Horror at the Oscars 3: The Spawning
After the Academy’s attempt at honoring genre during the live show, we saw a real tribute to horror by someone who is truly one of our own. Bob Murawski thanked Sam Raimi for giving him his “first cutting job” in Army of Darkness. His Best Editing award for Hurt Locker was shared by his partner Chris Innis, whom he met on the Raimi produced TV show “American Gothic.”
I gotta say, never since Peter Jackson’s (who was nominated this year for District 9) thank you to the crew of Meet the Feebles has there been such an excellent genre shout out.
On top of working with Raimi for over a decade, Murawski also runs Grindhouse Releasing, which distributes and restores cult and horror films with a focus on extreme Italian cinema. Pieces, The Beyond, Cannibal Holocaust, and I Drink Your Blood are just a few names you’ll find in Grindhouse Releasing’s catalogue. His previous venture, Box Office Spectaculars, started the trend with some of the same titles, but on laserdisc.
The biggest wins, Best Director and Best Picture, went to Kathryn Bigelow. A lot of fanfare has come her way as the first woman to win in the director’s category. I don’t see gender. I see the director of Near Dark and Strange Days. I see someone who unapologetically picks projects that jump on top of the bar and slit your throat with their spur. Her ex-husband, genre great James Cameron, watched as she took home awards in several categories in which he was also nominated. Cameras even caught him mouth the words, “Yes, yes!” We are proud of her win and hope to see her take on more genre projects. (The New York Times posted an excellent article on Bigelow.)
This, my friends and ghouls, is the last part of 2010’s Horror at the Oscars.
“I hate it when they ain’t been shaved.”
Please note this is NOT going to be an all-inclusive list of every genre project these stars have worked on. Just some highlights. Feel free to add your own memories of them in our comments section below.
- Achievement in Film Editing
WINNER:
The Hurt Locker
Bob Murawski: Drag Me to Hell, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, The Gift, Night of the Scarecrow, Army of Darkness, “American Gothic,” Freaked, Uncle Sam — Team William Lusting and Larry Cohen united to make this comedy/horror flick, (misc. genre: Street Asylum — because Wings Hauser and Brion James are in it, Darkman, AND Mom and Dad Save the World. (Plus he cut all of the Spider-Man films for Raimi)
Chris Innis: “American Gothic,” Crocodile (Tobe Hopper helmed), Octopus 2: River of Fear, Octopus, Spiders, The Gift (misc. genre: The Boy with the X-Ray Eye)
NOMINEE HORROR CRED:
Avatar
Stephen Rivkin: (misc. genre: Outbreak, Fire in the Sky)
John Refoua: “Dark Angel” (misc. genre: “Twin Peaks”)
James Cameron: Aliens, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (misc. genre: “Dark Angel,” “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Strange Days, The Terminator, The Abyss, Xenogenesis)
District 9
Julian Clarke: Severed, Canadian Zombie, Celluloid Horror, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money
Inglourious Basterds
Sally Menke: Deathproof, Grindhouse, Nightwatch
- Best Foreign Language Film
NOMINEE HORROR CRED:
Un Prophète — France
Jacques Audiard: Baxter, Baby Blood
The White Ribbon — Germany
Michael Haneke: Funny Games (original + remake)
- Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
WINNER:
Crazy Heart
Jeff Bridges: The Vanishing, King Kong (misc. genre: Starman, The Last Unicorn, TRON)
NOMINEE HORROR CRED:
Up the Air
George Clooney: From Dusk Till Dawn, Return of the Killer Tomatoes!, Return to Horror High
A Single Man
Colin Firth: Dorian Gray, Apartment Zero
Invictus
Morgan Freeman: Se7en, Dreamcatcher (misc. genre: War of the Worlds (remake), “The Twilight Zone,” “The Electric Company” as Count Dracula) Let this be a lesson: You can star in Dreamcatcher and still be nominated for an Academy Award.
The Hurt Locker
Jeremy Renner: 28 Weeks Later, Dahmer (playing Jeffrey Dahmer!), “Angel”
- Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
WINNER:
The Blind Side
Sandra Bullock: The Vanishing (misc. genre: Demolition Man, Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman)
NOMINEE HORROR CRED:
The Last Station
Helen Mirren: “Thriller” (misc genre: “The Twilight Zone,” The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 2010, Excalibur, The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu — listed because of my family’s obsession with it)
An Education
Carey Mulligan: (misc. genre: “Doctor Who”)
Julie & Julia
Meryl Streep: Death Becomes Her
- Achievement in Directing
WINNER:
The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow: Near Dark (misc. genre: Strange Days)
NOMINEE HORROR CRED:
Avatar
James Cameron: Aliens, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (misc. genre: “Dark Angel,” “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Strange Days, The Terminator, The Abyss, Xenogenesis) Oh, and this music video:
Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino: Diary of the Dead, Planet Terror, Death Proof, Grindhouse, From Dusk Till Dawn, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter, Curdled, Hostel: Part II
- Best Motion Picture of the Year
WINNER:
The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow: Near Dark (misc. genre: Strange Days)
NOMINEE HORROR CRED:
Avatar
James Cameron: Aliens, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (misc. genre: “Dark Angel,” “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Strange Days, The Terminator, The Abyss, Xenogenesis)
Jon Landau: (misc. genre: Solaris and Making Mr. Right (?!)
The Blind Side
Gil Netter: Brain Donors (huh?)
Andrew A. Kosove: (misc. genre: The Book of Eli)
Broderick Johnson: (misc. genre: The Book of Eli)
District 9
Peter Jackson: King Kong, The Frighteners, Braindead, Heavenly Creatures, Meet the Feebles, Bad Taste (misc. genre: all of those Lord of the Rings movies)
Carolynne Cunningham: King Kong, Heavenly Creatures (misc. genre: all of those Lord of the Rings movies)
An Education
Amanda Posey: An Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
Inglourious Basterds
Lawrence Bender: From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, From Dusk Till Dawn, Intruder, “Tales from the Darkside,” Cameron’s Closet
A Serious Man
Joel Coen: The Evil Dead, Hear No Evil (misc. genre: Blood Simple)
Ethan Coen: (misc. genre: Blood Simple)
Up in the Air
Ivan Reitman: Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters, Rabid, Shivers, Cannibal Girls, Death Weekend (misc. genre: Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Heavy Metal, Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia, plus, the greastest film of all time: Animal House
Jason Reitman: Ghostbusters II
– Heather Buckley
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