You'll be missed

Heath Ledger is one of my favorite actors. His ability to fully absorb any character he takes on has always left me impressed. His passing marks the end of an eclectic career. He will be missed.

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And They Oscar May Go To...

Ahh, my favorite time of the year! It's fantastically wintry outside, I can bundle up on the couch with a good book (The Fine Art of Small Talk to be exact), and watch all the movies that didn't dare show their faces in the summer! Apparently, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences agree with me and have FINALLY announced their nominations for the 80th Academy Awards. Now, we all must hope that the show does not face the same fate as last week's Golden Globes (press conference anyone?). But I like to think happy thoughts that the Strike will be over soon...

Anyway, I've included the list of nominees, and I've made it my mission to see all of the "biggies" before February 24th.


'No Country for Old Men' and 'There Will be Blood' led this year's Oscar nominations with eight each, while Michael Clayton (Widescreen Edition) made a surprisingly strong showing with noms in five of the top categories: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Original Screenplay, while former front-runner 'Atonement' made a strong showing with seven nods but missed the Best Director and lead acting categories. Away from Her won an expected nod for Julie Christie but got a pleasant surprise with an additional nod for director Sarah Polley's screenplay. Ratatouille got an expected nod for Best Animated Film but also scored an additional three nominations.

OSCAR Nominees

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

• Atonement


• Juno


• Michael Clayton (Widescreen Edition)


• No Country for Old Men


• There Will be Blood

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

• Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly


• Jason Reitman, 'Juno'


• Tony Gilroy, 'Michael Clayton'


• Joel and Ethan Coen, 'No Country for Old Men'


• Paul Thomas Anderson, 'There Will Be Blood'

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• George Clooney, 'Michael Clayton'


• Daniel Day-Lewis, 'There Will Be Blood'


• Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd


• Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah


• Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises (Widescreen Edition)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth - The Golden Age (Widescreen Edition)


• Julie Christie, Away from Her


• Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose (Extended Version)


• Laura Linney, The Savages


• Ellen Page, 'Juno'

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford


• Javier Bardem, 'No Country for Old Men'


• Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War


• Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)


• Tom Wilkinson, 'Michael Clayton'

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There


• Ruby Dee, American Gangster (Three-Disc Deluxe Edition)


• Saorise Ryan, 'Atonement'


• Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone


• Tilda Swinton, 'Michael Clayton'

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Christopher Hampton, 'Atonement'


• Sarah Polley, 'Away From Her'


• Ronald Harwood, 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'


• Joel and Ethan Coen, 'No Country for Old Men'


• Paul Thomas Anderson, 'There Will be Blood'

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Diablo Cody, 'Juno'


• Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real Girl


• Tony Gilroy, 'Michael Clayton'


• Brad , Ratatouille


• Tamara Jenkins, 'The Savages'

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• Persepolis


• 'Ratatouille'


• Surf's Up (Widescreen Special Edition)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• Beaufort (Israel)


• The Counterfeiters (Austria)


• Katyn (Poland)


• Mongol (Kazahkstan)


• 12 (Russia)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION

• 'American Gangster'


• 'Atonement'


• The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials Book 1)


• 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'


• 'There Will Be Blood'

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

• 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'


• 'Atonement'


• 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'


• 'No Country for Old Men'


• 'There Will Be Blood'

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

• Across the Universe (Two-Disc Special Edition)


• 'Atonement'


• 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age'


• 'La Vie en Rose'


• 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• No End in Sight


• America at a Crossroads: Operation Homecoming - Writing the Wartime Experience


• Sicko (Special Edition)


• Taxi to the Dark Side


• War Dance

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

• 'Freeheld'


• 'La Corona (The Crown'


• 'Salim Baba'


• 'Sari's Mother'

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING

• The Bourne Ultimatum (Widescreen Edition)


• 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'


• 'Into the Wild'


• 'No Country for Old Men'


• 'There Will be Blood'

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Dario Marianelli, Atonement


• Alberto Iglesias, The Kite Runner


• James Newton Howard, Michael Clayton


• Michael Giacchino, Ratatouille


• Marco Beltrami, 3:10 To Yuma - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• From Once: "Falling Slowly," Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova


• From Enchanted: "Happy Working Song," Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz


• From August Rush: Music From The Motion Picture: "Raise It Up," nominees to be determined


• From 'Enchanted': "So Close," Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz


• From 'Enchanted': "That's How You Know," Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING

• 'The Bourne Ultimatum'


• 'No Country for Old Men'


• 'Ratatouille'


• 'There Will be Blood'


• Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING

• 'The Bourne Ultimatum'


• 'No Country for Old Men'


• 'Ratatouille'


• 3:10 to Yuma (Widescreen Edition)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP

• 'La Vie en Rose'


• Norbit (Widescreen Edition)


• Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS

• 'The Golden Compass'


• 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'


• 'Transformers'

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

• 'I Met the Walrus'


• 'Madame Tutli-Putli'


• 'Even Pigeons Go to Heaven'


• 'My Love'


• 'Peter and the Wolf'

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

• 'At Night'


• 'Il Supplemente (The Substitute)'


• 'Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)'


• 'Tanghi Arghenti'


• 'The Tonto Woman'

Fanboys and girls unite for Cloverfield...but should they?

My awesome brother Daniel wrote this review of Cloverfield, J.J. Abrams' audition piece for next year's new Star Trek movie. So, check it out. I've also included the trailer for Cloverfield. I would have included the trailer for Star Trek, but I couldn't find it. If you know where it is, hook a sister up!


Leaving the movie theater after seeing Cloverfield a voice near me exclaimed, “That was the best movie of the year!” I agree with him. However, this was my first movie of the year. Filmed using a hand video camera, Cloverfield is a first person account of a surprise farewell party which is violently interrupted. First by a mysterious shipping accident near the Statue of Liberty, then by an explosion and Liberty’s head crashing in front of the partygoers. Events unfold before the world’s toughest and most versatile camera operated by Hud (T.J. Miller) who’s best friends with brothers Rob and Jason Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David and Mike Vogel). With the group is Lily Ford (Jessica Lucas) as Jason’s fiancé and Beth McIntryre (Odette Yustman) who reluctantly comes to Rob’s surprise party hoping, and fearing, the visit.

I expected more when the movie began with a government/DoD subtitling describing how the following events where recorded from the Cloverfield incident in the Central Park sector in New York City. Hopefully, this meant a third person perspective would pull everything together. It did not and I was left struggling to understand the dialogue and make out the visuals from Hud’s very amateurish cinematography.

The characters are introduced through video postcards to Rob as a final present before his promotion sends him to Japan. During this we’re introduced to Marlena Diamond (Lizzy Caplan) who dated Rob some time ago, but the relationship crumbled when Rob received his promotion. For tension, Hud records the confrontation, Marlena’s angry departure, and Jason and Hud explaining to Rob that when in love you have to make a relationship work and not worry about physical distances or timing. Then the earthquakes and fires begin.

Because Cloverfield is first person POV, it struggles to show character development, and ultimately what is at stake for each of them. To do otherwise would make the perspective meaningless or require silly story gimmicks, ala the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds. At its core, Cloverfield is about survival. Everywhere they go they realize their situation is more perilous and outside anyone’s control. And, as a final attempt at shock value most of the recognized New York City structures are eventually decimated, coincidentally when the gang nearby!

Cloverfield is directed by Matt Reeves and written by Drew Goddard. Reeves wrote some movies in the 1990s but mostly worked as a producer and director of TV shows such as Felicity. Goddard joined up with J.J. Abrams after writing for TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel . He wrote and produced several episodes of Alias and Lost. Cloverfield airs throughout the US on January 18^th.