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JUNE MOVIE PREVIEW – PROMETHEUS & MADAGASCAR 3

Movie Guys Paul Preston, Christanna Rowader, David Beach and Lee Kias give the once-over to June movie releases PROMETHEUS and MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED. Quick, sharp and funny, we’ll tell you what they’re all about.

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ANTIMETHEUS

Prometheus

*1/2

Profanity-laced Rant/Review by Charley Rivkin

SPOILERS ABOUND

If you did not end up seeing “Prometheus” – do not continue reading.

My review of (“Prometheus”) or as I’d really like to call it – “Alien: the Bloody Show” –

I, like every other moviegoer out there, am in a constant search for completion. Not sexual per se, but we might as well think of the rapture gained as amazingly similar. There is very little that’s more satisfying than finding a movie that you love. That you connect with. That you can’t stop thinking about. The trailer for “Prometheus” had me on the edge of my seat every single time I watched it, which was repeatedly and often. And then, June 8th came, I went to see it and I thought…

What the fuck!
What the fuck?
Seriously what the fuck!?!

What the fuck, Ridley? Did you forget what happened in your own fucking movie? Is 1979 that fucking long ago? In “Alien”, there was a simple order of events, a mythology that we could understand and a villain that we identified with pure terror. What the fuck was this? I know Ridley Scott is old, but I didn’t think he was too old to forget to pay attention to the fact that you need a fucking story that makes sense in order to have a fucking script that makes sense in order to have a movie that makes fucking sense.

I’m a filmmaker. I’ve written and shot and edited features, shorts and everything in between, and the first thing I have to make sure of when making anything is? Can anyone guess?
Something that makes fucking sense!
I’m sorry, but why does someone who makes a 200 million dollar movie have less of an obligation to make something good? It should be the other way around. Why do I have to labor over a shitty 25k independent film for twelve months when they shit out unintelligible giant steaming piles of movie shit like it was any other bowel movement. CGI and a big budget does not entitle you to not care about what you’re making.
Yeah, I’m talking to you, too, “Battleship”.

Now I did read that this isn’t suppose to be on the same moon that they land on in “Alien”, but if that’s the case, why the fuck make it look exactly like the planet from “Alien”? Were you trying to trick people into coming to the a movie you knew was shit so you thought…”Hey, let’s make it look like ‘Alien’ and people will come!”
Why even bother making a prequel to a movie that doesn’t cover anything that’s worth anything for the future? Not to mention that you fuck up the mythology so much that I’m going to have to try to forget the information in “Prometheus” was even introduced into my brain. Which won’t be hard, ’cause it didn’t even make sense.
Funny thing is that I’m this pissed and I’m not even a very big “Alien” fan!
Fuck!
Fuck!

Can anyone explain how seven ancient civilizations drew five circular points on a wall throughout earth’s history and why that fucking matters? Are five round circles rudimentarily drawn on cave walls suddenly coordinates that are good directions?
TO TRAVEL IN FUCKING SPACE?
With this logic we should fund a multi-trillion dollar expedition based on five freckles that are on my fucking ass. But, I guess this logic is sound because both the movie’s five circles and my butt cheek’s five freckles will lead you to the same destination. A stinky dark place where shit comes out. Fuck this Bloody Show of a movie.

I call it a Bloody Show because that’s the hot pile of genetic material, lumps of cells and blood that is birthed before the baby actually comes out when a real human women is in labor. So in this analogy, I’m going to call “Alien”, the 1979 classic movie, a beautiful baby and “Prometheus” a bloody, messy, over-thought, under-written, over-complicated, un-suspenseful pile of embryonic bullshit.
Oh, it had all of the genetic potential to make life in every single frame of that movie, but alas its just a fucking mess that was pushed out of the vagina of Hollywood, wrapped in a fancy blanket, doctored by a big named director, nursed by an already shit writer (the guy who wrote the very succinct and understandable television show “Lost” (That was sarcasm)) and passed off as an actual Hollywood baby.
BUT IT IS NOT, MOTHER FUCKERS!
It is not!

Fuck you, Damon Lindelof, writer of “Lost”, “Cowboys and Aliens” and “Crossing Jordan”. You were asked to do a simple thing. Write something that happened in this world before we knew it. Go for it, write anything…and you go and fuck up the “Alien” mythology. You basically were told to tell a prequel to the three bears, but instead of writing a story about how bears came to own houses and why they ate porridge you disprove bears’ existence.
Congrats, you’re horrible. I hope your wife beats you at night.

AHHHH….who could like this movie? Did anyone? HOW? I’m reading reviews and a lot of people seem to like it. What the fuck is wrong with you people? This movie is a perfect example of what happens when no one’s career is actually on the line.

Here’s an analogy –
Spielberg makes a prequel to “Jurassic Park” and there are no dinosaurs in it, but there were giant frogs with DNA issues that killed everything they saw, and suddenly in the end of the movie you’re thinking to yourself “Wait…these could be the frogs they got the DNA from to build dinosaurs”. Then at the end of the movie you find out this island is on the moon in the future.

Hey Lindelof….you’re an overpaid monkey banging on a typewriter. Sad part is, I’m pretty sure you made a couple million dollars to disappoint everyone who goes to see this film. So haha, joke’s on us I guess. You’re cashing your fat check after doing no real writing work. Have you ever read a book before? Ever noticed how they make sense? I’d rather you plagiarized someone’s work, killed them and buried the body so you’re never found out than have to watch anything else you ever write from your brain again.

OK Lindelof, here are just a couple of questions I’d like answered as much as those dumb scientists wanted their questions answered:

1. Why are the original Human-Alien’s trying to kill Earth humans? For what purpose? ‘Cause that purpose really didn’t serve this movie. Why have a plot point that doesn’t mean anything to the actual plot? Is it ’cause you’re disguising your inadequacy with unintelligible mythology, adding hundreds of under-thought story lines, none of which actually get answered to just confuse your audience into thinking something big happened?

2. How did this Human-Alien race create us? What the fuck was that scene in the beginning about? Was that where humans started? From that guy dissolving into water? Was that suppose to be Earth?
I can understand and appreciate an ambiguous scene, but not when the rest of the movie is ambiguous and never gives any fucking answers.

3. Why did the Human-Alien wake up and kill everyone with a smile like a serial killer? He Dexter-ed the shit out of everyone. Please understand why this proves you’re a crap writer. Without his actual motivation, its simplistic, one-dimensional and boring.

4. Why did the Human-Alien’s ship have holographic recordings of its history? Besides as an easy out to actually writing a story about investigating what happened there.
I mean…they had scientists on board that study that exact shit they needed to figure out and you didn’t use them for the purpose you created them for.
Good job. For this one, I’m particularly proud of you.

5. Why didn’t the probes pick up the fact that there were earth worms on the ground? And why didn’t they pick up that the snake things were there? Don’t you dare say electrical storm!
Also, was it the worms that turned into the worm things that looked kinda like blind snakes? Haha…fucking earth worms. Really? Let’s make a complicated movie and not explain anything. Smart move.

6. How’d that geologist come back to life after acid burned his mask to his face without any sign on his helmet or face that that had happened?
Actually, this isn’t a writer problem. But still. What did he turn into? Why? The goo turned him into a zombie? Is that what an “Alien” prequel was really lacking? Zombies?

7. Why was a squid growing in her womb? A Fucking squid? No one could have maybe thought of something a little bit more visually interesting or similar to the other mythology that this movie is suppose to be emulating? There was nothing else you could have used?

8. Who or what were the Human-Alien’s running from and why wasn’t that in the hologram. Also…why’d the head of the dead Human-Alien have the mutating goo changing him when they shocked him? Why the fuck did they shock him? What purpose did his head exploding serve?

9. Again…how’d they get those coordinates out of five circles in a cave? Was there some sort of cave drawing mathematics I missed in 3rd grade that led them to believe that five circles were strong enough coordinates for directions thirty trillion miles away? I can barely drive from five miles without having to type forty-five different things into my GPS. Five poorly drawn circles on a cave wall?
Drawn.
By primitive cultures.
On a cave wall.
In crayon.
Really?
Fucking “Lost” writer.

10. Why did David poison that scientist? For a robot this was easily the most dangerous and reckless behavior ever. Weyland was ON the spacecraft and he straight up endangers everyone, including his maker by doing that. And if you say he KNEW that they were going to have sex and make a squid baby you can take your balls in your hand and squeeze them hard enough to see spots. Cause that, my overpaid writing guru, is not good writing.
I wish Hank Moody were alive and real so he could come up and bitch slap you for attempting to destroy the very concept of story telling and pass them off as genius.

11. Why didn’t you at least show Idris Elba fucking Charlize Theron. That at least woulda been interesting. Also…what purpose did Charlize’s character serve?
Anything?
Nothing?
Nothing!
OK, that’s what I thought.

12. Why didn’t you at least stay true to what was established in “Alien”?
There was such a beautiful simplicity to the killing machines that were the aliens. Why’d you go and fuck it up so bad that I’d like to go back in time and erase you? Without the simplicity, you lost all form of danger for the audience. For us.
For the characters in the movie…well, they just died quick and easily and fast. See a snake.
Die.
Drink a drop of black goo.
Die.
Et cetera to the point of boredom.

13. What the fuck was that goo? Really? You invented a goo that mutates things into other things. That’s the big thing? My four-year old niece writes better stories out in crayons. They have beginnings, middles and yup…endings that make sense. Why? Cause she’s smarter than you.
But why not have a universal order of evolution here with this black goo? It infects people. Those infected create a version of a face hugger, the face huggers mouthfuck and impregnate something, the baby is born from the body of whatever was mouth-fucked. Seems like a simple order of events. Did we really need zombies over a simple evolutional order establishing the mythology of “Alien”?
So if this was the case, what would a worm alien have looked like coming out of their chest? It woulda been the worm/human/alien hybrid version of an alien. Right? That would have been fucking awesome. Just like we got the dog alien in “Alien 3″. Isn’t that how this movie should have gone? Showing us a glimpse of the inner workings of this universe?

15. And lastly – Where was any form of suspense?

And don’t blame this on the editing. There’s no way those guys forgot to put ALL of this shit in there.

I’m disenchanted with the fact that I have to ask ALL these questions. The worst part is there’s probably another hundred questions I didn’t ask mainly because I’m tired of writing a shitty review.
I consider myself a smart movie watching mother fucker. I’m the one that usually gets the very subtle nuance that passes over peoples heads. I have defended the likes of Michael Bay, Brett Ratner and even, on rare occasions, M. Night Shyamalan’s most recent bloody shows….but all I can ascertain about what the fuck happened in “Prometheus”…is –

And finally a Synopsis in my own words –

PROMETHEUS –
Human-Aliens came to earth and created us. I think. Maybe. Then seven ancient civilizations drew five circles on cave walls for reasons left unknown…especially to the writer of this movie, and then these scientists in the future thought it was a map, convinced a guy to spend a trillion dollars based on five circles in seven caves as coordinates and boom, we’re in space.
They land, go into ruins and activate black goo that starts mutating everything it touches into fuck-if-I-know…things that kill you.
The shit back story that I could pull from the movie is that the goo the Human-Aliens created was suppose to mutate life?
Or kill it?
Or something?
Whatever.
Idris Elba at one point speculated that it was their version of biological warfare, but that’s like me saying Stonehenge was built for sacrifices. Is it true? Maybe? Should anyone believe that that’s exactly what it is? NO. Cause I’m speculating.
So anyway.
They screwed up and it started attacking the Human-Aliens? Again, I didn’t really get if it turned into aliens on them, just infected them or what, because they were supposedly set to go to earth and kill everyone on earth and even when that sleeping Human-Alien woke up he still wanted to go to earth and destroy the humans…that’s not exactly the behavior of someone who’s entire race was wiped out by a biological weapon.
Now, before they could launch an attack on earth for no reason, the goo mutated into supposed aliens we never see, stopping them from coming and destroying Earth with a whole ship full of mutating goo. Then Dr. Shaw has a squid baby which ends up being a giant face hugger and mouth fucks the Human-Alien to have a new kind of alien (something similar to what we’re familiar with from the original movie, but in no means is anything like it). It cuts through his chest from neck to groin.
And everyone dies.
The End!
No? You think someone lives?
You’re gonna say Dr. Shaw lives?
Wrong, mother fuckers.
Dr. Shaw, our heroine and the mother of the squid abortion, got onto a ship that did NOT have oxygen. The only breathable air on the planet was coming from the terra-forming in the domes and water that filter out the CO2. So I will conclude with…
And everyone dies!!!

The saddest part of all is that “Snow White and the Huntsman” was better than this movie.
Now that is fucking clown shoes!

Let me reiterate the rules of these movies.

Send people in space. Uncover monster. Get hunted by monster rest of the movie. Everyone dies but one girl. She wins. End of fucking movie you fucktard writer.

The sad part about this movie is that it could have been redeemed with a twenty minute rewrite. Granted…it wouldn’t have solved every problem, but take this quick change I just thought of in an angry text to the editor.

Instead of having the Human-Aliens be psycho killers, why not have the guy in stasis be in stasis to keep the alien in his chest from popping out. And he’s angry when he’s awoken, but doesn’t go on a killing spree. He tries to get everyone to help him really quickly and no one knows why he’s so angry and acting erratic. He turns the ship on and jumps into the big gun chair to try and destroy the other incubating chambers when an ALIEN (the one we know and love) pops out of his chest, knocks the ship into auto-drive, sending it to earth…where our heroine, Dr. Shaw, and the last survivors of this inhabitable movie have to stop the alien and the ship from plunging into the earth with an alien, or even aliens and the goo on board.

Wow. Was that so fucking hard? Writing something that makes sense?

With this, at least the last act of the movie held with the same suspense and thrill as what we all loved from “Alien”.

Give me another twenty minutes on the shitter thinking about this and I’m sure I could solve another third of the movie’s problems.

So my final rating of “Prometheus” is 1 and 1/2 stars.
It is beautiful. I can’t say it wasn’t great to see all this really cool shit on screen. Especially the landscapes, that are easily the most amazing and realistic 3D landscape shots of an alien planet.

See this movie if you love “Alien”, but don’t come running to me if you’re disappointed in the story. I did warn you. But….

….and this is a big but.

I think I can save this movie for you and restore it to a full four star status. Mainly for its visual aspects.

Wait for the movie to come out on beautiful HD or BluRay…plop down on the couch with all your fixin’s of a good evening in, pop in some Medeski Martin and Wood or some Pink Floyd, turn down the volume on the movie and turn up the music and enjoy the visual beauty of this stunning film.

Or leave the sound on and be disappointed.
Your choice.

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Release Date: June 8, 2012
Run Time: 124 Minutes
Country: USA
Rated: R
Distributor: 20th Century Fox

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The Movie Guys bring you original videos about nothing but movies, movies, movies. View away, go nuts, and don’t hesitate to check out our YouTube page where you can subscribe to our channel, find embedding info and get more lowdown about the videos.

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN – THE MOVIE GUYS’ TRAILER BREAKDOWN

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, the new fantasy film starring Kristen Stewart, gets a thorough once-over from Movie Guys Paul Preston and Christanna Rowader. Quick, sharp and funny, we’ll tell you what it’s all about.

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SNOW WHITE AND WHATEVER

Snow White and the Huntsman

**1/2

Review by Paul Preston

A couple of months ago, my wife Karen sang the praises of “Mirror Mirror” as a funny fairy tale romp in and out of the woods with funny Nathan Lane, funny Armie Hammer and funny Julia Roberts hamming it up. I think it’s safe to say Karen would not like “Snow White and the Huntsman”, where serious Kristen Stewart, serious Charlize Theron and serious Chris Hemsworth serious their way through the Dark Forest. This is not unlike last year’s “Red Riding Hood”, another fairy tale serious-ed up for the “Twilight” audience.

Disney has ingrained in our heads this light and frothy, sing-songy Snow White tale, but this film is more in line with the original Grimm’s fairy tale that I’ve never read. The Evil Queen is actually Snow White’s stepmom. All this time, I thought Snow White needed a prince to wake her from her sleep, but turns out SHE’S royalty, a princess with a new mom to hate on. The Queen has to literally suck the life out of young girls to maintain her beauty and youthfulness, all the while conquering the fantasy land of Wherever with her army of soldiers made of shattered glass. Seriously.

Did you know in the in the original Grimm story, when the Queen is vanquished, she is forced to wear heated iron shoes and dance until she drops dead? Yeah, not here, when we could instead have an action scene with special effects! I think that’s the gotcha scene when the kids are asked by their parents if they read the book, when in fact, they only saw this.

There’s a lot of whatever going on in this movie. The evil Queen kinda shouts her powers out as she goes along. “I can do this! But I can’t do this”, etc. Whatever. The Magic Mirror she talks to walks around while they have a conversation, looking like the T-1000 in “Terminator 2”. Seems like a special effect to do just cause they can. Whatever. There are eight dwarves. Whatever. And to the notion that Kristen Stewart’s Snow White would ever be fairer or hotter than Charlize Theron – WHATEVER.

The dwarves are played by an all-star cast of British character actors – Ian McShane, Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan, Nick Frost, many of them speaking a nearly-unintelligible thick British/Cockney/Scottish mix. But sadly, the great Bob Hoskins can’t save his character, a blind dwarf whose job it is to say stuffy movie lines with a straight face like “She’s the One” and “This Cannot Be”. That’s kind of the problem with the script overall. It’s an interesting concept to see the original world the Brothers’ Grimm imagined up on the screen, but it’s coupled with dialogue that’s not very special and devoid of any real charisma. Kristen Stewart has a rather by-the-numbers army-rallying speech that doesn’t help with her stuck-in-“Twilight” delivery. In contrast, Theron has a blast being evil and twisted and somewhat tortured, too. There’s also a great archer in the film, which is all the rage – “The Hunger Games”, “The Avengers” and the upcoming “Brave” – archers are the new meteor-headed-towards-earth, everybody’s doing it.

I’m always a fan of a movie taking itself seriously, and not goofing around. I’ll take “Casino Royale” with Daniel Craig over any of the late Roger Moore James Bond films. But this one may have gone too serious. There is an abundance of slow motion photography to remind you of the prestigiousness of the battle you’re watching.

Surprisingly, this is NOT in 3D. Anytime I hear now that a film will take place in a “magical world”, I’m ready for that world to come tumbling into my lap, but not in this case.

I sat through the end credits, and with all the locations and special effects on display, the credits go on for quite some time, but in the end it’s A LOT of credits to a make a movie that’s OK. Whatever.

Directed by: Rupert Sanders
Release Date: June 1, 2012
Run Time: 127 Minutes
Country: USA
Rated: PG-13
Distributor: Universal Studios

OFFICIAL TRAILER

Excited about upcoming movies? You will be. Or, you’ll be frustrated by how much trailers give away. Either way, they’re all here for your enjoyment.

As ever, we recommend our WEEKLY MOVIE PREVIEW to tell you the real deal about every weekend’s releases. Plus, we’re funnier.

A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN (opening 5/4/12)

THE DICTATOR (opening 5/11/12)

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH (opening 7/27/12)

PROMETHEUS (opening 6/8/12)

SPARKLE (opening 8/17/12)

TED (opening 7/13/12)

TOTAL RECALL (opening 8/3/12)

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN, PART II (opening 11/16/12)

CELEBRATING 26 YEARS OF STUFF ‘N’ THINGS

The Movie Guys go to Wonder-Con

Comments by Paul Preston
Photos by Adam Witt & Paul Preston

Everyone knows Comic-Con, the San Diego pop culture extravaganza that goes on every July. Have you heard of Ape (the Alternative Press Expo) in San Francisco? No? How about Wonder-Con? If Comic-Con is the Alec Baldwin of pop culture conventions, Wonder-Con is the Stephen Baldwin (leaving Ape the Daniel Baldwin of said events). Normally existing in San Francisco, Wonder-Con came to Anaheim this year due to renovations to San Francisco’s convention center. Being in Anaheim, the event was easier to get to by all the crazies in Los Angeles, but there seemed to be fewer costumes and get-ups than in San Diego. I guess they’re not onto the event’s proximity yet. Or they’re just so crazy that they lack the skills to register online in a timely fashion. Or know what proximity is.

It wasn’t overcrowded. It was inviting, full of good people and lured some pretty decent Hollywood types to promote what’s coming out, movie-wise, in the next year. And movies are what we focus on. Here are some of the sights and our comments:

As with all these types of events, you’re greeted by these Yahoos:

And they’re evil counterparts…

(You can see in Cobra Commander’s helmet reflection just how excited Adam was to meet such a legendary character)

Adam put it best, however, you feel safest in a place where Stormtroopers outnumber actual security:

I don’t know if it’s because “Superman: The Movie” producer Ilya Salkind was signing autographs or what, but safety measures were sharpened for this event. Even The Punisher had to check all his weapons past security before he could roam the floor. And it went on like one of those bits where the dude keeps pulling weapons out of everywhere – the pistol from behind his back, the knife in the bootstrap, etc.

A guy like me goes to Wonder-Con for the big, splashy movie studio presentations of upcoming movies that tie into comics, fantasy and sci-fi genres. And there was plenty of good presenting to satisfy your nerd jones. A guy like Adam goes for EVERYTHING offered up.

Here are a few convention floor highlights before we go inside the Third Floor Ballroom (For the record, “Third Floor Ballroom” doesn’t have the same ring as Comic-Con’s “Hall H”. Wonder-Con might wanna work on that).

As always, The Movie Guys are the first with movie news! So we’d like to report that Marvel has been secretly working with Walt Disney Pictures to bring us all an “Avengers” movie. There you go. Scoop uncovered.

You got to pose for photos with Thor’s hammer (which was actually quite heavy). I thought, “Hey, I’d like to look like Chris Hemsworth! Gimmee that!”. However, as evidenced in the picture, I look like Tom Brokaw or something. Next photo.

Adam “scored” at one of the video booths, coming away with hard-to-find DVD copies of the TV movie of “Doctor Strange” (who knew there was such a thing), the 1977 TV pilot of the animated “Spider-Man: The Movie” and long lost animated “Hulk” cartoons from thirty years ago. Now for people like my wife, my parents and any clergy I know, this isn’t necessarily “scoring”, but for Adam, it was the mother lode.

Light sabers for sale.
(No further caption necessary)

This droid talked to more hot chicks in spandex than half the guys attending Wonder-Con.

If this were any other robot, it would look like this child is being eaten. But it’s R2-D2, so it’s all good.

Adam’s getting a shot here of the first Batman and Superman I’ve seen in the SoCal area that didn’t ask me for a dollar.
________________________________________________

Now, on to the Third Floor Ballroom (Nope…still doesn’t sound like a place where something awesome would happen). Hall H in San Diego holds about 6,000 people. Being the baby brother of Comic-Con, Wonder-Con’s presentation room held about 3,000. Don’t get me wrong, that’s still a crap-ton of people lining up to hear about “Battleship”.

The first film out of the gate was “Sound of My Voice”, a creepy movie about a couple of documentary filmmakers who are embedding themselves in a local cult when, naturally, things go wrong, documentary ethics are questioned and “Martha Marcy May Marlene”-type murders occur. The first twelve minutes of the film were screened, a wise move for a film nobody knows anything about. Well timed, too, as the last line of the footage is the ringer for what kind of cult this is, and introduces the sci-fi element a crowd of 3,000 geeks needed.

Then two members of “the cult” talked to the audience about the creepy sect they belonged to. This seemed like a great idea that somehow fell flat. I think one cult guy didn’t know where the booth on the convention floor was to find out more info and both had commune-like low energy that didn’t help rev up excitement for the film. This was followed by a by-the-numbers Q&A with the filmmakers and star.

Presentation aside, the footage spoke for itself. The movie looks like a very well-made indie that’s creepy and could find a “Blair Witch”/”Paranormal Activity” audience if rolled out correctly. It was a Sundance hit that opens in April.

THE FIRST TWELVE MINUTES OF “SOUND OF MY VOICE” CAN BE SEEN HERE.

LOOK UPON THE CLARITY OF THIS iPHOTO!!

Next up was 20th Century Fox, rolling out new trailers for two summer films. First was “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”. A short film was played where “Tim Burton” (a zombified corpse on a hospital bed surrounded by two hot nurses and “Dr. Andrew Weil”) introduced the presentation. He could not attend because he was in London.

Then the screenwriter (and writer of the original books) Seth Grahame-Smith came out to moderate a Q&A with director Timur Bekmamnetov and star Benjamin Walker. Timur was of little words, but Walker seemed to be a big fan of the project and he looks strikingly like a young Liam Neeson, who ironically was originally cast as Honest Abe in Spielberg’s “Lincoln” (before Daniel Day-Lewis got the role). They said more than once that history is a great launching point for this horror/sci-fi adventure because Lincoln himself had a childhood and “origin story” not unlike a superhero’s. This particular version of that story just happens to have vampires.

There aren’t many writers who come across as genial and energetic as Seth Grahame-Smith. He goofed on Stephanie Meyer and seemed thrilled to pieces that anything has become of his goofy stories that bend history (he also “Pride & Prejudice & Zombies”). Overall, the film looks WAY (perhaps TOO) stylized. From the clip and new trailer they showed, the film has no interest in being in reality at ALL. Not quite “The Lincoln Story…plus vampires”. As Adam would remind me, with a title called “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”, I should expect some exaggeration. Well…there’s certainly that on display here!

Next up was what most people in the convention center were there to see. Ridley Scott (the world’s most famous Ridley) on hand to introduce the newest 3D trailer for “Prometheus”. This was the most high-powered panel, as Scott was joined by writer Damon Lindelof (“Lost”), Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender.

All signs are pointing to “Prometheus” being the “Alien” prequel everyone wants it to be. There is even some Giger-esque production design to whet your sci-fi appetite. Sadly, the new trailer doesn’t directly help us understand what the plot might be, but the good news is, the new trailer doesn’t directly help us understand what the plot might be.

This was the big prestige project of the day. No gimmicks, no bullshit, just Magento, Sir Ridley and Oscar winner Charlize Theron talking to that guy who fucked up “Lost”. Ridley returns to sci-fi for the first time in thirty years. People were pleased, and below you can see why:

Up next was a not-nearly-as-impressive summer slate from Universal Pictures. Lately, comedies and action movies have treated The Globe Studio well with “Bridesmaids” and “Fast Five”, but their fantasy offerings like “Cowboys & Aliens” and “Land of the Lost” have tanked. “Snow White and the Huntsman” and “Battleship” don’t look to change that trend, so hopefully “The Bourne Legacy” kicks ass…

Kristen Stewart looked her usual waif/goth/hot, but kinda seems dull in this new update of the Snow White story, stripping all the fun out of the story the same way “Robin Hood” with Russell Crowe did, replacing whimsy with armor-clad battles between armies. Theron came back out to discuss the joy of playing an unlikeable character (a run she’s been on lately after “Young Adult” and here as the Wicked Queen Ravenna).

They were joined by director Rupert Sanders, who’s making his debut. They debuted a new trailer and an extensive clip. But there’ll be no confusing this with the recently-released “Mirror Mirror”. Check out the differences below:

MIRROR MIRROR:

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN:

This is not a flattering picture of Peter Berg.

But…he was working HARD to get us excited about the strange concept of “Battleship”. This movie is based on the board game, but…um…it has…uh…well, let me quote director Berg: “There are aliens in BATTLESHIP”.

Yes, aliens, and Berg, along with Brooklyn Decker and Alexander Skarsgard, gave us sneak previews of two extended scenes from the film. One was the kind of scene you can only get in a summer action movie. Taylor Kitsch plays a naval officer who seems like trouble, and we got a glimpse of his rambunctious ways in a six minute sequence that got known quickly as “the burrito clip”. Kitsch is determined to get a chicken burrito for Decker’s character when she arrives at his local bar after the kitched closes. He then goes to/breaks into a convenience store, busts the place up and draws the attention of the police to get her the burrito. This is “Battleship”. Too much unfunny comedy. Make with the aliens.

The next scene gave us just that. But it was still only mildly appealing. But I was quickly reminded that Liam Neeson is in the movie, so it may be too early to get down on it. Berg is definitely trying to be Michael Bay here. But with Michael Bay still out there being Michael Bay whether that’s requested or not, there may not be call for a second one.

But I hope “Battleship” isn’t a total wash, ’cause I’d hate to see the promising career of Taylor Kitsch completely go in the crapper, and that would definitely happen if this summer film tanks on the heels of “John Carter”. Kitsch played Carter as a healthy mix between Indiana Jones and William Wallace, often bothered to be helping, but really being good at it. I’m rooting for him.

This is my favorite image from the “Lockout” panel, ’cause it makes the moderator from IGN look like he has an afro.

“Lockout” doesn’t look good. And yet, it looks awesome. This is a movie for a very slim cross-section of male viewers, so the trailer we saw plays directly to them with no apologies. It has lines like “He’s a loose cannon”. Again, horrible. Again, awesome.

Maggie Grace was on hand to try like hell to make this appeal to women with stories about her family visiting the set and she debuted an extended, five minute scene where hero Guy Pearce is racing against, I don’t know, “bad guys”(?) to break into a cell on a prison in space to get to The President’s daughter. You see, in another horrible/awesome move, The President’s daughter is on a goodwill mission to the prison when a riot turns the whole jail into a madhouse. It’s basically “Escape from New York” in space. And “Escape from New York” was not horrible at all. Just awesome.

FIVE MINUTES OF FOOTAGE:

Those blobs in the center, at the table, those blobs are Milla Jovovich and Paul W.S. Anderson, star and director of “Resident Evil: Retribution”. I’ll admit I haven’t seen any of these movies, but perhaps I should subscribe to Adam’s theory that whenever a series gets four or five movies in, you OWE it to their hard work to check the movies out, for god’s sake.

Anderson has no problem being known as the “video game movie” director. He’s all about ‘bullet-time’, all the time, as the panel gave us a sneak peek of an action scene. This scene was nothing but Jovivich killing zombies in as stylistic a manner as possible. It looked like nothing matters in this movie except rampant killing. So, naturally, I was interested.

The super-crisp HD footage and 3D were pretty impressive, even if I didn’t know why Alice was wasting all these monsters, or why they were monsters in the first place. All I know is I played the very first “Resident Evil” game on PSOne YEARS ago, and there was no Alice in it. Apparently, the plot is expanded to a global level here and it’s to be the biggest of the “Resident Evil” films. OK! I’ll go already!

I LOVE discovering a new film at a con. In the past, it’s been films like “Red” and “Drive”. This year’s little-known film doesn’t come out until September. “Looper” is the latest film from the director of “Brick” and “The Brothers Bloom”, changing genres yet again to bring a time-travel movie to the masses. Rian Johnson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt gave fans the world debut of the trailer, which showed us Levitt as an assassin who kills people sent back in time for their execution. One rule – don’t let the victim escape. So naturally…things go wrong. This was such an exclusive event I couldn’t even find the trailer online to show you all now. Search harder than me and you may come up with something, and you won’t be disappointed by what you see.

Levitt’s a great actor and he and Johnson seemed genuinely excited about this project, which also features Bruce Willis as an older Levitt. It looks like it nails the genre and enjoys the fun and danger in the storyline. Johnson and Levitt had a great rapport, as if they whipped this film together for us and “go have fun with it, guys!”. It looks great.

Your finale was “The Amazing Spider-Man”, bringing out Emma Stone, director Marc Webb (Really? The director of a Spider-Man movie is named “Webb”?) and producer Matthew Tolmach. The best part of this panel was Tolmach. He was in total producer mode, totally in charge and totally funny and totally sure this movie was gonna be the greatest thing of the summer. Yes, he was funny.

Despite not being done with all the VFX, Webb showed a VERY extended clip montage, with high school scenes, action scenes and more. I thought it was cool just to see Spidey swinging in front of a blue screen to see what it looks like before the final cut. Tolmach and company were making the hard sell to let us all know just how different this Spider-Man story was going to be. GOOD. Since I first heard of this project, and that the whole project was going back to high school, I was underwhelmed. I mean, really? The origin story again? Well, with The Lizard and Gwen Stacey and a more mysterious background to Peter, they’re promising a storyline that is true to alternate comic book mythology, yet won’t be a re-tread.

So, slowly, I’m becoming interested, plus the cast looks good, especially Rhys Ifans as Dr. Collins/The Lizard.

That’s it till Comic-Con 2012, where there better be some dirt on “Pacific Rim” and “Start Trek 2″!

OSCAR RANT 2012

(Honoring the films of 2011)

Rant by Paul Preston

“I think I can safely say that despite the quality of some of the year’s best movies, it was not a great year”.

This is the sentence I used to start last year’s Oscar Rant, referencing the films of 2010. So…it suitably starts this year’s rant as well. Things haven’t gotten better. I remember specifically, in the middle of the summer, I was awaiting all the great summer movies that were going to come out. Sad thing is, they already had, and I was moving into a latter-half of the summer with the only bright spot being “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”.

Same thing happened at Christmas. Usually, by year’s end I get excited to see all the award-worthy films as they expand to more theaters in January. This year, I had already seen everything by December 31st, and I was not impressed. I had not felt like I was in the throws of holiday movie-time. I suppose we can only take solace in the fact that the third installment of the “Alvin & The Chipmunks” franchise only made half of what the other films did…

Did I mention bright spots? Let’s talk about ‘em. My list of the Top 10 Films of 2011:

10. X-MEN: FIRST CLASS – This is the kind of year it’s been. The “prestige projects” on the whole were so underwhelming, they’ve left room in the Top 10 for a summer action movie. But “X-Men: First Class” is a very deftly-handled period actioner beefed up with great actors. This film could easily have been Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens-ed, but, wisely, the producers used the talents of Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult (“A Single Man”) as young mutants coming under the wing of Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. This is another film in a phenomenal year for Michael Fassbender, who really shines as Erik, the young Magneto. Kevin Bacon also steps up for one of his best performances in years, showing what can happen when you throw him a substantial role. Politics, teen angst, and ambitious action sequences all get thrown into a mix held together well by director Matthew Vaughn.

9. PUSS IN BOOTS – Why shouldn’t the film I’d pick for Best Animated Film also be one of the best overall films of the year? Pixar, up till 2011, was batting .1000. All the while, DreamWorks Animation had been improving their game slowly and steadily. They’ve delivered a real winner the year Pixar stumbled with “Cars 2”. “Puss in Boots” is anchored by the best script yet of the “Shrek” universe films, and it certainly ranks among the funniest films of the year, if not the funniest, as we follow a pre-“Shrek” Puss as he attempts to clear his name over crimes he didn’t commit. Antonio Banderas’ hilarious gravitas-laden voice-over carries a light and nimble plot, happily devoid of a slew of modern references. The action scenes are well-imagined and the animation is very impressive, even (gulp) the 3D.
Click here for a full-length review.

8. MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – There’s an interesting story here about an A.D. working on the production of “The Prince and the Showgirl” who had a flirtatious affair with Marilyn Monroe. But once things get going on the set, that’s where my interest was really peaked. Pill-popping head case Monroe annoys the SHIT out of Laurence Olivier, and it is entertaining as HELL! Kenneth Branagh’s slow burn as Sir Larry is priceless, and Michelle Williams’ portrayal of Monroe is in every way deserving of its Oscar nomination.

7. RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – Saw this one twice. Here’s a summer movie that proves that if you bring the brains, the audience will follow. I’m tired of origin films (we really need to see how Spider-Man was created AGAIN?), plus I get tired of overuse of CGI characters, so for this film to work on me was quite a surprise. WETA Digital proves they are some of the best in the business, creating ALL the apes in this movie, who grow weary of their mistreatment by humans and, thanks to drug experiments, gain the wherewithal to fight back. If you’re having Andy Serkis fatigue because he is used nearly EVERY time motion capture is required, keep watching him. They keep using him ‘cause he’s the best in the business. His portrayal of Caesar is so expressive, he’s the film’s best actor. And the end credits are a stroke of genius.
Click here for a full-length review.

6. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS – There’s something on display here for every kind of Woody Allen fan. Do you love wacky Woody? It’s in there. Heady, literate Woody? It’s in there, along with his recent passion for Europe and the usual top-notch production team you’re used to seeing in a Woody Allen film. Owen Wilson is at his charming best as a Hollywood writer visiting Paris who magically is transported to the 1920s, where he meets his literary and artistic heroes. There are loads of laughs as Wilson is tempted with an affair and he can’t explain what’s happening to him when he’s dumped back in present day. No surprise this is Woody’s highest grossing movie in twenty-five years, it’s easily his most widely appealing in that amount of time, too.

5. MONEYBALL – As an L.A. Angels fan, I can get behind any movie about an MLB team owner who has to do everything he can to combat the N.Y. Yankee’s inflated budget. You can’t deny The Evil Empire their desire to win, the real problem is Major League Baseball’s desperate need of a salary cap. “Moneyball”’s brilliant writers Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian (two of the BEST out there) have expertly adapted Billy Beane’s book about putting a competitive team together in an unusual way. They, with director Bennett Miller, have made “Moneyball” very satisfying for the baseball enthusiast as well as understandable and exciting for someone who doesn’t follow the sport regularly. Anchored by a making-it-look-so-easy-he-can’t-possibly-be-acting lead performance by Brad Pitt, the film is adept at comedy and drama, but also gets very engrossing as a dramatic, suspenseful sports movie when Oakland starts playing well. And as an Angels fan, I loved the ending.

4. 50/50 – Yes, the cancer comedy is THAT GOOD. I think Seth Rogen’s been nothing but hilarious for six or seven years now, but he’s acquired this bad rap, probably due to overexposure. As a producer, he wisely never creates projects beyond his capabilities. Remember “The Green Hornet”? (Think hard) Rogen was a hero, but wasn’t a bad-ass bad-guy-whalloping machine. He left the heavy lifting to Kato and smartly did what he’s good at. Strange comparison to “50/50”, which is leagues better and nothing like “The Green Hornet”, but here’s another case where Rogen never tries to fool you into thinking that this film about a twenty-something journalist in Seattle faced with a harsh cancer is the drama to end all dramas. The script is still a stoner comedy, but there’s a convincing humanity at the heart here, delivered with style by director Jonathan Levine.

3. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Gotta admit I never read the book or saw the Swedish film adaptations before this, and I was blown away. Story carries the day here, and the timing couldn’t be better for Fincher to direct, because his keen eye and dazzling production value really build a tone, but he also seems to have moved past any show-off moves that littered a film like “Panic Room”, and he lets the story rise to the top. And what a story! A self-proclaimed insane goth-lesbian computer hacker teams with a journalist to investigate forty-year-old murder mystery in a story of rape, torture, fear and Nazis. Sign me up! The film wisely doesn’t update the Swedish story to All-American, and the cast is full of good actors. Rooney Mara’s daring portrait of Lisbeth Salander is one for the ages and I can’t wait to see what trouble she gets into in the next film. Christopher Plummer caps off a great year by delivering a captivating performance as the patriarch of the family that hires the journalist, and he ends up providing the film’s heart. Yes, this mad thriller can tear-jerk! There’s gripping suspense on display here coupled with things you’ve never seen before – a killer one-two punch for what I hope is a very successful franchise.

2. THE DESCENDANTS – In a year filled with bloated spectacle (‘Hugo”, “War Horse”), Alexander Payne’s strikingly truthful drama proves once again that less is more. George Clooney plays a land baron in Hawaii, and as if you can’t feel bad for that guy, his wife goes into a coma after a jet ski accident. This event leads to discoveries that complicate relationships, leaving things muddy, even at the end. The actors (and Payne) are obviously more interested in playing the TRUTH with this story, as opposed to doing anything “film-y”. As we’ve said before at The Movie Guys, anything George Clooney does is worth watching, and he’s FANTASTIC here. It may be time to put him on the list of the best actors in town, a list usually reserved for posh-er performers like Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hanks and Kevin Spacey. But Clooney’s certainly more consistent. After Pixar and Jason Reitman slipped up this year, Payne remains the only filmmaker whose every film I have enjoyed.
Click here for a full-length review.

1. THE ARTIST – This is a movie in love with movies. Here at The Movie Guys, WE LOVE MOVIES! So, liking “The Artist” was easy. Actually, I’d be hard-pressed to find anyone with a heart cold enough to dislike this film. If you don’t like it, you’re dead inside. At least dead to me. In a year wrought with pretentious offerings (“Melancholia”, “The Tree of Life”, anyone?), “The Artist” wins by being straight-up enjoyable. And wildly so. As the silent film star who has a tough transition into “talkies”, Jean Dujardin is mesmerizing with his seamless ability to channel Clark Gable swashbuckling to great heights one moment, and Gene Kelly whisking a girl across the dance floor the next. Paired with the radiant Berenice Bejo, they’re one of the best screen pairs in years. As technology advances, it’s amazing to see a film TAKE AWAY tech aspects and triumph.
Click here for a full-length review.

RUNNERS-UP:
Truth is there are only about six movies I’d really put on a year-end BEST list, so even expanding to ten was a chore. However, these films are good, too:
THE IDES OF MARCH – Is this better than “X-Men: First Class”? Probably. It’s pretty damn good, but it was fun to go super-hero movie for my top ten.
THE HELP – Solid drama with good actors top to bottom.
J. EDGAR – This movie got shit for being “Oscar-bait”, but the script is one of the best Eastwood’s worked with in years, and DiCaprio is as solid as ever.
THE MUPPETS – Back and hilarious.
BUCK – A documentary about a horse whisperer that truly uplifts and inspires.

THE WORST
PRIEST – Paul Bettany crapping away promise, determined to switch genres from dramas and comedy to action. Stay where you’re needed. Ask Eddie Murphy.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES – This franchise has totally lost its way, and its sense of fun. Another interminably LONG movie that’s one of the worst 3D offenders yet.
THE HANGOVER, PART II – It might be OK to repeat the exact same plot if the characters were likeable, but they’re NOT. At all.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN 3D – This film is hugely OVERDONE. More is not better (see “The Descendants”)
BAD TEACHER – Number of jokes that work in this film – zero.
ALBERT NOBBS – The biggest disappointment. Why was this story told? The lead character is creepy, the lead female unworthy of any affection, and the ending left the whole story feeling irrelevant.

THE OSCARS:

Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
George Clooney in “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Glaring Omission: This was a year brimming with great lead performances, so any number of actors could have been included – Leonardo DiCaprio for his bombast in “J. Edgar” or Ryan Gosling for his understatement in “The Ides of March” (like Christian Bale, his Oscar’s coming). I’m a little surprised to see the raw emotion Michael Fassbender brought to “Shame” didn’t net him a nomination. Perhaps the film itself was a little off-putting.
Runners-up: Joseph Gordon-Levitt in “50/50”, but the BALLS would have come out if The Academy took a risk on nominating Andy Serkis for “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”. Sadly, it doesn’t look like he’ll win an Oscar if the film wins for Visual Effects, either. They’ll thank him like they did for “King Kong”. Maybe a special Oscar is due somewhere down the line?
Great Inclusion: Brad Pitt. I called his performance making-it-look-so-easy-he-can’t-possibly-be-acting. That beats the showy roles he was nominated for previously (“Benjamin Button”, “Twelve Monkeys”). Good to see him here.
Will Win: Dujardin. It used to be a bigger race with Clooney, but Dujardin has pulled ahead with wins at the BAFTA and SAG awards.
Should Win: Both deserve it, but Clooney broke my heart. I’d go with him.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Glaring Omission: Albert Brooks in “Drive”. Now, I’m the world’s biggest Brooks fan, but I don’t think he’s totally right for this role. I dug the expansion beyond the type he normally plays, and he did a solid job, but not quite award-worthy, if you’re gonna compare (and that’s what we’re doing here, right?). However, with the pre-Oscar film critics awards he picked up, I thought he’d be nominated.
Runners-up: I’d slide von Sydow to the side and make room for Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Moneyball”, who underplays to perfection. Also, John C. Reilly out-acted all the Oscar winners in “Carnage”, don’t know if that makes him better than these nominees, but it accounts for something. I’d also throw some love to Corey Stoll in “Midnight in Paris”, whose indelible Ernest Hemingway was SO much fun. And wasn’t Paul Giamatti in a movie? Yes, he was (“The Ides of March”). So he should be nominated. Bam.
Great Inclusion: Kenneth Branagh. Many dismissed Branagh’s witty performance as Laurence Olivier as another shallow piece of a trite movie. They’re wrong! He doesn’t get lost in an impersonation, and finds so much room to PLAY in this part as a legendary actor who must come face to face with an industry that values movie STARS instead.
Will win: Christopher Plummer. Hard to believe this is only his second Oscar nomination, but he’s been a lock in quality projects for years (“The Insider”). And his role in “Beginners” is one of two great roles he had this year (the other being “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”). It’s his year, and thank god it’s for a good performance in “Beginners”, not the standard career award.
Should win: That being said, I’d go with Branagh

Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis in “The Help”
Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Glaring Omission: Tilda Swinton. With Golden Globe and SAG awards, I thought she was on track. But The Globes have two categories, and the drama category is nearly identical to these nominees, but when someone had to make room at the Oscars for Michelle Williams, it was Swinton who got the boot. But I’m sure she’s crying all over her other Oscar. I thought Charlize Theron had a shot because she and Reitman are Oscar darlings.
Runners-up: Kristen Wiig? As ever, comedy is subjugated. Glenn Close is just creepy in “Albert Nobbs”. Maybe you slide her out of the way for Wiig.
Great Inclusion: Rooney Mara! This is the best nomination in any category this year. There’s a lot of subtlety going around, focusing on restraint and simplicity (see Oldman, for example). But Mara’s brash, risky performance in “Dragon Tattoo” is an all-out-there tour de force, and if you’re giving awards to the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis for “There Will Be Blood”, then Mara’s got just as much of a shot.
Will Win: Davis. This race has become the most interesting as time’s gone on. It used to be between Williams and Streep, right on through their split of awards at The Golden Globes. But with SAG and BAFTA wins, Viola Davis is making a run, and you can’t discount the actor’s vote, ‘cause it’s actors who vote in The Academy, too. Streep and Williams’ performances are at the core impersonations (excellent ones), and they’ll probably award the more original performance on Oscar Night.
Should Win: Mara, beating out Wiliams, who’s a close second.

Actress in a Leading RoleActress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Glaring Omission: Shailene Woodley. The acting across the board is so good in “The Descendants”, I’m surprised Clooney is the only acting nominee in the mix. The next best shot, I thought was Woodley’s complex performance as a complicated (perhaps spoiled?) teenager.
Runners-up: Shout out to Bryce Dallas Howard, who is great in “The Help” AND “50/50”. What I like about her roles this year is that they were very unlikeable. I guy like me gets bitter and wants to reject nepotism, but she’s really good and Howard could float through romantic comedies easily, but she played more challenging roles. Good on her.
Great Inclusion: Berenice Bejo, but there’s certainly an argument to make that she could be in the Best Actress category.
Will Win: Octavia Spencer, who is on a roll. Her character in “The Help” says everything you want to say in stick-up-your-ass 1960s America.
Should Win: Bejo, the heart of “The Artist”. But I love that fact that I didn’t know Bejo, Spencer or Chastain before the year started.

Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
“Rango” Gore Verbinski

Glaring Omission: “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn”. It won The Golden Globe and had huge names attached. Oscar-winning names. But let’s be honest, it’s not a story that hooked America. And it’s a creepy animation style that I have no desire to see awarded. Three words sunk this nomination: Mars Needs Moms.
Runners-up: “Arthur Christmas”. I also had no desire to see Aardman Animation work with computers, having loved their stop-action animation for years. But “Arthur Christmas” is a delightful and very entertaining animated film with loads of heart and impressive animation.
Great Inclusion: Those two movies nobody’s heard of. And don’t try and fool me, you haven’t heard of ‘em either. Just be glad they’re here instead of the underwhelming “Cars 2”
Will Win: “Rango”. It’s got the momentum, plus a ton of Annie Awards. The dark horse could be “Kung Fu Panda 2”, which also won a handful of Annies.
Should Win: “Puss in Boots”, the only animated film in my Top 10.

Art Direction
“The Artist”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“War Horse”

Glaring Omission: Nothing “glaring” here, although there is sometimes more love given to action movies in this category, with their big set pieces. Outside of “Potter”, maybe “Transformers 3” or “Thor” might’ve snuck in here, but these are good nominees.
Runners-up: It’s not unlike Roland Emmerich to bring quality production design to a film, but in “Anonymous”, they went to good use, as opposed to destroying the world AGAIN. Seamless use of effects and sets brought Elizabethan England splendidly to life. “J. Edgar” proved again the Clint Eastwood films are always solid re-creation of place and time.
Great Inclusion: “Midnight in Paris”. With an opening that rivals “Manhattan”, Paris looks lovely, and when it’s re-created for the 1920s, it looks equally lush and inviting.
Will Win: “Hugo”. But I thought the locations reeked more of effects than locations.
Should Win: “The Artist”, which did just as much as “Hugo” to show time period without it looking so cheesy.

Cinematography
“The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth
“Hugo” Robert Richardson
“The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

Glaring Omission: “Midnight in Paris”. It had been nominated for pre-Oscar awards and damn, how gorgeous did Paris look as shot by Darius Khondji? A wonderful compliment to the art direction, which did receive a nomination.
Runners-up: “The Adventures of Tintin” didn’t make much of an overall impression on me, but there was shot composition in it that was on par with the best that Spielberg has done. Unfortunately, I was busy mostly focusing on how creepy the characters looked. Has animation ever been nominated in this category? Oh, yes, I see “Hugo” has been nominated. Never mind. There’s also something to be said for the great IMAX photography of “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”, especially the cameras-and-actors-hanging-on-the-side-of-the-building, vertigo-inducing brilliance of the action scenes at Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Great Inclusion: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”. I loved this movie, and it was mostly snubbed in major categories, so I’ll take nominations where I can get ‘em.
Will Win: “The Tree of Life”
Should Win: This is a really tough category, because when you look at the photography of “The Tree of Life”, it’s unreal. Even just the collection alone of shots is impressive, let alone the execution of capturing them so vividly. Now, what exactly do all these images bring to the story? That’s the problem. There ISN’T A STORY. So then we have a bunch of sound and fury signifying nothing. But man, the sound and fury looked fantastic. You probably gotta give it to Lubezki, even though I’m partial to “The Artist”, who even went out of the way to shoot in an 1920s aspect ratio!

Costume Design
“Anonymous” Lisy Christl
“The Artist” Mark Bridges
“Hugo” Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor
“W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Glaring Omission: What a surprise. All period pieces. I rant on this every year, but I suppose opulence will always win out in this category. Well, if you’re gonna go all period, where was “J. Edgar” and the awesome parade of G-Men outfits? Little back story here, too: All of DiCaprio’s outfits were built from scratch for him. Can’t get that watching the film, but to know there were no rentals for his eighty or so costumes is impressive. I’m sure something like “Water for Elephants” was great, costume-wise, but who wants to see that to find out.
Runners-up: There’s also no fantasy here. No “Harry Potter”? Perhaps they were wearing clothes designed for the previous movies. If I had my way, I’d nominate “Thor” for the outlandish costumes that didn’t give in to the pressure to tone down the “comic book-i-ness” of the characters. They still wear bright colors and capes where other comic book adaptations like to make everything black.
Great Inclusion: “Anonymous”, only because Roland Emmerich THOUGHT for two seconds and actually made a substantial movie, and he pulled it off, partially because of an authentic-looking 1590s London.
Will Win: “The Artist”
Should Win: “The Artist”. This movie looked like “Citizen Kane” at times.

Directing
“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Alexander Payne
“Hugo” Martin Scorsese
“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Glaring Omission: With the new stupid desire to increase excitement over The Oscars by having more than five nominees, that just means more directors who have apparently made a film worthy of year’s best, who can’t get an Oscar themselves. This leaves Stephen Daldry, Tate Taylor, Bennett Miller and Steven Spielberg in the lurch. Sorry guys, you’ve made a best-of-the-year-worthy film but you’re not one of the best-of-the-year directors. That’s just dumb, and The Academy’s decision to keep doing that is as lame as Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game meaning something.
Runners-up: David Fincher! From the tone to the direction of the actors to the look, feel, location and vibe, he nailed it. Terrence Malick did something great with “The Tree of Life”, but without him sitting next to me as I watch the film, explaining what exactly that is, I’m lost. So step aside, please and make room for a Fincher nomination here. Also, if Bennett miller keeps up the good work, he could be another no-miss director. He’s made two films (“Capote” and “Moneyball”) and they’re both good. I would’ve nominated him here. Also, I thought Martin Scorsese’s pacing was all over the place in “Hugo”, plus the whole piece was just way overdone. This might be mostly the script’s fault, but a movie like “50/50” connected more with me. Nominate Jonathan Levine here instead.
Great Inclusion: Alexander Payne, Mr. Doesn’t Make a Bad Film.
Will Win: Michel Hazanavicius. He won the DGA award. He’s the evening’s lock.
Should Win: Michel Hazanavicius. If you’re thinking, “Who?”, you’re not alone. What a breakthrough movie! To skillfully pull together an international cast, black & white, period piece, animal actors and SILENT FILM to such perfection was quite a task. Give him the Oscar.

Documentary (Feature)
“Hell and Back Again”
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
“Pina”
“Undefeated”

Glaring Omission: “Buck”. This movie had a lot of press leading up to the nominations and I thought it had a chance.
Runners-up: “The Tree of Life”. Wait, that wasn’t a NOVA PBS special?
Great Inclusion: “Pina” and “Undefeated”. “Paradise Lost” is about a murder trial, “Hell and Back Again” is about the Afghan War and “If a Tree Falls” is about environmental terrorists. So, I’m happy to see some uplifting stories in the mix. The only thing that scared the shit out of me was that I thought “Undefeated” was that Sarah Palin documentary (which is hilariously called “THE Undefeated”). If that got nominated, I was going to kill somebody.
Will Win: “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”. The Academy loves to reward bodies of work (see “The Lord of the Rings”) and this film could win essentially for all three “Paradise Lost” docs.
Should Win: You’ll notice there were not documentaries in my Top 10. This is different than past years where I’ve had movies like “Sicko”, “Inside Job” and “Waiting for Superman” in the mix. This year, I didn’t see any of the nominees. I am a dick.

Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
“God Is the Bigger Elvis”
“Incident in New Baghdad”
“Saving Face”
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”

But you know what? I didn’t see any of these, either. Neither did you. Let’s move on.

Film Editing
“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Kevin Tent
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Glaring Omission: Nothing glaring, but The Academy does love Spielberg’s production team. Always has. So I thought Michael Kahn might’ve had a shot here for “War Horse”, even a long shot for “The Adventures of Tintin”.
Runners-up: Hey, there are no show-off nominees here! So let’s throw “Limitless” in there just for fun.
Great Inclusion: All the dramas. This category, practically re-birthed by “The French Connection”, loves action, but there’s none here this year. I appreciate the shout-outs from The Academy to modest piecing together of “The Descendants” and “Moneyball”.
Will Win: “The Artist”, part of a big night for the film. The pre-Oscar awards went to this and “The Descendants”, but I think The Academy will go for the showier piece.
Should Win: I’m gonna stick with “The Artist” here, too. But it brings up the question. Is it tougher to edit an original piece or a book adaptation? I imagine most of the editing of the adaptation was done in the script. But the challenge for an adapted movie is keeping the core intact, and not cutting too much? Don’t have an answer here, just riffin’.

Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” Belgium
“Footnote” Israel
“In Darkness” Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
“A Separation” Iran

….sigh. I’m horribly underversed in this category. When I’m done writing this rant, I’ll just go back and delete these categories so you don’t know I didn’t see enough of these films to make an informed decision.

Makeup
“Albert Nobbs”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
“The Iron Lady”

Glaring Omission: “J. Edgar”. Tough call here ‘cause Armie Hammer and Naomi Watts’ makeup was OK, but DiCaprio’s was GREAT! So, I guess for overall work, it’s tough to nominate the film, but for the one individual character, the work was outstanding.
Runners-up: I would say “Contagion”, but I think instead of putting makeup on the Hollywood actors to make them look diseased, they were simply filmed with no makeup at all. Ba-doom!
Great Inclusion: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
Will Win: “The Iron Lady”
Should Win: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”. So the question is, will the movie benefit from a Body-of-Work Award or suffer from they-did-this-in-an-earlier-film-already-itis? If it’s the latter, that opens the door for the better of the two old age makeup jobs to beat the fantasy film.

Music (Original Score)
“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
“The Artist” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse” John Williams

Glaring Omission: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, two names that are SO much fun to say. More fantastic scoring of a David Fincher film (“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”). Perhaps their win last year kept them out of the running this year, but their work, two films in, seems to be setting up what will be a gloriously edgy, non-traditional film scoring career.
Runners-up: “Hanna” – The Chemical Brothers deliver a fantastic score to this action movie that is on par with the brilliant Daft Punk score for last year’s “Tron: Legacy”. I hope these techno-based scores get love from The Academy soon. Also, Cliff Martinez delivered a first-rate, Tangerine Dream-esque soundtrack for “Drive” that propelled the opening scene and many subsequent segments of the movie. I wish the songs were as good as the score. Martinez is a frequent collaborator with Steven Soderbergh, and had a good year, also providing a quality score for “Contagion”. I also loved the dream-like, guitar-notes-and-chords-dropped-lovingly-in-a-puddle music from “Moneyball”, great also for the choice to use unconventional movie like that for a sports film. Perhaps that sets you up for the fact that this is not a traditional sports film at all.
Great inclusion: “The Adventures of Tintin”. Williams proving he’s still the master.
Will Win: Ludovic Bource, “The Artist”
Should Win: Ludovic Bource. The score of this film is basically a character in it, equal parts playful storyteller and observer along for the ride as the plot unfolds. Bource had to nail it or the whole film could fail. He nailed it.

Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Glaring Omission: Three other nominees. We are not exactly in The Golden Age of Movie Music. The Disney animated movie musicals don’t dominate as they used to, most stage musical adaptations either don’t include original songs, or force one into the credits that is inferior to the other songs in the film. Only every once in a while do we get a “My Heart Will Go On” or “Lose Yourself”. So, I’m not too surprised that this category isn’t packed with winners, but I’m a little surprised it isn’t packed at all! No love for that Madonna song that won the Golden Globe? “Gnomeo & Juliet”? No?
Runners-Up: “Life’s a Happy Song” from “The Muppets”, clearly the only movie that was excited to cram it’s movie with original songs this year.
Will Win: “Man or Muppet”
Should Win: “Man or Muppet”. “Real in Rio” is a rousing song that introduces the film’s characters to the lively city in the film’s title, but it’s just not as clever as Bret McKenzie’s ode to self-reflective movie montages.

Best Picture
“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Glaring Omission: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”. Well, glaring to me, at least. Glaring to the rest of the world is probably “Bridesmaids”, which people thought might be the upset card. I gotta admit, “Bridesmaids” is at least better than “Extremley Loud & Incredibly Close”
Runners-up: Referring to my Top 10, you know I would’ve found room for “50/50”, and I would stopped it at FIVE nominees. Even this year, just nominate “The Artist”, “The Descendants”, “The Help”, “Moneyball” and “Midnight in Paris” and be done. This whole ten nominees thing was done in the wake of “The Dark Knight”’s Best Picture snub to make sure that movies like “District 9”, “Inglorious Basterds” and “Up”, which were popular movies, could get in on the Best Picture nods and bring hype and eyeballs to the Oscar telecast. Do you really think “War Horse” did that this year? “The Tree of Life”? There are way too many nominees here. Just ‘cause they’ve made the list available for ten nominees doesn’t mean there NEEDS to be more than five.
Great Inclusion: “Moneyball”, which probably benefited from the thing I’m railing against above. If there were only five nominees, The Academy would’ve showered “Hugo” as they did ‘cause they saw Martin Scorsese’s name on it, and “Moneyball” would’ve stayed home.
Will Win: “The Artist”. It’s pulled away from “The Descendants” since The Golden Globes.
Should Win: “The Artist”. It’s strange to compare “The Artist” to “Inception”, my pick for Best Picture of 2010, but they’re both the year’s most ambitious films, and to make something so ambitious so successful deserves the award.

Short Film (Animated)
“Dimanche/Sunday”
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
“La Luna”
“A Morning Stroll”
“Wild Life”

Glaring Omission & Runner-up: Maybe Pixar’s “Toy Story Hawaiian Vacation”? Another laugh and heart-heavy short from the masters. But their entry “La Luna” here is more of what wins this category.
Great Inclusion: “A Morning Stroll”, a short with a demented sense of humor, and it’s good to see them rewarded for that.
Will Win: “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”, which looks great and has a whimsical feel throughout.
Should Win: However, I thought “Lessmore” was a bit disjointed. I think a simpler story could’ve been told. So I’d go with “La Luna”, just beating out “A Morning Stroll”

Short Film (Live Action)
“Pentecost”
“Raju”
“The Shore”
“Time Freak”
“Tuba Atlantic”

Great Inclusion: “Time Freak”. Year in and year out I watch the shorts and there’s routinely “important” films being celebrated. “Time Freak” is a comedy, and a goofy one at that. Coupled with good production, it’s a great nominee.
Will Win: “Raju”. But sadly, The Academy may still reward the “important” tale of child adoption in India. I swear there’s an India-based short nominated every year.
Should Win: “Time Freak”. Last year a comedy beat the important films, I hope that continues.

Sound Editing
“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Glaring Omission: Animation. Usually there is some animated movie represented here because the creation of original sounds to be attributed to completely fabricated characters that do not exist in any plane of reality is TOUGH TO DO! I thought I might see “Rango” here or “The Adventures of Tintin”.
Runners-up: More animation like “Arthur Christmas” and “Puss in Boots”
Great Inclusion: “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”. I know, there really isn’t much good about this film (except for the 3D), but sound effect creation has to be 80% of this damn movie with all the twisting gears, explosions, falling metal and that “Buuuaaaooooonnng” noise that’s all over the trailers. Seems like a lot of work.
Great Inclusion: “Drive”. The sound in that film was hypnotic.
Will Win: “Hugo”
Should Win: Probably…sigh…”Transformers”…I feel gross SUGGESTING that this should be an Oscar-winning film…

Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”

Glaring Omission: Here’s another place where I expected more action and fantasy movies, because the challenge is so great to mix the real and unreal effects with the dialogue and music. Perhaps “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2” or “Captain America: The First Avenger”
Runners-up: “X-Men: First Class”
Great Inclusion: “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”, for reasons mentioned above.
Will Win: “Hugo”, ‘cause it’s an effects movie The Academy can get behind.
Should Win: “Transformers”…I’m gonna be sick…

Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Real Steel”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”

Glaring Omission: Here’s a word you won’t otherwise hear at The Oscars: “Sucker Punch”
Runners-up: “X-Men: First Class”, and I liked the fast-paced, effects-filled chase scenes of “The Adjustment Bureau”
Great inclusion: “Real Steel”. It’s still hard to make organic objects like people and animals look real. But we can ACE making anything metallic look realistic, and the best thing about “Real Steel” is that you take for granted after a while just how seamless they are blended into the real world.
Will Win: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Should Win: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, for the best organic character creation yet. As opposed to fill-in-the-blank-with-whatever-Star-Wars-character-you-like, these CGI characters ACT.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Hugo” – John Logan
“The Ides of March” – George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball” – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” – Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Glaring Omission: “The Help”. This seemed like a no-brainer in August, but somehow this nomination got snubbed. There are two films here not nominated for Best Picture that weaseled their way in.
Runners-up: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”. As you can tell by now, I love this movie, and the script is the movie’s greatest asset.
Great Inclusion: “The Ides of March”. Wonderful liberal claptrap that’s right up my alley!
Will Win: “The Descendants”, winning the “Goodfellas”/”Pulp Fiction”/”Fargo” Award for great movie that won’t win Best Picture
Should Win: “The Descendants”

Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

Glaring Omission: “50/50”. If I haven’t made my case for how much I love this movie yet, just watch The Independent Spirit Awards Saturday on IFC. They got the nominations for this movie right.
Runners-up: I got nothing, except maybe “The Adjustment Bureau”.
Great Inclusion: “The Artist”. Yes, silent films need a screenplay, too!
Will Win: “Midnight in Paris”
Should Win: “Midnight in Paris”, a very creative and enjoyable effort from Woody Allen.

That’s it! Tune in Sunday, Feb. 26th for the awards. And hopefully the Coen Brothers make another movie next year.

-PP

Self-congratulation is still the rage in TinselTown. Who are we to not report on it? Agree? Disagree? It doesn’t matter, the awards will go out week after week until the Oscars, February 26th, 2012.

(In Nominee lists, the winners are in BOLD)

1/24/12
THE ACADEMY AWARDS

Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
George Clooney in “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis in “The Help”
Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
“Rango” Gore Verbinski

Art Direction
“The Artist”
Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo”
Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“Midnight in Paris”
Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
“War Horse”
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography
“The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth
“Hugo” Robert Richardson
“The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design
“Anonymous” Lisy Christl
“The Artist” Mark Bridges
“Hugo” Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor
“W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Directing
“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Alexander Payne
“Hugo” Martin Scorsese
“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature)
“Hell and Back Again”
Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
“Pina”
Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
“Undefeated”
TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
“God Is the Bigger Elvis”
Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
“Incident in New Baghdad”
James Spione
“Saving Face”
Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing
“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Kevin Tent
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” Belgium
“Footnote” Israel
“In Darkness” Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
“A Separation” Iran

Makeup
“Albert Nobbs”
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
“The Iron Lady”
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)
“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
“The Artist” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Picture
“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Short Film (Animated)
“Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
“La Luna” Enrico Casarosa
“A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
“Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)
“Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
“Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
“The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George
“Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
“Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing
“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
“Hugo”
Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
“Moneyball”
Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
“War Horse”
Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
“Hugo”
Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
“Real Steel”
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
“The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

1/20/12
MOTION PICTURE SOUND EDITOR’S GOLDEN REEL AWARDS

BEST SOUND EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS, FOLEY, DIALOGUE, AND ADR IN AN ANIMATION FEATURE FILM
The Adventures of Tintin
Cars 2
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
Rio
The Smurfs

BEST SOUND EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS, FOLEY, DIALOGUE, ADR AND MUSIC IN A FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey
Cave of the Forgotten Dreams
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Lemmy
Pearl Jam Twenty

BEST SOUND EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS, FOLEY, DIALOGUE AND ADR IN A FEATURE FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
1920. The World’s Most Important Battle
Circumstance
Tropa de Elite 2 (Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within)
The Flowers of War
In the Land of Blood and Honey
Sarah’s Key
The Skin I Live In

BEST SOUND EDITING: MUSIC IN A FEATURE FILM
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hop
Hugo
Priest
Super 8
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life
STORY: Oscar Contenders Sound Off on Sound Mixing, Sound Editing

BEST SOUND EDITING: MUSIC IN A MUSICAL FEATURE FILM
Footloose
The Muppets
Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Pina

BEST SOUND EDITING: DIALOGUE AND ADR IN A FEATURE FILM
Abduction
The Help
Moneyball
Quarantine II: Terminal
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
War Horse
The Way

BEST SOUND EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS AND FOLEY IN A FEATURE FILM
Drive
Fast Five
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

1/16/12
BAFTA AWARDS

BEST FILM
THE ARTIST – Thomas Langmann
THE DESCENDANTS – Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
DRIVE – Marc Platt, Adam Siegel
THE HELP – Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – Simon Curtis, David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein, Adrian Hodges
SENNA – Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Manish Pandey
SHAME – Steve McQueen, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Abi Morgan
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Tomas Alfredson, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo, Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN – Lynne Ramsay, Luc Roeg, Jennifer Fox, Robert Salerno, Rory Stewart Kinnear

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
ATTACK THE BLOCK – Joe Cornish (Director/Writer)
BLACK POND – Will Sharpe (Director/Writer), Tom Kingsley (Director), Sarah Brocklehurst (Producer)
CORIOLANUS – Ralph Fiennes (Director)
SUBMARINE – Richard Ayoade (Director/Writer)
TYRANNOSAUR – Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
INCENDIES – Denis Villeneuve, Luc Déry, Kim McGraw
PINA – Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel
POTICHE – François Ozon, Eric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer
A SEPARATION – Asghar Farhadi
THE SKIN I LIVE IN – Pedro Almodóvar, Agustin Almodóvar

DOCUMENTARY
GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD – Martin Scorsese
PROJECT NIM – James Marsh, Simon Chinn
SENNA – Asif Kapadia

ANIMATED FILM
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN – Steven Spielberg
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS – Sarah Smith
RANGO – Gore Verbinski

DIRECTOR
THE ARTIST – Michel Hazanavicius
DRIVE – Nicolas Winding Refn
HUGO – Martin Scorsese
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Tomas Alfredson
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN – Lynne Ramsay

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE ARTIST – Michel Hazanavicius
BRIDESMAIDS – Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
THE GUARD – John Michael McDonagh
THE IRON LADY – Abi Morgan
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS – Woody Allen

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE DESCENDANTS – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
THE HELP – Tate Taylor
THE IDES OF MARCH – George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
MONEYBALL – Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan

LEADING ACTOR
BRAD PITT – Moneyball
GARY OLDMAN – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
GEORGE CLOONEY – The Descendants
JEAN DUJARDIN – The Artist
MICHAEL FASSBENDER – Shame

LEADING ACTRESS
BÉRÉNICE BEJO – The Artist
MERYL STREEP – The Iron Lady
MICHELLE WILLIAMS – My Week with Marilyn
TILDA SWINTON – We Need to Talk About Kevin
VIOLA DAVIS – The Help

SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER – Beginners
JIM BROADBENT – The Iron Lady
JONAH HILL – Moneyball
KENNETH BRANAGH – My Week with Marilyn
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN – The Ides of March

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
CAREY MULLIGAN – Drive
JESSICA CHASTAIN – The Help
JUDI DENCH – My Week with Marilyn
MELISSA MCCARTHY – Bridesmaids
OCTAVIA SPENCER – The Help

ORIGINAL MUSIC
THE ARTIST – Ludovic Bource
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
HUGO – Howard Shore
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Alberto Iglesias
WAR HORSE – John Williams

CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE ARTIST – Guillaume Schiffman
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Jeff Cronenweth
HUGO – Robert Richardson
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Hoyte van Hoytema
WAR HORSE – Janusz Kaminski

EDITING
THE ARTIST – Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
DRIVE – Mat Newman
HUGO – Thelma Schoonmaker
SENNA – Gregers Sall, Chris King
TINKER TAILOR SOLIDER SPY – Dino Jonsater

PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE ARTIST – Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 – Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
HUGO – Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald
WAR HORSE – Rick Carter, Lee Sandales

COSTUME DESIGN
THE ARTIST – Mark Bridges
HUGO – Sandy Powell
JANE EYRE – Michael O’Connor
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – Jill Taylor
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Jacqueline Durran

MAKE UP & HAIR
THE ARTIST – Julie Hewett, Cydney Cornell
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 – Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
HUGO – Morag Ross, Jan Archibald
THE IRON LADY – Marese Langan
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – Jenny Shircore

SOUND
THE ARTIST – Nadine Muse, Gérard Lamps, Michael Krikorian
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 – James Mather, Stuart Wilson, Stuart Hilliker, Mike Dowson, Adam Scrivener
HUGO – Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – John Casali, Howard Bargroff, Doug Cooper, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley
WAR HORSE – Stuart Wilson, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Richard Hymns

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN – Joe Letteri
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 – Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, David Vickery
HUGO – Rob Legato, Ben Grossman, Joss Williams
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White
WAR HORSE – Ben Morris, Neil Corbould

1/16/12
AMERICAN CINEMA EDITOR’S EDDIE AWARDS

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
The Descendants – Kevin Tent, A.C.E.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Angus Wall, A.C.E. & Kirk Baxter, A.C.E.
Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker, A.C.E.
Moneyball – Christopher Tellefsen, A.C.E.
War Horse – Michael Kahn, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids – William Kerr & Michael L. Sale
Midnight in Paris – Alisa Lepselter
My Week with Marilyn – Adam Recht
Young Adult – Dana E. Glauberman, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
The Adventures of Tintin – Michael Kahn, A.C.E.
Puss in Boots – Eric Dapkewicz
Rango – Craig Wood, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY:

Cave of Forgotten Dreams
 – Joe Bini & Maya Hawke
Freedom Riders – Lewis Erskine & Aljernon Tunsil
George Harrison: Living in the Material World – David Tedeschi

1/12/12
DIRECTOR’S GUILD OF AMERICA

FEATURE FILM:
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
David Fincher, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”

DOCUMENTARY FILM:
Joe Berlinger and Joe Sinofsky, “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
Steve James, “The Interrupters”
James Marsh, “Project Nim”
Richard Press, “Bill Cunningham New York”
Martin Scorsese, “George Harrison: Living in the Material World”

1/12/12
CRITIC’S CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS

Best Picture: “The Artist”
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius — “The Artist”
Best Actor: George Clooney — “The Descendants”
Best Actress: Viola Davis — “The Help”
Best Suppporting Actor: Christopher Plummer — “Beginners”
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer — “The Help”
Best Young Actor/Actress: Thomas Horn — “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”
Best Acting Ensemble: The cast of “The Help”
Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen — “Midnight in Paris”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian and Stan Chervin — “Moneyball”
Best Cinematography: (tie) “War Horse” and “The Tree of Life”
Best Animated Feature: “Rango”
Best Action Movie: “Drive”
Best Comedy: “Bridesmaids”
Best Foreign-Language Film: “A Separation”
Best Documentary Feature: “George Harrison: Living in the Material World”
Best Song: “Life’s a Happy Song” from “The Muppets”
Best Art Direction: “Hugo”
Best Editing: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Best Costume Design: “The Artist”
Best Makeup: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Best Visual Effects: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Best Sound: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Best Score: “The Artist”
Joel Siegel Award: Sean Penn
Critics’ Choice Music + Film Award: Martin Scorsese

1/7/12
THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS

BEST ACTOR: Brad Pitt (Moneyball, The Tree of Life)
BEST ACTRESS: Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks (Drive)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life, Take Shelter, The Help)
BEST PICTURE: Melancholia (Lars von Trier)
BEST DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)
BEST NONFICTION: Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herzog)
BEST SCREENPLAY: A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life (Emanuel Lubezki)

1/3/12
ART DIRECTOR’S GUILD OF AMERICA AWARDS

Period Film
THE ARTIST, Production Designer: Laurence Bennett
HUGO, Production Designer: Dante Ferretti
THE HELP, Production Designer: Mark Ricker
ANONYMOUS, Production Designer: Sebastian Krawinkel
TINKER TAYLOR SOLDIER SPY, Production Designer: Maria Djurkovic

Fantasy Film
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2, Production Designer: Stuart Craig
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs
THE ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN, Production Designer: TBD
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES, Production Designer: John Myhre
COWBOYS & ALIENS, Production Designer: Scott Chambliss

Contemporary Film
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Production Designer: Donald Graham Burt
THE DESCENDANTS, Production Designer: Jane Anne Stewart
EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE, Production Designer: K.K. Barrett
DRIVE, Production Designer: Beth Mickle
BRIDESMAIDS, Production Designer: Jefferson Sage

1/3/12
PRODUCER’S GUILD OF AMERICA AWARDS

Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures:

‘THE ARTIST’
Producer: Thomas Langmann
‘BRIDESMAIDS’
Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Clayton Townsend
‘THE DESCENDANTS’
Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
‘THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO’
Producers: Ceán Chaffin, Scott Rudin
‘THE HELP’
Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green
‘HUGO’
Producers: Graham King, Martin Scorsese
‘THE IDES OF MARCH’
Producers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver
‘MIDNIGHT IN PARIS’
Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum
‘MONEYBALL’
Producers: Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt
‘WAR HORSE’
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:
‘THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN’
Producers: Peter Jackson, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg
‘CARS 2′
Producer: Denise Ream
‘KUNG FU PANDA 2′
Producer: Melissa Cobb
‘PUSS IN BOOTS’
Producers: Joe M. Aguilar, Latifa Ouaou
‘RANGO’
Producers: John B. Carls, Gore Verbinski

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures:
‘BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST’
Producers: Michael Rapaport, Edward Parks (*additional producers eligibility pending arbitration completion)
‘BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK’
Producer: Philip Gefter
‘PROJECT NIM’
Producer: Simon Chinn
‘SENNA’
Producer: James Gay-Rees
‘THE UNION’
Producers: Cameron Crowe, Michelle Panek

1/2/12
ONLINE FILM CRITICS AWARDS

Best Picture:
 “The Tree of Life”


Best Director:
 Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”
Best Lead Actor:
 Michael Fassbender, “Shame”
Best Lead Actress:
 Tilda Swinton, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Best Supporting Actor:
 Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Best Supporting Actress:
 Jessica Chastain, “The Tree of Life”
Best Original Screenplay:
 “Midnight in Paris”
Best Adapted Screenplay:
 “Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy”
Best Editing:
 “The Tree of Life”
Best Cinematography:
 “The Tree of Life”
Best Animated Feature:
 “Rango”
Best Film Not in the English Language: 
”A Separation”
Best Documentary:
 “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”

12/18/11
SATELLITE AWARDS

Motion Picture: “The Descendants”
Actress in a Motion Picture: Viola Davis, “The Help”
Actor in a Motion Picture: Ryan Gosling, “Drive”
Actress in a Supporting Role: Jessica Chastain, “The Tree of Life”
Actor in a Supporting Role: Albert Brooks, “Drive”
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn, “Drive”
Screenplay, Original: “The Tree of Life,” Terrence Malick
Screenplay, Adapted: “The Descendants,” Alexander Payne, Jim Rash, Nax Faxon
Foreign Film: “Mysteries of Lisbon”
Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media: “The Adventures of Tintin”
Motion Picture, Documentary: “Senna”
Original Score: “Soul Surfer,” Marco Beltrani
Original Song: “Lay Down Your Head” from “Albert Nobbs,” Brian Byrne and Glenn Close
Cinematography: “War Horse,” Janusz Kaminski
Visual Effects: “Hugo,” Robert Legato
Film Editing: “The Guard,” Chris Gill
Sound (Editing and Mixing): “Drive,” Dave Patterson, Lon Bender, Robert Fernandez, Victor Ray Ennis
Art Direction & Production Design: “The Artist,” Gregory S. Hooper, Laurence Bennett
Costume Design: “Water for Elephants,” Jacqueline West

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Best First Feature: Paddy Considine, “Tyrannosaur”
Best Ensemble: “The Help”
Mary Pickford Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Entertainment Industry: Mitzi Gaynor
Nikola Tesla Award in Recognition of Visionary Achivement in Filmmaking Technology: Douglas Trumbull
Auteur Award: Peter Bogdanovich
Humanitarian Award: Tim Hetherington (1970-2011)

12/14/11
SAG AWARDS

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
DEMIÁN BICHIR / Carlos Galindo – “A BETTER LIFE”
GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King – “THE DESCENDANTS”
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO / J. Edgar Hoover – “J. EDGAR”
JEAN DUJARDIN / George – “THE ARTIST”
BRAD PITT / Billy Beane – “MONEYBALL”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
GLENN CLOSE / Albert Nobbs – “ALBERT NOBBS”
VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark – “THE HELP”
MERYL STREEP / Margaret Thatcher – “THE IRON LADY”
TILDA SWINTON / Eva – “WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN”
MICHELLE WILLIAMS / Marilyn Monroe – “MY WEEK WITH MARILYN”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
KENNETH BRANAGH / Sir Laurence Olivier – “MY WEEK WITH MARILYN”
ARMIE HAMMER / Clyde Tolson – “J. EDGAR”
JONAH HILL / Peter Brand – “MONEYBALL”
NICK NOLTE / Paddy Conlon – “WARRIOR”
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER / Hal – “BEGINNERS”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
BÉRÉNICE BEJO / Peppy – “THE ARTIST”
JESSICA CHASTAIN / Celia Foote – “THE HELP”
MELISSA McCARTHY / Megan – “BRIDESMAIDS”
JANET McTEER / Hubert Page – “ALBERT NOBBS”
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson – “THE HELP”

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
THE ARTIST
BÉRÉNICE BEJO / Peppy
JAMES CROMWELL / Clifton
JEAN DUJARDIN / George
JOHN GOODMAN / Al Zimmer
PENELOPE ANN MILLER / Doris

BRIDESMAIDS
ROSE BYRNE / Helen
JILL CLAYBURGH / Annie’s Mom
ELLIE KEMPER / Becca
MATT LUCAS / Gil
MELISSA McCARTHY / Megan
WENDI McLENDON-COVEY / Rita
CHRIS O’DOWD / Rhodes
MAYA RUDOLPH / Lillian
KRISTEN WIIG / Annie

THE DESCENDANTS
BEAU BRIDGES / Cousin Hugh
GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King
ROBERT FORSTER / Scott Thorson
JUDY GREER / Julie Speer
MATTHEW LILLARD / Brian Speer
SHAILENE WOODLEY / Alexandra King

THE HELP
JESSICA CHASTAIN / Celia Foote
VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark
BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD / Hilly Holbrook
ALLISON JANNEY / Charlotte Phelan
CHRIS LOWELL / Stuart Whitworth
AHNA O’REILLY / Elizabeth Leefolt
SISSY SPACEK / Missus Walters
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson
MARY STEENBURGEN / Elaine Stein
EMMA STONE / Skeeter Phelan
CICELY TYSON / Constantine Jefferson
MIKE VOGEL / Johnny Foote

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
KATHY BATES / Gertrude Stein
ADRIEN BRODY / Salvador Dali
CARLA BRUNI / Museum Guide
MARION COTILLARD / Adriana
RACHEL McADAMS / Inez
MICHAEL SHEEN / Paul
OWEN WILSON / Gil

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
The Adjustment Bureau
Cowboys & Aliens
Harry Potter and the Deahtly Hallows: Part II
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
X-Men: First Class

Screen Actors Guild Awards 46th Annual Life Achievement Award
Mary Tyler Moore

12/15/11
THE GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS

BEST PICTURE: DRAMA
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

BEST PICTURE: COMEDY OR MUSICAL
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week With Marilyn

BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

BEST ACTOR: DRAMA
George Clooney, The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio, J.Edgar
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

BEST ACTRESS: DRAMA
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin

BEST ACTRESS: COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jodie Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristin Wiig, Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Kate Winslet, Carnage

BEST ACTOR: COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
Joseph Gordon Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“A Separation” (Iran)
“The Flowers Of War” (China)
“The Kid With The Bike” (Belgium)
“In The Land Of Blood and Honey” (USA)
“The Skin I Live In” (Spain)

BEST SCREENPLAY
The Artist
The Descendants
The Ides of March
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Ludovic Bource – “The Artist”
Abel Korzeniowski – “W.E.”
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”
Howard Shore – “Hugo”
John Williams – “War Horse”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Puss In Boots
Rango

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Hello Hello” – “Gnomeo & Juliet – Elton John
“Lay Your Head Down” – “Albert Nobbs” – Sinead O’Connor
“The Living Proof” – “The Help” – Mary J. Blige
“The Keeper” – “Machine Gun Preacher” – Gerard Butler
“Masterpiece” – “W.E.” – Madonna

12/11/11
NEW YORK FILM CRITICS (WINNERS)

FILM – The Artist
DIRECTOR – Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist
ACTOR – Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
ACTRESS – Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
SUPPORTING ACTOR – Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
CINEMATOGRAPHY – Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
SCREENPLAY – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants
FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE – A Separation
DOCUMENTARY – Cave of Forgotten Dreams
ANIMATED FEATURE – The Adventures of Tintin
USE OF MUSIC – Ludovic Bource, The Artist
BREAKOUT PERFORMER – Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life, The Help,The Debt, Take Shelter
DEBUT AS DIRECTOR – Joe Cornish, Attack the Block
ENSEMBLE CAST – Bridesmaids

TOP PICTURES OF 2011 (alphabetical)
The Artist (The Weinstein Co.)
The Descendants (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Drive (Film District)
The Help (DreamWorksPictures)
Hugo (Paramount Pictures)
Melancholia (Magnolia Pictures)
Midnight in Paris (Sony Pictures Classics)
Take Shelter (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Tree of Life (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
War Horse (Dreamworks Pictures)

12/11/11
BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS AWARDS (WINNERS)

BEST PICTURE: “The Artist”
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE: “Incendies”
BEST ANIMATED FILM: “Rango”
BEST DOCUMENTARY: “Project Nim”
BEST DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
BEST NEW FILMMAKER:Sean Durkin for “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
BEST SCREENPLAY: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stann Chervin, and Michael Lewis for “Moneyball”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki for “Tree of Life”
BEST EDITING: Christian Marclay for “The Clock”
BEST USE OF MUSIC IN A FILM: “Drive” and “The Artist” (tie)
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: “Carnage”
BEST ACTOR: Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”
BEST ACTRESS: Michelle Williams in “My Week With Marilyn”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks in “Drive”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”

12/11/11
LA FILM CRITICS AWARDS (WINNERS)

BEST PICTURE
Winner: The Descendants
Runner-Up: The Tree of Life

BEST ANIMATION
Winner: Rango
Runner-Up: The Adventures of Tintin

BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Runner-Up: Martin Scorsese, Hugo

BEST ACTOR
Winner: Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class
Runner-Up: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Yun Jung-Hee, Poetry
Runner-Up: Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia

BEST INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL
Winner: Spark of Being

BEST DOCUMENTARY/NONFICTION
Winner: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Runner- Up: The Arbor

BEST SCREENPLAY
Winner: Asghar Farhadi, A Separation
Runner-Up: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Runner-Up: Patton Oswalt, Young Adult

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Jessica Chastain, Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, The Tree of Life
Runner-Up: Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
Runner-Up: Cao Yu, City of Life and Death

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Winner: Dante Ferretti, Hugo
Runner-Up: Maria Djurkovic, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

BEST MUSIC/SCORE
Winner: The Chemical Brothers, Hanna
Runner-Up: Cliff Martinez, Drive

12/1/11
NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW (WINNERS)

Best Film: Hugo
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Original Screenplay: Will Reiser, 50/50
Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Breakthrough Performance: Felicity Jones, Like Crazy
Breakthrough Performance: Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Debut Director: J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Best Ensemble: The Help
Spotlight Award: Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class)
NBR Freedom of Expression: Crime After Crime
NBR Freedom of Expression: Pariah
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Documentary: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Special Achievement in Filmmaking: The Harry Potter Franchise – A Distinguished Translation from Book to Film

12/5/11
THE ANNIE AWARDS

Best Animated Feature
A Cat in Paris – Folimage
Arrugas (Wrinkles) – Perro Verde Films, S.L.
Arthur Christmas – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Cars 2 – Pixar Animation Studios
Chico & Rita – Chico & Rita Distribution Limited
Kung Fu Panda 2 – DreamWorks Animation
Puss In Boots – DreamWorks Animation
Rango – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Production
Rio – Blue Sky Studios
Tintin – Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall

Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Can Yuksel “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
Chase Cooper “Rango” – Industrial Light & Magic
Dan Lund “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Dave Tidgwell “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Eric Froemling “Cars 2” – Pixar Animation Studios
Jason Mayer “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Joel Aron “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” – Lucasfilm Animation, Ltd.
Jon Reisch “Cars 2” – Pixar Animation Studios
Kevin Romond “Tintin” – Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall
Willi Geiger “Rango” – Industrial Light & Magic

Animated Effects in a Live Action Production
Branko Grujcic “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”– Industrial Light & Magic
Florent Andorra “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” – Industrial Light & Magic
Gary Wu “Cowboys & Aliens”– Industrial Light & Magic
Lee Uren “Cowboys & Aliens” – Industrial Light & Magic

Character Animation in a Feature Production
Andreas Deja “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Dan Wagner “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Jeff Gabor “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios
Mark Henn “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Olivier Staphylas “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
Patrik Puhala “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios
Pierre Perifel “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Andy Arnett “HOP” – Rhythm & Hues, Illumination Entertainment
David Lowry “Paul” – Double Negative Visual Effects for Universal Productions/ Relativity Media/Working Title Films/Big Talk Productions
Eric Reynolds “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” – 20th Century Fox
Mike Hull “Paul” – Double Negative Visual Effects for Universal Productions/Relativity Media/Working Title Films/Big Talk Productions

Character Design in a Feature Production
Jay Shuster “Cars 2” – Pixar Animation Studios
Mark “Crash” McCreery “Rango” – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Productions
Patrick Mate “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
Peter de Seve “Arthur Christmas” – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Sergio Pablos “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios

Directing in a Feature Production
Carlos Saldahna “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios
Chris Miller “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
Don Hall & Stephen Anderson “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Gore Verbinski “Rango” – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present a Blind Wink/GK Films Productions
Jennifer Yuh Nelson “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Kelly Asbury “Gnomeo & Juliet” – Touchstone Pictures

Music in a Feature Production
Henry Jackman “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
John Williams “Tintin” – Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall
Mikael Mutti, Siedah Garrett, Carlinhos Brown, Sergio Mendes, John Powell, “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios
Zooey Deschanel, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Henry Jackman, Robert Lopez “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Production Design in a Feature Production
Harley Jessup “Cars 2” – Pixar Animation Studios
Paul Felix “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Raymond Zilbach “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Tom Cardone, Kyle MacNaughton & Peter Chan “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios

Storyboarding in a Feature Production
Bob Logan “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
Delia Gosman “Rango” – Paramount Pictures & Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Production
Gary Graham “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Jeremy Spears “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Josh Hayes “Rango” – Paramount Pictures & Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Production
Kris Pearn “Arthur Christmas” – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Nelson Yokota “Gnomeo & Juliet” – Touchstone Pictures
Philip Craven “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Scott Morse “Cars 2” – Pixar Animation Studios

Voice Acting in a Feature Production
Ashley Jensen as Bryony “Arthur Christmas” – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Bill Nighy as Grandsanta “Arthur Christmas” – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Gary Oldman as Shen “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
James Hong as Mr. Ping “Kung Fu Panda 2” DreamWorks Animation
Jemaine Clement as Nigel “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios
Jim Cummings as Featherstone “Gnomeo & Juliet” – Touchstone Pictures
Zach Galifianakis as Humpty Alexander Dumpty “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation

Writing in a Feature Production
Andy Riley, Kevin Cecil, Mark Burton, Kathy Greenburg, Emily Cook, Rob Sprackling, John R. Smith, Kelly Asbury, Steve Hamilton Shaw “Gnomeo & Juliet” – Touchstone Pictures
Brian Kesinger, Kendelle Hoyer, Don Dougherty, Clio Chiang, Don Hall, Stephen Anderson, Nicole Mitchell, Jeremy Spears “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
John Logan, Gore Verbinski and James Byrkit “Rango” – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Productions
Sarah Smith, Peter Baynham “Arthur Christmas” – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Steve Moffat, Edgar Wright, Joe Cronish “Tintin”– Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall

Editing in a Feature Production
Clare Knight, A.C.E. “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Craig Wood, A.C.E. “Rango” – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Productions
Eric Dapkewicz “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
Michael Kahn “Tintin”– Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall
Stephen Schaffer, A.C.E. “Cars 2” – Pixar Animation Studios

11/29/11
THE INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

Best Feature (Award given to the Producer)
50/50 – Ben Karlin, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
Beginners – Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Jan Van Hoy, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech
Drive – Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel
Take Shelter – Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin
The Artist – Thomas Langmann, Emmanuel Montamat
The Descendants – Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Mike Mills, Beginners
Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive

Best First Feature (Award given to the director and producer)
Another Earth – Director: Mike Cahill; Producers: Mike Cahill, Hunter Gray, Brit Marling, Nicholas Shumaker
In The Family – Director: Patrick Wang; Producers: Robert Tonino, Andrew van den Houten, Patrick Wang
Margin Call – Director: J.C. Chandor; Producers: Robert Ogden Barnum, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson, Joe Jenckes, Corey Moosa, Zachary Quinto
Martha Marcy May Marlene – Director: Sean Durkin; Producers: Antonio Campos, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach, Josh Mond
Natural Selection – Director: Robbie Pickering; Producers: Brion, Hambel, Paul Jensen

John Cassavetes Award
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)
Bellflower – Writer/Director: Evan Glodell; Producers: Evan Glodell, Vincent Grashaw
Circumstance – Writer/Director: Maryam Kesahavarz; Producers: Karin Chien, Maryan Keshavarz, Melissa M. Lee
Hello Lonesome – Writer/Director/Producer: Adam Reid
Pariah – Writer/Director: Dee Rees; Producer: Nekisa Cooper
The Dynamiter – Writers: Matthew Gordon, Brad Ingelsby; Director: Matthew Gordon; Producers: Kevin Abrams, Matthew Gordon, Merilee Holt, Nate Tuck, Amile Wilson

Best Screenplay
Mike Mills, Beginners
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants
Joseph Cedar, Footnote
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Tom McCarthy, Win Win

Best First Screenplay
Mike Cahill & Brit Marling, Another Earth
Patrick deWitt, Terri
Phil Johnston, Cedar Rapids
Will Reiser, 50/50
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call

Best Female Lead
Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Rachael Harris, Natural Selection
Adepero Oduye, Pariah
Lauren Ambrose, Think of Me

Best Male Lead
Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Woody Harrelson, Rampart
Ryan Gosling, Drive
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Demian Bichir, A Better Life

Best Supporting Female
Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
Anjelica Huston, 50/50
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Harmony Santana, Gun Hill Road
Shailenne Woodley, The Descendants

Best Supporting Male
Albert Brooks, Drive
John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris
John C. Reilly, Cedar Rapids

Best Cinematography
Joel Hodge, Bellflower
Darius Khondji, Midnight in Paris
Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist
Benjamin Kasulke, The Off-Hours
Jeffrey Waldron, The Dynamiter

Best Documentary (Award given to the director)
Jarreth Merz, An African Election
Richard Press, Bill Cunningham New York
Steve James, The Interrupters
David Weissman, We Were Here
Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasion, The Redemption of General Butt Naked

Best Foreign Film (Award given to the director)
Asghar Farhadi, A Separation
Lars Von Trier, Melancholia
Steve McQueen, Shame
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, The Kid With a Bike
Paddy Considine, Tyrannosaur

Robert Altman Award
(Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
Margin Call – Director: J.C. Chandor; Casting Directors: Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey; Cast: Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Aasif Mandvi, Ashley Williams

Piaget Producers Award
Chad Burris (Mosquito y Mari)
Sophia Lynn (Take Shelter)
Josh Bond (Martha Marcy May Marlene)

Someone to Watch Award
Simon Arthur (Silver Tongues)
Mark Jackson (Without)
Nicholas Ozeki (Mamitas)

Truer Than Fiction Award
Where Soldiers Come From
Hell and Back Again
Bombay Beach

11/28/11
GOTHAM AWARDS (WINNERS)

Best Feature (tie)
Beginners (Focus Features) – Mike Mills, director; Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Miranda de Pencier, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, producers
The Tree of Life (Fox Searchlight Pictures) – Terrence Malick, director; Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Grant Hill, producers

Second Annual Gotham Independent Film Audience Award – Girlfriend; Justin Lerner, director-producer;Jerad Anderson, Kristina Lauren Anderson, Shaun O’Banion, producers

Excited about upcoming movies? You will be. Or, you’ll be frustrated by how much trailers give away. Either way, they’re all here for your enjoyment.

As ever, we recommend our WEEKLY MOVIE PREVIEW to tell you the real deal about every weekend’s releases. Plus, we’re funnier.

21 JUMP STREET (opening 3/16/12)

HUNGER GAMES (opening 3/23/12)

JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (opening 2/10/12)

THE LORAX (opening 3/2/12)

MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED (opening 6/8/12)

RAMPART (opening 1/27/12)

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN (opening 6/1/12)

THE THREE STOOGES (opening April, 2012)

YOUNG ADULT (opening 12/9/12)

LIVE-TWEETING THE OSCARS – 2/25/13

We tweeted the shit out of the internet on Oscar Night 2013. See it all below (most recent posts are at the top)

That’s it for the Oscars. Thanx Hollywood, we look forward to you being interesting again when IRON MAN 3 opens. #Oscars2013 #IronMan3

Did anyone else see “Betty White’s Off Their Rockers” tonight? HILARIOUS. #Oscars #Counterprogramming

Tomorrow on TMZ: Thirty minutes devoted to three seconds of Jennifer Lawrence falling down. #Oscars2013

Affleck + JLo, Paltrow, Spears, Hayek = 0 Oscars. Then he put a ring on it = Best Picture. #Oscars2013

Note to the Coen Brothers: If you lost the “F” back in 1996, you would’ve won best picture, too. #Oscars2013 #LessonsLearned

Somebody just slap Kristen Stewart already – or again.

Quvenzhane Wallis. Offensive tackle. San Diego State. #Oscars2013 @KeyAndPeele

Best Director, Life Of PI’s Ang Lee: Ben Affleck overheard to say “Don’t make me Ang Lee, you wouldn’t like me when I’m Ang Lee”

The winner of fourth best director of the year goes to Ang Lee! #Affleck #Bigelow #Tarantino #Oscars2013

Not for nothing, but the show has now gone on for 3.14159 hours. #LifeofPi

Congratulations Stifler!!!! #Argo #Oscars2013

“Billy Crystal looks younger than ever!” #OldAcademyVotersTweeting

Here’s a home game you can play with this year’s Best Actor nominees: “Drunk, crazy or Lincoln?” #Oscars2013

New adverb to describe a directing style that creates movies that make you feel like you’re on drugs: “You direct very AngLee” #Oscars

The hardest thing about watching a Nora Ephron movie is watching a Nora Ephron movie.

BARBRA STREISAND IS DEAD?!??! Oh, wait………thought she was part of the montage. She’s actually onstage. Onward. #Oscars2013

Best Oscar vocal fry goes to Kristen Stewart.

High much, Kristen Stewart?

The AMOUR montage features just as many shots and cuts as the film itself, just in a shorter amount of time. #Oscars2013 #Dogshit

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK: Answering the burning question: “WIll these crazy people fuck?” #Oscars2013

Good to see The Oscars giving Susan Boyle a comeback. #Oscars2013

Sing it with us! BOND-bah-bah-bond-Bond, bond-bond-bond, Bond-bah-bah-bond-Bond, bond-bond-bond, BAH-BOND…(bond-bond-bond…) #lyrics #007

“Please welcome to the stage – Hollywood’s former Anne Hathaway, Sandra Bullock!” #Oscar2013

Congratulations to Anne Hathaway, one of America’s frailest talents. #Oscars2013

Helen Hunt was great in “The Sessions”, which is like “Mad About You”, if you were mad about someone in an iron lung. #Oscars2013

Woohoo! Just when I think DIE HARD wouldn’t be represented at the Oscars, the bad guy wins Best Sound Editing! #Oscars2013

SOUND MIXING: Otherwise known as the award for turning the volume up all the way the most.

Overheard at the Oscar Technical Awards: “Oscar looks like Dr. Manhattan!” #nerd #Oscars2013

I predict tonight’s program will run over time by 1 tribute to movie musicals #Oscar2013

Or, as he’s introduced at the Emmy Awards, “Please welcome Vinny Barbarino and The Boy in the Bubble, John Travolta” #Oscars2013

John Travolta wearing his “award’s show hair piece”. Looking good Barbarino.

Congratulations, AMOUR! The first film to win an Oscar without having an editor. #Oscars2013

How to know if the person you saw at the grocery store is the famous person you think they are:They’re shorter than you expected them to be.

I don’t think Hollywood can pass up the chance to award the movie about Hollywood saving the day #Argo #Oscar2013

ZERO DARK THIRTY: Are we the only ones put off by this film’s #Oscar campaign?: “Vote for us or the terrorists win” #Oscars2013

Here we go! Best Documentary Short!!! #bathroombreak #Oscars2013

Overlooked tonight: Best song nominee DJANGO UNCHAINED MELODY #righteous #Oscars2013

Shirley Bassey. Still gettin’ it done. Rex Harrison-ing it up a bit, but still gettin’ it done. #Oscars2013

The irony of the winner for Best Makeup Artist looking like they’ve never seen a pat of foundation in their life isn’t wasted on us.

Wooohooooo -aw #Bond #Oscar2013

That last award was won for Helena Bonham Carter hair wrangling. #Oscars2013

You can’t fool me Les Misérables, Helena Bonham Carter’s hair always looks like that #Oscar2013

Congratulations, makeup artists, you clearly weren’t nominated for wardrobe. #Oscars2013

That’s two wins already for LIFE OF PI. They just greenlit LIFE OF CAKE. #MelissaMcCarthy

How would you like to be the person receiving the award the only time they did that? #Jaws #Oscar2013

FU, telecast. Let the guy speak. The Spirit Awards wouldn’t do that to a VFX guy….if their movies had VFX…. #Oscars2013

I’m sure that seemed like a good idea at the time #Jaws #Oscar2013

Classy movies need to stop having good special effects so The Avengers can win something. #lifeofpi #Oscar2013

I’m so close to shutting this off and watching The Avengers -aw #Oscar2013

I guess if Roger Deakins had to lose to anything, Life of Pi is far from shitty photography #Oscar2013

Between Emmanuelle Riva (85) and Quvenzhane Wallis (9), Hollywood actresses over 40 now have two more reasons to worry.

I really thought FRANKENWEENIE should have won – because that was the only one I saw.

Best Animated Short Film: There’s an Oscar that will get you into NO parties.

From the Jodi Foster school of award show acting Paul Rudd & Melissa McCarthy bring you the Oscars version of “WTF were they talking about?”

Philip Seymour Hoffman lost the Oscar. In related news, so did Philip Michael Thomas. #Oscars2013

Tommy Lee Jones was great. You can see the horrors of The Civil War all over his face. At least I think that’s what’s going on there. #Oscar

And so begins the era of the Oscars appealing to people under the age of 40. #Oscars2013

Finally Channing Tatum is getting some play #Oscar2013

For those of you who opted to see something else in the theater besides BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, we hope you enjoyed HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA

Duran Duran’s John Taylor looks fantastic! #AnneHathaway #Oscars2013

Kristin Chenoweth is no Ryan Seacrest. And we mean that as a compliment. #Oscars2013

John Goodman is the John Goodman of this year’s Oscars. #Argo #TheArtist #Oscars2013

Kristin Chenoweth is working the red carpet at the Oscars: The only person capable of making all the other actors look tall. #Oscars2013

“Oh this? It’s just a dress made from the tears of a thousand homeless orphans” #overheardontheredcarpet #Oscars2013

In a twist Alfred himself might appreciate, even the movie HITCHCOCK isn’t going to win an Oscar. #Oscars2013 #Goodeeeevning

David Bowie looks fantastic! #CharlizeTheron #Oscars2013

Like Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow before them, The Oscars are now in the business of screwing Ben Affleck. #BestDirector #Oscars2013

The wiseassery will flies here, and on Facebook! Join us at http://fb.com/themovieguys as we give The Oscars the business. #Oscars2013

LIVE-TWEETING THE OSCARS – 2/26/12

Listed below are all The Movie Guys’ tweets, starting with the day after the Oscars, going back to the red carpet pre-show. We were busy:

Our favorite day-after headline – “Angelina Jolie: The Slit Everyone is Talking About”. That’s not awkward at all. #Oscars

Let’s recap. That’s THE MUPPETS – 1, WAR HORSE – 0.

Until next year, when we pray to god The Coen Brothers put out another movie. #Oscars

The Artist deserved the shit out of that #Oscars

That WAR HORSE looks pretty good. When does that come out?

Rick Santorum should be happy about The Artist because he’s warned recently about the devilish influence of the talkies #Oscars

I think it’s cute that they bother nominating other actresses when Meryl Streep is up for an award.

Glenn Close is no Peter Scolari #Oscars

Colin Firth seems unhappy about all of this #Oscars

Afghan airport hit by suicide car bombing. #TheresOtherShitGoingOnInTheWorld?

I really hope Dujardin just swore in French. #Oscars

With these extended nominee descriptions, I can see why they didn’t nominate Fassbender, protecting Portman from going on & on about cock.

Gary Oldman’s first nomination? #surprising

Are they taking about movies or cancer? #oscars #interviews

Sing it, Nat X #Oscars

Compared to The Artist and Tree of Life, Midnight In Paris wasn’t so much directed as shot #Oscars

The Academy gives Oprah an award, or face the wrath of Xenu. #Oscars

For those of you drinking at home: “Scorsese!”

The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessemore, I think we all saw that coming #Oscars

I dont know anything about Best Documentary Feature but God Is The Bigger Elvis wins best title #Oscars

And now live action short is here to throw off every Oscar pool in America

Midnight in Paris Madlibs – You’re (name of famous artist)? That’s crazy. Repeat. #oscars

In an attempt for ABC to work the word into all of their show titles, expect NIGHTLINE, BITCH! this summer.

The Artist is way harder to write than Midnight In Paris, even the dialogue’s fresher #Oscars

Is it just me, or does Angelina look a little heavy?

Bret? Present. #oscars

It would be kind of ridiculous if any movie won for best score besides the movie that was ALL SCORE #Oscars

Better Nolte joke: “On a warm summer’s everning, on a train bound for nowhere…” #Oscars

This is actually Plummer’s second award, as he won the Oscar for the Most Purple in a Nose category in the early, non-televised section.

Brad Pitt is more fortunately named than his brother Stu Pitt #oscars

This is just an apology award for not nominating Christopher Plummer for Dragnet #oscars

Anyone else get the sneaking suspicion that all these tech awards for Hugo are an attempt to make up for no best picture or director?

Hugo’s cheating, because it’s a masterpiece

Ironically Stallone’s Oscar was never nominated for an Oscar

The director of “MouseHunt” has an Oscar. #RealityCheck

Glad they invented a special category to give Kung Fu Panda some recognition #oscar

How many white guys does it take to make a documentary about a black football team from Memphis? Apparently 6.

Chris Rock. Lookin’ like “Morgan Freeman: Before” #Oscars

And with that, Diddy is one step closer to EGOT. #Undefeated #TracyMorgan

If #TheArtist gets to do one of its scenes live on stage, the other films should get to as well. #Cirque

Yeah, Bret Ratner would have cut all this gay crap.

Girl With Dragon Tatoo deserved to win for best editing beacuse it’s source footage was re-runs of Three’s Company.

Not enough people getting hit in the balls with projectiles in the commercials #oscars #superbowl

Having Hugo win both sound categories eliminates the confusion over the difference between those categories #oscars

“Let’s get out of here. We’re editors.” It won’t get better than that speech tonight.

Oscar for best editing still isn’t enough to get you into the Elton John after party. Sorry boys.

My dog enjoying the Oscars. pic.twitter.com/fuXM6uwm

This would be a better presentation with the Batman voice modulator #oscars #bale

Great. Now Rick Santorum thinks the Oscars are trying to build a nuclear warhead. #ASeparation

Iranian giving award speech. Director: “Cut to Jews in the audience”. #NotAwkwardAtAll

Foreign Language Film nominations are up – in other words: Bathroom Break!

Tonight’s Oscar telecast is broadcast through an airplane hanger, providing only the best in digital noise. #oscars

#Oscar Trivia – no silent movie has been nominated since there were silent movies, and a silent baseball movie has never been nominated

If you’ve never been inspired by the Oscars, the movies got Costume Design winner Mark Bridges out of Western NY. #Miracle

That’s some dress J. Lo is wearing – hey wait, when did Cameron Diaz come out on stage?

Either it’s Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez or these nominations are sexy! #oscars

Do they make a Jane Eyre movie every year? I always find out there was one during the costume awards #oscars

Roland Emmerich sighting in the last montage. #WorldsWorstMovieDirector

Gene Hackman sighting in that recent montage. #WorldsBestMovieActor

AND we have NIPPLE!

Hey, guy in row RRR, seat 112. Yes, we see you. Stop leaning into the shot. It makes it look like Billy has a head growing out of his elbow.

That’s two awards for HUGO. Someone at The Academy must’ve heard that Martin Scorsese directed it.

HUGO the movie about French film maker George Melies was apparently brought to you by Italy!

Now they’re doing that sketch where Ellen puts herself in commercials #oscars

And it’s over before it begins. Looks like it’s gonna be a clean sweep for Hugo. Time to turn the channel and watch Big Bang Theory.

Well earned, both awards #Hugo was a masterpiece

Took a dump had to DVR the show so my jokes might be a few minutes behind. Did Billy do that thing where he puts himself in all the movies?

This Billy Crystal montage seems more rehearsed and homosexual than it would’ve under Brett Ratner #oscars

Oscars! Why don’t we have Oscar-bowl commercials?

“Nine nominees for Best Picture, and once again black people are relegated to being THE HELP.” #ifchrisrockhostedagain

Natalie Portman: “It’s such a relief just NOT to be nominated”.

“EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE, or what it’s like meeting (fill in political figure or Harvey Weinstein)” #whatbillycrystalwillsay

I wonder who will win America’s Sweetheart? I’m thinking Emma Stone #oscars

Good to see Storm on the red carpet. With Halle Berry’s last-minute exit, Gwyneth did a fine job stepping in.

If I were Michelle Williams, I would not have followed up MY WEEK WITH MARILYN with that Dior spot. #Oscars

The Artist contains too few inspiring speeches to win Best Picture #oscars

Surprised Sissy Spacek didn’t get nominated, she nailed the southern accent #TheHelp

Lotta mom dates on the red carpet. You’d think an Oscar nomination could get you laid. #Oscars

Fun fact: Melissa McCarthy is related to Jenny McCarthy. And by related we mean she ate her. #Oscars

Syrian voting marred by violence. #TheresOtherShitGoingOnInTheWorld?

Glenn Close plays the opposite gender & gets nominated. I don’t remember none of y’all voting for NORBIT or THE KLUMPS #ifeddiemurphyhosted

Rooney, Kate… How many MARA them are there? #Oscars

Saw a nun on the red carpet. Thought it was Streep pulling a Sacha Baron Cohen for some upcoming movie. #Oscars

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Glenn Close #oscarmashups

Given that there’s no movie about Detroit Auto workers I can see no obvious winner this year #Oscars

Jonah Hill brought his mom to The Oscars, but strangely left her at home for THE SITTER premiere. #oscars

Meanwhile, at Brett Ratner’s house, he and Eddie Murphy are doing Jåger bombs and gorging themselves on Funyons. #Oscars

Last chance before the big show to follow along with the hoopla. Get our OSCAR RANT 2012 & play Will Win/Should Win: bit.ly/z3kfAn

We don’t know about you, but we’re doing a shot every time they say “Nobbs”. #Oscars

We will be live-tweeting our unique take, thoughts & comments throughout the entire Oscar broadcast. Stay with us all day!

LISTEN UP!

This page is devoted to all our excess blabbing on radio shows, internet shows and original podcasts and interviews. Prick up your ears and listen up!

LATALKRADIO.COM – BROAD TOPICS
AUGUST 23, 2011
Movie Guys Paul Preston and Adam Witt stopped in on LA TALK RADIO’s “Broad Topics again, reviewing “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “Fright Night” (19 min., 54 sec.)

LATALKRADIO.COM – BROAD TOPICS
JULY 26, 2011
Movie Guys Paul Preston and Karen Volpe stopped in to LA TALK RADIO again for another episode of “Broad Topics”, reviewing “Captain America: The First Avenger”, “Horrible Bosses” and “Larry Crowne”. (17 min., 44 sec.)

LATALKRADIO.COM – BROAD TOPICS
JUNE 28, 2011
Movie Guys Paul Preston and Steven Lewis stopped in to LA TALK RADIO again for another episode of “Broad Topics”. This discussion covered “Cars 2″ and “Bad Teacher”. (18 min., 31 sec.)

LATALKRADIO.COM – BROAD TOPICS
JUNE 7, 2011
Movie Guys Paul Preston and Adam Witt stopped in to LA TALK RADIO again for another episode of “Broad Topics”. This discussion covered “X-Men: First Class” and the high level of geek-ery that seems to be popping up its head in summer films. (13 min., 46 sec.)

LATALKRADIO.COM – BROAD TOPICS
MAY 24, 2011
Movie Guys Paul Preston and Lee Kias stopped in to LA TALK RADIO again for another episode of “Broad Topics”. This discussion covered late-May films including “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and random tangents! (12 min., 17 sec.)

LATALKRADIO.COM – BROAD TOPICS
MAY 10, 2011
The first appearance of The Movie Guys on “Broad Topics”, in what will be a routine visit to the show. In this segment, Paul Preston talks about what’s winning the box office, “Thor” and “Fast Five”. (12 min., 45 sec.)

LBC, LONDON, ENGLAND (PART 2)
FEBRUARY, 2011
Movie Guy Paul Preston checks back in with London’s Biggest Conversation from a very busy red carpet of the Oscars on LBC, 97.3, London (6 min.)

LBC, LONDON, ENGLAND (PART 1)
FEBRUARY, 2011
Movie Guy Paul Preston checks in with London’s Biggest Conversation from the red carpet of the Oscars on LBC, 97.3, London (6 min., 45 sec.)

KRLD, DALLAS, TX
FEBRUARY, 2011
Movie Guy Paul Preston gives his Oscar predictions for 2011 on KRLD, Dallas, TX; (2 min., 45 sec.)

KRLD, DALLAS, TX
NOVEMBER, 2010
Movie Guy Paul Preston goes over what holiday movies are best for adults in his latest appearance on KRLD, Dallas, TX; (3 min.)

KRLD, DALLAS, TX
OCTOBER, 2010
Paul Preston talks great horror movies on KRLD, Dallas, TX; (4 1/2 min.)

STEPHEN RANNAZZISI – THE TMG INTERVIEW
AUGUST, 2010
Stephen Rannazzisi is a series regular on FX’s “The League”. He first came on to the scene in MTV’s “Punk’d” and then landed film roles in “For Your Consideration”, “Imagine That” and “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”. He also continues to do stand up across the country. Season One of “The League” comes out on DVD & Blu-Ray Sept. 14. Season Two starts up again on FX on Sept. 16th. (18 min.)

THE A-TEAM – Audio Review by Adam Witt
JUNE, 2010
A review of “The A-Team”, recorded right after the screening, from Movie Guy Adam Witt. (6 1/2 min.)

THE ROAD – Audio Review by Joel Frost
MAY, 2010
A review of “The Road”, a grim thriller adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s novel, from Movie Guy Joel Frost. (8 min.)

A SERIOUS MAN – Audio Review by Joel Frost
FEBRUARY, 2010
A review of the Oscar-nominated “A Serious Man” from The Coen Brothers, from Movie Guy Joel Frost. (6 1/2min.)

STEVE LEMME – THE TMG INTERVIEW
NOVEMBER, 2009
Steve Lemme is a founding member of comedy troupe Broken Lizard, the minds behind “Super Troopers”, “Club Dread” and “Beerfest”. Our Movie Guy Joel catches up with him to talk about his career, what’s going on now (a comedy tour & a new movie on December 11, 2009 – “The Slammin’ Salmon”), and his humble beginnings. Oh yes, there was table waiting… (41 min.)

KRLD, DALLAS, TX
OCTOBER, 2011
Movie Guy Paul Preston talks horror movies for Halloween on KRLD, Dallas, TX; (4 min., 28 sec.)

LATALKRADIO.COM – BROAD TOPICS
FEBRUARY, 2009
Movie Guy Paul Preston discusses his short film “Superheroes: We Work for Tips” on LATalkRadio.com’s “Broad Topics”. (12 min., 51 sec.)

KTRH, DALLAS, TX
OCTOBER, 2011
Movie Guy Paul Preston talks about what makes a horror movie great on KTRH, Dallas, TX; (39 sec.)