Books: "The Buddha In The Attic" Is A Find

THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC **** out of ****
By Julie Otsuka
$22; Knopf

I read this book in one gulp on a plane flight from London back to New York City. Then I went out and bought author Julie Otsuka's debut novel When The Emperor Was Divine. Then when the final hardcover edition of The Buddha In The Attic appeared in my mail, I read it again. It comes in a trim, smaller format that's perfect for this precise, focused work of just 129 penetrating pages. The jacket design by Gabriele Wilson is clever and eye-catching, the prose almost forces you to use words like "gem" and "pearl" and it has that feel of a book destined to become a bestseller. See it and you'll want to pick it up. Start reading it and you won't want to put it down.

But this suggests a modest endeavor when Otsuka's novel is anything but. It's a boldly imagined work that takes a stylistic risk more daring and exciting than many brawnier books five times its size. Even the subject matter is daring, for Otsuka's acclaimed debut told a story about the internment camps where Americans of Japanese descent were forced to relocate, uprooting and destroying their lives while Americans with German or Italian descent were essentially left alone. That book became a bestseller and quickly worked its way onto high school reading lists, which is a testament to the book's accessible prose. The subject matter surprised me, for Otsuka's new book leads up to that same, shameful event in American history.

That's where the similarities end. Emperor gathers strength by focusing on one family: a husband who is dragged away in the middle of the night; the wife he left behind and their two children, the three of whom are sent together to a camp.

In contrast, The Buddha In The Attic takes place in the decades between the wars. Instead of one family, it focuses on a community of Japanese picture brides who travel to San Francisco to be married off to husbands they've never met before. The distant, reserved voice of the narrator mirrors the reserve of many of these women overwhelmed by a new world, a new culture and of course married life itself. It begins on the ship taking these bewildered, excited, nervous, brave and scared women on the longest journey of their lives.

On the boat we were mostly virgins. We had long black hair and flat wide feet and we were not very tall. Some of us had eaten nothing but rice gruel as young girls and had slightly bowed legs, and some of us were only fourteen years old and were still young girls ourselves. Some of us came from the city and wore stylish city clothes, but many more of us came from the country and on the boat we wore the same old kimonos we'd been wearing for years -- faded hand-me-downs from our sisters that had been patched and redyed many times. Some of us came from the mountains, and had never before seen the sea, except for in pictures, and some of us were the daughters of fishermen who had been around the sea all our lives. Perhaps we had lost a brother or father to the sea, or a fiance, or perhaps someone we loved had jumped into the water one unhappy morning and simply swum away, and now it was time for us, too, to move on.

This mesmerizing opening paragraph shows Otsuka's approach at its best: specific, clear, multitudinous in its grasp and subtly emotional. She maintains this level throughout. Some of the girls flirt with sailors on the boat, some get seasick, some feel fine right away, some are worried that their husbands will realize they're not "fresh" and all of their thoughts and desires and fears are captured in prose. The book follows them off the boat and slowly, almost to your shock, you realize that Otsuka is not going to focus on one or two women or even five or ten. She keeps her eye on the entire community, never once letting anyone fall from her grasp.

This sounds like it should be frustrating. Off the boat, some of the women are working the fields alongside their husbands, others are beaten cruelly and run away, some work in town as maids for white women, others work as prostitutes, some are happy, some are sad, some are not sure how they feel. At every step, the women make decisions (or those decisions are made for them) and that takes them off into an entirely new world of possibilities. And then it happens again and again, a constant branching out of lives and Otsuka limns them all.

This is remarkable on several levels. On the level of pure craftsmanship, it's exciting to see a writer make such a bold move and succeed so brilliantly -- like watching a juggler who keeps adding ball after ball to the stream of objects they keep in the air. Each vignette, each story is so riveting, you want to stay with that character. But Otsuka moves on. If at any moment the next story and character wasn't so enthralling, you would immediately resent this and want to return to the previous thread. But that literally never happens, You're pulled inexorably forward by wave after wave of event.

On another level, it's an exceptionally appropriate way to capture the lives of immigrants. By refusing to focus on one or two or even a dozen "typical" people (a lesser writer would have three or four main characters, with one bride heading to the city, one to the country, one off on her own and one into prostitution), by constantly unfolding the endless possibilities of life, Otsuka reminds us that the immigrant story will always be immigrant stories. They're as varied and wonderful and heartbreaking as anyone else's life and never follow a set pattern.

Looming over it all is World War II and the internment camps we know are coming. This is quietly devastating because Otsuka has done such a masterful job of showing us how specific and varied and diverse all these people are. So when they're suddenly and brutally treated as foreigners, lumped together no matter how dramatically different they may be from one another, the injustice of it is doubly striking.

Few writers this year will take the risks that Otsuka does in The Buddha In The Attic. And I doubt any of them will do it in a novel so accessible and rich that it's sure to be a favorite for casual readers and critics alike.

Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the co-host of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.  Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews. 


NOTE: Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of books to consider for review. He typically does not guarantee coverage and invariably receives far more books than he can cover.

Books: Cheers For Alexandra Fuller's "Cocktail Hour..."

COCKTAIL HOUR UNDER THE TREE OF FORGETFULNESS *** 1/2 out of ****
BY ALEXANDRA FULLER

You may have lost track of author Alexandra Fuller. Her debut memoir -- Don't Lets Go To The Dogs Tonight -- was a rollicking, bestseller about Fuller's childhood in war-torn Africa with parents so much larger-than-life that they made the phrase "larger-than-life" seem rather puny. It was compulsively readable and funny and sharp. The book was very much an expected hit in my mind, despite the long odds of gaining a wide audience.

A sequel involving mercenaries slipped by quietly and Fuller also delivered a well-reviewed look at a Wyoming man who worked on oil rigs and fell prey to the indifferent safety records of the companies that run them.

But now Fuller has returned to the source in Cocktail Hour Under The Tree Of Forgetfulness. The source is not just her childhood but her parents and specifically her mother: Nicola Fuller of Central Africa. Mum always wanted to be the heroine of a story but Fuller's memoir was a bit too spot-on and became ever after that Awful Book. Well, now Nicola has an Awful Book of her own, in essence a biography that captures her eccentric, quixotic and downright dangerous tale with full room for humor, love and more than a few highballs.

It begins with Nicola cajoling her Dashing Little Sri Lankan into some pilot lessons so she can fly and land a plane (planes being a constant in the sort of rollicking life Nicola imagines for herself a la Out Of Africa, West With The Night and so on). Soon we flashblack to Nicola's childhood in Scotland, where the family war cry was -- when translated from Gaelic to English -- "Gainsay who dare." This captures Fuller's puckish but loving tone perfectly:

It took me a while to recover from the discovery that my Mum's family had a war cry, but then I thought about Mum and I realized that if you didn't have a war cry to go with that attitude, you'd have to invent one. During the bush war in Rhodesia Mum forwent her family's Gaelic war cry and took up a personal war cry. It was borrowed from [pop star[ Cliff Richard] and the Shadows and was about being a bandit from Brazil, being the quickest on the trigger and shooting to kill, which was about the extent of Mum's interest in the lyrics. In fact, she quite often didn't make it past the opening word - a loudly shouted "Ole!," which kept it simple for everyone who did not speak Gaelic but confused those of us who spoke absolutely no Spanish. [My sister] Vanessa and I translated the word as "Hooray!" But the meaning was clear either way. My mother was here, she was armed, and you bet your insurrecting Commie ass she was dangerous."

The tale rockets back and forth charmingly, with Nicola's childhood bumping up against Alexandra's current visits to holy family sites, with Mum's dreaded childhood fancy dress parties not preventing her from forcing similar ghastly arrangements on her own children, with the added frisson that you might be dressed up in some silly costume and bouncing down the road to a party but in Rhodesia you better be packing a gun in case rebels decided to attack.

Fuller shows her parents at old age, finally perhaps discovering a resting place in Zambia where they and the land and the people are at an uneasy peace of sorts. By that time we better understand a woman who attended boarding school and whose best friend as a child might have been a chimp, a woman who blithely champions people like Che Guevara (you know who she admires because she names her pets after them) but can't be bothered with "the people" themselves in all their pushy reality. Tragedy, war, struggle, lost children, hunting parties, lost wars, hasty retreats, lost countries, bouts of depression or madness or going "wobbly" if you prefer, and many many drinks -- war-ravaged Africa is, if not romantic, unquestionably vivid in these pages.

"Here's to us," goes one of Nicola's toasts. "There's none like us and if there were, they're all dead." Fuller brings her mother's world and society fully to life here, as wonderfully as she did in Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight. If you liked that book, don't hesitate. If you're a fan of West With The Night or Out Of Africa, here's a far more complicated and modern look at the continent in all its bloody, confusing and addictive glory. Now no mucking about: Fuller's next memoir better be an Awful Book about her dad.

Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.  Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available  for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and  gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.

Note: Michael Giltz was provided with a free copy of the book in advance of publication. He receives far more books than he can cover, so they are provided without any guarantee of coverage.

"On Alfred Pond" Is Back!

Guest blogger Peter McClain has been away far too long with his musings on life in upstate New York. But a week volunteering at Vacation Bible School prompted Pete to put pen to paper (or is that "index finger to keyboard"? and share some tales far from Lake Wobegon but rather closer to Alfred, New York. (By the way, for those of you on the coasts, Vacation Bible School is like summer camp for evangelicals.)


ON ALFRED POND: VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL ROCKS!

By Peter McClain

Vacation Bible School (VBS) invaded Alfred Pond last week and yours truly was involved. I'd been able to hide behind Micah these past three years when volunteers were requested since we didn't want to stick him in the nursery for 3 hours every night for a week and being the dutiful dad I stayed home with him. Unfortunately, kids grow up (no matter how well you've malnourished them) and thus Micah was old enough to attend his first VBS. So, I volunteered to accompany a pre-K group through the nightly activities, which made me the only male crew leader of the youngest set. That, of course, made me a magnet for the most hyperactive boys searching for a father figure.

A night of VBS consists of an opening act where you sing some of the most mind-numbing songs (and "songs" is really a stretch since a better description would be "singing a chorus 10 to 12 times with a bridge tossed in if you're lucky"), craft time, bible story time, snack, craft, a section of a poorly produced 5-part movie (since something needs to keep these kids attention while they wait for Google+ to emerge from beta testing), and Rowdy Wrap-up, which is the same songs sung yet again. Needless to say, I woke up all week singing these choruses to the point where I was excited when Anne Murray's "Shadows in the Moonlight" was in my head Saturday morning.

This year's theme was Pandamania, which has about as much Biblical relevance as ice skating or a 3-foot tall, talking chipmunk, but we'll get to that later. I'm thinking the theme was dreamed up during the winter with an eye on the opening of Kung Fu Panda 2 Memorial Day weekend, fully expecting that Jack Black's form of crude humor would dominate the summer. Alas, that was not to be and we were left with a weird Asain theme and a play off the word pandemonium.

The curriculum connects a Bible story for each day, some of which work extremely well, like the stomach of a whale which was constructed out of large, black plastic sheets and inflated with two box fans. Others, missed the mark like the game Shark Attack the pre-K kids played where each child placed their legs under a parachute while a "shark" arbitrarily pulled the unsuspecting participants under. Within about 15 seconds the kids realized that they didn't want their legs anywhere under the parachute. Somehow that was supposed to teach us about Hannah. The closest I could come was perhaps the shark represented the temple priest who accused Hannah of being drunk. I wonder if drunk praying was the Biblical times version of drunk texting and the Levitical priests got tired of God honoring the incoherent prayers of the drunken yeshiva kids who came to the temple late at night. Anyway, we ended up playing Simon Says and Red Light, Green Light so I'm not sure the lesson landed.

Another staple of VBS is letting the kids all yell some phrase any time point of the day is spoken which is oddly similar to the word of the day on Pee-Wee's Playhouse with mobs of kids all screaming because everyone else is. I like to make a game out of this by finding the times when the daily phrase, such as "God watches over us" is said in mid-sentence when they aren't looking for the typical response. Especially humorous is interjecting a boisterous "Thank you, God!" during dialog in the 5-part movie which stars a 3-foot tall chipmunk named Chadder. SPOILER ALERT: The Pandamania version of Chadder's mystery series takes him to a panda preserve where all the pandas go missing and while helping he ends up getting spray painted white and placing his paws in black paint before wiping his eyes with said painted paws. The inspector loses his glasses and thinks Chadder is a talking panda until Chadder gets cleaned up and tells the truth. The culprit is the pink-clad daughter who can't stand pandas so much that she hides them in her room where we get to see the 5 worst CGI pandas in the history of moving pictures. They'd have been better off photoshopping in five pandas from a zoo. Just dreadful.

The highlights of the week were the unpredictable answers which the pre-K kids gave to serious questions asked by station leaders. On the first day, during Chadder's Theater with the day's theme being creation, my Micah was asked what his favorite animal was. His answer? Racecar. And why not?!? You think a cheetah's fast? See what 750 ponies under the hood can do! Later in the week, when asked during Bible Adventures what he wanted to be when he grew up, Micah emphatically answered, "Car." There's a kid who won't put God in a box!

Anyway, the week ended without any major incidents and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves, so I think it was a success. And I was able to escape the repetitive choruses which haunted my subconscious last week. That is, until yesterday's morning service where they invited the kids forward to sing a few of their tunes and thus I woke up this morning with those same refrains echoing through my brain. Time to turn on Pandora and hope for the best...

--30 -- (COPYRIGHT 2011 BY PETER MCCLAIN)

Thanks for sharing, Pete. Don't keep us waiting so long for your next column.

Books: "The Hypnotist: -- Wait For It -- Mesmerizes

THE HYPNOTIST By Lars Kepler ** 1/2 out of ****
$27 hardcover; 512 pages
Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux

This new mystery thriller comes from a husband and wife team based in Sweden, so naturally it's being compared to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. But this is really an international book written for an international audience. It's movie ready with short chapters, vivid characters and enough twists and turns to keep pages turning.

Many mysteries feature damaged heroes but what may give this debut novel by the pseudonym Lars Kepler its own flair is the fact that virtually every character is deeply damaged in one way or another. Our hero is Detective Joona Linna. He's haunted by a tragic car accident and now simply cannot, will not rest until a case is solved. Linna also suffers from blinding headaches but when a case is on he skips his meds and lets the pain mount and mount so nothing distracts from the task at hand. He's so single-minded that Linna often leaves his glamorous girlfriend alone.

Linna is dragged into solving an horrific crime in which almost an entire family is brutally murdered but a 15 year old boy survives with hundreds of stab wounds. Time is running out because the boy's sister may be in danger and can't be found, but the boy is is barely capable of being questioned in the normal way. So Linna calls in...The Hypnotist.

That would be Dr. Erik Maria Bark. He swore never to use hypnosis again after some tragic event that haunts him. (Rest assured, we'll hear about it in detail.) Bark is addicted to painkillers and not sleeping with his beautiful wife, who hasn't forgiven him for a brief affair many years earlier. Their son is also wounded in a way: he suffers from a rare blood disease that means he must get weekly injections and can still die if jostled around too casually. The boy is finally dating a goth girl, who seems to be trying to pull away from a gang of aimless youth that terrorize the kids in their neighborhood. But are his parent too protective to let him have any fun?

When Bark is reluctantly pressured into using hypnosis in this crisis situation, you won't be surprised to hear it all spirals out of control. The madman who attacked that family is revealed and on the hunt. The missing sister is found but never feels safe. Bark's use of hypnosis makes national news and Amnesty International weighs in on his barbaric tactics. And then the hypnotist's son is kidnapped and any one of several terrifying suspects could be responsible. Soon we're plunged back into the past and Bark's controversial group hypnosis therapy sessions. He brought together all sorts of damaged souls, one of whom may be targeting him now for the sins of the past.

It's all pretty entertaining stuff, though regular readers of mysteries won't be thrown off by the red herrings. Mind you, herring served at a Christmas party and unusual street names are the only clues that this is set in Sweden. Either world culture is becoming unified or this book is geared towards a world audience. Certainly disaffected teens and psychopaths are the same the world over. A few missteps are soon brushed aside. (Early on, when a psycho has vowed to kill Dr. Bark and/or his family, wouldn't the cops simply go to Bark's home rather than just leave some frantic phone messages and leave it at that?) It's lean, amiable beach reading with Linna not quite center stage (much of the book is devoted to Bark and others) but an interesting character nonetheless. He has one annoyingly endearing quirk: Linna is always right and when he's doubted and proven right, he feels compelled to make his coworkers admit he was right and then says, "I told you so."

When this book becomes a bestseller and we get a sequel, just take it for granted that I'm thinking the same thing: I was right and I told you so.

*****
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.  Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.

NOTE: Michael Giltz was provided with a free copy of this book in galley and final form. He receives far more books than he can cover and does not guarantee to review or write about any particular one.

Books: David McCullough's Latest Tackles Americans In Paris

THE GREATER JOURNEY: AMERICANS IN PARIS BY DAVID MCCULLOUGH *** out of ****
$37.50 hardcover; SIMON & SCHUSTER

In 1831, Samuel Morse returned to Paris to begin what he believed would be the crowning achievement of his life. Not the telegraph -- that would come later. Morse went straight to the Louvre to begin a painting. One decade earlier he had produced House Of Representatives, a grand scale work that depicted the seat of American democracy and featured some 80 people of note within it. It was very typical of a certain type of "ambitious" art that would eventually fall out of favor.

This new work was in the same vein but even bolder. At the very least, it was bigger, measuring 6 feet by 9 feet -- if size meant anything at all to an American, why wouldn't it? The subject was the Louvre itself: Morse would capture a great hall of the famed museum and include 38 of his favorites works, including Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Morse's great friend, the writer James Fennimore Cooper, could barely keep himself away and returned day after day to chart the painter's progress.

This style of painting -- one piece containing many smaller but bravura works or portraits within it -- is exactly the model for author and historian David McCullough's new book The Greater Journey: Americans In Paris. McCullough looks at the many artists, scientists, people of medicine and thinkers who made the voyage back across the Atlantic to find inspiration and knowledge in the City of Lights from roughly 1830 to the end of the century.




The Paris of the 1920s -- when Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald romanticized the life of the expat -- seems almost a backwater when compared to the flood of people that came there during these six decades.

• Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. relished his medical studies in Paris while McCullough deftly displays both how Paris was the center of medical knowledge at that time and how the Americans who studied there would revolutionize care when they returned to the U.S.




• Painter Mary Cassatt wasn't exactly embraced by Paris; women had a tough row to hoe there as much as they would in the U.S. But Cassatt found admirers of her work (not, sadly, including her own family) and would return at a low point and find her greatest inspiration with Degas and the Impressionists.




• The son of an immigrant cobbler, Augustus Saint-Gaudens came to Paris at the age of 19 and worked his way up from crafting cameos to major commissions as a sculptor.




• Charles Sumner came to study medicine but got his real education in race relations. He was astonished to see black students working alongside white ones and it came like a revelation to him that the bigoted attitude towards blacks in America was not the order of things but simply dumb ignorance. Sumner would prove an ardent abolitionist and be nearly beaten to death on the floor of the Senate over his denunciation of slavery.


The stories keep coming, almost to their detriment. After a while, the tale of an American coming to Paris, falling in love with the city, finding themselves artistically or philosophically and moving on to great success does begin to blur a bit. In fact, The Great Journey does not have the compelling through-line of most of McCullough's major works, like The Path Between The Seas (about the building of the Panama Canal) or his biographies (Truman, John Adams).

But the spine that keeps you moving forward is McCullough's pocket history of Paris during one of its most remarkable and bloody eras. He sketches the Franco-Prussian war (in which McCullough shines with his depiction of American Ambassador Elihu Washburne and the man's steady and sober presence that saved many lives) to the horrors of the Commune.

McCullough might have focused just on "The Medicals," as he calls the many Americans who traveled to Paris for a proper education in medicine, returning the favor with their assistance during some of the bloodletting that century would feature. Their tales are some of the freshest and most unusual to be found here. But the book is bursting with such fascinating side-paths, and it would be churlish to call it over-stuffed with diversions. And yet, the stories do begin to lose their impact with so many of them being so similar in their broad outlines.

Like Morse's The Gallery Of The Louvre, McCullough fills his new book with deft mini-portraits of numerous figures and gives them the dramatic history of Paris during the 1800s as a canvas. The Greater Journey may not reach the greatness of his best, more focused works. But it will satisfy his fans and send the curious off into a dozen directions to learn more about these people. And, if they're lucky, on a pilgrimage to Paris.




*****
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.  Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.

NOTE: Michael Giltz was provided with a free copy of this book in galley and final form. He receives far more books than he can cover and does not guarantee to review or write about any particular one.

Books: "Berlin 1961 -- The Most Dangerous Place On Earth"

BERLIN 1961: KENNEDY, KRUSCHEV AND THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE ON EARTH ($29.95; GP Putnam's Sons) *** 1/2 out of ****
BY FREDERICK KEMPE

In 1961, the United States and the Soviet Union -- allies together during World War II -- faced off militarily for the first time over the fate of Berlin. The young John F. Kennedy (reeling from the Bay of Pigs) and the peasant turned politician Nikita Kruschev (who kept one eye on opponents in the Politburo and another on China) knew that Berlin was crucial.

If the US couldn't hold fast here, the countries that depended on it for protection from the ever-growing communist empire would lose faith. If the Soviet Union couldn't stop the bleeding (all of the best and brightest in East Germany were fleeing to the more vibrant West Germany literally by the thousands each and every day) then the ability to keep the Eastern bloc stable and secure was threatened. Even the USSR itself might not last if countries like Poland and Germany and Hungary began to peel off one by one.

Literally everything was at stake in Berlin, including the prospect of nuclear war. The US didn't have nearly enough troops to match the boots on the ground that the Russians deployed in East Germany. And now that the Soviets could boast of their own nuclear capability, Kruschev was certain Kennedy would never risk a nuclear winter just to keep Berlin free and open. Kennedy was just as certain he had to convince Kruschev the US would use nuclear weapons or the only way to keep the Soviets at bay would be to literally launch Armageddon.

This tense turning point of the Cold War is captured effectively with Frederick Kempe's page-turning book, a solid work of popular history that should be one of the breakout titles of the year. First and foremost, Kempe dives into his rich narrative that plots the back and forth between the superpowers month to month and day to day. Quick, vivid sketches of the state of the mind of the two world leaders are interspersed with dramatic details of the men and women caught up in history.

Kempe shows us the nervous young student who takes a risk and smuggles a passport into East Germany so a friend can escape; the old woman who dangles from a window towards freedom because her front door opens onto East Germany but her back window looks out to the West; and the tragic people caught on the wrong side when the Berlin Wall is thrown up overnight, the ones who realize they planned to leave one day too late.

We also get the secret backdoor channel that went from a mid-level Soviet spy to Bobby Kennedy and the loose cannon of a US general who knows the commies won't back down until you punch them in the nose and he's just the guy to do it.

Kempe's analysis draws on reams of material and solidly places the decisions of Kennedy and Kruschev in convincing context. Kennedy struggled to prove to Kruschev that he was hard-nosed. But no matter how often Kennedy said Berlin was of vital importance, Kruschev refused to believe it could be that important to them. That meant they edged closer and closer to the brink. Still, from the context of today, Kennedy's take on events seem reasonable and balanced from the start.

He was famously overshadowed by Kruschev at a summit meeting that led into the Berlin crisis. Aides were aghast to hear all the concessions Kennedy blithely offered up. But in fact, everything Kennedy said and the stance he took became the de facto US position throughout the Cold War. Kennedy repeatedly made clear the US wouldn't interfere with whatever the Soviet Union did in East Germany. He acknowledged the facts on the ground of Eastern Europe and accepted it as a fait accompli. Kennedy knew the people of the US weren't remotely ready to go to war over unifying Germany, the country they had just defeated after it launched a world war. And Kennedy was right.

Kempe details the almost miraculous feat of East Germany throwing up a barrier overnight throughout the entire city of Berlin, a barrier that would soon become the Berlin Wall. It's a remarkable moment bursting with tragedy and small moments of grace. As callous as it may seem, Kennedy was relieved by its appearance. He knew the Soviets had to stop the flow of refugees that were soon going to cripple East Germany for good and threatened its entire bloc. If the USSR hadn't allowed the wall, war might very well have come about.

This doomed East Germany and indeed the Eastern bloc to decades of Soviet control. But it also stabilized a dangerous military showdown. Kennedy also knew it symbolized defeat for the totalitarian regime of communism. Any country that must wall in its own citizens and threaten to shoot them if they try to leave is doomed to fail. Thirty years might seem a long time to wait for that to happen, but in historic terms it's a blink of the eye. Kennedy was right.

Kempe captures this dramatic moment with skill and verve, showing how the Berlin crisis arose out of the turmoil of recent months and why it led to the white knuckle events of the Cuban missile crisis soon thereafter. Entertaining and insightful, Berlin 1961 offers all the pleasures of John Le Carre with the added frisson that the dangers were all too real and the stakes never higher.



*****
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.  Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.

The IRAs 2011 -- "A Prophet," "I Am Love" and "Carlos" Top Winners!

THE 36TH ANNUAL IRA FILM AWARDS
The IRA Film Awards are the most prestigious, mysterious and exclusive movie awards in the world. Long after the frenzy of "awards season" has passed, the members of the IRAs meet to soberly discuss, debate, argue, bicker, fight, and mock each other as they decide what truly are the best films, performances and technical achievements of the previous year. They also shine a light on some of the worst achievements in cinema.

The IRAs were founded in the 1970s with one very simple thought: we've got better taste than those other award shows; let's do our own. And thus the IRAs were born. Its ranks have contained future Oscar winners, acclaimed and best-selling authors of both fiction and nonfiction (especially movie history), power players in the studio system, influential members of the media, hardcore cineastes and the team behind Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards, the most acclaimed (really, the ONLY acclaimed) awards book in history and the template for all the ones that followed in its wake. Usually composed of 10-20 members, the IRAs spend their year watching and debating the movies that really matter, the ones they hope will last and then share their judgment with the rest of the world. The "kids" -- younger members who joined in the 90s and the noughts -- have brought a new-found appreciation for animation and genres like sci-fi. The veterans remain loyal to stalwarts like Alain Resnais and the late, lamented Blake Edwards.

After decades, it's only natural the IRAs mellow as an institution. Members have been born since the IRAs began; others have died. Many see each other only once a year on awards night when the winners are selected. The debate has softened from rancorous and bitter to witty and pointed. Eventually, someone's opinion on film becomes so familiar to you that instead of anger you feel amusement. That was certainly the case this year. References to everything from Toy Story 3 to Wild Grass to Inception and A Prophet brought scorn from some, but it was a scorn more focused on scoring points with a witty rejoinder than the acrimonious debates that once ended friendships over the work of Blake Edwards or Brian DePalma. A love of movies always comes first.

Let's put it this way. One of the door prizes was a Criterion Collection DVD of Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Circle Rouge. To win the prize, three people were vying to be the first to name one of the best films of the 1990s as cited on an IRA member's list. One person immediately won by shouting out "L.A. Confidential!" But another competitor was clearly still thinking hard about his answer. When told he'd already lost, he said distractedly, "Well, I was going to start by telling you MY favorite film from the 1990s, which is Krzysztof Kieslowski's Red...." Even when a prize is at stake, voicing your opinion on the movies that matter always comes first.

Four films dominated every single award, so you'll find it easy to check out the taste of the IRAs this year. But after the winners, we'll show the entire winning ballots so you can see the range of films that were favored by at least some factions. You'll discover 29 movies well worth your time, for one reason or another. According to some of us. (Others may vehemently disagree.) After that, you'll find a list of all the award winners in IRA history from 1975 to the present. So without further ado, this year's top winners are...

2010 IRA Film Award WinnersBest Picture: A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Director: Jacques Audiard - A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Actor: Edgar Ramirez - Carlos
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton - I Am Love
Best Supporting Actor: Niels Arestrup - A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Supporting Actress: Dale Dickey - Winter's Bone
Best Screenplay: Thomas Bidegain and Jacques Audiard - A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Cinematography: Yorick Le Saux - I Am Love
Best Production Design: Francesca Balestra Di Mottola - I Am Love
Best Music: John Adams - I Am Love
Best Costumes: Antonella Cannarozzi - I Am Love
Sominex: Cairo Time
Dramamine: Black Swan
Mechanical Actor: Vincent Cassel for Black Swan
Mechanical Actress: Natalie Portman for Black Swan
The Governor Scott Walker Award For Achievement In Political Thuggery: Waiting For "Superman"


FILMS CITED BY THE IRAS FOR 2010 IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
Alice In Wonderland (1 mention)
Anton Chekhov's The Duel (1 mention)
Carlos (8 mentions)
Dogtooth (1 mention)
Eccentricities Of A Blonde-haired Girl (4 mentions)
Everyone Else (2 mentions)
The Fighter (1 mention)
The Ghost Writer (5 mentions)
Hadewijch (1 mention)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2 mentions)
Howl (1 mention)
I Am Love (6 mention)
I Love You, Philip Morris (1 mention)
The Kids Are All Right (1 mention)
The King's Speech (3 mentions)
Night Catches Us (1 mention)
Nora's Will (1 mention)
127 Hours (1 mention)
Please Give (2 mentions)
A Prophet/Un Prophete (7 mentions)
Secret Sunshine (2 mentions)
Shutter Island (1 mention)
The Social Network (3 mentions)
The Strange Case Of Angelica (4 mentions)
The Town (1 mention)
Toy Story 3 (1 mention)
Vincere (6 mentions)
White Material (5 mentions)
Winter's Bone (5 mentions)

FILMS CITED BY THE IRAS FOR 2010 IN ORDER OF MENTIONS
Carlos (8 mentions)
A Prophet/Un Prophete (7 mentions)
I Am Love (6 mention)
Vincere (6 mentions)
The Ghost Writer (5 mentions)
White Material (5 mentions)
Winter's Bone (5 mentions)
Eccentricities Of A Blonde-haired Girl (4 mentions)
The Strange Case Of Angelica (4 mentions)
The King's Speech (3 mentions)
The Social Network (3 mentions)
Everyone Else (2 mentions)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2 mentions)
Please Give (2 mentions)
Secret Sunshine (2 mentions)
Alice In Wonderland (1 mention)
Anton Chekhov's The Duel (1 mention)
Dogtooth (1 mention)
The Fighter (1 mention)
Hadewijch (1 mention)
Howl (1 mention)
I Love You, Philip Morris (1 mention)
The Kids Are All Right (1 mention)
Night Catches Us (1 mention)
Nora's Will (1 mention)
127 Hours (1 mention)
Shutter Island (1 mention)
The Town (1 mention)
Toy Story 3 (1 mention)



THE COMPLETE BALLOTS IN ORDER OF VOTING

BEST COSTUMES
1. Antonella Cannarozzi - I Am Love 39 pts.
2. Francois Clavel - Carlos 23 pts.
3. Adelaide Maria Trepa - Eccentricities Of A Blonde-haired Girl
The Strange Case Of Angelica 14 pts. for her work on both films
4. Sergio Ballo - Vincere
Anton Chekhov's The Duel 9 pts for his work on both films
5. Jenny Beavan - The King's Speech (tie)
Maren Reese - Night Catches Us (tie)
Virginie Montel - A Prophet/Un Prophete (tie) 6 pts. each

By acclamation, Antonella Cannarozzi won Best Costumes for her work on I Am Love. She received six out of 10 possible votes for first place. When this occurs, a vote is taken whether to accept it as the top winner by acclamation or reject it completely from the ballot. I Am Love was declared the winner. Balloting continued just to clarify other films that were appreciated this year. When someone is honored for their work on multiple films, all films are cited in alphabetical order unless a consensus emerges to eliminate one or more particular films from the honor roll.

BEST MUSIC
1. John Adams - I Am Love 44 pts.
2. Alexandre Desplat - The Ghost Writer
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
The King's Speech
A Prophet/Un Prophete 21 pts. for his work on all four films
3. Carlo Crivelli - Vincere 13 pts.
4. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - The Social Network 12 pts.
5. Stuart Staples/Tindersticks - White Material 10 pts.

By acclamation, John Adams won Best Music for his work on I Am Love. He received seven out of 10 possible votes for first place. I Am Love was declared the winner. Balloting continued just to clarify other films that were appreciated this year.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
1. Francesca Balestra Di Mottola - I Am Love 30 pts.
2. Dante Ferretti - Shutter Island 18 pts.
3. Marco Dentici - Vincere 14 pts.
4. Albrecht Konrad - The Ghost Writer (tie)
Francois-Renaud Labarthe - Carlos (tie)
Mark White - Please Give (tie)
Winter's Bone (tie) 11 pts. each

Here you have a three-way tie for fourth place, with Konrad honored for his work on Roman Polanksi's The Ghost Writer, Labarthe for his work on Carlos and Mark White for his work on two films, Please Give and Winter's Bone.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
1. Yorick Le Saux - I Am Love 27 pts.
2. Yves Cape - White Material
Hadewijch 15 pts. for his work on both films
3. Yorick Le Saux and Denis Lenoir - Carlos 14 pts.
5. Daniele Cipri - Vincere (tie)
Sabine Lancelin - Eccentricities Of A Blonde-haired Girl
The Strange Case Of Angelica (tie) 12 pts. each

This was a contentious award. Carlos was originally a miniseries but shown at the Cannes Film Festival and theaters around the world as one lengthy five hour film. Yorick Le Saux worked on the miniseries along with Denis Lenoir. Le Saux also worked on I Am Love, one of the most ravishing films of the year on a technical level. Some felt that Le Saux should have received the top award for his work on both films. But since he shared credit on Carlos, that had to be treated separately from his work on I Am Love.

BEST SCREENPLAY
1. Thomas Bidegain and Jacques Audiard - A Prophet/Un Prophete 27 pts.
2. Olivier Assayas and Dan Franck and Daniel Leconte - Carlos (tie)
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini - Winter's Bone (tie) 13 pts. each
3. John Requa & Glenn Ficarra - I Love You, Philip Morris 10 pts.
4. Maren Ade - Everyone Else (tie)
Michael Arndt - Toy Story 3 (tie)
Robert Harris and Roman Polanski - The Ghost Writer (tie)
Manoel de Oliveira - Eccentricities Of A Blonde-haired Girl (tie) 8 pts. each

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1. Dale Dickey - Winter's Bone 20 pts.
2. Maria Paiato - I Am Love 15 pts.
3. Aggeliki Papoulia - Dogtooth (tie)
Nora Van Waldstatten - Carlos (tie) 13 pts. each
5. Helena Bonham Carter - Alice In Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
The King's Speech (tie)
Ann Guilbert - Please Give (tie)
Olivia Williams - The Ghost Writer (tie) 9 pts. each

Here again we have some ties. Two actresses tied at #3. And there's a three-way tie at #5. Helena Bonham Carter appeared in three films this year, but no consensus emerged on which films she deserved notice for. One loved her work in Alice but derided The King's Speech. Another loved The King's Speech but didn't see Alice. A third obstinately said her work in HP7P1 was her best. Thus, her appearance on the honor roll includes all three films.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Niels Arestrup - A Prophet/Un Prophete 27 pts.
2. Pierce Brosnan - The Ghost Writer 21 pts.
3. Jeremy Renner - The Town 14 pts.
4. John Hawkes - Winter's Bone 11 pts.
5. Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right (tie)
Kang-ho Song - Secret Sunshine (tie) 7 pts. each

BEST ACTRESS
1. Tilda Swinton - I Am Love 22 pts.
2. Isabelle Huppert - White Material (tie)
Do-yeon Jeon - Secret Sunshine (tie) 21 pts. each
4. Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone 15 pts.
5. Birgit Minichmyar - Everyone Else 12 pts.

BEST ACTOR
1. Edgar Ramirez - Carlos 25 pts.
2. Tahar Rahim - A Prophet/Un Prophete 21 pts.
3. Mark Wahlberg - The Fighter 14 pts.
4. Fernando Lujan - Nora's Will 11 pts.
5. Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network (tie)
James Franco - Howl
127 Hours (tie) 10 pts. each

BEST DIRECTOR
1. Jacques Audiard - A Prophet/Un Prophete 24 pts.
2. Olivier Assayas - Carlos 21 pts.
3. Manoel de Oliveira - Eccentricities Of A Blonde-haired Girl
The Strange Case Of Angelica 17 pts.
4. Claire Denis - White Material 16 pts.
5. Marco Bellocchio - Vincere (tie)
David Fincher - The Social Network (tie) 9 pts. each


BEST PICTURE
1. A Prophet/Un Prophete 23 pts.
2. White Material 17 pts.
3. Carlos 16 pts.
4. The Strange Case Of Angelica 13 pts.
5. Vincere 10 pts.

SOMINEX AWARD (THE FILMS THAT PUT US TO SLEEP)
1. Cairo Time 18 pts.
2. Eat Pray Love (tie)
Salt (tie) 12 pts. each
4. Inception 10 pts.
5. Hadewijch 9 pts.

DRAMAMINE AWARD (THE FILMS THAT MADE US SICK)
1. Black Swan 35 pts.
2. Waiting For "Superman" 24 pts.
3. Eat Pray Love 10 pts.
4. Blue Valentine 9 pts.
5. Biutiful 5 pts.

Black Swan was easily the most disliked notable film of 2010, winning three of four of the negative awards. But special notice was taken of Waiting For "Superman" by the IRA crowd, which leans strongly left in its politics. Because they saw the film as a screed against teachers' unions (the film paints unions as virtually the reason public schools are failing; teachers' unions are the major, indeed the only villain), IRA members found it strange the movie was embraced by liberal Hollywood and felt it needed to be singled out. They awarded the film a rare, special citation, as follows:

THE GOVERNOR SCOTT WALKER AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN POLITICAL THUGGERY JURY CITATION GOES TO WAITING FOR "SUPERMAN."

MECHANICAL ACTRESS
1. Natalie Portman - Black Swan 39 pts.
2. Patricia Clarkson - Cairo Time 14 pts.
3. Angelina Jolie - Salt and The Tourist 13 pts.
4. Mia Wajikowska - Alice in Wonderland and The Kids Are All Right 8 pts.
5. Sabine Azema - Wild Grass (tie)
Julia Roberts - Eat Pray Love (tie) 7 pts. each

MECHANICAL ACTOR
1. Vincent Cassel - Black Swan 12 pts.
2. Jaden Smith - The Karate Kid 10 pts.
3. Shia LaBeouf - Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps 9 pts.
4. Sean Penn - Fair Game 8 pts.
5. Jonah Hill - Cyrus 7 pts.

THE COMPLETE IRA MOVIE AWARD WINNERS:

1975 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Barry Lyndon
Best Director: Claude Chabrol for La Rupture and Just Before Nightfall
Best Actor: Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
Best Actress: Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Best Supporting Actor: François Perrier in Just Before Nightfall
Best Supporting Actress: Blythe Danner in Hearts Of The West
Best Screenplay: Tom Stoppard and Thomas Wiseman for The Romantic Englishwoman
Best Cinematography: John Alcott for Barry Lyndon



1976 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: (tie) Lipstick, and The Marquise Of O
Best Director: Eric Rohmer for The Marquise Of O
Best Actor: Sean Connery in Robin And Marian
Best Actress: Sissy Spacek in Carrie
Best Supporting Actor: Jason Robards in All The President’s Men
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Bancroft in Lipstick
Best Screenplay: Alain Tanner and John Berger for Jonah Who Will Be 25 In The Year 2000
Best Cinematography: Nestor Almendros for The Marquise Of O



1977 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Annie Hall
Best Director: Wim Wenders for The American Friend
Best Actor: John Gielgud in Providence
Best Actress: Dianne Keaton in Annie Hall and Looking For Mr. Goodbar
Best Supporting Actor: G. D. Spradlin in One On One
Best Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave in Julia
Best Screenplay: Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman for Annie Hall
Best Cinematography: Robby Müller for The American Friend


1978 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Days Of Heaven
Best Director: Terence Malick for Days Of Heaven
Best Actor: Jon Voight in Coming Home
Best Actress: Jane Fonda in Coming Home
Best Supporting Actor: Dom DeLuise in The End
Best Supporting Actress: Stephane Audran in Violette
Best Screenplay: Eric Rohmer for Perceval
Best Cinematography: Nestor Almendros for Days Of Heaven


1979 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Fedora
Best Director: Blake Edwards for 10
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood in Escape From Alcatraz
Best Actress: Hanna Schygulla in The Marriage Of Maria Braun
Best Supporting Actor: Denholm Elliott in Cuba and Saint Jack
Best Supporting Actress: Frances Sternhagen in Fedora and Starting Over
Best Screenplay: Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond for Fedora
Best Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto for Last Embrace and Remember My Name
Best Music: Miklos Rozsa for Fedora and Last Embrace
Best Production Design: Dean Edward Mitzner for 1941


1980 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Big Red One
Best Director: Sam Fuller for The Big Red One
Best Actor: Lee Marvin for The Big Red One
Best Actress: Jodie Foster for Carny and Foxes
Best Supporting Actor: (tie) Joe Pesci in Raging Bull and Harry Dean Stanton in The Black Marble, The Long Riders, Private Benjamin and Wise Blood
Best Supporting Actress: Pamela Reed in The Long Riders and Melvin And Howard
Best Screenplay: Sam Fuller for The Big Red One
Best Cinematography: Jordan Cronenweth for Altered States
Best Music: Dana Kaproff for The Big Red One
Best Production Design: Tambi Larsen for Heaven’s Gate


1981 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Cutter’s Way
Best Director: Ivan Passer for Cutter’s Way
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges in Cutter’s Way
Best Actress: Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Nicholson in Reds
Best Supporting Actress: Mona Washbouurne in Stevie
Best Screenplay: John Guare for Atlantic City
Best Cinematography: Jordan Cronenweth for Cutter’s Way
Best Music: Georges DeLerue for The Last Metro, Rich and Famous, True Confessions and The Woman Next Door
Best Production Design: Ken Adam for Pennies From Heaven
Best Costume Design: Shirley Russell for Reds


1982 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Victor/Victoria
Best Director: Blake Edwards for Victor/Victoria
Best Actor: Jack Lemmon in Missing
Best Actress: (tie) Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria and Jessica Lange in Frances
Best Supporting Actor: Robert Preston in Victor/Victoria
Best Supporting Actress: Lesley Ann Warren in Victor/Victoria
Best Screenplay: Blake Edwards for Victor/Victoria
Best Cinematography: Xaver Schwartzenberger for Lola and Veronika Voss
Best Music: Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse for Victor/Victoria
Best Production Design: Rodger Maus for Victor/Victoria
Best Costume Design: Patricia Norris for Victor/Victoria

1983 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Berlin Alexanderplatz
Best Director: Andrzej Wajda for Danton
Best Actor: Eric Roberts for Star ’80
Best Actress: Shirley MacLaine for Terms Of Endearment
Best Supporting Actor: Jerry Lewis for The King Of Comedy
Best Supporting Actress: Jamie Lee Curtis for Trading Places
Best Screenplay: Bill Forsyth for Local Hero
Best Cinematography: Sven Nykvist for Star ’80
Best Music: Peer Raben for Berlin Alexanderplatz
Best Production Design: Fernando Scarfiotti for Scarface
Best Costume Design: Yvonne Sassinot DeNestle for Danton


1984 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: (tie) L’Argent and Once Upon A Time In America
Best Director: Sergio Leone for Once Upon A Time In America
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood in Tightrope
Best Actress: Helen Mirren in Cal
Best Supporting Actor: Jean-Luc Godard in First Name: Carmen
Best Supporting Actress: Christine Lahti in Swing Shift
Best Screenplay: Franco Arcalli, Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi, Franco Ferrini, Sergio Leone, Enrico Medioli for Once Upon A Time In America
Best Cinematography: Robby Müller for Paris Texas and Repo Man
Best Music: Ennio Morricone for Once Upon A Time In America
Best Production Design: James Singelis for Once Upon A Time In America
Best Costume Design: Mic Cheminal for Entre Nous


1985 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Prizzi’s Honor
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for After Hours
Best Actor: Jack Nicholson in Prizzi’s Honor
Best Actress: Mia Farrow in The Purple Rose Of Cairo
Best Supporting Actor: William Hickey in Prizzi’s Honor
Best Supporting Actress: Anjelica Huston in Prizzi’s Honor
Best Screenplay: Joseph Minion for After Hours
Best Cinematography: Andrzej Bartkowiak for Prizzi’s Honor
Best Music: Brian Gascoigne and Junior Hamrich for The Emerald Forest
Best Production Design: Jeffrey Townsend for After Hours
Best Costume Design: Ann Roth for The Jagged Edge and Sweet Dreams


1986 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Eyes On The Prize
Best Director: David Lynch for Blue Velvet
Best Actor: (tie) Daniel Day-Lewis in My Beautiful Laundrette and Jeff Goldblum in The Fly
Best Actress: Laura Dern in Smooth Talk
Best Supporting Actor: Steve Buscemi in Parting Glances
Best Supporting Actress: Mary Stuart Masterson in At Close Range
Best Screenplay: Hanif Kureishi for My Beautiful Laundrette
Best Cinematography: Frederick Elmes for Blue Velvet
Best Music: (tie) George Delerue for Platoon and Herbie Hancock for Round Midnight
Best Production Design: Patricia Norris for Blue Velvet
Best Costume Design: Jenny Beaven and John Bright for A Room With A View



1987 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Housekeeping
Best Director: Bill Forsyth for Housekeeping
Best Actor: Gary Oldman in Prick Up Your Ears
Best Actress: Christine Lahti in Housekeeping
Best Supporting Actor: John Mahoney in Moonstruck and Tin Men
Best Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave in Prick Up Your Ears
Best Screenplay: Bill Forsyth for Housekeeping
Best Cinematography: Phillippe Rousselot for Hope And Glory
Best Music: David Byrne, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su for The Last Emperor
Best Production Design: Santo Loquasto for Radio Days
Best Costume Design: Mary-Jane Reyner for Housekeeping


1988 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Dead Ringers
Best Director: David Cronenberg for Dead Ringers
Best Actor: Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers
Best Actress: Jodie Foster in The Accused
Best Supporting Actor: Divine in Hairspray
Best Supporting Actress: Claudia Karvan in High Tide
Best Screenplay: Christopher Hampton for Dangerous Liaisons
Best Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro for Tucker: The Man And His Dream
Best Music: George Fenton for Dangerous Liaisons
Best Production Design: Dean Tavoularis for Tucker: The Man And His Dream
Best Costume Design: Van Smith for Hairspray


1989 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Story Of Women
Best Director: Claude Chabrol for Story
Of Women
Best Actor: John Hurt in Scandal
Best Actress: Isabelle Huppert in Story Of Women
Best Supporting Actor: Ethan Hawke in Dad and Dead Poets Society
Best Supporting Actress: Anjelica Huston in Enemies: A Love Story
Best Screenplay: Blake Edwards for Skin Deep
Best Cinematography: Jeff Preiss for Let’s Get Lost
Best Music: Michael Kamen for The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti for The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
Best Costume Design: Jane Robinson for Scandal


1990 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: GoodFellas
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for GoodFellas
Best Actor: Michel Blanc in Monsieur Hire
Best Actress: Anjelica Huston in The Grifters
Best Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci in GoodFellas
Best Supporting Actress: Lorraine Bracco in GoodFellas
Best Screenplay: Craig Lucas for Longtime Companion
Best Cinematography: Oliver Stapleton for The Grifters
Best Music: Elmer Bernstein for The Grifters
Best Production Design: Dennis Gassner for The Grifters
Best Costume Design: Richard Bruno for The Grifters


1991 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Man In The Moon
Best Director: Robert Mulligan for The Man In The Moon
Best Actor: River Phoenix in Dogfight and My Own Private Idaho
Best Actress: Judy Davis in Barton Fink, Impromptu, and Naked Lunch
Best Supporting Actor: Harvey Keitel in Bugsy, Mortal Thoughts, and Thelma & Louise
Best Supporting Actress: Juliette Lewis in Cape Fear
Best Screenplay: Michael Tolkin for The Rapture
Best Cinematography: Freddie Francis for Cape Fear and The Man In The Moon
Best Music: Ennio Morricone for Bugsy
Best Production Design: Dennis Gassner for Barton Fink and Bugsy
Best Costume Design: Albert Wolsky for Bugsy


1992 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Raise The Red Lantern
Best Director: Robert Altman for The Player
Best Actor: Tim Robbins in Bob Roberts and The Player
Best Actress: Emma Thompson in Howards End
Best Supporting Actor: Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game
Best Supporting Actress: Judy Davis in Husbands And Wives
Best Screenplay: Michael Tolkin for The Player
Best Cinematography: Zhao Fei and Lun Yang for Raise The Red Lantern
Best Music: Lenny Niehaus for Unforgiven
Best Production Design: Marc Caro for Delicatessen
Best Costume Design: Alexander Julien for The Player
Sominex Award: A Few Good Men
Dramamine Award: Basic Instinct
Mechanical Actor: Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct
Mechanical Actress: ****


1993 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Six Degrees Of Separation
Best Director: Nancy Savoca for Household Saints
Best Actor: Dennis Quaid in Flesh And Bone
Best Actress: Stockard Channing in Six Degrees Of Separation
Best Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio in A Boy’s Life and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
Best Supporting Actress: Regina Tourney in Like Water For Chocolate
Best Screenplay: Mike Leigh for Naked
Best Cinematography: Michael Balhaus for The Age Of Innocence
Best Music: Elmer Bernstein for The Age Of Innocence and The Cemetery Club
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti for The Age Of Innocence
Best Costume Design: Gabriella Pescucci for The Age Of Innocence
Sominex Award: Heaven And Earth
Dramamine Award: Falling Down
Mechanical Actor: Richard Gere in Sommersby
Mechanical Actress: Madonna in Body Of Evidence

1994 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Red
Best Director: Krzyzstof Kieslowski for Red and White
Best Actor: Terence Stamp in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Best Actress: Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale in Little Women
Best Supporting Actress: Kristin Scott Thomas in Four Weddings and a Funeral
Best Screenplay: Steve Baranczek for The Last Seduction
Best Cinematography: Stephen Czapsky for Ed Wood
Best Music: Zbigniew Preissner for Red and White
Best Production Design: Dennis Gastner for The Hudsucker Proxy
Best Costume Design: Lizzie Gardiner and Tim Chappel for Priscilla, Queen of The Desert
Sominex Award: Wyatt Earp

1995 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Exotica
Best Director: Terry Zwigoff for Crumb
Best Actor: John Travolta in Get Shorty
Best Actress: (A three-way tie) Mia Kershner in Exotica; Alicia Silverstone in Clueless; Nicole Kidman in To Die For
Best Supporting Actor: Tim Roth in Rob Roy
Best Supporting Actress: Mare Winningham in Georgia
Best Screenplay: (tie) Atom Egoyan for Exotica and Buck Henry for To Die For
Best Cinematography: Newton Thomas Sigel for The Usual Suspects
Best Music: John Ottman for The Usual Suspects
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti for Casino
Best Costumes: Mona May for Clueless
Sominex Award: The Brothers McMullen
Dramamine Award: Braveheart
Mechanical Actor: Dennis Miller in The Net and the cast of The Brothers McMullen
Mechanical Actress: Annette Bening in The American President


1996 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: La Ceremonie
Best Director: Claude Chabrol for La Ceremonie
Best Actor: Ewen McGregor in Trainspotting
Best Actress: (tie) Kristin Scott Thomas in The English Patient and Emily Watson in Breaking The Waves
Best Supporting Actor: Ian Holm in Big Night
Best Supporting Actress: Mary Kay Place in Citizen Ruth and Manny & Lo
Best Screenplay: John Sayles for Lone Star
Best Cinematography: (tie) Darius Khondji for Stealing Beauty and Oliver Stapleton for Kansas City
Best Music: Tiffany Anders, Burt Bacharach, David Baerwald, Carole Bayer Sager, Ed Berghoff, Elvis Costello, Gerry Goffin, Louise Goffin, Tonio K, Larry Klein, J. Mascis, Joni Mitchell, Boyd Rice, David A. Stewart, and J. Mayo Williams for Grace Of My Heart
Best Production Design: Harley Jessup for James And The Giant Peach
Best Costume Design: Dona Granata for Kansas City
Sominex Award: The English Patient
Dramamine Award: A Time To Kill
Mechanical Actor: All the men in She’s The One
Mechanical Actress: Maxine Bahns in She’s The One


1997 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: (tie) Crash and Grosse Pointe Blank
Best Director: David Cronenberg for Crash
Best Actor: John Cusack for Grosse Pointe Blank
Best Actress: Julie Christie in Afterglow
Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Spacey in L. A. Confidential
Best Supporting Actress: Christina Ricci in The Ice Storm
Best Screenplay: Neil LaBute for In The Company Of Men
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins for Kundun
Best Music: (tie) Eleni Karaindrou for Ulysses’ Gaze and Michael Nyman for Gattaca
Best Production Design: (tie) Dan Weil for The Fifth Element and Jan Roelfs for Gattaca
Best Costume Design: Denise Cronenberg for Crash
Sominex Award: The Pillow Book
Dramamine Award: Con Air
Mechanical Actor: Billy Zane in Titanic
Mechanical Actress: Elisabeth Shue in Deconstructing Harry and The Saint


1998 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Gods And Monsters
Best Director: (tie) Bill Condon for Gods And Monsters and Todd Solondz for Happiness
Best Actor: Ian McKellen in Gods And Monsters
Best Actress: Christina Ricci in The Opposite Of Sex
Best Supporting Actor: Dylan Baker in Happiness
Best Supporting Actress: Lisa Kudrow in The Opposite Of Sex
Best Screenplay: Bill Condon for Gods And Monsters
Best Cinematography: Maryse Alberti for Happiness and Velvet Goldmine
Best Music: Carter Burwell for Gods And Monsters
Best Production Design: Thérèse DePrez for Happiness
Best Costume Design: Bruce Finlayson for Gods And Monsters
Sominex Award: Dangerous Beauty
Dramamine Award: Stepmom
Mechanical Actor: Bruce Willis in Armageddon, The Siege and Mercury Rising
Mechanical Actress: Jena Malone in Stepmom

1999 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Fight Club
Best Director: (tie) David Fincher for Fight Club and Spike Jonze for Being John Malkovich
Best Actor: Terence Stamp in The Limey
Best Actress: (tie) Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut and Hillary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry
Best Supporting Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman in Magnolia and The Talented Mr. Ripley
Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener in Being John Malkovich
Best Screenplay: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor for Election
Best Cinematography: Robert Richardson for Bringing Out The Dead and Snow Falling On Cedars
Best Music: Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman for South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Best Production Design: Owen Paterson for The Matrix
Best Costume Design: Michael Kaplan for Fight Club
Sominex Award: The World Is Not Enough
Dramamine Award: The Green Mile
Mechanical Actor: Kevin Spacey in American Beauty
Mechanical Actress: Annette Bening in American Beauty

2000 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: L’ Humanite
Best Director: (tie) Terence Davies for The House Of Mirth and Jim Jarmusch for Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai
Best Actor: Forrest Whitaker in Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai
Best Actress: (tie) Severine Caneele in L’ Humanite and Michelle Yeoh in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Black in High Fidelity and Jesus’s Son
Best Supporting Actress: Lupe Ontiveros in Chuck And Buck
Best Screenplay: Kenneth Lonnergan for You Can Count On Me
Best Cinematography: Remi Adefarasin for The House Of Mirth
Best Music: RZA for Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai
Best Production Design: Gideon Ponte for American Psycho and Hamlet
Best Costume Design: Monica Howe for The House Of Mirth
Sominex Award: Mission Impossible 2
Dramamine Award: The Replacements (aka The Scabs)
Mechanical Actor: Ian Holm in Joe Gould’s Secret
Mechanical Actress: Charlize Theron in Reindeer Games

2001 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Werckmeister Harmonies
Best Director: Bela Tarr for The Werckmeister Harmonies
Best Actor: John Cameron Mitchell for Hedwig And The Angry Inch
Best Actress: Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive
Best Supporting Actor: Steve Buscemi in Ghost World
Best Supporting Actress: Scarlett Johansson in Ghost World and The Man Who Wasn’t There
Best Screenplay: Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff for Ghost World
Best Cinematography: (tie) Peter Deming for From Hell and Mulholland Drive and Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bin for In The Mood For Love
Best Music: Mihály Vig for The Werckmeister Harmonies
Best Production Design: Edward T. McAvoy for Ghost World
Best Costume Design: Mary Zophres for Ghost World
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award:
Mechanical Actor:
Mechanical Actress:


2002 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: (tie) Far From Heaven and The Son’s Room
Best Director: (tie) Todd Haynes for Far From Heaven and Aleksandr Sokurov for Russian Ark
Best Actor: Greg Kinnear in Auto Focus
Best Actress: (tie) Emmanuelle Devos in Read My Lips and Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven and Samantha Morton in Minority Report and Morvern Callar
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Izzard in The Cat’s Meow
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Clarkson in Far From Heaven
Best Screenplay: Bill Condon for Chicago
Best Cinematography: Tilman Büttner for Russian Ark
Best Music: Elmer Bernstein for Far From Heaven
Best Production Design: Mark Friedberg for Far From Heaven
Best Costume Design: Sandy Powell for Far From Heaven and Gangs Of New York
Sominex Award: Naqoyqatsi
Dramamine Award: Bowling For Dollars
Mechanical Actor: Anthony Hopkins in Red Dragon
Mechanical Actress: Catherine Keener in Lovely And Amazing


2003 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Decasia
Best Director: Bill Morrison for Decasia
Best Actor: Johnny Depp in Pirates Of The Caribbean
Best Actress: Hope Davis in American Splendor and The Secret Lives Of Dentists
Best Supporting Actor: Max Pirkis in Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World
Best Supporting Actress: Ludivine Sagnier in Swimming Pool
Best Screenplay: Shari Springer Bergman and Robert Pulcini for American Splendor
Best Cinematography: Peter Suschitzky for Spider
Best Music: Michael Gordon for Decasia
Best Production Design: Andrew Laws for Down With Love
Best Costume Design: Daniel Orlandi for Down With Love
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award: In My Skin
Mechanical Actor: Anthony Hopkins in The Human Stain
Mechanical Actress: Nicole Kidman in The Human Stain


2004 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Kinsey
Best Director: Bill Condon for Kinsey
Best Actor: Ethan Hawke in Before Sunset
Best Actress: Laura Linney in Kinsey and P.S.
Best Supporting Actor: Peter Sarsgaard in Kinsey
Best Supporting Actress: Kirsten Dunst in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Best Screenplay: Bill Condon for Kinsey
Best Cinematography: Christopher Doyle for Hero, Last Life In The Universe and Days Of Being Wild
Best Music: Alberto Iglesias for Bad Education
Best Production Design: Dante Ferretti for The Aviator
Best Costume Design: Emi Wada for Hero and House Of The Flying Daggers
Sominex Award: The Village
Dramamine Award: The Passion Of The Christ
Mechanical Actor: Cate Blanchett in The Aviator
Mechanical Actress: Anthony Hopkins in Alexander


2005 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Mysterious Skin
Best Director: Gregg Araki for Mysterious Skin
Best Actor: Joseph Gordon-Leavitt in Mysterious Skin
Best Actress: Maria Bello in A History Of Violence
Best Supporting Actor: Paddy Constantine in My Summer Of Love
Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener in Capote
Best Screenplay: Gregg Araki for Mysterious Skin
Best Cinematography: Robert Elswit for Good Night And Good Luck and Syriana
Best Music: Howard Shore for A History Of Violence
Best Production Design: William Chang Suk Ping for 2046
Best Costume Design: William Chang Suk Ping for 2046
Sominex Award:
Dramamine Award:
Mechanical Actor:
Mechanical Actress:

2006 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: L’Enfant
Best Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne for L’Enfant
Best Actor: Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson
Best Actress: Maggie Cheung in Clean
Best Supporting Actor: Anthony Mackie in Half Nelson
Best Supporting Actress: Carmen Maura in Volver
Best Screenplay: (tie) Guillermo Del Toro for Pan’s Labyrinth and Jean- Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne for L’Enfant
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for Children Of Men
Best Production Design: Eugenio Caballero for Pan’s Labyrinth
Best Music: Philip Glass for Notes On A Scandal and The Illusionist
Best Costume Design: Sharon Davis for Dreamgirls
Sominex Award: The Da Vinci Code
Dramamine Award: Babel
Mechanical Actor: Robert Downey, Jr. in Fur and A Scanner Darkly
Mechanical Actress: Julianne Moore in Children Of Men

2007 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Best Director: Andrew Dominik for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Best Actor: Casey Affleck in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and Gone Baby Gone
Best Actress: Marina Hands in Lady Chatterley
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Schneider in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and Lars And The Real Girl
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone
Best Screenplay: Corneliu Porumboiu for 12:08 East Of Bucharest
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, In The Valley Of Elah and No Country For Old Men
Best Production Design: Patricia Norris for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Best Music: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Best Costume Design: Patricia Norris for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Sominex Award: Youth Without Youth
Dramamine Award: Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
Mechanical Actor: John Travolta in Hairspray
Mechanical Actress: Meryl Streep in Lions For Lambs and Rendition

2008 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: The Edge Of Heaven
Best Director: Fatih Akin - The Edge Of Heaven
Best Actor: Michael Shannon - Shotgun Stories
Best Actress: Anamaria Marinca - 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Best Supporting Actor: Emile Hirsch - Milk
Best Supporting Actress: Hanna Schygulla - The Edge Of Heaven
Best Screenplay: Fatih Akin - The Edge Of Heaven
Best Cinematography: Jody Shapiro - My Winnipeg
Best Production Design: Rejean Labrie - My Winnipeg
Best Music: Carter Burwell for In Bruges and Burn After Reading
Best Costumes: Danny Glicker - Milk
Sominex: The Happening
Dramamine: The Reader
Mechanical Actor: Mark Wahlberg for The Happening
Mechanical Actress: Meryl Streep for Doubt
2009 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: Hunger
Best Director: Olivier Assayas - Summer Hours
Best Actor: Sharlto Copley - District 9
Best Actress: Catalina Saavedra - The Maid
Best Supporting Actor: Liam Cunningham - Hunger
Best Supporting Actress: Anna Faris - Observe & Report
Best Screenplay: Olivier Assayas - Summer Hours
Best Cinematography: Sean Bobbitt - Hunger
Best Production Design: Philip Ivey - District 9
Best Music: Marvin Hamlisch - The Informant!
Best Costumes: Janet Patterson - Bright Star
Sominex: Public Enemies
Dramamine: Anti-Christ
Mechanical Actor: Peter Sarsgaard for An Education
Mechanical Actress: Hilary Swank for Amelia

2010 IRA Film Award Winners
Best Picture: A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Director: Jacques Audiard - A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Actor: Edgar Ramirez - Carlos
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton - I Am Love
Best Supporting Actor: Niels Arestrup - A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Supporting Actress: Dale Dickey - Winter's Bone
Best Screenplay: Thomas Bidegain and Jacques Audiard - A Prophet/Un Prophete
Best Cinematography: Yorick Le Saux - I Am Love
Best Production Design: Francesca Balestra Di Mottola - I Am Love
Best Music: John Adams - I Am Love
Best Costumes: Antonella Cannarozzi - I Am Love
Sominex: Cairo Time
Dramamine: Black Swan
Mechanical Actor: Vincent Cassel for Black Swan
Mechanical Actress: Natalie Portman for Black Swan
The Governor Scott Walker Award For Achievement In Political Thuggery: Waiting For "Superman"

The Best Movies Of The 2000s (Voted in 2010)
1. The Son/Le Fils2. Zodiac3. Yi Yi4. The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford5. The Edge Of Heaven (tie)
In The Mood For Love (tie)
7. The Heart Of The World (short by Guy Maddin)
8. Mysterious Skin (tie)
Bus 174 (tie)
10. The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu (tie)
Head-On (tie)
Spirited Away (tie)