The 2025 Covie Awards

The Covie Awards are as bogus as climate change is real. They were created during the pandemic to recognize cinematic achievement in an ever-shifting variety of categories. If there were actual awards to hand out, and anybody cared who they got handed out to, the Movie Buzzard would recognize the following:

Picture: "Eddington" (2025)

Actress: Fernanda Torres in "I'm Still Here" (2024)

Actor: Jesse Plemmons in "Begonia" (2025)

Supporting Actress: Shirley Henderson in "I Really Hate My Job" (2007)

Supporting Actor: Bob Burrus in "Tully" (2003)

Cameo: Hugh Grant in "Glass Onion" (2022)

Ensemble: "Paris" (2008)

Couple: Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart in "American Ultra" (2015)

Juvenile Performance: Giulia Salerno in "Misunderstood" (2014)

Revival: "Dogma" (1999)

Foreign Language Film: "Nouvelle Vague" (2025)

Documentary: "The American Revolution" (2025)

Short Film: "Return To Glennascaul" (1952)

Director: Ryan Coogler, "Sinners" (2025)

Cinematography: David Chambille, "Nouvelle Vague" (2025)

Musical Score: Mica Levy, "The Zone of Interest" (2024)

Production Design: "Frankenstein" (2025)

Best Villain: Juliette Lewis in "The Thicket" (2024)

Best Mad Scene: Sally Hawkins in "Bring Her Back" (2025)

Better With Age: Jenny Agutter in "Sometimes Always Never" (2018)

Final Bow: Jane Birkin in "Jane By Charlotte" (2021)

Title Sequence: "American Ultra" (2015)

Poster Art: "The Astounding She-Monster" (1957)

Sound: "Overlord" (1975)

Why Closeups Were Invented: Tilda Swinton in "The Room Next Door" (2024)

Best Performance By an Actress Playing Herself: Robin Wright in "The Congress" (2013)

Best Performance By an Actress With a Shaved Head: Emma Stone in "Bugonia" (2025)

Best Charlton Heston Performance By an Actor Who's Not Charlton Heston: Barry Sullivan in "Planet of the Vampires" (1965)

Chewing the Scenery: Charles Laughton in "Devil and the Deep" (1932)

Maynard G. Krebs Award For Beatnik Slang: The cats at the club in "The Love Statue" (1965)

Most Eye-Catching Nude Scene: Julianne Nicholson in "Flannel Pajamas" (2006)

Most Discreet Nude Scene: Claudette Colbert in "Four Frightened People" (1934)

Least Inhibited Nude Couple: Raquel Karro and Rodrigo Bolzan in "Pendular" (2017)

How To Stuff a Wild Bikini: "Raquel Welch in "Fathom" (1967)

Most Evil Juvenile Performance: Earl Rhodes in "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea" (1976)

American Tobacco Institute Award For Achievement In Smoking: Adrien Brody in "The Brutalist"(2024)

Speed Racing: "Grand Prix" (1966)

Gender Bent: "Jacky In the Kingdom of Women" (2014)

Dead Birds and Time Loops: "Triangle" (2009)

Stuck: Zeb Haradon and Robin Ballard in "Elevator Movie" (2004)

Missing a Few Teeth: Chris Cooper in "Adaptation" (2002)

Lying Down On the Job: Sandra Bernhard in "The Third Date" (2003)

Over the Top and Around the Bend: Amy Madigan in "Weapons" (2025)

Still Crazy After All These Years: Bill Lee in "Spaceman" (2006)

Best Movie To Watch Stoned (Maybe): "Else" (2024)

Hundreds of Pies: "The Battle of the Century" (1927)

There Goes Chicago: "A House of Dynamite" (2025)

All Thumbs: Uma Thurman in "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" (1993)

Best Pole-Dancing: Olivia Graves in "Hundreds of Beavers" (2022)

Wickedest Lipstick: Jessica Chastain in "Salomé" (2013)

Best Name For an Actress In a Low-Budget Nudie Flick: Tiffany Tickles in "I Was a Teenage Strangler" (1997)

Weirdest Nicolas Cage Movie: "Color Out of Space" (2019)

Mind the Age Gap: Joan Crawford and Ty Hardin in "Berserk" (1967)

Shoot the Dog: "What Just Happened" (2008)

Herman Scobie Award For Career Achievement: 

John Waters

The 2024 Covie Awards

 

The Covie Awards are as bogus as climate change is real. They were created during the pandemic to honor cinematic achievement in an ever-shifting variety of categories. If there were actual awards to hand out, and anybody cared who they got handed out to, the Movie Buzzard would recognize the following:

Picture: "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" (2024)

Actor: Ralph Fiennes in "Conclave" (2024

Actress: Leonie Benesch in "Teacher's Lounge" (2023)

Supporting Actor: Ed Harris in "Love Lies Bleeding" (2024)

Supporting Actress: Isabella Rossellini in "La Chimera" (2023) and "Conclave" (2024)

Ensemble: "Sing Sing" (2023)

Cameo: Dwight Frye in "Sinners In Paradise" (1938)

Couple: Line Renaud and Dany Boon in "Driving Madeleine" (2022)

Juvenile Performance: Helena Zengel in "News of the World" (2020)

Short Film: "Incident By a Bank" (2010)

Revival: "Time of the Heathen" (1961)

Director: Steve McQueen. "Blitz" (2024)

Musical Score: Armando Ortega Jr. and Mel Elias, 

"Murder At Yellowstone City" (2022)

Set Design: "Bad Times At the El Royale" (2018)

Costume Design: "Times Square" (1980)

Title Sequence: "Strait-Jacket" (1964)

Blood and Bikinis: "Bikini Bloodbath" (2006)

Worst Haircut: Christian Friedel in "The Zone of Interest" (2024)

Best Villain: Colin Farrell in "The North Water" (2021)

Best Mad Scene: Jennifer Jason Leigh in "Kill Your Darlings" (2013)

Heads or Tails: "The Seventh Coin" (1993)

Life Is a Carnival: "She Freak" (1967)

Flipping the Switch: "High Maintenance" (2006)

Going Electric: Timothée Chalomet as Bob Dylan 

in "A Complete Unknown" (2024)

Looking Lost: Derek Jacobi in "Gladiator II" (2024)

Made In Milwaukee: "Lake Michigan Monster" (2018)

Ambition, Glitz and Chaos: "Megalopolis" (2024)

On and Off the Wagon: Saoirse Ronan in "The Outrun" (2024)

Disappearing Act: Adrien Brody in "Giallo" (2009)

Canadian, Eh?: Donald Sutherland in "Alien Thunder" (1974)

Once Upon a Time In Mexico: "They Came To Cordura" (1959)

Wickedest Lipstick: Courtney Love in "Beat" (2000)

Out With a Bang: Don McKellar in "The Event" (2003)

You Mean There's Really a Movie With a Title Like That?: "Jesus Christ: Serial Rapist" (2004)

Fly That Flag: "Alam" (2022)

MASH Before "M*A*S*H": "Battle Circus" (1953)

Dance Performance: Emma Stone in "Kinds of Kindness" (2024)

War Is Hell: "Merrill's Marauders: (1962)

That Face Looks Familiar: Strother Martin in "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950)

It's Not Easy Being Green: Cynthia Erivo in "Wicked" (2024)

Waiting For a Miracle: Sylvie Testud in "Lourdes" (2009)

Hell Is a Middle School: "Teacher's Lounge" (2023)

How To Dress For a Day In the Jungle: The Amazons 

in "Gold of the Amazon Women" (2010)

Lost In Paris: Omar Sy in  "Samba" (2014)

Chewing the Scenery: Anne Bancroft in "'Night, Mother" (1986)

Dancing For Dollars: The cast of "Dancing At the Blue Iguana" (2000)

On the Road: "Gasoline Rainbow" (2023)

Best Frank Sinatra Impression: Jeff Bridges in "Starman" (1984)

He Had To Start Somewhere: Paul Newman in "Ice From Space" (1952)

The West Was Never Like This: "Lucky Luke" (2009)

Most Eye-Catching Nude Scene: Marion Cotillard in "Ismael's Ghosts" (2017)

Most Discreet Nude Scene: Julia Swayne Gordon 

in "Lady Godiva" (1911)

Most Colorful Nude Scene: Dulcamara in "Yellow & Blue" (2022)

Nudes In Wartime: "Mrs. Henderson Presents" (2005)

Most Unconventional Nude Couple: Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley in " The Substance" (2024)

Worst Casting: Robert Evans as a matador in "The Sun Also Rises" (1957)

Best Animal Performance: Balto the dog in "The Rodeo" (1929)

Best Title For a Film Noir: "Kiss the Blood Off My Hands" (1948)

Best Performance In a Lost Cause: Linnea Quigley in "Spring Break Massacre" (2008)

Best Performance By an Actor Playing a Character Pretending To Be Buster Keaton: Zachary Mooren in "MaXXXine" (2024)

Best Performance By an Actress Playing a Woman Turning Into a Horse: Simone Bucio in "Piaffe" (2022)

Best Movie To Watch Stoned: "The 400 Tricks of the Devil" (1906)

Weirdest Nicolas Cage Movie: "Longlegs" (2024)

Cutest Drag Performance: Marion Davies in "Beverly of Graustark" (1926)

Lost Generation: "The Moderns" (1988)

Dog Days: "Away To Me" (2012)

Done Too Soon: Robert Williams in "Platinum Blonde" (1931)

How To Be a Diva: Isabelle Huppert in "The Crime Is Mine" (2023)

The Kids Are All Right: "Empire Records" (1995)

Herman Scobie Award For Career Achievement: Karen Allen

The 2023 Covie Awards

 

    The Covie Awards were created three years ago to 

    recognize cinematic achievement in various categories 

    during the pandemic. Since then, the virus hasn't 

    entirely gone away, and it looks like the Covies, with 

    ever-evolving variants, will be sticking around, too.

Picture: "The Quiet Girl" (2022)

Director: Emerald Fennell, "Saltburn" (2023)

Actress: Emma Stone in "Poor Things" (2023)

Actor: Barry Keoghan in "Saltburn" (2023)

Supporting Actress: America Ferrera in "Barbie" (2023)

Supporting Actor: Dominic Sessa in "The Holdovers" (2023)

Cameo: Hanna Schygulla in "The Mystery of Henri Pick" (2019) and "Poor Things" (2023)

Ensemble: "That Championship Season" (1982)

Couple: Dale Dickey and Wes Studi in "A Love Song" (2022)

Juvenile Performance: Lola Campbell in "Scrapper" (2023)

Foreign Language Film: "Fallen Leaves" (2023)

Short Film: "Time Traveling Through Time" (2022)

Better With Age: Judy Davis in "Mystery Road" (2018)

Cinematography: Lloyd Ahern  II, "Dead For a Dollar" (2022)

Musical Score: Jeff Grace, "In a Valley of Violence" (2016)

Production Design: "Poor things" (2023)

Title Sequence: "The Lost King" (2023)

Best Title For an Exploitation Movie: "Schoolgirls In Chains" (1973)

Best Musical Performance: "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind" (2019)

Best Use of a Kinks Song: "LOLA" (2022)

Beat Mad Scene: Iwona Petry in "Szamanka" (1996)

Best Argument For Sequels: "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" (2023)

Beat the Devil: "The Pope's Exorcist" (2023)

Top Hat & Tails: Mary Pickford in "Kiki" (1931)

Back To the Future: "A Time of Roses" (1969)

The World Turned Pink: "Barbie" (2023)

Gone With the Wind: "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948)

Wake of the Flood: "Noah's Ark" (1928)

Play Ball: "It Happens Every Spring" (1949)

Blood and Bikinis: "Slaughter Island" (2008)

Once Upon a Time In the West: "Dead For a Dollar" (2022)

Larger Than Life: Peter Dinklage in "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018)

Still Crazy After All These Years: Brent Spiner in "Independence Day: Resurgence" (2016)

End of the Line: "Neville Brand in "Evils of the Night" (1985)

Strangers In a Strange Land: Paula Luna and Elina Lowensohn in "After Blue" (20021)

The Eyes Have It: Paul Giamatti in "The Holdovers" (2023)

Drink Up: "Prohibition" (2011)

Bon Appetit: Divine in "Pink Flamingos" (1972)

The Bible On a Budget: "Sins of Jezebel" (1953)

Games People Play: "Cheap Thrills" (2014)

Earth Girls Are Uneasy: Gloria Talbot in "I Married a Monster From Outer Space" (1958)

She Sees Dead People: Shirley Henderson in "Life During Wartime" (2009)

If Only It Was Only a Dream: "Tag" (2015)

Just a Gigolo: William Powell in "Ladies' Man" (1931)

On the Road Again: Clint Eastwood in "Cry Macho" (2021)

Best Performance By a Somnambulist: Sondra Locke in "The Second Coming of Suzanne" (1974)

Grinning From Ear To Ear: Mia Goth in "Pearl" (2022)

Catching a Few Rays: "The Hideous Sun Demon" (1958)

Still Cracking the Whip: Harrison Ford in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" (2023)

Building the Bomb: "Oppenheimer" (2023)

Dropping the Soap In the Shower: Anne Heche in "Girls In Prison" (1994)

That Witch Looks Familiar: Donald Sutherland in "The Castle of the Living Dead" (1964)

Dracula Dead and Loving It: Nicolas Cage in "Renfield" (2023)

The Devil Made Her Do It: Madison Stone in "Evil Toons" (1992)

Maynard G. Krebs Award For Beatnik Slang: Peter Brown in "Kitten With a Whip" (1964)

All In the Family: "Byleth: Demon of Incest" (1972)

Most Eye-Catching Nude Scene: Eva Green in "The Dreamers" (2003)

Most Discreet Nude Scene: Charlotte Gainsbourg in "My Dog Stupid" (2019)

Best Performance By an Actor Playing a Walrus: Justin Long in "Tusk" (2014)

Wickedest Lipstick: Jodie Foster in "The Mauritanian" (2021) and Scarlett Johansson in "Asteroid city" (2023)

Scariest Teeth: Morgana Ignis in "Moon Garden" (2022)

Most Depressing Nightclub Routine: "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" (1976)

Monsters' Ball: "House of the Wolf Man" (2009)

Scream and Scream Again: Judee Morton in "The Slime People" (1963)

Golden Meat Cleaver Award For Gratuitous Carnage: "The Untold Story" (1993)

Best Animal Performance: The elephant in "Zenobia" (1939)

Weirdest Nicolas Cage Movie: "Prisoners of the Ghostland" (2021)

It Came From Beneath the Sea: "Godzilla Minus One" (2023)

Why Closeups Were Invented: Sally Hawkins in "The Lost King" (2023) and Léa Seydoux in "France" (2021)

Playin' In the Band: "The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir" (2014)

Doin' the Vatican Rag: Jude Law in "The Young Pope" (2016)

Beyond the Green Door: Marilyn Chambers in "Angel of H.E.A.T" (1982)

Herman Scobie Award For Career Achievement: Peter Coyote

The 2022 Covie Awards

 

The Covie Awards were created a couple of years ago to recognize cinematic achievement in various categories during the pandemic. Since then, the virus hasn't exactly gone away, and it looks like the Covies will be sticking around, too.

Picture: "The Banshees of Inisherin" (2022)

Actress: Dorotheea Petre in "Ryna" (2005)

Actor: Kiefer Sutherland in "Forsaken" (2015)

Secret Treasure: "The Man Who Sued God" (2001)

Guilty Pleasure: "Bullet Train" (2022)

Short Film: "C'etait un Rendezvous" (1976)

Best Mad Scene: Julianne Nicholson in "Blonde" (2022)

Best Performance By an Actor Spoofing Himself: Victor Mature in "After the Fox" (1966)

Best Performance By an Actress Playing a Cadaver: Alba Ribas in "The Corpse of Anna Fritz" (2015)

Best Performance By an Actor Playing a Severed Head: Michel Simon in "The Head" (1959)

Best Trans Performance: Iris Menas in "West Side Story" (2021)

Best Action-Movie Performance: Chloë Grace Moretz in "Shadow In the Cloud" (2020)

Best Performance By an Actress In a Slasher Movie Wearing a Pair of Bib Overalls: Mia Goth in "X" (2022)

Best Performance By an Actress In a Role That Could Only Be Played By Björk: Björk in "The Northman" (2022)

Best Animation In a Documentary: "Chicago 10" (2007)

Character Study: Whit Bissell in "Somewhere In the Night" (1946), "He Walked By Night" (1948) and "Riot In Cellblock 11" (1954)

Better With Age: Karen Allen in "Colewell" (2019)

Cameo In a Narrative Film: Little Richard in "Mystery, Alaska" (1999)

Cameo In a Documentary: Paul Soglin in "Cheeseheads" (2015)

Showing Up and Cashing In: John Carradine in "Demented Death Farm Massacre" (1971/1986)

Most Eye-Catching Nude Scene: Jane Birkin in "Je T'aime Moi Non Plus" (1976)

Most Discreet Nude Scene: Joan Sims in "Carry On Up the Jungle" (1970)

Wickedest Lipstick: Judy Davis in "Absolute Power" (1997) and Cate Blanchett in "Nightmare Alley" (2021)

Filthiest Wardrobe: Richard Widmark's buckskins in "The Last Wagon" (1956)

Weirdest Nicolas Cage Movie: "Mandy" (2018)

Best Argument For Film Preservation: "Three Minutes: A Lengthening" (2021)

Title Sequence: "Running Scared" (2006)

Poster Art: "You Won't Be Alone" (2022)

Best Musical Performance: Arturo Toscanini in "Hymn of the Nations" (1944)

Best Dance Performance: Josephine Baker in "Siren of the Tropics" (1927)

Best Katharine Hepburn Impression: Saoirse Ronan in "See How They Run" (2022)

How To Be a Diva: Gloria Swanson in "Zaza" (1923)

He Don't Look Chinese: Bela Lugosi as "The Mysterious Mr. Wong" (1934)

He Don't Look Japanese: Yul Brynner in "Flight From Ashiya" (1964)

What Kind of Accent Is That?: Jason Robards in "Caboblanco" (1980)

Don't Let PETA See This: "Electrocuting an Elephant" (1903)

Least Convincing Performance By a Mechanical Shark: "Jaws: The Revenge" (1987)

Frodo Gets Laid: Elijah Wood in "The Oxford Murders" (2008)

Not Going Gently: "Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia" (2014)

Give This Kid a Quaalude: Mickey Rooney in "Strike Up the Band" (1940)

Why Closeups Were Invented: Samantha Morton in "River Queen" (2005)

How To Dress For a Day In the Jungle: Maureen O'Sullivan in "Tarzan and His Mate" (1934)

Best Animal Performance: The duck in "Love Birds" (2011)

Back To the Future: "Time After Time" (1979)

Don't Go Near the Water: "Shark Bait" (2022)

Fear of Flying: "The Night My Number Came Up" (1955)

Made In Wisconsin: "The Game" (1984)

Lost In Space: "Battle Beyond the Sun" (1962)

War Is Hell and Then Some: "All Quiet On the Western Front" (2022)

High Sticking: "Slap Shot" (1977)

Leftover Spaghetti: "Blindman" (1971)

Looking Good In a Lost Cause: Shirley MacLaine in "Woman Times Seven" (1967)

Dancing For Dollars: Demi Moore in "Striptease" (1996)

Playing With Fire: "Lux Aeterna" (2019)

Caught Cheating: Annie Girardot in "Inspector Maigret" (1958)

Just a Bit Outside: Bob Uecker in "Major League" (1989)

Watch Your Speed: "Hell Drivers" (1957)

Zombie with a Switchblade: Allison Hayes in "Zombies of Mora Tau" (1957)

Sex and Sacrilege: "Sacred Flesh" (2000)

Shark-Infested and Jet-Fueled: "West Side Story" (2021)

Watermelons and Machine Guns: "Mr. Majestyk" (1974)

Herman Scobie Memorial Award For Career Achievement: Bill Murray

The 2021 Covie Awards

 

Due to the pandemic and other factors, the widely anticipated Scobie Awards have been mothballed for the second year in a row. Instead, the movie-watching world has to get by with the Covie Awards, recognizing achievement of all kinds in mostly older films. Time and the virus will determine whether the Scobies return, or whether the Covies are here to stay. 

Best Silent Movie Made In the 21st Century: "Blancanieves" (2012)

Blink and You'll Miss Him: Tony Curtis in "Criss Cross" (1949)

Cameo: David Niven in "The Road To Hong Kong" (1962)

Couple: Agathe Rouselle and Vincent Lindon in "Titane" (2021)

Character Studies: Elisha Cook Jr. in "Born To Kill" and Percy Helton in "Criss Cross" (1949)

Best Performance By an Actor Using Only His Voice: Jim Broadbent in "The Phone Call" (2013)

Best Performance By an Actress Playing a Girl Turning Into a Fish: Luna Wedler in "Blue My Mind" (2017)

Most Demented Ensemble: "Slack Bay" (2016)

Best Mad Scene: Geraldine Chaplin in "Chaplin" (1992)

Best Comedy Performance (Female): Barbara Windsor in "Carry On Girls" (1973)

Best Comedy Performance (Male): Alec Guinness in "Murder By Death" (1976)

Best Comedy Performance By an Actor Playing an Escaped Lunatic: Milton Parsons in "The Hidden Hand" (1942)

Best Rock-&-Roll Performance By a Female Vocalist Playing the Bass and Wearing a Leather Jumpsuit: Suzi Quatro in "Suzi Q" (2019)

Best Heist Sequence: "Topkapi" (1964)

Just For Fun: "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" (2021)

Scariest Performance By a Tree: "The Tree" (2010)

Most Real-Looking Recreations of Terrorist Events: "The Baader Meinhof Complex" (2008)

Sickest Acts of Violence: "Hobo With a Shotgun" (2011)

Most Authentic-Looking Paris Street Scenes: "Cleo From 5 To 7" (1962)

Evilest Villainy: Boris Karloff in "The House of Rothschild" (1934)

Cutest Goth Nun: Addison Timlin in "Little Sister" (2016)

Most Eye-Catching Nude Scene: Léa Seydoux in "The French Dispatch" (2021)

Most Discreet Nude Scene: Julia Meade in "Zotz!" (1962)

Barely Legal: Melanie Griffith in "Night Moves" (1975)

Chewing the Scenery: Rhys Ifans as Rasputin in "The King's Man" (2021)

Best Short Film: "Le Femme et le TGV" (2016)

Maynard G. Krebs Award For Beatnik Slang: Ray Tudor in "The Flesh Eaters" (1964)

Coffins Everywhere: "Bacurau" (2019)

Musical Score: Jonny Greenwood, "Spencer" (2021)

Better With Age: The cast of "All Together" (2011)

Why Closeups Were Invented: Noomi Rapace in "Lamb" (2021)

The End of the World and Then What?: "Deluge" (1933)

Voiceover Narration You Can't Ignore: Nick Offerman in "The Gunfighter" (2013)

Dullest Performance By an Actress In a Lead Role Playing a Witch: Samantha Robinson in "The Love Witch" (2016)

How To Be a Vamp: Estelle Taylor in "Where East Is East" (1929)

Is That What You Have To Do To Win an Academy Award?: "The Oscar" (1966)

Another Reason Not To Do Crystal Meth: "Antlers" (2021)

Ever Hear of the Pill?: "Yours, Mine and Ours" (1968)

Holidays From Hell: "Spencer" (2021)

Spy vs. Spy: Constance Bennett and Erich von Stroheim in "Three Faces East" (1930)

Commanding Officer You Might Be Willing To Fight For: Robert Redford in "The Last Castle" (2001)

Commanding Officer You Might Be Willing To Frag: James Gandolfini in "The Last Castle" (2001)

What Friends Are For: Kenny Laguna helping Joan Jett repair her catsuit, while she's wearing it, in "Bad Reputation" (2018)

The Search For Spock: Leonard Nimoy in "The Brain Eaters" (1958)

Were They or Weren't They?: Cary Grant and Randolph Scott in "Hot Saturday" (1932)

Missing a Finger: "William S. Burroughs: A Man Within" (2010)

Barista You Wouldn't Want To Order a Latte From: Carey Mulligan in "Promising Young Woman" (2020)

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back To the Cloister: "Behind Convent Walls" (1977)

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back To the Boarding School: "The House That Screamed" (1969)

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back To the Reform School: "Werewolf In a Girls' Dormitory" (1961)

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back To the 1960s: "Last Night In Soho" (2021)

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back To the Fjord: "The Wave" (2015)

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back To the Nuclear Power Plant: "The China Syndrome" (1979)

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back To the Tar Pits: "Volcano" (1997)

Rat Pack In the Making: "Some Came Running" (1958)

Best Big Band Performance: Benny Goodman's Orchestra in "Hollywood Hotel" (1937)

Best Knockoff of "Casablanca": "The Conspirators" (1944)

Back To the Future: "Idaho Transfer" (1973) 

Best Animal Performance: The monkey in "The Kid Brother" (1927) and the cat in "Bell Book and Candle" (1958)

Least Animated Animal Performance: The three dead fish in "Blood Simple" (1984)

Best Performance by a Mustache: Moustache in "How To Steal a Million" (1966)

Best Performance By an Automobile In a Supporting Role: The Edsel In "Killing Car" (1993)

Best Movie To Watch Stoned (Maybe): "The Howl" (1970)

Herman Scobie Memorial Award For Career Achievement: Terence Stamp

The 2020 Covie Awards

 

In a normal year around this time, there'd be a post announcing the winners of the coveted Scobie Awards, honoring movies released in the year that just ended. Due to the pandemic and all, that's not going to happen this year. Instead, the Movie Buzzard is pleased to announce the first-ever Covie Awards, recognizing artistic achievement (or its opposite) in some of the (mostly older) films I managed to see last year. With luck and the vaccine, the Scobies will return a year from now. And, who knows, maybe the Covies will, too.

Best Short Animated Film: "First Animation" (2020)

Best Foreign Language Film: "Un Carnet de Bal" (1937)

Best Documentary Art Film About Another Art Film: "Notfilm" (2015)

Best Documentary About a Rock-&-Roll Band: "Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band" (2019)

Most Authentic-Looking Reconstructions In a Documentary: "Stories We Tell" (2012)

Best Dancing: "No Maps On My Taps" (1978)

Worst Ed Wood Movie: "Nympho Cycler" (1971)

Most Boring Movie That a Lot of Critics Really Liked: "The Fearless Vampire Killers" (1967)

Best Performance By a Silent Actor In a Sound Film: Harpo Marx in "A Silent Panic" (1960)

Best Performance By an Actor In the Only Movie He Ever Made: Alex Cressan in "Tamango" (1958)

Best Performance By an Actress Wearing a Pink Bikini: Geena Davis in "Earth Girls Are Easy" (1988)

Best Performance By an Actress Wearing Only a Towel: Valerie Perrine in "Steambath" (1973)

Best Performance By an Actress Playing a Character Being Interrogated By the Cops While Smoking a Cigarette: Jean Arthur in "The Whole Town's Talking" (1935

Best Performance By a Former Child Actor Playing a Mad Scientist: Jackie Coogan in "Mesa of Lost Women" (1953)

Best Sidekick Performance: William Bendix in "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court" (1949)

Best Mad Scene: Vincent Price in "Madhouse" (1974)

Most Fun Impersonation of a Famous Movie Star By Another Famous Movie Star: Errol Flynn imitating Humphrey Bogart in "Never Say Goodbye" (1946)

Wickedest Scene-Stealing: Clu Gulager in "The Killers" (1964)

Cringiest Performance In the Age of Black Lives Matter: Stepin Fetchit in "Steamboat Round the Bend" (1935)

Most Enjoyable Performance In a Movie That Didn't Amount To Much: Ed Wynn in "Dear Brigitte" (1965)

Most Satanic Performance In a Made-For-TV Movie: Donald Sutherland in "Quicksand: No Escape" (1992)

Best Animal Performance:  John Wayne's horse in "Ride Him, Cowboy" (1932) and the raccoon in "Red Skies of Montana" (1952)

Best Performance By a Horde of Insects: The killer bees in "The Bees" (1978)

Most Depressing Animal Sequence: The bullfight in "The Assassination of Trotsky" (1972)

Most Excruciating Performance By an Actress In a Supporting Role That's Way Over the Top But Also Kind of Brilliant: Debra Blee in "The Malibu Bikini Shop" (1986)

Best Performance By an Eyeball: Jimmy Stewart's glass eye in "Fool's Parade (1971)

Best Performance By an Actor Named Imhof: Roger Imhof in "Steamboat Round the Bend" (1935)

Best Rock-&-Roll Performance: Chuck Berry in "Let the Good Times Roll" (1973)

Trippiest Rock-&-Roll Moment: Jimmy Page playing a theremin in "The Song Remains the Same" (1976)

Hottest Couple: Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel in "Portrait of a Lady On Fire" (2019)

Coolest Shades: Charles Bronson's tinted specs in "The White Buffalo" (1977)

Romantic Subplot Least Likely To Go Anywhere (And You Wouldn't Want It To): Pamela Sue Martin's crush on Gene Hackman in "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972)

Noir On a Shoestring: "Destination Murder" (1950)

Actor You Wouldn't Expect To See Playing a Priest Playing a Priest: Frank Sinatra in "The Miracle of the Bells" (1948)

Set Design: "Brats" (1930)

Ensemble: "The Last Full Measure" (2019)

Best Use of Location In a Movie Shot On Location: The state of Montana in "Certain Women" (2015)

Why Some French Movies Are Worth Watching Even When the Movies Are Kind of Dull and the Characters In Them Brood Too Much: Sylvie Testud in "The Captive" (2000)

Best Movie To Watch Stoned: "Curious Alice" (1971)

Up In Smoke: The Seven Gables in Seattle

Herman Scobie Memorial Award For Career Achievement: Tom Skerritt

The 2019 Scobie Awards

The Scobie Awards are named after Herman Scobie, a World War Two veteran and free-lance soldier of fortune who died under mysterious circumstances in a Paris hotel room in 1963. (See "Charade".)

Picture: "They Shall Not Grow Old"
Actor: Mads Mikkelsen, "Arctic"
Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, "Us"
Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, "Richard Jewell"
Supporting Actress: Marianne Rendón, "Mapplethorpe"
Ensemble: "Knives Out"
Couple: Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly, "Stan & Ollie"
Cameo: Iggy Pop, "The Dead Don't Die"
Director: Quentin Tarantino, 
                 "Once Upon a Time In Hollywood"
Cinematography: Caleb Deschanel, "Never Look Away"
Musical Score: Joseph Trapenese, "Arctic"
Animated Movie: "Ruben Brandt, Collector"
Foreign Language Film: "Never Look Away"
B Movie: "The Dead Don't Die"
Title Sequence: "Knives Out"
Trailer: "Hagazussa"
Poster Art: "Mary"
Career Achievement Award: Judy Davis

The 2018 Scobie Awards

     Picture: "The Old Man & the Gun"
     Actress: Rosamund Pike, "A Private War"
     Actor: Hugh Grant, "A Very English Scandal"
     Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, "Suspiria"
     Supporting Actor: Michael Palin, "The Death of Stalin"
     Ensemble: "Nostalgia" and "The Party"
     Couple: Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek, 
                    "The Old Man & the Gun"
     Cameo: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, "On the Basis of Sex"
     Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, 
                      "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"
     Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel, 
                                      "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"
     Musical Score: Max Richter, "Hostiles"
     Animated Movie: "Isle of Dogs"
     Foreign Language Film: "Naples In Veils"
     B Movie: "The Nun"
     Documentary: "The Great Buster"
     Revival: "The Threat"
     Title Sequence: "The Death of Stalin"
     Trailer: "A Quiet Place"
     Poster Art: "I Think We're Alone Now"
     Career Achievement Award: Ed Harris

The 2017 Scobie Awards

Picture: "Wonderstruck"
Actress: Sally Hawkins, "Maudie" and "The Shape of Water"
Actor: Harry Dean Stanton, "Lucky"
Supporting Actress: Laurie Metcalf, "Lady Bird"
Supporting Actor: Jon Hamm, "Baby Driver"
Ensemble: "Murder On the Orient Express"
Couple: Adam Driver and Golshifteh Farahani, "Paterson"
Cameo: Patti Smith, "Song To Song"
Director: Guillermo del Toro, "The Shape of Water"
Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto, "Silence"
Musical Score: Sqürl, "Paterson"
Editing: Lee Smith, "Dunkirk"
Animated Movie: "Loving Vincent"
Foreign Language Film: "The Other Side of Hope"
B Movie: "The Assignment"
Short Film: "5 Films About Technology"
Documentary: "Dawson City: Frozen Time"
Revival: "Mulholland Dr."
Title Sequence: "Loving Vincent"
Trailer: "Mother!"
Print Ad: "The Breadwinner"
Career Achievement Award: Leslie Caron

The 2016 Scobie Awards

Picture: "A Perfect Day"
Actress: Amy Adams, "Arrival" and "Nocturnal Animals"
Actor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "Snowden"
Supporting Actress: Judy Davis, "The Dressmaker"
Supporting Actor: Michael Shannon, "Nocturnal Animals"
Couple: Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga, "Loving"
Cameo: Frances McDormand, "Hail, Caesar!"
Director: Gavin Hood, "Eye In the Sky"
Cinematography: Francesco Di Giacomo, "The Wait"
Musical Score: Marcello De Francisci and Lisa Gerard, 
                            "Jane Got a Gun"
Foreign Language Film: "The Brand New Testament"
B Movie: "The Shallows"
Documentary: "Older Than Ireland"
Animated Movie: "Zootopia"
Revival: "Ben-Hur" (1925)
Title Sequence: "The Architect"
Trailer: "Dawn"
Print Ad: "Jane Got a Gun"
Career Achievement Award: Werner Herzog

The 2015 Scobie Awards

Picture: "Suffragette"
Actress: Nina Hoss, "Phoenix"
Actor: Johnny Depp, "Black Mass"
Supporting Actress: Sally Hawkins, "A Brilliant Young Mind"
Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies"
Cameo: Geraldine Chaplin, "The Forbidden Room"
Ensemble: "Spotlight"
Animal: Masuka the Cat, 
                "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night"
Director: Ken Loach, "Jimmy's Hall"
Cinematography: Bobby Bukowski, "Time Out of Mind"
Musical Score: Tom Holkenborg, "Black Mass"
Foreign Language Film: "Love Among the Ruins"
B Movie: "Zombeavers"
Documentary: "Amy"
Animated Movie: "Song of the Sea"
Revival: "Sherlock Holmes"
Title Sequence: "Mr. Turner"
Trailer: "Son of Saul"
Print Ad: "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night"
Career Achievement Award: Kevin Brownlow

The 2014 Scobie Awards

Picture: "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Actor: Ian McDiarmid, "37 Days"
Actress: Juliette Lewis, "Kelly & Cal"
Supporting Actor: Bill Nighy, "Pride"
Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"
Ensemble: "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Cameo: Jenny Agutter, 
               "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
Director: Matthew Warchus, "Pride"
Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto, "The Homesman"
Musical Score: Bill Frisell, "The Great Flood"
Compilation: "Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen"
Foreign Language Film: "A Coffee In Berlin"
B Movie: "3 Days To Kill"
Documentary: "The Square"
Revival: "Northern Lights"
Title Sequence: "Fury"
Trailer: "Rocks In My Pockets"
Print Ad: "The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears"
Career Achievement Award: Tom Courtenay

The 2013 Scobie Awards

Picture: "Nebraska"
Actress: Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine"
Actor: Bruce Dern, "Nebraska"
Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "Her"
Supporting Actor: Harrison Ford, "42"
Cameo: Jane Fonda, "The Butler"
Ensemble: "The World's End"
Director: J.C. Chandor, "All Is Lost"
Cinematography: Dion Beebe, "Gangster Squad"
Musical Score: Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner 
                           and Kubilay Uner, "Big Sur"
Foreign Language Film: "Wadjda"
B Movie: "Machete Kills"
Documentary: "A.K.A. Doc Pomus"
Revival: "Manhattan"
Title Sequence: "Red 2"
Trailer: "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Print Ad: "Beyond Naked"
Career Achievement Award: Harry Dean Stanton

Previous Scobie Award Winners: Career Achievement

          1988: John Carradine
          1989: Don Siegel
          1990: Burgess Meredith
          1991: Richard Fleischer
          1992: Woody Strode
          1993: Richard Widmark
          1994: Dennis Hopper
          1995: John Frankenheimer
          1996: Stella Stevens
          1997: James Coburn
          1998: Max von Sydow
          1999: Geraldine Chaplin
          2000: Christopher Lee
          2001: Henry Silva
          2002: Donald Sutherland
          2003: Bruce Dern
          2004: Charlotte Rampling
          2005: Jeff Bridges
          2006: L.Q. Jones
          2007: Genevieve Bujold
          2008: Nick Nolte
          2009: Walter Hill
          2010: Scott Glenn
          2011: Lily Tomlin
          2012: Alan Rudolph
          2013: Harry Dean Stanton
          2014: Tom Courtenay
          2015: Kevin Brownlow
          2016: Werner Herzog
          2017: Leslie Caron
          2018: Ed Harris

          2019: Judy Davis

          2020: Tom Skerritt

          2021: Terence Stamp

          2022: Bill Murray

          2023: Peter Coyote

          2024: Karen Allen

          2025: John Waters

The 2012 Scobie Awards

Picture: "Cloud Atlas"
Actor: John Hawkes, "The Sessions"
Actress: AnnaLynne McCord, "Excision"
Supporting Actor: Christopher Walken, "Seven
                                 Psychopaths" and "A Late Quartet"
Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"
Cameo: Bruce Dern, "Django Unchained"
Ensemble: "Carnage"
Director: Colin Tevorrow, "Safety Not Guaranteed"
Cinematography: Roger Deakins, "Skyfall"
Editing: Alexander Berner, "Cloud Atlas"
Musical Score: Raymond Enoksen and 
                           Geirmund Simonsen, "Thale"
Foreign Language Film: "Barbara"
B Movie: "Haywire"
Documentary: "The Dust Bowl"
Revival: "The Sting"
Title Sequence: "Searching For Sugar Man"
Trailer: "Les Miserables"
Print Ad: "Nobody Else But You"
Career Achievement Award: Alan Rudolph