On Screen / Movies

Forget the Oscars, bite into the Cookies

By Linda Cook | Thursday, February 21, 2008 | () comments

Oh, the weather outside has been frightful. But the rental offerings are delightful — especially if you want to see some quality movies now and in upcoming weeks.

Every year, with no fanfare and no home parties, the Cookie Awards go to, well, my favorite movies. Period. These awards dispense with voting, full-page ads and lobbyists. And, oh, how I wish I could send a little statuette, or even a keychain, to some of these filmmakers whose projects deserve more praise than they have received.

If you’re surprised to hear about these films, remember that some of these outside-of-the-mainstream movies never played here or, for that matter, in very many markets. They run the gamut of genres, from “monster movies” to romances, but all of them are creative, thought-provoking and memorable.

I encourage you to do some research and gather more information before you rent, buy or take off to the wilds of New York or Chicago to see these.

Cry, laugh, think, feel and enjoy!

Best movie: “Lars and the Real Girl.” Steel yourself: This is a tender, sweet and comic movie about a guy who thinks an adult blow-up doll is his new girlfriend. Sounds weird, I know, but it’s delightful. Ryan Gosling plays the deluded Lars with not one iota of guile. What would you do if your brother brought home a life-size doll to meet the family? Despite its quirky premise, this one will warm your heart.

Runners-up for best movie: “Juno,” which remains in Quad-City theaters. Word of mouth has spread the tale of this little jewel about a pregnant teen-ager. The show is full of clever dialogue, intelligent characters and outstanding performances. Also deserving of kudos are “Into the Wild,” the true story of a young man who left everything behind for his doomed journey into the wilderness; and “Ratatouille,” an animated story with brilliant dialogue, art and a plot that will keep adults and kids alike entertained.

Best actress: Marion Cotillard for her incredible performance as Edith Piaf in “La Vie En Rose.”

Best actor: Casey Affleck for both “Gone Baby Gone” and especially his performance as Robert Ford in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”

Best supporting actress: Amy Ryan as the mother with questionable parenting skills in “Gone Baby Gone.”

Best supporting actor: Ashraf Barhom, “The Kingdom.” After terrorists attack an American community in Saudia Arabia, the FBI sends a team to find who is behind the bombing. Barhom plays Col. Al-Ghazi, who forms a reluctant partnership with the American investigators.

Best director/screenwriter: Michael Davis for “Shoot ’Em Up,” an extremely edgy, outrageous adults-only romp starring Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti.

Best kid performance: Ed Sanders as Toby in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” He can act and sing!

Best animal performance: The gorgeous underwater denizens in the beautiful “Sharkwater” documentary.

Best foreign-language film: Tie between “The Band’s Visit,” a good-natured comedy about a musical troupe from the Egyptian police force who find themselves stranded in the wrong town; and “The Host,” arguably the smartest monster movie ever made.

Worst film, period: “Captivity.” Remember this horror-porn offering? Good. Someone please make it go away.

Best film that nobody saw: “Across the Universe.” Beatles fans: Stop whatever you’re doing and run out right away to find this psychedelic homage to the 1960s and the Fab Four.

Best film that didn’t play here: “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,” a wonderfully entertaining documentary about the quest to be the best at Donkey Kong.

Most unrecognized talent: Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon, for their incredible performances in the too-little-seen character study about madness titled “Bug.”

Best documentary: “Sicko,” for putting human faces on the health-care insurance crisis in the United States.

Dumbest concept: “The Solomon Brothers,” an idiotic idea that goes downhill from there.

Most blatant (and brilliant) product placement: To promote the hilarious “The Simpsons Movie,” some 7-11 stores actually sold real versions of fictional Simpsons-related products, such as Buzz Cola, which are seen in the series and the movie.

Worst kid movie: “Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour,” developed by an amateur film company.

Cutest actors I’d like to take home: All the dogs who played Rexxx in “Firehouse Dog,” a great family film that never received the praise it had coming.

Neatest cameo: John Goodman, as the grimy gun salesman in “Death Sentence.”

Best trailer: The fantastic ad for the 2008 movie “Cloverfield.”

Worst audience: The scary audience who giggled through “Halloween,” a torture-porn rendition of the classic horror movie. Yeesh.

Most touching romance: “Once,” a brilliant, beautiful film about friendship, romance and kindness that puts a new spin on the concept of a musical.

Most ignored mind-expander: “Sunshine,” well-wrought adult science fiction about a crew sent to reignite a dying sun.

Most embarrassing crying spell: The heartwarming finale of “Waitress” left me with eyes so swollen I could barely make my way from the theater.

Linda Cook reviews movies for the Quad-City Times. Contact her at (563) 383-2400 or lcook@qctimes.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE

While the Academy Awards are being handed out tonight, Times movie critic Linda Cook has her own tradition — the Cookie Awards. Here are her picks for the tops in films — Oscar nominee or not — from last year.