Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film

Last updated: March 17, 2010
Copyright 2006 Michael R. Colford.
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2010, 16th Annual Awards, March 21, 2010

Best Movie

35 Shots of Rum - Although one could easily edit its narrative arc (the relationship between a single father his adult daughter) down to a half-hour short, 35 SHOTS OF RUM lingers long after its symmetrical final shot of a rice-cooker due to all the scenes that unfurl sideways from this central strand: the meditative, point-of-view tableaus of Paris taken from a commuter train, the yearning glances and movements at the café scored by The Commodores’ “Nightshift”, the unexpected moment in Germany where the little singing kids with their lanterns appear. None of these are integral to the story, but they add texture and create an aura that’s present in all of director Claire Denis’ work: what we so easily ignore in the everyday reaps lyrical rewards when paid the utmost attention. --ck

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call -- New Orleans - Nobody makes films quite like Werner Herzog. THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL – NEW ORLEANS at the outset plays like a typical Hollywood detective crime flick. Nicolas Cage plays Terence McDonagh, a corrupt, drug addicted, sociopathic cop solving a murder case in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Yet, if the viewer is patient, the film becomes ever more unhinged and evolves into something more twisted and bizarre. This well-overdue union between Herzog and Cage makes THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL – NEW ORLEANS a delightfully strange and creative work of art wrapped in the camouflage of a typical detective thriller. --pa

The Hurt Locker - A fine-grained study of a three-man American bomb squad unit in Iraq. Director Kathryn Bigelow focuses on the psychological effects of war on a single soldier who is both heroic and reckless. Ace camerawork and editing give the film a sense of you-are-there realism while building the tension of a classic thriller. The viewer, like Bravo Company, is gradually worn down by fear, repetition, moral questions, failure, and hate. A very powerful statement about the complexity of violence and war.

Still Walking - A deftly drawn portrait of a modern Japanese family, gathering together on the 15th anniversary of the death of the oldest son. The family dynamics are delicately revealed in slivers peeled away from the core, like the radishes we see being prepared by mother and daughter in the opening scene. The conversations are casual, comfortable, teasing. We hear passing references to childhood memories; the mother's superstitious homilies; gossip, grumbles and regrets about the career and lifestyle decisions of those who are out of earshot; all offered in the natural, short-hand conversations typical of a family reunion. The father, a retired doctor, is stiff and reserved towards daughter and son, still bitterly disappointed over the loss of his "heir" who was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and take over his practice, and resentful that the remaining son chose a career in art-restoration instead of medicine. Instead of dramatic confrontations or startling revelations, the viewers are presented with real people coping with old wounds and new worries, and the scars and tender places touched over the course of the day. --kp

The White Ribbon - THE WHITE RIBBON is a story of untoward events occurring in rapid succession in a small German village. Although the film has all the trappings of a jolly good whodunit, Haneke coerces his viewers to step back and look at the larger picture, abandoning the details of the multiple unsolved mysteries which appeared ever so important. It is the myriad of rules governing this society: the entitlement of the upper classes, the dogma of religion, the privileges of patriarchy, and the prerogatives of the elders which are the essence of the film. --bk

Buried Treasure

Bronson - A life of senseless and relentless violence, told by a man who makes no apologies for his acts, this bio-pic of Charlie Bronson, born Michael Peterson -- who came to be known as Britain's Most Violent Prisoner -- makes no apologies on his behalf, either. Bronson appears as a one-man show on stage before an imaginary audience, he is both emcee and sideshow barker, shouting out the bullet points of his life, crimes and punishments with sadistic glee. There are moments when Tom Hardy's performance recalls Heath Ledger's The Joker, bringing us Bronson as a vicious cartoon come-to-life, with no redeeming qualities and no effort made to gain the audience's sympathy. He is what he is: brutal and bizarre, caustic and criminally callous. --kp

Cherry Blossoms - After learning of her husband's fatal diagnosis, Trudi decided not to tell him and plans a trip first to visit their children in Berlin (which ends up being a disaster) and then to the Baltic Sea where the movie takes a sharp turn and Trudi suddenly dies. The remainder of the film depicts Rudi on a strange odyssey learning more about his wife that he ever knew. Visually beautiful even in its starkness. --bl

The New Year Parade - Having lived in Philadelphia but never having seen – or understood the origins of – the traditional New Year’s Day Mummer’s Parade, the subject of this film immediately appealed to me. After seeing it, I consider it to be one of the best independent films of the year. The film revolves around a South Philadelphia family dealing with the parents’ impending divorce, with the father’s and son’s preparations for the annual Mummer’s Parade as a backdrop. Working with a small budget and a cast of mainly non-professional actors, director Tom Quinn seamlessly blends documentary footage with narrative and extracts impressive performances from the cast. --ad

Of Time and the City is a visual memoir of director Terence Davies' Liverpool. Combining archival film clips and images with current footage of the city of his birth and youth, Davies tells the story of the city as it evolved as he grew. It's a profoundly personal film, and Davies holds nothing back as he shares via voice-over his fondest memories and lingering resentments against and on behalf of the town he knows so well. The soundtrack is equally as personal, as songs from his past are mixed with current music, and used as much for counterpoint as underscore to the visual story. And like the best confessional memoirs, the film's ultimate revelation is a universal one - that home is as much a temporal and emotional place as it is a physical space - OF TIME AND THE CITY reminds us that we all carry within us our own Liverpool, no matter how near or far we are from our birthplace. --bcu

Somers Town - Two misfit boys meet up in London and compose a life around themselves out of their circumstances and their surroundings. It's a bit of a fairy tale, where dreams after all come true. People are sensible and nice. Nothing gets too badly out of hand. Romance is innocent. It's the kind of movie that leaves you grinning and thinking the old world really isn't so bad after all. At only 70 minutes, it's a cinematic amouse bouche. --jp

Best Director

Claire Denis for 35 Shots of Rum - This is Claire Denis' third Chlotrudis nod for Best Director following her work on BEAU TRAVAIL and FRIDAY NIGHT. Her film THE INTRUDER was also nominated for a Buried Treasure, so I guess you can say that Chlotrudis loves this talented director. With 25 SHOTS OF RUM, Ms. Denis continues her exploration of the relationships between family, in this case a father and daughter, and knowing when it's time to let go and move on. Many of the characters that drift through this film can't figure that out, and the ramifications for each of them range widely from a broken heart to death. Claire Denis unspools this complex story through images, body language, scenes of everyday life and an economy of dialog. Yet when a rainy night becomes a magical moment in an out-of-the way cafe, those images speak volumes. --mrc

Werner Herzog for The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call -- New Orleans - As director, Herzog's greatest feat is the go-for-broke performance he draws out of Nicholas Cage--his new Kinski?--in this anarchic neo-noir. The genre turns comic, manic, and absurd as Cage's privileged cop seeks justice while ingesting any drugs he can get his hands on. Herzog pushes the unhinged sensation further with the handheld camera style of his favorite DP, Peter Zeitlinger, but certain scenes (read: iguanas) had to be shot by the director himself. As we've seen in INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS, Herzog doesn't take himself or anything else too seriously--that's why scenes shot from the perspective of an alligator are all in a day's work. Whether you're satisfied with what BAD LIEUTENANT says about New Orleans or America, it's a great ride. --djy

Gotz Speilmann for Revanche - After losing his girlfriend, an ex-con finds his life entwined with that of a neighboring police officer and his wife. Director Spielmann (who also wrote the screenplay) makes a mythic-level film out of what might have merely been a thriller or morality tale. Noteworthy are the angle and distance of each shot, the pacing, and the performances.
Spielmann’s self-assured direction yields a complex, creative, suspenseful, pitch-perfect film. --djy

Hirokazu Kore-eda for Still Walking - It's magical to watch Hirokazu Kore-eda use simple actions such as preparing a meal or taking a bath to represent a whole gamut of barely repressed emotions in a family shackled with past tragedy and unspoken regrets. Kore-eda fills the house with the expected family gathering antics then peppers his scenes with moments of quiet reflection and surprising revelations. Even when some of the more shocking truths come to light, the love shared by these family members is ever-present, and sure to be reminiscent of your own family events where joys, sadnesses, misunderstandings and resentments all vie for top billing. Kore-eda takes a brilliant screenplay, powerful performances and breathtaking visuals and weaves them together to make a stunning family drama. --mrc

Michael Haneke for The White Ribbon - Many filmmakers could have conceivably crafted a thriller about a provincial German village plagued by a series of mysterious, violent crimes at the onset of World War I but only Michael Haneke would do so with such asceticism. One gets the impression that Haneke does not suffer fools gladly, and THE WHITE RIBBON is full of scenes astonishing for their austerity and economy, from an uncomfortable interrogation of a father to his son to what may be the most blunt, merciless verbal dismissal of a lover ever seen on film. Even as he allows us a narrator who serves as an actual protagonist, Haneke’s worldview is unswerving, fixating on the worst aspects of human behavior while encouraging the audience to understand, if not make excuses for them. --ck

Best Actress

Nisreen Faour for the role of Muna Farah in Amreeka - The immigrant story is not a new one, but Amreeka is one of the better ones. As Muna, a divorced Palestinian woman who moves with her son to Illinois post-9/11, Nisreen Faour carries the film. She gives a nuanced performance that is both funny and touching, elevating her character from what could have been a cliché to a real, believable person. --ad

Charlotte Gainsbourg for the role of She in Antichrist - Charlotte Gainsbourg rarely disappoints. However, as the unnamed female lead in ANTICHRIST -- her first role after a year-long recovery from emergency brain surgery -- she has outdone herself. Working with Lars von Trier has never been easy for any actress, let alone when he is suffering from debilitating depression as he was during the Antichrist shoot. But to do so while playing a violent, naked, psychotic wife and mother who may be seen as a symbol of all the harrowing torture suffered by women throughout history -- well, let's say that it's a challenge. Gainsbourg seems remarkably confident in the character's skin, however. To her significant credit, the bold, epic, and shocking strokes painted by the always-provocative von Trier don't deter her from presenting an astonishingly realistic woman propelled head-first into horror by impulses she doesn't understand. An unselfconscious performance like Gainsbourg's in Antichrist should be remembered for many years to come. --sc

Abbie Cornish for the role of Frances "Fanny" Brawne in Bright Star - Jane Campion’s film, of the last years and days of Romantic Poet John Keats, is framed as a love story, with Abbie Cornish as Frances ‘Fanny’ Brawne , the object of his affections. Cornish must portray a seemingly-ordinary young woman who is at first noticed for superficial reasons: her insistence on designing and making her own unusual clothes. As her unique inner qualities unfold, we se why Keats became devoted to her: she is compassionate, sensitive, open-minded and unwilling to be swayed by the negative opinions of others. Cornish is an Australian actress who has also appeared in Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Stop-Loss, as well as many Australian television productions. She is luminous in the role of Fanny, capturing wordlessly with her face and her body the character’s fascination with the world, her love of nature and beauty, and the deepening passion she feels for Keats, who wrote a number of poems dedicated to her. --pa

Carey Mulligan for the role of Jenny in An Education - Sixteen year old Jenny, superior, witty, and eager to get out of her dull London suburb, is swept up by a dashing "older" man in his mid-thirties. Mulligan, playing the role at 23, brings an irresistibly appealing shine to the young girl’s face, even when she is drenched by rain. As the older David introduces her to a life of glamour, she transforms into an Audrey Hepburn-like sophistiquée. Finally, Mulligan’s Jenny is a poignant mix of wisdom and innocence. --djy

Catalina Saavedra for the role of Raquel in The Maid - In Sebastian Silva’s Chilean film, THE MAID, Saavedra plays the title character, Racquel. She has been working as a maid to the same family for 23 years and therein lies the character’s conflict. For while she has raised the children and cooked and cleaned for the family, she is not really a part of the family. When the mother of the family notices that Racquel is looking more haggard than usual, she determines that it is time to hire a second maid. With this decision, it becomes apparent to Racquel that whatever status she once held is about to be diminished with the hiring of another servant. In playing this role, Saavedra taps into the internal despair of the character that is unwilling to relent the little control that she has acquired over the tenure of her job. As the film progresses, Saavedra’s performance becomes even more nuanced as Racquel comes to terms with her job and her identity. --gc

Gabourey Sadibe for the role of Precious in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - Since PRECIOUS centers on a character one would never see in a Hollywood film, it makes sense that the young woman portraying her is not a Hollywood actress—in fact, Sidibe was a Psychology student who had never previously acted when she attended an open casting call for the film. Given this lack of polish and her hefty physique, it’s not hard to see why she was picked to play a poor, abused, overweight teen. However, to comprehend just how remarkable her performance is, compare the normally sullen and monosyllabic Precious to her glamorous, imagined self in the film’s dazzling fantasy sequences and to Sidibe’s own remarkably different, bubbly off-screen persona—it’s an utterly convincing transformation that lends the film credibility and occasionally makes it soar. --ck

Yolande Moreau for the role of Séraphine Louis in Séraphine - The versatile Belgian actress Yolande Moreau, born in 1953, received numerous awards and nominations for best actress for her role as Séraphine, in the homonymous movie, including the French Cesar award in 2009. The versatile actress, who has also done some share of writing and directing, plays a rough, anti-social cleaning lady who has an amazing passion and devotion for painting. During the film, most of what we learn about this strange, dark, lonely but extremely enchanting and mysterious character is conveyed by minimal words, quite a bit of silence, and a very precise body language. Just observing Séraphine walking the old cobble stone streets of Senlis (France) seems to convey the burden that weighs upon the mind, soul and body of the character, who only finds relief and enlightenment when painting. Yolande brings Séraphine to life on the screen in a stunning yet contained manner. Her acting is the definitely what makes SÉRAPHINE a great film. --iq

Best Actor

Nicolas Cage for the role of Terence McDonagh in The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call -- New Orleans - There are times when the right combination of director and actor can bring glorious results and such is the case with BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL - NEW ORLEANS. Inspired by director Werner Herzog to “turn the hog loose”, Cage throws everything into the role of Terrence McDonaugh, a New Orleans police detective, who is battling his drug and gambling addictions while trying to investigate the murders of five Senalese immigrants. It should be noted that McDonaugh is losing this battle and losing it in a bad way. Whether he’s shaking down old ladies at nursing homes or smoking crack with drug kingpins, you can’t help but wonder if McDonaugh even remembers the purpose of his investigation and Cage takes the performance to another level by going from jaw-dropping intimidation in one moment to unhinged madness a few moments later. And right when you think Cage has gone too far, he reins it in just enough to keep the film going. While we know that Cage will need to return to giving his standard performances in the Hollywood big-budget blockbusters, we hope it isn’t too long before he turns the hog loose in another indie film. --gc

Jeremy Renner for the role of SSG William James in The Hurt Locker - ‘Overnight sensation’ is almost always technically a misnomer, a case in point being Jeremy Renner, who had been working for over a decade in TV and film before his explosive breakout as Will James. The charismatic and reckless soldier, who feels more at home disarming bombs than grocery shopping, is a study in deflection, intensity, nihilism and dark humor. He stares down death, endures purgatory, and then emerges as if reborn – a life’s worth of emotions in the space it takes to defuse another IED, and Renner’s face registers every subtlety. While Will James may be trapped by his inability to express his interior state, Renner is not constrained by the few words his character speaks – his whole body vibrates from the force of his character’s unspoken passions, fears and frustrations. His performance is a sensation, overnight or otherwise. --bcu

Sam Rockwell for the role of Sam Bell in Moon - Sam Bell is at the end of a three year contract as the sole employee at a lunar station. His only companion has been GERTY the computer. With only 2 weeks left on his contract, he suffers an accident in one of the mechanical harvesters. GERTY oversees his recuperation while he awaits a rescue team. Sam manages to get away from GERTY and revisit the accident scene where he makes a dsicovery that makes him doubt his sanity and sense of reality. Sam Rockwell does a great job especially in a scene where he is talking with himself or his 'other self' and arguing over his playing the radio. --bl

Baard Owe for the role of Odd Horetn in O'Horten - Baard Owe portrays O'Horten, a taciturn man who, after ending by retirement his ordinary life as a locomotive engineer, undergoes a series of ever more fantastical encounters, which he ends in an act of almost unimaginable faith and bravery. As O'Horten, Owe reacts to these events the way an ordinary man like O'Horten would react, nonplussed but a little amused. At first, he's detached, as if not quite ready to surrender to them. But with good sport, he endures and, at last, learns from them. Owe is masterful at conveying O'Horten's battling emotions upon a mostly straight face. He gives a graceful and unforced performance. --jp

Colin Firth for the role of George in A Single Man - Colin Firth has played some iconic screen roles: Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, the libertine lover Valmont in Milos Forman’s eponymous epic, the other Mr. Darcy in the Bridget Jones films. He has hosted Saturday Night Live an amazing eight times! He is known for his elegance, physical grace and finely-pitched voice. And of course those devilish good looks. But in Tom Ford’s adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s novel, Firth plays George, a man who must live in secrecy, exercising preternatural control over every aspect of his life: his emotions, his closeted sexual identity, his long-term partnership with his lover. Ford’s intimate direction, featuring many intense close-ups, lay bare the enormous effort made by George to constantly keep himself in check. It’s a testament to Firth’s great talent that the camera’s close scrutiny never once reveals that there is an actor beneath that character: he fully inhabits his skin, his clothing, his carefully arranged home, his every gesture and careful, calculated smile. --pa

Best Supporting Actress

Rinko Kikuchi for the role of Bang Bang in The Brothers Bloom - The Brothers Bloom is a troubled little film: it begins as a whimsical romp through heist-film territory but tries to unfold into a poignant redemption tale as well, a feat it can’t quite pull off. It glides along largely on the strength of its appealing cast: critical darling Mark Ruffalo, and Oscar winners Rachel Weisz and Adrian Brody. But none of the leads can hold a candle to Rinko Kikuchi, who plays the ironically near-silent explosives expert, Bang Bang. That Kikuchi can command the screen so memorably with almost no lines is a testament to her ability to inhabit a character. The intensely wry amusement that seems present in Bang Bang’s watchful eyes adds an aura of mystery and interest to every scene she’s in—a case of the flair of the actress exceeding the material she's been given. --dvg

Alycia Delmore for the role of Anna in Humpday - If you were a heterosexual man who plans to participate in an explicit art film, making love to your closest straight male friend... what would you tell your wife? The setup of HUMPDAY provides not only the foundation for the film, but also for one of the more challenging female film roles of the year. Relative newcomer actress Alycia Delmore plays Anna, the wife trying to come to terms with her husband Ben's inexplicable aspiration. Playing the straight man (as it were) wedged between Mark Duplass's and Josh Leonard's hapless "bromantics" is a daunting task and one that could easily lead to an over-the-top absurd performance or a transparently forgettable one. But Delmore gives Anna the intelligence and dignity the film needs to not only tell its story, but to transcend its one-line teaser. Her rational yet unpredictable rendering of the role signals the start of what will hopefully be a long and varied career. --sc

Mo'Nique for the role of Mary in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - As Mary, the Mother of all cinematic Mothers from Hell, Mo'nique could easily have turned in a camp performance worthy of MOMMIE DEAREST. Instead, the performer proves she is an actress of depth and range, roundly conveying a tortured—and tortuous—woman. Even as she maintains a rage that is alternately simmering and boiling, we see Mary’s confusion, fear, and vulnerability bubble through from time to time. Mo'nique’s delivery of Mary’s climactic speech is a tour de force of self-pity and self-loathing, and quite a feat of evasion: she uses her copious tears to distract you from the anger which lives where her shame should be. --dvg

Ursula Strauss for the role of Susanne in Revanche - Ursula Strauss is one of the highlights in REVANCHE. She plays a woman who is a devoted wife to one man, a kindly caretaker for another and a passionate lover to a third.. Her emotions are constantly changing but she demonstrates a remarkable reserve; nonetheless, her inner turmoil is astoundingly evident. --bk

Julianne Moore for the role of Charley in A Single Man - The talented Julianne Moore has brought so many amazing characters to life so deftly that it's easy to take her acting skill for granted. Yet every once in awhile she so fully inhabits a role that she makes us sit up and notice even more than usual. This is certainly the case with her fun, boozy, a little pathetic, a lot sympathetic portrayal of Charley, grieving George's best friend in A SINGLE MAN. Long carrying a romantic torch for her gay best friend... or at least when she's feeling particularly self-pitying and has been hitting the gin a little too hard, Charley is every gay man's best friend. Moore fills the role with vibrant physicality, an left-behind-as-she-ages ennui, a self-centered worldview that cause her to let slip an occassional hurtful comment, and a deep affection for her dear friend who is struggling with the loss of his true love. It's always a pleasure to watch this great actress bring a role to such heights. --mrc

Best Supporting Actor

Alfred Molina for the role of Jack in An Education - Lone Scherfig’s story of Jenny, a smart and savvy schoolgirl who finds herself in over her head creates an effective balanced portrayal of the two worlds inhabited by the young protagonist: the glamorous, Continental nightlife offered by her lover, and the staid, conventional existence offered by her parents. As her father Jack, Alfred Molina (noted for powerful supporting performances in Chocolat, Magnolia, Boogie Nights and Dead Man, among many others, a veteran English screen actor who grows better with age, is the perfect denizen of the London suburbs, though Molina himself was born in the city of London. Jack is stubborn, self-satisfied, penny-pinching and hopelessly provincial, but determined to offer his daughter the best future he can. When he realizes he’s had a hand in running her life by failing to protect her, his pain is palpable, his shame, though he tries to hide it, etched clearly on his large, soft features. Not blessed with ordinary handsomeness, Molina uses his large-featured face like a child with a large but limited box of paints, creating complex hues through dogged mastery. --pa

Mads Mikkelsen for the role of Citronen in Flame and Citron -

Anthony Mackie for the role of Sgt. JT Sanborn in The Hurt Locker - In Kathryn Bigelow’s tension-filled war film, THE HURT LOCKE, Anthony Mackie plays Sgt. JT Sanborn, the voice of reason in the three-man Explosive Ordinance Unit that is led by adrenaline junkie, Sgt. William James. When James goes to defuse the bomb, it is the job of Sanborn to communicate with James via radio while also providing cover for James from nearby snipers. In most cases, the three men would work as a unit to complete the mission yet what has made James so effective in his job is his reckless nature even if this leads to more risk for the other two men in his unit. In playing the level-headed yet cautious Sanborn, Mackie proves to be a tremendous supporting actor to Jeremy Renner who plays James. Throughout the film, Mackie shows the warmth of Sanborn as that character relies on the teamwork from his fellow soldiers. Yet in working with the more experienced James, Mackie provides a complex performance in showing Sanborn’s frustration and despair in realizing that James is working on a different mentality than himself – whereas Sanborn is trying to cope with the pressure that comes from his position, James needs it.--gc

Peter Capaldi for the role of Malcolm Tucker in In the Loop - Most likely anyone who has worked in big business, the military or professional sports has encountered at least one insensitive, foul-mouthed, underhanded man like Malcolm Tucker, the character Peter Capaldi has brought to the screen, larger than life. Everything about Capaldi’s performance is over the top yet the total effect remains grounded in reality. A lesser actor could never pull it off. --bk

Christian McKay for the role of Orson Welles in Me and Orson Welles - It's always a dangerous thing, for an actor to take on the role of an iconic figure. How to convey enough of the heart of the original to ring true, without veering too far into impersonation? How to make the character one's own, without distorting the icon beyond recognition? In the case of Christian McKay and Orson Welles, it helps to have a mellifluous voice. But beyond the few points of commonality (McKay has a slight resemblance), what was most impressive about his portrayal of Welles was the way he captured the underlying emotion behind Welles' expressive face - the restless and probing intelligence and curiosity, the impishness, the ego, and the hair trigger swings between all of his high emotions. ME AND ORSON WELLES could have been a silent film, and still McKay's performance would have conveyed volumes - the plummy speech winds up being merely the cherry on the top. -bcu

Best Original Screenplay

(500) Days of Summer, screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - Love means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To some it’s just a word, to others it’s the be-all and end-all… and to writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber it’s the focus of one of the best films of 2009. (500) DAYS OF SUMMER is the story of Tom, who believes in the concept of True Love, and Summer, who doesn’t. So naturally, they meet and fall in… in… um… it’s kind of hard to explain. It has to be seen. Bitingly funny, sharply sweet, with moments that made me laugh with tears in my eyes, Mr. Neustadter and Mr. Weber have created a screenplay full of people that you genuinely care about, and truly want the best for. --kb

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call -- New Orleans , screenplay by William Finkelstein -

The Hurt Locker , screenplay by Mark Boal - Screenwriter Mark Boal has written one of the most well-crafted screenplays of recent days, blending drama, extreme tension, pathos, and deftly crafted streaks of dark humor in the story of three members of the Army's elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal squad who are battling insurgents, and their own conflicting emotions, trying to make the streets of Baghdad safe for the natives and for the brave American soldiers who are trying to protect them. Brought to the screen by the deft touch of director Kathryn Bigalow, it is a story you will remember forever --tck

In the Loop, screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Ian Martin, and Tony Roche - Director Armando Ianucci’s film, a fake-documentary style romp similar to "The Office," and based upon his successful series "The Thick of It," brings together the high-powered and ill-tempered people who make decisions in the upper echelons of government in Washington and London. The first-rate cast are given priceless dialogue and situations to play with, and the screenplay manages to create letter-perfect language for a wide variety of iconoclastic characters, such as Peter Capaldi’s profane, apoplectic Malcolm Tucker, who, when telling off the excellent Gina McKee’s Judy Molloy, utters lines like “Within your 'purview'? Where do you think you are, some fucking regency costume drama? This is a government department, not some fucking Jane fucking Austen novel! Allow me to pop a jaunty little bonnet on your purview and ram it up your shitter with a lubricated horse cock!” Or Tom Hollander’s Simon Foster sparring with Chris Addison’s Toby Wright: Simon: “It’ll be easy peasy, lemon-squeezy.” Toby: “No, it’ll be difficult, difficult, lemon-difficult.” The American characters are given similarly hilarious lines, not as quaintly colorful and idiomatic as the Brits, perhaps, but screamingly funny all the same, and often based on pop-culture references. One of my favorites of these characters was Chad, played by Zach Woods, who has, ironically, recently appeared in The Office. Chad’s an ingratiating lower-level assistant, and when his arch-rival Liza (Anna Chlumsky) is dealing with her boss Mimi Kennedy’s sudden mouth bleeding from a broken crown, he says “Go, Buffy, the vampire queen needs you now.” --pa

Still Walking , screenplay by Hirokazu Kore-eda - Kore-eda’s poetic, languorous screenplay highlights interactions, not events. Sensitive and deceptively simple, the story builds through gestures, looks, and conversations, as reuniting family members encounter one another in the house over the course of a day. “Oh, you’re here,” states a father on seeing his long-gone son. We all know thoughtlessness, yearning for acceptance, and suppressed grief as parts of family dynamics, but here they are distilled into art. The details of fried corn cakes, the taking of a family photo, a yellow butterfly, a remark intended to sting: Kore-eda lays out this family’s story with specificity and humanity. --djy

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Class , screenplay by François Bégaudeau, Robin Campillo, and Laurent Cantet, based on the novel by François Bégaudeau - Having seen The Class and then, out of curiosity, read the novel on which it was based, I am impressed with how the book was adapted for the screen. The screenplay skillfully captures the mood of the novel and the dynamics between the teacher (François Bégaudeau’s character), the students, and the high school administration in a low-income, diverse suburban Parisian high school. Like most screenplays, it necessarily consolidates some plot points and characters, but it manages to do so without detracting from the overall story. --ad

An Education, screenplay by Nick Hornby, based on the memoir by Lynn Barber - The three-act story structure isn’t dead after all—in fact, as AN EDUCATION proves, in the right hands, it can still engage and even provoke. In his crafting of the story of a British schoolgirl who puts dreams of college at risk by dallying with a dapper man twice her age, Nick Hornby trusts his audience enough to deprive us of any happy fix for the inherent problem posed by the couple’s age—and life experience—gap. And yet it’s not a film about a pure imbalance: Hornby does a fine job of not only showing us why Jenny, bored with homework and constricted at home, would want to follow her heart with David, but also what makes him see this smart, cultured girl as an improvement to his station. At times, it is supremely difficult to know what to root for or against—and that is a testament to Hornby’s gift. --dvg

Gomorrah, screenplay by Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Roberto Saviano based on the book by Roberto Saviano - A gritty, realistic look at the Neopolitan Mafia. Five stories depict the effect that the criminal enterprise has on a Mafia money distributor, a grocery delivery boy, a toxic waste management employee, a hig end tailor and two young men who aspire to be real gangsters. These five stories are woven together seamlessly and there is no soft selling of the reach that the Gomorrah has on everyday life in the region. --bl

Pontypool, screenplay by Tony Burgess , based on his novel - When Tony Burgess was asked to adpat his novel Pontypool Changes Everything into a film, I can't imagine he was told to take one character out of an ensemble, who is featured in a small fraction of the entire book and spin a chilling, self-contained, realistic and at the same time over-the-top horror film out of it. What Burgess does is take one of a series of vignettes in his novel and creates something entirely new. And don't even get me started about what an actor's dream this screenplay turns out to be. Intense, funny, claustrophobic, and with an ever-increasing sense of dread, Burgess and director Bruce McDonald create a quiet masterpiece that deserves a much wider audience. --mrc

Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher, based on the novel by Sapphire - It is easy to see why PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL “PUSH”BY SAPPHIRE, the story of a sixteen year old obese black girl who is pregnant with her father’s second child, took so long to make it to the screen – it is not what Hollywood considers entertainment. Geoffrey Fletcher has adapted what was long considered a novel unsuited for the screen into a gritty yet poignant tale that is simultaneously entertaining and horrifying. --bk

A Single Man, screenplay by Tom Ford and David Scearce based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood - Christopher Isherwood's 1964 novel A Single Man is one of the greatest modern pieces of literature featuring a gay protagonist. It follows one day in the life of George, an English expatriate teaching college in California who is mourning the death of his longtime lover. Documenting George's every move and thought with a camera-like dispassion -- he's even referred to as "it" until he fully awakens -- the singular narration has a paradoxically empathic effect on the reader. Heaven help anyone who attempts to adapt this work for the screen. Remarkably, Tom Ford and and David Scearce succeed, not by reproducing the story as told on the page, but rather by letting Isherwood's "camera" narrator inhabit the literal lens. The screenplay permits director Ford to use what he knows well -- color, clothing, makeup, composition -- to depict George and the people in his life in all their raw and refined mortality. A SINGLE MAN is one of those outstanding examples of a screenplay that succeeds not because of its dialogue, but rather because of the words written between the characters' lines. --sc

Best Cinematography

Agnès Godard for 35 Shots of Rum - Already a past Chlotrudis winner for her work on the film FRIDAY NIGHT, as well as the recipient of the Chlotrudis Visionary Award, Agnès Godard in 35 SHOTS OF RUM just continues to prove what a talented director of photography she truly is. This intimate story of a father and daughter's close relationship is told in images as much as words, with close-ups nicely used to emphasize the inner thoughts of the characters. The narrow confines of their apartment are adeptly captured by Godard's roving camera. Then it's all transformed in an amazing scene set in a quiet bar during a sudden downpour, when the light warms creating a magical glow and characters connect and separate, Godard's camera capturing body parts during a sensual dancing scene. The transformation is so thorough and complete you know you're witnessing magic on the screen. --mrc

Anthony Dod Mantle for Antichrist -

John Christian Rosenlund for O'Horten - Cinematographer, John Christian Rosenlund, has succeeded in shooting one of the most beautiful films ever made. From the very first frame, O’HORTEN, directed by Brent Hamer, is a breathtaking movie to watch. The film opens with a conductor’s-eye view while a train pulses through a dark tunnel, emerging into a pristine and soothing snow-filled landscape. All at once the viewers are shifted to see the entire mountainside. Every last frame shot in the film is beautiful. The film’s gentle and thoughtful story works in large part due to its excellent cinematography. O’HORTEN is beyond deserving of Chlotrudis’ nomination for Best Cinematography. --pa

Alexis Zabe for Silent Light - From the opening shot of a sunrise (in what appears to be real-time) until the closing crepuscular shot, the cinematography dictates the pace and mood of SILENT LIGHT, a film in which dialogue is a rarity. The story takes place in a Mennonite community on a bleak Mexican plateau. Through Alexis Zabe’s lens, the simplicity of life and land is given an eerie beauty. --bk

Christoph Kanter for The White Ribbon - Certainly one of the most haunting and intense works of Michael Haneke’s distinguished career, The White Ribbon possesses a stunning visual sensibility, simple and straightforward but also lush and intimate. The film was originally shot in color and changed to black and white in post-production. The simple interiors and exteriors of a small rural village in turn of the century Germany are authentic and yet eerily surreal, acting as backdrops for the simple emotions and calculated sins of the villagers. Production Designer Christoph Kanter has worked with Haneke on Caché, Time of the Wolf, The Castle, 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance, and The Piano Teacher. This simple but layered story might have bowed under the weight of an overly-complex production design; Kanter has created a plausibly tactile world, inhabited by people whose cunning, cruelty and denial threaten to undermine their entire community. The village setting is timeless and yet a perfect relic of its moment in history, --pa

Best Production Design

The Beaches of Agnès - One doesn’t often think of a documentary as having a design, but then again, Agnes Varda’s poetic, personal essays are as far from cinema verite as one can get in the world of nonfiction film. While wistfully musing on everything from her Belgian childhood to her late filmmaker husband Jacques Demy, Varda is in a constant state of creation. The opening sequence finds her and her crew installing mirrors on a beach in order to discover what visual juxtapositions result; later, she constructs a makeshift beach on a crowded Parisian street which she then revels in as the camera captures curious onlookers. As with most films, we see the world via the director’s eye, but Varda lets us in on the process and demonstrates how thrillingly life and art intersect. --ck

Me and Orson Welles - At heart, the film is about how a young man’s view of the world and the people around him changes as he becomes a man and starts to make a way through that world. New York in 1937 was a world of passion bubbling under the surface. In addition to nailing the specific details of late Depression Era Big Apple, what I enjoyed about the production design was its close mirroring of the mood and tone of the environment as Richard’s perception changed. Props are crammed about and tossed around while the camera never stops, so the viewer shares the exhilaration and intimidation Richard feels as he enters the crazy world of Mercury; later on, it’s the sets and backdrops that become primary, as Richard begins to realize the bigger picture forces at play, and his limitations to control their effect upon him. --bcu

Moon - In Duncan Jones’ debut feature, MOON, Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, the only person on the lunar station that is responsible for mining resources to provide energy for the earth. As the film progresses, the audience gets more familiar with the solitary existence of Bell. Day after day, Bell spends hours walking through the white-walled, claustrophobic space station filled with computer screens. By doing such an effective job of displaying the sterile, artificial world of Bell, Jones brilliantly emphasizes the inquisitive nature of the film and the inner turmoil of the main character who is struggling to complete the last few days of his mission. And as we learn, there is more to the mission than he realized. --gc

A Single Man -

Sita Sings the Blues - the story of the Ramayana brought to the screen by writer/producer/director/animator Nina Paley sparkles with life in all aspects. Paley has used several different types of animation to follow both the Indian legend and events in her own life, and has produced visually dazzling results. A combination of computer animation and traditional animation along with the wonderful songs of 1920's recording artist Annette Hanshaw combine to make one of the most enjoyable films of the year, and IMHO, one of the best animated features of all time. --tck

Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast

35 Shots of Rum - The ensemble acting of 35 SHOTS OF RUM is a joy to experience. The sparse dialogue dictates that the characters incorporate an exceptional use of body language and facial expression to connect with one another. The performances are well-balanced and even; never once does one actor upstage another as is too frequently the case. As in any Denis film, both the director and cinematographer are instrumental in eliciting and capturing the magic that the actors generate. --bk

In the Loop - On paper, the sprawling, transatlantic cast of IN THE LOOP looks like a mess, teeming with British comedy icons, American stars, character actors and young unknowns. In practice, this meshing of disparate types is as essential to the film’s success as its rapid-fire dialogue and outrageous (but frighteningly plausible) satire. Watch sparks fly as people pair off: Tom Hollander’s overconfident, inarticulate Prime Minister with (an unrecognizable) Steve Coogan’s disgruntled citizen, Mimi Kennedy’s no-nonsense U.S. senior political official with Chris Addison’s British, low-level political assistant, James Gandolfini’s peace-advocating Army General with Peter Capaldi’s profane, temperamental public relations director. Then, watch as they all pair off again in a variety of configurations, keeping in line with the film’s ever entangling, engrossing narrative. --ck

Still Walking - Hirokazo Koreeda's story of a family's reunion on the fifteenth anniversary of its eldest son's drowning slowly teases out the unresolved conflicts that still keep relations between it members prickly. The cast, portraying the still grieving parents, the remaining son and daughter and their spouses and children talk and argue, observe ritual and family traditions, and pass through the range of emotions one would expect a family in these straits might feel: Anger, nostalgia, longing, and grief, but, as well, celebration, wonder, contentment, and reassurance, so that, in the end, we have this extraordinarily faceted portrait of an ordinary, yet still complex, family. --jp

Summer Hours - Summer Hours tells the story of a French family, and in particular three adult children, trying to come to terms with what to do with their mother’s house and art collection after her death. The multigenerational family dynamics make the film relatable and provide dramatic tension, and the beautiful setting in the French countryside and gorgeous old house and art collection make the film a pleasure to watch. But for me, what really made the film effective was the strength of the performances by the ensemble cast, especially by Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, and Jérémie Renier as the “children,” Edith Scob as the mother, and Isabelle Sadoyen as her longtime housekeeper. --ad

The White Ribbon - THE WHITE RIBBONfeatures a diverse cast of characters, all carefully chosen by the film’s director, Michael Haneke, to convey a story of a community of people in pre-World War I Germany. These individuals are a complex blend of adults and children, and the character development employs many layers of complexity. The children of this period will eventually grow up to be avid supporters of Hitler’s Germany. Therefore the film assigns a certain moral condemnation to various members of the community (the adults who raise these future Nazis) and alternatively assigns compassion and forgiveness to others. Every single actor in the cast of The White Ribbon delivers a near-perfect performance. From the youngest characters to the more seasoned adult actors, this group works harmoniously to deliver a work of unbelievable brilliance. --pa

Best Documentary

The Beaches of Agnès - This one almost defies definition. The outrageously playful and brilliant artist and director Agnes Varda ambles her way through a visual autobiography of sorts. Of course it’s not linear, or comprehensive – this is not the way Agnes rolls. Instead it’s evocative and whimsical, transliminal and provocative – a feast for the eyes, and for anyone young at heart. You need not know a thing about her history to be mesmerized and enchanted. Her love of the sea and the men in her life, her freedom to pursue her heart’s own, her defiant joyful laughter – constant threads woven throughout what is undeniably a remarkable history. This film needs to be seen beyond those devotees of French cinema and its history – I kept thinking as I watched that Varda was film’s Mame Dennis, and that this film was saying“life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!” Agnes wants us all eating at her table – by the water’s edge, of course. --bcu

La Danse - Narrated with the body, this film is as artfully simple as the grace its subjects display. The camera is at once passive and inquisitive, gathering moments from human endeavor and suggesting that such endeavor can be beautiful. Directed by Frederick Wiseman and starring the Paris Opera Ballet. --tb

Good Hair - Who would have expected such a tightly written, insightul documentary that entertains, educates, provokes and explores racial politics with such wit and sensitivity would come from comedian Chris Rock? Probably a lot of his fans, but GOOD HAIR took me quite by surprise. Built around a massive convention on hair care where the central conceit is a competition between the country's most preeminent hair stylists, this smart doc goes far beyond that tired doc trope by interviewing African-American models and actresses, stylists and barbers around the country, "hair traffickers" who deal in the harvesting and selling of human hair, manufacturers of dangerous hair care products and more. All of this stemming from an innocent question posed to Rock by his pre-teen daughter. Powerfully good stuff. --mrc

Herb & Dorothy - The highest compliment I can give a documentary is coming out of it saying I learned something I didn’t know going into it. The story of Herb and Dorothy Vogel, captured brilliantly by Megumi Sasaki in “Herb and Dorothy” is just such a piece. At a time their lives when most couples are thinking about retiring in Florida, the Vogels have devoted themselves and their small New York apartment to their shared passion – Minimalist Art. These is hardly a space in their place that isn’t devoted to their amazing collection, and thanks to this film we get to see some fascinating pieces of art, along with interviews of the Vogels, friends and family, and other members of the art world. Charming and funny, utterly captivating and downright sweet, HERB & DOROTHY shows that age really is just a number, and that what (and who) you love you should keep very close to your heart. --kb

Theater of War - In 2006, Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline headlined the New York Shakespeare in the Park production of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children. Director John Walter (HOW TO DRAW A BUNNY) was there to document the rehearsal process. Newly adapted by Tony Kushner, Mother Courage tells the story of a hardened profiteer surviving a soul-crushing war and the cruel family sacrifices she makes. As a study of the artistic process, this film is remarkable. Watching Streep create the coarse anti-heroine is a rare treat. ("I never let anybody see process, because process is clunky. Process looks like bad acting.") But Walter goes beyond the obvious and presents a serious critical essay on Brecht, social frameworks, and the dehumanizing effects of war that we still find ourselves subject to today. --sc

Unmistaken Child - UNMISTAKEN CHILD by Israeli filmmaker Nati Baratz documents the four year journey of Tenzin Zopa as he looks for the reincarnation of his master, Lama Konchog. Lama Konchog was a world-renowned Tibetan master who passed away in 2001 at the age of 84, while Tenzin was his devoted disciple since the age of 7. Tenzin is devastated by his death, feeling he’s been left alone in the world. He confides in the filmmaker that finding the reincarnation is too large a responsibility for him. The viewer gets to take a trip with Tenzin, by foot, mule and helicopter to the beautiful and remote villages of Tibet, in search of the reincarnation. Tenzin is given clues by an astrologer, signs from dreams and thoughts from villagers as to who he should be looking for. Ritualistic tests are done and conclusions are made. Along the way, the viewer gets an inside glimpse of seldom seen rituals and practices of the Buddhist faith. While this is all very intriguing, what is most memorable is the impact on all parties concerned of potentially taking a young child away from his family, to live in a monastery, forever. The transformation of Tenzin during this journey is also noteworthy. --jb

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