embedding one language (SQL) into another (Perl) is ugly:
sub lookup_film_nominations {
my ($first, $last) = @_;
my $sth = <<EOQ;
SELECT n.year, n.type,
FROM nomination n,
film f
WHERE film.id = nomination.film_id
AND film.title like ?
AND film.year >= ?
EOQ
$sth->prepare() or die "could not prepare: $DBI::errstr\n";
$sth->execute("%Lord of the Rings%", 2000, 2005) or die "could not prepare: $DBI::errstr\n";