Weekend Screening Schedule

I don't want to talk about it.

What are you watching this weekend?

Winners Predix Begin

Best Actress is up.

I still need to make some formatting tweaks, and plug in the "Should Have Been Nominated ..." section. But I've been MIA all week, so you guys deserve at least one predix update.

Enjoy! And let me know how you think Best Actress will go down: Will it be Kate or Meryl? Or will Anne Hathaway surprise?

SAG Winners in Progress

Winners:
Best Ensemble: 'Slumdog Millionaire' (whatever)
Best Actor: Sean Penn, 'Milk'
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, 'Doubt'
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, 'The Dark Knight'
Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, 'The Reader'

Earlier predix --

Best Ensemble: 'Slumdog Millionaire'
-- I'm hoping this goes to 'Milk,' but can SAG really avoid awarding the soon-to-be Best Picture-winner? Probably not.

Best Actor: Sean Penn, 'Milk'
-- Mostly because he lost to Johnny Depp in 2003. But Rourke could just as easily win.

Best Actress: Anne Hathaway, 'Rachel Getting Married'
-- Shrug.

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, 'The Dark Knight'
-- Locked.

Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, 'The Reader'
-- Yeah.

Lessons learned

Every year, the nominations give us some insight on how the Academy's mind works. Patterns don't always match (see: last year's Best Picture nods vs. this year's) but certain trends have remained consistent throughout.

Here are just a few of the things I learned from this morning's announcement.

1.) Always go with the BFCA/Globes/SAG/BAFTA combo.
-- I learned this lesson last year as well. When the support is there ... it's there.

2.) Never underestimate the power of BAFTA.
-- Could this explain the success of 'The Reader'? Or was it the Mingella/Pollack combo that did the trick? Or do they just really love Stephen Daldry?

What lessons did you learn today?

Quick Reactions

So this was definitely one of the weirdest Oscar mornings I've sat through.

Here are some quick thoughts:

WHAT I LOVED

-- The Academy's Got 'Milk'
8 nominations! You don't know how many times I worried about a snub in Best Picture/Director (file that under post-traumatic 'Crash' syndrome) So you can imagine how elated I am right now. Special shout-out to the costumes guild for nominating 'Milk' there.

-- Kate Winslet gets nominated in the correct category.
Kudos to the Academy for ignoring this latest case of category fraud -- and for nominating the better Kate Winslet performance in the process.

-- The slightly-open race in Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz will ultimately win, but Kate's absence does shake things up a bit.

-- Taraji P. Henson!
Just because I love her.

-- No acting nod for Dev Patel
I normally don't cheer these kinds of things but thank God he wasn't nominated. That would have taken the 'Slumdog' love to a new low.

WHAT I'M INDIFFERENT ABOUT

-- The Reader.
I loved the movie; I saw it twice. But did it really deserve a nomination over 'The Dark Knight'? Probably not. 'Slumdog,' though? For sure. Hence my indifference.


And speaking of ...

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

-- 'The Dark Knight''s dark morning
All signs pointed to a Best Picture nomination. So what happened? Did it come down to genre bias? Heavy campaigning by Harvey Weinstein? Or did they just not like the movie?

-- James Franco's snub
I knew this would happen, but it still sucks that it did. Michael Shannon? Really?

-- Bruce Springsteen's snub.
I felt like this was an even bigger snub than 'The Dark Knight.' Plus: 2 song nods for 'Slumdog'? I predicted it, but ... ???????????

-- 18-year-old Blogger for making me drop Pitt for Eastwood
Har-har-har. ;)

What about you guys: What did you think of this morning's nominations?

Oscar nominations: OMG.

BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Gus Van Sant, Milk

BEST ACTOR
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, Milk
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

More here.

Final Predix In Progress

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Original Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Animated Feature
Tech Categories

I've been stressing for 2 hours over whether to predict WALL-E. In the end, I couldn't find the right alternative -- even Frost/Nixon seems too Academy-friendly to miss. But I will gloat either way if WALL-E gets in, since I have been speculating about it since its release. SO THERE. *weak*

See you in the morning.

Pre-Noms Open Thread

I'll be publishing my FINAL (!) predix late tonight, so use this thread to post all of your pre-noms jitters throughout the day.

I'm still deciding whether I want to take any risks this year -- particularly in Best Director and Best Supporting Actor. Part of me says "Why not?" considering how shitty the year has been -- but the other part of me says "Don't do it!" for the same reasons.

In other words, stay tuned!

7th Annual Everything Oscar! Tech Nominations

These took longer to organize than I expected, but here they are. Enjoy!

In the meantime, I have to slip away so I can finish my predix updates. Look for final predix to be posted Wednesday evening.

YouTube Clip of the Week: 'In the Bedroom'

Quick post: The biggest SURPRISE nomination on 2008 will be ...

What?

My guess is that it'll come either in Actress or Supporting Actor.

Weekend Screening Schedule

Looking at this week's lineup via Rotten Tomatoes, I plan to avoid the theater as best I can this holiday weekend.

But I believe this is also the weekend that 'Last Chance Harvey' goes wide, so definitely check that out if it comes your way. The story is thin as paper, but Emma Thompson shines (I almost nominated her, sigh).

What are you watching this weekend?

Quick post: The big snub of 2008 will be ...

Place your bets here.

One Week to Go ...

Until Oscar nominations morning. Where the time has gone, I'll never know.

Look for final updates in ALL categories (yes, including the neglected screenplay and tech pages) this weekend, with last-minute panic attacks planned all the way to the 22nd.

BAFTA Nominations

Every day I find one more horrifying news item that confirms 'Slumdog''s Best Picture win.

Today, it was the BAFTA nominations:

BEST FILM
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Kathleen Kennedy / Frank Marshall / Ceán Chaffin
FROST/NIXON Tim Bevan / Eric Fellner / Brian Grazer / Ron Howard
MILK Dan Jinks / Bruce Cohen
THE READER Anthony Minghella / Sydney Pollack / Donna Gigliotti / Redmond Morris
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Christian Colso

DIRECTOR
CHANGELING Clint Eastwood
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON David Fincher
FROST/NIXON Ron Howard
THE READER Stephen Daldry
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Danny Boyle

More here.

How do these noms impact the race, bloggers?

7th Annual Everything Oscar! Awards Begin: Top 8

Uncle!

I've been mulling over this ballot for 2 weeks now and I have to stop before I drive myself crazy.

Basically, I loved what I initially came up with. But then I kept doubting myself for a number of different - and admittedly crazy - reasons. First I thought I would lose respect from you guys; then I thought I didn't have enough "prestigious" performances; and then I thought I wasn't nominating enough movies.

Finally, I said to hell with it and published what I wanted to from day one, which is how it always should be anyway, right?

Right.

To view my ballot in its entirety, click here.

Note: techs will be up by Saturday.

What do YOU think of my ballot? Am I on track, or did I lose a few screws this year? Also - and more importantly - what do YOUR ballots look like? I always love to see what people nominate each year.

Post away!

Best Director/Actor/Supporting Actor Cleanup

I'll be cleaning up all of the predix pages throughout the week as I start to prepare for my final predictions for 2008 (where has the time gone?) Most of the cleanup days probably won't include updates such as this one.

But you can check out Best Director, Actor and Supporting Actor anyway by clicking here. Please note these are NOT my final predix. I just want things to look semi-nice before I start to do some last minute tweaking. Thanks.

ACE Eddie nominations

Sorry for the delay. Blame post-Globes fatigue/'Gossip Girl' ...


BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter

The Dark Knight
Lee Smith, A.C.E.

Frost/Nixon
Mike Hill, A.C.E. & Dan Hanley, A.C.E.

Milk
Elliot Graham

Slumdog Millionaire
Chris Dickens


BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
In Bruges
Jon Gregory, A.C.E.

Mamma Mia
Leslie Walker

Tropic Thunder
Greg Hayden

Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Alisa Lepselter

WALL-E
Stephen Schaffer

--

So ... Slumdog and, what, WALL-E? Discuss below!

In the meantime, I'm starting to work on the top 8 writeups for the 7th Annual Everything Oscar! Awards. Hopefully they'll be up tonight, fatigue permitting.

Quick Golden Globes reactions

Here's a quick rundown of the ceremony before I hop off to bed ...

What I Loved:

-- Kate Winslet x 2. I don't think she necessarily gave the best performance in either category, but the fact that she's gone so long in her career without any Golden Globes is absurd. Better yet: now we can all speculate whether she'll repeat at the Oscars.

-- Colin Farrell. Kudos to the Globes for rewarding what may have been the year's most underrated performance.

-- Emma Thompson. She looked happy just to be there -- and gorgeous, too.

-- The Globes are back! Where else can you see Tracy Morgan give an apparently drunken acceptance speech? (Don't answer that.)

Mixed Feelings On:

-- Mickey Rourke. I really loved him in 'The Wrestler' but Sean Penn gave the best performance of the year in 'Milk' and deserves to be awarded for it, even if he's already won an Oscar. I'm so conflicted!

-- Laura Linney. I'm glad she finally won a major award, but why couldn't it have been over on the movies side?

What I Didn't Like:

-- The 'Slumdog' domination. I just don't get it.

Other than that, it was a fairly predictable night. What did YOU think of the telecast?

Golden Globe Winners

Best Picture (Drama): "Slumdog Millionaire"
Best Picture (Musical/Comedy): "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Best Director: Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Best Actor (Drama): Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"
Best Actress (Drama): Kate Winslet, "Revolutionary Road" (!!!!!)
Best Actor (Musical/Comedy): Colin Farrell, "In Bruges" (OMG!!!)
Best Actress (Musical/Comedy): Sally Hawkins, "Happy-Go-Lucky"

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Best Screenplay: "Slumdog Millionaire"
Best Original Score: 'Slumdog Millionaire'
Best Original Song: "The Wrestler" - Bruce Springsteen
Best Animated Feature: "WALL-E"
Best Foreign Language Film: "Waltz With Bashir"

Golden Globe Predix

Let's see ...

Best Picture (Drama): 'Slumdog Millionaire'
-- I could see it also going to 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' since it's HFPA-friendly and, if memory serves, it has the most nominations. But for now I'll go with 'Slumdog,' which has been dominating all season.

Best Director: Danny Boyle, 'Slumdog Millionaire'
-- Could also go to David Fincher for the same reasons above.

Best Picture (Musical/Comedy): 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'
-- Uncle! I have no idea.

Best Actor (Drama): Sean Penn, 'Milk'
-- Penn has been out in front for so long. But Mickey Rourke is a potential spoiler; the Globes occasionally make riskier choices.

Best Actress (Drama): Anne Hathaway, 'Rachel Getting Married'
-- I was going to predict this even before the Globes website "scandal."

Best Actor (Musical/Comedy): James Franco, 'Pineapple Express'
-- Because he's had a great year, and he won before way back when for the 'James Dean' TV movie.


Best Actress (Musical/Comedy): Sally Hawkins, 'Happy-Go-Lucky'
-- But are they really going to let Meryl go home empty handed? (They should ...)

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, 'The Dark Knight'
-- No-brainer

Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, 'The Reader'
-- All signs point to Penelope Cruz. But Kate's nominated twice and she's never won a Globe before. When will the snub torture end for her?

Best Screenplay: 'Slumdog Millionaire'
Best Animated Film: 'WALL-E'
Best Original Score: 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' (it has to win something, right?)
Best Original Song: 'The Wrestler'
Best Foreign Film: 'Waltz With Baszhir'

In other words: I have no idea.

That being said, I'm interested to see who HFPA goes for in Best Picture (Drama). I couldn't decide between 'Slumdog' and 'Curious Case.'

What are YOU predicting to win tonight?

Quick post: Your favorite performances of '08

I'll be tweaking my ballot in a few minutes with the hope of getting it up by tonight or tomorrow.

In the meantime, post your favorite performances of 2008. Did I miss anything? Let's find out.

YouTube Clip of the Week: 'The Reader'

The Top 10 Films of 2008

2008 was a consistently odd year at the movies. It was filled with one disappointment after another, and for much of December I was convinced it was the worst year of the decade.

But ultimately I think it was just a disappointing year for the "Oscar" movie. 2008 promised to go out with a bang with all of these high-profile releases, but so many of them failed to live up to their admittedly high expectatons; even films like 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' -- which I liked -- didn't have the kind of Oscar "oomph" we've seen in the past.

On the plus side, Oscar's lackluster lineup forced me to do some digging, both in theaters and on DVD. By doing so, I discovered great movies I may have otherwise missed, one of which made it onto the list you're about to see.

In the end, I'm still not sure where I stand regarding the quality of movies this year. But I was able to find 10 I really enjoyed, and I think that has to count for something.

So here now are the Top 10 Films of 2008, as decided by yours truly.

Continue reading The 10 Best Films of 2008.

Afterward, speak up: What do YOU think of my top 10 list? And while you're at it, what's yours?

Top 10 List TBD

I'm gonna start working on my list now ... right after I eat some dinner.

It'll probably be up well into the night, but it shouldn't take as long as the worst of the year recap. Hopefully.

Stay tuned.

Quick poll: 'Slumdog Millionaire'

So I finally got around to seeing 'Slumdog' this afternoon (I know, I know).

I get why people like it (it's VERY Academy friendly) but I just found the whole thing to be contrived and dull (2nd half especially).

I guess what it comes down to is after 'The Departed' and 'No Country for Old Men,' 'Slumdog's is going to be a very "meh" Best Picture winner.

But what do you all think? Vote now!

poll by twiigs.com

Weekend Screening Schedule:

'Bride Wars' is officially the first big bomb of 2009 -- at least by Rotten Tomatoes' standards. But something tells me Anne Hathaway is too busy celebrating her BFCA win to care.


Also opening in wide release this weekend is 'Gran Torino.' Is it just me or has the Clint Eastwood Oscar train derailed all of the sudden? It's going to do good business for sure, but why do I keep thinking he'll be snubbed?

Quick post: Your #1 of 2008

I'm announcing my Top 10 of 2008 tomorrow ... or possibly Sunday.

But before I do, post your #1 pick of the year.

BFCA Winners

Sorry. The pizza guy never came so I had to run out and get some chow.

ETA: What is the point of this Richard Gere award presentation?

Winners so far:

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married / Meryl Streep, Doubt
Best Animated Feature: WALL-E
Best Comedy Movie: Tropic Thunder
Best Acting Ensemble: Milk
Best Young Actor/Actress: Dev Patel
Best Writer: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Action Film: The Dark Knight
Best Composer: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Song: Bruce Springsteen, The Wrestler
Best Documentary: Man On Wire
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Best Foreign Language Film: Waltz With Bashir

DGA Nominations

Apparently, only 5 films were released this season.

I went 5/5 in my predix (below) but it's not like these were very tough to guess ...

From Variety:

Danny Boyle
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight Pictures & Warner Bros. Pictures)
Mr. Boyle's Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Sanjay Kumar
First Assistant Director: Raj Acharya
Second Assistant Director: Avani Batra
Second Second Assistant Director: Sonia Nemawarkar

David Fincher
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" (Paramount Pictures & Warner Bros. Pictures)
Mr. Fincher's Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Daniel M. Stillman
First Assistant Director: Bob Wagner
Second Assistant Director: Allen Kupetsky
Second Second Assistant Directors: Pete Waterman, Stephen F. Lonano

Ron Howard
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal Pictures)
Mr. Howard's Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Kathleen McGill
First Assistant Director: William M. Connor
Second Assistant Director: Kristen Ploucha
Second Second Assistant Director: Scott R. Meyers

Christopher Nolan
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Mr. Nolan's Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Kevin De La Noy, Susan Towner, Jan Foster
First Assistant Director: Nilo Otero
Second Assistant Director: Brandon Lambdin
Additional Second Assistant Director: Jessica Franks
Second Second Assistant Director: Greg Pawlik
Location Manager: James R. McAllister

Gus Van Sant
"Milk" (Focus Features)
Mr. Van Sant's Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Barbara A. Hall
First Assistant Director: David Webb
Second Assistant Director: John R. Saunders
Second Second Assistant Director: Ian Calip
Additional Second Assistant Director: Cindy A. Taylor

Original predix:

I'm guessing we'll see the same old, same old ... ie:

Boyle
Fincher
Howard
Nolan
Van Sant

That doesn't mean Oscar's lineup will be exact, but it's getting to be more predictable by the day.

WGA Nominations

'Rachel Getting Married' can't catch a break.

From Awards Daily:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Burn After Reading, Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Focus Features
Milk, Written by Dustin Lance Black, Focus Features
Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Written by Woody Allen, The Weinstein Company
The Visitor, Written by Tom McCarthy, Overture Films
The Wrestler, Written by Robert Siegel, Fox Searchlight Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen Story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord; Based on the Short Story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures

The Dark Knight, Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan; Story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer; Based on Characters Appearing in Comic Books Published by DC Comics; Batman Created by Bob Kane, Warner Bros. Pictures

Doubt, Screenplay by John Patrick Shanley, Based on his Stage Play, Miramax Films

Frost/Nixon, Screenplay by Peter Morgan, Based on his Stage Play, Universal Pictures

Slumdog Millionaire, Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, Based on the Novel Q and A by Vikas Swarup, Fox Searchlight Pictures

--

Maybe I need to watch 'Burn After Reading' again?

BAFTA Longlist

BEST FILM
“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”
“Burn After Reading”
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight ”
“Doubt”
“Frost/Nixon”
“In Bruges”
“I’ve Loved You So Long”
“Milk”
“The Reader”
“Revolutionary Road”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“Wall-E”
“The Wrestler”

More here.

Rebecca Hall's Frost/Nixon mention cracked me up. Hope she gets in for VCB, tho.

Visual Effects, Makeup Lists Announced

Place your bets.

Visual Effects:

"Australia,"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,"
"The Dark Knight,"
"Hellboy II,"
"Iron Man,"
"Journey to the Center of the Earth"
"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor."

Makeup:

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“The Reader”
“Synecdoche, New York”
“Tropic Thunder”
“The Wrestler”

PGA Nominations

I saw these earlier and my first thought was: We have our Best Picture nominees.

From Awards Daily:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

This must be like 2004 where the Best Picture nominations are decided about a month in advance. There's even a Mike Leigh film looming and everything!

Films that have grown with age

I've been studying my 2008 screening list all week and I was curious to know if any of the films you've seen this season have improved with time.

For me there are two:

1.) Frost/Nixon
-- Even if I wasn't necessarily wowed in the theater, the fact that it was so well-written and performed (both Langella and Sheen deserve nominations) makes me want to see it again, which I hope to do before my top 10 list is published.


2.) WALL-E
-- Truth be told: I loved WALL-E when I first saw it. Unfortunately, a friend made me see it again the very next evening, so any problems I had with it the first time were magnified the second go around. And since then, I've been in the "It wasn't THAT great camp."

Until I watched it again tonight. Suddenly, I was reminded of everything I loved about it initially: the visuals; the emotion; the love story (yes, I choked up at the end). Even what I didn't love about it (the humans) wasn't as detrimental to the plot as I had remembered.

Funny how one screening can alter your opinion from "overrated" to "this definitely deserves to be nominated for Best Picture." I'm so happy I did this.

What about you: Which films released last year have aged well in your mind?

2008 Year in Review Begins With ... Worst of the Year Awards

My 2008 Worst of the Year awards are up, which can be found starting here.

The list took slightly longer to assemble than I had hoped. First, I was going to put one film at #10, then another, and then another ... and so on. In the end, I went with a movie that represents everything I hate about the modern day romantic comedy. Enjoy!


PS - in case you were wondering: Yes, "Revolutionary Road" was the risky choice I wanted on my list. But I decided against it at the last second (originally, it was on the Dishonorable Mentions list) because I still can't wrap my head around that movie. I don't even have a grade for it (it's somewhere between a C and a D).

I also felt weird calling it one of the worst movies of the year when I liked Kate Winslet's performance (and dancing!) so much.

Still, I cannot believe more people aren't calling the movie out on its flaws. Or maybe I'm just crazy. I'll let you guys decide.

YouTube Clip of the Week: Howards End

Worst of the Year awards are coming up soon. I'm about to start cutting the photos now.

In the meantime, here's a clip from Emma Thompson's very deserving Oscar-winning performance in 'Howards End.' Having just returned from her most recent performance in 'Last Chance Harvey,' I'd love to see her back in the Oscar spotlight. Seriously: give me a Best Actress nomination for Thompson over Meryl and Angelina's histrionics any day.

Enjoy.

Weekend Screening Schedule

This article by the great David Carr sums up what I'll be doing all weekend:

There are seven weeks to go before the Academy Awards ceremony, and for those who claim to follow such things — would-be experts who pontificate about which movie will win best picture or who seems like a lock for best supporting actor — peer pressure is mounting to have seen all the movies that could be in contention. But Hollywood and the people who show its films to the world seem to be doing everything in their power to make sure that it’s difficult. Seeing all the films that may receive Oscar nods this season requires a single-mindedness bordering on mania, while getting a seat in the front of a theater is akin to an assault of Tora Bora.

Full article here.

What are you watching this weekend?

Tenative Year in Review Schedule

Subject to change, pending how many last minute films I get in this weekend.

Worst of the Year (Blog Edition): Sun., Jan. 4 (worst performances of the year; 10 films to avoid)
Top 10 List of 2008: Sat., Jan. 10
7th Annual Everything Oscar! Awards Nominations: Week of Jan. 11th (more concrete date to come).

I may include a very risky choice in my Worst of the Year post, but it may require a second viewing first. Stay tuned ...

Happy New Year!

Sorry this post is so late. I (willingly!) got held up by an awesome My Morning Jacket concert last night, and then 'Wendy & Lucy' this afternoon. Good flick.

I will have the official 2008 Year in Review calendar for you tomorrow. In the meantime, post all of your movie New Years resolutions below.

Mine: Once again, I'd like to make more of an effort to see movies while they're in theaters. I still can't believe I passed on 'Frozen River'.