Marathon of Shops Awards Part 2



And I’m back for the second half of the awards for the Marathon of Shops. This time around, I will be highlighting the best of the marathon.  This means that all of the stuff that I liked through the marathon will now come to light.  You will see the highs and highs of the marathon because the first half of the awards had the lows.  Let’s get it started in here. (Yes, I feel bad for pulling that quote.)

The first award of this section of the marathon will be for the best use of a mall or shop setting.  There will be runners up in this section because I would like to make note of the good aspects of the movies.  The runners up for this award are Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Scenes from a Mall, Mallrats, and Career Opportunities.  Each of these movies greatly used their setting.  Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Scenes from a Mall, and Mallrats showed many different stores in the malls in which they were set, and used most stores to further the story in some way.  The winner, though, is a movie that had the perfect setting for the material.  Empire Records is the top dog for this award.  The layout, from the main floor space to the back office to the rooftop to the listening booths, works perfectly to counter balance the characters and their antics.  It may only be one store, but how well used it is brings the film to another level.  It’s the perfect store for the movie.

Here come the really tough awards.  The award for the best actress is one that I struggle with in every marathon.  Many movies focus on men much more than women, which causes a difficulty in finding as many great female performances.  This marathon had a few.  The runners up for the best actress of the marathon are Margaret Sullivan for her performance in The Shop Around the Corner, Kim Cattrall for her performance in Mannequin, and Robin Tunney for her performance in Empire Records.  The winner is very similar to one of the runners up, due to the fact that she starred in a remake of the film that the runner up was in.  Meg Ryan takes the best actress award for the Marathon of Shops.  She was perfect for the role in You’ve Got Mail.  There’s nothing more to say about it than that.

One more award before the rapid fire stuff?  Okie dokie.  Let’s do the best actor, to compliment the best actress.  This one, there are enough performances that could get runner up status, but I’ll only list five.  Tom Hanks for You’ve Got Mail, Seth Rogen for Observe and Report, Kevin James for Paul Blart: Mall Cop, James Stewart for The Shop Around the Corner, and Ty Burrell for the remake of Dawn of the Dead.  The winner, though, is Rory Cochran for his performance in Empire Records.  Something about this performance works for me.  It may not be the best of the performances if you guys were making this award, but for me it resonates and connects in a way that almost no other performance in the marathon did.  That’s why he wins.

Rapid fire time.  Let’s go!
Sliding down the escalator award – Dawn of the Dead (1979)
Let’s go streaking! award – Observe and Report
Nostalgia award – dial up sounds in You’ve Got Mail
Canucker award – Dawn of the Dead (2004) for using Sarah Polley
The best chase scene – shoplifter scene in Empire Records
The confusing character heritage award – The Shop Around the Corner because the characters didn’t look like they were from Budapest

The final award of the marathon is the same final award that every marathon has had.  This is the award for the best movie of the marathon.  I liked most of the movies in the marathon, but only one can be the champion.  The runners up include Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Empire Records, You’ve Got Mail, Dawn of the Dead (2004), and Mannequin, but I have to give the win to The Shop Around the Corner.  It’s simply a classic romantic story that plays out wonderfully.  The two leads were perfect choices for the flick, and everything about it works.  There may be flaws, but it’s a movie that I love.  I’m glad I watched it, and I think everyone should watch it.  The Shop Around the Corner is the best movie of the Marathon of Shops.

This brings the Marathon of Shops to an end.  It was a fun ride, but everything has to come to an end at some point.  I saw some great movies that I’d never seen before.  I rewatched some great movies that I have loved over the years.  It’ll be nice to look back on this marathon and see how great it was.  Until the next marathon, have fun with watching movies.

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