The 1st Annual Flickcharters’ Choice Awards Winners!
After years of being disappointed by awards shows and complaining about snubs, we at Flickchart decided to make our own awards. Many of the Flickchart bloggers voted on the nominees and once those were agreed on, we opened it up to you – the public – to vote on your favorites.
Now that you’ve voted and picked your favorites, here are your nominees, comments on the nominees from some of our writers, and your first annual winners at the Flickcharters’ Choice Awards!
Best Documentary Film
Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
Bill Cunningham New York
Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
The Interrupters
Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times
2011 was a pretty solid year for documentaries, but I think the lack of public knowledge of many of these films might sway voting. The Interrupters is a brilliant documentary by Steve James, who also made the classic doc Hoop Dreams. But my guess is that the name Conan O’Brien alone might influence most voters. – Ross Bonaime
Interesting how this category doesn’t have a single nomination in common with the Oscars. Perhaps that’s telling of a really strong year in documentaries? I get the feeling Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop will win this one, if only because it sounds like the one most people will have seen. – Emil Ekelund
And The Winner Is…
Best Foreign Language Film
Cafe de Flore
I Saw the Devil
A Separation
The Skin I Live In
This Is Not a Film
This category seems like a battle between three: I Saw the Devil, which may get votes due to being on Netflix Instant, A Separation and The Skin I Live In, which is easily my favorite Pedro Almodovar film, and one of the most shocking films of 2011. But I can’t get over the incredible writing and story that is A Separation, not just one of the best foreign films of the year, but one of the best films and a masterpiece of Iranian cinema. – Ross Bonaime
This category sees films from Canada, South Korea, Iran, Spain, and Iran again, with only one overlap with the Academy Awards – Iran’s A Separation. That’s one of the three films in this category I haven’t seen, and the one that I’m most eager to check out. I can heartily recommend the two that I nominated. Canada’s Cafe de Flore, a masterfully edited dual-story film juxtaposing the modern day story of a Montreal DJ torn between past and present lovers and a 1960s story of a Parisian mother fiercely devoted to her Downs Syndrome son. The way the two stories tie together thematically becomes almost operatic by the end, a fitting comparison for a film so driven by its music. The other Iranian film on the ballot, This is Not a Film, is a day-in-the-life documentary detailing the house arrest of filmmaker Jafar Panahi, forbidden from filmmaking by the Iranian government on the grounds that his films are subversive. What follows is a fascinating glimpse of a suppressed artist and an inquiry into the nature of filmmaking itself. The other three films, based on what I’ve heard and read, are also top-notch – I Saw the Devil being a brutal yet thought-provoking revenge story in the best Korean tradition, A Separation delving into a woman’s attempt to leave Iran, and The Skin I Live In marking master filmmaker Pedro Almodovar‘s foray into psychological horror with great results. This is a solid category, and I’d be content should any of them win. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
The Iranian film A Separation goes into the Oscars as the frontrunner and dominates here as well, with 47% of the votes.
Best Animated Film
The Adventures of Tintin
Cars 2
Kung Fu Panda 2
Rango
Winnie the Pooh
Here’s where I will give the Oscars their due. Their animated category is pretty phenomenal. It’s a shame under seen films like Chico & Rita and A Cat in Paris didn’t get nominated here as well. The lack of a public audience for smaller animated films is a detriment to this category. I’m glad Winnie the Pooh got a nomination, as did The Adventures of Tintin, but Rango is too beloved by its fans to not win. – Ross Bonaime
Considering Cars 2‘s chilly critical reception, I wonder whether it’s here because people actually like it or because they haven’t seen many animated films this year. Rango seems the likely winner here, and a fine winner it would make. – Emil Ekelund
I’m very pleased that both Winnie the Pooh and The Adventures of Tintin made the selection here…I had no doubt Rango would. I had little interest in seeing the two sequels, and pretty much still don’t. The three I HAVE seen represent nostalgia, appreciation for filmmaking’s past, and an interest in exploring new ways and looks for animated films. Rango‘s “ugly” character designs are unique and interesting, and its joyous zeal in recreating and homaging older cinema hit my sweet spot (and actually fit in with the story, too). Tintin‘s combination of mo-cap, 3D, and whiz-bang action in the style of old serials made for a great trip to the movies, and a promise of what technology combined with a good story and writing can accomplish. Winnie the Pooh went the opposite direction, going back to hand-drawn animation for its gentle and sweet story, and why not – that’s the Pooh I loved growing up, and this film recaptured that perfectly, with enough cleverness in the writing to keep the adult me delighted as well. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
Rango made a landslide victory against new films from DreamWorks Animation, Disney and Pixar, by receiving 57% of the votes. Second place, Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin, only earned 26%.
Best Film Completely Snubbed By the Oscars
Attack the Block
Hanna
Melancholia
Take Shelter
We Need To Talk About Kevin
For me, Take Shelter and We Need to Talk About Kevin are easily two of the best films of 2011, and it is a shame neither received much-needed nominees in at the very least the acting categories. I think the love for Melancholia shows throughout the nominations and given that Take Shelter and Kevin didn’t receive huge releases, I’ll be surprised if Melancholia doesn’t take it away. – Ross Bonaime
A.K.A. 5 films that are thankful for the Sound Editing branch of the Academy for preventing Drive‘s inclusion here. I’ve only seen Attack the Block personally but am very interested in all the others, which shows that Flickcharters’ taste agrees with me more than that of Academy members do. One of many categories where I’m disappointed that my fellow nominators didn’t spring for 50/50. – Emil Ekelund
Clearly the Oscar nominations were a bit of a sore spot to many of us, at least in some areas, and the genesis of these awards this year at least were to some extent a reaction to that. This category displays that the most prominently, and these five films are all ones that deserved at least some mention from the Academy in some capacity or another. I’m frankly not surprised that Attack the Block didn’t get any Academy love – it’s such a small film, from the UK, and so entrenched in its B-movie aesthetic that it’s nowhere near the Academy’s radar. Yet at the very least, it deserved attention for its special visual effects – the character design on the monsters is among the best of the year. Hanna made many of our own individual top lists this year, thanks to its surprisingly solid combination of action and coming-of-age story, but if I had to call out the Academy on snubbing it for any specific award, it would definitely be Best Score, courtesy of The Chemical Brothers. Melancholia simply overwhelmed me when I saw it, and after Dunst‘s actress win in Cannes, I really thought the Academy might follow suit – but it’s fair to say that Tree of Life took the self-consciously arty spot in the nominations. Terrence Malick is a far more “safe” person to invite to your ceremony than Lars von Trier. Take Shelter is a big favorite among the blogging community, but I’m also not surprised the Academy didn’t pick up on it – it’s also a very small film by Academy standards, and just genre-y enough for them to miss. That said, they could’ve spared a nomination for Michael Shannon’s amazing performance – he’s always good, but given a lead part like this one, he shines like no other actor this year. The biggest snub here, and the one that surprised me the most, was We Need to Talk About Kevin. Yes, it’s relatively small and British, but this film is probably the best of the year, and it got completely shut out of every category – it should’ve been a shoe-in for Best Actress, and easily matched or bettered the competition in Best Picture, Director, Film Editing, Sound Editing, and more. That it’s not on the Oscar ballot is a travesty. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
In one of the closest races, Melancholia was involved in a three-way tie with Attack the Block and Hanna for most of the voting. Lars Von Trier‘s bleak film won by only two points in this incredibly tight race.
Biggest Disappointment of 2011
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The Hangover Part II
Sucker Punch
For me, probably my least favorite film of 2011 was Sucker Punch, which I’ll discuss later in that category, and being I’m not a fan of Zack Snyder at all, I’m surprised I looked forward to this film at all. I’ve never been that big a fan of The Hangover films either, which I feel is just a more polished version of Dude, Where’s My Car? but with alcohol instead of implied weed. I’ve been a huge fan of Alexander Payne for years and while I did like The Descendants, it wasn’t as great as I thought everyone made it out to be. I’d say between Sucker Punch and The Descendants, I go Sucker Punch, a film I had moderate expectations for, yet should have been so very much lower. – Ross Bonaime
I am thrilled that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo made the cut here, as I was no big fan of that film. That The Descendants is the sole Oscar Best Picture nominee is something I can sympathize with to an extent, but more due to lofty post-Sideways expectations of the director than because it’s a particularly bad movie. Predicting a winner here is tricky, but I’m thinking The Hangover Part II, with Sucker Punch as the runner-up. – Emil Ekelund
A wild disparity on the choices here, everything from Oscar favorites like The Descendants to well-reviewed films like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Bridesmaids to obvious stinkers like Sucker Punch. The reason for disappointment isn’t only (or even necessarily) that a film is bad, but that expectations were so high that the film didn’t measure up. In some of these cases, those expectations could even be BECAUSE of the solid reviews a film received, leading to ultimate disappointment. In other cases, expectations based on the director or the quality of an earlier film in the series led to disappointment. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an interesting inclusion here – I would’ve placed it on my list of “Biggest Surprises” rather than “Disappointments” because my expectations of it were fairly low and it was better than I expected. Clearly the opposite was the case for many. Sucker Punch, on the other hand, is a pretty dismal movie according to almost everyone, and following a fairly solid poster and trailer campaign dashed many people’s hopes for an awesome early summer movie. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner (Biggest Loser?) Is…
Those expecting something drastically different from the sequel to The Hangover were quite disappointed and led to its “win” here with 44%, narrowly beating Sucker Punch’s 38%.
Biggest Surprise Film of 2011
Attack the Block
Captain America: The First Avenger
Midnight in Paris
Red State
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Being a huge fan of Kevin Smith, I could notice the subtle incline in terms of Smith’s directing style over the years. Plus after hearing him talk about Red State in countless podcasts, I was for the most part expecting what came. While I have always been mostly moderate on Woody Allen, with the exception of Annie Hall, Midnight in Paris blew me away. Allen tries something completely different for him, making the closest thing we will ever see to an Allen sci-fi film, yet still retained Allen’s signature wit. A brilliant film that truly surprised me. – Ross Bonaime
I have no idea what Captain America is doing here, as that film was exactly as average as I thought it would be. But to each their own. Red State makes its first appearance on the nomination list here, and I think a lot of people wouldn’t have batted an eyelash had it been its sole nomination. This award is probably Rise of the Planet of the Apes‘ to lose. – Emil Ekelund
The opposite of “Biggest Disappointment,” this category basically asks for films that exceeded your expectations. Arguably, these films are not even necessarily “better” than the ones listed under “Biggest Disappointment,” but lower expectations yielded greater pleasure. Attack the Block is the most intriguing selection here, because my expectations were pretty high for this film, almost already looping back into self-conscious expectation-lowering, thanks to the praise heaped on the film by bloggers since SXSW. It couldn’t POSSIBLY be the greatest genre film of the year, could it? But it kind of was. It was truly a case of having high expectations and the film still exceeding them. The best kind of surprise. Captain America was my nomination in this category, because I really didn’t expect to like the film. It turned out to easily be my favorite of just about all the Marvel movies thus far, and definitely the best superhero movie of 2011. Midnight in Paris met but didn’t exceed my expectations – I presume that nomination came from non-Woody Allen fans who found something in him to like this time around. The other two films I haven’t seen, but Red State has certainly split the critics – it has some passionate Flickcharter support, however. Everything I’ve heard about Rise of the Planet of the Apes is solid, though, and I hope to be checking that one out at some point. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
After the mess of a film that was Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes, it seems like expectations were low. So it seems when Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released, viewers were pleasantly surprised, giving the film 47% of the votes, almost two times that of second place, Attack the Block.
Best Underranked Film
Cafe de Flore
The Innkeepers
A Separation
Take Shelter
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Of all the films this year that deserved to reach a wider audience, it is absolutely Take Shelter. The film could have been a crowd pleaser, reminiscent of early Shyamalan, had it received a few more hundred screens. I would say We Need to Talk About Kevin, but it should get a bigger reception throughout 2012. I don’t think anyone who saw Take Shelter has been disappointed and now that it’s on DVD, hopefully it will no longer be underranked. – Ross Bonaime
These are films that have been ranked fewer than 5000 times on Flickchart, so basically these are the underseen gems of the year. A lot of them are very limited release or festival films, and all of them deserve a much wider audience (yes, I’m comfortable saying that even about the one I haven’t seen, A Separation). Cafe de Flore criminally hasn’t gotten a US release yet, despite being a top nominee at Canada’s Genie Awards. Hopefully that will change. The Innkeepers is out now in limited release and on VOD, so if you have access to it, I highly recommend it – one of the most delightful and intense comedy-horror films I’ve ever seen. Director Ti West is doing a great job bringing back horror like this, and he’s definitely one to watch. A Separation has been getting lauded by every critic who sees, with many placing at at the top of their year-end lists. I’m kicking myself daily that I missed every opportunity to see it. Take Shelter has a rather large following in blogging circles – I was a bit surprised that it hadn’t been ranked 5000 times yet, but I guess it has yet to catch on with mainstream audiences. And We Need to Talk About Kevin. Possibly the best film of 2011, but didn’t get a limited release until a few weeks ago – hopefully once it’s out there, more people will discover it. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
With less than 5,000 rankings on Flickchart, but a great following of fans, Take Shelter’s audience voted it to number one, beating out close competition from A Separation and We Need to Talk About Kevin.
Most Anticipated Film of 2012
The Avengers
The Dark Knight Rises
Django Unchained
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Prometheus
This is possibly the most predictable of the nominations, with one glaring exception: Django Unchained. I was amazed by how close the original voting was between all five of these films. I would very surprised if the sequel to the highest ranked film on Flickchart didn’t win, but Tarantino is such a great talent, especially after Inglorious Basterds, it would be nice for him to win. – Ross Bonaime
An expected slate of nominees here. Color me shocked as hell if anything other than The Dark Knight Rises wins. – Emil Ekelund
A fun category with movies about which we know nothing about except marketing and buzz. This is not a surprising list, as these five films are pretty much the biggest movies of next year. The Marvel superhero origin story films finally coalesce into The Avengers, throwing together a diverse set of characters in and hoping they work together – the trailers look very promising. Christopher Nolan closes out his Batman trilogy with The Dark Knight Rises, which I fully expect to top the Flickchart global list by the end of the summer. Quentin Tarantino envisions a Western set in the Old South – okay, Quentin, I’m on board whatever you do. Peter Jackson returns to Middle Earth with the first part of The Hobbit. And Ridley Scott returns to the world of Alien after more than thirty years. Judging by the talent involved and the trailers revealed thus far, 2012 could be one year where the highly anticipated tentpole films actually deliver. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
It’s no surprise that Flickcharters love Christopher Nolan’s view on the Batman franchise, and the voters can’t wait for the third installment, as The Dark Knight Rises wins with 48% of the votes, with The Avengers, Django Unchained and The Hobbit all following behind in teen percentages.
Most Underrated Film
Attack the Block
Melancholia
Red State
Take Shelter
We Need to Talk About Kevin
I think all five of these films deserved more attention than they received and over time and with DVD releases, I hope they all get more credit in the future. Here, I just have to pick my favorite, which is Take Shelter, but I’ll say that Red State may win, since Flickchart voters seemed to like it. – Ross Bonaime
This field of nominees is proof that a word like “underrated” means different things to different people, as save for Red State, all the films here are certainly very beloved by those who have seen them. It’s funny how whenever Take Shelter is nominated for anything, We Need to Talk About Kevin tends to be right there with it. As I’m still unsure what people consider underrated and not, I can’t predict a winner here. – Emil Ekelund
This was a bit of a difficult category to parse – underrated by who? Most of the films nominated here were actually quite highly rated by everyone I know, and the blogging and critical community at large. Red State is the only one that seems like a controversial pick in any way, as there were as many critics hating on it as praising it. I suppose Melancholia could be in that category as well – a good chunk of people were rubbed the wrong way by its stylistics and abrasive characters. The others can only be considered underrated by considering a larger, more mainstream community, and there I feel the problem is not that they’re underrated, but that they’re underseen. Still, the purpose of the category is to call for more attention to these films, and I cannot argue with that goal. I haven’t seen Red State, but the others I will heartily stand behind. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
Attack the Block and Red State both received exactly 25% of the vote, tying their win here, and Take Shelter misses making this a three-way tie by only one vote.
Most Overrated Film
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
The Tree of Life
I have been very vocal in my dislike for The Help, I don’t hate it, but I also don’t believe it to be great by any stretch of the imagination. For the most part, I think these films have received the credit they deserve, The Descendants a bit more, The Tree of Life not enough. I have to go with The Help, since it is essentially a Hallmark film that doesn’t take any chances. – Ross Bonaime
60% overlap with Biggest Disappointment, which I guess means that people thought The Hangover Part II and Sucker Punch were going to be better than The Help and The Tree of Life. Which sounds weird. I’ll be happy if The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo takes this one, but I think The Help or the polarizing The Tree of Life have more detractors. – Emil Ekelund
The flip side of Most Underrated are films that we feel received too much attention, or too much praise. That seems to go hand in hand with the Biggest Disappointment category, and indeed, there is a good deal of overlap with that category. Films can still be good and solid and be overrated, and that’s the case with several of these, I think, as people fell all over themselves to praise the fact that a good female-driven comedy like Bridesmaids got made in the first place, and critics praised yet another solid drama from Alexander Payne, and the American Girl with the Dragon Tattoo got kudos for not being as bad as everyone feared it might be, and The Help got credited with fixing racism (okay, that’s hyperbole, but isn’t that what overrating is?), and The Tree of Life got hailed as the next coming of the cinematic messiah. I admittedly have only seen one of these films (The Tree of Life), and I partake in overrating it, but I definitely understand the backlash that all these films are feeling. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
While most of the films here were beloved by critics, one of the biggest audience favorites, The Help, took the win here with 28%, beating Bridesmaid’s votes by one.
Worst Film of 2011
Faust
Green Lantern
I Am Number Four
Season of the Witch
Sucker Punch
I can’t think of a film filled with more nonsense and ridiculousness that came out in 2011 than Sucker Punch. While Green Lantern, I Am Number Four and Season of the Witch were also bad, none of them really had any potential either. Sucker Punch is what Zack Snyder imagined it looks like inside a fanboy’s mind. Unfortunately for all the flashy images, there is absolutely no substance behind it’s highly false veneer. – Ross Bonaime
Arthouse flick Faust looks so out of place next to the other competitors here. I have heard little praise for Green Lantern, and combined with the large number of people who saw it, this makes it seem a likely winner. From personal experience, I can say that I Am Number Four and Season of the Witch are very worthy nominees, and my vote went to the former. – Emil Ekelund
I have to take blame for Faust even being on this ballot. Sorry, those of you who are like WTF is this Faust movie. It’s a Russian movie by Alexander Sukorov (Russian Ark) about Faust, and it was just about my least favorite movie of the year. I’m a bit torn between it and Sucker Punch as worst (I haven’t seen the other three nominees – I could tell from the trailers I wouldn’t like them), but at least Sucker Punch was fun to laugh at. Faust was just soul-draining, and I expected more from Sokoruv. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner (Biggest Loser?) Is…
While Green Lantern became a whipping boy from critics and Nicolas Cage is almost a joke at this point, Flickcharters voted Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch as the worst film with 34% of the votes.
Best Writing in a 2011 Film
Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love.)
Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter)
Yasmina Reza and Roman Polanski (Carnage)
Kevin Smith (Red State)
Once again, I think Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris is the most remarkable here. Carnage doesn’t deviate much from the original stage play and while the other four are all finely written, Allen really shined this year and wrote what I believe to be his best screenplay since Annie Hall. – Ross Bonaime
A surprising field to many, I suspect, although I fully expected Crazy, Stupid, Love. to get in here. It would make a fine winner, both for bucking the general awards trend of slighting comedies and for actually being a damn fine script. It’s funny, yes, but in a fresh way. So often in big mainstream comedies, you see all the jokes coming from a mile away. Not so with this one. But can it triumph over Woody Allen here? I’m not so sure. – Emil Ekelund
Collapsing both adapted and original screenplays into a single category gives us this set of very solid nominees. The comedy/drama genre seems to give the best fodder for screenplay, as the combination of witty dialogue and meaningful moments makes the writing in those films stand out more to us. Such is the case with Woody Allen’s sparkling meditation on nostalgia, Dan Fogelman’s foray into screwball comedy mixed with drama, and Roman Polanski and Yasmina Reza’s adaptation of Reza’s uproarious play about the self-destruction of two couples. Red State blends Kevin Smith’s signature reliance on sharp dialogue with a horror/action story, while Jeff Nichols’ second film Take Shelter manages to communicate paranoia and family drama together with believability and pathos. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
Woody Allen’s story of a troubled writer won over voters, as did Allen’s screenplay, winning with a whopping 48%, leaving all other nominees behind.
Best Directing in a 2011 Film
Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)
Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)
Kevin Smith (Red State)
Lars Von Trier (Melancholia)
Jean-Pierre Vallee (Cafe de Flore)
Of the four films I’ve seen in this category, they all are pretty outstanding in terms of directing. Even Smith surprises with his newly found directing talent. For me this is between the two most beautifully shot films of the year: Drive and The Tree of Life. I’ll be very surprised if Flickchart favorite Drive doesn’t win, but for utter beauty and complete ambition, I have to go with Malick. – Ross Bonaime
It has been said of Kevin Smith over the year that he’s a great writer but an average director. Yet here he’s nominated for both positions, which is certain to please his fans. Jean-Pierre Vallee is another surprising entry, perhaps telling of highly fractured voting tendencies. Shame Steven Soderbergh couldn’t make it in for his stark and unflinching viral outbreak film Contagion. But no matter. My top pick is Nicolas Winding Refn, and he’s also the safest bet for a win. Flickcharters love Drive. – Emil Ekelund
Usually this category follows the Best Picture nominees pretty closely, but that’s not entirely the case here. These nominees show an appreciation of directors who take chances, who give us something we don’t expect, and who maintain a singular vision for what they want their film to be. These are auteurs, not in the sense that they always make the same film again and again, but in the sense that they made the film they wanted to make, they followed through on their personal vision for it, and in most cases, you can’t imagine anyone else making the film quite the way they did. The Tree of Life is Malick’s most personal and most profound statement on the relationship between the individual and the cosmic. Drive is Refn’s coalescence of his European art film aesthetic with the most American of genres – the muscle car action film, into something both very modern and very retro. Red State is Smith’s subversion of his own directorial tendencies, forging new ground for his career. Melancholia is von Trier’s meditation on depression, the natural flourishing of the dark and destructive tendencies throughout his films. Cafe de Flore is a synthesis of Vallee’s own preoccupation with music and how it echoes and binds throughout generations. Despite the perhaps obvious fact that Vallee was my nomination (and Jonathan’s), and I do think he deserves a mention, I would’ve been just as happy to have seen Lynne Ramsay in here for We Need to Talk About Kevin, which was also a masterful directorial performance. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
No surprise that Flickcharters voted Drive’s director Refn as their best directing with a 54% lead, beating second place The Tree of Life, which received 29% of the vote.
Best Supporting Actress in a 2011 Film
Elle Fanning (Super 8)
Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)
Carey Mulligan (Drive)
Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Kate Winslet (Contagion)
I have a few problems here, albeit interesting choices. Winslet was fine, but not worthy of making the final nominees. Mulligan was much better in Shame, and may have just been nominated for her involvement in the beloved Drive. Spencer was probably my least favorite of any of the performances in The Help. That being said, Elle Fanning in Super 8 was phenomenal, showing talent beyond her years. – Ross Bonaime
3 of my 5 picks in this category made it in (Mulligan, Spencer, and Winslet), and I had Elle Fanning in Lead Actress on my ballot, so I’m very happy with these nominations. Fanning is my favorite here as she was so impressive and really made her character shine through despite being in a CGI-laden summer blockbuster. If she keeps making smart choices, she has future Oscar nominee written all over her. I expect Carey Mulligan to take this one, however. – Emil Ekelund
We have some intriguing choices here, with young Elle Fanning making the cut for her memorable turn in Super 8, Carey Mulligan squeezing in for Drive (though I suspect many critics would give her the edge in Shame; her performance in Drive is far from universally praised), and Kate Winslet being singled out from Contagion‘s ensemble cast. They’re joined by two Oscar favorites, and I’m not sure any of them has the potential to best Octavia Spencer’s lauded performance, even in the Flickchart awards. Of course, I didn’t see The Help, so I can’t vote for her myself. I like the Acting categories because they’re a place to really call out actors that moved us, whether they’re the ones remembered by the Academy at the end of the year or not. Such is the case with Elle Fanning, who impresses me far more than her older sister…I’m looking forward to many more years of great performances by this actress, and she’s no slouch already. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
Super 8’s standout star Elle Fanning barely eked out a victory, as she received 35% of votes, while Carey Mulligan received 33%.
Best Supporting Actor in a 2011 Film
Albert Brooks (Drive)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Ides of March)
Nick Nolte (Warrior)
Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Corey Stoll (Midnight in Paris)
The nominations here have great variety and some surprising. I was very shocked to see that not only had Hoffman made the final cut, but how close Paul Giamatti was, also for The Ides of March. Corey Stoll was a great Hemingway and has mostly been ignored by awards, with the exception of the Independent Spirit Awards, so it’s nice to see him get another nomination. Nolte was great, but not deserving of a win. Once again, I think Brooks is the most likely winner since it was in Drive and the Oscars also snubbed him. But like the Oscars will probably state, I do believe the best nominee here is Plummer, who gives a great performance in a career filled with them. – Ross Bonaime
SO pleased that the other nominators found Corey Stoll as captivating as I did. He stole every scene he was in without blinking an eye. Philip Seymour Hoffman is another worthy nominee here for presenting a character with a set of morals and values that we can all fully read and empathize with. While I wasn’t as big a fan of Albert Brooks as others (Bryan Cranston was the supporting standout in Drive for me), his inclusion here was hardly surprising. Will he win? Probably, because not enough people saw Beginners, I reckon. – Emil Ekelund
Well, we fixed one of the biggest snubs of the Oscars, giving Albert Brooks his much-deserved nomination for his dramatic turn in Drive. In fact, I think our only nominee in common with the Academy here is Christopher Plummer, in a film I haven’t seen but definitely has my attention thanks to the amount of surprised praise it’s gotten all year. Warrior has received a surprising amount of support as well, and that’s reflected in Nolte’s nomination. I haven’t seen The Ides of March, but I’ll vouch that Hoffman is good in everything. Meanwhile, perhaps the most pleasant surprise on this ballot for me was seeing Corey Stoll get recognized for his spot-on Ernest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris. Imitation is an art, but Stoll did more than that, bringing a literary figure to life in front of our eyes. Still, I can’t deny the intense pleasure that Albert Brooks gave me as he alternated from kind to menacing. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
The Oscar snubbed Albert Brooks won best supporting actor here with 43% of the vote for his criminal portrayal in Drive.
Best Actress in a 2011 Film
Jessica Chastain (Take Shelter)
Viola Davis (The Help)
Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)
Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene)
Tilda Swinton (We Need To Talk About Kevin)
One of the strongest categories, each performance here was deserving of a nomination, even though Davis was the only one to receive it. I predict Davis will win, since her film is the most widely seen, and the greatest part of The Help. Dunst and Olsen gave performances that were unexpected, but the always great Swinton gave one of her best in a very understated and dark performance. – Ross Bonaime
I had a bit of trouble filling out this category on my ballot, which tells me I need to see more 2011 films with female leads. The only on of the nominees I’ve seen is Oscar front-runner Viola Davis, whose performance is indeed a strong one. She might well win this one, as I’m not sure how many of the voters have seen the other films here. Swinton or Dunst could take it. – Emil Ekelund
2011 was a very strong year for actresses, as evidenced by the fact that our five nominees overlap the Academy’s five by only one person (Viola Davis), and I think all nine of these women deserve the praise. Jessica Chastain has not one, not two, but at least three or four performances this year that are worthy of recognition; Flickcharters have chosen to nominate her for Take Shelter, which is certainly appropriate. The film belongs to Michael Shannon, but without Chastain’s neverflagging support as his wife, the film wouldn’ve have been the triumph it is. From what I’ve heard, Viola Davis is the glue that holds The Help together, regardless of what you think about the overall film. Kirsten Dunst often turns in laughable performances, but there’s nothing laughable about her performance in Melancholia – proving again that with the right director, she can be great. Elizabeth Olsen burst onto the scene this year with psychological horror film Martha Marcy May Marlene, and her performance turned heads everywhere. And of course, Tilda Swinton, who should be preparing her Oscar speech right now if the Academy knew what they were about, turned in the most mesmerizing, bravest performance of the year in We Need to Talk About Kevin. Five worthy nominees, among a pool of even more worthy actresses. It’s been a good year. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
In another close race, Davis, with her 27% of the votes, beat Dunst’s 25%, and proved that she deserves to lead the Oscar race as well.
Best Actor in a 2011 Film
Michael Fassbender (Shame)
Ryan Gosling (Drive)
Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
Brad Pitt (The Tree of Life)
Michael Shannon (Take Shelter)
This is a quite strong line up of nominations that fixes many of the Oscars’ glaring omissions. I personally think that Gosling and Oldman’s performances are quite similar in style, but I don’t believe either should win. I do think Pitt’s performance in The Tree of Life is far superior to his in Moneyball, and possibly his best performance ever. But I loved Shannon’s performance too much. It is gripping, shocking and heart breaking and deserves to win. – Ross Bonaime
The only place in this award where an actor repeats an Oscar nomination but for a different film, as the nominators were more taken by Brad Pitt’s turn in The Tree of Life than the one in Moneyball – which somewhat unexpectly went without any nominations at all. The other nominations were all fairly expected. I’m disappointed that Joseph Gordon-Levitt didn’t garner enough support for his wonderfully heartfelt performance in 50/50, but what can you do. This should be a knock-out drag-out brawl between Gosling and Fassbender for the win. – Emil Ekelund
A lot of blogger favorites turning up here again, with Michael Fassbender getting his due for Shame (the most demanding of his eight gazillion films this year), Ryan Gosling impressing us with his taciturn Driver, Gary Oldman leading the ensemble cast in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Brad Pitt turning up for his role in The Tree of Life rather than the Academy favorite Moneyball, and Michael Shannon of course blowing our minds in Take Shelter. For once, the pool of actors in 2011 is not as solid as the one for actresses, but these five are the cream of the crop. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
In another win for Drive and another close contest, Gosling wins with his 30% of the votes, beating second place Gary Oldman with 27% and thirds Fassbender with 23%
Best Overall Cast in a 2011 Film
Bridesmaids
Carnage
Contagion
The Ides of March
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
With all five of these films, I feel like what made them important was their phenomenal casting. For me to pick my choice, I must go with the film in which I felt every single performer brought something refreshing, yet the cast as a whole worked brilliantly together. All of these films did this for me, but none more than Bridesmaids, where the entire film is based around how this group gets along. – Ross Bonaime
I would love to see The Ides of March take this one as it had an all-star cast that delivered on all notes, but I wouldn’t dare to hazard a guess on the victor in this category. Anyone could take it. – Emil Ekelund
A category the Oscars should have but don’t, best overall cast asks which ensemble was the strongest in 2011. There were a good many large casts last year, and these are the best of the best. Bridesmaids pulled together many of the best comediennes working today and showed both their funny and serious sides. Carnage had only four cast members, but they work together exactly how an ensemble should. Contagion‘s sprawling set of interconnected stories meant that most of the cast members weren’t on screen at the same time, but it still has one of the most impressive and uniformly flawless casts of the year. The Ides of March blends the older generation with the younger in its tale of behind-the-scenes political backstabbing. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy collects the finest British actors of our time for its complicated espionage plot, all of them impressing in their part of the plot. When it’s difficult to pull out individual members of a cast because everyone is so damn good, that’s a good cast, and that’s what these films have pulled off. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’s cast, which included Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and many others won with a commanding 40%.
2011 Outstanding Achievement in Film
Woody Allen
Jessica Chastain
Michael Fassbender
Ryan Gosling
Kevin Smith
For this category, I like to think of who throughout the year consistently surprised me and steadily impressed me. Woody Allen and Kevin Smith both did great jobs directing and writing their films, but I don’t feel like that was enough to give them the win. Fassbender did a great job in his four films this year, but those films all under whelmed me, with the exception of Jane Eyre. Gosling was also good, but between his two films, nothing too shocking for him. But Jessica Chastain came almost out of nowhere to do a decent job in The Help and her many other films, but most importantly did breathtaking work in Take Shelter and The Tree of Life. Chastain was phenomenal throughout the year and is the sign of a bright new star. – Ross Bonaime
The guidelines for us nominators this category were very loose, which has lead to an interesting slate of nominees featuring omni-present actors and filmmakers who both write and direct. I think voters will respond to quantity of work here and spring for one of the thespians, but whereas Chastain has been in more films than anyone, Gosling and Fassbender had higher profile work. I’m thinking Gosling wins this one. – Emil Ekelund
Whether actors, directors, writers, etc., these individuals have had a hell of a 2011. Woody Allen has essentially made a film every year since the 1970s, but with Midnight in Paris he tapped the public consciousness like never before, with it not only earning his highest box office gross EVER, but making him a household name in a positive way – shrugging off years of less-than-beloved movies and personal scandals as everyone embraced his love letter to Paris. Jessica Chastain has been acting for years, but 2011 will definitely be remembered as the year she made it big, as she had no fewer than five films release, with solid-to-outstanding performances in all of them. She’ll be around for a while, but topping 2011 is going to be hard. Michael Fassbender pulled a similar trick, appearing in four 2011 films and maintaining both indie cred (Shame) and pop culture relevance (X-Men: First Class) while doing so. Ryan Gosling has been an indie favorite for years now, but this year proved he could cross over into both films both mainstream (Crazy, Stupid, Love) and Oscar-baity (The Ides of March). And after a few years of either screen absence or duds, Kevin Smith came back with a film no one expected him to make – an action horror film that if not universally praised, has a lot of staunch supporters and is at least willing to take the risks Smith needed to take at this point in his career. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
And The Winner Is…
The only person to win two awards, Gosling’s role in films like Drive and Crazy, Stupid, Love. beat out Fassbender’s 32% with his.
Best Picture of 2011
Drive
The Ides of March
Melancholia
Midnight in Paris
Take Shelter
While this category is pretty solid, I must say I am surprised and kind of disappointed that The Ides of March made it onto these nominations. I think the film is only okay, and while there is great acting all around, the film gets pretty ridiculous near its second half and is hardly believable. While I would love for Take Shelter to win, Drive is the favorite film of Flickcharters this year and I would be surprised to see the voting not reflect that. I would also like to state, that it may seem from my reactions that I didn’t love Drive. On the contrary, I loved Drive. But in the nominations, I do think there are better nominees in each. – Ross Bonaime
Only two of the nominees here – Drive and Midnight in Paris – are in the top 20 of Flickchart’s global top 20 of the year, which should tell you that we nominators perhaps aren’t an entirely accurate representation of Flickchart as a whole. The Ides of March is a pleasant surprise here. I figured it would get lost in the shuffle somehow, but maybe it turned out to be a consensus pick, a film that most people found to be pretty good even if it may not have appeared at the top of anyone’s ballot. Or maybe we nominators really love it. Either way, this one’s a no-brainer. Drive tops the 2011 chart on Flickchart and is beloved by most. It’s also my personal pick, so this story of the Flickchart Awards will have a happy ending. – Emil Ekelund
I have to say, this seems like a very unusual list of Best Picture nominees to me. Some of them are expected, especially in the wake of Oscar snubs – Drive and Take Shelter are definite blogger favorites. Midnight in Paris has gathered a lot of support all year, and remains high on a lot of lists. Melancholia has gotten more mixed reaction, but those who support it are passionate. I am surprised by The Ides of March, though – the response I’ve seen on it has been tepid at best, but I suppose it had enough support to squeeze in there. Almost entirely absent are Oscar Best Picture nominees – whether that’s a reaction against the Academy or not, I wouldn’t guess, but yeah. This is an interesting list that definitely represents a lot of the best 2011 had to offer, but leaves off almost as much as well. I guess with only five nominees in a pretty solid year of filmmaking, that’s bound to happen. – Jandy Stone Hardesty
The Winner of the 1st Annual Flickcharters’ Choice Award for Best Picture Is:
The highest ranked film of 2011 and the biggest winner at the awards so far also has one of the most overwhelming victories, with 56% of the vote, with second place Midnight in Paris at only 18%.
So there you have it! Those are your winners for the 1st Annual Flickcharters’ Choice Awards! Until next year, keep ranking for 2012 and get your nominations in for next year!
Drive and Take Shelter getting a little bit of love this year. Much appreciated fellow Flickchart voters.