Best Ensemble Cast: 21 Grams

From Naomi Watts as a tortured widow to Eddie Marsan as a tough-minded preacher, the actors pump layers of vitality into their suffering characters. Is 21 grams "the weight of a soul"? Maybe. One thing it ought to equal is the weight of an Oscar.

Best Action Choreography: Cold Mountain

In Cold Mountain's brutal Battle of the Crater sequence, director Anthony Minghella captures all the horror of 19th century trench warfare with all the grandeur of 21st century cinematography and editing. The result is a devastatingly tangible portrait of man-to-man combat.

Honorable Mention: Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Best Soundtrack: Kill Bill: Vol. 1

If I ever met Quentin Tarantino, the first thing I would ask is if I could pay him to make me a mix tape.

As rabid an aficionado of movies as he is, he has an equally insatiable thirst for awesome, obscure music. The highlight: "Woo Hoo" by the 5,6,7,8s, an energetic complement to an already electrifying scene.

Most Underrated: The Order

Many were turned off, probably because they were expecting shock-a-minute thrills a la The Exorcist and Stigmata.

What they got instead, if they were paying attention, was a refreshingly cliché-free cop-movie/God-movie hybrid.

Best Voiceover Narration: Harvey Pekar in American Splendor

Pekar's narration succinctly conveys the profound, poetic honesty of his genius without distracting the audience from Paul Giamatti's excellent, empathetic portrayal of the moody comic book writer.

Best Plot Twist: Identity

I'm not suggesting Identity was good -- the "suspense" scenes were laughably dull and the "characters" strikingly duller -- but I have to admit: The twist knocked me out like NyQuil. I won't reveal anything more in case you haven't seen it, although I also won't recommend that you do so.

The Clint Howard Award for Best Character Actor: Brendan Gleeson, the loving dad in 28 Days Later and Cold Mountain

Gleeson provides the necessary cuddly antithesis to two seriously melancholy films. Whether eluding the corrupt Civil War-era Home Guard or fending off rage-infected zombies, there's no movie dad I'd rather have at my side.

Honorable Mention: Pruitt Taylor Vince, the stuttering weirdo in Identity and Monster.

Best Cinematic Birth Control: Cheaper by the Dozen

Be advised: If you're an ageist kid-hater, stay away from this one. Dozen's dozen are the most obnoxious, disgusting tykes in recent
cinema history. Bonnie Hunt and Steve Martin would never have 12 of these brats.

They'd have had one.
And they'd have put her up for adoption.

By Jason Cox

Uma Thurman's clash with the Crazy 88s is merely one of many spectacular hand-to-hand (or sword-to-sword) battles that occur during a large portion of this two-hour mini epic.

Honorable Mention: The Matrix Reloaded

Best Soundtrack Tie: Lost in Translation and 28 Days Later

I picked these two soundtracks for pretty much the exact opposite reasons:

While Translation's music fits the aesthetics and mood of each of the movie's scenes perfectly, Later really reaches for new territory with its soundtrack, often employing subtle ambient melodies in place of the expected harsh strings or metal rock.

Honorable Mention: Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Most Underrated: The Core OK, so this movie's acting sucked and the special effects were comparable to a computer screensaver, but come on!

The earth goes nuts and starts destroying itself ... and stuff.

Trust me, it's cooler than you think.

Best Voiceover Narration: Freddy Vs. Jason

Not only are we presented with a clash of the titans that was all but fated to be made, but we are treated to the storytelling by none other than one of the two masters of hack-and-slash himself, Freddy-friggin'-Krueger.

A better speaker than the mute Jason, Freddy makes us laugh until we ... um, bleed.

Best Plot Twist: Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Not much to say here, obviously. This movie is matched only by its own cliffhanger ending in pure genius and suspense.

It toyed with us and teased us in a way only the greatest of mindscrews could match.

The Clint Howard Award for Best Character Actor: Steve Carell

This one might be a bit of a stretch, but hear me out. The Daily Show veteran continued to put on his faux-newsman haunches in the Jim Carrey blockbuster Bruce Almighty and ended up stealing most of the show.

And although its not being released till later this year, Anchorman will see him do the same yet again.

Best Cinematic Birth Control: Thirteen

Although the film itself was a bit of a letdown from the hype, it had one very positive repercussion: It made me want to get a vasectomy ... fast. The only thing worse than watching these hell-spawned teenie boppers would be to parent one.