2010 Oscar Nominations are out!

Here is the list of nominees. It's extremely exciting. I've seen quite a few, so I guess the debate over the winners begins here! I don't see too many surprises, and most seem clear-cut to me.

But first, is there a movie that got snubbed? Let me know in the comments!

BEST PICTURE:
Black swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

DIRECTING:
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David Fincher, The Social Network
Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Anette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawks, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jackie Weaver, Animal Kingdom

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
127 House
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Another Year
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Biutiful
Dogtooth
In a Better World
Incendies
Outside the Law

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

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Matthew Libatique
Inception (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Danny Cohen
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit (Paramount) Roger Deakins

FILM EDITING:
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter Paramount Pamela Martin
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Tariq Anwar
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Jon Harris
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Exit through the Gift Shop (Producers Distribution Agency) Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz A Paranoid Pictures Production
Gasland Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic A Gasland Production
Inside Job (Sony Pictures Classics) Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs A Representational Pictures Production
Restrepo (National Geographic Entertainment) Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger An Outpost Films Production
Waste Land Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley (Arthouse Films) An Almega Projects Production

Anne Hathaway and James Franco to host 2011 Oscars

It was announced today Anne Hathaway (Love and other Drugs, Get Smart) and James Franco (Spiderman, Pineapple Express) would be hosting the 2011 Oscars. It's a move that could be brilliant, considering the demos for last years Oscars heavily favored the older crowd with Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin hosting. Clearly, they're trying to add a younger audience with the two sexy stars. But, will it be a smart idea?

The formula for the Oscars usually favor a comedienne like Billy Crystal or Whoopi Goldberg, or Johnny Carson, Robin Williams or last years tag team of Martin and Baldwin. It's been done before with Hugh Jackman hosting the 81st Academy Awards show, which I thought was good, but this is two inexperienced hosts hosting the biggest night in Hollywood, and while both are incredibly talented and like able, I am wondering if they're experience will shine through, or will it make for an awkward 15 hour show.

The other issue is that both actors could conceivably be up for an award. Franco should be a lock for his portrayal in 127 Hours, while Hathaway could benefit from the lack of female star power and get a nod for Love and Other Drugs. How awkward would that be to have to present a trophy to themselves, or worse, someone else. I guess it's a good problem to have, but an issue, nonetheless.

What do you think, is this a good move? Will you tune in this year?

The opening jokes to the Oscars

So the Oscars happened. I know, your totally blown away, right? Well, it wasn't all snobish people congratulating each other, they also had a bit of a Comedy Central style Roast at the beginning. It was akward, and some of the jokes fell flat, but some of them were priceless. Decide for yourself. Here is the opening bit from the hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.

Hurt Locker Review

The crazy suspensful movie by Catherine Hardwicke is storming the awards and as of now is the front runner for best picture at the Oscars, but is it any good? I mean, Clint Eastwood won best director and best picture, but his movies aren't any good, so is this one?

Jeremy Renner of SWAT fame stars as Sergeant James, a cocky, reckless bomb-squad tech in Iraq. James takes over a team of soldiers who just saw their commander blown up as James comes in with full swagger and just casually disarms bomb after bomb, seemingly without reguard for his or his teams safety as missions go wrong, and things happen, the adrenaline level only gets higher.

This movie is nominated for best actor in Jeremy Renner, best director for Catherine Hardwicke, along with best picture and best screenplay. Is it going to win all of that? No. Should it? I don't think so, but that doesn't mean it's not a great flick. This movie makes simply walking down the street tension filled, and makes the audience stay on the edge of their seat all the way to the end of the film. Renner should clearly be nominated and I would be fine with him winning best actor. His portrayal of an unpredictable rogue bomb squad guy was absolutley brilliant.

The picture was exactly what the Oscar voters would pick as best picture, and I think it could easily win best cinematography. I think Avatar was the more immersive, overall better picture, but both were fantastic. The one problem I had with the movie was the small bit of plot that never developed. There was inference to a lead badguy who seems to be setting up these bombs for our character James to disarm, but that part never developed, leaving me wondering exactly what was going on, and if there would be a sequel.

So, overall, this is a fantastic movie, with tons and tons of tension and is a must watch for anyone. Is it something you'll want to watch over and over again? No, but it's a must watch the first time around.

I give it a 9 out of 10

(Editors Note: I figured I would try a video review of the movie as well. Don't worry, I'm not thinking of moving to Hollywood to start up a career in acting or anything, but here's my 2 minute review of Hurt Locker. Let me know what you think!)

And the winner for best 3-D movie is....

Sorry for the tease, there, but I do have a point behind it. I was reading an article the other day that was discussing exactly how long it would be before we here those words at the Academy Awards. Now, before you whip out your swords and torches, the idea was meant as a discussion piece. It got me thinking, however, will this be a fad, like the last three times Hollywood went 3-D, or is it finally taking enough of a hold to be with us for awhile, and also, does that mean it's a gimmick still? I would love to hear your comments and opinions of 3-D in the comments section. Until then, here's my opinion:

I think the whole thing is a fad that just seems annoyingly gimmicky and ruins a movie by taking the audience away from the experience to smack them in the face with a pie, or spiders, or some other nonsensical 3-D element. I have seen a few 3-D movies, and I haven't cared for any of them, and like the last few times Hollywood has tried, I think we will see that once the director has thrown his arsenal at the audience, he will have shot his load, and 3-D will go back in the box.

That's just my opinion, though....