On The Edge Awards

ON THE EDGE AWARDS 2014: Winners

All of our writers have gotten together to compile a list of our nominees for our “Anti- Academy Awards” take a look below and see who our winners are.

BEST PICTURE

This film was chosen by our writers simply because of it’s innate sense of quality over quantity. A majestically shot, acted and scored movie about life on the down and out. Isaacs, Mulligan, Timberlake, Hedlund and that old chestnut John Goodman make sure that Inside Llewyn Davis becomes one of the strongest additions to The Coen’s cannon to- date. It’s a brief glimpse into a person’s life that says so much whilst showing so little. Utter perfection.

Nominees:

Upstream Color

Inside Llewyn Davis

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

Mud

The Place Beyond the Pines

Gravity

Gimme the Loot

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE

Oscar Isaacs really stole the show in The Coen Brother’s beautifully subtle take on the 1960’s folk scene. His acting and musical performances have announced him as a big new talent on the acting scene. More regularly a supporting character it feels like the time is now right for Isaacs to take his place among the acting elite.

Nominees:

Casey Affleck- Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

Tye Sheridan- Mud

Dane DeHaan- The Place Beyond the Pines

Oscar Isaacs- Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE

Greta Gerwig gets the nod here for putting in a hilariously unique and at times melancholy performance as the dis-functional Frances. In the film she helped pen Gerwig gives us a character who appears to cover her life’s misdirection with an air of naivety. At times funny and at times sad Frances captivated us with her tale of trying to stay young whilst facing the overwhelming tidal wave of responsibility and adult life.

Nominees:

Rooney Mara- Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

Amy Seimetz- Upstream Color

Greta Gerwig- Frances Ha

Tashina Washington- Gimme the Loot

Carey Mulligan- Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST MALE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Now we didn’t quite agree that Dallas Buyers Club was McConaughey’s best performance this year. In fact Jeff Nichol’s Mud is probably one of the most sickening omissions from this year’s Oscars. McConaughey here depicts the mystical Mud a sort of back waters shaman who gives guidance to two young men who are on the verge of life changing events. McConaughey’s renaissance is now in full swing and 2013 is the year he finally emerged as one of the great acting talent’s of his generation.

Nominees:

Ryan Gosling- The Place Beyond the Pines

Matthew McConaughey- Mud

Johnny Depp- The Lone Ranger

Ben Foster- Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

John Goodman- Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST FEMALE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Now don’t get too confused, yes Sandy B. is the lead in Gravity but the way we see it she really plays as support to the movies visual effects. Her performance really does need some recognition though for being quite a deviation from her previous roles, we are worlds away Miss Congeniality here. Gravity’s success cannot be matched (just look at last night’s results at The Oscars) and we needed to recognise that here. In quite a tough category she shines above the rest for putting in a physically demanding performance as Ryan Stone a woman who would put Bear Grylls to shame.

Nominees:

Reese Witherspoon- Mud

Sandra Bullock- Gravity

Amy Adams- American Hustle

BEST ANIMATED FILM

It’s safe to say Despicable Me is the first animated kid’s movie to spawn a cult. Although largely focused around criminal mastermind Gru the success of this franchise rests solely on the little yellow shoulders of The Minions. Despicable Me 2 gets the nod for being not just the best kids movie of the last year but for being a sequel that improves upon its original. A fine achievement indeed.

Nominees:

Despicable Me 2

Wreck-it Ralph

From Up on Poppy Hill

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Gravity as a visual spectacle was pure and simply phenomenal. It is probably the greatest use of the IMAX medium to have been brought to screen. Lubezki wins our prize for being able to transport us into space from the comfort of our own homes and cinemas, a terrifying visual piece of cinema that never feels unrealistic or staged.

Nominees:

Emmanuel Lubezki- Gravity

Bruno Delbonnel- Inside Llewyn Davis

Sam Levy- Frances Ha

BEST DIRECTOR

Although his film Upstream Color didn’t pick up Best Picture (it came a narrow second) Shane Carruth deserves the prize of Best Director for sticking to his creative guns this year. The cult- indie director refuses to work with big studios who will seek to dictate the way in which he tells stories. Upstream Color is a baffling and staggering piece of cinema. Carruth controls every facet of his productions from principal photography right up to the soundtrack (that he penned himself). He also struck an outrageous set of individual distribution deals only showing his film in certain hand picked art- houses and releasing it on NetFlix shortly after its box office debut. In terms of the meaning of the word auteur Shane Carruth is the exact embodiment of that.

Nominees:

Shane Carruth- Upstream Color

David Lowery- Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

Jeff Nichols- Mud

Derek Cianfrance- The Place Beyond the Pines

Adam Leon- Gimme the Loot

Ethan & Joel Coen- Inside Llewyn Davis

Alfonso Cuarón- Gravity

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Black Fish is a dark look into the running of the Sea World parks in the U.S.A and in particular how they capture and care for Orca Whales. The documentary is a massive eye opener, especially when you begin to delve into the neuroscience of Orcas you begin to see just how horrendous it is that we keep these animals in captivity. The film has gone beyond entertainment and has kick started a campaign to shut down the way in which Sea World and other parks use Orcas for performances. You’ll realise just how much you care about killer whales after watching this… you really will.

Nominees:

Black Fish

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Inside Llewyn Davis is only strengthened by its beautiful score. Heavily featuring the voice of Isaacs and the other members of the cast this album is a lovely collective of tracks and folk ditties that inspired and drive the story The Coens tell here.

Nominees:

Shane Carruth- Upstream Color

T. Bone Burnett, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen- Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST BRITISH FILM

Director Clio Barnard’s second feauture is a stark and honest portrayal of broken- Britain. The film follows Arbor and his friend Swifty who after getting excluded from school set out to make a career as scrap men. They soon however get embroiled in a dangerous criminal world and begin to take further risks with their own safety to provide for their impoverished families. Barnard here gives us a film that is heart- breaking and thought provoking whilst also giving a very real insight about what it’s like to live in poverty in Britain today and for that and that alone it is the sole nominee and winner in this category.

Winner:

The Selfish Giant