jackanderson (Level 26)

Welcome back to the Screen One Awards 2011 Special! Time is precious and I've got other things to be doing so let's get back into it.

Technically The Best Film If The Actual Film Wasn’t Such A Bore

Winner: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Yes; I scored it less than The King’s Speech, a movie I’ve backpedalled on so much I’m halfway to France as I speak, but Tinker, Tailor is easily the Best Film Of The Year. The cinematography? Gorgeous. The music? Atmospheric and fitting. The acting? Oscar worthy performances all round, especially from Gary Oldman. The directing? Slick, efficient, well handled.

The major problem is that the story and the film and the pacing are just too. F*cking. Slow. And I knew that it wasn’t going to be fast paced. I knew that it was going to be very studied in its pace. But, Jesus H. Corbett! Glaciers move faster than this! And I’m fairly certain that they’re more entertaining. That being said, I’ll buy it on DVD and give it a second chance with much lowered expectations. But from a cast and crew this fantastic and with such exemplary technical prowess, I expected to be hooked more. Far more.

Runner Up: The King’s Speech

Best American Comedy

Winner: Horrible Bosses

Though any film that reminds you of why Jennifer Aniston was so funny on Friends deserves this award just for that.

A film with an all star cast that didn’t squander its talent on a boring or mediocre material, Horrible Bosses is just funny. Really, really funny. Sure, it’s nowhere near as dark as the premise suggested (or, more likely, as we were hoping), but, as a reminder, it’s just funny. From the cat scares (that just get more and more hilarious as they go on), to Jason Sudeikis having sex with anything that moves, to the “wet work” expert, to the allergy incident, to everything that Kevin Spacey did... Gag for gag, this was, by far, the funniest American comedy of the year. Easy.

Runners Up: Bridesmaids, Paul

Best British Comedy

Winner: The Inbetweeners Movie

Though I am really sick of seeing variations of this atrocious poster.

Outside of Britain (and, for some people, inside of Britain) this whole Inbetweeners craze must seem ridiculous and hard to comprehend. For those that fell under the show’s spell, it’s easy to see. The Inbetweeners just gets today’s audience and it gets teen life for many people. It wasn’t insanely cool, it wasn’t a depressing failure. It was just cringe worthily rubbish but you still look back on it fondly anyway because, hey, it could’ve been worse!

The movie, then, could’ve been a complete failure. But it stuck with that winning formula and, apart from a few moments, was the exact same Inbetweeners you knew and loved. Just longer and on a big screen. I’ve seen it three times now and it’s easily one of the best comedies I’ve ever watched. So, it finally earns that coveted fifth star (reasons why it didn’t in the review coming later this month). Fair well, lads! Thanks for everything!

Runners Up: Johnny English Reborn, Paul (it was a British/American co-production)

Simultaneously The Nicest Surprise & The Biggest Disappointment

Winner: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Blame these people. All of these people. Even the extras. It's all their fault!

The only reason I saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes was because everyone was informing me of just how great it was. The trailers appeared to have spoiled nearly every single thing about it and my expectations were rock bottom. So I was blown away by just how fantastic it was. Rather than being a cheesy, CG monkey action movie, it was a serious, thought provoking sci-fi drama. The effects were amazing, Andy Serkis turned in the single best performance of the year, the pacing was spot on making that third act totally deserved... It’s easily one of the best films of the year.

So, why is it also the most disappointing? Bearing in mind I had no expectations going in. Well, I came out initially thoroughly pleased and happy. But then, over the coming hours, I started to be less warm to the movie. I knew I still really liked it, but I started picking holes in it. I started finding things wrong with it. Specifically, I found fault with the human side. Every time that the monkey storyline was pushing boundaries and coming up with interesting well developed characters, the human side averaged its way through supremely forgettable characters and the most blatantly stereotypical plot available.

All of that effort on the monkey front is almost destroyed because it appears that no effort went into the human side. I feel that there could’ve been the film of the year here if the human side was better written. So, there you go. A film I didn’t expect anything of left me disappointed. Never let it be said that I’m too easy to please.

Runner Up: Cars 2

Best Superhero Movie

Winner: X-Men: First Class

And, no, it's not winning just for this.

It’s official, folks. Matthew Vaughn is only capable of fantastic things. First Layer Cake, then Stardust, last year’s 4th best film Kick Ass, and now this... Dude’s got a knack for this sort of thing. And, if anything, First Class is his greatest achievement to date. In such a short amount of time, he’s turned the fortunes of the X-Men franchise around. Now, it has some semblance of a future!

So, that’s all well and good, but why does it deserve it over both of Marvel Studios’ movies? Well, First Class manages to do Marvel Studios’ trick even better than Marvel Studios themselves. It’s serious and dramatic whilst still being fun. There’s good humour here that has a ball of a time with its premise, but when the dramatic sequences arrive, the film doesn’t hold back. Especially when it comes to one of the best end sequences in recent memory.

I found so little to fault with this movie when I first watched it. I still do now. X-Men is not just the Best Superhero Movie of the year. It’s one of the Best Movies of the year. Period.

Runners Up: Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor

Best Performance

Winner: Andy Serkis as Caesar (Rise of the Planet of the Apes)

For Your Consideration: Best Supporting Actor. I know it's not Best Actor, but it's something. Just go with it!

2011 has been a damn good year for Britain’s Greatest Living Actor. With roles in Tintin, Arthur Christmas & Rise of the Planet of the Apes (and, to a much lesser extent, Brighton Rock) he’s just killed it all year. No better has his acting talents been put to use though than as Caesar in That Film With Them Monkeys. Sure, it’s CG and a fair bit of the praise can go to WETA Digital for their phenomenal effects work, but Serkis still should shoulder much of the praise.

He effortlessly manages to make you sympathise with the character beyond the initial instinctive reaction of “Aww! Monkeys are adorable!” He slowly shows Caesar becoming more and more emotionally distant and destroyed as the film goes on, just tugging on your heartstrings. But most importantly, Serkis makes Caesar human. You feel for him the same way that you feel for Magneto in First Class or Tommy in Trainspotting. That is a huge achievement and I’m so glad that 20th Century Fox recognized the buzz surrounding Serkis enough to try and campaign for him getting an Oscar.

Runners Up: Gary Oldman as George Smiley (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy), Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers (Black Swan)

That'll do it for today's awards! Think anyone's been snubbed? Anyone's been over/under-praised? Wanna take a guess at what my Best Movie is? Hit the comments below and start up a conversation. The third and final part (because all things are planned out to be a trilogy, even when they aren't) will contain Most "Holy Crap" Moment, The Best Films I'd Love To Have Seen But Haven't For Various Reasons, Best Film, Worst Film and the signature Anti-Film of the Year awards! They may arrive tomorrow, but considering how all but two of them are going to be essays, expect it on Tuesday at the earliest. See you next time!

jackanderson knows what is hiding in this world of little consequence.