Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Kudos to the good people of the Chlotrudis Society. No, it’s not a charity dedicated to eradicating the scourge of chlotrudis, but a growing band of cinephiles dedicated to asserting the value of independence and artistry in cinema.For the past 14 years they have put on an awards ceremony to counter the Oscars, and this year their show (which they kindly invited me to participate in), which took place last Sunday on the lush stage of the Brattle Theatre,  clearly outclassed the Academy’s effort both as an entertaining event (their one witty musical number was ten times more fun than any of the three tunes from “Enchanted”) and as a demonstration of discerning taste and critical judgment.

A few examples:

Best Actress: Kate Dickey for “Red Road”

Best Documentary: “Protagonist”

Best Buried Treasure: “12:08 East of Bucharest”

Best Movie: “Once” 

And here I’ve been thinking I was the only one who saw those movies.

The Chlotrudians also distinguish themselves for their uncanny knack for bestowing their “Career So Far” award on talents just on the cusp of a major career  breakthrough. Who had ever heard of Ellen Page before she got her Trudy a few years back? And this year she’s been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for “Juno” (not that an Oscar is any better than a Trudy, mind you). Similarly,  Canadian writer/director/actor Don McKellar picked up his trophy last year and now “Blindness”, for which McKellar adapted the screenplay from the Jose Saramago novel and in which he stars, looks like it will be one of the major Oscar contenders to be released this fall.

So what will the future hold for this year’s winner, Canadian (what’s the deal with Chlotrudis and the Canadians anyway?) actress Alberta Watson, hardly a household name now but memorable from her performances in  David O. Russell’s “Spanking the Monkey,” Atom Egoyan’s “The Sweet Hereafter” and this year  in Sarah Polley’s (winner of the Trudy for Best Adapted Screenplay) “Away from Her”? We should keep an eye on her two upcoming 2008 releases, Sandra Nettleback’s “Helen” and Michael Melski’s “Growing Up.”

4/1/2008 2:25:21 PM by Peter | Comments [0] |