Countdown to Oscars - VFX Shortlist Down to Seven!

Of the 15 films previously selected for the Best Visual Effects Film for 2010, the list has now been narrowed down to 7.

Here are the remaining contenders:

Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
TRON: Legacy

Hmm, I am a bit surprised that the third Narnia film was left out of this list but all the nominees on the list are deserving.  That tsunami scene in Hereafter is very creepily real.  I believe the next cut will be down to 5 for the actual ceremony.  Good luck everyone.

Countdown to Oscars - Writers Guild Nominations Announced!

Here are the nomination for the Writers Guild for 2010.

Original Screenplay
Black Swan (Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John McLaughlin)
The Fighter (Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Keith Dorrington)
Inception (Christopher Nolan)
The Kids Are All Right (Stuart Blumberg & Lisa Cholodenko)
Please Give (Nicole Holofcener)

Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours (Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy)
I Love You Phillip Morris (John Requa & Glenn Ficarra)
The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)
The Town (Ben Affleck, Peter Craig, Aaron Stockard)
True Grit (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)

Documentary Screenplay
Enemies of the People (Rob Lemkin & Thet Sambath)
Freedom Riders (Stanley Nelson)
Gasland (Josh Fox)
Inside Job (Charles Ferguson, Chad Beck, Adam Bolt)
The Two Escobars (Michael Zimbalist, Jeff Zimbalist)
Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)? (John Scheinfeld)

Notice a few missing names and movies?  You're not alone.  Turns out that movies like The King's Speech, Another Year, Winter's Bone, Blue Valentine and even Toy Story 3 are not eligible to compete under the WGA rules.  Don't, however, count them out for Oscar. 

The first Western movie to air in North Korea is...

...Bend It Like Beckham.  I must admit I was surprised.  But it totally makes sense.  A family comedy, Bend It Like Beckham, shows how a football crazy girl earns the respect of her traditional British-Asian/Indian family and learns to fight for her dreams to play football.  It's an infectious laugh out loud funny and smart film directed by Gurinder Chadha and features a very young Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean, Atonement), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors), Anupam Kher as Jess's Dad, Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife), Shaheen Khan and lead Parminder Nagra (ER) as Jess Bhamra.  This film provided the soundtrack to my studying for finals during college and til today, it never fails to cheer me up. So as the first Western movie North Korea chose for showing the entire country, you can't get any better than this.  There are so many to pick from but it's a damned good start.  Movies, not war!  That's how you do it.

Countdown to Oscars - Producers Guild Nominations Announced!

Here are the ten movies nominated for the Producer's Guild Nominations.  Will it be the same for Oscars? We'll find out on January 25th, 2011.  Until then, check out these fine movies.

127 Hours
Producers: Danny Boyle, Christian Colson

Black Swan
Producers: Scott Franklin, Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver

Inception
Producers: Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas

The Fighter
Producers: David Hoberman, Todd Liberman, Mark Wahlberg

The Kids Are All Right
Producers: Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray

The King's Speech
Producers: Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin

The Social Network
Producers: Dana Brunetti, Cean Chaffin, Michael De Luca, Scott Rudin

The Town
Producers: Basil Iwanyk, Graham King

Toy Story 3
Producer: Darla K. Anderson

True Grit
Producers: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin


The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

Despicable Me
Producers: John Cohen, Janet Healy, Christopher Meledandri

How to Train Your Dragon
Producer: Bonnie Arnold

Toy Story 3
Producer: Darla K. Anderson

Which film will walk away with the big prize?  Find out when the Producers Guild is announced on January 22nd, 2011.

News Update: Will we see Monster's Inc: The Prequel?

• This is one movie I'm already looking forward to; Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which is based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.  The cast already includes Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and newcomer and Jeopardy! winner Thomas Horn and will now add John Goodman to the list.  Stephen Daldry will direct the film. His previous three films have all been nominated for Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars.  This is bodes extremely well for this film as well.
• Upcoming Pixar is reporting that the sequel to Monsters Inc., 2 might actually be a prequel.  The film is set to release on Nov 2, 2012.
• Jodie Foster will be joining the cast of Neil Blomkamp's next feature Elysium.  She joins Matt Damon and Sharlto Copley who was previously in District 9, which still remains one of the best sci-fi thrillers that takes place on Earth in recent years.  It is rumored that this film also could be another sci-fi feature.  We can't wait.
• And sadly, Pete Postlethwaite, seen this past year in both Inception and The Town, has passed away from cancer at 64.  A fine actor with a commanding screen presence, he shall be missed.

What to Watch - List of Upcoming Films in 2011.

2011, already! Confused about what films are releasing this year? Never fear! I'm putting together a list of movies that I want to watch in this new year and I'm sure some of the titles will match what you would like to see as well.  Let's get started, shall we?

JANUARY

Country Strong

Directed by: Shana Feste

Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund, Leighton Meester

The Way Back

Directed by: Peter Weir

Starring: Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Mark Strong, Saoirse Ronan

The Company Men

Directed by: John Wells

Starring: Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello

Read on for the rest of months here...

Happy New Year 2011!

Happy New Year everyone! I'm going to let Po the Panda kick off the this "year of awesomeness".  Here's to new and great movies this year!  Let's get started.




The new TV spot for Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom releasing this May 2011.