2008 Kaedrin Movie Awards: Best Action Sequences and Best Plot Twist/Surprise

The nominations for the 2008 Kaedrin Movie Awards were announced last week. This week, I’ll be announcing two winners every day, culminating in a post with my top 10 movies of the year and possibly some other wrap-up posts.

Best Action Sequences: Hellboy II: The Golden Army

This was a really tough one. It really came down to The Dark Knight and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and I had trouble deciding which one featured the best action sequences. Neither is particularly brilliant in terms of action scenes, but in the end, I went with Hellboy because the only really great action sequence in The Dark Knight was the flipping tractor-trailer sequence. Sure there were plenty of serviceable fights, but nothing spectacular or on the level of Hellboy II. So while The Dark Knight is definitely the better movie, Hellboy II takes the prize.

Best Plot Twist/Surprise: Spiral

Another really difficult category to pick. Honestly, all of the nominees could easily have won this award. I ended up going with Spiral because of the fact that it flew under most people’s radar and it’s actually a pretty decent film. I don’t want to actually talk about the twist, but it’s pretty well done. I’m sure some people will guess it beforehand, but it still works. The movie itself is pretty good too. It’s a slow burn and probably not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it. Next up would be Inside, which I really didn’t see coming… but ultimately, I didn’t like that movie as much as Spiral. I also seriously considered the underrated (and, uh, poorly titled) Body of Lies. And the other nominees were pretty good too.

And coming down the homestretch, tomorrow we’ve got the final category: Best High Concept Film