Musings on "Best of Honolulu 2005"

The Honolulu Weekly (our Village Voice) just came out with its annual list of the best Honolulu has to offer. Here are the film/TV-related liskmakers:

Editor's Picks:

• Best Open-Air Theater: Varsity Theater
  One of the last remaining art houses in the city, it's old, so it leaks (hence the "open-air" qualifier). But it's still worth going to. Now showing: "March of the Penguins" & "Me and You and Everyone We Know." FYI, other Honolulu theaters that show art and classic films are the Movie Museum in Kaimuki and the Doris Duke Theater at the Academy of Arts. And the other day, I was looking at Yahoo! movie times for Kahala Theaters, and noticed that "All About Eve" opens Aug. 19, "Season of the Witch" opens Aug. 26, and "Raging Bull" opens Sep. 2. When I called the theater's general manager to ask about whether this new classic films program was here to stay, she had no clue what I was talking about and hadn't heard that any of these films were going to play. So, I guess we'll have to wait till Aug. 19 to see whether Yahoo! or the GM is right.
• Best Survivor: "Lost"
  ABC's critical and commercial hit has outlasted NBC's "Hawaii" and Fox's "North Shore," and is on track to be as successful as "Hawaii Five-O" was. But the question now, according to the Weekly, is: "Can Hawaii itself survive--constant rumors that the series will move to Los Angeles persist. Due to our legislators' lack of media savvy, they're making it difficult for any series to shoot here. (Lost could film in California for 10 percent less.)"
• Best Breakthrough in Special Effects: Kai Bovaird
  Kai's Cause and f(x) Pictures was just hired by "Lost" to do visual effects. So, to all those who didn't believe companies like this in Hawaii existed: believe it.
• Best Comedy Torch Bearer: Andy Bumatai
  This sometime film and TV actor has roots in stand-up comedy, and is generously passing down his local comic wisdom to a new generation.
• Best Alien: Jason Mamoa
  The part Hawaiian local born, Iowa-raised star of "Baywatch: Hawaii" and "North Shore" is now an alien on the Sci-Fi channel's "Stargate: Atlantis."

Reader's Picks:

• Best Local Commercial You Love to Hate: Bank of Hawaii's "I Bankohana you"
  Runners Up: Bank of Hawaii's "That's my bank!" & AIG's "We settle claims quickly."
• Best Local News Broadcast: KHON
  Runners Up: KITV, Channel 6
• Best Comedian: Frank DeLima
  Runners Up: Augie Tulba, Paul Ogata
• Best Local Blog: MySpace.com
  OK now, this is a sensitive point for me for obvious reasons. But the thing is, MySpace is neither local nor a blog! It's a social networking/community site that's based in L.A.! What's more, its parent company just got acquired by News Corp. for $580 million! You all know what the real winner shoulda been... Seriously though, I would've picked 'onokinegrindz.com, an awesome food/dining site that offers local recipes and candid reviews of local restaurants, complete with big colorful pictures of dishes and restaurant interiors.

>> Honolulu Weekly
The pub has a one-week Web posting delay, so check back next week for "Best of Honolulu 2005."