2007 Howard M. Shum Awards

Yes, it’s that time again for the most prestigious and sought after award by those who are cool. Here’s the best of 2007:

Best Film - Hot Fuzz directed by Edgar Wright, written by Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg. I know what some of you are thinking, “Howard, you come off as this pretentious, pseudo-intellectual snob. Why did you choose a populist type of film instead of something like No Country for Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, or Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead?” To which I reply, “Say that to my face, bitch! I’ll do you like Michael Vick did Iggy! Wu-Tang!”

Ahem.

You can see the love of film and filmmaking that Wright and Pegg have in Hot Fuzz. It’s cleverly written and made. It’s a joy to watch and hilarious.

While I also like No Country for Old Men, I can’t get beyond its ending. I’m not against ambiguous or unhappy endings - I tend to write those myself. I am opposed to endings where I think it just stops awkwardly. While watching the ending to No Country, I thought we were in a transition scene and was eager for a character to stop yapping so we didn’t lose momentum and get to the ending. Little did I know the scene to follow this was credits.

Creepiest Film - The Orphanage. What an amazing debut by writer Sergio Sanchez and director Juan Antonio Bayona. This is a suspenseful movie where you’re not sure if the paranormal exists or if it’s just in the character’s head - quite like what Henry James did in his book The Turn of the Screw. The film has great atmosphere and mood. You need to see this film in a big dark theater. I don’t care how big a TV screen you have. Watching this at home won’t have the same effect. I predict continued strong work from these two talented Spanish filmmakers.

Musical - Once. Once is not a typical musical where characters break out into song for no apparent reason. It’s about a boy and girl in Ireland who are musicians. They meet cute and the singing comes mostly through the process of song writing or making a CD. My description probably sounds boring, but it is really a good and entertaining film plus the music is well done.

Director - Joe Wright (Atonement) - How and why is cinema different than other art forms? Wright shows the reasons in Atonement.

Cinematographer (Atonement) - Seamus McGarvey. Great lighting and beautiful shots. Simple, right? If it was that easy everyone would do it. McGarvey is a master.

Comeback Filmmaker - Tamara Jenkins. I liked The Slums of Beverly Hills when I first saw it around nine years ago and was eager to see what its writer-director would do next. Nothing came from Tamara. What happened to her, I wondered. A super bad case of writer’s block? Too busy clubbing with her frenemies: Paris, Britney, and Lindsay? One hit wonder? Decided to become a recluse like J.D. Salinger? Well it turned out Tamara was spending her time with Paris, Britney, and Lindsay, but managed somehow to squeeze in a new film with The Savages. I’m glad she did and hope she won’t take as long with the next one.

Actor - Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd). Not only is Johnny Depp the coolest guy I have ever met (yeah that’s right, I dropped Johnny’s name - so that makes me cool by association - oh, wait I’m surrounded by comic nerds so that negates it. Damn nerds.), but he’s also the greatest actor of his generation.

Actress - Ellen Page (Juno). She won’t have to do tripe like X3 anymore.

Screenwriter - Diablo Cody (Juno). Diablo kicks major ass. I love how she doesn’t follow Hollywood rules and formulas.

Television Show (comedy) - Extras. Ricky Gervais is brilliant. He shows that from pain and sadness can come great comedy. He is a rare true genius.

Television Show (drama) - Lost. A strong season this year. I honestly think the writers are actually going somewhere and have a point to it all. I like how they apparently don’t care what their fans think (they shouldn’t). On an earlier episode in the spring, I thought a Hurley episode was filler and had nothing to do with the overall story and was glad to be proven wrong. The mythology on this story is pretty intricate and to do this on episodic TV and to do it well is difficult. This is all very impressive. Kudos to the writers!

Animated TV Show - South Park. Still great after all these years with no drop-off. No one can match Trey Parker and Matt Stone with their cutting satire.

President - Nicolas Sarkozy (France). I have no idea what his policies are or even if he’s doing a good job. I do know that he’s dating Carla Bruni which makes him Kennedyesque.

New Musical Act - Paramore. My drawing is of lead singer Hayley Williams. I think other chicks should follow her lead and wear T-shirts with my signature on it (sorry no fatties).