MY First Annual Television Programming Award Nominees

Lately you might have noticed my blog is short of reviews, Well I'm switching from a Film Review oriented blog and more onto an Award Blog for all sorts of Multimedia including Movies, TV Shows, Video Games, and Music!

To Kick things off, here are the 2010-2011 Annual Television Show Waddie Nominees

1st Annual Television Waddie Nominees

Best Television Drama

Chuck

Community

How I Met Your Mother

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Modern Family

The Office

Best Television Musical or Comedy

Breaking Bad

Burn Notice

Dexter

House

Mad Men

Supernatural

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Drama

Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Jeffrey Donovan, Burn Notice

Michael C. Hall, Dexter

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Hugh Laurie, House

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Musical or Comedy

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Steve Carell, The Office

Zachary Levi, Chuck

Joel McHale, Community

Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Josh Radnor, How I Met Your Mother

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Drama

Nina Dobrev, The Vampire Diaries

Regina King, SouthLAnd

Julianne Margulies, The Good Wife

Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy

Anna Paquin, True Blood

Anna Torv, Fringe

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Musical or Comedy

Courtney Cox, Cougar Town

Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Lauren Graham, Parenthood

Amy Poheler, Parks and Recreation

Yvonne Strhovski, Chuck

Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role of a Television Drama

Jon Bernthal, The Walking Dead

Bruce Campbell, Burn Notice

Benjamin McKenzie, SouthLAnd

Ron Perlman, Sons of Anarchy

Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad

Michael Pitt, Boardwalk Empire

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role of a Television Musical or Comedy

Chris Colfer, Glee

Donald Glover, Community

Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother

Danny Pudi, Community

Jason Segel, How I Met Your Mother

Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role of a Television Drama

Sarah Wayne Callies, The Walking Dead

Lisa Edelstein, House

January Jones, Mad Men

Kelly MacDonald, Boardwalk Empire

Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role of a Television Musical or Comedy

Alison Brie, Community

Alyson Hannigan, How I Met Your Mother

Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock

Jane Lynch, Glee

Lea Michele, Glee

Christa Miller, Cougar Town

Best Voice Acting in an Animated Series

H. Jon Benjamin, Archer

Mike Henry, The Cleveland Show

Tom Kenny, Spongebob Squarepants

Seth Macfarlane, Family Guy

Jeremy Shada, Adventure Time

Jessica Walter, Archer

Best Animated Television Series

Adventure Time

Archer

Family Guy

The Simpsons

South Park

Best Reality Television Series

American Idol

Dancing with the Stars

Jersey Shore

Keeping Up With the Kardashians

So You Think You Can Dance?

Top Chef

MARCH MADNESS: Hulu's Best in Show Predictions

http://www.hulu.com/bestinshow/0/2

Here is where you can see the March Madness-esque competition between current Television Shows. I am going to make my predictions now, one round in.

I predict semi-finalists Modern Family and Dexter will square off in the end with Dexter being ultimately the leader.


WEEK 2
Community vs. The Simpsons
Winner: Community

Vampire Diaries vs. The Office
Winner: The Office

Supernatural vs. Chuck
Winner: Chuck

Modern Family vs. Always Sunny in Philidelphiaa
Winner: Modern Family

House vs. Breaking Bad
Winner: House

Mad Men vs. Burn Notice
Winner: Mad Men

Glee vs. Dexter
Winner: Dexter

Parenthood vs. How I Met Your Mother
Winner: How I Met Your Mother



WEEK 3

Community vs. The Office
Winner: Community

Chuck vs. Modern Family
Winner: Modern Family

House vs. Mad Men
Winner: House

Dexter vs. How I Met Your Mother
Winner: Dexter


WEEK 4

Community vs. Modern Family
Winner: Modern Family

House vs. Dexter
Winner: Dexter

FINALS
Modern Family vs. Dexter
Winner: Dexter

MY FINAL Oscar Predictions (2011)

PICTURe

WILL WIN: The Social Network (Changed during Oscars 10:49PM)

COULD WIN: The King's Speech

POTENTIAL UPSET: (Between the Two)

ACTOR

WILL WIN: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

COULD WIN: N/A

POTENTIAL UPSET: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

ACTRESS

WILL WIN: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

COULD WIN: Annette Bening, The Kids are All Right

POTENTIAL UPSET: N/A

SUPPORTING ACTOR

WILL WIN: Christian Bale, The Fighter

COULD WIN: Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

POTENTIAL UPSET: N/A

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

WILL WIN: Melissa Leo, The Fighter

COULD WIN: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

POTENTIAL UPSET: Helena Boham Carter, The King’s Speech

DIRECTOR

WILL WIN: David Fincher, The Social Network

COULD WIN: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

POTENTIAL UPSET: N/A

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

WILL WIN: The King’s Speech

COULD WIN: N/A

POTENTIAL UPSET: Inception

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

WILL WIN: The Social Network

COULD WIN: N/A

POTENTIAL UPSET: True Grit

EDITING

WILL WIN: The Social Network

COULD WIN: The King’s Speech

POTENTIAL UPSET: The Fighter

CINEMATOGRAPHY

WILL WIN: True Grit

COULD WIN: Inception

POTENTIAL UPSET: The King’s Speech

ART DIRECTION

WILL WIN: The King’s Speech

COULD WIN: Alice in Wonderland

POTENTIAL UPSET: Inception

SOUND MIXING

WILL WIN: Inception

COULD WIN: The King’s Speech

POTENTIAL UPSET: The Social Network

SOUND EDITING

WILL WIN: Inception

COULD WIN: N/A

POTENTIAL UPSET: Toy Story 3

COSTUME DESIGN

WILL WIN: The King’s Speech

COULD WIN: Alice in Wonderland

POTENTIAL UPSET: True Grit

ORIGINAL SCORE

WILL WIN: Reznor/Ross, The Social Network

COULD WIN: Desplat, The King’s Speech

POTENTIAL UPSET: Zimmer, Inception

FOREIGN FILM

WILL WIN: Incedies

COULD WIN: In a Better World

POTENTIAL UPSET: Biutiful

DOCUMENTARY

WILL WIN: Inside Job

COULD WIN: Exit Through the Gift Shop

POTENTIAL UPSET: The Waste Land

ANIMATED

WILL WIN: Toy Story 3

COULD WIN: N/A

POTENTIAL UPSET: N/A

VISUAL EFFECTS

WILL WIN: Inception

COULD WIN: N/A

POTENTIAL UPSET: N/A

MAKEUP

WILL WIN: The Wolfman

COULD WIN: N/A

POTENTIAL UPSET: Barney’s Version

SONG

WILL WIN: We Belong Together, Toy Story 3

COULD WIN: If I Rise, 127 Hours

POTENTIAL UPSET: I See The Light, Tangled

LIVE ACTION SHORT

WILL WIN: Wish 143

COULD WIN: Na Wewe

POTENTIAL UPSET: N/A

ANIMATED SHORT

WILL WIN: Day and Night

COULD WIN: Madagascar, cernet de voyage

POTENTIAL UPSET: The Gruffalo

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

WILL WIN: Poster Girl

COULD WIN: Strangers No More

POTENTIAL UPSET: Killing in the Name

My Predictions: How I scored Predicting the Oscars.

BEST PICTURE
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
The Town (X)
Toy Story 3
True Grit


9/10    90%
BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception (X)
David O. Russell, The Fighter


4/5  80%
BEST ACTOR
Robert Duvall, Get Low (X)
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine (X)


3/5 60%
BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening, The Kids are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine


5/5  100%
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network (X)
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech


4/5  80%
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Boham Carter, The King's Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan (X)
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit


4/5 80%
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone


5/5  100%
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Black Swan (X)
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech


4/5  80%
ANIMATED FEATURE
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3


3/3   100%
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer  (X)
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Inside Job
The Tillman Story (X)
Waiting for Superman (X)


2/5  40%
ART DIRECTION
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan (X)
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit


4/5  80%
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit


5/5  100%
FILM EDITING
127 Hours
Black Swan
Inception (X)
The King's Speech
The Social Network


4/5  80%
COSTUME DESIGN
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque (X)
The King's Speech
The Tempest
True Grit


4/5  80%
MAKEUP
Alice in Wonderland (X)
The Way Back
The Wolfman


2/3  66.66666%
ORIGINAL SCORE
127 Hours (AR Rahman)
How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)
Inception (Hans Zimmer)
The King's Speech (Alexandre Desplat)
The Social Network (Trent Reznor/ Atticus Ross)


5/5  100%
ORIGINAL SONG
127 Hours "If I Rise"
Burlesque "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" (X)
Tangled "I See the Light"
Toy Story 3 "We Belong Together"
Waiting for Superman "Shine" (X)


3/4  75%
SOUND EDITING
Black Swan (X)
How to Train Your Dragon (X)
Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy


3/5  
SOUND MIXING
Black Swan (X)
Inception
The Social Network
Tron: Legacy (X)
True Grit


3/5  60%
VISUAL EFFECTS
Alice in Wonderland
Inception
Tron: Legacy (X)


2/5  40%
FOREIGN FILM
Biutiful
In a Better World
Incendies
Life, Above All (X)
Outside the Law


4/5  80%




100/110
91%


YAY!

MY FINAL Oscar Predictions

Here is the big moment. Oscar Nominees will be announced early Tuesday Morning. Time for my final solid predictions.

BEST PICTURE
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David O. Russell, The Fighter

BEST ACTOR
Robert Duvall, Get Low
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine

BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening, The Kids are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Boham Carter, The King's Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech

ANIMATED FEATURE
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Inside Job
The Tillman Story
Waiting for Superman

ART DIRECTION
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

FILM EDITING
127 Hours
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

COSTUME DESIGN
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The King's Speech
The Tempest
True Grit

MAKEUP
Alice in Wonderland
The Way Back
The Wolfman

ORIGINAL SCORE
127 Hours (AR Rahman)
How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)
Inception (Hans Zimmer)
The King's Speech (Alexandre Desplat)
The Social Network (Trent Reznor/ Atticus Ross)

ORIGINAL SONG
127 Hours "If I Rise"
Burlesque "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me"
Tangled "I See the Light"
Toy Story 3 "We Belong Together"
Waiting for Superman "Shine"

SOUND EDITING
Black Swan
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy

SOUND MIXING
Black Swan
Inception
The Social Network
Tron: Legacy
True Grit

VISUAL EFFECTS
Alice in Wonderland
Inception
Tron: Legacy

FOREIGN FILM
Biutiful
In a Better World
Incendies
Life, Above All
Outside the Law

FINAL Golden Globe Predictions

Golden Globes are in a few hours, SO LETS DO THIS!

BEST PICTURE DRAMA
Winner: The Social Network
Alternate: The King's Speech

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Winner: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Alternate: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Winner: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Alternate: James Franco, 127 Hours

BEST PICTURE COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Winner: The Kids are All Right
Alternate: Alice in Wonderland (Unfortunately)

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Winner: Annette Bening, The Kids are All Right
Alternate: Angelina Jolie, The Tourist (Unfortunately)

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Winner: Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland (Unfortunately)
Alternate: Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Alternate: Helena Boham Carter, The King's Speech

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Alternate: Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

ANIMATED FEATURE
Winner: Toy Story 3
Alternate: How to Train Your Dragon

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Winner: Biutiful
Alternate: I Am Love

BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: David Fincher, The Social Network
Alternate: Christopher Nolan, Inception

BEST SCREENPLAY
Winner: The Social Network
Alternate: The Kids are All Right

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Winner: Hans Zimmer, Inception
Alternate: Trent Reznor/ Atticus Ross, The Social Network

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Winner: "I See the Light", Tangled
Alternate: "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me", Burlesque

BEST TELEVISION DRAMA
Winner: Boardwalk Empire
Alternate: Mad Men

BEST ACTRESS IN TELEVISON DRAMA
Winner: Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Alternate: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

BEST ACTOR IN A TELEVISION DRAMA
Winner: Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Alternate: John Hamm, Mad Men

BEST TELEVISION SERIES MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Winner: Glee
Alternate: Modern Family

BEST ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Winner: Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Alternate: Lea Michele, Glee

BEST ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Winner: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Alternate: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

BEST MINISERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TV
Winner: The Pacific
Alternate: Carlos

BEST ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES, or TV MOVIE
Winner: Claire Danes, Temple Grandin
Alternate: Judi Dench, Return To Cranford

BEST ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Winner: Edgar Ramirez, Carlos
Alterante: Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A TV SERIES/ MOVIE/ OR MINISERIES
Winner: Jane Lynch, Glee
Alternate: Hope Davis, The Special Relationship

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A TV SERIES/MOVIE/OR MINISERIES
Winner: Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Alternate: David Strathairn, Temple Grandin

My Top 20 Lists: 2010

My TOP 20 FILMS OF 2010


HONORABLE MENTIONS: Shutter Island, The Kids are All Right, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, Get Him to the Greek


20- I Love You Phillip Morris
C: If you love Carey and McGregor and would like to see them act their hearts out, see this. It is also pretty funny, but like I said it is not for everyone, not because it is a homosexual movie, but because the comedy isn't like normal Jim Carrey comedy, it is smarter in my opinon. You be the judge.


19- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
C: The division of the story causes Part 1 to move much slower than we are use to a Harry Potter moving. However this is a chance for the Yates to develop character, emotion, and really make us feel for these characters who will be enduring the ultimate peril soon. One of my favorite of the series.

18- A Prophet (Une Prophete)
C: It truly is an excellent film, dramatic and intense throughout. See this movie if you can find it. Also a must see for any fan of the gangster genre in film, perhaps better than Godfather in some ways? Dare I say it?

17- Solitary Man
C: Solitary Man is a great view of the final "crisis" in life. Michael Douglas is solid in his performance as the anti-protagonist, and we grow to love his characters development throughout the film.

16- Buried
C: Originally scripted and well-crafted Buried is a great experience and its nice to see Reynolds can really act. However, it is not a fun experience and I will probably never see it again.

15- The Town
C: The Town is highly entertaining, and its story pushes forward with full interest. A lot is owed to Affleck's excellent direction.

14- 127 Hours
C: A movie based around this story could not have been done any better. Boyle for great directing, Rahman for score, Beaufoy for script, and most importantly Franco's incredible tour de force as Ralston. It may not be a classic, but it is definitely the most you will get out of inspiration in a film.

13- Cyrus
C: When Cyrus is funny...it is hilarious. When Cyrus is sad....it is heartbreaking. I felt weird in my stomach with the mix of emotions, but I loved it. Cyrus deals with raw emotion, and the dark comedy behind it in the best of manners. See this film but don't go expecting normal Reilly and Hill comedy.

12- Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
C: Michael Cera is Scott Pilgrim, the supporting cast also shines its colors. Overall Scott Pilgrim shows us something we have never seen before, granted the film has a target audience (which includes me) but it does 100% exactly what it wants to do, and it is very inventive and entertaining.

11- Winter's Bone
C: Winter's Bone makes for a perfect adaptation by using forms of tone, mood and depth in methods that I have never seen before.

10- Greenberg
C: I won't suggest this film to everyone, those who appreciate art and independent film will love it along with those who like this kind of movie, Baumbach's dysfunctional style. This is an amazingly deep movie.

9- True Grit
C: 'True Grit' is a whole-hearted Western from it's gritty action to its witty dialogue. While it is not the Coens best, it is still highly enjoyable and may bring back memories from classic westerns.

8- The Fighter
C: The Fighter, at heart, is a character movie and each character has some sense of development through the duration. Wahlberg, Leo, and Adams deliver amazing performances, and Bale takes the cake for best supporting performance of the year.

7- Kick-Ass
C: Probably going to see it over and over again if I can. Remarkable, artistic comedy, this and How to Train Your Dragon should be Best Picture contenders this year. But the academy will defintley decide against this.

6- Enter the Void
C:  Enter the Void an amazing experience, an artistic, pornographic, supernatural view on the after life, that achieves great amazement from it's highly original use of lighting and cinematography.

5- How to Train Your Dragon
C: Kids, adults, whoever the hell you are, see this movie. Its worth the ticket price and the 3-D price, I wish I could see this in IMAX. This is a heart-warming tale, that will pull you in from beginning to end.

4- Toy Story 3
C: Very funny and Tearjerking, Toy Story 3 wraps up what is considerably one of the greatest trilogies of all time.

3- The Social Network
C: This movie is the most brilliant film of the year. Eisenberg gives an Oscar worthy performance along with directer and writer Fincher/ Sorkin. This goes beyond the simple website facebook to the emotional struggles of its invention. This is the movie of the year.

2- Inception
C: Inception is a very well-made and scripted film that challenges the audience, the question is: Are you up for the challenge?

1- Black Swan
C: Black Swan embraces the dark side of the ballet art. It demonstrates the pressure and anxiety of life in the theater, only through a schizophrenic eye. Portman gives the performance of the year. Black Swan is gorgeous!



FOR YOUR TREAT: The 5 WORST Films of the Year

5- Clash of the Titans
C:  Avoid seeing it in 3-D if you can, its a waste of money. Honestly i'd say the ticket price is a waste of money for this film unless you are seeking some sword play and mythological action, however even if that is what you are seeking you will still probably come out unsatisfied.

4- Jonah Hex
C: Jonah Hex suffers from dull acting, lack of emotion, choppy edits/ cinematography, and serious issue with ambition from the writers/ directors. As a revenge, anti-hero flick and as a movie in general. It fails....big time.

3- Cop Out
C: N/A

2- Alice in Wonderland
C: N/A

1- Vampire's Suck
C: Vampire's Suck is the worst of the worst. Seltzer and Friedberg make Ed Wood look like Steven Spielberg. I now feel the need to do everything in my power to stop people from seeing this movie. Stop your friends from seeing it, get the word out!

My Movie Review: True Grit

My Movie Review: True Grit
4/5

Opening Statement: The Coen Brothers are back this time with their adaptation of the novel of the same title "True Grit." Hailee Steinfeld plays Maddie Ross, a 14 year old girl who is out to catch Cheney the man who killed her father, along the way she hires a man with true grit named Rooster Cogburn played by Jeff Bridges, at the same time a Texas Ranger played by Matt Damon is also out for Cheney since he killed a Texas senator. They cross paths and help one another.


What's Good: This is as close to a classic western that a modern film will come. The characters are very well developed for start to finished. We have Maddie played by newcome Steinfeld who stands her ground well with the big names. She has a natural connection with the character and transforms for the role, a tour de force from her first performance. We also have Bridges who is expectedly good, practically better than John Wayne's Cogburn. Whereas John Wayne played John Wayne playing Rooster Cogburn, Bridges is Rooster Cogburn. We find it at times hard to understand the grumbles of Rooster but it's brutally realistic that we  forgive the dialogue we can't understand. Matt Damon gives a great performance as Leboef the Texas Ranger, who at first has antagonistic goals toward catching Cheney first and develops into a whole-hearted person who sympathizes with young Ross. Overall an excellent ensemble work. What's truly magnificent about this story, is not necessarily the story itself but the way the Coens have managed to re-structure it, and truly develop the vibe of the Western. 
                       A lot is owed to Roger Deakins, an excellent award-worthy eye for scenery and cinematography.  From the sun sets to the sun rises, Deakins manages his picture with grace. Overall True Grit is a combination of gurus in the film industry who believe in the realm of story-telling and properly handling adaptations. Truly excellent piece of work.




What's Bad: It isn't by far the Coens best. However it still maintains there touch of cinematic vision. Overall for me I was less impressed with the story, especially in the beginning where lengthy scenes of conversation dragged. It's not an action scene every second film, which I am grateful for, it takes time developing the plot in the beginning, some of that time was unnecessary. The second act is a piece of magic that helped me forgive every fault from the first act.


Oscar Possibilities: Picture, Director, Actor- Jeff Bridges, Supporting Actor- Matt Damon (some likely), and importantly Hailee Steinfeld for Supporting Actress. The film itself could also be a shoe in for Cinematography and other technical categories.


Consensus: 'True Grit' is a whole-hearted Western from it's gritty action to its witty dialogue. While it is not the Coens best, it is still highly enjoyable and may bring back memories from classic westerns.

2011 HFPA Golden Globe Nominees Film Musical or Comedy.

             I'm sure you all have heard some sort of outrage toward the Golden Globes before. This year it is much more noticeable. They are a joke. Don't get me wrong, I have always found the Golden Globes intriguing, specifically for the Musical or Comedy category. A lot of people complain comedies don't get enough attention by the AMPAS, so we have this category. If you followed my GG predictions I only got 10% (1) of the films right predicted in the category (one that shouldn't've been there anyway.)
            So let's talk about these movies. Alice in FUCKING Wonderland. Mixed reviews by the general audience, however my review was extremely negative. I respect everyone's opinion by I stand by my statement that Alice in Wonderland is the WORST FILM OF THE YEAR (besides Vampire's Suck.) I gave it 1 courtesy star for mild creativity. I remember walking in a theater and seeing the poster for this movie, Johnny Depp's big face in makeup saying that he will be the Mad-Hatter. First of all how big was this character in the original story? Not big at all and Depp gets top billing. Why? Cause he's Johnny fucking Depp. Who cares about Mia Wasiwowska playing "Alice" in "Alice in Wonderland."
            I thought she did good with the role, she's a very talented actress, I thought Alice in Wonderland was all made with money in mind. Hot Topic- tweenies are saying while watching "Oh something out of the ordinary happened it's unique like me!" This is artificial creativity from Burton a very talented director who has sold out for remakes and reboots.
              I could talk for hours about how much I hate this film, and it scores a BEST PICTURE nomination. OF THE YEAR. Also giving Depp a nomination as LEAD actor for his portrayal as the Hatter. I wasn't too pissed about this though, the film received around a 53% rotten tomatoes, more than half the people who saw it actually liked it, I will never understand why but they did. Still a 53% getting a BEST PICTURE of the Year nod, for comedy, did we really have so many awful comedies this year?
           Let me escape to the next film nominated, Burlesque. I haven't seen this movie and have no desire to. It looks appealing to a specific audience, but that's about it. Of course I can't say anything personally critical until I have seen it myself. However, the tomato meter reads rotten again. This time lower than Alice. 39% brutal reviews. Only 39% of hundreds of certified critics who saw it didn't like it. Yet, it gets nominated as a BEST PICTURE OF THE WHOLE DAMN YEAR. I will explain why exactly it get nominated when I get to talking about 'The Tourist' toward the end. They share similar reasoning.
             'The Kids are All Right' this is actually a great film that I scored a 4/5 to. However I am mad at this film. I am not a professional critic (obvious by the blog address) but most professional critics have this in top 10 lists and it is looking at an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. I do a top 20 at the end of the year, and I still have a couple films to see. Unfortunately this one is at 21 right now. Still it is a great film, and it deserves to win this award. (Maybe give some faith back to the HFPA.)
              The next nominee I haven't seen either. I might someday though. It is called "Red" aka Retired Extremely Dangerous. An action film with Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, and John Malkovich. This film scored high reviews from critics actually. More of a kind of summer blockbuster flick, but I am perfectly content with this getting a nod.
               The FUCKING Tourist. This is where I draw the line. No, I have not seen this film, but I already made up my mind a couple months ago that I wouldn't. Trailers made it look bland. Had some potential though. Finally it is released scoring around a 19% on RT. That is ridiculously low. No film that much hated should ever receive a BEST PICTURE nomination of any sort for any genre. Two reasons though the HFPA selected this film to be nominated. 1- We can nominated the film and Jolie/ Depp get some big starts there. More people will watch the Golden Globes if Jolie is there. Most nominees names aren't big enough. Eisenberg, Gosling, Bening, Moore, ect. They are big and we all know who each actor I mentioned is, but still. 2- It was just released. Last year 'It's Complicated' was nominated in this category, but had mixed reviews. My theory is this, "They didn't fucking watch it" they assumed with the big names it would get good reviews and it didn't. This is probably the biggest fail in awards history. 'Burlesque' is also a recent title so we remember it more.

                Let's talk about some films that should've got in. 'Get Him to the Greek' over 80% on RT. 'Cyrus' over 80% on RT, 'Greenberg' over 70% on RT, 'I Love You Phillip Morris' over 70% on RT. 'The Other Guys' over 70% on RT. We also have Please Give, Easy A, Kick-Ass, or even Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. A lot of these films I listed are either Independent (won't gain viewers for the GG ceremony.) or they didn't do well enough at the box office (Kick-Ass, Scott Pilgrim.) or they simply just came out to early in the year.
               When I did my predictions I had a though in my head that since people are voting for this, they will vote for the movies they liked. I doubt voters even saw half these films. Which the whole reason i'm typing this long article is because as a filmmaker and a storyteller, it pains me to see how Hollywood money is of greater importance than the art of storytelling. Tim Burton sits in a room given Alice in Wonderland over night draws up some weird things and have advertisers put Johnny Depp posters up everywhere, and this gets a nomination for Best Picture over Greenberg, a story Noah Baumbach wrote and worked hard on about a man overcoming arrogance. Or Kick-Ass which squeezed what they could out of a small budget and created what could've been an over-the-top teen comedy but was presented with sincere human drama, and pure adventure.
                  HFPA really screwed up on this one, Really. It is a pointless award show, and I encourage everyone to flip the channel when it comes award day.

My Movie Review: Black Swan

My Movie Review: Black Swan
4.5/5

Opening Statement: From the mind of Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler) comes a story about a woman named Nina Sayres (Natalie Portman) who is a die hard ballet dancer. She is a perfectionist, and when she is given the role as Swan Queen in the upcoming production of Swan Lake she begins getting nervous and psychologically messed up as she can't perfect her black swan routine. She begins getting distracted by a woman named Lily (Mila Kunis) who is an up-and-coming ballet dancer.


What's Good: The film borderlines perfection. Which the film slightly strays away from (makes some symbolic sense actually.) Right from the beginning we open to a malevolent, but insanely beautiful score from Clint Mansell the embodies the same chords of Swan Lake. We are introduced to Nina (played at a career high by Portman) who is an obsessive ballet dancer and a perfectionist. She lives with her mother (played by Barbra Hershey) who really has high hopes for her daughters success. The pressure is on, and we feel it as an audience to, when she almost loses the role of the lead in Swan Lake, but she starts developing a relationship with the director (played by Vincent Cassel) who finally assigns her a role.
                         Now that she has the big role, pressure starts to boil, especially when the director is displeased with her performance as the black swan. Very strange things start happening to Nina, she becomes a psychological mess. This film keeps us guessing, but not in a way that we are strapped in for an ultra-twist, in fact the ending borderlines predictable. It's more haunting than ever though. All in all I have to say with a handful of great performances from the ensemble (Portman in particular) and a nitemare-ish psychological plot, we are intrigued from the beginning. Aronofsky has one hell of a gift. Black Swan is the most artistically beautiful horror film ever made.


What's Bad: Not Much to say for this section. For what it is, it is perfect. Once again I have to say it's probably not a masterpiece though.


Oscar Possibilities: Portman should win Actress, Bening being her only competition. The film will get a BP nod, along with a possible director nod for Aronofsky (he is long overdue.) As far as the supporting cast i'd say the most likely is Kunis who recently received a Golden Globe nomination. We are also looking at Screenplay, Art Direction, Cinematography, and I have my fingers crossed for Mansell's score.


Consensus: Black Swan embraces the dark side of the ballet art. It demonstrates the pressure and anxiety of life in the theater, only through a schizophrenic eye. Portman gives the performance of the year. Black Swan is gorgeous!