Another Round of Awards

Two more prizes go out today, to unsuspecting winners! Well, I guess you know by now if you're to expect a prize, but I'm doing the delivery guerrilla style! So, nobody knows when they'll get one or where it will show up. I've got a few ideas for the next round of contests, but they will have to wait until I dig myself out of this financial hole I'm in. The current round of prize winners are getting a sneak peek at the new GP site design in addition to assorted goodies. Ugh...got to go do work things now...

And So It Began...

The first set of prize packages were delivered today for Gummi Award winners! Two medium bag prizes were awarded and one large bag prize. The packages contain a completely random assortment of items and vary completely from one another (aside from the wrapping). The only stipulation is that all large bag prizes contain a DVD movie. So, winners, I hope you're pleased with your packages. Feel free to leave a comment about what you liked, what you didn't like, or submit pictures!!

The next set of prizes will go out next week! Happy Mother's Day!!

Let's Hear It For The Girls

It's about time to heat things up again here at GP. Gummi Awards prizes will go out this week and I'm feeling the itch to start some new reviews! But, I want to take a moment to see who's still with us out there. So, a fun little question to get everyone playing along:

What is your favorite "girl power" movie?

I'm not talking about "chick flicks" here; I want titles with a little kick-butt. For example, movies like Teeth or Enough. Guys, don't be afraid to answer this one too. We all know tough girls know how to turn the fellas' heads.

My personal favorite? It's Tarantino's Death Proof. It could be because it was filmed (partially, at least) in Austin, TX, it could be because it features badass muscle cars, and it could even be that Zoe Bell is my new idol. Whatever the reason, if you haven't seen it yet, you should!

Now I want to hear from you (in the comments section)! Tell me the title of your favorite "girl power" flick and why you like it!

Good Lord, Is It Over Yet?

That's it. This is the end. I can't wait anymore!! Hasn't it been ages since The Gummi Awards began? To quote one of the most loathsome comic strips ever, "Good Grief!" Well, I've had it! Prizes for 14 out of the 15 winners will go out starting May 1st. If it ever happens that I get my hands on a copy of Drop Dead Fred, there will be massive celebration and I shall finally complete The Awards announcements. I may just have to break down and buy the damn movie. But, since I've just moved and am completely broke, that'll have to wait too.

Next week, I will be doing some house-sitting for a relative and won't have much to do besides watch and review movies. So - we may finally get the ball rolling around here again!!

News!

Warner Bros. has announced that it will begin a "burn-to-order" program for many of their films that have not been released on DVD. Here's a link to the news article with some details. You can see Warner's list of archive titles here.

In other news, GP is about to move again, which should be a semi-permanent location. As soon as we're all settled in, things around the site should get rolling again. We would dearly love to finish up the Gummi Award announcements, but there's one hurdle left before that can happen. You see, it's been virtually impossible for us to get ahold of a copy of Drop Dead Fred! Searches at Blockbuster and Hollywood Video have come up short and Netflix refuses to ship it for some reason. It's in our queue, but it never mails out. If you think you can help, or if you have a copy we can borrow, please leave your info in the comments - they will not be published.

Thanks!

Academy Awards Report 2009

Believe it or not, Gummi Popcorn has not died. It's only been lurking in the shadows for a bit. Due to a massive upheaval of lifestyle and relocations and other drama, it's been rudely shoved to the back burner until the dust settles (which will hopefully be soon!). Rest assured though, new blood will eventually return to inflate the oh-so-critical veins of this here website and the sarcasm and snark will fly once again. So, just to prove we haven't been sleeping (and in case you have been), here's the GP recap of last night's award ceremony.

This year, our host was Hugh Jackman. While it's always difficult not to drool like a maniac when Hugh is in sight, I did feel a little embarrassed for him. It seems that someone at The Academy thought it would be cute to have Wolverhottie prance around and do a few musical numbers. I guess it's a case of Hollywood being jealous of Jackman's time on Broadway. It's not that the man is a terrible singer, but the numbers were poorly planned and even more badly choreographed. Is this The Academy Awards or Saturday Night Live? Have a little class for chrissakes. Even poor Hugh looked like he was thinking of shooting his agent.

Despite a loud, rude and obnoxious crowd at the Oscar party I went to, I miraculously managed to hear snippets of who won what and which hot little hands golden statues went into. Sadly, I haven't managed to get to the theater for most of the nominees this year and Slumdog was at the top of my "must see" list, along with The Wrestler. Predictably, Slumdog Millionaire swept the scene - much like it did at the Golden Globes - and walked away with a total of eight awards (Best Picture, Directing, Music (song & score), Editing, Sound Mixing, Cinematography, and Adapted Screenplay). I love to see small foreign films win big in general. It shows that the industry has an appreciation for culture. What I don't love, is hearing "Thank you, come again" every time someone with an Indian accent stepped up to the podium. That joke was old, I dunno, at least 10 years ago. The same racist jackasses making that comment last night were spreading rumors that Bollywood was moving to Detroit, or some such nonsense. I can't even begin to tell you what's wrong with that statement.

Equally as predictable as the winner of Best Picture, was the winner of Best Supporting Actor; Heath Ledger. While I don't mean to belittle the man's acting skills, it seems that the quickest way to an Academy Award these days is through the grave. Movies like The Dark Knight almost never make it to the awards, just because of the genre. Ledger was great as The Joker, but had he still been alive, there's no way he would have the Oscar for it. The award for Best Actor was achieved by Sean Penn for his role in Milk. His acceptance speech was, by far, the best one of the night. He managed to touch on the gay rights issue, Barak Obama, and get his point across without being long-winded or preachy. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I agreed with everything he said.

The winner for Best Supporting Actress was Penelope Cruz for her role in Vicky Christina Barcelona, which I haven't seen and have no idea if she deserves. Her speech was tearful and heartfelt and it always chokes me up when the award winners seem sincere. I will have to add VCB to my list of must sees. Best Actress in a Leading Role went to Kate Winslet for The Reader. The actress was nearly hyperventilating and who can blame her?

For both the Actor and Actress in a Supporting Role, winners from years past appeared on stage to introduce this year's nominees. It was a nice touch. Two of these presenters were Brodie and DeNiro - two of my ultimate faves!

Of course, one can't discuss The Academy Awards without discussing fashion to some extent. The guys always look the same. It's just suit after suit after suit year after year. I'd love for one actor to wear a kilt or an outfit in any other color than black. I'd settle for charcoal grey even! Snore. The ladies are who everyone focuses on anyhow. What was with the alarming trend of wearing one's drapes as a gown? Jessica Biel had perhaps the most hideous display of this disturbing fashion, but Mary Hart, Heidi Klum, Tilda Swinton and a handful of no-name girlfriends pitched in to. My personal favorite, as far as classy gowns go, was Kate Winslet's dress. It was original, but not tacky.

So, despite being intensely irritated by the company I had during the ceremony, the awards went smoothly. There weren't any horribly flubbed lines, political incorrectness and scandalous wardrobe malfunctions. I went home sober and popped The Fountain into my DVD player, just to get some more Hugh Jackman in before bedtime.

Gummi Award Results: Most Offensive Example of Animal Testing/Cruelty

Category number nine ("number nine, number nine") in the Gummi Awards was for the movie that displayed the most offensive scenes of animal torture, abuse and otherwise cruel behavior. My original thought was that the 1971 film The Andromeda Strain, with its writhing rat and monkey test subjects, was a solid candidate for the prize. The nominations sent in from our readers were:

Atonement
Cannibal Holocaust
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

I assume that Carrie's nomination for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was a joke (right, Carrie?). The horse shooting scene in Atonement was unpleasant, of course, but not more than momentary and the creatures do not suffer long. The movie Cannibal Holocaust warns the viewer no less than three times at the outset that it contains scenes of extreme violence and that no editing was performed for the sake of protecting the creators' first amendment rights. "While the production company does not condone such actions, blah blah blah." Several animals in the movie are severely mutilated and tortured to death. It's real and it's sickening. So, the winner of this category's award goes to Carrie for Cannibal Holocaust. I can only hope the people who made this film are all long gone from this Earth.

Gummi Awards Results: Most Abrupt and/or Confusing Ending

The fifteenth category open to Gummi Award nominations was the one for Most Abrupt and/or Confusing ending. A couple of fantastic films were on the list, making this the most worthwhile category from our perspective. However, out of the three, we didn't find any of them to have a particularly baffling conclusion. American Gangster was solid piece of work by Ridley Scott. Maybe the friendship at the end was unexpected? Gone Baby Gone was also a decent flick. It conjures up some moral dilemma, but isn't remarkably truncated. Maybe what's mind-boggling is that Ben Affleck can actually direct? The only iffy resolution to be found among the three plot lines was the one in Premonition. It's a natural pitfall of stories dealing with time travel or precognition - the paradox. If so-and-so sees the future, does said future become inevitable or flexible? Premonition, even though it's not the best made film ever, wraps itself around the paradox rather well. But, out of the three, we decided that Anastocia's nomination was the most suited to this category. Congrats Anastocia! You win for Premonition!

Gummi Awards Results: Best Geek Sidekick

Now, it's time to announce the winner of the third category of The Gummi Awards - Best Geek Sidekick. The three nominations were True Lies, Van Helsing and National Treasure. While I'd originally imagined Bleeker (played by Michael Cera) from Juno as a pretty good geeky sidekick, I realize now that he didn't exactly qualify. The label "geek", after all, implies some specialized knowledge of electronics or gadgets or, at the very least, specialized knowledge of some subject above and beyond the normal level. I totally [heart] geeky guys!! To my great joy, someone out there found a fantastic example of geekery in Justin Bartha's portrayal of geek sidekick Riley Poole in National Treasure. That someone, and winner of the large bag prize, is Thanh! Thanks for giving me a new boyfriend (if only in my perverted fantasies).

Gummi Awards Results: Dumbest Blonde

The fourth category in The Gummi Awards is for the Dumbest Blonde in a film. Now, despite all the platinum in Hollywood, this category ended up with no more than two nominations. This award wasn't waiting around for a pre-concieved winner to appear either. So, no large bag prize was waiting in the wings this time. It's interesting that the woman nominated as the dumbest blonde in Best In Show (Jennifer Coolidge) also plays a supporting role in the other nomination, Legally Blonde. Although the seemingly obvious choice for this category would be the latter, we have to realize that Reese Witherspoon's character gets into Harvard law school completely under her own steam. She doesn't have her rich daddy buy her way in, she doesn't offer up a B.J. to the dean and she doesn't fake her credentials. Considering that gaining admission to said institution isn't something most women accomplish (blonde or otherwise), we can hardly consider Elle Wood "dumb". So, the winner in this category is Carrie for Best in Show (even though there's an even dumber blonde than Coolidge in the movie)!

Gummi Awards Results: Most Creative Ending Credit Sequence

I always appreciate when movie makers take into consideration how boring the average individual finds the white-on-black scroll of the ending credits. Instead, it too can be used as another creative outlet, adding a special element to leave the audience with as they saunter out of the theater. Jackie Chan, for example, uses the end credits as a chance to show his famous outtakes. When creating this category, I did have one specific film in mind. By far, the most thoroughly entertaining end credits I've seen come at the conclusion of A Series of Unfortunate Events, animated by Jamie Caliri. Given the choice between the two nominees (Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Monsters, Inc.), however, the hands-down winner is Kris with Monsters, Inc. (watch)! Congrats Kris!

Gummi Award Results: Most Inappropriate Musical Sequence

Skipping to number fourteen, there were two and only two nominations for Most Inappropriate Musical Sequence - This category wasn't one that I'd previously held a favorite for. It was suggested by a friend of mine and, considering how awkward I usually find musical numbers, I thought it would be an excellent category. Out of the two, I have to choose the one that was most out of place - Richard's selection; Almost Famous. While I loathed the majority of the singing in Sweeney Todd, it was expected to hear everyone break out in song.

Gummi Award Results: Most Accurate Book-To-Movie Adaptation

Half of the winners have been announced so far and Christmas is creeping ever closer. The thirteenth in the series of Gummi Awards will go to the movie with the Most Accurate Book-To-Movie Adaptation. This category required GP not only to view movies, but also to read the written works they were based on. Thank God nobody nominated Crime and Punishment!! There have to be hundreds of movies based on books or short stories. Only three of them made their way to this category's nomination list. The nominees were:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas
The Mist
Perfume

There was the possibility, this time, of winning a large bag prize and if anyone had guessed Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, they would have won it. Terry Gilliam did such a wonderful job of translating Hunter S. Thompson's book for the screen that it's possible to read along with the film! Dialog is word-for-word. However, Patrick Suskind wrote a novel about a man who's olfactory sense was much more acute than his sense of compassion; his sense of humanity. Tom Tykwer had the task of creating a visual sense of smell. Not an easy task, to be sure. The director pulls off this feat, however, and made a very clever film out of Perfume. So, it's Carrie as the winner of the medium bag prize for her nomination. Congrats Carrie!!

Gummi Award Results: Most Crazy-Cool Carpet Design

Now for Gummi Award number 10, for the Most Crazy-Cool Carpet Design! We were beginning to get nervous, thinking that nobody else notices the carpets in movies. Are we strange? There was absolutely, definitely a certain film flooring in mind when this category was created. Did anyone guess? The nominees were:

Beetle Juice
The Devil's Advocate
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Shining

The movie that we were thinking of was....(drum roll)......Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas!! When you're tripping hard in the City of Sin, geometric squiggly patterns are horribly distracting. So, there was no large bag winner this round. However, there is a winner for the medium bag and that winner is.......Michelle for The Shining!! Congrats!!!

Gummi Award Results: Best Scene Involving Food

Number eight in The Gummi Awards, the category for Best Scene Involving Food, garnered only two nominations. Perhaps having human flesh removed from the menu ruined everyone's appetite for competition? There are a number of fantastic films that involve eating and many that focus entirely on the subject, such as Tampopo, Like Water for Chocolate and Ratatouille. Then there are A Christmas Story, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and American Pie that have memorable edibles. However, choosing between the two nominees, I must lean to the more visually appealing of the two films and choose Carrie's nomination - Pan's Labyrinth (a.k.a. El Laberinto del fauno)- for the medium bag prize.

Gummi Award Results: Most Awkward Moment

Category number seven of The Gummi Awards was the movie with the Most Awkward Moment. This one was originally intended to glorify the film with the most uncomfortable scene for the characters, rather than the viewer. However, upon closer inspection of the posted description, it appears that intention isn't immediately clear. Our bad. Here's what made our readers squirm:

History of Violence
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Slums of Beverly Hills

Personally, I find "69" to be horribly uncomfortable, but my personal life isn't the issue here! The medium bag prize for the best nomination in the Most Awkward Moment category goes to Michelle for Slums of Beverly Hills!! Yay Michelle!!! There's hardly a moment more embarrassing than being surprised by your dad while dancing to Give Up the Funk and swinging a giant vibrator around.

Gummi Award Results: Best Gratuitous Display of Abdominal Muscles

The sixth pit stop in a race around the world was...oops....I mean the sixth category in the 2008 Gummi Awards was Best Gratuitous Display of Abdominal Muscles. The five nominees in this oh-so-fun-to-judge category were:

Two for the Money
300
Top Gun
Thelma & Louise
Into the Blue

I have to nod my head at all of the nominees. All had acceptable tummy action. However, when considering drool-factor and the sheer number of glistening abs on display, one stands above all others. The winner of the medium bag prize is Rochelle with 300!

Gummi Award Results: Best Use of Dialog In a Single Scene

The fifth category (yes, I realize this isn't in order) of The 2008 Gummi Awards was Best Use of Dialog in a Single Scene. This was the only category that closed early, mainly because of the great turnout when it came to nominations. Best Dialog was definitely the most popular category. There were so many fantastic nominations, but none of them hit the mark for my personal favorite. For exceptional character banter, I would have accepted any Quentin Tarantino film for the large bag prize. The man has a way with words. As it was though, I had a very difficult time picking out a single deserving winner. The monologues from The Libertine and V for Vendetta were well crafted. I especially enjoyed the scene in V when the main character introduced himself, using virtually every V word in the dictionary. There was one nomination, however, that holds a special place in my heart (and is truly a dialog). For the medium bag prize in this category, the winner is Carrie with The Princess Bride!

Congrats Carrie!!

Gummi Award Results: Most Nauseating Vomit Scene

Today's prize will be awarded to the individual who made the best nomination in the Most Nauseating Vomit Scene category. Just two nominations made their way to Gummi Popcorn for this one. Beerfest, sadly, was disqualified because there was no vomit scene to be found in the actual film. GP could find nothing nauseating in the special features either. None of the readers out there managed to guess the film we had in mind when creating this category. Curious? The Most Nauseating Vomit Scene that we recall ever seeing is the endless pool of puppet barf in Team America: World Police. (are you slapping your foreheads now?) Watch, if you dare. So the winner of the medium bag prize by default (not that it wasn't a good suggestion anyway) is Michelle with The Exorcist!