The Illusionist

The Illusionist is a turn of the century movie about a magician that is in love the a Dutchess. Surprise, the Dutchess is betroved to the mean, evil Crowned Prince. Yeah, so what, nothing special about the story line. Very simply written, and directed the same. The story was quite predictable and non suspenseeful. However, given that, it was entertaining. The movie was beautifully filmed and the Cinematography was excellent, hence the nomination. Edward Norton and Jessica Biel were both excellent in the movie. Good depth and range with the character. As most people know, I am the president of the anti-Paul Giamatti club. I have not been a fan of his since people made a big deal about him not getting an oscar nomination for Sideways. That was because he did not deserve it! The movie was cute, but it did not deserve its best picture nod either. Oh well, as much as I prefer not to see Paul on film, he actually did a good job in this one. I am cringing as I write this, but I am fair, when fairness is deserved.

SAG Awards - Sunday

Just a freindly reminder that the Screen Actor's Guild Award Ceremony is this Sunday night!

Everyone watch so we can discuss it! www.sagawards.com

Academy Award Nominations - Best Actor

Mr. Whitaker is totally the front runner in the field. It was a great performance, that made the movie. Not my favorite movie, but I can not say a bad word about this acting job.

Leonardo DiCaprio gets a nomination for Blood Diamond. I think the he was excellent in this movie. The big surprise was that he got a nod for this instead of The Departed. I personally think that this is a good choice. I think The Departed may be an overall better movie, but Leo does a much better acting job in Blood Diamond

In the Pursuit of Happyness, Will Smith does a fantastic job. He is loving, caring and motivated as all hell. I think this is an astonishing performance, perfect for a nomination, but not for a win.

I have yet to see Venus or Half Nelson. Therefore, I can not comment on the acting job. I will update as soon as I have something important to say.

Academy Award Nominations - Best Animated Film

I think that the animated category is very weak this year. Initially there were talks about having 5 nominees for animated film. Unfortunately, the rull depends on the number of qualifying films. Arthur and the Incredibles did not meet the eligibility criteria and as a result we only have 3 nominated films. Cars is most likely the front runner, although I found it to be kind of boring and nowhere near as good as Finding Nemo nor The Incredibles. It was a disappointment, because I expected so much more from Pixar. I thought Happy Feet was very boring. Yes, we know that Penguins are adorable and fun, but we already had March of the Penguins, in order to keep up the momentum we need sustenance. Personally, I think that Monster House was the most entertaining of the three movies. I actually enjoyed it, although, I think the content was a little intense for young audiences.

Academy Award Nominations - Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer, do we need to say more. She is by far the front runner. The American Idol finalist who beat her season's winner for this role, did an amazing job. Her voice was flawless and her acting was pretty great for her first movie role. She has the momentum after winning the Golden Globe. There is little doubt that she will be holding the statuette on February 25th.

Cate Blanchett is probably on of the best actresses in Hollywood. She would probably be the one that would that could put up the biggest fight against Jennifer Hudson, if she had won this category last year. Her performance was amazing, and the chemistry with Judi Dench was fantastic.

How, How adorable is Abigail Breslin. This was the nomination that made me smile the most. The little girl that did a striptease to Superfreak in a beauty pageant is great. I was really surprised that the Academy honored this lovely little girl, but I am so excited. She will be the cutest person on the red carpet

The two women from Babel did amazing acting jobs. I think that their performance were excellent, but different. I think the was more emotion and raw talent with Adriana Barazza. Riko Kikuchi's acting was very good, I just found it to be a little boring. I might be a little biased, because her story line I found to be boring and insignificant.

Academy Award Nominations - Best Supporting Actor

Despite what the critics are saying, I think that Djimon Hinsou is the front runner in this category. Second time nominee, wows the audience as a man that will do almost anything to be reacquainted with his family. Djimon's range and depth was seen previously in In America, which earned him is first nod. This performance takes is acting ability to that of a real star. This is where my vote lies!


Eddie Murphy seems to be every one's favorite. While I agree that Dreamgirls is an amazing movie, and did get snubbed for best picture, and that Jennifer Hudson has a strong lock in on Supporting Actress, Eddie's performance was just OK to me. He was the least interesting part of the movie. If his character was removed, I think the same overall effect of the movie could have been reached. For me, that is not what I think a Best Supporting Actor should be all about.



Jackie Earlie Haley, whose has really done nothing in Hollywood since the 1970's rendition of The Bad News Bears, did pull all the stops on his portrayal of a child molester. There were some amazing scenes in this movie. There is some tough competition in this category, so I think he is a long shot. However, the Academy does like to sometime give the Supporting Award to an underdog. We will see, but I am comfortable with saying that he will walk away with the golden statue.



I think you have realized now, that Little Miss Sunshine was one of my favorites of the year! Yay for all of its nominations! And of all the actors in the movie, I think that Alan Arkin probably deserves a nomination. Although, Steve Carrell was really, really great in this movie. On of my favorite things is when a actor, that I think is very one dimensional, proves me wrong. That is what Steve Carrell did for me in this movie. Well, back to Alan Arkin. The scene that I think gave him the nomination was when he was comforting Olive in the hotel room, the night before the pageant.Finally, Mark Wahlberg! I think that he did do an fairly good acting job in this movie, but he was not the best. I think Jack Nicholson was much much better. It would be interesting to see the politics behind this nomination. I am happy for him, but he will not, and should not win.

Academy Award Nominations - Best Actress

What an amazing year for women. I think I may be a little biased, but I think the women are the stronger more interesting characters. Over the last few years, it has always been a strong, strong competition in this category. This year few have some veterans, and some newbies!

Let's start with the front runner, Helen Mirren. She is a two time supporting nominee, never a winner. She was nominated in 1994 for The Madness of King George and in 2001 for Godsford Park. What an amazing job portraying Queen Elizabeth. It is what made the movie. However, I am a little bored with "The oscar goes to.." whoever imitated someone the best. I want a more original character performance.

Now to another veteran Academy Award Nominee. Judi Dench has been nominated five time, with one win. It was her 90 seconds of screen time playing Elizabeth I (I see a pattern here) in Shakespeare in Love. This performance was amazing. It could not have been better acted. I think she is the one that has a chance of dethroning Helen Mirren.

And now for the woman that could stand in front of the camera stare back at you for 2 hours, and she would still get a nomination. This will be Meryl Streep's 14th nomination, from which has has earned 2 statuettes. This first for Kramer vs. Kramer and the second for Sophie's Choice. She is an incredible actress, and this role was very good. I am not certain she deserves this nomination, but after all she is Meryl Streep. I absolutely do not think that she will win!


Five time nominee, Kate Winslet, yet again will be just a nominee. I love her and think she is phenomenal, but in this race, she is right there with Meryl. She should be glad to be nominated, no need to prepare and acceptance speech. She should not do the half-stand to accept the award as the winner is called, like she did when she was nominated for Titanic.

Penelope Cruz so deserves this nomination. She was amazing in every way. The movie was great, and she was an essential part. She was smart, sincere and made the audience fall in love with her. No one could have done a better performance. Once, again she will have to wait for another year to give an acceptance speech. This race is between Helen and Judi.