A Few More Personal Awards

Before I start concentrating on the new decade I feel obliged to give a few shout outs to special moments in the decade passed. So bear with me as I gush about my fave things in the 00's. Then, onto the business of 2010, including my opinions on Up In The Air, Invictus and Precious, which may indeed be the strangest film of the year due to the rumours that Mariah Carey puts in a wonderful performance. Pah, can't be...can it???? Anyway, onto the roll of Honour.

Best Performance Of The Decade (Male)
Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road

Having bested himself on many occasions with staggering turns in The Departed, Blood Diamond and The Aviator it seemed like he had reached the pinnacle of his acting career. Until we saw his performance as Frank Wheeler in Sam Mendes' bleak suburban drama. DiCaprio dominates the scenes as his character turns from a youthful innocent full of dreams to a run of the mill business and family man and all the way down to the bottom as his wife April (Kate Winslet) discovers his affair. To say the final half hour is bleak is to put it mildly but where other actors would rely on over gesticulation to carry themselves DiCaprio manages to break the heart with a look, a furrowed brow and, in the most startling and human piece of acting I have ever seen, with a despondant gaze. Kate Winslet reached a career peak with this film and she even publicly stated that Leonardo was on another level. A performance that comes around once every ten years and further proof that the Academy Awards don't know their arse from their elbow. Up there with DeNiro's Travis Bickle and Brando's Terry Malloy.

Best Performance Of The Decade (Female)
Amy Adams in Enchanted

Narrowly beating off competition from Bjork, Amy Adams has grabbed my top actress award for her amazing grasp of comedy as the fish out of water princess Giselle in this live action Disney fairytale/parody. Adams has proved a fantastic actress with great range (as great turns in Doubt, Junebug and Sunshine Cleaning all prove) but the believability she brings to Giselle is frankly a miracle. Never do you think of her as a cardboard cutout in a film that does suffer a few spots of incredulity and for this she should be applauded. And on top of this she generates great laughs alongside both James Marsden and the poker stiff Patrick Dempsey. A true showcase for an actress set for even bigger career highs in the coming decade.

Achievement of the Decade
Roger Deakins in 2007

Director Of Photography Roger Deakins wins this hands down for his three pronged output in 2007. An amazing trilogy of 'In The Valley Of Elah', 'No Country For Old Men' and 'The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford' saw filmgoers enjoy three of the most beautiful shot films of the decade, all in the space of two months. Each one has unforgettable images and it is nigh on impossible to pick an outright winner but it's 'Jesse James' beautifully soaked portraits that stand out from the bunch. All in all, as perfect a year as anyone in the film business has ever managed.

Moment Of The Decade
The Oil Rig Explosion in There Will Be Blood

There have been some unforgettable scenes of all varieties in the last decade, from the whispered goodbye in Lost In Translation, the growing old montage in Up and the heartbreaking conversation in Before Sunset when Jesse and Celine find out they lived in New York at the same time but for a moment that perfectly encapsulates a movie it has to be the rig explosion in There Will Be Blood. As imagery it is the most beautiful scene in modern cinema, as the eruption gathers pace and the sky literally blackens to darkest night with the oil clouds but its the repercussions that devastate. Daniel Plainviews son loses his hearing and after a short while of working with a sign language reader Daniel ships him off, seeing his own son as a liability. The scene itself is one of fury, the precursor and motion setter to Day Lewis character sliding towards the madness of the finale. Paul Thomas Anderson has a calling card for life.

Worst Film Of The Decade
Little Nicky

A lot of films are worthy of this including Saw 3-6, Most of Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence's films and 99% of spoof films but Adam Sandler's skid mark of a film wins hands down. Thankfully Sandler has moved onto better things with some fine dramatic turns but this laughless comedy was as painful as it got to watch a movie. i fell asleep three times during it and still remember way too much. Each performance is clanky (don't know if that word translates well but it pretty much means shit) and it is topped off by Quentin Tarantino making an absolute twat of himself in the worst cameo OF ALL TIME. No one comes out of this film smelling anything less than diapers filled with dead rats. Avoid like it's the local sex offender.

Shock Ending Of The Decade
The Mist

Just watch it...i won't say another word

Script Of The Decade
Shane Black for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Yes there have probably been more worthy scripts out there but to hell with worthy. the long awaited script from Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black was as crisp, knowing and downright funny as they come. It was so good in fact that it drew a great performance from Val Kilmer, and that's no easy feat. A script dipped in 40's film noir mixed up with the spiky edge and humour that only Shane Black seems capable of writing. Watch and you won't be disappointed.