Oscar Nominations!!!!!!

And it is here! The Oscar nominations were announced this morning and here they are (the ones that matter anyway):

BEST PICTURE

127 Hours

Black Swan

The Fighter

The King's Speech

Inception

True Grit

The Social Network

The Kids Are All Right

Toy Story 3

Winter's Bone

BEST ACTOR

Colin Firth--The King's Speech

Jesse Eisenberg--The Social Network

Jeff Bridges--True Grit

Javier Bardiem--Biutiful

James Franco--127 Hours

BEST ACTRESS

Natalie Portman--Black Swan

Annette Benning--The Kids are All Right

Michelle Williams--Blue Valentine

Nicole Kidman--The Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence--Winter's Bone

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale--The Fighter

Jeremy Renner--The Town

Geoffrey Rush--The King's Speech

John Hawkes--Winter's Bone

Mark Ruffalo--The Kids Are All Right

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams--The Fighter

Melissa Leo--The Fighter

Hailee Steinfeld--True Grit

Helena Bonham-Carter--The King's Speech

Jacki Weaver--Animal Kingdom

BEST DIRECTOR

David Fincher--The Social Network

David O. Russell--The Fighter

Darren Aronofsky--Black Swan

Tom Hooper--The King's Speech

Joel and Ethan Cohen--True Grit

For the most part I think the Academy got it right this year. I was happy to see Hailee Steinfeld get a nomination for True Grit and Jeremy Renner for The Town. The inclusion of Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine and Javier Bardiem for Biutiful were nice surprises too.

However, there are few glaring problems that I have with this list. The first is the nomination of Jesse Eisenberg for Best Actor. Don't get me wrong I love Jesse Eisenberg and his turn as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network was good but not anything special. Certainly not better than Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception or Shutter Island. Even Ben Affleck's performance in The Town was better. Speaking of The Town while I'm happy Jeremy Renner got an Oscar nod in the supporting actor category, it is an outright joke that the movie itself wasn't nominated for Best Picture. Come on Toy Story 3? Really? The biggest snub without question however, was Christopher Nolan for Best Director. Do you know how much effort went in to filming Inception? He filmed in six different countries and crafted a fantastic movie that was both cerebral and surprising. I'm sorry but no one will ever convince me that Joel and Ethan Cohen did a better job on True Grit than Christopher Nolan.

So there you have it! The Oscar nominations for 2010. As we get closer to the big day I'll give you my personal picks of who should win and who will win. Until then let the speculation begin!

Bane 101: The Next Batman Villain

When the announcement came out last week that the next Batman villain in Christopher Nolan's upcoming film The Dark Knight Rises was Bane I received the same reaction from many readers.

Who in the hell is Bane?

With The Dark Knight being one of the most successful and entertaining comic book films of all time, many felt the next logical step was The Riddler, or the Penguin, or a Batman villain more recognizable. Leave it to director Christopher Nolan to take a risk and pick a villain like Bane.

Much of the public has been quick to dismiss Bane as a villain too "obscure" for fans to relate to. I couldn't disagree more. In all honesty I think Bane is the perfect nemesis for Batman to pit his will against in the third and final installment of Nolan's trilogy.

The reason is his backstory, which is incredibly vivid and rich. Fans of the "Knightfall" story arc of the early 1990s would agree with me. Bane was the first character to seriously challenge Batman for supremacy of Gotham City. Born in the fictional Caribbean Republic of Santa Prisca, Bane was the son of revolutionary who avoided capture. However, in a cruel twist of fate, a corrupt Santa Prisca court system decreed that Bane (then only a baby) would serve his father's life sentence in Pena Dura prison. Bane becomes a hardened individual, killing his first man at age eight and receiving hard lessons in survival from many of the prison inmates. In the gym he becomes a dynamic physical specimen. He also possesses genius level intelligence, becomes very well read, and even receives a classical education from a Jesuit priest who is also an inmate.

Bane ultimately ascends to rule Pena Dura prison and catches the eye of the prison's controllers. Dr. Hugo Strange (another enemy of Batman) tests the super steroid Venom on Bane. Bane survives the experiments and although it results in superior physical strength, he has to take it every twelve hours or suffer horrible side effects. Eventually Bane escapes Pena Dura with several inmates who were from Gotham City. Bane recognizes that it is a place ruled by fear and that Batman has cornered the market on that particular emotion. Resolving to rule Gotham like he ruled Pena Dura, Bane travels to Gotham and in a daring act frees all of the villains from Arkham Asylum. Batman then spends three months rounding up the criminals pushing himself to exhaustion. Bane deduces that Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, confronts him, and eventually breaks his back.

The subsequent events are much too complicated and detailed to get into but suffice it to say that Batman is eventually healed and returns to his Batarang throwing ways. Whether or not Christopher Nolan will include the story (it involves Bruce eventually falling in love with and becoming healed by a psychiatrist and psionic healer) remains to be seen. My suspicion is no because it deviates from the realism we've come to expect from Nolan's films. Furthermore the inclusion of Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) suggests otherwise. Hell I don't even know if we'll see Bane break Batman's back!

One thing is clear however. Bane represents a physically and mentally imposing figure for Batman to confront. This will ultimately be Batman's most difficult test because Bane is a match for Batman on every level. So don't be concerned that Bane is too "obscure." I have complete faith that Nolan, Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, and the rest will bring us a movie just as riveting and compelling as the first two installments.

Hathaway, Catwoman, Hardy, and Bane OH MY!

Holy casting announcements Batman! With casting rumors over the last several months ranging from the intriguing (Johnny Depp as The Riddler) to the ridiculous (Eddie Murphy as The Riddler) it was nice to get some solid news on director Christopher Nolan's upcoming film The Dark Knight Rises. Academy Award nominee and current Hollywood A-Lister Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle/Catwoman beating out Jessica Biel and Keira Knightley. Equally stunning was the announcement that Inception's Tom Hardy, already confirmed as the sequel's main villain, will be playing the role of Bane.

I think Nolan made the right call in both of these decisions. First Hathaway. Not only is she a name in Hollywood but she is a hell of a good actress. Her role in Brokeback Mountain is severely overlooked and her Oscar nominated performance in Rachel Getting Married is equally stunning. Hathaway has the kind of acting chops to go toe-to-toe with actors like Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman. Furthermore, (and I know I'm going to get a lot of shit from women for this) she has the body to play the role. Let's face it, almost every depiction of Catwoman in the DC Universe is a sultry, raven haired, voluptuous vixen whose breasts are about as realistic as the precepts of Scientology. But that's the character. Physcially I think Hathaway "fills out" this role in more ways than one. She possesses an inate sexiness that I thought was lacking in Michelle Phieffer's portrayal in 1992's Batman Returns. Phieffer's turn came off as slutty rather than sexy. And she was a blond. Weak.

More impressive to me was the announcement that Bane is going to be the main villain in The Dark Knight Rises. I wrote several weeks back about the possible villains in the next film and Bane was low on my radar. This is exciting news though because it gives Nolan the chance to wash away the horrible memories of Bane from the reprehensible Batman and Robin. Bane is actually a villain pumped with a super-steroid called Venom who is also Batman's match intelligence wise. I won't go into all the various backstory of Bane (if you're interested try Googleing the character) but suffice it to say that the Knightfall story arc back in the early 1990s involving Bane was one of the best ever in the Batman universe. As you can probably see by the picture of Hardy above from the gritty prison drama Bronson, he's more than physically capable of doing the role.

With principal photography about four months away I can't wait to see what the next casting announcement holds in store!

Review: Black Swan

Plot: Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a driven and talented but withdrawn ballet dancer working in New York City. When the current star of the production company Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) is forced out, Nina eyes the lead role in the upcoming production of Swan Lake. Facing competition from newcomer Lily (Mila Kunis), an overbearing mother (Barbara Hershey), and demanding director Thomas (Vincent Cassel), Nina begins to psychologically unravel in her quest to be perfect.

Review: Black Swan is a welcome new edition to director Darren Aronofsky's already strong film pedigree, which include the critically acclaimed films Requiem for a Dream, Pi, and The Wrestler. Black Swan is easily the best example of a psychological breakdown caught on film since DeNiro as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. At times terrifying, beautiful, and inspiring, Black Swan is ultimately a film about the human mind, about the dark places that hide within all of us and the people and events that influence our personality. The film holds a gritty, fascinating mirror up to the audience's face and dares them to look away.

Visually, Black Swan is a stunning movie and cinematographer Matthew Libatique, who previously worked with Aronofsky on Pi and Requiem for a Dream, is once again at the top of his game. Under Aronofsky's skilled direction, Libatique is able to capture the grandeur of the ballet stage and the sweaty underbelly of the night club with equal aplomb. Tracking shots (an Aronofsky staple) are abundantly present. Of particular interest is the focus by Libatique and Aronofsky on limbs, in Black Swan's case feet and legs. The shots reveal the pain that Nina goes through to obtain greatness, including swollen and twisted ankles and bloody toes. It is very similar to the training regimen shots and action shots seen in The Wrestler.

Clint Mansell's haunting score highlights the devastation that Nina goes through whether it involves her overbearing mother or a ballet director who is trying to get into her pants. Mansell would have nothing to work with however if it were not for the stunning script by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, and John McLaughlin. The language is both beautiful and visceral, passionate and raw. It is a great examination of the concept of the "double" a term often used in literary circles. In this case Nina and Lily are doubles, as are Nina and her mother, and even to a lesser extent Nina and Thomas. The nature of duality or a dark/light side is nothing new, but Heyman, Heinz, and McLaughlin's script manages to reinvigorate the doppelganger concept with a vitality that just rips off the screen.

Cassell is excellent as the arrogant, domineering, and slimy ballet director Thomas Leroy. The scenes where he asks Nina about her sex life are incredibly uncomfortable...and they are meant be. Mila Kunis is strong as the wild-girl Lily who has a back tattoo and likes the night life. It is not really a stretch for Kunis but she did make me forget for two hours that she was Meg from Family Guy and Jackie from That 70's Show. Even Winona Ryder makes an excellent cameo as the broken down ballet star Beth who is forced into retirement by Thomas. Beth's confrontation with Nina and scenes in the hospital were particularly memorable.

Black Swan doesn't fly without Natalie Portman however. Her portrayal of Nina is nothing short of breathtaking. Portman's challenging role is as much psychological and emotional as it is physical. She spent months training with a ballet coach and getting her body whittled down to just sinew and bone. Her dancing is remarkable. Portman's physical capabilities are only surpassed by her stunning embodiment of Nina. Nina is quite literally that controlled white swan desperate to break out. I found myself wanting to scream at Nina sometimes to stop being so damn passive. That's how good Portman was. However at other times we see the dark side to Nina that's just pure raw energy. One of the great things about Aronofsky is that he is a director who loves to take risks. Black Swan is a perfect marriage between actress and director. It cannot be easy to tell an actress to go on set and masturbate or do a lesbian sex scene with Mila Kunis. Portman is fearless however. You can tell that she put everything into this character and squeezed the maximum out of every single scene. If she is not the Academy Award winner for Best Actress this year you might as well just flush the trophy down the drain.

Great movies in my opinion make you care about subjects you have little or no interest in. I could give a fig about flying but Scorcese's The Aviator made me care about aviation. So it is with Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. You will probably never find me at the ballet at anytime in the future but I was completely enthralled by this film. The gritty imagery, masterful direction, and spectacular performances will linger in my mind for days. Black Swan simply soars through the cinematic stratosphere into movie going excellence.

My rating: 10/10

Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Plot: After giving up his life as a bird thief, Mr. Fox (George Clooney) has settled into his new life as a newspaper columnist with wife Felicia (Meryl Streep) and son Ash (Jason Schwartzman). However, when Mr. Fox moves his family into a tree near the human food facilities of Walter Boggis (Robin Hurlstone), Nathan Bunce (Hugo Guinness), and Franklin Bean (Michael Gambon) he decides to go on one final big heist. However, the results may be more dire than his family, and the rest of the animal community bargained for.

Review: After The Darjeeling Limited failed to live up to critical and commerical success, director Wes Anderson needed a comeback in a big way. That comeback is realized in Fantastic Mr. Fox, a captivating, witty, and charming stop-motion animated film.

Based on the book by Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox features animals that display not only human characteristics, but also surprisingly human emotions and circumstances that are relateable for children and adults. Clooney's character in particular is in a situation that many middle-aged men find themselves in; stuck in a dead-end job wishing he could provide more for his family and relive his glory days. Meanwhile, Fox's son Ash, largely ignored by his father and desperately seeking his approval, is trying to to live up to an impossible reputation. At the same time Ash is competing with his cousin Kristofferson Silverfox (Eric Chase Anderson) who possesses all the talent and charm Ash does not.

Aside from the relateability of the film, Fantastic Mr. Fox is just plain funny. Whether it is substituting the word "cuss" for a swear word ("What a clustercuss!" Fox says at one point) or the 1000 yard stare of Kylie Sven Opossum (Wallace Wolodarsky) the building superintendent and Fox's co-conspirator, or Clive Badger's (Bill Murray) constant pompousness, Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach's script is filled with laughs. At once witty and poignant, the dialogue though unorthodox nonetheless comes across as quite natural. Tristan Oliver's brilliant cinematography complements the fine screenplay, depicting the animals in bright vivid colors while humans Boggis, Bunce, and Bean come across as gray and sinister.

I will admit that sometimes the message of the film (following your passion, the importance of family, and forgiveness are all themes) sometimes gets a little heavy-handed and Alexandre Desplat's music seems adolescent at times. Even the theft of Mr. Fox's tail and subsequent quest by Ash to retrieve the tail possesses about as much subtle symbolism as a punch to the face. However, these are minor criticisms and besides it is a children's film. In any event, Fantastic Mr. Fox is sure to be a movie that will please both parents and children alike.

My rating: 8/10

Babes for the Batman! What ladies with join The Dark Knight Rises?

Kim Basinger, Michelle Phieffer, Nicole Kidman, Uma Thurman, Katie Holmes, Maggie Gyllenhall...what's a Batman movie without hot chicks?

Seems like Christopher Nolan's next installment in the Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, will be continuing the trend. Two roles are set to be cast, one supposedly a villain/love interest role for Batman and another just an outright love interest part. Speculation is that the villain will be Talia Head (insert oral sex joke here) who is the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul from Batman Begins. The other part is possibly Vicki Vale. Again remember this is just speculation. Nothing has yet been confirmed.

However, what has been confirmed by hollywoodreporter.com is who will be reading for the parts. According to the site, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, and Keira Knightly are all slated to test for the roles in the next couple weeks. Additionally, Charlotte Riley and Kate Mara have also been mentioned.

My goodness, decisions decisions.

Obviously all of these women are beautiful but Christopher Nolan's characters need to have brains, beauty, and acting chops. That tells me that Jessica Biel is out. (Sorry honey you're hot and all but you also made Summer Catch so you're disqualified.) Kata Mara is probably also unlikely only because she doesn't have much of a pedigree. Her roles included parts in Shooter and We Are Marshall, neither of which were memorable.

That leaves Keira Knightly and Anne Hathaway. Aside from being beautiful, both women are intelligent and would fit easily into a Batman film. Furthermore, both actresses have been nominated for Oscars before. Knightley was nominated for 2005's Pride and Prejudice and Hathaway for 2008's Rachel Getting Married.

The dark horse in this race may be Charlotte Riley, a British actress best known for her roles in Wuthering Heights and Easy Virtue. I say that she may be the dark horse because it just so happens that she is engaged to Tom Hardy, who is playing the main villain in The Dark Knight Rises. Whether nepotism factors in or not remains to be seen. If she gets the part it will be because of her acting acumen not who she is about to walk down the aisle with.

In any event filmgoers will once again be treated to some fantastic eye candy in July 2012.

To quote Wayne Campbell of Wayne's World: "Schwing!"

The Hobbit is gettin' the band back together!

With The Hobbit reeving up and principal photography ready to start next month, director Peter Jackson and his team of Kiwis from New Zealand are steadily drawing former Lord of the Rings actors back into the fold. With Andy Serkis and Ian McKellan already already back as Gollum and Gandalf respectively, other Ringers are joining the party. Elijah Wood will reprise his role (albeit briefly since The Hobbit focuses mainly on Bilbo) as Frodo Baggins and Cate Blanchett will make an appearance as the elf Galadriel. Rumor even has it that Orlando Bloom might reprise his role as Legolas (seriously where is he?) and Ian Holm may show up in a couple scenes as the older Bilbo.

However, none of that compares to the news I found out today. According to his official website Christopher Lee, yes Mr. Dracula himself, is returning as the wizard Saruman. (Fantasy nerds nationwide please feel free now to cover the giant geek-boner in your pants with a book.) This is really surprising considering the man is 88 years old and would have to make a long plane ride to New Zealand. For the record Lee stated that his participation in the film is contingent upon his health, which by all accounts is quite good. Hey I guess if Eli Wallach can be in a film at 95, the former star of numerous Hammer Studio films can suck it up. In all seriousness though, this is extremely exciting and gratifying news for Tolkien fans everywhere.

There is one thing I want to address about Lee's participation and it goes to a core concern many Hobbit fans have expressed in recent months. Namely, that certain characters that are coming back weren't in The Hobbit novel. It is true that Frodo is not in the original novel but the appendix to The Lord of the Rings states that he was adopted by Bilbo when Frodo's parents drowned. Since the part of Drogo Baggins (Frodo's father) has already been cast, I suspect they will work this in towards the end of the film. Additionally Legolas does not appear in The Hobbit, however his father Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm of Northern Mirkwood is. It is logical to assume that Legolas as his son would be in his father's court.

As for Christopher Lee's part as Saruman...well here is where it gets really interesting. (SPOILER ALERT!) There is a point in The Hobbit where Gandalf leaves Bilbo, Thorin, and the rest of the dwarves at the outskirts of Mirkwood to head south. There he meets with the White Council, which are the five wizards of the realm that includes Saruman. Saruman is the head of the council. Together they decide to drive the Necromancer out of Dol Guldur which is a southern fortress in Mirkwood. The Necromancer is in fact Sauron, the main villain from the LOTR trilogy. Therefore, not only is Saruman's part explainable, the circumstances surrounding his presence could make for an excellent bit of cinema. This extra bit of action also explains why the movie is being split into two parts. Finally fans will see on film what was only alluded to in the books!

I know that was a lengthy diatribe regarding historical points of a fantasy kingdom and I probably came across as an uber-geek. (Actually there is no probably about it.) However, I really have to commend Peter Jackson for making a concerted effort to bring back some of the actors from the previous trilogy and to explore plot points of the books that were often only briefly mentioned.

One things for sure, if you are a fan of Middle Earth right now everything is coming up mithril!