The Pandamonium Awards: Awarding the Best of the Half-Decade

[The Panda]

I was one of the original people planning on doing a list, but so many have been going on currently that I believe it would just be tiring, however I still want to acknowledge my favorites of the half-decade.  Because of that I will host it awards style and announce the nominees in my title post, and give the wins throughout the week.  

 

 

Best Picture

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild

 

Birdman: Or the Unexpected Nature of Ignorance

 

Boyhood

 

Django Unchained

 

The Grand Budapest Hotel

 

Gravity

 

Guardians of the Galaxy

 

Her

 

Holy Motors

 

The Immigrant

 

Inside Llewyn Davis

 

Life of Pi

 

The Social Network

 

True Grit

 

The Wolf of Wall Street

 

 

Best Director

 

Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel

 

Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

 

David Fincher, The Social Network

 

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman: Or the Unexpected Nature of Ignorance

 

Richard Linklater, Boyhood

 

Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

 

 

Best Ensemble

 

Birdman: Or the Unexpected Nature of Ignorance

 

Boyhood

 

Dallas Buyer’s Club

 

The Grand Budapest Hotel

 

Silver Linings Playbook

 

The Wolf of Wall Street

 

 

Best Comedy

 

50/50

 

Bridesmaids

 

Kick-Ass

 

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

 

This is the End

 

The Wolf of Wall Street

 

 

Best Actor

 

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street

 

Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

 

Denis Lavant, Holy Motors

 

Daniel-Day Lewis, Lincoln

 

Michael Keaton, Birdman: Or the Unexpected Nature of Ignroance

 

Joaquin Phoenix, Her

 

 

Best Actress

 

Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

 

Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

 

Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant

 

Julie Delpy, Before Midnight

 

Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

 

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

 

 

Best Supporting Actor

 

Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave

 

Ethan Hawke, Boyhood

 

Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes

 

Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

 

J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

 

Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

 

 

Best Supporting Actress

 

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

 

Scarlett Johansson, Her

 

Mila Kunis, Black Swan

 

Margot Robbie, The Wolf of Wall Street

 

Hailee Steinfield, True Grit

 

Emma Stone, Birdman: Or the Unexpected Nature of Ignorance

 

 

Best Adapted Screenplay

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild

 

Before Midnight

 

Life of Pi

 

The Social Network

 

True Grit

 

The Wolf of Wall Street

 

 

Best Original Screenplay

 

Birdman: Or the Unexpected Nature of Ignorance

 

Boyhood

 

Django Unchained

 

Her

 

Inside Llewyn Davis

 

Moonrise Kingdom

 

 

Best Animated Film

 

How to Train Your Dragon

 

The LEGO Movie

 

Tangled

 

Toy Story 3

 

The Secret World of Arietty

 

The Wind Rises

 

 

Best Action Film

 

Django Unchained

 

The Grey

 

Kick-Ass

 

Looper

 

Gravity

 

Snowpiercer

 

 

Best Franchise Film

 

The Avengers

 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

 

Guardians of the Galaxy

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

 

Skyfall

 

 

Best Indie Film

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild

 

Mud

 

The Immigrant

 

The Perks of the Being a Wallflower

 

The Spectacular Now

 

Short Term 12

 

 

Best Cinematography

 

Birdman: Or the Unexpected Nature of Ignorance

 

Gravity

 

Inside Llewyn Davis

 

The Immigrant

 

Life of Pi

 

The Master

 

 

Best Editing

 

Boyhood

 

Captain Phillips

 

Gravity

 

Holy Motors

 

Inside Llewyn Davis

 

The Social Network

 

 

Best Art Design

 

The Grand Budapest Hotel

 

Gravity

 

Her

 

Interstellar

 

Only Lovers Left Alive

 

Snowpiercer

 

 

Best Original Score

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild

 

The Grand Budapest Hotel

 

Gravity

 

Life of Pi

 

Only Lovers Left Alive

 

The Theory of Everything

 

 

Best Original Song

 

“For the Dreaming and the Dancing” from How to Train Your Dragon 2

 

“I See the Light” from Tangled

 

“Let It Go” from Frozen

 

“Please My. Kennedy” from Inside Llewyn Davis

 

“The Moon Song” from Her

 

“Split the Difference” from Boyhood

 

 

Best Costume Design, Makeup, and Hairstyling

 

Dallas Buyer’s Club

 

Her

 

Guardians of the Galaxy

 

Moonrise Kingdom

 

Snowpiercer

 

True Grit

 

 

Best Sound

 

Argo

 

Life of Pi

 

Gone Girl

 

Gravity

 

Inception

 

Zero Dark Thirty

 

 

Best Visual Effects

 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

 

Gravity

 

Guardians of the Galaxy

 

Inception

 

Interstellar

 

Life of Pi

 

 

Breakthrough Star Award

 

Bradley Cooper for American Sniper

 

Hailee Steinfield for True Grit

 

Jennifer Lawrence for The Hunger Games

 

Miles Teller for The Spectacular Now

 

Quevenzhane Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild

 

Shailene Woodley for The Fault in Our Stars

 

 

A special notice for this next award

The users of Box Office Theory can send my a pm voting for who they think should win the Pandamonium Award of Excellency and I will award it to the nominee with the most votes.

 

Pandamonium Award for Excellency

 

Wes Anderson for Writing and Directing “Moonrise Kingdom” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

 

Joel and Ethan Coen for Directing and Writing, “True Grit”, and “Inside Llewyn Davis”

 

Jessica Chastain for her acting work in, “Zero Dark Thirty”, “A Most Violent Year”, “Interstellar”, “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby”, “The Help”, and “The Tree of Life”

 

Marion Cotillard for her acting work in, “The Immigrant”, “Two Days, One Night”, “A Midnight in Paris”, and “Inception”

 

Roger Deakins for his Direction of Photography in, “True Grit”, “Prisoners”, “Skyfall”, and “Unbroken”,

 

Alexandre Desplat for Scoring, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, “Moonrise Kingdom”, “The Imitation Game”, “Zero Dark Thirty”, “Argo”, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”, “The Tree of Life”, and “Philomena”

 

David Fincher for Directing, “The Social Network”, “Gone Girl”, and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”

 

Jennifer Lawrence for her acting work in, “Winter’s Bone”, “Silver Linings Playbook”, “American Hustle”, “The Hunger Games Franchise”, and “The X-Men Franchise”

 

Emmanuel Lubezki for his Direction of Photography in “Birdman: The Unexpected Nature of Ignorance”, “Gravity”, “To Wonder”, and “The Tree of Life”

 

Matthew McConoughey for his acting work in, “Dallas Buyers Club”, “Mud”, “Interstellar”, “The Wolf of Wall Street”, and “True Detective”

Edited February 5, 2015 by The Panda

[The Panda]

I'm going to start off by announcing best Indie Film of the Half-Decade.  (I am saving my write ups for best picture nominees so I don't multi-write up films)

 

My nominees were.

 

Best Indie Film

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild

 

 

 

Mud

 

 

 

The Immigrant

 

 

 

Perks of Being a Wallflower

 

 

 

The Spectacular Now

 

 

 

Winner

 

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild

 

 

Edited January 31, 2015 by The Panda

[Blankments]

Surprised you don't have Whiplash up for anything except Supporting Actor

[Plain Old Tele]

Surprised you don't have Whiplash up for anything except Supporting Actor

 

Why?

 

 

It seems quite possible he feels -- like some people -- that it's a pretty good movie but not something that's worthy of singling out for excellence in many categories.

[Avatree]

Only 6 films have to beat another (Whiplash or otherwise), he might think Whiplash is absolutely incredible in many ways, but 6 films were slightly more incredible in those categories.

 

Why is American Sniper listed as Bradley Cooper's "breakthrough" film? He's been a popular actor for a few years.

[Ethan Hunt]

You nominated Serkis for Rise! This thread has earned my support ( not sure how he is supporting though)

[Blankments]

Why?

 

 

It seems quite possible he feels -- like some people -- that it's a pretty good movie but not something that's worthy of singling out for excellence in many categories.

IDK, I mean, I wasn't expecting on his Best Picture of the past five years list, but what I'm more surprised by is it didn't make the Indie category.

 

It's his list though; just surprised that's all

[The Panda]

Only 6 films have to beat another (Whiplash or otherwise), he might think Whiplash is absolutely incredible in many ways, but 6 films were slightly more incredible in those categories.

Why is American Sniper listed as Bradley Cooper's "breakthrough" film? He's been a popular actor for a few years.

Hit the nail on the spot with Whiplash, and honestly for Cooper it was because he was the lead. I could change it to Silver Linings Playbook and get the same affect. I'm acknowledging him for breaking through, not as unknown to known, but from small scale to massive, quality box office draw.

[Plain Old Tele]

Isn't HANGOVER more representative of that, though?

[Avatree]

Hit the nail on the spot with Whiplash, and honestly for Cooper it was because he was the lead. I could change it to Silver Linings Playbook and get the same affect. I'm acknowledging him for breaking through, not as unknown to known, but from small scale to massive, quality box office draw.

I wouldn't class him as "small scale", he is a proper A-list actor. Hangover was his breakout film, and from there he just went from strength to strength. But he's definitely already a hugely successful actor, no doubt about it.

[The Panda]

I wouldn't class him as "small scale", he is a proper A-list actor. Hangover was his breakout film, and from there he just went from strength to strength. But he's definitely already a hugely successful actor, no doubt about it.

It's true, I still think he has truly broken out this decade, it's just more of his work as a collective that represents that.

[luna]

can we please abolish the word 'indie' from all future film discussion? thanks.

[filmlover]

Certainly this will get an honorary award? I will be so disappointed in you if it doesn't, Panda:

 

[The Panda]

Time for...

 

Best Sound

 

Argo

 

 

Life of Pi

 

 

Gone Girl

 

 

Gravity

 

 

Inception

 

 

Zero Dark Thirty

 

 

 

Winner

Gravity

Edited January 31, 2015 by The Panda

[The Panda]

And now I will do a write up of my first Best Picture Nominee (And already Pandamonium Award Winner)

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild

 

 

"They gonna know, once there was a Hushpuppy, and she live with her daddy in the Bathtub."

 

Honorary Notice: Benh Zeitlin for his Direction

Tomatometer: 86%

Box Office: 12.8 million

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Directing, Best Adapted Screenplay

Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Indie Film, Best Original Score, Breakthrough Star Award (5 total)

 

 

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a film that blends a fantastical parable of a child's own mind with a harsh realism that has an actual threat to plague us today.  Beasts follows a little girl named Hushpuppy growing up in a futuristic version of Louisiana devastated by the rising sea levels caused by global warming called, The Bathtub.  The film follows the perspective of Hushpuppy in order to display a broken world on screen through the perspective of how a young child would see it.  Beasts of the Southern Wild leaves the viewer in a trance that blends fantasies and realities to create a spellbinding tale of Hushpuppy who lived in the Bathtub.

Edited January 31, 2015 by The Panda

[The Panda]

I'll announce one more award tonight,

 

Best Visual Effects

 

 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

 

 

 

Gravity

 

 

 

Guardians of the Galaxy

 

 

 

Inception

 

 

 

Interstellar

 

 

 

Life of Pi

 

 

Winner

 

Gravity

 

Edited January 31, 2015 by The Panda

[Avatree]

Planet of the Apes not winning best vfx...

 

[The Panda]

The second Best Picture Nominee

 

 

Birdman: Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance

 

 

"Popularity is the slutty, little cousin of prestige."

 

Honorary Nomination: Edward Norton for Best Supporting Actor

Tomatometer: 92%

Box Office: 31.7 million

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Ensemble, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography (7 total)

 

 

Birdman: Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, soars in it's exploration of a washed up movie star battling the conflicting ideals of popularity and prestige.  The film elegantly tracks an inelegant and darkly comedic situation of Riggan putting on an artsy Broadway play in an attempt to gain the prestige he never received playing his comic book hero character, Birdman.  Birdman is thorough and complex in it's exploration, as well as its lucid entertainment value.  Birdman sucks you into its fanatical, trippy, and dark world, and unlike most films, leaves up an open interpretation of nearly every scene for film-junkies to dissect for years to come.
 

Edited January 31, 2015 by The Panda

[The Panda]

Best Costume Design, Makeup, and Hairstyling

 

 

Dallas Buyer's Club

 

 

 

Her

 

 

 

Guardians of the Galaxy

 

 

 

Moonrise Kingdom

 

 

 

Snowpiercer

 

 

 

True Grit

 

 

 

Winner

Moonrise Kingdom

[The Panda]

Best Art Design

 

 

The Grand Budapest Hotel

 

 

Gravity

 

 

 

Her

 

 

 

Interstellar

 

 

 

Only Lovers Left Alive

 

 

 

Snowpiercer

 

 

 

Winner

Snowpiercer