Best Motion Picture of the Year

"ACROSS THE UNIVERSE"
Director: Julie Taymor
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther McCoy, T.V. Carpio, Bono, Selma Hayek, Spencer Liff
Screenplay: Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais

TOTAL CHINO CHOICE AWARDS (5): Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Joe Anderson), Best Director (Julie Taymor), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

Set in the groovy 60s and set to the music of the Beatles, we are taken into a musical power serge full of color, sex, drugs and love. Starting out with Jude (Jim Sturgess) in England who falls in love with Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) when he reaches the shores of America to find his long lost father. Behind there love story is the wacky Max (Joe Anderson), Lucy's brother. And their gang of friends who live with them in the same apartment: rocker Sadie (Dana Fuchs), African-American Jojo (Martin Luther McCoy) and the lesbian Prudence (T.V. Carpio). As the war in Vietnam goes on and Max gets drafted, we enter the world of Jude and Lucy's problems. Jude is an artist who just wants to work, while Lucy becomes a radical rebellion who wants nothing but to be noticed. As their problems (and a crazy rally) tear them apart, Jude gets deported to England but is persuaded by Max to come back and realize that all he needs i love.

"Across the Universe" is the full package for a movie for me this year. Though it doesn't really contrast with my winners of the past years ("The Departed", "Pride and Prejudice", "The Aviator", "Cold Mountain" etc.), when I saw this movie I fell in love with the art and the music. I'm a pure Beatles fan and now a pure "Across the Universe" fan. I'm not ashamed to say t his is my favorite movie of the year, just because its bashed SOOOOO much. I'm proud to say it is. It shows that I have unique taste and a wonderful eye for entertainment. The art, the direction, Joe and Jim's performance, the music, the druggies FX makes "Across the Universe" truly the Best Movie of 2007. I'm in love with it.

Lat years winner: "The Departed"