There are all kind of awards for movies, but none for the most memorable lines. Screw that. This may be one award that actually means something. I can't think of The Godfather without hearing, "I made him an offer he can't refuse." Movies that suck can also have lines that stick. The 2003 Bruce Willis clunker Tears of the Sun stays with me only for the moment when Navy SEAL Willis turns to his men like John Wayne reborn and says, "cowboy the fuck up."

So let's put the movies of 2007 to the test. What are the lines you'll never forget? Vote for the ones below or pick your own. I want names, and I want to rank them. Game on.

"I drink you milkshake—I drink it up!" —[Daniel Day-Lewis to Paul Dano in There Will Be Blood

"Call it, friendo." —Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men

"I am Shiva, the god death." —Tom Wilkinson going wacko on George Clooney in Michael Clayton

"Nobody has gotten a handjob in cargo pants since Nam." —Jonah Hill in Superbad

"If any of us gets laid tonight it's because of Eric Bana in Munich" —Seth Rogen on the Jewish self image in Knocked Up

"I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into." —Ellen Page in Juno

(to a crucifix) "How does it feel?" —Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in* I'm Not There*

It had to happen. Suddenly the little movie everyone loved is the juggernaut everyone loathes. The Internet is full of talkbackers claiming they'll slit their wrists if Juno beats No Country for Old Men or There Will Be Blood for the Best Picture Oscar. Why the sudden switch? Juno has commited the cardinal sin for a small movie—it's making money. Having passed the $100 million mark at the box office and showing no signs of slowing down, Juno is—in the words of Robert Duvall in Network—"a big, fat, big-titted hit." And since Juno has far outgrossed the other four Best Picture nominees, a question is raised: What does it profit a movie to become a household word if it loses its indie cred? Here are few comments overheard around the Rolling Stone office—react, please, honest to blog:

—Could Ellen Page be more affected? Her Juno doesn't sound like a teenager. She's a one-liner machine like the thirtyish screenwriter Diablo Cody, the ex stripper and phone-sex operator. After a while you notice all the people in the movie start to sound just like her.

—I like Kimya Dawson of Moldy Peaches, but her songs are glued to this movie like cutesy wallpaper.

—This movie sends the wrong message to teen girls about pregnancy: No problem, girl, just kick it old school and Jennifer Garner will take your baby, your parents will support you, and your boyfriend will still think you're hot. Yeah, right.

(more...)

In Billy Madison, Adam Sandler always thought of Tuesday as "nudie magazine day." But on this blog, Tuesday means new DVD releases—if there's bare flesh, so much the better. Read on to learn what movies get our vote and which misbegotten piece of Hollywood crap earns the Leper's Bell for being so godawful you want to shout, "Unclean! Unclean!"

Top Pick: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Who would have guessed that a documentary about gamers obsessed with scoring a world record at Donkey Kong would not only be roaringly funny but serve as a metaphor for the decline of Western civilization? Using Billy Mitchell’s need to stay champ and Steve Wiebe’s need to beat him, director Seth Gordon deftly manages to show how age, marriage, fatherhood and so-called ethical thinking will not stop man’s need to go to war, no matter how stupid the reason. Bonus features are also terrific, and the fact that Oscar snubbed this baby in the Best Documentary category proves its worth. The film's honesty has been questioned. South Park teases the hell out of the movie in episode 1109, entitled "More Crap." Hollywood is planning to make it as a feature. I vote for Johnny Depp as Mitchell and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Wiebe.

(more...)

Cloverfield, the jumbo hit last week, dropped nearly seventy percent in its second frame. Ouch! So much for the second coming of horror—the digital version. Those of you who felt I slapped you in the face by saying there were problems with this reimagining of 9/11 as a monster flick can at least admit that now I have company. The biggest shame for Cloverfield is coming in behind the lousy Meet the Spartans, the enfeebled Rambo and—yikes—the chick flick 27 Dresses.

Did you watch the Screen Actors Guild awards last night? OK, if you didn't. Two TV hours provided about ten minutes of interest. But it might be the only awards show we see if the writers' strike plods on. The single surprise was Ruby Dee winning Best Supporting Actress for American Gangster when the odds favored Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in I'm Not There or Amy Ryan as a crack whore mom in Gone Baby Gone. Please, Cate was incredible. Best moment was There Will Be Blood winner Daniel Day Lewis ("I'll drink your milkshake—I'll drink it up!") dedicating his Best Actor trophy to Heath Ledger. His words about Ledger's monumental performance in a small role in Monster's Ball were well chosen and heartfelt. The rest was business as usual, but way duller. I never thought I'd miss the Golden Globes.

(more...)

The cast of Hamlet 2

Based on what I've seen at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and breaking all the rules and categories set up by the Festival poobahs, I humbly offer the following prizes:

FOR DRAMA: BALLAST

The grand jury consisting of directors Quentin Tarantino and Mary Harron and actors Marcia Gay Harden, Diego Luna and Sandra Oh went with Frozen River, a worthy film that tackles serious issues including illegal immigration. The audience voted for fun by picking The Wackness, about a teenaged dealer (Josh Peck) who pays his shrink (Ben Kingsley) for therapy in weed. But the one indisputably great film at Sundance '08 is Ballast, a striking debut for writer-director Lance Hammer about a black family coming apart on the Mississippi Delta. Yes, Hammer is a tall, skinny white dude, but his poetic and profound movie transcends categories and announces the arrival of a major new filmmaker. Runners-up: Sugar— writer-directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden place a baseball recruit from the Dominican Republic in the middle of Huckabee Iowa and speak volumes about the America Way. Momma's Man —a California husband and father moves back in with mom and dad in New York as writer-director Azazel Jacobs examines grave issues with laughs that stick in the throat.

FOR COMEDY: HAMLET 2

Sundance doesn't have a category for laughs. But watch the priceless Steve Coogan try to teach drama to high school kids in Arizona and the laughs don't stop coming. Director Andrew Fleming does wonders with a fine cast that includes Catherine Keener, Melonie Diaz and Elisabeth Shue,who's hilarious playing herself. Hamlet 2, which sequelizes and musicalizes the Bard wth such songs as, "Rock Me, Sexy Jesus" and "Raped in the Face," sold for a whopping $10 million—this year's record. It's worth the tariff. Giggles can also be had at The Wackness, The Deal and Choke, but Hamlet 2 is comedy heaven.

(more...)

Actresses Misty Upham and Melissa Leo from the film 'Frozen River'

So here are the offical awards given Saturday night for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

See the next entry for Sundance Awards: Mine

You don't think I'd really agree with experts do you?

2008 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AWARDS

Frozen River, King of Ping Pong, Man on Wire and Trouble the Water

Earn Top Jury Prizes;

Audience Favorites Feature Captain Abu Raed, Fields of Fuel, Man on Wire and The Wackness

Park City, UT–The jury and audience award-winners of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival were announced tonight at the Festival’s closing Awards Ceremony hosted by William H. Macy in Park City, Utah. Films receiving jury awards were selected from the four feature-length Documentary and Dramatic competition categories by distinguished jurors. Films in these categories were also eligible for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival Audience Awards as selected by Film Festival audiences. Highlights from the Awards Ceremony can be seen on the Sundance Channel, the Official Television Network of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, beginning Sunday, January 27 as well as on the Festival website, www.sundance.org/festival.

(more...)

After today at Sundance, it's all over except the awards. Walking in the snow toward the shuttle bus that will will ferry me and other Sundancers to various screenings, thoughts of the better movies I've seen keep coming into my head.

--That moment in Azazel Jacobs' Momma's Man —an extraordinary movie in every way that was stupidly left out of the dramatic competition to make room for, what, The Mysteries of Shitsburg?—when the protagonist decides not to rejoin his wife and child in California but to move in with his parents in New York in the apartment where he grew up.

--The emotinal bond between Melissa Leo, as an abandoned wife, and Misty Upham, as a Mohawk woman estranged from her tribe in upstate New York, as they run lilegal immigrants across the border in Courtney Hunt's touching and vital Frozen River.

--The sheer beauty of the California wine country in Randall Miller's Bottle Shock, with Alan Rickman giving a deliciously wicked performance as Steven Spurrier, the Brit who put Napa Valley wines on the map in 1976 by arranging a blind tasting of French and California wines and creating a revolution that is still being felt after Napa takes down the French.

(more...)

Just in case you missed it, be sure to check out Rolling Stone's collection of photos of the many musicians attending this year's Sundance Film Festival, from the men of U2 to Dave Matthews to Diddy. For the full gallery, click here.

[Photo: Getty]

In the current issue of Rolling Stone, Peter Travers interviews iconic film director Sidney Lumet about the breadth of his career, from 1957's 12 Angry Men to last year's excellent Before the Devil Knows Your Dead. Click on the video above to take a look at Travers' thoughts on some of his favorite Lumet titles, including Dog Day Afternoon and Network.

Look for Sugar to pick up award love on Saturday when the Sundance Film Festival hands out its merit badges. Among the other fifteen contenders in the dramatic competition, only Lance Hammer's Ballast and Courtney Hunt's Frozen River have the creative juice to make it a race. Sugar, written and directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden—the team who gave us the formidable Half Nelson in 2006 with an Oscar nominated performance by Ryan Gosling—practically defines what independent cinema is. Miguel Santos, nicknamed Sugar, and played with disarming naturalness by Algenis Perez Soto, has only one thing to lift him out of the poverty of his life in the Dominican Republic—his pitching arm. Chosen by scouts for the minor leagues, Sugar—who barely speaks English—is sent to Iowa to train and to learn about America first-hand. His lessons involve curve balls, sexual twists, racial rivalry and the underside of winning. I won't say more since the movie brims over with surprises. But Sugar is immensely satisfying in the way it drives a stake into the heart of the cliches that send most baseball movies to the benches. If they can stay this trenchant and uncompromisd, Fleck and Boden are good news indeed for the future of movies. *Sugar * lights up the landscape of film. It's a triumph that doesn't just belong at Sundance, it rocks it.