Chick 1 says:

Do you hear the rumbling under your feet?  It is the sound of the earth trembling from the sheer awesomeness of the new Iron Man 2 trailer.  It Doth Rocketh.

It premiered during Jimmy Kimmel Life following the Oscars Sunday night.  Do I really need to say it?  I.  Can’t.  Wait.

Chick 1 says:

By now you know that Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for Best Actress Sunday night.  Her acceptance speech was humble and touching and she looked fabulous.  But did you know that she also received another prestigous award on Saturday and by winning both back to back she actually set a record? 

On Saturday the annual Razzie Awards were held in Los Angeles to celebrate the very worst Hollywood has to offer.  Bullock was nominated for her performance in All About Steve and, in keeping with her self-depricating humor, she showed up to accept.  She was charming and her appearance was the highlight of the evening.  You can check it out below.  And, yes, she is the only actor to win an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year.

Chick 1 says:

Here we go again!

7:06 pm - Of course they all look gorgeous but Sandra Bullock looks great!  That’s a winner’s dress.  Just my little prediction.

7:22 pm - Does Miley Cyrus even know who Kathy Ireland is?

7:43 pm - Yay!  Finally a funny opening act…and Doogie to boot!

8:03 pm - Best Original Song catergory - What is Paris 36?  Never heard of it.  Must look it up.

8:22 pm - Wow.  John Hughes tribute.  He really was a genius.  He evented the teen comedy and most of those actors have gone on to have successful careers.

8:40 pm - Ben Stiller dressed as a Navi from Avatar; a strange mixture of funny & “meh”.

9:08 pm - OK, didn’t want Avatar to win for Art Direction but when one of the winners says he was told 13 years ago he would die soon, I can’t be upset about him having his moment.

9:10 pm - Woohoo!  The Young Victoria wins for Best Costume Design!  So happy they won one.

9:27 pm - Hurt Locker is starting to pick up some awards, both Sound awards.  This either means they really have a shot at Best Pic or the Academy has given them the lesser awards as a consolation prize.

9:35 pm - First they make poor Sandra Bullock present when she’s got to be crazy nervous.  Then they DON’T have clips of the cinematographer’s works.  Then  they give it to… Avatar?!  I’m sorry but that was animation, not cinematography.  Ugh.  Nice slap in the face to DP’s everywhere.

9:47 pm - So we get bits of  each nominated score (Go Sherlock/Hans Zimmer!) punctuated with weird dancers but no cinematography clips.  Yes, I’m still complaining.

9:51 pm - I.  love. movie. scores!

9:52 pm - Congrats, Mr. Giacchino!  You are talented and Up was nice but my favorite score of yours this year was Star Trek.

9:55 pm - Love, love Zoe Saldana’s dress!

10:15 pm - What’s with the lampshades?

10:17 pm - Wow.  Only the big four left.  The telecast is on time.  Another sign of the apocalypse.

10:24 pm - Ya know, really gorgeous set design this year.

10:32 pm - Lovely intros for all the Best Actor nominees.

10:35 pm - Jeff Bridges is still The Dude.

10:47 pm - Uh oh, it’s Sean Penn.  Insert sense of humor here.

10:48 pm - My sister just asked, “When is his surgery?”  me, “He’s having surgery?” Wendy, “To remove that stick in his a**.”

10:49 pm - You go, Sandra!  Gracious speech.  And touching too.

10:55 pm - YES!  First female Best Director!  Well deserved.

10:59 pm - I cannot believe Hurt Locker beat Avatar!  Again, well deserved.

11:02 pm - Overall, very good ceremony.  And no cheesy opening song that names every single star.

Chick 1 says:

This trailer is making the movie blog rounds & and the documentary itself is making the festival rounds & getting positive reviews.  The movie covers the revival of Disney animation in the 80s & early 90s and features such young up & comers like Tim Burton & John Lassiter.  It looks fascinating but I have no idea when this will be coming to a theater near me.  You can watch the trailer by clicking here—

Chick 1 says:

I have long praised Pixar and their movies.  They took animation, which had largely been a children’s only genre, and focused on bringing depth and meaning to the story and characters.  While the animation was amazing, it was their creative storytelling that always hooked me.

I’ve worked at an animation company long enough now to appreciate some of the more technical but still very creative aspects of CGI.  And now there is an excellent article on those break throughs over at Den of Geek.  Of all these, I do remember being completely blown away by Sulley’s hair in Monsters Inc.  You can read the full article here.

Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan)

Burn Notice “Pilot” (2007)

Chick 1 says:

I loved both the Toy Story movies.  When someone wants an example of a sequel that was better than the original, I point them to Toy Story 2.  (Most cinephiles would say The Godfather 2 but I don’t like gangster movies.)  But when I heard they were making a Toy Story 3, I was a little concerned.  The fact that Tom Hanks & the rest of the cast were returning did relieve my fears a bit.  Although he has made some minor missteps, Hanks has earned my trust.  Our first look at this movie is out & I have to say, it made me laugh & it feels like the magic is back.  I may have to put this on my I Can’t Wait list.

Wesley (Cary Elwes)

The Princess Bride (1987)

Check out these cool minimalist movie posters.  My favorites are the Back to the Future series below.  You can see more here.

Chick 1 says:

Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards were anounced this morning.  (Groundhog Day!)  No major surprises.  I didn’t expect major nominations for (500) Days or Star Trek but I was disappointed that  (500) Days of Summer was not nominated for Original Screenplay.  Oh well.

My main question - will this be the year that a woman finally wins Best Director?  Many feel Kathryn Bigelow is deserving.  We’ll find out March 7th.

I am hopeful about our hosts for the cermony, Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin.  Oscar hosts have been hit or miss over the years but it is a pretty thankless job.  I think both these guys are funny and they might have good chemistry.  Their success would certainly would make the 4 hour plus broadcast a little shorter.

BEST PICTURE
“Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
“The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
“District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
“An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
“The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
“Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
“A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
“Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
“Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

BEST DIRECTOR
“Avatar” James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

BEST ACTOR
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

BEST ACTRESS
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon in “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
“Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
“The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
“A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“District 9″ Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
“An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
“Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“Coraline” Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
“Up” Pete Docter

“Avatar” Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

BEST EDITING
“Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“District 9″ Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
“Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
“Kavi” Gregg Helvey
“Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

BEST MAKEUP

“Avatar” James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
“Up” Michael Giacchino