Tuesday, December 18, 2012

The Katie-Bar-The-Door Awards (1994)

Another great year for movies. A lot of people would go with Pulp Fiction as the best picture of the year, and I would have agreed at the time—saw it four times in the theater. I now rank it number two behind another movie I saw in the theater that year (along with about nine other people), a popular little ditty called The Shawshank Redemption.

PICTURE (Drama)
winner: The Shawshank Redemption (prod. Niki Marvin)

PICTURE (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Pulp Fiction (prod. Lawrence Bender)

PICTURE (Foreign Language)
winner: Trois couleurs: Rouge (Three Colors: Red) (prod. Marin Karmitz)

ACTOR (Drama)
winner: Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption)

ACTOR (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Johnny Depp (Ed Wood)

ACTRESS (Drama)
winner: Jennifer Jason Leigh (Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle)

ACTRESS (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Toni Collette (Muriel's Wedding)

DIRECTOR (Drama)
winner: Krzysztof Kieslowski (Trois couleurs a.k.a. The Three Colors Trilogy)

DIRECTOR (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction)

SUPPORTING ACTOR
winner: Martin Landau (Ed Wood)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
winner: Natalie Portman (Léon: The Professional)

SCREENPLAY
winner: Roger Avary and Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction)

6 comments:

VKMfanHuey said...

...ah, Pulp Fiction... honestly... here's the deal... I had a friend who's sister was working down in DisneyWorld one year, and he got us both a 'all-day pass' to the entire shooting match down there...one day...so, we ran around from park to park that day, and by 10 PM or so, I was ready to crash... for some reason, he wanted to see a movie after all of that... so, whatever... I had a major sinus headache, and just slap wore out... so...we go see 'Pulp Fiction', which, I really had no idea what is was to be about... and I guess the combo of tired, headache, and just the general unexpected 'intensity' of the film, I...just...didn't like it... I have seen bits of it here and there since, and while I 'get' the concept, just not really my cup of tea... although Travolta and Jackson DO make a pretty funky couple of hit dudes... I guess that's what they were, right?
Anyway, glad 'Shawshank' edged out PF in this one, although it is quite 'intense' in its own right, maybe it was a bit more...expected...

Have a great holiday, MM!

Hu
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Mythical Monkey said...

I never judge based on a person's reaction to an individual movie -- I myself dislike some movies that most fanatics swear by (even a couple in the top 10 of Imdb's Top 250 list) (although being a non-confrontational sort, I rarely admit as much outside of select company).

Pulp Fiction is the sort of thing you have to be in the mood for. I'm not sure Katie-Bar-The-Door has seen it more than once. She respects it, but I can't say she really likes it (although the "sewer rat/pumpkin pie" bit is part of her repertoire).

Like me, she prefers The Shawshank Redemption.

VKMfanHuey said...

...exactly... it's a movie that is hard to just 'sit and watch'... I guess in that respect it does have merit... and, like anything else (music, TV shows, etc....), if it garners a following, it must be given that respect, even if not a personal fave...

...er, I don't remember the rat/pie scene, although it definitely brings up bad connotations... I did like the 'Quarter Pounder - Royale' dialogue in the beginning, although quite mundane when the subsequent 'mayhem' ensues afterwards... and the 'medieval' line is classic, so, yeah, it has its moments for sure...

Who Am Us Anyway? said...

OK, now I'll have to break down & watch Shawshank, one of the many Movies with a Message I've avoided in my life, often to my own detriment. (True story: I have YET to see It's a Wonderful Life). But Pulp Fiction? My reaction upon seeing that was: Tear down all the movie theaters. There is no need to ever show another movie after this one kicked every movie in the history of the universe's movies' ass so thoroughly. I've since tempered my awe a tad, but I still think it's an absolutely stunning film. The stoner hippie who comes up with the diving life save alone is worth the price of admission ... Whatever Travolta's many faults, for this performance alone he should forever hold his head up high in good Argent fashion ...

Mythical Monkey said...

Re: It's A Wonderful Life -- normally, Who, I wouldn't recommend this, but I'd suggest you see it the way I first saw it when I was maybe twelve, the first year it was in the public domain and popped up late at night on PBS. Get the DVD and skip to around chapter 21, say ninety-five minutes into the movie. Maybe even chapter 22, 100 minutes in. And watch it from there. I was mesmerized.

If you're not at least intrigued, then you can safely give it a miss, I think.

I was lucky to have seen both It's A Wonderful Life and The Shawshank Redemption before they were cultural phenomenons, they were just great movies, and to paraphrase a line from the latter, it was like some beautiful bird flapped into my drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, I felt free.

That's the way all great movies make me feel. That's why I approach all movies so hopefully.

theduckthief said...

I would say that "It's a Wonderful Life" isn't for everyone. It definitely has its saccharine parts. My favourite parts were always where Stewart shows us George's dark side, that inner madness that lurks in everyone but often stays buried. That scene where he breaks the fourth wall has always made me uncomfortable.