Modern Maturity gives awards for grown-up movies

NEW YORK -- You've heard of the Palm D'Or, the top prize at Cannes. Now comes the "Chaise D'Or," honoring the best of the silver screen for the silver-haired.

Amid the glut of film awards, AARP's Modern Maturity magazine is offering the "Best Movies For Grown-ups," more specifically, for the publication's over-50 audience.

Its pick for best film last year: "Lantana," which "stands out as a moral fable in which betrayal has consequences, integrity is rewarded, and we all learn that day-to-day decisions can bless or bedevil us at any age."

Bill Newcott, the magazine's news editor, who organized the panel that awarded La Chaise D'Or (The Golden Chair), said he wants to "celebrate those efforts to really address our audience."

"The over-50 audience, for reasons that are purely economic, are not always on the radar screen" of movie makers and distributors, said Newcott, who went so far as to drop the movie column when the magazine was redesigned two years ago.

He said there just weren't enough movies aimed at its readers.

The Chaise D'Or for best actress went to Charlotte Rampling for "Under the Sand," which was also deemed best foreign film for being "about reaching an age where you realize life's most nagging questions might never be answered."

Tom Wilkinson of "In The Bedroom" was named best actor, and Robert Altman won best director for "Gosford Park."

And as "Best Movie for Grown-Ups Who Refuse to Grow Up" -- "Shrek."

Modern Maturity's readers have the money and time to go to the movies, but they read reviews and are selective, Newcott said.

Still, the magazine's editors understand that Hollywood is in business to make money and, in a Variety-type headline ("Execs Nix Geezer Flix"), they explain why that leaves older people out.