by Steve Kochems
Hey kids, it’s that moment you’ve all been waiting for… (no not Christmas, that was weeks ago) at the bottom of this post is the first winner of the Kamo and Kochems Best Film Award! But before we get to that, I’d just like to give a quick tid-bit as to why I think each film has a shot at being the best of the year.
The Fighter
While it’s not an entirely fresh story (very few sports ones are), the cast drives this one. The quiet and tolerant Mickey, a confident and cock-sure crack addicted Dicky, and the hard-shelled Bostonian of a bartender Charlene are what keep this film fresh and interesting till the final punch.
Inception
The concept alone is so original and inventive that it stands out further than any film in the last decade. In an era where 80% of Hollywood films are sequels/prequels, remakes, or from a previous source text, Inception is a landmark of creativity.
Toy Story 3
Aesthetics alone can drive this film I’ve never felt so strongly involved in a narrative like I did in this film. Many will say it’s got the unfair advantage of two previous films to build it up, I would also argue that it’s got those two films to live up to, and Pixar manages to shatter the expectations that seem to go up for them every year.
Black Swan
An intense exploration into a young girl becoming a woman, Darren Aronofsky dazzles us with a dark and sexually violent film that has numerous thematic threads working beneath such a simple plot (not an easy thing to do with a ballet movie).
True Grit
In a genre that has been so explored in cinema, only the Coen’s could come out with something as good as True Grit. While it’s the simplest of the two brother’s films to date, it’s probably the best-rounded movie of the year and will only get better with more viewings.Now, before we announce the winner, I’d like to take the time to thank our eight critics who helped vote- Mike and I cannot say enough about how much we appreciate your input. Below you can see the votes for the Best Film category we received last week- we feel it’s worth noting how broad they were and that really shows just how diverse our critics were. Again, we thank you.
Received Six Votes:
Toy Story 3
Received Five Votes:
True Grit
The Fighter
Inception
Received Four Votes:
Black Swan
Received Three Votes:
(none)
Received Two Votes:
Despicable Me
The Town
How to Train Your Dragon
Shutter Island
Received One Vote:
127 Hours
Kick Ass
Repo Men
Tangled
The Expendables
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Machete
The Kids are Alright
Red
The Tillman Story
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Burlesque
So, with these things aside, we’ve punched our esteemed voters grades into our high tech calculating machine and we’ve got our winner. It’s interesting to note though that all five of these films received an average score of 88 or above and were within 5 points of each other. In fact, the winning margin was 0.05 points!
The winner of the Kamo and Kochems 2010 Best Film Award is…
True Grit
All in all, I think True Grit won because the Coen Brothers can write a script and shoot a movie unlike anyone else in the world. It had an all-star cast and such likable characters who all still must pay the price to prove themselves, to prove their grit. It’s also the film that will hold up to repeat viewings the best of the five films in the finals. I’ve already saved a spot on my shelf for the DVD case and am proud that our first Best Film Award went to this film (though I’m hoping next year is much easier!).
Here’s to 2010 and bring in 2011!
