Monday, February 23, 2009

And the Winners are....

The 81st Academy Awards have arrived and it's time to announce the winners of the most prestigious award in Hollywood. The ceremony is being held live at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood where host Hugh Jackman will be taking us on an Oscars journey like we've never seen before. While my own favorite film, The Dark Knight, didn't get as much Oscar love as we think it deserved, there is still a fine selection of other great nominees this year, including Slumdog Millionaire and Mickey Rourke, amongst others.
PICTURE:
Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire
DIRECTOR:
Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire


ACTOR:

Sean Penn

Sean Penn - Milk

ACTRESS:
Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet - The Reader


Read on for the complete list of nominees and to follow our live winners updates with editorial!

This will be updated throughout the night to reflect the winners. Additionally, I occasionally might add a small bit of editorial commentary beneath each category. Winners are highlighted in BOLD below.

PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Winner! Slumdog Millionaire

Thoughts: It deserves it, I love this movie, congratulations to Danny Boyle and everyone involved, honestly!

DIRECTOR
Winner! Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Clint Eastwood - Changeling
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon

Thoughts: I loved this movie, so of course I'm glad that Danny Boyle won. He's a wonderful person as well as a fantastic director. Congrats, Mr. Boyle!

ACTOR
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Winner! Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Thoughts: Wow, let me be the first to say, Sean Penn deserves this! He was exceptional, and I called it, the moment I saw Milk, I said he deserves it and should get it. I love Mickey Rourke, I think he should've also got it, but I'm just as happy with Sean Penn as well. Congratulations to both of them!

ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Winner! Kate Winslet - The Reader

Thoughts: Okay, Winslet isn't bad, but I wasn't impressed by her. Truthfully, I would've much rather seen Meryl Streep or Anne Hathaway win instead, because both of them really did an incredible job, whereas Winslet was just normal. I'm not a Kate Winslet fan and I'm not afraid to admit that I don't like her much, but oh well, I expected her to take this anyway. I guess maybe she does deserve it?

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Winner! Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

Thoughts: Deserving in all sense of it, without question, and I'm glad he got this win! Congrats and RIP!

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - Doubt
Winner! Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

Thoughts: I don't mind Penelope Cruz, but I would've preferred either of the Doubt winners instead, come on, both were so much better and so much more memorable!

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Mike Leigh - Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges
Winner! Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon - Wall-E

Thoughts: I loved Milk, and think it deserves this, but really, Wall-E, why not Wall-E?! Even my screenwriter friend thought the Wall-E script was the best one of the nominees!

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Roth & Robin Swicord - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
David Hare - The Reader
Winner! Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire

Thoughts: As expected, don't have any complaints about this, since I loved Slumdog Millionaire and Beaufoy is a great writer, so he definitely deserves it!

ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Winner! Wall-E

Thoughts: Phew, I was REALLY worried this might not win, but of course, Pixar takes another one home!

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
The Class
Winner! Departures
Revanche
Waltz With Bashir

Thoughts: Wow, this might be a big upset? Everyone was expecting Waltz With Bashir, and I wanted The Class.

ART DIRECTION
Changeling
Winner! The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Thoughts: First big upset? How did this win over The Dark Knight? Maybe Gotham City wasn't as distinct enough as the classic look of New Orleans and so on… Oh well!

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tom Stern - Changeling
Claudio Miranda - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wally Pfister - The Dark Knight
Chris Menges & Roger Deakins - The Reader
Winner! Anthony Dod Mantle - Slumdog Millionaire

Thoughts: This won over The Dark Knight?! Okay, it deserves it, of course, it looked great, but Wally Pfister did something that no one else has ever done and deserve it even more than anyone else nominated!

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Winner! Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

Thoughts: Congrats, it was a great documentary, and it deserves it, I'm really glad it won!

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Winner! Smile Pinki
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

ANIMATED SHORT
Winner! La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

LIVE-ACTION SHORT
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Winner! Spielzeugland (Toyland)

VISUAL EFFECTS
Winner! The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

Thoughts: Alright, I'm sorry, but The Dark Knight deserved this hands down, and as great as the effects were in Benjamin Button, this is stupid to see The Dark Knight continually screwed. Come on, this is ridiculous, was the ever a moment you DIDN'T believe the VFX in The Dark Knight?

COSTUME DESIGN
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Winner! The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

MAKEUP
Winner! The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

FILM EDITING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Winner! Slumdog Millionaire

Thoughts: Sure, why not? I don't really know how good or bad it was, but I remember it being kind of weird.

SOUND MIXING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Winner! Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted

SOUND EDITING
Winner! The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted

ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
James Newton Howard - Defiance
Danny Elfman - Milk
Winner! A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
Thomas Newman - Wall-E

Thoughts: I love this soundtrack and just never expected it to win! The first time I saw Slumdog, I would say I loved the soundtrack more than almost anything, but never thought it would go on to win!

ORIGINAL SONG
"Down to Earth" from Wall-E
Winner! "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire
"O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire

Chime in below and let us know if you're happy with these winners and what your thoughts were on the ceremony and host Hugh Jackman. And of course, congratulations to all of the winners and nominees!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Arnold Schwarzenegger Will Be in Stallone's The Expendables!

Arnold Schwarzenegger

It looks like this will be the year Arnold Schwarzenegger makes his Hollywood comeback! Well, not exactly, but besides his rumored CGI appearance in Terminator Salvation, AICN has just learned that Arnold will be appearing in Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables. They have a pretty trustworthy source - Stallone himself - so I don't we have to be worried that this is a rumor. Their source let them know that they've convinced Arnold to show up as himself, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, because Sly's character Barney Ross and Arnold "have some history back when the Gov was shooting Conan the Barbarian."

Though we sadly won't see him doing any fighting. Word is Arnold will only be shooting for one day. Ben Kingsley has also been replaced by Eric Roberts.

They were also told that Stallone is tweaking the script in order to "nail the right tonal balance of humor, action and emotional reality." Which is good news. I've still got high hopes that this is going to be a frickin' badass action movie in the end!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

New Image of The Fallen Toy Revealed!

Somewhere, Michael Bay and the producers of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" are thinking "Why the fuck do we bother hiding the new Transformers if the fucking toy people are just going to spoil it anyway?" I'm thinking the same thing. Furthermore, it's the worst representation of that character since it's not what's going to be in the movie but just a shitty plastic representation.

But folks want an idea so below we have the title character, The Fallen, with his gigantic trident cock. Or his tail. Or metallic loin cloth. There's something hanging down there.

There's also Wheelie who looks fucking hilarious because he looks like WALL-E or Johnny-5 on steroids. Check 'em out below and have a laugh.


Head over to TF08.net to see the hilarity in higher resolution. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" hits theatres on June 26th.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Five New Images Remind Us That ‘The Road’ Still Isn’t Out


let us bask in the gritty glory of the five photos below. Those who have read “The Road” — myself included — will find that a few of these shots are from very memorable scenes. Most notable is the picture of Viggo, as The Man, sitting in the cab of the truck — which I can only imagine is the scene with the truck hanging off the bridge. Just a thought. Hillcoat has certainly captured the right visual tone for the film, and I am anxious to see how the rest plays out on screen — that is, if it ever comes out.

The Road stars Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Robert Duvall. Have a look at the new images below (click to enlarge).

theroad-new1

theroad-new2

theroad-new3

theroad-new4

theroad-new5


Friday, February 6, 2009

New Knowing Photos

See Nicolas Cage, Run Cage Run - New Knowing Photos

Can it get any more unexciting than this? While I'm actually excited to see Knowing, this new batch of photos found over on SlashFilm is instead, just plain boring. We get three new photos of Nic Cage running, running, and kneeling. Oh, how so very interesting! Realistically, these are utter trash and should never have been put out. So why the heck am I running them? Good question! Well, because there's nothing better to talk about at the moment.

Knowing Photos

Knowing Photos

Knowing Photos

I should've mentioned this before everyone actually saw the photos, but do yourself a favor and just watch the trailer again. It's a much better way of building up hype for this than these awful photos!

Knowing is directed by Alex Proyas of The Crow, Dark City, Garage Days, and I, Robot previously. The script was written by a collaboration of screenwriters including Ryne Douglas Pearson ("Simple Simon"), Juliet Snowden (The Need, Boogeyman), Stiles White (The Need, Boogeyman), and Stuart Hazeldine (upcoming Paradise Lost). Summit is releasing Knowing in theaters on March 20th, 2009.

Official Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Posters

Thanks to the Italian website BadTaste.it, we've got our first look at three new official posters for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Time has flown by fast and it'll be July before we know it, which means despite Warner Brothers's decision to delay this movie, it'll be in theaters before we know it! Or at least they're marketing team is making us forget all about that originally planned November release. Given this is the Harry Potter franchise and we're six movies in, I don't need to provide much more of an intro than I've already done. We all know who Harry Potter and Dumbledore are, so dive right in and enjoy!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince PostersHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Posters

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Posters

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is again directed by British filmmaker David Yates, of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix previously, and written by Steve Kloves, who also wrote the adaptations of Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Goblet of Fire, but did not write Order of the Phoenix. This is the sixth book in J.K. Rowling's immensely popular series. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince arrives in theaters next summer on July 17th, 2009. Be there!

'Watchmen' Video Outlines the Anti-Vigilante Keene Act



You've gotta know that even though we've got a ton of trailers and other funky tidbits, the Watchmen marketing push is far from over. Now, as we enter the last long month of waiting, we can see how these masked modern heroes came to be. How they were thrust into the shadows, removed from their crime-fighting ways until some retired, and others gained a fair bit of gut flub. Yes, Nite Owl, I'm looking at you.

Above you can check out a public service announcement that explains the Keene Act -- the McCarthy-esque plan to rid the world of masked superheroes. The rules are simple: no masks, no capes, no gadgets or experimental weapons, and no dangerous unlicensed vehicles. I wonder, does the same apply to masked sports mascots, magicians, and Van Damme's thighs? And really, that act is kind of silly. I mean, couldn't a hero just take off their spectacles to disguise themselves (a la Superman), take off the cape, use only mainstream weapons, and drive sports cars? No? I guess that's not flashy enough.

You can see the results of the Keene Act on March 6.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Transformers Set Pics

Everyone is caught up in the buzz for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at the moment, thanks to that mind-blowingly awesome Super Bowl TV spot that Michael Bay whipped up. While the full teaser trailer won't arrive until Friday the 13th (meaning both the actual date as well as attached to that movie), we've got a huge batch of new behind-the-scenes photos from Transformers 2 thanks to both Latino Review and a guy who was cast as an extra in the movie. Along with these new photos comes some interesting spoilers, which I won't dare reveal here, but the actual photos are all pretty much entirely spoiler free!

So the story goes that a user on the LS2 Forums, who is apparently part of the military, was cast as an extra. He describes his entire experience, including the scenes that he shot. This is one of my favorite excerpts: "Micheal Bay loves the military. I got to speak with him very briefly. He gets so angry on set at the actors but doesn't dare yell or demean the military. It was a trip. He said something to me like do you want a job as a DA (Directors Assistant), I said hell yeah. He was getting pissed at his DA. His DA was like trust me you don't want this job." Check out the photos below and head over to Latino Review for more!

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Behind-the-Scenes of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

To put it simply - I can't freakin' wait for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen! I know these are just a bunch of cell phone shots of vehicles and tanks, but just seeing all of this gets me excited. I love Michael Bay's integration of the military, there is really nothing else than can compare to it in Hollywood. To be honest, I think it's that intergration that makes movies like this so entertaining and so successful in the end. That Super Bowl teaser already looked fantastic and I know there is just so much more to be revealed for this! We've only just begun to scratch the surface. Let's keep the hype going all the way until June!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is again directed by action film superstar Michael Bay of Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, The Island, and Transformers previously. The story and screenplay for the sequel was written by Transformers writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci as well as Ehren Kruger (The Ring, The Brothers Grimm, Blood and Chocolate). Paramount is unleashing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in both IMAX and regular theaters on June 26th this summer.