THE 1st BURT AWARDS
Anyways, here are the winners in all categories, the Burt Awards:
BEST PICTURE
12 Years a Slave
Why: It is touching, the acting is phenomenal. Brutal at times, tends to shock, but at the same time beautifully depicts the suffering that the characters experienced. It's masterfully executed, I must say it is by far one of the best movies in the past years. "Her" was a strong contender, as it is nothing we have ever seen before, but it didn't strike me with the spectacularly visible art of filmmaking seen in "12 Years a Slave".
BEST DIRECTOR
Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
Why: All the directors did something amazing this year. Even those, that I didn't mention like David O. Russel, J.C. Chandor, Spike Jonze. All of them, something different. Cuaron created something out of absolute nothing, Scorsese depicted a somewhat saddening story in a satyrical almost grotesque way. And McQueen, as he taught us to expect from him, masterfully brought suffering to the screen and beyond it into the audience. I decided to award him, as his job as a director, gave the most direct value to his film, the story is moving, yes, but the art, which the Brit is known for, lifted the film to such a level that we can call it the best of the year.
BEST ACTOR
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
Why: This was a really difficult one. I almost gave it to DiCaprio, as his funny and tragic character is surely the best role of his career. His talent shines and the role is just pleasure to watch. Ejiofor however, and his role, is not pleasant to watch at all. His character has lost everything, and is seemingly the most negatively thinking one of the bunch. Yet in Ejiofor's act we can spot traces of that hope that he claims to have, that it will never go away. His performance was extremely touching, and as I mentioned before, it reminds me of the excellent Oscar winning performance of Adrien Brody in "The Pianist".
BEST ACTRESS
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Why: This was very tricky because, of course Cate Blanchett was superb in her role, and has won practically everything for it. Streep was also fantastic, and so were Thompson and Bullock. But I decided to rewards Dench, because her performance is so unusual, in such a heartwarming way. It is subtle, and those are rarely recognized. I smiled every time she had a line in her movie, because she makes your life a happier one with what she does on screen. She, in my opinion, is the actress this year who managed the best to completely disappear into her character.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Why: He is simply fantastic. It's something interesting, a difficult character, an intriguing one. He carries it out with great excellence, and I just have to tip my hat to that.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)
Why: There were a lot of great performances, by newcomers Margot Robbie, Lupita Nyong'o, veteran June Squibb and the marvelous Oprah Winfrey. They all deserve praise. At some point I almost decided to award Robbie, because she so magically becomes the Duchess of Bay Ridge, with her adopted Brooklyn accent. Then Nyong'o with her, suffering filled, Patsey. In the end I decided to go with Roberts, because it is something totally unexpected, she plays a character that seems so powerful, but in the end she makes you realize that the anger that toughens her character, actually makes her weak and vulnerable. She is amazing showing the fear of becoming her mother (Meryl Streep; and I guess that Roberts is the only one who fears becoming Meryl Streep). And such a negative, bad character, that we would never expect from Roberts.
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
August: Osage County
Why: The whole movie is run by the cast. They are the ones who make it all work. It is essentially theatre on screen. Each of them is different and each of them falls into the perfect place with their nuanced and intriguing performances.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Her (Spike Jonze)
Why: Like I said, it's nothing like we've ever seen before. It's a completely new idea, and such a bright story to go with it. It's something magnificently original.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
12 Years a Slave (John Rodley)
Why: It's an excellently written film, that works with the direction, and makes the whole movie a great one.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
All Is Lost (Alex Ebert)
Why: It may be subtle and sometimes you can't hear it but the fact is that it is perfect in every way. And it is something completely new, composed in a way, that I at least, listened to it with great fascination.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Why: It was an extremely difficult decision, because there was also the excellent Inside Llewyn Davis photography by Bruno Delbonnel, but I decided to go with the, maybe, little populist choice, but I just couldn't resist. It is spectacular and beautiful. Maybe big help from the visual artists, but I just couldn't ignore it.
BEST POSTER OF THE YEAR
Gravity
Why: It perfectly depicts the loneliness that is the main theme of the film.
BEST SURPRISE
Brie Larson (Short Term 12)
Why: She became the crowd's favorite after her amazing breakthrough performance in Short Term 12. She felt amazingly perfect and we all, I think, admire her already, and believe that a great and awards winning actress will come out of that.
BEST QUOTE
The Wolf of Wall Street (Leonardo CiCaprio) - " Those little bastards were so strong that I discovered a whole new phase. The cerebral palsy phase".
Why: It just stays in your mind, it's something that will be quoted. It's funny and kind of tragic, like the whole movie. The Benihana quote was also great, but it was too much of an inside joke.
BEST SCENE
The Wolf of Wall Street (Leonardo DiCaprio) - The cerebral palsy phase scene.
Why: It is so amazing, with almost no words coming from the actor in screen, it's such a hilarious scene. With all the details working perfectly, the whole journey to the car, performed by DiCaprio, with many excellent surprises from Scorsese, it's just fantastic.
Thank you, these were the winners, see you soon with some predictions after tonight's BAFTAs! See you,
Burt Mizaki
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