Winners of the 4th Annual RFP Overlooked Awards

Each year the RFP Overlooked Awards celebrates films that didn’t quite get the praise in the awards season they deserved. New to this year's awards is the expansion of the Best Picture Honorable Mentions to nine entries. If the Academy Awards can nominate 10 films, there's no reason why I can't highlight 10 films as well.

Picture
Winner: GOODBYE SOLO
Ramin Bahrani's touching drama blew me away like few films did in 2009. As a result I named it the best film of the year. It was a hard choice along with THE HURT LOCKER and A SERIOUS MAN as the three films were instant masterpieces to me. Bahrani's story of Solo, an African immigrant who befriends an old white man who seems determined to kill himself, is full of life — both the good and bad parts. The tight, but simple, screenplay wraps the audience up in the lives of these characters and uses our discovery of them as the driving force of the narrative. Souleymane Sy Savane's lead performance is electric and he is supposed wonderfully by the gruff Red West. Bahrani's direction is simple and direct, ending the film with bittersweet poetry. Small films with no stars get overlooked every year, but rarely do they have the dramatic power of this one. Bahrani has quietly become an indie superstar. His previous films, MAN PUSH CART and CHOP SHOP, have received great praise. From story to direction, this magnificent film clearly shows he is a master of his craft.

Honorable Mentions
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
Marc Webb’s romantic comedy was the best of 2009. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are charming as a couple where the man loves a woman who says she doesn't believe in love. Filled with poignant bits of whimsy, the film reminded me of Woody Allen's ANNIE HALL.

ANVIL!: THE STORY OF ANVIL
One of the best docs of 2009. The Academy wrongly left it off its short list for nominations. The film follows Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner who have been friends since middle school and have been playing metal music ever since. They were a hit band in the early 1980s, but quickly faded. Lips hasn't given up. It's like THIS IS SPINAL TAP meets AMERICAN MOVIE.

INVICTUS
Clint Eastwood's story of how Nelson Mandela used South Africa's love of rugby to unite the country is an emotional drama about leadership, racism and sports. Both Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon deserved their Oscar nods.

JULIA
Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton gives the best female performance of 2009 in this unpredictable thriller from Erick Zonca. It starts off as a portrait of an alcoholic than transforms into a harrowing kidnap yarn and ends in a world of dark irony.

THE ROAD
Based on Cormac McCarthy's brilliant novel, John Hillcoat’s screen adaptation is a powerful ode to the responsibility of parents to protect their children from a dangerous world. Viggo Mortensen and Robert Duvall give memorable performances.

SIN NOMBRE
Newcomer Cary Fukunaga showed great promise with this powerful story of gangs and illegal immigration in South America. The drama takes a compelling look at why people risk their lives to make it to the U.S.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
Spike Jonze's brooding ode to the confusion of growing up is about children, but not necessarily for children. He transforms Maurice Sendak's picture book into one of the most daring studio productions in ages.

WATCHMEN
Zack Snyder sticks very close to Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel and crafts a visually arresting superhero film unlike any other superhero film. The film contemplates the realities of putting on masks to save the world and the implications of how superpowers would alienate one from humanity.

WE LIVE IN PUBLIC
Another great doc overlooked at the Academy Awards. Ondi Timoner's film profiles Josh Harris, an early Internet pioneer turned performance artist, who predicted how we'd be living in 2010 in 1999.

Best Actor
Souleymane Sy Savane — GOODBYE SOLO
A former flight attendant, Savane is an actor to watch. Since landing an Independent Spirit nod for this performance, he has acted on the TV series DAMAGES. His effervescent performance in Ramin Bahrani's brilliant drama is the heart and soul of the story. He is a natural and a joy to watch.

Honorable Mentions
Matt Damon – THE INFORMANT!
While he was great in INVICTUS, this is the performance from 2009 he should have received an Oscar nod for.

Viggo Mortensen – THE ROAD
Once again another harrowing performance from one of the best actors working today. He makes the film work.

Sam Rockwell — MOON
In playing two roles in a film with few other actors, Rockwell carries this ingenious sci-fi film with a touching performance.

Michael Stuhlbarg - A SERIOUS MAN
As the Job-like lead in the Coens’ latest masterpiece, Stuhlbarg was one of the breakthrough performers of 2009. His subtle performance is serious, which makes the rest of us laugh at this dark comedy.

Best Actress
Winner: Tilda Swinton – JULIA
Oscar-winner Swinton gives the best female performance of 2009. She is simply brilliant as the alcoholic who thinks that she’s smarter than everyone else around her. She’s a manipulator and a schemer. Swinton doesn’t try to soften her up so that we’ll like her and that’s what makes her performance one of the bravest of the year as well.

Honorable Mentions
Emily Blunt — THE YOUNG VICTORIA
Blunt has been turning in one great performance after another. She gives rare emotional depth to a monarch who isn’t supposed to show emotion.

Charlotte Gainsbourg — ANTICHRIST
Gainsbourg’s performance in Lars von Treir’s shocking drama is the bravest of 2009. The Cannes Film Festival rewarded her, but other awards were not brave enough to follow suit.

Saoirse Ronan — THE LOVELY BONES
Oscar-nominee Ronan is a joy to watch in Peter Jackson’s misread drama. She full of life performance underlines the tragedy of the story even more.

Zoe Saldana — AVATAR
The technology prejudice got in the way of her passionate performance. Saldana’s power and vulnerability shine through though in her warrior princess.

Best Supporting Actor
Anthony Mackie – THE HURT LOCKER
Jeremy Renner received a very deserved Best Actor Oscar nod for this brilliant film, but without Mackie, he wouldn’t stand out as much. As the opposite of Renner’s lead, Mackie is a voice of reason in the madness of war. He is everything that a supporting actor should be.

Honorable Mentions
Zach Galifianakis – THE HANGOVER
Another one of the breakthrough performances of 2009, he steals this raunchy comedy like John Belushi stole ANIMAL HOUSE.

Alfred Molina – AN EDUCATION
Molina brings heart to the overbearing and naïve father of Oscar-nominee Carey Mulligan’s young lover.

Peter Sarsgaard – AN EDUCATION
Sarsgaard is great in every role he takes. As the older lover of Oscar-nominee Carey Mulligan, he is both charming and unsettling at the same time.

Jason Schwartzman– FANTASTIC MR. FOX
He steals every scene his voice performance appears in. Schwartzman brings an honest teen angst to his role that is rarely seen on screen in animation or live-action.

Best Supporting Actress
Vera Farmiga – NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
Farmiga was nominated for her role in UP IN THE AIR, but this was the role of 2009 that stood out. The problem is that the film went direct-to-DVD. Nonetheless, her performance as an exposed CIA agent is powerful. She makes us understand how this tough woman could succeed in a male-dominated profession.

Honorable Mentions
Paula Patton – PRECIOUS
Patton gives a touching performance as the inspirational teacher to Oscar-nominee Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe.

Imelda Staunton – TAKING WOODSTOCK
Oscar-nominee Staunton is the highlight of Ang Lee’s ode to the 1960s as a Russian immigrant with irrational fears and a frugal nature.

Meryl Streep – FANTASTIC MR. FOX
In MR. FOX, Streep proves that nearly every role she takes is worth praising. She wry delivery as the beleaguered momma Fox is hilarious.

Rachel Weisz – THE BROTHERS BLOOM
Weisz is electric as the eccentric heiress in this con game movie where the mark loves the excitement of the game.

Best Director
Ramin Bahrani - GOODBYE SOLO
Bahrani is a patient filmmaker who allows his story to build one revelation upon the next. He draws natural performances from his actors and understands all his characters from the leads to the small supporting roles and allows each of them to be themselves all the time. GOODBYE SOLO never steps wrong under his confident leadership.

Honorable Mentions
Neill Blomkamp – DISTRICT 9
In adapting his short film ALIVE IN JO'BERG into a feature, Blomkamp avoided all the problems that come with adapting short stories into features and made a $30 million sci-fi actioner seem like it cost millions more.

Joel & Ethan Coen – A SERIOUS MAN
The Coen brothers are geniuses and they show it will this complex dark comedy that says a lot about life without getting bogged down in artsy dogma.

Michael Haneke – THE WHITE RIBBON
This stark black & white thriller leaves a great deal of questions unanswered but that is the point. It took a daring and confident director like Haneke to pull it off.

Oren Peli – PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
Peli is an inspiration to all aspiring filmmakers. He took the resources he had and crafted one of the most compelling and frightening horror films in years.

Best Screenplay
Bahareh Azimi & Ramin Bahrani - GOODBYE SOLO
Because Bahrani is not a flashy director, it's hard to see where the screenplay ends and his direction begins. But the honesty and brilliance of his third feature film must have started on the page. It's the most emotionally honest story I saw in all of 2009.

Honorable Mentions
Ron Clements & John Musker and Rob Edwards – THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
The Disney story crew took what had come before in Disney princess fairy tales and twisted it for the modern age while staying true to its heart.

Michael Haneke – THE WHITE RIBBON
Haneke's thriller is a murder mystery wrapped up in turbulent German history. The complex narrative juggles multiple storylines with ease. His story is a puzzle that cannot be completely solved in one pass.

Barry Jenkins - MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY
One of the best romances of 2009, Jenkins crafts two modern lovers who are exactly that. His understanding for contemporary relationships is precise.

Aude Py and Erick Zonca – JULIA
Py and Zonca's epic thriller is like three films in one. They take the time to lay out a complex portrait of their lead character and then thrust her into a world she isn't prepared for, and in the process they fascinate the viewer from start to finish.

Best Animated Short
RUNAWAY – Cordell Barker
The National Film Board of Canada is like Warhol's Factory but for animated films. It was a big surprise when Cordell Barker's latest wasn't nominated for an Oscar after his first two, THE CAT CAME BACK and STRANGE INVADERS, were both nominated. Seven years in the making, this is a simple story of a runaway train that has poignant things to say about the financial schemes of the modern world.

Honorable Mentions
THE CAT PIANO – Eddie White and Ari Gibson
Another one of the Oscar short listed films of 2009, this is a slick animated poem, narrated by Nick Cave, that tells the story of a devious musical instrument. Great visual and a creepy original tale drive this one.

SWEET DREAMS – Kirsten Lepore
This award-winning stop-motion short was made entirely of food and says something about being an outsider and the importance of eating well. And you have to love a film that stars a cupcake.

Jury Prize
This is category recognizes films and performances that I missed seeing in time for previous RFP Overlooked Awards that would have made the list, as well as films that were overlooked in the craft categories that I feel need to be acknowledged.

No prizes awarded this year.