Academy Awards 2011

Real-time Feed:

• James Franco and Anne Hathaway on opening skit.  Alec Baldwin in too.  Morgan Freeman also makes cameo as a narrator. They're in scenes of Inception, The Social Network, The Fighter, True Grit, The King's Speech, The Black Swan.  The DeLorean makes a cameo too as the hosts use a scene from Back to the Future!
• Tom Hanks presents Art Direction award, and briefly features past films Gone with the Wind and Titanic as the standards for this category.  Alice in Wonderland wins this award.
• Tom Hanks presents Achievement for Cinematography too. Wally Pfister wins award for Inception.
• Kirk Douglas introduced by hosts, makes funny jokes.  He's the oldest celebrity blogger at 94. He presents Best Supporting Actress award. Melisa Leo wins.
• Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis to present Best Animated feature and Best Animated Short.  The Lost Thing wins Best Animated Short.  Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich) wins.
• Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem present award for Adapted Screenplay.  Aaron Sorkin of The Social Network wins Adapted Screenplay.  David Seidler of The King's Speech wins Original Screenplay.
• Russell Brand and Helen Mirren present award for Foreign Language film.  In a Better World (Denmark) wins.
• Reese Witherspoon presents Best Supporting Actor award.  Christian Bale wins.
• Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman present award for Best Original Score.  Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network win.
• ...
• Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams present Best Short Film: Strangers No More.  Also present Best Live Action Short Film: God of Love.
• Oprah presents Best Documentary Feature: Inside Job.
• Multiple-time Oscar Host Billy Crystal talking about Bob Hope.
• Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law present Achievement for Visual Effects: Inception wins.  Achievement for Film Editing: The Social Network.
• Jennifer Hudson presents Best Original Song: Randy Newman for Toy Story 3.
• Hillary Swank introduces Katherine Bigelow.  Ms. Bigelow presents Best Director: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech.
• Jeff Bridges presents Best Actress award. Natalie Portman wins.
• Sandra Bullock presents Best Actor award.  Colin Firth wins.
• Steven Spielberg presents Best Picture award.  The King's Speech wins.
  

Thor - Official Trailer #2

Catch the second official trailer of Marvel's upcoming film Thor, set to kickoff this summer's lineup of blockbuster movies on May 6, 2011.


Chris Hemsworth leads the cast which includes Anthony Hopkinss, Tom Hiddleston, and Natalie Portman, who has been ubiquitous lately with her Oscar-nominated flick The Black Swan, and romantic-comedy No Strings Attached.

Stay tuned as we rank the best, the worst, the snazziest and the dreariest of trailers among this summer's highly-anticipated blockbusters.

X-Men: First Class - Official Trailer

Catch the official trailer for the much-anticipated summer blockbuster, X-Men: First Class - in theaters on June 3, 2011.

Top 5 Chick Flick Movies List - For Guys and Girls

Valentine's is just around the corner, so we thought we'd get into the mushy mood, and share to you our top 5 list of favorite romantic chick flick movies! We'll be commenting on each others' picks, and hopefully we'll end up with a couple of movies that suit both the guys and the gals :)

Steve's List (in no particular order): 1. Love Actually The ensemble of ensembles among romantic comedy films. This bona fide box office hit boasts of a predominantly British cast without the benefits of a Harry Potter label (think Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, and Bill Nighy). The cast members are involved in different subplots and their stories intertwine to build a 136-minute running time. Its main flaw is also the source of its charms:  relying on all those convoluted stories to deliver the most laughs and warmth that a feel-good movie is supposed to do. That the film was set during Christmas makes it a favorite to be part of one's Holidays and Valentines viewing tradition. 2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind One of the most thought-provoking films of the past decade within and beyond its genre. Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) are former lovers who underwent procedures to erase all their memories about their relationship.  The story traverses along Joel's mind as he tries to revisit these memories while undergoing the procedure and proceeds with unexpected twists and outcomes. 3.  How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days This became an instant favorite of mine as soon as I watched it because of the chemistry between Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson in this film. Andie Anderson (Hudson), in the process of writing an article, "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days", proceeds to find a man to date and to whom she'll do all the wrong things women do in relationships.  Almost simultaneously within the same metro, advertising executive Benjamin Barry (McConaughey) makes a bet with his boss and coworkers that he can make any woman fall in love with him in just ten days. Barry's coworkers, aware of Andie's search for a subject in her article sets her up to be Barry's "target" girl.  The film proceeds with the opposing quests of Andie (to make Ben break up with her) and Ben (to make Andie fall in love with him). 4.  The Devil Wears Prada Another favorite of mine mainly due to Meryl Streep's outstanding performance as the cold-blooded Miranda Priestly, a fashion magazine editor.  For this role, Streep earned various award nominations, including an Academy Award for Best Actress. Andy (Anne Hathaway) gets a job as co-assistant to the steely and uber-demanding Miranda Priestly.  Andy tries to manage the demands of her job and her relationships with her boss Priestly, co-assistant Emily (Emily Blunt), and beau Nate (Adrian Grenier). 5. Aladdin Yes, one year after Beauty and the Beast (see Merle's list), Disney delivered yet again with another quality fairytale movie, this time about two lovers overcoming the odds and circumstances surrounding them from birth to complete a happily-ever-after ending. "A Whole New World" and the idea of having your wishes granted - how lovely.

Merle's List (in no particular order): 1.  Pride and Prejudice (Keira Knightley Version) From the very beginning of the show, when the beautiful piano composition (by the brilliant Dario Marianelli) starts to play and weave into the picturesque rural scenery, the feeling that the movie was going to be a memorable one was already swelling inside me. And this feeling never faded. When Elizabeth Bennett (Keira) meets the haughty but extremely rich Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), their stubborn characters immediately get into a proverbial sword fight. The movie explores this relationship and how the two finally begin to understand each other and rein in their pride and prejudice over the other. The movie's success depended highly on Keira and Matthew's chemistry and acting ability and both certainly delivered. Matthew Macfadyen embodied the Mr. Darcy that almost every girl dreams of. Along with a charming musical score and a fantastic supporting cast, this movie is pretty much perfect in my eyes. 2.  Penelope Penelope is a chick flick that revolves around a girl named Penelope (Christina Ricci) who was cursed with a pig-snout for a nose and who has been locked inside her home for the past twenty or so years. The only way to break the spell is to find someone of her own kind to love her truly, which spurs on all the matchmaking soirees the mother hosts in their home. In one of the soirees, Penelope meets Max (James McAvoy), a gambler who unexpectedly helps Penelope come out of her shell. Ultimately however, it is Penelope who affects more change in Max, when she runs away from home on an adventure, and begins to come into terms with herself and her curse. The movie has great cinematography, and a very eye candy production set that certainly brings a quaint fairytale charm to the show. Once again, the chemistry between the two central characters was undeniable. But more than anything, what I liked about the show was how they were able to turn what could have been a cliched plot into a unique movie with little surprising twists, and brilliant character developments of the whole cast, which had the movie steering away from the fairytale evil vs. good cliche. 3.  13 Going on 30 This is probably the obligatory "Be careful what you wish for" type of romantic chick flick movie every girl should have on her top chick flick list ;) And there's definitely a WHOLE LOT of these kinds of movies out there. Jennifer Garner was perfect as Jenna Rink, a 13 year old in a hurry to grow up, be successful, and be a beautiful, popular girl. When she gets her wish and turns 30 however, she realizes she's thrown away some things along the way, particularly her friendship with best friend, Matt Flamhaff (played by the very, very, very lovable Mark Ruffalo), who has loved her ever since. Mark Ruffalo played the part of the pining best friend character just as flawlessly - it was hard not to gush over him. 4.  Beauty and the Beast I absolutely love this film, and a lot of people must love it too, considering it was the first animated film to be given a Best Picture Oscar nomination. There's always something captivating about the idea that a man can change for the better because of his love for a woman, and this movie is perhaps the shining example of such a notion. The soundtrack is also praise-worthy, and fits perfectly with the fairytale. 5.  While you were Sleeping I included this film on my top 5 list mainly for 2 reasons. One - because I felt it would be a mortal sin not to include a Sandra Bullock flick in my top 5, considering that I'm a huge fan of hers and find that she is perfect for the chick flick genre. Two - because the chemistry between Sandra and Bill Pullman was just so wonderful and charming, that it was hard not to smile like an idiot throughout the film as you see their relationship unfold. Charming is perhaps the one word to really sum up this movie - its cast, the plot, and the backdrop (set during Christmas time).

Other Notes:

From Steve: "I'm surprised with Merle's pick for a Sandra Bullock movie - I always thought Miss Congeniality whenever Sandra's name comes up.  Need to watch Pride and Prejudice soon."

From Merle: "I'm ashamed I've never watched Love Actually yet, but from watching a few scenes and trailers from the movie over on YouTube, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna love it as much. Devil Wears Prada is in my top 10 list of fave chick flicks. I'm slightly surprised with your choice of Aladdin but yes, I do agree that was a good animated film as well :) Not in my top 15, but I certainly enjoy watching that one and wouldn't mind watching it again."

Captain America 2011 vs 1990 plus Poster Preview

We recently blogged about the Captain America teaser shown during Super Bowl. A poster of the movie is also out, and it seems to promise a lot of action. Chris Evan's facial expression in the poster is very compelling and I can't decide if he's sad, confused, overwhelmed perhaps?

In any case, I headed over to IMDB to check out some photos of the Captain America Movie, and saw this one, which features Captain America's whole ensemble. Out of curiosity's sake, I researched how the retro 1990 Captain America looked like and here's the difference:

Clearly (as expected), Captain America 2011's outfit is a lot cooler and more realistic. Let's just hope the movie is too.

When in Rome - A Movie Review (Stay away from the End Credits!)

Steve's Take: The disappointment starts in the lofty standard implicitly promised by the movie's three main ingredients, all of which are oozing with charm: Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, and the setting (Rome).  Unfortunately, as Merle mentioned, Bell and Duhamel lacked chemistry, and Rome and its elements were under-utilized. Indeed, it is hard to believe that the accessory characters (Bell's other suitors played by Will Arnett, Jon Heder, Dax Shepard, Danny DeVito) could manage to out-charm the movie's more prolific cast and romantic setting, and yet they did. Summary:  I'm still a big Kristen Bell fan, so I'll just watch her in other shows.

Merle's Take: If there is one word to sum up When in Rome, it's "underwhelming". This is one of those movies that rely on the romantic beauty of a European country to make up for the lack of character buildup and plot twists. However, even in this department, the movie fails because it only features a very short few minutes of scenes from Rome. I can forgive the movie for being predictable, as is the case for many chick flicks, but what I cannot forgive is the contrived progression of Beth (Kristen Bell) and Nick's (Josh Duhamel) relationship, and their lukewarm chemistry. None the less, the movie was passable and the other four guys (Will Arnett, Jon Heder, Dax Shepard, Danny DeVito) were novel enough, so I still managed to watch the movie until the end of the credits, which I immediately regretted thereafter. When in Rome completely fell flat on its face as soon as the credits rolled in and the cast started dancing like a bunch of crazies. Why they'd end the lackluster movie with a completely random and cringe-worthy set of dance moves is beyond me. Summary: Watch When in Rome only when it shows on TV and DO NOT watch the end credits. I beg you.

Super Bowl Sunday XLV Ads

This blog will be constantly updated for movie-related ads shown on Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. A 30-second spot reportedly costs $3 million for what is consistently America's biggest sporting event.

Fast Five


Cowboys and Aliens


Transformers 3


Thor


Battle Los Angeles


Super 8


Captain America


Kung Fu Panda 2



Priest


Limitless


Rango


Rio


Just Go With It


Misc:
John Travolta and Ron Howard seen at the Cowboys Stadium.
Volkswagen with some little Darth Vader in its ad.
Chevrolet brings in Bumblebee.

American Superhero Roles Outsourced to Foreigners

The announcement that The Tudors actor Henry Cavill will play Superman in Zack Snyder's upcoming film about the Man of Steel only served to put fuel to the fire of discussions on how foreign-born stars are "invading" beloved American superhero roles.

For more of this talk see here, here, and here.

Meanwhile, here's a quick list of the talented, non-American actors along with their corresponding iconic superhero roles (either recent past or upcoming):

Henry Cavill (British), Superman

Christian Bale (Welsh), Batman

Andrew Garfield (Half-British), Spiderman

Hugh Jackman (Australian), Wolverine

James McAvoy (Scottish), Professor X

At least The Green Lantern is played by Ryan Reynolds, right? Oh, except that he's Canadian.

2011 Screen Actors Guild Awards

The 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards was held at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles California on January 30, 2011.

Official Results:

Lifetime Achievement Award: Ernest Borgnine

FILM

Best Cast in a Motion Picture: The King's Speech

Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, The Black Swan

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter

TELEVISION

Best Cast in a Drama Series: Boardwalk Empire
Best Cast in a Comedy Series: Modern Family

Best Actor in a TV Film or Mini-series: Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack
Best Actress in a TV Film or Mini-series: Claire Danes, Temple Grandin

Best Actor in a Drama Series: Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Best Actress in a Drama Series: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

Best Actor in a Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Best Actress in a Comedy Series: Betty White, Hot in Cleveland