Hello and welcome to the 2013 Grand Owen Awards! It's been an eventful year- literally some things have happened, and during which time, a large number of films have come out. The registered Owen voters comprise of a panel of the utmost experts Britain has to offer, and by which I mean one bloke whose opinion very few people care about. Which is funny, because more people watched last years' ceremony, in which Danish drama A Royal Affair scooped the big prize, than the Oscars, BAFTAs and Golden Globes put together. So, for the hundreds and thousands around the world, it is worth noting that all results are done purely on UK release dates, meaning that films such as Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty, which were up for the last 'Awards season' are eligible, whilst the likes of 12 Years a Slave and Her are not. This is very much reflected in the nominations.
This year, Edgar Wright's surprisingly deeply thematic sci-fi comedy The World's End scooped the most nominations, a record seven. The sheer delight that is Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha follows behind with a stand-out five nominations. There are no 'technical awards' here, and gone are the Razzie clones (Bruce Willis and his performances in A Good Day To Die Hard, GI Joe 2 and RED 2 can be relieved), replaced instead by another acting award- The best performance in a bad film. It's the sign of a great actor when you can shine in a pile of rubbish, perhaps more impressive than the performances put in by most stars up for the 'bigger' awards. This, after all, is a celebration of cinema in all it's glory, and it's about time we got that celebration under way...
