Labyrinth seems to have the most imaginative blend of fantasy and historical events, while many of the others are too rooted in things that actually happened.

2006 Myclofig Nominations!

I've thought about it, and decided that I am going to hold the Myclofigs again.

This year, like another event I'll report on later in the week, the Oscar nominations snuck up on me and I almost missed it. Last year, we had time to come up with our own list of nominations, based on movies people had actually seen. I've seen a lot of movies in 2006, literally hundreds, but only six* of the new releases I watched made the list below. There are quite a few movies on the list this year that I want to see, but I won't be able to before tomorrow. I'm still catching up on last year's nominees actually, and even now Munich is spinning in my computer's DVD drive.

Nevertheless, I intend to press onward, and treat the Myclofigs as predictions this year. I may not have seen a lot of these movies, but with the thousand-plus I have watched, I'm confident that I can make an educated guess at the very least. So, tomorrow morning you should all awake to find my predictions posted, and by tomorrow evening we'll see how close I came.

Some bloggers have already posted predictions. Feel free to join in the fun and make your own guesses from the list below:


Performance by an actor in a leading role:
Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond”
Ryan Gosling in “Half Nelson”
Peter O'Toole in “Venus”
Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness”
Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland”


Performance by an actor in a supporting role:
Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine”
Jackie Earle Haley in “Little Children”
Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond”
Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls”
Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed”


Performance by an actress in a leading role:
Penélope Cruz in “Volver”
Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal”
Helen Mirren in “The Queen”
Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada”
Kate Winslet in “Little Children”


Performance by an actress in a supporting role:
Adriana Barraza in “Babel”
Cate Blanchett in “Notes on a Scandal”
Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine”
Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls”
Rinko Kikuchi in “Babel”


Best animated feature film of the year:
“Cars”
“Happy Feet”
“Monster House”*


Achievement in art direction:
“Dreamgirls”
“The Good Shepherd”
“Pan's Labyrinth”
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest”*
“The Prestige”


Achievement in cinematography:
“The Black Dahlia”
“Children of Men”
“The Illusionist”
“Pan's Labyrinth”
“The Prestige”


Achievement in costume design:
“Curse of the Golden Flower”
“The Devil Wears Prada”
“Dreamgirls”
“Marie Antoinette”
“The Queen”


Achievement in directing:
“Babel”; Alejandro González Iñárritu
“The Departed”; Martin Scorsese
“Letters from Iwo Jima”; Clint Eastwood
“The Queen”; Stephen Frears
“United 93”; Paul Greengrass


Best documentary feature:
“Deliver Us from Evil”
“An Inconvenient Truth”
“Iraq in Fragments”
“Jesus Camp”
“My Country, My Country”


Best documentary short subject:
“The Blood of Yingzhou District”
“Recycled Life”
“Rehearsing a Dream”
“Two Hands”


Achievement in film editing:
“Babel”
“Blood Diamond”
“Children of Men”
“The Departed”
“United 93”


Best foreign language film of the year:
“After the Wedding”
“Days of Glory (Indigènes)”
“The Lives of Others”
“Pan's Labyrinth”
“Water”


Achievement in makeup:
“Apocalypto”
“Click”*
“Pan's Labyrinth”


Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score):
“Babel”
“The Good German”
“Notes on a Scandal”
“Pan's Labyrinth”
“The Queen”


Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song):
“I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth”
“Listen” from “Dreamgirls”
“Love You I Do” from “Dreamgirls”
“Our Town” from “Cars”
“Patience” from “Dreamgirls”


Best motion picture of the year:
“Babel”
“The Departed”
“Letters from Iwo Jima”
“Little Miss Sunshine”
“The Queen”


Best animated short film:
“The Danish Poet”
“Lifted”
“The Little Matchgirl”
“Maestro”
“No Time for Nuts”


Best live action short film:
“Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)”
“Éramos Pocos (One Too Many)”
“Helmer & Son”
“The Saviour”
“West Bank Story”


Achievement in sound editing:
“Apocalypto”
“Blood Diamond”
“Flags of Our Fathers”
“Letters from Iwo Jima”
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest”*


Achievement in sound mixing:
“Apocalypto”
“Blood Diamond”
“Dreamgirls”
“Flags of Our Fathers”
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest”*


Achievement in visual effects:
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest”*
“Poseidon”*
“Superman Returns”*


Adapted screenplay:
“Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”*
“Children of Men”
“The Departed”
“Little Children”
“Notes on a Scandal”


Original screenplay:
“Babel”
“Letters from Iwo Jima”
“Little Miss Sunshine”
“Pan's Labyrinth”
“The Queen”


* denotes the movies I have seen at the time of this posting.

MYCLOFIGS: The Final Results

First I asked for nominations, and my loyal readers came through. Then I asked you to vote, and once more you didn't disappoint! Below you will find the best movies of 2005 as chosen by the real critics, you the viewers! Movies marked with a red asterisk(*) are the ones I also chose. i was very happy with the results, and there were even a few surprises along the way.


Best Picture
Batman Begins*


Best Actor
Christian Bale in Batman Begins*


Best Actress
Naomi Watts in King Kong*


Best Supporting Actor
Tom Wilkinson in The Exorcism of Emily Rose


Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Carpenter in The Exorcism of Emily Rose


Best Director
Christopher Nolan for Batman Begins*

Best Comic Book Movie
Batman Begins*


Best sf/fantasy Movie
Serenity


Best Sequel
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*


Best Animated Feature
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit


Best Independent Film
Sin City*


Best Foreign Film
March of the Penguins


Best Soundtrack
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe*


Best Effects
King Kong*


Best Original Screenplay
Serenity*


Best Adapted Screenplay
Batman Begins*


Best Trailer
Batman Begins


* * * * *

I'm happy to see that Batman Begins won in so many categories. It's also nice to see my tastes gel with those of my readers. In some areas, the only reason I didn't vote for the winning picture was because I hadn't seen it yet. I definitely intend to see Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and March of the Penguins as soon as I'm able.

Thanks for you participation, and perhaps we can do this again next year!

Myclofig Reminder

Send votes to MCFSPU@hotmail.com
TODAY!!
Click for Details!

2005 Myclofig Nominations!

Phase one is complete. At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge. Wait...that's not what I meant to say. No, the time has come to reveal the nominations you chose for the 2005 Myclofigs! I received some interesting choices, some expected, others unexpected. For the most part though, these choices reflected the movies people really saw, separating these awards from any others! The hard part is over; now comes the harder part: choosing just ONE film for each category.

Below you will find the list of nominees. Please consider your choices carefully, choose just ONE from each category, and send your choices to me at MCFSPU@hotmail.com. Your e-mail information will NOT be shared, and voting via e-mail is preferred over comments, to keep the final results a surprise. The deadline for voting is Wednesday, March 1st. Then, be sure to check back on Saturday, March 4th for the final exciting results, where anything can happen!

Without further adieu, here are this year's nominees:

Best Picture
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Batman Begins
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Serenity
Wedding Crashers

Best Actor
Steve Carell in The 40 Year Old Virgin
Christian Bale in Batman Begins
Johnny Depp in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Nathan Fillion in Serenity
Bruce Willis in Sin City


Best Actress
Asia Argento in Land of the Dead
Summer Glau in Serenity
Angelina Jolie in Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Gina Torres in Serenity
Naomi Watts in King Kong


Best Supporting Actor
Adam Baldwin in Serenity
Kevin James in Hitch
Sean Maher in Serenity
Donald Sutherland in Pride & Prejudice
Tom Wilkinson in The Exorcism of Emily Rose


Best Supporting Actress
Jessica Alba in Sin City
Morena Baccarin in Serenity
Jennifer Carpenter in The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Connie Nielsen in The Great Raid
Jewel Staite in Serenity


Best Director
Paul Haggis for Crash
Peter Jackson for King Kong
George Lucas for Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Christopher Nolan for Batman Begins
Joss Whedon for Serenity


Best Comic Book Movie
Batman Begins
Fantastic Four
Serenity
Sin City
Sky High


Best sf/fantasy Movie
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Island
King Kong
Serenity
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith


Best Sequel
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Saw II
Serenity
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Transporter 2


Best Animated Feature
Corpse Bride
Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin - The Untold Story
Madagascar
Robots
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit


Best Independent Film
A History of Violence
Broken Flowers
Crash
March of the Penguins
Sin City


Best Foreign Film
2046
Kung Fu Hustle
Layer Cake
March of the Penguins
Oldboy


Best Soundtrack
Batman Begins
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
King Kong
Kung Fu Hustle
The Producers


Best Effects
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Island
King Kong
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith


Best Original Screenplay
Crash
The Island
Serenity
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Unleashed


Best Adapted Screenplay
Batman Begins
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Sin City


Best Trailer
Batman Begins
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Sin City
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

* * * * *

If you would like to further support the Myclofigs by encouraging your readers to join in the fun, I've included code below that you can add to your site:

<a href="http://mysteriouscloakedfigure.blogspot.com/2006/
02/2005-myclofig-nominations.html" target=_blank>
<img src="http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeoxjkw/sitebuildercontent/
sitebuilderpictures/myclo2k5.jpg"><br>Click this image and vote<br>in the <b>2005 MYCLOFIGS!</b></a>

(Note that if you've chosen to upload the image to your own space rather than link to mine, substitute the URL of your image location for “http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeoxjkw/sitebuildercontent/
sitebuilderpictures/myclo2k5.jpg” in the above code.)

I certainly have some DVDs to rent in the next few weeks...

2005's Movies

In the comments section of the 2005 Myclofig call-for-nominations, a very good point was raised by Janet, who writes: ”Isn't it so sad that I am drawing a blank? I think this is because I tend to wait for video now, so I won't see 2005's best until sometime in 2006:(“

It's no secret that the Academy seems to focus on movies made toward the end of the year, the ones freshest in their minds. Directors strive to get December releases, if only in major cities, in order to be considered. January, February, March--those first few months are death, and it's why during the coldest months of the year, when there's not much to do outside, there aren't that many good movies in theaters. I'm not a big theater-goer myself, reserving certain movies for viewing on the big screen and saving the rest for DVD. So it is that movies I think came out last year were actually from 2004.

To make this nomination process a bit easier on my readers, I've compiled a partial list of the movies that were released last year. I haven't seen all of these myself. Some I want to see; others I don't. There are even a few I've never heard of. I'm sure I've missed some, and that readers will nominate ones I missed. This is not the list of nominations for the Myclofigs, nor are these the only films you should limit your nominations to. I realize I also have readers from outside the United States, so feel free to nominate American movies in the “Best Foreign Film” category, if you'd like. The foreign(outside the U.S.) films in the list below are included based on their release date here; many came out earlier in their countries of origin. You can nominate films for multiple categories where appropriate.

Remember, all nominations must be sent to MCFSPU@hotmail.com by Thursday February 9th, to be considered. Once I've announced the nominees, I'll then collect your votes up until Wednesday, March 1st and announce the winners you chose on Saturday, March 4th.

Here are many of the films you have to choose from

The 40 Year Old Virgin
2046
A History of Violence
A Sound of Thunder
Alone in the Dark
The Amityville Horror
Batman Begins
Bewitched
Brokeback Mountain
Broken Flowers
Capote
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Chicken Little
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener
Corpse Bride
Crash
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
Doom
The Dukes of Hazzard
Elizabethtown
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin - The Untold Story
Fantastic Four
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Good Night and Good Luck
The Great Raid
Grizzly Man
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Herbie: Fully Loaded
Hitch
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
House of Wax
Hustle & Flow
The Island
Junebug
Just Like Heaven
King Kong
Kingdom of Heaven
Kung Fu Hustle
Land of the Dead
The Legend of Zorro
The Longest Yard
Lord of War
Madagascar
March of the Penguins
Match Point
Memoirs of a Geisha
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous
Mirrormask
Monster-in-Law
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Munich
North Country
Oldboy
The Pacifier
Pride & Prejudice
The Producers
Red Eye
Rent
The Ring Two
Robots
Saw II
Serenity
Sin City
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
The Skeleton Key
Sky High
Son of the Mask
The Squid and the Whale
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Stealth
Syriana
Transamerica
Transporter 2
The Upside of Anger
Unleashed
Valiant
Walk the Line
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
War of the Worlds
The Weather Man
Wedding Crashers

Bests & Myclofigs

First and foremost, congratulations are in order! By clicking the banner above, you can see that Mister Snitch has finally compiled the Best Posts of 2005. It was definitely a daunting task that took them over a month to organize, and something they're even looking in to publishing as a book! As for the aforementioned “congratulations”, I'm happy to report that FOUR bloggers from my blogroll made the cut! You can click over to the compilation to see what they had to say about you, but I'll include those finalists here for your convenience:

Funny business:
Darrell

Essays and other 'first-person' writing:
FawnDoo

Janet

Rhodester

If you see anyone else we know over there that I missed, let me know and I'll update the post.

* * *

What I liked about that compilation was it's “by the people, for the people” philosophy, something the Oscars seem to be lacking. When Joe posted the nominees, I was stunned by how few I'd seen, how few I wanted to see, and how few I'd even heard of. I literally watched hundreds of films last year. Fortunately, a CNN poll that I was tipped off to by J-No reveals that I'm not alone in this. 71% of voters as of this writing haven't seen any of the nominated pictures.

Last year I participated in an Oscar Blog Party whereby I was called upon to make up my own categories and winners. This year I'd like to take it a step further. Forget the Oscars; the Myclofigs will reflect the movies people really saw last year. Sound crazy? Maybe, but I'm sure I've come up with worse ideas.

Think about the movies you've seen in 2005. Send me an e-mail at MCFSPU@hotmail.com and let me know which you'd like to see included in any or all of the categories below. Spread the word on your own sites, if you like. One week from tonight, on Thursday February 9th, I'll reveal the top five nominations in each category. From that point, you'll have until Wednesday, March 1st to cast your votes, also via e-mail. Then, be sure to check back on Saturday, March 4th to see if your favorites won! That's right, we're going to beat the Oscars by a day! Who's better than us? This may well be what the internet was made for.

Best Picture?

Best Actor?

Best Actress?

Best Supporting Actor?

Best Supporting Actress?

Best Director?

Best Comic Book Movie?

Best sf/fantasy Movie?

Best Sequel?

Best Animated Feature?

Best Independent Film?

Best Foreign Film?

Best Soundtrack?

Best Effects?

Best Original Screenplay?

Best Adapted Screenplay?

Best Trailer?