The Academy of Leah.

Hello fair readers!

It’s that time again. The Oscars are upon us and as usual for this time of year, I realize how many great movies I have yet to see.

This is also that time of year when we realize how very wrong past Academy Awards have been

So very very wrong.

But regardless, they sometimes do get it right

Thank goodness.

But really that’s not what this post is entirely about. This is my version of the Academy. A small, rather insignificant one. But still, my awards for the best of film stuff are as follows:

Best Film of the Year

Paprika

Words barely describe how overlooked and amazing this Satoshi Kon movie is. Creative. Moving. Beautiful. Just hands down and overall my complete favorite film of the year. Plus, what the hell Academy? How come animation is never in the film of the year catagory? Ever? Ugh. Check it out:

Best Animated Film of the Year

So of course I’m starting out with my two favorite categories. Would you expect any less? And btw, this one is an insanely difficult decision. It really comes down to two films. Persepolis and Ratatouille. But since I can reuse Persepolis in another catagory (I know, I’m such a cheater) my favorite animated film this year was Ratatouille.

Ratatouille was clever, endearing, and hilarious. It was adorable and cute without being cheesey (please…excuse the rat/cheese pun..it’s unavoidable). And frankly…after catastrophes like this

I was genuinely concerned about the fate of Pixar. Thankfully they have not fallen into the realm of total crap. Thank you film gods.

Best Foreign Film

And here is my cheating cheater ways of sneaking in, yes that’s right…count ‘em, three animated films into my best of 2007 list.

Words can hardly describe my joy when I heard that one of my favorite graphic novels was being turned into a movie. And it’s a truly amazing film. Unique animation that I have never seen the likes of and just as striking as the books. I was so pleased.

Best Director

This is another tough one…but for various reasons and some obvious ones…I’m going with Wes Anderson.

The soundtrack alone is enough to throw him into this category. But the film, overall, is one of his best. It was, as usual, poignant without being completely pretentious. Quirky without being annoying. And visually stunning.

Best Actor

Two words. Cillian Murphy.

Ridiculously beautiful. Fantastic actor. And when you pair him with Director Danny Boyle? Well amazing things happen. Murphy was such a commanding presence in Sunshine. So well played.

Best Actress

So I’m was a bit torn on this one…like many of these other categories. But really the one actress who comes to mind is Julie Delpy in her self-directed film 2 Days in Paris. She is a brilliant actress and made a film that was enjoyable without running into the realms of self-indulgent. She managed to balance both direction and acting…something that certain actor/directors (ahem) have a very difficult time managing.

Now I could probably keep going but for the sake of time, I’m just going to end this here. Overall 2007 was not a shabby year for film at all.

Enjoy the weekend, fair readers, and have a lovely time watching the Oscars.