Best Feature

• 500 Days of Summer
• Amreeka
• Precious
• Sin Nombre
• The Last Station

Best Director

• Ethan and Joel Cohen – A Serious Man
• Lee Daniels – Precious
• Cary Joji Fukunaga – Sin Nombre
• James Gray - Two Lovers
• Michael Hoffman - The Last Station

Best Screenplay

• Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman - The Messenger
• Michael Hoffman - The Last Station
• Lee Toland Krieger - The Vicious Kind
• Greg Mottola - Adventureland
• Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - 500 Days of Summer

Best First Feature

• A Single Man
• Crazy Heart
• Easier With Practice
• Paranormal Activity
• The Messenger

Best First Screenplay

• Sophie Barthes - Cold Souls
• Scott Cooper - Crazy Heart
• Cherien Dabis - Amreeka
• Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious
• Tom Ford & David Scearce - A Single Man

John Cassavetes Award

• Big Fan
• Humpday
• The New Year Parade
• Treeless Mountain
• Zero Bridge

Best Female Lead

• Maria Bello - Downloading Nancy
• Nisreen Faour - Amreeka
• Helen Mirren - The Last Station
• Gwyneth Paltrow - Two Lovers
• Gabourey Sidibe - Precious

Best Male Lead

• Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
• Colin Firth - A Single Man
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 500 Days of Summer
• Souleymane Sy Savane - Goodbye Solo
• Adam Scott - The Vicious Kind

Best Supporting Female

• Dina Korzun - Cold Souls
• Mo’Nique - Precious
• Samantha Morton - The Messenger
• Natalie Press - Fifty Dead Men Walking
• Mia Wasikowska - That Evening Sun

Best Supporting Male

• Jermaine Clement - Gentlemen Broncos
• Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
• Christian McKay – Me and Orson Welles
• Raymond McKinnon - That Evening Sun
• Christopher Plummer - The Last Station

Best Cinematography

• Roger Deakins - A Serious Man
• Adriano Goldman - Sin Nombre
• Anne Misawa - Treeless Mountain
• Andrij Parekh - Cold Souls
• Peter Zeitlinger - Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Best Documentary

• Anvil!: The Story of Anvil
• Food, Inc.
• More Than a Game
• October Country
• Which Way Home

Best Foreign Film

• A Prophet
• An Education
• Everlasting Moments
• Mother
• The Maid

Acura Someone to Watch Award

• Kyle Patrick Alvarez - Easier With Practice
• Asiel Norton - Redland
• Tariq Tapa - Zero Bridge

Truer Than Fiction Award

• Natalie Almada - El General
• Jessica Oreck - Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
• Bill & Turner Ross - 45365

Plaget Producers Award

• Karin Chien - The Exploding Girl, Santa Mesa
• Larry Fessenden – I Sell the Dead, The House of the Devil
• Dia Sokol - Beeswax, Nights & Weekends

The Film:

Too often movies have a tendency to sensationalize gang violence. Tony Montana, from 1983′s Scarface, is beloved by film fans across the world, despite the conclusion of that film involving him snorting a mountain of cocaine and going on a murderous rampage. City of God also suffered a similar fate by attempting to stylize the picture – the gangs became so alluring that the audience becomes entranced by the film’s dark side rather than being repulsed by it. In Sin Nombre, however, first time director Cary Fukunaga finds the perfect balance between stylish flourish and gritty realism. Although he is able to illustrate the enticing charisma of this particular gang, the audience is far from getting any satisfaction out of their vicious assaults. This authenticity, along with an admittedly overly melodramatic script, make for an oddly winning combination in this remarkably satisfying debut thriller.

The film begins by introducing two linear plot lines – one involving Sayra (Paulina Gaitan), a young teenage girl about to venture from her homeland of Hondouras, through Mexico, and finally to New Jersey, and another involving Willy, known as “Casper”, a young gang member serving as a sort of older brother to the gang’s newest recruit, 12-year-old Smiley (Kristian Ferrer). Willy’s gang is led by the ruthless and flamboyantly tattooed Lil Mago (Tenoch Huerta Meija), who takes Willy and Smiley on a mission to rob the poor immigrant passengers riding on top of a train journeying to the border. After an unexpected turn of events, Willy saves Sayra from a sexual assault by Lil Mago, leaving Willy a wanted man.

Fukunaga underwent extensive research prior to the making of the film, riding as a passenger on top of the train with real Mexican immigrants. His attention to detail, therefore, is more than satisfying. There’s a sequence early on where children throw oranges at the passengers, and later on a sort of ironic parallel sequence in which others throw rocks. Little details like those give the film it’s authenticity, and although the plot may be a bit convenient, the rich setting makes even the most unlikely plot developments impossible to resist.

Like Slumdog Millionaire, Sin Nombre is an odd but completely satisfying mix of melodrama and documentary-like gritty realism. Fukunaga displays enormous talents in his first effort as a writer/director, and such a remarkable debut effort solidifies him as one of the most important young American auteurs out there.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The film looks okay, although it’s a bit inexcusable to not release a Blu-ray along with the standard format in 2009. For a film with such impressive visuals, it’s a shame that we don’t have a disc that can fully put the film’s technical prowess on display. The night scenes are a bit dull, but everything else is simply fine. The audio track is good, however, creating a rich environment and not drowning out the voices.

Audio Commentary: The audio commentary was recorded by writer/director Cary Fukunaga and producer Amy Kaufman. It’s an average track, perhaps a bit dull in both tone and content. Fukunaga discusses the writing of the film thoroughly, and Kaufman chimes in every now and then with an observation. There’s rarely a lull in the audio, but it’s not a particularly interesting track.

Deleted Scenes: The disc includes ten minutes of deleted scenes, and there are some pretty significant ones. An entire sequence involving an errand on the way to the border was cut, as were some minor scenes that further develop Smiley’s relationship with the gang. These scenes help flesh out the plot a bit more thoroughly, however it’s not hard to see why any of them were left out of the film.

Conclusion: This is a great movie. It’s a familiar story, with archetypal characters and a predictable final act, but it’s consistently involving. The disc is a big disappointment, however, as a film that looks this good should be on Blu-ray, and a film with such a fascinating behind-the-scenes story should be documented beyond a commentary track. You may want to rent a copy for now and wait for a Blu-ray version of the film later.

The Film: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
The DVD: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

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The film: Sin Nombre is an epic dramatic thriller written and directed by Student Academy Award winner Cary Joji Fukunaga in his feature debut. The filmmaker’s firsthand experiences with Central American immigrants seeking the promise of the U.S. form the basis of the Spanish-language movie.

Sin Nombre tells the story of Sayra (Paulina Gaitan), a teenager living in Honduras, and hungering for a brighter future. A reunion with her long-estranged father gives Sayra her only real option – emigrating with her father and her uncle into Mexico and then the United States, where her father now has a new family. 

Meanwhile, Casper, a.k.a. Willy (Edgar Flores), is a teenager living in Tapachula, Mexico, and facing an uncertain future. A member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang brotherhood, he has just brought to the Mara a new recruit, 12-year-old Smiley (Kristyan Ferrer), who undergoes a rough initiation. 

While Smiley quickly takes to gang life, Casper tries to protect his relationship with girlfriend Martha Marlene (Diana García), keeping their love a secret from the Mara. But when Martha encounters Tapachula’s Mara leader Lil’ Mago (Tenoch Huerta Mejía), she is brutally taken from Casper forever. 

Sayra and her relatives manage to cross over into Mexico. There, they join other immigrants waiting at the Tapachula train yards. When a States-bound freight train arrives one night, they successfully rush to board – riding atop it, rather than in the cars – as does Lil’ Mago, who has commandeeredCasper and Smiley along to rob immigrants. 

When day breaks, Lil’ Mago makes his move and Casper in turn makes a fateful decision. Casper must now navigate the psychological gauntlet of his violent existence and the physical one of the unforgiving Mara, but Sayra bravely allies herself with him as the train journeys through the Mexican countryside towards the hope of new lives.

Sin Nombre Clip: I’m Going With You

Sin Nombre Clip: Ever Been On One Of Those