ONE SHEET ALERT - The Fall

In May, if your not going to go see PRINCE CASPIAN, IRON MAN, INDIANA JONES 4, or SPEED RACER, then you may want to check out Roadside Attractions THE FALL, an epic fantasy film by Tarsem (THE CELL) about a little girl who meets a bedridden man in a hospital who starts telling her a fantastical story reflecting the current state his state of mind. As the film progresses, fiction and fantasy seem to mingle together further and further, until the man and the girl find themselves at the center of the story being told.

NEW Wall-E (2008) Trailer 3

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Can Pixar do any wrong? One of my most anticipated films of 2008.

Behold, Indy 4 gets its FINAL ONE SHEET!!!

Are your knees knocking in anticipation quite yet?

Fixing The Oscars

This year the Academy Awards received their lowest ratings ever. Since 2003 when THE RETURN OF THE KING won Best Picture, Oscar viewers have been in a steady decline. Some feel the films nominated by the Academy for Best Picture no longer coincide with whats popular among the masses. In the past, crowd-pleasers have been readily a part of the Academy's nominees including BRAVEHEART (1995), TITANIC (1997), GLADIATOR(2000), and THE LORD OF THE RINGS (2001-2003). Lately, the Academy has chosen to pick more critically acclaimed films including CAPOTE, GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK, SIDEWAYS, and BABEL. This year, the only film to cross the 100 million mark and be voted for films most coveted prize was JUNO, the one crowd-pleaser of the bunch, and the only comedy nominated. The remaining four nominees including NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, MICHAEL CLAYTON, and ATONEMENT, all downbeat dramas without happy endings or optimistic tones. It should be no surprise that JUNO made over 100 million because it is the most enjoyable film out of the five though its topic, teen pregnancy, is quite serious. However, the fact that the filmmakers took a lighter approach to a serious and relevant topic probably gave it the appeal that was needed for its major success. The other films are full of themes including corruption, brutality, greed, obsession, crime, and death, and with the current state of world, people just aren't up for throwing down 12$ to watch something void of hope or escapism. On the other hand, was there a blockbuster this year that was worthy of Best Picture? If there was one blockbuster worthy of a Best Picture nomination, it was RATATOUILLE. Not only was it one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, and it is one of Pixar's most successful films at the box-office, grossing 620 Million Worldwide. If that doesn't signify a match between critically love and box-office dollars, I don't know what does.

Brad Brevet over at ROPE OF SILICON offers some great incite into what may return the Oscars to its former glory including a look at how marketing may have played a big part in why many people have just not seen the films.

"Perhaps the Oscars simply are a DVD selling tool, but if studios wised up and if the Academy wants to put on a show that is going to be watched by more people they better start getting audiences to see these movies in theaters and not with some all-day ruse to get folks to watch all five Best Picture nominees in one day just prior to the show.

Whoever decided they were going to waste their money on 15 hours of straight movie watching really needs to think that one over a second time. So, if you want to fix the Oscars then fix the marketing of the films dubbed "the best". Sure, people want to see things explode, robots take over the world and monsters attack New York City, but people will also go see beautifully drawn out love stories, relevant legal thrillers, violent chases and pregnant teens if you sell it to them. (I intentionally left out diseased oil tycoons because I don't think There Will be Blood could have brought in more folks had the studio tried.)

If these films truly are the best of the best people will want to go see them. Ladies will drag their men to Atonement, date night is made for Juno and the fellas can go see No Country for Old Men and maybe convince their women to join in. After all, Chigurh is quite the ladies man I understand.

So you see, it isn't the show that needs fixing, it's the movies before they get there. Up for Best Picture doesn't have to be The Incredible Hulk, Cloverfield, The Dark Knight, Iron Man and Kung Fu Panda (even though that would certainly bring in the younger crowd). The key is to simply give people something to cheer for. People would have cheered on No Country had they seen the other four films. Perhaps women would have wanted Atonement or Juno to take the top prize after enduring the violence of No Country and the somber nature of There Will be Blood. Either way, if they had been given the chance to see the films and they had been marketed outside of the art house audience, I really think you would see a ratings bump.

However, we know this will never happen. I mean, how good can a movie really be if the general audience actually likes it? Speaking of which, it wouldn't actually kill the
Academy to just once recognize one of these summer blockbusters as an actual
good film."

To read the entire article, please visit...

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/stupid_question_893_how_do_we_fix_the_oscars

2008 Oscar Winners...

Complete list of Oscar winners...

Best Costume Design: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Best Animated Feature Film: "Ratatouille"
Best Makeup: "La Vie en Rose"
Best Visual Effects: "The Golden Compass"
Best Art Direction: "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Best Short Film - Live Action: "The Mozart of Pickpockets"
Best Short Film - Animated: "Peter & the Wolf"
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"
Best Adapted Screenplay: "No Country for Old Men"
Best Sound Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum"
Best Sound Mixing: "The Bourne Ultimatum"
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
Best Film Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum"
Best Foreign Language Film: "The Counterfeiters"
Best Music - Original Song: "Once"
Best Cinematography: "There Will Be Blood"
Best Music - Original Score: "Atonement"
Best Documentary - Short Subject: "Freeheld"
Best Documentary - Feature: "Taxi to the Dark Side"
Best Original Screenplay: "Juno"
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Best Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Best Picture: "No Country for Old Men"

And the 2007 Best Picture winner is...

BEST PICTURE

BEST DIRECTOR - JOEL AND ETHAN COEN

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - JAVIER BARDEM

OSCAR Predictions 2007 - WILL WIN / SHOULD WIN

Tomorrow night is Hollywood's biggest night of the year. Which films will rise above the others, which will fall to the wayside. The Oscars is never what I would call completely predictable, the Academy always manages to surprise us, CRASH anyone. But anyway, here are my predictions for the films that will walk away Oscar Happy, and the films that should have.

BEST PICTURE

• Will Win - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
• Should Win - THERE WILL BE BLOOD

BEST DIRECTOR

• Will Win - JOEL AND ETHAN COEN
• Should Win - PAUL THOMAS ANDERSEN

BEST ACTOR

• Will Win - DANIEL DAY LEWIS
• Should Win - DANIEL DAY LEWIS

BEST ACTRESS

• Will Win - JULIE CHRISTY
• Should Win - JULIE CHRISTY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Will Win - JAVIER BORDEM
• Should Win - JAVIER BORDEM

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Will Win - TILDA SWINTON
• Should Win - TILDA SWINTON

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Will Win - JUNO
• Should Win - RATATOUILLE

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Will Win - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
• Should Win - THERE WILL BE BLOOD

BEST EDITING

• Will Win - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
• Should Win - THERE WILL BE BLOOD

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• Will Win - RATATOUILLE
• Shoud Win - RATATOUILLE

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• WIll Win - ATONEMENT
• Should Win - ATONEMENT

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• WIll Win - FALLING DOWN (ONCE)
• Will Win - FALLING DOWN (ONCE)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Will Win - TRANSFORMERS
• Should Win - TRANSFORMERS
  

The INDIANA JONES Trailer Has Arrived!!!

INDIANA JONES returns, and he is a site to behold. Can May 22 come any sooner?

Did RATATOUILLE Get Snubbed By Oscars?

RATATOUILLE remains for me one of the most remarkable films of the year. It is a feast for the eyes, the senses, and the heart. It still stands as one of, if not the most, highly regarded films of the year. So did it get snubbed by the Academy Awards by not getting a nomination for Best Picture? The following article from CNN presents that very argument.

"Among the tales of depravity and violence that dominate this year's Academy Awards race sits the bright and shining "Ratatouille." A rat never seemed so sanitized.

"Ratatouille" is the story of a rat who dreams of becoming a chef and the cook who befriends him.

The Pixar film landed five Oscar nominations and was ranked by many critics as one of the year's best, yet was never a serious contender for best picture. Instead, it was relegated to the relatively new category of best animated feature, which the academy began dolling out in 2002.
Directed by Brad Bird, "Ratatouille" has garnered an aggregate score of 96 on Metacritic.com, ranking it above "Pulp Fiction," let alone this year's best picture candidates: "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood," "Juno," "Atonement" and "Michael Clayton."
And its other nominations across three different disciplines -- best original screenplay, best score, best sound mixing and best sound editing -- suggests the kind of broad consensus that often results in bigger awards like best director or best picture.
Its five nominations rank as the most ever for a computer animated film, and rate second among all animated films, only surpassed by the six received by Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." That picture, done in the traditional Disney style in 1991, stands as the only animated film to ever be nominated for best picture."

You can finish reading the rest of the article here!

Are You Ready for QUANTUM SOLACE

Bond, played once again by the incredible Daniel Craig, returns this November!

Prince Caspian Super Bowl Commercial

See it before the big game!

Reepacheep Revealed!

The latest poster for one of the years most anticipated films gives us a glimmer of the character who is one of the most beloved in all seven Narnian Chronicles, the might mouse himself, Reepacheep. Voiced by none other than Eddie Izard, the sword wielding mouse with the height of an infant but the heart of lion can be seen in the lower right corner of the new one sheet below. May 16th feels closer than ever!

Will Guillermo Del Toro Direct THE HOBBIT?

It is looking more and more like director Guillermo Del Toro (Blade 2, Hellboy, Hellboy 2, Pan's Labyrinth) will take on THE HOBBIT for Newline Cinema under the direct supervision of none other than Peter Jackson (LORD OF THE RINGS), who will act as the Executive Producer. The studio has not published any "official" word as of yet, but things are pretty much set.

THE HOBBIT tells the story of Bilbo Bagggins, and his adventures with Gandalf the Grey. Biblo is the Hobbit that finds the One Ring in Gollum's cave on his trek with the dwarfs to face the villainous dragon Smogg, before it makes its way into the hands of Frodo Baggins, Bilbo's nephew, in the LORD OF THE RINGS.

You can read more about it at...http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2008/01/29/28329-introducing-the-director-of-the-hobbit/

Video Tribute to HEATH LEDGER as The Joker...

And the Nominees are...

BEST PICTURE
Atonement

Juno

Michael Clayton

No Country for Old Men

There Will Be Blood

BEST DIRECTOR
Jason Reitman, Juno

Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton

Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men

Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone

Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Ruby Dee, American Gangster

Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

Saoirse Ronan, Atonement

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War

Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild

Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

BEST ACTRESS
Ellen Page, Juno

Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

Julie Christie, Away From Her

Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Laura Linney, The Savages

BEST ACTOR
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

George Clooney, Michael Clayton

Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd

Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah

Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Juno

Lars and the Real Girl

Michael Clayton

Ratatouille

The Savages

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Atonement

Away From Her

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

No Country for Old Men

There Will Be Blood

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Persepolis

Ratatouille

Surf's Up

BEST MAKEUP
Le Vie en Rose

Norbit

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

BEST FILM EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Into the Wild

No Country for Old Men

There Will Be Blood

BEST SCORE
Atonement

The Kite Runner

Michael Clayton

Ratatouille

3:10 to Yuma

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Falling Slowly" from Once

"Happy Working Song" from Enchanted

"Raise it Up" from August Rush

"So Close" from Enchanted

"That's How You Know" from Enchanted

Actor HEATH LEDGER dies at age 28!

Today, actor Heath Ledger, best known for his Oscar nominated role in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, along with his famed roles in A KNIGHT'S TALE, THE PATRIOT, and the upcoming THE DARK KNIGHT in which he plays The Joker, has tragically passed away. An investigation is currently underway but investigators believe a possible cause to be a overdose on sleeping pills. Ledger was found by his maid, and a masseuse who had come to give him a massage. My prayers go out to his family, his colleagues, and his two year old daughter as they deal with the heartbreak of this tragedy. You can read the whole story at...

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=4173792&page=1

Review: I AM LEGEND

There is something all too familiar with I AM LEGEND. It feels like a story we have seen before, one man, alone in a world once bustling with the noises of people and life, trying to survive on his own, and seeking a future that seems all too hopeless. Part 28 DAYS LATER, part CAST AWAY, this adaptation of Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel THE OMEGA MAN, which is also a 1971 film of the same name staring Charlton Heston, features one distinct difference from these other survivalist’s tales, the casting of Will Smith. Will Smith has officially made himself the new Teflon Tom (Tom Cruise) in becoming a consistently bankable Hollywood star. His past several films including I-ROBOT, HITCH, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS have all become multi-million dollar hits. What can I say, people just love him, and the fact that he picks films with some degree of gravitas only improves his and the filmmakers chances for greater success.

I AM LEGEND consists of two very distinct stories, the first is one of pure survival in the aftermath of an apocalyptic type event that leaves one man (Smith) alone in New York City with only the companionship of his faithful German Shepard, Samantha. But what the trailers and marketing materials quickly reveal is that our hero and his furry friend are not alone. What we soon find out is that a supposed cure to cancer that was injected into cancer patients has mutated, turning its users into blood thirsty monsters who can only come out at night due to their ultra sensitivity to light, which tends to melt there skin. Smith’s character, Colonel Robert Neville, has remained in the abandoned city in order to research a cure for their condition.

In part one of I AM LEGEND we get an in-depth look into what life might be like if you were alone in an abandoned city. Imagine hunting dear in a mustang, hitting golf balls off of an aircraft carrier, scavenging for food, and finding ways for keeping your sanity. This is the part of the film where Smith and the story truly shine. The audience is given a glimpse into an apocalyptic world, and a hauntingly plausible future, that is both riveting to watch, and haunting to think about. Will Smith gives everything to the role that without him, might very well crumble completely.

In part two of I AM LEGEND we get introduced to the creatures lurking in the darkness of New York City. They cower in the darkness, just waiting for the light of day to set so that they can scour the city searching for more blood to satisfy their hunger. If part one of I AM LEGEND was about survival, part two is more about over the top action, gigantic plot holes, and a not so real or scary looking CGI monsters. What made JAWS such a monumental achievement was the fact that it begged the audience to imagine the terror that lurked below. By seeing the terror and dread that the monster (Jaws) caused, without actually showing the monster itself, allowed your imagination to instantly run wild with infinite possibilities of what it could be, and we all know how terrifying are own imaginations can be. The minute I saw the “monsters” in I AM LEGEND, it lost a lot of the edge that the beginning, the trailers, and the hype had been building up to. Also, the films climax will either leave you scratching your head, or down right angry.

For me, the parts of I AM LEGEND that worked, notably Will Smith’s passionate performance, Andrew Lesnie’s tempered cinematography, and James Newton Howard’s haunting score, were captivating, meaningful, and beautiful. Even with its many flaws, I AM LEGEND remains a provocative entry into the action/horror genre, and the fact that it’s an action movie that actually takes its time, that breathes life into psychological and physical state of its main character remains a pleasant surprise.

GRADE: B-

Behold... THE ENTERPRISE

The new film, ENTERPRISE, about Captian Kirk and Spock's first mission in Starfleet, opens Christmas Day, 2008!

THE OSCARS Get A Poster!!!

Only one question remains, will the Oscars actually take place!!!

New INDIAN JONES 4 Pic!