Pumpkin Nook

The Internet Shrine and Library for Pumpkins

Home

Channels:
Market
How to Grow
Giant Pumpkins
Community
Fun and Games
Facts/Education
Cookbook
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Kid Stuff
Search Site

Other:
Readers Say:
Free Newsletter
Advertise
Gardener's Net
Holiday Insights
HI Greeting Cards

The Oscar nominations are now in. Take a look at this year's candidates. Send in your vote!

Best Picture:

Any Given Sunday- an aging Pumpkin Grower gives it one more try for the world record pumpkin. Doing it one more time "for the Gipper", the coach coaxes his team of eleven Atlantic Giant pumpkins to give it their all. What we find amusing about Any Given Sunday is that to really grow the big one it takes every ounce of energy and time on "Any Given Sunday", and "Any Given Monday", and any given............

For Love of the Cucurbita- An over the hill pumpkin grower tries one more time for the perfect pumpkin. Will an on again off again romance keep him from his quest? Starring Kevin Koscucurbita.

Message in a Pumpkin- A love story with an unexpected ending. After losing his wife, a pumpkin grower writes a touching note to her, seals it in a pumpkin and throws it into the sea. Another women finds the note in the pumpkin washed ashore. After an extensive search she finds him, goes to meet him, falls in love with him, then loses him in a freak accident as a crane holding his prize giant pumpkin collapses, dropping the pumpkin on him. Rescuers at the scene spent hours trying to recover the body. They stated it was the most complete collapse of a pumpkin they have ever seen. Along with entertainment, this movie also solves the hotly debated question: "Can pumpkins float?"

Honorable Mention:

• Bi-Centennial Pumpkin
• Runaway Pumpkin
• Jack Frost
• Pumpkin Trek-Insurrection
• I Know What You Did Last Summer -Yeah right, everybody knows- - - tended the pumpkin patch

Best Action Drama:

"Payback"- Porter is a pumpkin grower bent on revenge after his neighbors take off with his prize winning pumpkin. Lots of action arises as Porter is bent on getting his pumpkin back and exacting revenge on his former gardening buddies.

Best Animated Movie:

Stuart Pumpkin- A farm couple go off to an orphanage to adopt a young child and come home with an orphaned pumpkin instead. Stuart never knew his dad Jack B. Little or his mom "Mini". The relevant question is can a pumpkin be raised by a squash?

Pumpkin Story 2- Follow the adventures of Punky, an animated Jack O'Lantern as he goes on a wild adventure to find and save his little friend Baby Boo. Will they get squashed as they attempt to cross a busy street and rescue their friend? Watch it and see.

Best Comedy Film:

"Analyze This"- A stressed out crime boss puts pressure on the family psychiatrist who'd better help him grow the world's record pumpkin- - or else! Racket, extortion, hit men....hey pumpkin growing can put a lot of pressure on a guy.

"Big Daddy"- In a mis-guided attempt to impress his girlfriend and prove he's ready for commitment and responsibility, Sandy Soil adopts a pumpkin plant. Although plunged into a world of sleep deprivation, pumpkin songs and insect infestations, Sandy soon embraces his new role as temporary "dad" to the vines by taking an unconventional approach to gardening.

"Waterboy"- This is a hilarious story of Bobby Boucher, a socially inept 31-year old gardener whose only contact with society is his job as a waterboy on a pumpkin farm. Farm hands tease and harasse him until he single handedly saves the crop during a long and hot drought.

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

Jack B. Little- Jack is an annual (versus perennial) nominee. This year he faces much larger competition.

Lu Mina- Lu's not really big, but he is a standout performer. There is no mistaking him in a crowd. While a great actor, he pales in comparison to Jack B. Little.

Jack Frost- He sparkles in his role as he plays his evil self in the moive that carries his name. But, will anyone really vote for him? Okay, so a few allergy suffers may be just sadistical enough to give him the nod, it won't be nearly enough votes.

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

B. Utternut- Bee is the darksquash candidate. Will she be edged out by Rose Viney or Rose Bush? We think voters will stick to family members. While Bee is only a related cousin, she is family nonetheless. And, rumor has it, she will squash all competition.

Best Actor Best Supporting Actor:

S.V. Borer- The elusive "SVB" digs deep into the subject. While he only has a bit part, his impact is very big.

Jack Frost- Jack absolutely revels as a cold blooded, silent serial killer in the chilling horror " I know What you Did last Fall".

Visual Effects:

"Message in a Bottle"- When the giant pumpkin fell from the crane and squashed the guy, there were pumpkin brains and guts all over. The graphics was too much. Said one eye witness "pumpkin brains, it get in everywhere". Said another "We didn't think the hero was a seedy character until we had to clean up this mess".

Best Director:

Rose Viney- Sure, Rosey (as her friends call her) is not a normal player in this field. But, when her back was to the wall, she climbed the ladder (or was that Trellis) of success to new heights.

Original Musical or Comedy Score:

"Larger than Life"- by the Backstreet Pumpkins. This song was played and timed perfectly to the falling giant pumpkin in "Message in a Pumpkin".

Lifetime Achievement Award:

This award goes to Frank Sinatra. Over the course of decades, Frank Sinatra blessed us with numerous moives and songs. Among his best and most classical movie performances was

• :Pumpkin in Cement (1968)
• Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)
• Pumpkin on the Rocks (1965)
• Cucrubito Pepe (1960)
• A Hole in the Stem (1959)
• The Pumpkin is Wild (1957)
• Double Dynamite ((1951) A Moving story abour special manures

But what we remember and miss the most about Frank Sinatra is his great voice. Our favorite was the memorable hit of the century " I Grew it My Way". A few years before his death, a reporter asked the crooner how he grew such large pumpkins. His response "I sing to them". (See our article on Plant Bonding.)

Technical Achievement and Merit:

Eastman Kocurbita tips the scales here. Not only do they have great film, but their orange hues are absolutely the orangest. However, this technical award was really given because they have secretly encoded their love of pumpkins in their yellow and red logo......What do you get when you mix yellow and red? Pretty clever, huh!?!

For Prior Years winners, see  Oscars, 1999