Apparently I didn’t do this for the previous year, so here are my own damn movie awards for 2009. FYI, Avatar was a terrible movie in every single respect and that’s why you aren’t going to see it here at all.

Best Picture: Away We Go – There were flicks that looked better, sounded better, and were acted better, but nothing came close to moving me the way this one did. Away We Go will always be one of my favorite movies of all time. Notable other include Up, District 9, A Serious Man, (500) Days of Summer, Precious, Inglourious Basterds, and The Hurt Locker.

Best Actress: Mo’Nique – This wasn’t just the best female performance of the year. This was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen on screen. Notable others include Anna Kendrick and Gabourey Sidibe.

Best Actor: Christoph Waltz – His character scared the bejesus out of me while making me giggle. How in the hell did he do that? By giving the best performance of the year. Notable others include Jeremy Renner, John Krasinski, Michael Stuhlbarg, and George Clooney.

Best Director: Quentin Tarantino – The guy took a good old movie, remade it, and completely made it feel like his own movie. Every performance in Inglourious Basterds was great as well and that’s almost entirely because of Tarantino’s direction. Notable others include Sam Mendes and Kathryn Bigelow.

Best Visuals: District 9 – When you have a movie directed by a very proven visual effects guy, you’re gonna get a good looking movie, but District 9 hit it way out of the ballpark. Notable others include Star Trek.

Best Sound: The Hurt Locker – This is a flick that begs to be turned up on a good surround sound system. Notable others include Up, Star Trek, and District 9.

Best Screenplay: Away We Go – The reason Away We Go was my pick for best picture was purely because of the screenplay. It was so good, it overcame any little hiccups that could be found in any other aspects of the film. Notable other include Up, District 9, (500) Days of Summer, and The Hurt Locker.

I seem to do this every other year or so and it looks like it’s time again. Here are my own damn movie awards for 2010.

Best Picture: Inception – Movies are suppose to be entertaining before anything else and I can’t think of another movie in the last decade that has entertained me more than Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece. Like any other form of art, it should be thought provoking and Inception definitely hit those notes as well. Notable others include Toy Story 3, Winter’s Bone, The Social Network, Black Swan, and The Ghost Writer.

Best Actress: Natalie Portman – I was absolutely sure I wasn’t going to see a better female performance than Mo’Nique in Precious, but I was so dead wrong. If you read and watch all of the things Natalie Portman did to prepare for her role in Black Swan, you can’t help but in in awe when you watch her performance in Black Swan. Notable others include Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone and Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit.

Best Actor: Christian Bale – Mr. Bale reminds me so much of Gary Oldman in that he is a full on chameleon. A real actor. He wasn’t Christian Bale playing a role in the fighter. He was everybody who’s had problems with substance abuse and absolutely no hold on reality. Pretty damn incredible. Notable others include John Hawkes in Winter’s Bone, Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network, and Jeremy Renner in The Town.

Best Director: Christopher Nolan – If you read about the incredible journey this guy took to have this movie made entirely the way he wanted it to, it would blow your mind. The idea was bouncing around in his mind for so long, but there was no way it would have been created with all of his influence. No, he waited to get a couple of critical and commercial successes under his belt first to prove to the studios he could be trusted with something as complex as Inception. It’s Christopher Nolan’s Blade Runner and that kind of fortitude deserves to be rewarded.

Best Visuals: Inception – It relies on it’s visual effects and cinematography just as much as it’s actors, script, and sound to tell a story. Considering how big this flick is, nothing ever looks out of place or overdone. Notable others include The Social Network and Black Swan.

Best Sound: The Social Network – Subtlety is the key for the sound in this movie and it can be found from Reznor and Ross’ haunting score to the editing and design. Notable others include Inception, True Grit, and Tron: Legacy.

Best Screenplay: Inception – It’s a highly intelligent screenplay that be translated as a simple heist flick or something much deeper. Take this story and its concept and write it down on a piece of paper so that other people can understand it clearly. The simple fact is that you can not do this. You and I are not intellectually capable of taking something as complex as Inception and making so understood and accepted to such a wide range of viewers as Christopher Noland has. Notable others include Winter’s Bone, Toy Story 3, and Black Swan.