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Academy Award Predictions

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Nominations for the 76th Academy Awards were announced today. Here are the nominees for the major categories and my predictions on who will win…

Best Picture: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” / “Lost in Translation” / “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” / “Mystic River” / “Seabiscuit”
My prediction: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Best Animated Feature: “Brother Bear” / “Finding Nemo” / “The Triplets of Belleville”
My prediction: Finding Nemo

Leading Actor: Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” / Ben Kingsley in “House of Sand and Fog” / Jude Law in “Cold Mountain”/ Bill Murray in “Lost in Translation” / Sean Penn in “Mystic River”
My prediction: Bill Murray

Leading Actress: Keisha Castle-Hughes in “Whale Rider” / Diane Keaton in “Something’s Gotta Give” / Samantha Morton in “In America” / Charlize Theron in “Monster” / Naomi Watts in “21 Grams”
My prediction: Charlize Theron

Directing: “City of God” Fernando Meirelles / “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” Peter Jackson / “Lost in Translation” Sofia Coppola / “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” Peter Weir / “Mystic River” Clint Eastwood
My prediction: Peter Jackson

Best Supporting Actor: Alec Baldwin “The Cooler” / Benicio Del Toro “21 Grams” / Djimon Hounsou “In America” / Tim Robbins “Mystic River” / Ken Watanabe “The Last Samurai”
My prediction: Tim Robbins

Best Supporting Actress: Shohreh Aghdashloo “House of Sand and Fog” / Patricia Clarkson “Pieces of April” / Marcia Gay Harden “Mystic River” / Holly Hunter “Thirteen” / Renée Zellweger “Cold Mountain”
My prediction: Renée Zellweger

Original Screenplay: The Barbarian Invasions” Denys Arcand / “Dirty Pretty Things” Steven Knight / “Finding Nemo” Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds Original Story by Andrew Stanton / “In America” Jim Sheridan & Naomi Sheridan & Kirsten Sheridan / “Lost in Translation” Sofia Coppola
My prediction: Sofia Coppola

As I said, these are just my predictions and not in every case the person that I would like to see win. The Academy Awards will be presented on February 29th… tune in and find out who wins and how good of a guesser I really am!

Must-See Movies 2004

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As the first day of 2004 winds down I find myself looking at what new movies the year will bring.

January has three potentially fun movies Torque, Mindhunters and The Butterfly Effect. None of these are on my “must-see” list, but all look like an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

In February there’s only two movies that may draw me out, and they are Kill Bill Vol. 2 and The Passion of Christ. It’s pretty strange that these would open in the same month and that they’d both make my list, since they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum. I’m really hoping for great things for Mel Gibson and The Passion.

Dawn of the Dead, and The Ladykillers will fight it out in March. My nod, at this point is to see the zombies first.

Shade is set to open sometime in the Spring and you just know I’ll be there on opening day! The buzz has been very positive on this one, so I hope that its given an opportunity to live up to the hype.

Hellboy premieres the first week of April and I plan to see it that weekend. Another movie based on a comic, The Punisher, opens later that month, but the buzz on it isn’t nearly as good… still one can hope. The Alamo might be a winner… at least it has a better chance than the real folks who fought there. The movie to beat in April, at least at this point, is probably Man on Fire. The buzz on this one is, pardon the expression, hot.

May gets us ready for the big summer films, so it’s approrpriate that both Van Helsing and Troy open. Both of these could be huge. As could The Day After Tomorrow.

June has just one must-see movie for me and that is The Riddick Chronicles. Oh, how I hope this lives up to Pitch Black!

July has the fireworks and Spider-Man Two [which by all accounts is even much better than the first!], I, Robot, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Village. Spider-Man 2 should bust all kinds of box office records.

August has the title match of the century [at least until Rocky returns to the ring] with Aliens vs Predator. Blade: Trinity opens and I’m hoping for it to be more like Blade 2 than Blade.

There’s no definite release date yet for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, but I can tell you that I plan to see it the opening weekend whenever it premieres.

Things really slow down in September — there’s nothing at this point on my list!

October is only a little better with Michael Mann and Tom Cruise teaming up for Collateral.

Things pick up again with two movies in November. Oliver Stone directs Colin Farrell in Alexander. Brad Bird’s The Incredibles also premieres.

December finds Oceans Twelve, The Aviator, and Meet the Fockers all competing for our viewing dollars.

With all of these movies coming out… I’d better get some rest. It looks to be a busy year.

Meet Rick Remender

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Rick Remender.

You know, the award winning animator who created Swingtown. He worked on the classic Iron Giant. Titan AE. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.Still not sure? OK, maybe if I list some of his comic work. The Avengers. The Terminator. Doll and Creature. Black Heart Billy. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Ok.
Granted, Rick Remender is not a household name. But he should be. The guy has a gazillion cool ideas. He writes. He draws. He animates. The dude is a natural born creator. Rick is pencilling and Big Beatty is inking a 48 page Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles book and I gotta tell ya, the art is amazing. It’s black and white with really sweet tones thrown in. I’ve never bought a Turtles book before. Ever. But I may have to break down and get this bad boy.But back to Rick. Check out his website. The new school design rocks. Plan to spend a while. Be sure to check out his Swingtown animations, his sketchbook [I want to see more of The Last Days of American Crime], heck order a book or two if the spirit grabs ya, and drop him a line and tell him I sent ya!

28 days, Return of the King & More"

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  • I saw a great little horror film today. If you enjoy a good “zombie” flick in the vien [pardon the pun] of “Night of the Living Dead” then you’ll love this! “28 days later…” should be seen now not later!
  • USAToday ran a picture of the advance poster for “The Return of the King,” the next installment in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The poster can also be seen at theonering.net. Peter Jackson [director] said it was his favorite of the three… I know I’m looking forward to it!
  • Chris Tucker is in line for another $20 million-plus payday to co-star in “Rush Hour 3.” If he makes the movie it will be his third film since 1998 [with the other two being “Rush Hour” and “Rush Hour 2”]. It’s good work if you can get it!
  • MESA, Ariz. – City officials in Mesa have mistakenly installed two bus shelters where no buses run. Can’t you just imagine some poor soul… “Uh… I’m sure it’ll be a long any minute now.”
  • Singapore unveiled Friday plans for a $114 million, 558-foot Ferris wheel that would swing 114 feet above the current world record holder. “C’mon mom, don’t worry about SARS, I just GOTTA ride that Ferris wheel.” Yeah, that should bring in the tourists.
  • HANOI (Reuters) – A Vietnamese man passed off a lump of iron as valuable black bronze found buyers — but was paid $64,000 in counterfeit bills. Talk about poetic justice!
  • PARIS (AFP) – Bean-lovers, rejoice: the embarrassing side-effect of your favourite food may soon become a distant memory. Big Beatty can go back to eating chilli on his omlettes!
  • NEW YORK (AFP) – New York police rescued and then arrested a red-faced burglar after he managed to get himself stuck in the chimney of the restaurant he was trying to burgle. Another criminal mastermind brought to justice!
  • BERLIN (Reuters) – A German thief has had to call the police to rescue him after becoming trapped during a bungled break-in. Still another criminal mastermind brought to justice!
  • STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Vodka-flavored ice pops won’t be available on store shelves in Sweden after regulators said Tuesday they were worried that young kids might eat them. Guess that means no crack flavored cupcakes either!

28 days later; Return of the King; Rush Hour 3 and More!

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  • I saw a great little horror film today. If you enjoy a good “zombie” flick in the vein [pardon the pun] of “Night of the Living Dead” then you’ll love this! “28 days later…” should be seen now not later! 
  • USAToday ran a picture of the advance poster for “The Return of the King,” the next installment in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The poster can also be seen at theonering.net. Peter Jackson [director] said it was his favorite of the three… I know I’m looking forward to it! 
  • Chris Tucker is in line for another $20 million-plus payday to co-star in “Rush Hour 3.” If he makes the movie it will be his third film since 1998 [with the other two being “Rush Hour” and “Rush Hour 2”]. It’s good work if you can get it! 
  • MESA, Ariz. – City officials in Mesa have mistakenly installed two bus shelters where no buses run. Can’t you just imagine some poor soul… “Uh… I’m sure it’ll be a long any minute now.” 
  • Singapore unveiled Friday plans for a $114 million, 558-foot Ferris wheel that would swing 114 feet above the current world record holder. “C’mon mom, don’t worry about SARS, I just GOTTA ride that Ferris wheel.” Yeah, that should bring in the tourists.
  • HANOI (Reuters) – A Vietnamese man passed off a lump of iron as valuable black bronze found buyers — but was paid $64,000 in counterfeit bills. Talk about poetic justice! 
  • PARIS (AFP) – Bean-lovers, rejoice: the embarrassing side-effect of your favourite food may soon become a distant memory. Big Beatty can go back to eating chilli on his omlettes!
  • NEW YORK (AFP) – New York police rescued and then arrested a red-faced burglar after he managed to get himself stuck in the chimney of the restaurant he was trying to burgle. Another criminal mastermind brought to justice!
  • BERLIN (Reuters) – A German thief has had to call the police to rescue him after becoming trapped during a bungled break-in. Still another criminal mastermind brought to justice!
  • STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Vodka-flavored ice pops won’t be available on store shelves in Sweden after regulators said Tuesday they were worried that young kids might eat them. Guess that means no crack flavored cupcakes either!

Monster Bash, Halfway Home for Arnie, Lisa Marie Preps and More Planet Hollywood

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  • The 7th Annual Monster Bash was held this weekend in Pittsburgh. It featured guests [the guy who played the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Boris Karlaff’s daughter, etc.] and film showings. I’ve been in the mood for some good horror movies [last night we watched “Frankenstien,” “Donavan’s Brain,” and “The Invisible Man”]… if I lived near Pittsburgh, I’d have attended the show! 
  • Arnold told Bob Costas that he feels like he’s in the middle of his career.  If Arnold does “King Conan” I’ll believe him. 
  • Lisa Marie Presley is getting ready for her first concert tour. Presley will play hour-long sets opening for Chris Isaak but will NOT cover any of her dad’s songs. Maybe she can cover some over her ex-husband’s songs. That could be a real “Thriller.” 
  • A federal bankruptcy court awarded the billion-dollar Aladdin casino to investors who plan to turn the Las Vegas property into a Planet Hollywood-themed resort! And you just know I love me some Planet Hollywood!