1997 Mochrie Awards

For years preceding 1998, there will be no 'Worst Quality to Box Office Gross Ratio' category.

Best Film As Good As It Gets, Boogie Nights, Contact, LA Confidential, Liar Liar, Men in Black Winner: LA Confidential There wasn't really a clear winner here, but I just love the tight plotting, solid acting, awesome direction, and wonderful scenes of LA Confidential. A modern classic.

Best Screenplay As Good As It Gets, Contact, Good Will Hunting, In the Company of Men, LA Confidential, The Sweet Hereafter, Wag the Dog Winner: LA Confidential I could spend months studying this screenplay.

Best Director Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential), David Fincher (The Game), James Cameron (Titanic), Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) Boogie Nights is a daring film, not just in content but in direction. The look of the film is indelible, and the camera work is awesome. P.T. Anderson explodes onto the screen in his best work to date.

Best Actor Burt Reynolds (Boogie Nights), Dustin Hoffman (Wag the Dog), Ian Holm (The Sweet Hereafter), Peter Fonda (Ulee's Gold), Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) Winner: Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) Simultaneously subtle and powerful, Forster dominated a movie casted with Robert DeNiro and Samuel L. Jackson.

Best Actress Helena Bonham Carter (The Wings of a Dove), Jodie Foster (Contact), Kim Basinger (LA Confidential), Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting) Winner: Jodie Foster (Contact) Ladies and gentlemen, she's still got it. A compelling performance once again.

Best Visual Appeal Amistad, Boogie Nights, Dante's Peak, Men in Black, Starship Troopers, Titanic Winner: Boogie Nights Even a $200 million budget was stretched too thin by Titanic's ambition. Boogie Nights wins with some of the best camera work in recent years.

Best Score/Soundtrack Amistad, Anastasia, Hercules, Men in Black, Titanic Winner: Hercules Catchy, upbeat, unforgettable songs. 'Nuff said.

Most Important Film Boogie Nights, Titanic Winner: Titanic No contest. Titanic had the biggest budget of its time and is still the highest grossing film of all time. It virtually created the concept of 'uber-blockbuster' that can now be applied to movies like Spider-Man, Shrek 2, and Return of the King.

Best Scene Escape (Dante's Peak), Final Showdown (LA Confidential), Shocking Conclusion (The Game), Sinking Ship (Titanic), Opening (Boogie Nights) Winner: Sinking Ship (Titanic) Okay, so this 'scene' is over an hour long, but it's still amazing. The picture is not from the movie obviously, I just think it looks cool.

The most nominated films of 1997 were:

Boogie Nights - 6
LA Confidential - 5
Titanic - 5
Contact - 3

The nominations and wins ended up very spread out this year. Three films won twice: LA Confidential, Boogie Nights, and Titanic. Both Jackie Brown and Hercules won their only nominations. Liar Liar and Men in Black got Best Film nominations without significant nominations in other categories because they are two of my favorite films ever and terribly enjoyable, even if they weren't strong enough in any particular field to be a contender in other categories.