So why is it that we haven't heard much from The Dark Knight director about any movie even with his next Inception coming up? Well rumor has is that it's not because he is ironig out the details of Batman three or continuing to keep fans in the dark about his next movie. Supposedly it's because Warner Bros. is trying to get Nolan to take the Superman reboot into his careful hands. He has already mastered one hero franchise why not work on fixing another one. Warner Bros. expressed that they are pretending that Superman Returns didn't happen, but Bryan Singer still may be involved in so way or another. By the time Superman is figured out is anyone going to care anymore? With Nolan keepin things under tabs, you bet people will care.

BEST PICTURE
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

BEST DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

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

BEST ACTRESS
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo'nique, Precious

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Quentino Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Peter Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy, Up

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Nick Hornby, An Education
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche, In The Loop
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ajami, Israel
El Secretro de sus Ojo, Argentina
The Milk of Sorrow, Chile
Un Prophete, France
The White Ribbon, Germany

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Princess and the Frog
The Secrets of Kells
Up

And now for the below-the-line ones not included on the TV broadcast (from Oscars.org).

ART DIRECTION
“Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
“Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

CINEMATOGRAPHY
"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

COSTUME DESIGN
“Bright Star” Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
"The Cove” Nominees to be determined
“Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

FILM 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

MAKEUP
“Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
"Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
“The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

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

ORIGINAL SONG
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

ANIMATED SHORT
“French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
“Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

LIVE ACTION SHORT
“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

SOUND EDITING
“Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

SOUND MIXING
“Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
"The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

VISUAL EFFECTS
“Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
“District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

So about the only thing known about the upcoming Disney free Marvel movie The First Avenger: Captain America is that Joe Johnston is directing and its due out in 2011. Now take note that Thor which has a release date of 2012 has not only a director but a cast and has already gone into pre-production. So why has things with the Captain been going slow and whats happening? The director Johnston had this to say,

"We're in prep," Johnston says. "Rick Heinrichs is production-designing and we're set up down in Manhattan Beach [California]. It's the part of the process that I love the most," he enthuses. "We have eight or ten really talented artists, and we all just sit around all day and draw pictures and say, 'Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we could do this?' It's that phase of the production where money doesn't matter: ‘Let's put all the greatest stuff up on the wall and [then later] see what we can afford.'" The film, he says at this early stage, will begin "in 1942, 1943" during World War II. "The stuff in the ’60s and ’70s [comic books] we're sort of avoiding. We're going back to the ’40s, and then forward to what they're doing with Captain America now."

Now that's all nice and great but me along with just about everyone else in the world wants to know who's going to play the Captain.

We all know Matt Damon is Jason Bourne, but with a fourth movie looking like it may not include Damon and the director who said he wouldn't do a fourth (Greengrass) what are the possilbe solutions? Bourne fans look away what Matt Damon has supplied us with doesn't sound very good at all.

"There'll probably be a prequel of some kind with another actor and another director
before we do another one," he said, "just because I think we're probably another five years away from doing it - we've got to get a script..."

It's award season so that means for a couple months people in Hollywood honor each other with awards, but while we congratulate each other on how well they did on their movies there is one award show that does the opposite. Ladies and gentlemen the 2009 Razzie Award Nominations.

WORST PICTURE OF 2009
"All About Steve"
"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra"
"Land of the Lost"
"Old Dogs""
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (a.k.a. "Trannies, Too")

WORST ACTOR OF 2009
All Three Jonas Brothers, "Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience"
Will Ferrell, "Land of the Lost"
Steve Martin, "Pink Panther 2"
Eddie Murphy, "Imagine That"
John Travolta, "Old Dogs"

WORST ACTRESS Of 2009
Beyonce, "Obsessed"
Sandra Bullock, "All About Steve"
Myley Cyrus, "Hannah Montana: The Movie"
Megan Fox, "Jennifer’s Body" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
Sarah Jessica Parker, "Did You Hear About the Morgans?"

WORST SCREEN COUPLE OF 2009
Any Two (or More) Jonas Brothers, "The Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert Experience"
Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper, "All About Steve"
Will Ferrell and any co-star, Creature or "Comic Riff," "Land of the Lost"
Shia Lebouf & Either Megan Fox or Any Transformer, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
Kristin Stewart and either Robert Pattinson or Taylor Whatz-His-Fang, "Twilight Saga: New Moon"

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF 2009
Candice Bergen, "Bride Wars"
Ali Larter, "Obsessed"
Sienna Miller, "G.I. Joe"
Kelly Preston,"Old Dogs"
Julie White (as Mom), "Trannies, Too"

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR OF 2009
Billy Ray Cyrus, "Hannah Montana: The Movie"
Hugh Hefner (as himself), "Miss March"
Robert Pattinson, "Twilight Saga: New Moon"
Jorma Taccone (as Cha-Ka), "Land of the Lost"
Marlon Wayans, "G.I. Joe"

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF OR SEQUEL (COMBINED CATEGORY FOR 2009)
"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra"
"Land of the Lost"
"Pink Panther 2" (A Rip-Off of a Sequel to a Remake)
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
"Twilight Saga: New Moon"

WORST DIRECTOR OF 2009
Michael Bay, "Trannies, Too"
Walt Becker, "Old Dogs"
Brad Silberling, "Land of the Lost"
Stephen Sommers, "G.I. Joe"
Phil Traill, "All About Steve"

Iiiittttttssss the Weeeekkennnnndddd! Well the weekend is almost over but here's a look at what's been happening since Friday.

If you are someone who is sick about hearing about Avatar and how amazing James Cameron is avert your eyes because it has set the bar pretty high becoming the only movie in the history of awesomeness to gross over $2 Billion. So it's not just number one, now whatever movie thinks of challenging has a lot of work to do.

Next up Taken 2! Well not so fast but the scribe behind Taken and From Paris with Love told the press that the script for a possible sequel is in the books. Whether or not it makes it to the big screen is unknown but I hope it does just to see whatever surprises are in store again.

Sam Raimi as you may know has some time on his hands since he won't be directing the upcoming Spider-Man so what is next? Rumor has it that the rebooting of Spider-Man won't be the only thing going on at Sony. There are plans to reboot The Shadow. No word from Raimi yet, but the move makes sense since he created a character close to the shadow with his own hero Darkman. (Creative I Know)

The Directors Guild of America has chosen their top director for the year and its the first time in 62 year history that a woman has taken home the award. Kathryn Bigelow won the award for The Hurt Locker, many are either Team Bigelow or Team Cameron for the oscars but with Kathryn beating her ex husband at DGA and Cameron winning at the Golden Globes the scores all tied up, there's two outs and it's the bottom of the ninth. Congratulations Kathryn.



Weekend Box Office
1) Avatar - $30 million
2) Edge Of Darkness - $17.1 million
3) When In Rome - $12 million
4) Tooth Fairy - $10 million
5) The Book Of Eli - $8.7 million
6) Legion - $6.8 million
7) The Lovely Bones - $4.7 million
8) Sherlock Holmes - $4.5 million
9) Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel - $4 million
10) It's Complicated - $3.7 million

The official 10 Best Picture Nominations are due out Wednesday Feb. 2nd but why not try and guess which movies of 2009 will deck it out for the top spot? This year the Academy added five spots to the list to add more to the process, the show, and general interest. Translation: Get more people to watch the 4+ hour show that has been losing viewers each year. With no big names being considered for Best Picture since Lord of the Rings back in 2003 no one really wants to watch the little indie movie battle against the other littl indie movie. Then when the Academy had a shot with The Dark Knight to boost interest, they voted in The Reader instead. So to prevent that from ever happening again we have the 10 nominations to make sure The Dark Knight's of the world get in. This year I don't think the 10 is needed because there is plenty to choose from this year anyway. So lets see.

Academy Award Best Picture Predictions

1. Avatar James Cameron's sci-fi Pocahontas is out of this world and most likely speaks for itself. It is considered a front runner with the best box office performance in history and strong with the critics. Its a matter of if the stars are aligned on Oscar night, Avatar could walk away with the gold.

2. Inglourious Basterds is one of the most entertaining movies of the year no doubt with the best cast of the year including lock for best supporting actor Christoph Waltz. This seems to be a trend with Tarantino, Pulp Fiction getting nominated the same year as Forrest Gump. The competion seems too much for the Basterds. Hopefully Quentin is able to come home with a screenplay award at least.

3. Up in the Air has lost a little bit of steam but I would say if not Avatar then this has the best shot at taking home the little gold man. The plot is good enough to keep you watching til the end when things really start to get interesting. It is one of the oscar movies that you don't necessarily have to like how the story goes, but you end up liking it as a whole.

4. The Hurt Locker best chances may be its director Kathryn Bigelow taking home Best Director but I wouldn't it rule it out for Best Picture just yet. Like Up in the Air its stock is falling but with the Academy you never know.

5. Invictus now this movie from Clint Eastwood isn't one that would make a lot of money and have large crowds at theaters on weekends but its at number five because its perfect for the oscars. Its a unferdog feel good message type of movie, with Morgan Freeman. Its clint Eastwood directed whom the Academy has a life long crush on oh yeah and it has Morgan Freeman.

6. Precious now in refrence to the little indie movie that could, this is it. How could the Academy not give Precious a nomination with its story and great acting from Mo'Nique and Gabourey Sidibe.



7. Up is the latest from one of the greatest studios that makes movies in the world, no not Disney, Pixar. If only there were 10 nominanees last year, then Wall*E would have made the cut instead of The Reader I mean really? Anyway Up is just another example of great Pixar work that should be rewarded.

8. District 9, wait what? Hold on am I crazy? Possibly. Two sci-fi nominees in one year for the Academy would be catastrophic since the Academy and Sci-Fi movies don't have a good history with each other, but it was good and deserves a spot, so why not.

9. The Blind Side, Sandra Bullock WILL get an oscar for her role in the movie, but whether or not her feel good movie will follow or not is still "up in the air".



10. 500 Days of Summer is another perfect example of what the Academy as of recent years has been looking for nominations wise. You don't have to like how it ends you just have to like it. This one is a wild card that could virtually go to anything. District 9 may end up in the 10 spot or who knows.

Do you remember the studio that brought the world such movies as Sex, Lies & Videotape, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Clerks, Trainspotting, From Dusk Till Dawn, The English Patient, Swingers, Good Will Hunting, Shakespeare in Love, Bridget Jones Diary, Chocolat, Gangs of New York, Chicago, Kill Bill, The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Cinderella Man, Gone Baby Gone, and No Country for Old Men. Unfortunately due to a steady decline and today's economy even tensile town is taking some cuts. This was a long time coming but as of today the mouse cut Miramax Studios ending the 17 year partnership with Disney.




Bob and Harvey Weinstein owned and operated the most successful independent movie for years until they decided to part ways with the company under pressure from the mouse. When the Weinstein's left in 2005 they took some of their best clients with them such as Quentin Tarantino, Wes Craven, Robert Rodriguez, and Rob Marshall. Since the brothers left the company and Miramax was turned over to Disney's complete control its budget have been slashed, employees being cut, and its films released per year cut, the end has come. RIP Miramax, you'll be missed.

Avatar has done it! James Cameron's latest has done what most people thought was the impossible, it beat the great Titanic. That moving about the sinking boat was king at the box office for 12 years. It was the first to cross the billion dollar mark. Now four other movies belong to the elite club, but none could best the boat, until now. James Cameron for weeks has occupied the top two spots at the all time box office, but his sci-fi Pocahontas was number two. As of today Avatar has grossed $1,858,866,889 beating Titanic's $1,843,201,268. Maybe James Cameron should rerelease Titanic in 3-D and gain the top spot again, from himself.

Box Office numbers are out so that means weekend update! Excitement I know. So first off lets take a look at yet another award show that really means nothing because its not the Oscar's, and its just a bunch of actors voting for themselves, oh and its not the Oscar's. So here are a look at the winners and losers from the Screen Actors Guild. (BTW it does kind of give some insight to what may happen Oscar night but don't hold me to that.)





TV
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Mad Men

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Glee

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Michael C. Hall, Dexter

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Julianna Marguiles, The Good Wife

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
24

Movies
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Inglourious Basterds

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Mo’Nique, Precious

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Star Trek

Next up is the discouraging news from that great studio being run into the ground MGM. No real reason is known as to why but a studio exec has been reported by Variety saying the first of The Hobbit movis will be in 2012. Yikes. Stay tund for more.

Weekend Box Office
1. Avatar - $36 million
2. Legion - $18.2 million
3. The Book Of Eli - $17 million
4. Tooth Fairy - $14.5
5. The Lovely Bones - $8.8 million
6. Sherlock Holmes - $7.1 million
7. Extraordinary Measures - $7 million
8. Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel - $6.5 million
9. It's Complicated - $6.1 million
10. The Spy Next Door - $4.7 million

*Avatar only has a couple million more to pass Titanic

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien June 1, 2009 - January 22, 2010

If The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien could be described in one word it would be, brief. Whether or no you agree with NBC's choice to push the Tonight Show back to 12:05 am in order to accommodate The Jay Leno Show is not really important anymore because it is going to happen. In fact with O'Brien leaving Jay Leno will take back the hosting duties of the show leaving Jimmy Fallon's show untouched by the changes. While I write this, you could say tribute to The Tonight Show I have on the very last show with Conan as host, and I remember all the moments of the past seven months that left me laughing along with Coco.



There was something about the red haired Boston native that brought a different kind of spark to the show that wasn't felt when Leno hosted or even the legendary Carson. This show was going to be different and for better or for worse O'Brien stayed true to the persona every night he hosted. After hosting Late Night with Conan O'Brien for 16 years, Conan had waited patiently and put in his time to reach one of the most coveted seats in comedic history. Many members of the Late Night cast and crew made the transition to The Tonight Show: The Max Weinberg 7, the house band from O'Brien's Late Night, served as house band on O'Brien's new show under the new name, Max Weinberg and The Tonight Show Band; Andy Richter was the shows announcer and was also involved in many of the comedy pieces.



There was still that comedic tone during Conan's very last show, but among the large support by guest Tom Hanks, Neil Young, and his loyal fans the sense of the end of something truly special was coming too soon. After Conan's witty banter and Steve Carrel's surprise appearance Conan sat at his desk for the final time and addressed the crowd and expressed that even through the tough times O'Brien had nothing but the best to say about his home network NBC that has supported him from Saturday Night Live to Late Night with Conan O'Brien to finally The Tonight Show. An emotional O'Brien expressed how much he loved his job and that his time on the show was the best time of his life. Later after the show ended Jimmy Fallon who took up Conan's old job started his show in Conan's old studio to pay tribute to O'Brien. Back in L.A. Conan left his live studio audience and everyone at home watching with this quote,

"Despite this sense of loss, I believe this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting 'The Tonight Show,' and for seven months, I got to do it my way with people I love. I do not regret one second of anything that we've done here."

Good Luck Coco.