Avatar: The Last Airbender - First photos of the cast

The less said about M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening the better. Instead lets turn our attention to the other Avatar film, not the one that James Cameron is doing in super-duper 3D, this one is Avatar: The Last Airbender.

USA Today had the first character photos from the production and you know what, they are looking pretty good. Noah Ringer, 12, makes his feature-film debut as the hero Aang. Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel plays the villain, a firebender named Zuko. The film is a live-action version of the show that opens 2nd July 2010.

Ringer didn't need to alter much to play Aang, who uses martial arts to manipulate the weather. Like Aang, Ringer keeps his head shaved and is an expert in martial arts. "It keeps me cool when I'm doing tae kwon do," says Ringer, a Texas native with a black belt who landed the role after sending a homemade DVD of him practicing the sport. "It's so cool to get the part."

Patel, too, seems suited for the film, the first of a planned trilogy. He earned his black belt in tae kwon do before he turned to acting and discovered the television show while filming Millionaire. "I started watching it in my trailer in India," says Patel, who plays the villain Zuko, a "firebender" (he manipulates flames). "I see why the fan base is so big. It's got action but a lot of moral messages."
Are you a fan of the cartoon? Do you feel the live action film will be a faitful adaption?

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Slumdog Millionaire - Pussycat Dolls Jai Ho You Are My Destiny

Can someone tell me what the other women do in the band? Surely they should be called the Pussycat Doll?

Leave a comment on this post below.

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Watchmen drops while Witch Mountain Races ahead

	Title	This Week	Total	Last Week
1	Race to Witch Mountain	$25,000,000	$25,000,000	NA
2	Watchmen	$18,070,000	$86,005,000	#1
3	Last House on the Left	$14,658,000	$14,658,000	NA
4	Taken	$6,650,000	$126,833,000	#3
5	Madea Goes to Jail	$5,130,000	$83,209,000	#2
6	Slumdog Millionaire	$5,025,000	$132,625,000	#5
7	Paul Blart: Mall Cop	$3,100,000	$137,767,000	#4
8	He’s Just Not That Into You	$2,905,000	$89,004,000	#6
9	Coraline	$2,655,000	$69,144,000	#7
10	Miss March	$2,350,00	$2,350,000	NA

In the second week of it being open Watchmen has dropped to second place in the US and Dwayne Johnson's Race to Witch Mountain has taken the top spot. Watchmen's takings have dropped by 67% which is not good, but it's still taken a fair few million.

I am just so surprised that Paul Blart: Mall Cop is still in the top 10. It makes no sense that a straight to DVD type of film should be doing that well, but what do I know.

Taken has become the first film since The Dark Knight to have seven consecutive weeks in the top five. I really must get round to watching Liam Neeson's latest film as it has been out on DVD over here for ages.

Did you expect Watchmen to drop so much so soon? What are your theories for Paul Blart's popularity?

Leave a comment on this post below.

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Peanut Butter Jelly Time Slumdog Millionaire Mashup

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Eddie Murphy to play Richard Pryor. Who'll play Gene Wilder?

Some news from Entertainment Weekly.

Writer/director Bill Condon, who just completed his debut run as producer of the 2009 Academy Awards, is shopping his script Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? to the studio subsidiaries and independent distributors around town. Eddie Murphy is attached to star. Sources tell EW.com that Fox Searchlight, the studio behind this year's big Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire, is interested in the film. The studio, which declined comment, has a relationship with Condon, having partnered with the director on his 2004 feature Kinsey. Condon, who most recently wrote and directed Dreamgirls, had the Pryor biopic set up at The Weinstein Company but was able to pull it out when the indie outfit put it into turnaround. He initially was hoping to secure $30 million to produce the film, but that number, sources say, has dropped down to $25 million. Murphy, who has featured Pryor impersonations in his act as far back as the 1987 concert movie Raw, seems a likely choice for this role.

Is Eddie Murphy the right choice to play Pryor? Murphy was great in Dreamgirls, but his track record recently hasn't been so good.

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Oscars Acceptance Speech - Danny Boyle - Best Director

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Oscars - 2009 Academy Awards Winners

The Oscars have been announced and looks like Slumdog Millionaire sweeped the board. Heath Ledger won best supporting and Sean Penn won best actor. What did you think of the results? Any surprises or totally predictable? Was Stephen Colbert correct in his predictions? There is an Oscars thread set up in the forum if you wish to have a chat about it.

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader

Best Actor: Sean Penn in Milk
Richard Jenkins in The Visitor
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

Best Actress: Kate Winslet in The Reader
Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie in Changeling
Melissa Leo in Frozen River
Meryl Streep in Doubt

Best Director: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant for Milk

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Josh Brolin in Milk
Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt
Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road

Best Original Screenplay: Milk written by Dustin Lance Black
Frozen River written by Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky written by Mike Leigh
In Bruges written by Martin McDonagh
WALL-E screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon. Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
Doubt written by John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon screenplay by Peter Morgan

Best Animated Film: WALL-E
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda

Best Animated Short Film: La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. ZolfoChangeling – Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
The Dark Knight – Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
The Duchess – Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
Revolutionary Road – Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

Best Costume Design: Michael O'Connor for The Duchess
Catherine Martin for Australia
Jacqueline West for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Danny Glicker for Milk
Albert Wolsky for Revolutionary Road

Best Make-up: Greg Cannom for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan for The Dark Knight
Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz for Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire
Tom Stern for Changeling
Claudio Miranda for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wally Pfister for The Dark Knight
Chris Menges and Roger Deakins for The Reader

Best Live Action Short Film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig

Best Documentary: Man on Wire
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Trouble the Water

Best Documentary Short Film: Smile Pinki
The Conscience of Nhem
The Final Inch
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

Best Visual Effects: Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin for The Dark Knight
John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan for Iron Man

Best Sound Editing: Richard King for The Dark Knight
Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes for Iron Man
Tom Sayers for Slumdog Millionaire
Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood for WALL-E
Wylie Stateman for Wanted

Best Sound Mixing: Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty for Slumdog MillionaireDavid Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick for The Dark Knight
Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt for WALL-E
Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt for Wanted

Best Editing: Chris Dickens for Slumdog Millionaire
Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Lee Smith for The Dark Knight
Mike Hill and Dan Hanley for Frost/Nixon
Elliot Graham for Milk

Best Music: A.R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire
Alexandre Desplat for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
James Winner: Newton Howard for Defiance
Danny Elfman for Milk
Thomas Newman for WALL-E

Best Forgeign Film: Departures
The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Class
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir
Discuss in the Forum

Oscars 2009 - Best Picture Profanity Reel

All five movies nominated for a Best Picture Oscar re-cut to their profanity reels. Now combined in one video. Definitely contains spoilers...

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Sin Nombre - Trailer. Is it the next Slumdog Millionaire?

Sin Nombre is an epic dramatic thriller written and directed by Student Academy Award winner Cary Joji Fukunaga in his feature debut. The filmmaker’s firsthand experiences with Central American immigrants seeking the promise of the U.S. form the basis of the Spanish-language movie.

Sin Nombre tells the story of Sayra (Paulina Gaitan), a teenager living in Honduras, and hungering for a brighter future. A reunion with her long-estranged father gives Sayra her only real option – emigrating with her father and her uncle into Mexico and then the United States, where her father now has a new family.

Meanwhile, Casper, a.k.a. Willy (Edgar Flores), is a teenager living in Tapachula, Mexico, and facing an uncertain future. A member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang brotherhood, he has just brought to the Mara a new recruit, 12-year-old Smiley (Kristyan Ferrer), who undergoes a rough initiation.

While Smiley quickly takes to gang life, Casper tries to protect his relationship with girlfriend Martha Marlene (Diana García), keeping their love a secret from the Mara. But when Martha encounters Tapachula’s Mara leader Lil’ Mago (Tenoch Huerta Mejía), she is brutally taken from Casper forever.

Sayra and her relatives manage to cross over into Mexico. There, they join other immigrants waiting at the Tapachula train yards. When a States-bound freight train arrives one night, they successfully rush to board – riding atop it, rather than in the cars – as does Lil’ Mago, who has commandeered Casper and Smiley along to rob immigrants.

When day breaks, Lil’ Mago makes his move and Casper in turn makes a fateful decision. Casper must now navigate the psychological gauntlet of his violent existence and the physical one of the unforgiving Mara, but Sayra bravely allies herself with him as the train journeys through the Mexican countryside towards the hope of new lives.

Discuss in the Forum

Danny Boyle and Darren Aronofsky hang out

In this video directors Danny Boyle and Darren Aronofsky hang out and discuss their work. Aronofsky talks about how Mickey Rourke improvised some of his scenes, and Boyle compliments him profusely.

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BAFTA 2009 - Some speeches

The late Heath Ledger is named best supporting actor for playing The Joker in The Dark Knight.

Mickey Rourke is named best actor for playing Randy 'The Ram' Robinson in The Wrestler.

Slumdog Millionaire is named Best Film.

Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) is named Best Director.

Discuss in the Forum

UPDATED: BAFTAS 2009 - Updates as the results get announced

The BAFTAS are currently still going on but here are the results as they are announced.

Bafta fellowship - TERRY GILLIAM

Best Film - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Christian Colson

Leading Actor - MICKEY ROURKE The Wrestler He had the best speech of the night so far

Leading Actress - KATE WINSLET The Reader

Best Director - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Danny Boyle

Orange Rising Star Award - NOEL CLARKE Adulthood, Dr Who

Best Supporting Actor - HEATH LEDGER The Dark Knight

Special Visual Effects - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Eric Barba / Craig Barron / Nathan McGuinness / Edson Williams

Best Supporting Actress - PENÉLOPE CRUZ Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Outstanding British Film - MAN ON WIRE Simon Chinn / James Marsh

Best Foreign Film - I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG Yves Marmion / Philippe Claudel

Michael Sheen and David Frost presented the best original screenplay - IN BRUGES

Cinematography - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Best adapted screenplay - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for their First Feature Film - STEVE McQUEEN Director/Writer – Hunger

Michael Balcon award for outstanding contribution to British cinema - Pinewood and Shepperton studios

Make up and hair - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Jean Black / Colleen Callaghan

Best Sound - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Glenn Freemantle / Resul Pookutty / Richard Pryke / Tom Sayers / Ian Tapp

Best Music - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE A. R. Rahman

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Vanity Fair Partnerships Photo Shoot by Annie Leibovitz

Vanity Fair have Annie Leibovitz latest shoot, which focuses on the partnerships that looks at the actor-director team ups that defined 2008.

Above is Darren Aronofsky and Mickey Rourke from The Wrestler.
Clint Eastwood who directed and starred in Gran Torino.
Sam Mendes and Kate Winslet made Revolutionary Road
Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Woody Allen and Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn - Milk
Danny Boyle and Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire

They are great photos and lots more over at Vanity Fair.
Discuss in the Forum

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations

The BAFTA nominations came out a while back and I thought I had posted them but obviously not. Here they are and appear similar to the Oscar nominations. Check out the award at the bottom as you can vote for your rising star of 2009.

The Orange British Academy Film Awards take place at the Royal Opera House on Sunday 8 February.

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 Colson

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
HUNGER – Laura Hastings-Smith, Robin Gutch, Steve McQueen, Enda Walsh
IN BRUGES – Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh
MAMMA MIA! – Judy Craymer, Gary Goetzman, Phyllida Lloyd, Catherine Johnson
MAN ON WIRE – Simon Chinn, James Marsh
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Christian Colson, Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD
for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for their First Feature Film
SIMON CHINN (Producer) – Man On Wire
JUDY CRAYMER (Producer) – Mamma Mia!
GARTH JENNINGS (Writer) – Son of Rambow
STEVE McQUEEN (Director/Writer) – Hunger
SOLON PAPADOPOULOS, ROY BOULTER (Producers) – Of Time And The City

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

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BURN AFTER READING – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
CHANGELING – J. Michael Straczynski
I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG – Philippe Claudel
IN BRUGES – Martin McDonagh
MILK – Dustin Lance Black

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Eric Roth
FROST/NIXON – Peter Morgan
THE READER – David Hare
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD – Justin Haythe
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Simon Beaufoy

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX – Bernd Eichinger, Uli Edel
GOMORRAH – Domenico Procacci, Matteo Garrone
I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG – Yves Marmion, Philippe Claudel
PERSEPOLIS – Marc-Antoine Robert, Xavier Rigault, Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud
WALTZ WITH BASHIR – Serge Lalou, Gerhard Meixner, Yael Nahlieli, Ari Folman

ANIMATED FILM
PERSEPOLIS – Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud
WALL•E – Andrew Stanton
WALTZ WITH BASHIR – Ari Folman

LEADING ACTOR
FRANK LANGELLA – Frost/Nixon
DEV PATEL – Slumdog Millionaire
SEAN PENN – Milk
BRAD PITT – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
MICKEY ROURKE – The Wrestler

LEADING ACTRESS
ANGELINA JOLIE – Changeling
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS – I’ve Loved You So Long
MERYL STREEP – Doubt
KATE WINSLET – The Reader
KATE WINSLET – Revolutionary Road

SUPPORTING ACTOR
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. – Tropic Thunder
BRENDAN GLEESON – In Bruges
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN – Doubt
HEATH LEDGER – The Dark Knight
BRAD PITT – Burn After Reading

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS – Doubt
PENÉLOPE CRUZ – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
FREIDA PINTO – Slumdog Millionaire
TILDA SWINTON – Burn After Reading
MARISA TOMEI – The Wrestler

MUSIC
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Alexandre Desplat
THE DARK KNIGHT – Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard
MAMMA MIA! – Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – A. R. Rahman
WALL•E – Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY
CHANGELING – Tom Stern
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Claudio Miranda
THE DARK KNIGHT – Wally Pfister
THE READER – Chris Menges, Roger Deakins
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Anthony Dod Mantle

EDITING **
CHANGELING – Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
THE DARK KNIGHT – Lee Smith
FROST/NIXON – Mike Hill, Dan Hanley
IN BRUGES – Jon Gregory
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Chris Dickens
**As there was a tie in this category there are six nominations

PRODUCTION DESIGN
CHANGELING – James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
THE DARK KNIGHT – Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD – Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE – Mark Digby, Michelle Day

COSTUME DESIGN
CHANGELING – Deborah Hopper
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Jacqueline West
THE DARK KNIGHT – Lindy Hemming
THE DUCHESS – Michael O'Connor
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD – Albert Wolsky

SOUND
CHANGELING – Walt Martin, Alan Robert Murray, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff
THE DARK KNIGHT – Lora Hirschberg, Richard King, Ed Novick, Gary Rizzo
QUANTUM OF SOLACE – Jimmy Boyle, Eddy Joseph, Chris Munro, Mike Prestwood Smith, Mark Taylor
SLUMDOG MILLIONARE – Glenn Freemantle, Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke, Tom Sayers, Ian Tapp
WALL•E – Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Matthew Wood

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Eric Barba, Craig Barron, – Nathan McGuinness, Edson Williams
THE DARK KNIGHT – Chris Corbould, Nick Davis, Paul Franklin, Tim Webber
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL – Pablo Helman, Marshall Krasser, Steve Rawlins
IRON MAN – Hal Hickel, Shane Patrick Mahan, John Nelson, Ben Snow
QUANTUM OF SOLACE – Chris Corbould, Kevin Tod Haug

MAKE UP & HAIR
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON – Jean Black, Colleen Callaghan
THE DARK KNIGHT – Peter Robb-King
THE DUCHESS – Daniel Phillips, Jan Archibald
FROST/NIXON – Edouard Henriques, Kim Santantonio
MILK – Steven E. Anderson, Michael White

SHORT ANIMATION
CODSWALLOP – Greg McLeod, Myles McLeod
VARMINTS – Sue Goffe, Marc Craste
WALLACE AND GROMIT: A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH – Steve Pegram, Nick Park, Bob Baker

SHORT FILM
KINGSLAND #1 THE DREAMER – Kate Ogborn, Tony Grisoni
LOVE YOU MORE – Caroline Harvey, Anthony Minghella, Sam Taylor-Wood, Patrick Marber
RALPH – Olivier Kaempfer, Alex Winckler
SEPTEMBER – Stewart le Maréchal, Esther May Campbell
VOYAGE D’AFFAIRES (THE BUSINESS TRIP) – Celine Quideau, Sean Ellis

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD
MICHAEL CERA - Juno, Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist
NOEL CLARKE - Kidulthood, Adulthood, Dr Who
MICHAEL FASSBENDER - 300, Hunger, Eden Lake (possible The Sweeney)
REBECCA HALL - Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Frost / Nixon
TOBY KEBBELL - Control, RocknRolla
Vote for your Rising star of 2009

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2009 Oscar Nominations are out

The nominees for the 81st Academy Awards have been announced. Looks rather interesting. No Dark Knight for Best Picture although Heath Ledger gets the nod.However, it is up for Best Editing which is a bit odd as I felt the editing in places was an absolute mess.

The 81st Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 22nd at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood with a live airing on ABC starting at 8 PM (EST).

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

DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Clint Eastwood - Changeling
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon

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

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

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

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

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Mike Leigh - Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon - Wall-E

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Roth & Robin Swicord - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
David Hare - The Reader
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire

ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz With Bashir

ART DIRECTION
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tom Stern - Changeling
Claudio Miranda - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wally Pfister - The Dark Knight
Chris Menges & Roger Deakins - The Reader
Anthony Dod Mantle - Slumdog Millionaire

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

ANIMATED SHORT
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

LIVE-ACTION SHORT
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)

VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

COSTUME DESIGN
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

MAKEUP
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

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

SOUND MIXING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted

SOUND EDITING
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted

ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
James Newton Howard - Defiance
Danny Elfman - Milk
A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
Thomas Newman - Wall-E

ORIGINAL SONG
"Down to Earth" from Wall-E
"Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire
"O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire

I think Slumdog Millionaire will clean up this year. What are your thoughts? Any surprises?

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2009 Golden Globe Winners - With added acceptance speeches

Here is the full list of winners for the The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Kate Winslet – The Reader
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
“The Wrestler” – The Wrestler (Music & Lyrics By: Bruce Springsteen)
“Down To Earth” – Wall-E (Music By: Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman)
“Gran Torino” – Gran Torino (Music By: Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens)
“I Thought I Lost You” – Bolt (Music & Lyrics By: Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele)
“Once In A Lifetime” – Cadillac Records (Music & Lyrics By: Beyoncé Knowles, Amanda Ghost, Scott McFarmon, Ian Dench, James Dring and Jody Street)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Tom Wilkinson – John Adams
Neil Patrick Harris – How I Met Your Mother
Denis Leary – Recount
Jeremy Piven – Entourage
Blair Underwood – In Treatment

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Laura Dern – Recount
Eileen Atkins – Cranford
Melissa George – In Treatment
Rachel Griffiths – Brothers & Sisters
Dianne Wiest – In Treatment

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama
Gabriel Byrne – In Treatment
Michael C. Hall – Dexter
Jon Hamm – Mad Men
Hugh Laurie – House
Jonathan Rhys Meyers – The Tudors

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Anna Paquin – True Blood
Sally Field – Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay – Law & Order
January Jones – Mad Men
Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer

Best Animated Feature Film
Wall-E
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy (Award presented by Johnny Depp)
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Rebecca Hall – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Frances McDormand – Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep – Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson – Last Chance Harvey

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
John Adams
A Raisin In The Sun
Bernard And Dori
Cranford
Recount

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt

Best Foreign Language Film
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
Everlasting Moments (Sweden, Denmark)
Gomorrah (Italy)
I’ve Loved You So Long (France)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Laura Linney – John Adams
Judi Dench – Cranford
Catherine Keener – An American Crime
Shirley MacLaine – Coco Chanel
Susan Sarandon – Bernard And Doris

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth
Doubt - John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
The Reader - David Hare

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock
Steve Carell – The Office
Kevin Connolly – Entourage
David Duchovny – Californication
Tony Shalhoub – Monk

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Paul Giamatti – John Adams
Ralph Fiennes – Bernard And Doris
Kevin Spacey – Recount
Kiefer Sutherland – 24
Tom Wilkinson – Recount

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
30 Rock
Californication
Entourage
The Office
Weeds

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Slumdog Millionaire - Composed by A. R. Rahman
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Composed by Alexandre Desplat
Changeling - Composed by Clint Eastwood
Defiance - Composed by James Newton Howard
Frost/Nixon - Composed by Hans Zimmer

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Tina Fey – 30 Rock
Christina Applegate – Samantha Who?
America Ferrera – Ugly Betty
Debra Messing – The Starter Wife
Mary-Louise Parker – Weeds

Cecil B. DeMille Award
Steven Spielberg

Best Director - Motion Picture
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
David Fincher – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes – Revolutionary Road

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Colin Farrell – In Bruges
Javier Bardem – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
James Franco – Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman – Last Chance Harvey

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas – I’ve Loved You So Long

Best Television Series - Drama
Mad Men
Dexter
House
In Treatment
True Blood

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Leonardo DiCaprio – Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road

Do you agree with those results? Any surprises for you?

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Danny Boyle talks about 28 Months Later, remaking Lady Vengeance, Judge Dredd and Porno

Empire Online recently held a webchat with Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle who, while talking about future projects, revealed that he's been asked to direct an English-language remake of Chan-wook Park's Lady Vengeance. Here are some of the snippets from the chat below, where he also discusses the 28 Days Later franchise and more.

Kinema asks: What do you think of the Asian Film Industry, mainly South Korea and Hong Kong? A lot of South Korean movies are being made into US Remakes. Would you ever consider remaking a good South Korean movie, maybe Oldboy?

Seriously, I was just asked to do a remake of Lady Vengeance, the one after Oldboy. My favourite is Audition.

Ruffcut asks: How close did you come to directing Alien 4?

Oh my God, that one. Very close actually. In fact I met Sigourney and Winona, which was a great pleasure. Had chips – French fries I should say – with Winona. But I backed out of it. I was terrified of the special effects.

Film Brain asks: What was it like to make something like Slumdog Millionaire after the rather dark Sunshine?

Bits of Slumdog are quite dark early on. It's not quite the feelgood movie of the decade all the way through. But the contrast between the isolation of outer space and the 21+ million inhabitants of Mumbai was welcome.

thebestnameshavegone asks: Is there any news regarding Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad Trilogy which you were mooted to be involved with?

Oh God, yeah. It's fallen apart. Frank Cotrell Boyce (Millions) and I were going to do it for DreamWorks but sadly no longer. Sorry about that - wonderful novel(s).

brent71195 asks: Any plans for the Judge Dredd movie Danny? Are you a fan or is it just something that interests you?

Where has this come from? Someone asked me about Judge Dredd the other day! Well... ha! I hated the last version of it; I can't imagine the next one will be any better.

djimi42 asks: What is the future of the 28 Days franchise? Is there any possibility you could direct 28 Months Later?

Yeah, we've got a good idea for the third one. Very strange. And sadly we've run out of time to tell you about it...

blackmores hat asks: Can I ask what's the state of play on Porno?

Just waiting for the original actors to age. Help them if you can. Take them out drinking - get them away from the spas and those moisturisers.

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SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE vs ADDICTIVE TV (official remix / alternative trailer)

Meticulously sampling the movie for its vibrant sounds and images, and reconstructing them into this fast-paced audiovisual remix mash-up, Addictive TV were asked by the film's producers to give Slumdog Millionaire their unique treatment.

Danny Boyle's forthcoming film - which opens January 9th - looks set to be a big hit. The film, already nominated for the Golden Globes and tipped for the Oscars, tells the story of a kid from the slums of Mumbai who gets to go on India's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

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Happy New Year everyone

A belated Happy New Year to you all (yesterdays posts were all prescheduled as I wasn't near a computer).

Did you all have a good time? Drink too much? Make resolutions that you have already broken.

We had a quiet one. Put our 2 year old daughter to bed then Catherine, my son and I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (I enjoyed it more seeing it the second time now that the anticipation for it had gone - still full of faults but an enjoyable romp) before turning over to Jools Holland on BBC2 and welcomed in the New Year. Then it was in bed for about 00:15!

I just want to thank everyone who has visited this little site since it started back in the middle of last year. It's been a fun few months since Chisholm said to me, "You should do a film blog and post reviews for us to read." Since then people from all over the World have found it and seem to like it. Big thanks to you all and to all the regulars to the site and the forum. I'm also blown away by the fact I've had a couple of proper interviews with some film makers and an favourite author of mine. Hopefully there will be more interviews to come in this year.

What was your film highlight of 2008? What are you looking forward to in 2009? I can't wait to see Zack Snyder's Watchmen (although I have a horrible feeling the court case will just delay it's release). I also want to see Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire and many other things.

Once again thanks. Now go out and tell a couple of friends about the site. Let's spread the word people.

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Slumdog Millionaire, 2008 - Movie Review

Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Freida Pinto
Running Time: 120 minutes
Score: 8 /10

This review by Chris Docker

In his most mainstream movie to date, director Danny Boyle successfully transfers Trainspotting's renowned raw realism of economic deprivation to bustling, modern day India. Colourful and ingenious, Slumdog Millionaire adds that pure warmth of the child's smile to the kick of a curry made from a moneylender's intestines, well-laced with raw spirit distilled from fermented slum-dwellers. Rich and poor come together in an orgy of excess, bolstered with a love-song whose words you barely decipher but whose tune stays in your heart. Boyle has been reborn in Mumbai.

India is a country of inimitable charm. Yet asked to describe what is good, I am usually stuck for words. It's dirty. Corrupt. Unreliable. Disingenuous. It leeches off you like a starving African stealing food at a Band-Aid concert. Oh, and it stinks. Quite literally.

Yet, if you lean your weight against the old buildings near the Taj Mahal, something magical can happen. Somehow it is easy to feel your spirit leave the body. It will flow back through thousands of years of rich and vibrant history. Gandharvas and mythical kings. Back in reality, look up at the monkeys as they scamper across parapets, the sun dazzling you, and Hanuman and Lord Krishna echo from past aeons. Or walk through the mess that is modern Mumbai. Suddenly there's the architectural wonder of the railway station. An incongruently colonial splendour bizarrely appearing in the teeming twenty-first century.

Slumdog Millionaire uses the Taj Mahal and Mumbai Station as iconic reference points, rising from the dirt and chaos. Like the boy dressed as Rama, who pops up early in the film. Timeless and almost mythological. But conflict simmers broodingly beneath such visual wonder. Muslim versus Hindu. Strong versus weak. And Slumdog versus Millionaire. Something says the twain ne'er shall meet, so when a kid from the slums succeeds on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, everyone is suspicious.

On the other hand, unpredictability is the norm in India. The sense of this is so strong it could almost be described as 'spiritual.' Disconcertingly, it is easy to believe that India is a land where miracles could still occur. Even a child of the slums becoming fabulously rich.

The freshness with which Boyle paints the country, the punchy editing and charismatic performances, all conspire against our recognising this is a standard against-all-odds story, a standard rags-to-riches, and a standard do-anything-to-get-the-girl. It is standard pulp. But done so well we barely notice. He has put together a film of surprising maturity, and perhaps his first to win general audiences in a big way. It's a film that uses lessons from Boyle's earlier movies – the gross-out shock value of Trainspotting, the lovable rogues of Shallow Grave, the exoticism of The Beach and the bold visual experimentation of 28 Days Later and Sunshine. It repackages them in feelgood form for all but the most delicate of tastes.

True, the sight of a young boy diving through an ocean of sewage (with filmstar photo held aloft) recalls the stronger images from Trainspotting. But here it is done for humour and too brief to be offensive. Everything about the film is refreshingly clever and a delight to watch. If occasionally there are subtitles, they are inventively inserted at interesting places on the screen with their own background colours.

The plot starts just before the question that lays the golden egg and cuts engagingly back through the boy's life using flashbacks. Why is he being tortured? How did he get on the show? Why doesn't he care about the money? In the background is his love, Latika, whom he has known since childhood. Both orphaned, she saw him by chance (standing abandoned in the rain) and he lets her share a corrugated iron shelter. It's a touching scene without too much sugar. And chance is the theme of the film. How does a Slumdog like Jemal guess the answers to general knowledge questions that could baffle the educated? That's what everybody wants to know.

Few Western directors have managed to embrace India so convincingly. Colours become sanitised, dirt becomes exotic. Boyle leaves us in no doubt as to the degradation, but makes it palatable through daring cinematography. This is no work of realism such as that of Satyajit Ray. Apart from a joyful closing credits scene, neither is it Bollywood. And although I thoroughly enjoyed it, I can't help feeling that some critics have gone overboard in estimating it to be more than the sum of its parts. As if Mamma Mia! could become art-house if it only had had one more ancient artefact. The film has nothing very deep to say. It is entertainment, pure and simple. Boyle's hodgepodge talents have been brought together for once in a recipe that any professional chef should be very proud of. It might even be his best film since Trainspotting, but it is heralds no new frontiers. A rounded display of talent that holds its own against the best in the Hollywood tradition. I would hate to think that the future of British film-making is in India, but I'm pleased Danny Boyle has firmly found his wings again. And I was also very pleased to see one of the stars of the outstanding TV series, Skins, conquer the lead role.

Slumdog Millionaire is a bag of very colourful tricks. The end result is great entertainment. It would be more remarkable if, in a later film, we were to see these stirring skills used for real comment on the human condition (for instance) and take us off the popcorn ride. When will the real Danny Boyle stand up? Near the Taj Mahal, I once looked down and saw boys pretending to levitate a corpse. They wanted tourists to throw money down to them (with a cut, no doubt, for the boy beneath the stretcher). It was all good fun. But made me wonder when the real fakir would appear.

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