2006 Muriel Awards

Best First Feature, 2006

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Brick, Rian Johnson

"Brick, a cinematic mash-up of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett detective stories with a contemporary high school drama, seems like a stylistic stunt, but writer-director Rian Johnson’s film works quite well. This isn’t an exercise in playing dress-up. The characters inhabit a place where disappointment and pain lurk around every corner, something all too familiar to teenagers. Johnson’s sources of inspiration for Brick put forth tough dicks and dames in a cold, uncaring universe. Glum teens are a clever and natural evolution for the genre."- Mark Pfeiffer

Best First Feature

Category rankings:
1. Brick [Rian Johnson] (24/5)
2. Little Miss Sunshine [Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton] (15/4)
3. Sweet Land [Ali Selim] (12/3)
4. Thank You For Smoking [Jason Reitman] (11/3)
5. Duck Season [Fernando Eimbcke] (9/2)
6. 13 Tzameti [Geta Babluani] (8/2)
7. Slither [James Gunn] (7/2)
8. Monster House [Gil Kenan] (6/2)

The following films received one vote apiece:
4 [Ilya Krzhanovsky]
C.S.A.: Confederate States of America [Kevin Willmott]
Home [Matt Zoller Seitz]
Le Petit Jerusalem [Karin Albou]
The Puffy Chair [Jay Duplass]
Sherrybaby [Laurie Collyer]
Somersault [Cate Shortland]
Strangers With Candy [Paul Dinello]
V for Vendetta [James McTeigue]
Wordplay [Patrick Creadon]