AND THE NOMINEES ARGHHHH.....

Okay okay...it should have been - and the nominees are...I know...well, for those who want to know below is the list of the nominees of the upcoming Filem Festival Malaysia 2008.
The name of the directors are in brackets and the list is not in order of merit okay?:

1957: Hati Malaya (Shuhaimi Baba)
Impak Maksima (Ahmad Idham)
Kala Malam Bulan Mengambang (Mamat Khalid)
Kayangan (Raja Ahmad Alauddin)
Nana Tanjung 2 (A. Razak Mohaideen)
Otai (A. Razak Mohaideen)
Pensil (M. Subash)
Sepi (Khabir Bakhtiar)
Susuk (Amir Muhammad)
Wayang (Hatta Azad Khan)
I’m Not Single (Pierre Andre)
Evolusi KL Drift (Syamsul Yusoff)
Duyung (A. Razak Mohaideen)
9 September (Pierre Andre)
Akhirat (Syed Mohd)
Anak (Barney Lee)
Anak Halal (Osman Ali)
Apa Kata Hati (Saw Teong Hin)
Cinta U–Turn (A.Razak Mohaideen)
Congkak (Ahmad Idham)
CUCI (Hans Isaac)
Dunia Baru The Movie (Yeop Hitler)
Johnny Bikin Filem (Dr Annuar Nur Arai)

Now, A. Razak Mohaideen, who is now in his umpteenth year as an Associate Professor, has FOUR movies in the running!! It's like using a shotgun to hit a fly. Well, maybe this is his year to maybe win one award of merit - and that is for Duyung. I really don't think his three other movies - Nana Tanjung 2, Otai and Cinta U-Turn should or would be up for any top awards.
Next director to have multiple titles for awars are Ahmad Idham and Pierre Andre.
Idham would be hoping his action packed Impak Maksima or his scary Congkak can bring him some awards, whilst Pierre Andre could be a shoo in for Best New Director for either 9 September or I'm Not Single (but he would most probably be competing with Hans Isaac who is in with his debut feature CUCI).
Perrenial festival favourite, Shuhaimi Baba, hopes to have her hit movie (that means kena hit-and-run) 1957: Hati Malaya bag at least five top awards for film, director,actor, actress, screenwriting and cinematography. Oops that's six. Sorry flunked my maths in school lah.
Former award-winning 'talisman' Raja Ahmad Alauddin makes a comeback with his Kayangan - hoping to wipe bad memories of his 2006 box-office damper Qaisy & Laila. But like usual, he won't be giving up his day job yet lah.
The guy who directed Cinta but didn't win best director at last year's awards festival will once again vie for top awards - with his Sepi.
Former indie directors trying to break into mainstream cinema - Osman Ali and Amir Muhammad - are both in with a shout. Osman with his rather excellent Anak Halal and Amir with his yet to be seen, except maybe in London, movie Susuk.
It would also be interesting to see how Saw Teong Hin, who previously directed a RM10 million movie, fare with his RM1 million movie entitled Apa Kata Hati.
Now, a first for the festival would be the entry of two movies financed totally by higher institutes of learning. This would be Hatta Azad Khan's RM600,000 Wayang and Annuar Nur Arai's RM1.5 million (reportedly) and 12-year-old movie Johnny Bikin Filem.
How could a 12-year-old movie enter the festival? Well, because it hasn't been screened yet, that's why. So, we may actually see a man who has been dead for the past 5 years win Best Supporting Actor this time round (M. Amin).
Hmmm maybe Mansor Putih should have entered his masterpiece Seman (produced just before Johnny Bikin Filem) this time around. Or has it been entered in a previous awards festival yet? Who gives a shit.
Anyway, we really can't predict which is the best movie this time around because at least three movies in the running has not been screened yet - Wayang, Johnny Bikin Filem and Susuk.
I did hear good things about Wayang but as for JBF - I hear extremes - good and bad - plus some extremities too.
Surprisingly, movies that have been making waves for the country in renown festivals all over the world has not been entered - James Lee's Things We Do When We Fall In Love, Hua Yuhang's Rain Dogs (could someone confirm if this movie entered last year's fest), Woo Ming Jin's The Elephant and The Sea, Tan Chui Mui's Love Conquers All and Liew Seng Tat's Flower In The Pocket.
Maybe they didn't bother because the language used in their movies were Mandarin and not Malay. Strange isn't it? Yet, there are four movies whose titles are not in Malay or slang words - I'm Not Single, Otai, Cinta U-Turn and Dunia Baru The Movie.
Heck, they even did not bother participating in the Digital Feature Film category. Only Pensil by M. Subash can be considered an indie movie fighting its way to glory amongst the big guns.
I guess they know that either Sepi, Hati Malaya, Cuci, Congkak and Impak Maksima would be the front runners. But hey, Osman Ali and Amir Muhammad are in the mix. So all is not lost right?
So, there you have it. The best of 2007 Malaysian cinema. Jeez.