The YERXA awards

Ever since I was 11 years old I have put out an annual Top Ten list. Who sees the list? Well of course the millions upon millions of Roger Eberts in my dreams.

Anyborderlineautisitc, on top of releasing my annual top ten lists, I also include the winners of the annual YERXA awards for Best Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Power Bottom*. These awards are highly coveted, extremely influential in Hollywood circles, and mean absolutely nothing to nobody. Without further ado:

THE WINNERS OF THE YERXA AWARDS (and granted the award winners when I was 11-17 may be suspect)

Best Picture

1994 Forrest Gump
1995 Babe
1996 Sling Blade
1997 Titanic
1998 Shakespeare in Love
1999 Being John Malkovich
2000 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2001 Memento
2002 Bowling for Columbine
2003 Kill Bill vol. 1
2004 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2005 Crash
2006 Children of Men
2007 Michael Clayton


Best Actor

1994 Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump

1995 Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking

1996 Billy Bob Thorton in Sling Blade

1997 Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets

1998 Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful

1999 Kevin Spacey in American Beauty

2000 Tom Hanks in CastAway

2001 John Cameron Mitchell in Hedwig and the Angry Inch

2002 Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt

2003 Sean Penn in 21 Grams

2004 Paul Giamatti in Sideways

2005 Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain

2006 Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson

2007 Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood


Best Actress

1994 Winona Ryder in Little Women

1995 Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking

1996 Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves and Courtney Love in The People vs. Larry Flynt

1997 Helen Hunt in As Good As it Gets

1998 Jane Horrocks in Little Voice

1999 Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry

2000 Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich

2001 Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive

2002 Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven

2003 Naomi Watts in 21 Grams

2004 Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2005 Felicity Huffman in Transamerica

2006 Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada

2007 Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose


Best Supporting Actor

1994 Gary Sinise in Forrest Gump

1995 James Cromwell in Babe

1996 Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire

1997 Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting

1998 Geoffrey Rush in Shakespeare in Love

1999 John Malkovich in Being John Malkovich

2000 Albert Finney in Erin Brockovich

2001 Ian McKellan in Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship

2002 Chris Cooper in Adaptation

2003 Benecio Del Toro in 21 Grams

2004 David Carradine in Kill Bill vol. 2

2005 Matt Dillon in Crash

2006 Stanley Tucci in The Devil Wears Prada

2007 Robert Downey Jr. in Zodiac


Best Supporting Actress

1994 Robin Wright in Forrest Gump

1995 Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite

1996 Juliette Binoche in The English Patient

1997 Joan Cusack in In and Out

1998 Joan Allen in Pleasantville

1999 Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich

2000 Zhang Ziyi in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

2001 Gwyneth Paltrow in The Royal Tenenbaums

2002 Toni Collette in About a Boy

2003 Patricia Clarkson in Pieces of April

2004 Natalie Portman in Closer

2005 Amy Adams in Junebug

2006 Adrianna Barrazza in Babel

2007 Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone


*Power Bottom award does not exist.

The Curious Case of this Oscar Race.

So what’s going to win Best Picture? Who will be left in the dust? Will Kate Winslet win two Oscars or be a non-nominee?

We are in the very early stages of the Oscar race. This year is unusual because only industry insiders have seen the big films such as Doubt, Revolutionary Road, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Reader. Last year at this time four of the five eventual Oscar nominees for Best Picture (No Country for Old Men, Juno, Atonement, and Michael Clayton) had already premiered at TIFF, Venice, or Cannes. This year we have only had Slumdog Millionaire and The Dark Knight unspool on us, so it really is quite difficult to determine which will be big and which will turn into Oscar turkeys.

The next couple of weeks will be key as the first three critic awards will be revealed as will The Golden Globe nominations and critics top ten lists. Will Revolutionary Road be this year’s frontrunner? Will Meryl Streep score nom #15 and win #3? Who will get pushed out of the very crowded Best Actor and Actress races? Could Heath Ledger win a posthumous Oscar?

It’s so fun to speculate and take total stabs in the dark. Right now anything is possible but within days we will have a clearer picture. However, until then here are my most recent predictions:

Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Revolutionary Road
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
The Dark Knight
Best Actor

Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Leonardo Dicaprio in Revolutionary Road
Sean Penn in Milk
Best Actress

Meryl Streep in Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas in I've Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road
Cate Blanchett in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
Best Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin in Milk
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt
Ralph Fiennes in The Reader
Best Supporting Actress

Kate Winslet in The Reader
Teraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis in Doubt
Debra Winger in Rachel Getting Married