Videomaticademy Awards!

Foxes are Fantastic and Prawns are Prime

at Videomatica.ca's 11th Alternative Oscars

While Hollywood was busy showcasing lengthy acceptance speeches and well-dressed actors at its annual Oscars, the Videomaticademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was equally occupied chasing foxes and celebrating prawns at the conclusion of its Canada-wide Alternative Oscars Contest.

Hosted by Videomatica.ca, the Canadian destination for independent and alternative films, the 11th edition of the Alternative OscarsÒ Contest boasted an 11-category ballot of 2009's most overlooked and underappreciated films and performers, and invited Canadian movie fans to choose for their favourites.

• In the battle for Best Picture, the stop-motion animation of Fantastic Mr. Fox trumped science fiction, political satire, musical documentaries, and real-life romance. Fantastic filmmaker Wes Anderson didn't win the award for Best Director, which went to Neill lomkamp, who won for being the architect of the space alien "prawns" in District 9.

• One of the aforementioned prawns, Christopher the "Prawn" from District 9, won the coveted Best Non-Human Actor Award. In a field that also included creatures ranging from tigers and iguanas to robots and animated dobermans, Christopher made short work of them all and struck a chord with the voting members of the Videomatica.ca Alternative OscarsÒ who crave emotional depth and honest character development from their non-human performers. Where human actors were concerned, Matt Damon (The Informant) and Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) topped the votes in the Best Actor Maleand Best Actor Female categories, respectively.

• Like Melanie Laurent, this year's most resounding winner was also a "basterd". Christoph Waltz waltzed away with the Best Villain award for his chilling turn as Col. Hans Landra Best Villain, collecting a hefty 45% of the vote on his way to victory. One of Waltz's fellow nominees was Lorna Raver, the crazed gypsy in Drag Me to Hell, a film nominated in this year's newest Alternative OscarsÒ category, Scariest Picture. In the end, the unseen forces ofParanormal Activity proved to be scary enough for voters to emerge victorious.

• So what was the closest race in the Alternative Oscars this year? The infamous Worst Picture showdown, which saw Steve Martin's bumbling remake sequel, Pink Panther 2 overtake the poorly-conceived shenanigans of Robin Williams and John Travolta in Old Dogs by a single vote. One vote wouldn't have made a difference in the Best Canadian Picture category, where the Joshua Jackson-led drama, One Week, tugged at the necessary heartstrings to shine through as a true winner.

For a complete wrap-up of the contest, please visit www.videomatica.ca/alternativeoscars

A complete list of winners and nominees follows...

THE COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS AND NOMINEES

BEST PICTURE
Bright Star
Fantastic Mr. Fox (winner)
In the Loop
Michael Jackson's This Is It
Moon

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson – Fantastic Mr. Fox
Neill Blomkamp - District 9 (winner)
Tom Ford - A Single Man
Terry Gilliam - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Duncan Jones - Moon

BEST ACTOR (MALE)
Nicolas Cage – Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Matt Damon - The Informant (winner)
Paul Giamatti - Cold Souls
Christian McKay - Me and Orson Welles
Sam Rockwell - Moon

BEST ACTOR (FEMALE)
Abbie Cornish - Bright Star
Sasha Grey - The Girlfriend Experience
Melanie Laurent - Inglourious Basterds (winner)
Tilda Swinton - Julia
Robin Wright Penn - The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (MALE)
Robert Duvall - The Road (winner)
Ken Jeong - The Hangover
Bill Murray - Zombieland
Liev Schreiber - Taking Woodstock
Kevin Spacey - The Men Who Stare At Goats

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (FEMALE)
Mariah Carey - Precious
Claire Danes - Me and Orson Welles
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Away We Go
Helen Mirren - State of Play
Julianne Moore - A Single Man (winner)

BEST NON-HUMAN ACTOR
Alpha the Doberman – Up
Christopher the Prawn – District 9 (winner)
GERTY the Robot - Moon
The Iguanas - Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Mike Tyson's Tiger - The Hangover

BEST VILLAIN
Michael Gambon as Franklin Bean – Fantastic Mr. Fox
Mo'Nique as Mary – Precious
Lorna Raver as Sylvia Ganush – Drag Me to Hell
Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landra – Inglourious Basterds (winner)
Greedy Corporations – Capitalism: A Love Story

BEST CANADIAN PICTURE
Anvil: The Story of Anvil
Coopers' Camera
Facing Ali
The Necessities of Life
One Week (winner)

SCARIEST PICTURE
Dead Snow
Drag Me to Hell
The Haunting in Connecticut
Paranormal Activity (winner)
Thirst

WORST PICTURE
Angels & Demons
Couples Retreat
Old Dogs
The Pink Panther 2 (winner)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen