MovieWeb caught up with David Gordon Green and asked him about the them song for Pineapple Express. He also offers up the lyrics to the chorus.

"Huey Lewis just finished our theme song for us. It is called Pineapple Express, cleverly. Our only input was, we told him we wanted it to sound like his 80s work that we loved so much. And we wanted to have the plot in it. And we wanted to have him say the title as many times as he could. There is a lot of alto sax. It is kind of like that "other" "Back to the Future" Huey Lewis song. Not "Power of Love" but "Back in Time". Yeah."

The chorus lyrics are: "We got trouble, we got to get out of here. I've got you, you've got me. We are as high as we can be. That's all right. How did we get into this mess? Pineapple Express!"

This only made 6th SportCenter's top ten plays of the night. I thought it was one of the best plays I have seen happen live. Granted, I have seen sequences that meant more or that were more important in the course of a game but this one is pretty damn well executed.

Also, the Lakers are probably the best passing team I have seen since the Sacramento Kings of the early 2000's.

Judd Apatow has set up the comedy Five-Year Engagement at Universal Pictures, reports Variety.

The project, which Apatow will produce, reteams the studio with the duo behind the upcoming comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall: writer-director Nick Stoller and writer-star Jason Segel.

The story, described as a bawdy, couples comedy, charts the five-year engagement of a man (Segel) and his fiancee, following the ups and downs of their relationship.

Stoller and Segel, who met while working on Apatow's TV series "Undeclared," will write Five-Year Engagement together. Stoller, who made his feature helming debut with "Sarah Marshall," is attached to direct, and Segel is set to star.

Half the trailer for Mike Myers next film, The Love Guru, focuses on Romany Malco yet no mention of him at the end. No sight of Justin Timberlake until his name is mentioned, yet he has the funniest part. I didn't laugh once but maybe they are saving all of the funny moments for the film. It looks like Austin Powers goes to India.

One of these days people are going to discover the deleted scenes from All the Real Girls and realize that Danny McBride has been doing this for years. The world will be a better place when that happens.

The Film Experience closes out this years Oscars with a look at the split screen. It is an entertaining read but the part that I really enjoyed is the reaction to Jenifer Hudson announcing the Best Supporting Actor winner. I was hoping I wasn't the only one who picked up on this, it was almost as if she was reading the winner before the clip package even ended. There was no sense of drama. He is what they say about it:

Maybe I love the split screen for the same reasons that everybody else loves sports and reality TV. The thrill of victory (solitary) and the agony of defeat (multiplied)

I find the actors generally boring when it comes to the split screen box… and the DVR shut off before Best Actor so I couldn’t look at the leading men again. Note to self: Always set the DVR to record the program AFTER the Oscars too. How could you forget? They always run over

In Supporting Actor Javier Bardem is the only one with any readable interesting emotion… so I’m not showing the whole box. Plus Jennifer Hudson killed the drama (it’s because she’s not really an actress) by reading the sentence like this

“and the Oscar goes to Jarvier Bardem”

WHERE WAS THE ELIPSIS? There has to be one or you kill the tiny quintupled drama. Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer. Do-Over.

“And the Oscar goes to … Javier Bardem”

See what a difference that makes. Make us wait. You have to have the elipsis!

A surprisingly action filled new trailer for Get Smart.

I'm not even going to tell you what it is, just go here and watch the video. (You may have to sit through a short ad first.)

UPDATE: Crap, apparently the link doesn't go directly to the video I wanted it to. On the Conan website, search for the "King of the Demo" Fred Simmons clip.

I have a feeling people are starting to get tired of Will Ferrell playing a man child. I'm not though, as witnessed by the trailer for his next Adam McKay directed movie, Step Brothers. The film also stars John C. Reilly, who I would watch do just about anything.

I tried to find a clip to show of Reilly from one of his most underrated roles (and a really underrated movie), What's Eating Gilbert Grape but all I could find were clips from the movie cut together as music videos or trailer mash ups. All I wanted was to hear Tucker Van Dyke describe how wonderful the burger shack is.

USA Today has your first look at new photos from writer/director Richard Kelly's horror movie The Box, starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden and Frank Langella. Click the link above to view more photos.

Rainn Wilson’s Audition Tapes for the Independent Spirit Awards Best Picture nominees: Juno, Paranoid Park, I’m Not There, Diving Bell and A Mighty Heart

Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood, Little Miss Sunshine) is starring in and executive producing the indie offbeat romantic comedy Gigantic, which also stars Zooey Deschanel. Matt Aselton is making his feature directorial debut on the movie, about a mattress salesman and a woman he meets at his store. Once he wraps Gigantic, Dano will move on to the indie feature The Good Heart, about an abrasive barman (Brian Cox) and a homeless guy (Dano) who becomes his protégé.

Diablo Cody on the morning after her Oscar win.

This one has its moments, but isn't nearly as funny as the other too. It was just released yesterday and already feels old in the wake of the fucking Ben Affleck video.

Did anyone ever think we would someday live in a world where Jackie Earle Haley is not only the star of and upcoming big budget comic book movie (Watchmen) but also be a prt of a Martin Scorsese picture? Did anyone besides me ever actually think about Jackie Earle Haley? This is Kelly Leak, people! Moocher!

Anyway, Jackie Earle Haley, Max von Sydow (always good), and Emily Mortimer (who I was a big fan of in Lars and the Real Girl) have been cast in Scorsese's mystery drama Shutter Island. They join a cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, and Patricia Clarkson. The story, adapted from Dennis Lehane's 2004 novel, is about a pair of U.S. marshals (DiCaprio and Ruffalo) who travel to a Massachusetts island to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane. The two get trapped on the island when a hurricane hits and a violent inmate riot breaks out. Williams plays the dead wife who haunts DiCaprio's character. Kingsley is the hospital's enigmatic chief physician who reluctantly hosts to the two marshals. Haley, who earned an Oscar nod last year for his turn as a convicted sex offender in Little Children, will play an inmate at the hospital. Von Sydow will play a doctor at the facility, and Mortimer will play an escaped patient.

The ending of Javier Bardem's acceptance speech translated.

“Mom, this is for you, for your grandparents, for your parents Rafael and Matilde, for the comedians of Spain who, like you, have brought dignity and pride to our profession. This is for Spain and this is for all of you.”

A few of my favorite speeches from last night.

Original Song

Glen Hansard:
Thanks! This is amazing. What are we doing here? This is mad. We made this film two years ago. We shot on two Handycams. It took us three weeks to make. We made it for a hundred grand. We never thought we would come into a room like this and be in front of you people. It's been an amazing thing. Thanks for taking this film seriously, all of you. It means a lot to us. Thanks to the Academy, thanks to all the people who've helped us, they know who they are, we don't need to say them. This is amazing. Make art. Make art. Thanks.

Marketa Irglova:
Hi everyone. I just want to thank you so much. This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we're standing here tonight, the fact that we're able to hold this, it's just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible. And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don't give up. And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are. And so thank you so much, who helped us along way. Thank you.

Supporting Actor

Javier Bardem:
Wow. Alright, this is very amazing. It's a great honor for me to have this. I want to& I have to speak fast here, man. Thank you to the Coens for being crazy enough to think that I could do that and put one of the most horrible haircuts in history over my head.

Thank you for really proving my work. I want to share this with the cast, with the great Tommy Lee Jones, with the great Josh Brolin, with the great Kelly MacDonald. And I want to dedicate this to my mother, and I have to say this in Spanish, and I'm sorry...

Mama esto es para ti. Esto es para tus abuelos, para tus padres, Rafael y Matilde. Esto es para los comicos de Espana que han traido la dignidad y el orgullo a nuestro oficio.

Esto es para Espana. Y esto es para todos vosotros.

Thank you very much!

Actor

Daniel Day-Lewis:
And that's the closest I'll ever come to getting a knighthood, so thank you.

My deepest thanks to the members of the Academy for whacking me with the handsomest bludgeon in town. I'm looking at this gorgeous thing you've given me and I'm thinking back to the first devilish whisper of an idea that came to him and everything since and it seems to me that this sprang like a golden sapling out of the mad, beautiful head of Paul Thomas Anderson.

I wish my son and my partner HW Plainview were up here with me, the mighty Dillon Freasier. So many people to thank. One amongst them would be Mrs. Plainview down there, the enchantingly optimistic, open-minded and beautiful Rebecca Miller.

I hope that all those to whom I owe and to whom I feel the deepest gratitude will forgive me if I say just simply, "Thank you, Paul."

I've been thinking a lot about fathers and sons in the course of this, and I'd like to accept this in the memory of my grandfather, Michael Balcon, my father, Cecil Day-Lewis, and my three fine boys, Gabriel, Ronan and Cashel. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you.

Adapted Screenplay

Joel Coen:
Thank you very much for this. Thank you, Scott Rudin for bringing us this novel and giving us the opportunity to make the movie. I think whatever success we've had in this area has been entirely attributable to how selective we are. We've only adapted Homer and Cormac McCarthy, so thank you.

Ethan Coen:
We, uh... Thank you very much.

Directing

Ethan Coen:
I don't have a lot to add to what I said earlier. Thank you.

Joel Coen:
Ethan and I have been making stories with movie cameras since we were kids. In the late '60s when Ethan was 11 or 12, he got a suit and a briefcase and we went to the Minneapolis International Airport with a Super 8 camera and made a movie about shuttle diplomacy called "Henry Kissinger, Man on the Go." And honestly, what we do now doesn't feel that much different from what we were doing then. There are too many people to thank for this. We're really thrilled to have received it, and we're very thankful to all of you out there for letting us continue to play in our corner of the sandbox, so thank you very much.

Tarsem Singh has finally directed a second movie (his first was the J-Lo, Vince Vaughn vehicle The Cell), although this was actually made two years ago. The cast was largely unknowns, but the lead (Lee Pace) has gone on to star in the ABC show Pushing Daisies. The point to all this is that David Fincher and Spike Jonze loved it and felt it needed to be seen, so it will be re-released in April on a larger scale. The movie may still be an incoherent mess, but this trailer is the most beautiful thing you'll see all day.

Even in this short clip I was bored with the songs from Enchanted.

I had an alternate opening line, mine as well use that one too.

Even in this short clip Jenifer Hudson annoys me.

It goes on about a minute too long but Bill Hader has the Daniel Plainview voice down to a T.

chuffed - adj - generally happy with life. You can also get away with saying you are "unchuffed" or "dischuffed" if something gets your back up. Make sure you only use this word in the correct tense and familiarise yourself with the meaning of the word "chuff" too.

I love how disinterested Harrison Ford looks during the entire choir section of this video, then in one sudden burst he is completely into it.

The video is down. You can head over to Jimmy Kimmel's website to see it. Or just wait a while, I'm sure it will show back up on YouTube.

One more, the best final shot from any movie last year. These are from In Contention, who did a top ten best images of last year. These two are from his runners up.

I think this is my single favorite image from There Will Be Blood.

And the Oscars went to:

Best Costume Design: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Best Animated Feature Film: "Ratatouille"
Best Makeup: "La Vie en Rose"
Best Visual Effects: "The Golden Compass"
Best Art Direction: "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Best Short Film - Live Action: "The Mozart of Pickpockets"
Best Short Film - Animated: "Peter & the Wolf"
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"
Best Adapted Screenplay: "No Country for Old Men"
Best Sound Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum"
Best Sound Mixing: "The Bourne Ultimatum"
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
Best Film Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum"
Best Foreign Language Film: "The Counterfeiters"
Best Music - Original Song: "Once"
Best Cinematography: "There Will Be Blood"
Best Music - Original Score: "Atonement"
Best Documentary - Short Subject: "Freeheld"
Best Documentary - Feature: "Taxi to the Dark Side"
Best Original Screenplay: "Juno"
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Best Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Best Picture: "No Country for Old Men"

I know this means nothing but I predicted 14 out of the 24 categories last night. Missing mostly on the tech awards, Transformers really let me down. I also was wrong Julie Christie winning for Best Actress but correctly predicted Tilda Swinton winning in an upset for Best Supporting Actress, the only category that I don't think I picked the favorite.

Apparently it was Colin Farrell who asked the producers if Marketa Irglova could go back out on the stage and deliver her speech.

"This sprang like a golden sapling out of the mad beautiful head of Paul Thomas Anderson." - From Daniel Day-Lewis' Best Actor speech.

Denzel with a shaved head giving out Best Picture. Bring the Coen's back out? There can't be an upset now. Paul Thomas Anderson will have another chance. The Coen's turn back around, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN! Standing ovation, Cormac McCarthy starts it. It is sort of amazing that this kind of movie can win this, it completely deserves it. A perfect movie. A lot of mentions of Sydney Pollack tonight, is he close to death? I read somewhere he is. Not the best show but I am happy about all the awards. I'll have more on this later and tomorrow.

The great Martin Scorsese for director. A great clip first of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau presenting an old director award. Man, I could watch this guy talk for hours. Lets see...Joel and Ethan Coen, good, great. This has to mean best picture is in the bag. Funniest speech so far, they have Scorsese laughing. They still look like they don't quite belong there. PT Anderson looked a bit upset.

Best Actor time, we get the montage first and now Helen Mirren. I need to watch some more John Wayne movies. I never knew that Laurence Fishburne was nominated for an Oscar for What's Love Got To Do With It. Biggest upset of the night if Day-Lewis doesn't win. "I've abandoned my child! I've abandoned my child! I've abandoned my boy!" Day-Lewis wins! Kisses George Clooney on the way to the podium, kneels before Helen Mirren. A PT Anderson movie now has two Oscars.

Just realized they left Brad Renfro out of the death montage. Harrison Ford comes out with his earring. Best Original Screenplay. I just saw a clip with Paul Schneider in it at the Oscars. It goes to Diablo Cody for Juno, no surprise. She only thanks people then leaves the mic abbruptly crying. She looks mad walking off stage.

He is also handing out Best Documentary Feature. Taxi to the Dark Side, I missed a special screening of this Tuesday before last, seeing In Bruges instead. Maybe I should have gone. "Here is to all doc filmmakers."

"Tom Hanks out has no place being here tonight." Hanks giving out Best documentary short subject, probably another. He also shows some soldiers in "a place right down La Brea avenue, Baghdad." The Soldiers are giving out the award, reading the nominees and winner. It goes to Freeheld. Don't know this one but these two girls get to go hug Tom Hanks.

Amy Adams is out here again, bBest Score. I need to buy Rocky on DVD, I just thought of that. Dario Marianelli for Atonement. My favorite of the group, was also a fan of Ratatouille, which I just downloaded a song from on iTunes.

Hilary Swank introduces the In Memoriam sequence. I never knew Lazlo Kovacks shot The Karate Kid. Ingmar Bergman gets the biggest round of applause, Heath Ledger is right below that and gets the final clip.

Now Cameron Diaz for cinematography, one of my favorite categories. I wonder if Roger Deakins will split his vote with his two nominations. Robert Elswit for There Will Be Blood, I have no problem with that. Not at all.

After the commercial break Jon Stewart has Marketa Irglova come back out so she can talk. She has the best speech so far, best moment so far too. I'll find a transcript of this tomorrow and post it.

The song ends and people were still dancing and John Travolta dances in, that was okay. His hair looks like astroturf. This is for best song, Falling Slowly, right? It has to be. And it is. They both look giddy, smiling, and pumping fists. Glen Hansard, I think I misspelled his name earlier. They put the music up before Marketa Irglova can speak. Then take it back down so she that she, by that time she is already walking off. Hansard;"Make art, make art." Jon Stewart quips, "That guy is so arrogant."

Penelope Cruz to give the award for Foreign Language film. The Counterfeiters takes. I don't think this has even opened here yet, saw a trailer for it but that is all. Onto another song from Enchanted. This is the worst one yet.

Nicole Kidman doing something, she looks plastic. Honorary Oscar, to 98 year-old production designer Robert Boyle.Wow, this guy has worked on some amazing films throughout his career, and looks and sounds great for being 98. After a standing ovation "That's the good part of getting old, I don't recommend the other."

Renee Zellweger to hand out Best Editing, goes to Christopher Rouse for The Bourne Ultimatum. So far that film is the big winner of the night with three. For the No Country clip they show a picture of a man that seems to be about 90 as Roderick Jaynes. Usually this is a hint as to who will win Best Picture, not this year.

A montage of all the past best picture winners. I love that they are showing all the original movie posters of these films.

Falling Slowly is by far the best performance of the night. They play with a full string section and horns. Drums just came in too. Glen Hansgard keeps looking back at Marketa Irglova smiling, looking like he can't believe he is there. They end the song a little early, that was strange.

Already doing Best Actress, this seems really early. Or it later in the show than I think it is. I need to see four of these films, I'm really not sure why I haven't yet. It goes to Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose. This is by far the biggest surprise of the night. I am either renting this movie after the program or later this week. "Thank you life, thank you love and it is true there are some angels in this city." Maybe the best speech so far.

Jonah Hill and Seth Rogan to present something, they were introduced as Halle Berry and Dame Judi Dench. The duo look strikingly similar. It's for Best Sound Editing, which goes to people working on The Bourne Ultimatum. I read somewhere that Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon had agreed to do another Bourne film. I have no idea how they are going to do that, the third one ended just perfectly. Seth and Jonah back to do Best Sound Mixing, The Bourne Ultimatum wins again. That makes something like 20 straight losses for Kevin O'Connell, who worked on Transformers.

Is Miley Cyrus the real one or Hannah Montana?

Josh Brolin and James MacAvoy dance their way to the podium. Quoting famous lines from movies in the past. Brolin does a Nicholson impression then apologizes to Jack saying it was one of the worst Nicholson impressions in the history of the world. The Coesn's win! They almost seem embarrassed to be up there. Short and strange speeches.

A Best Supporting Actress montage. Alan Arkin handing it out. This is up in the air, anyone who wins will be a surprise. Tilda Swinton wins. I actually predicted that, a pat on my back. She looks completely shocked. A sign of good things to come for Michael Clayton or its one consolation award? She makes fun of George Clooney for being in Batman and Robin. Says her agent has the same butt as the Oscar statue.

Animated Short with an Animated Jerry Seinfeld introducing, in character from Bee Movie. These look good, interesting. Especially the Peter & the Wolf one and I Met the Walrus. Peter & the Wolf wins. I'm going to try to find a place to see that one.

Here is something I always forget about; Academy Award nominee Owen Wilson. Not the Owen Wilson part but that he was nominated for an Oscar. Best Live Action short film, I think all these are foreign. Nope, their is one in English. Le Mozart Des Pickpockets wins. Owen Wilson looks bored.

A song I have never heard from August Rush. Ten seconds in and it's already better than the Amy Adams number.

I like this. "If the writers strike would have continued we would have had to pad the show with even more montages, here is a taste of that. Oscar's salute to binoculars and periscopes."

A montage of best supporting actor winners. They show a clip of Cuba Gooding Jr.'s speech which is a better performance then any movie he has been in the past ten years. Jenifer Hudson to present, something about her annoys me. Good choices of clips for the nominees, the award goes to Javier Bardem. Even the way Hudson announced the winner annoyed me, and I think she was chewing gum. He totally deserves this. He dedicates the award to his mother in Spanish. He also talks faster than Martin Scorsese on coke.

Cate Blanchett for Art Direction. Goes Sweeney Todd, crap. I really wanted Jack Fisk and There Will Be Blood to win this. Not that the Todd team doesn't deserve it. No good speeches so far, the only real highlight has been a nice Steve Carell bit during his presentation.

The Rock is there, handing out best VFX. The People's Champion hands the award to the team from The Golden Compass. The clip they chose to show looked like one of those Coke commercials where the panda bears are drinking cola. I can't rally see how Transformers got beat, it was easily the best visual effects I saw all last year.

Pretty sure Amy Adams is lip synching her song from Enchanted. A boring performance, nothing is happening, she is just out there moving her arms a lot. Just got a text message from Max saying that Jon Stewart sucks as the host. He was trying to come up with who would be a good host and thought of Conan O'Brien, Casey mentioned Henry Winkler.

Katherine Heigl has shaky voice. Gives out the best makeup Oscar to La Vie En Rose.I need to see this movie. Woah, the guy who won just stepped out of the 1980's.

An oddly edited together montage of past Oscar moments. Now Best Animated Feature. Did Steve Carell just say shit? I just realized there was no montage at the start of the show featuring John Stewart, I am always a big fan of those. Ratatouille wins, no surprise there. Brad Bird tells a story that he told in a recent article about him.

John Stewart's monologue was good not great. Pretty straight forward. But what do you expect when you only have two weeks to plan an awards show. Now Jenifer Garner is up to present Costume Design. The person who designed for Elizabeth won. 0 for 1 on my predictions so far.

WESLEY SNIPES IS THERE!

That might have been the lamest opening to any award show I have seen. I take that back, last years was worse.

I'm putting the under over at five reaction shots to Jack Nicholson. Regis just called Javier Bardem Xavier.

Is this is the Oscars or a Miley Cyrus concert?

Helen Mirren's arms came from the future to attend the Oscars.

I'm not sure if anyone of these red carpet hosts have ever seen the Oscars before, or a movie.

Here we go, the red carpet show is starting. Regis just made a decent joke, I am predicting that will be his only one. Just to get the picture clear, below is a video of the set up for the awards show. I also have a pizza from Rocco's in the kitchen and an orange soda in the fridge. It will be quite the evening.

So a little late but here are my Oscar predictions.

Best Visual Effects

Transformers
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
The Golden Compass

My Pick: Transformers
My Preference: Transformers
Should've Been Nominated: Zodiac

Big robots smashing around down town Los Angeles looks cool.

Best Sound Mixing

Transformers
The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country for Old Men
3:10 to Yuma
Ratatouille

My Pick: Transformers
My Preference: No Country for Old Men
Should've Been Nominated: I'm not even sure what this category means.

The sound in No Country is one of the small things that makes it so great. Virtually no music but just the atmosphere makes it one of the tensest films I have ever seen.

Best Sound Editing

The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood
Transformers

My Pick: Transformers
My Preference: No Country for Old Men
Should've Been Nominated: See above answer.

See above answer.

Best Live-Action Short Film

"At Night"
"Il Supplente" ("The Substitute")
"Les Mozart des Pickpockets" ("The Mozart of Pickpockets")
"Tanghi Argentini"
"The Tonto Woman"

My Pick: "Il Supplente"
My Preference: "Il Supplente"
Should've Been Nominated: Austin & Rivers

I haven't seen any of these, just guessing for the hell of it.

Best Animated Short

"I Met the Walrus"
"Madame Tutli-Putli"
"Meme les Pigeons Vont au Paradis" ("Even Pigeons Go to Heaven")
"My Love" ("Moya Lyubov")
"Peter and the Wolf"

My Pick: "I Met the Walrus"
My Preference: "I Met the Walrus"
Should've Been Nominated: "Lifted"

I saw the trailer for "I Met the Walrus" and that is the most footage I've seen from any of these. I picked "Lifted" because it played in the theater before Ratatouille.

Best Documentary (Short Subject)

"Freeheld"
"La Corona"
"Salim Baba"
"Sari's Mother"

My Pick: "Sari's Mother"
My Preference: No opinion.
Should've Been Nominated: No opinion.

No idea.

Best Makeup

La Vie en Rose
Norbit
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

My Pick: La Vie en Rose
My Preference: Norbit
Should've Been Nominated: Grindhouse

I want to see Norbit win an Oscar to go with its Razzies.

Best Art Direction

American Gangster
Atonement
The Golden Compass
Sweeney Todd
There Will Be Blood

My Pick: There Will Be Blood
My Preference: There Will Be Blood
Should've Been Nominated: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

You never once think while watching There Will Be Blood that you aren't in the early 1900's. Also, give it to Jack Fisk for the work he did in Days of Heaven.

Best Costume Design

Albert Wolsky - Across the Universe
Jacqueline Durran - Atonement
Alexandra Byrne - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Marit Allen - La Vie en Rose
Colleen Atwood - Sweeney Todd

My Pick: Jacqueline Durran - Atonement
My Preference: Colleen Atwood - Sweeney Todd
Should've Been Nominated: Who ever designed the clothes in There Will Be Blood

I picked Todd because it is the most costumey (pretty sure that isn't a real word) of the nominees.

Best Score

Dario Marinelli - Atonement
Alberto Iglesias - The Kite Runner
James Newton Howard - Michael Clayton
Michael Giacchino - Ratatouille
Marco Beltrami - 3:10 to Yuma

My Pick: Dario Marinelli - Atonement
My Preference: Dario Marinelli - Atonement
Should've Been Nominated - Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Since the score from There Will Be Blood was disqualified I'll pick Atonement, just for the use of a typewriter as a musical instrument.

Best Original Song

"Falling Slowly" - Once
"Happy Working Song" - Enchanted
"Raise It Up" - August Rush
"So Close" - Enchanted
"That's How You Know" - Enchanted

My Pick: "Falling Slowly" - Once
My Preference: "Falling Slowly" - Once
Should've Been Nominated: "Guaranteed" - Into the Wild

Eddie Veddar really should have been nominated. Three songs from Enchanted? Really?

Best Editing

Christopher Rouse - The Bourne Ultimatum
Juliette Welfling - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jay Cassidy - Into the Wild
Roderick Jaynes - No Country for Old Men
Dylan Tichenor - There Will Be Blood

My Pick: Christopher Rouse - The Bourne Ultimatum
My Preference: Roderick Jaynes - No Country for Old Men
Should've Been Nominated: No complaints

The Bourne Ultimatum has the showier editing but No Country for Old Men is absolutely perfectly paced.

Best Cinematography

Roger Deakins - The Assassination of Jesse of James by the Coward Robert Ford
Seamus McGarvey - Atonement
Janusz Kaminski - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Roger Deakins - No Country for Old Men
Robert Elswit - There Will Be Blood

My Pick: Robert Elswit - There Will Be Blood
My Preference: Roger Deakins - The Assassination of Jesse of James by the Coward Robert Ford
Should've Been Nominated: Eric Gautier - Into the Wild

To be honest, I will be happy no matter who wins this category. They are all deserving nominees.

Best Documentary Feature

No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the War Experience
Sicko
Taxi to the Darkside
War/Dance

My Pick: No End in Sight
My Preference: No End in Sight
Should've Been Nominated: King of Kong

It's sad but I haven't seen any of these.

Best Animated Feature

Ratatouille
Persepolis
Surf's Up

My Pick: Ratatouille
My Prerence: Ratatouille
Should've Been Nominated: The Simpsons Movie

No contest.

Best Foreign Language Film

Beaufort (Israel)
Mongol (Kazakhstan)
12 (Russia)
The Counterfeitters (Austria)
Katyn (Poland)

My Pick: The Counterfeitters
My Preference: Mongol
Should've Been Nominated: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Diving Bell is the only foreign language film I can remember seeing.

Best Writing: Adapted Screenplay

Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Ronald Harwood - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Christopher Hampton - Atonement
Sarah Polley - Away from Her

My Pick: Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
My Preference: Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Should've Been Nominated: Sean Penn - Into the Wild

The Coen's probably deserve this, it's a wonderful script and the only reason I picked PTA as my preference is that they have already won and Oscar for writing. Part of me thinks Ronald Harwood could sneak up and win this.

Best Original Screenplay

Diablo Cody - Juno
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Tamra Jenkins - The Savages
Brad Bird - Ratatouille
Nancy Oliver - Lars and the Real Girl

My Pick: Diablo Cody - Juno
My Preference: Diablo Cody - Juno
Should've Been Nominated: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg - Superbad

Cody has won everything else, what about a Ratatouille upset? Big fans of all of these (except The Savages, which I have yet to see).

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Ruby Dee - American Gangster

My Pick: Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
My Preference: Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Should've Been Nominated: Emily Mortimer - Lars and the Real Girl

The most wide open of the major categories . I am picking this category for an upset because picking all the favorites is no fun. Also, this is the one category the Academy could show its love of Michael Clayton.

Best Supporting Actor

Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War

My Pick: Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
My Preference: Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Should've Been Nominated: No complaints

Any one of these deserve to win. I am also a huge fan of Holbrook's work in Into the Wild but Affleck made me look at him in a whole new light after seeing his film.

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
Julie Christie - Away from Her
Ellen Page - Juno
Laura Linney - The Savages
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age

My Pick: Julie Christie - Away from Her
My Preference: Ellen Page - Juno
Should've Been Nominated: Keira Knightly - Atonement

Christie has pretty much won everything so I don't see anything changing.

Best Actor

Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah

My Pick: Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
My Preference: Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Should've Been Nominated: Emile Hirsch - Into the Wild

He's finished.

Best Director

Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman - Juno

My Pick: Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
My Preference: Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
Should've Been Nominated: Andrew Dominik - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford


Could Julian Schnabel upset here? I also wanted to pick PTA but I don't want it to seem like I'm not a fan of No Country. The Coen's are also due.

Best Picture

No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Juno
Michael Clayton
Atonement

My Pick: No Country for Old Men
My Preference: There Will Be Blood
Should've Been Nominated: Into the Wild

If anything but No Country wins it will be one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history. If it loses its because of the ending, sort of how Brokeback Mountain lost because of homophobia. If there is an upset I would pick it being Michael Clayton.

Sill leaves something to be desired with the editing but this one is better than the last.

Here are the Independent Spirit Award winners:

Robert Altman Award

• Todd Haynes, Laura Rosenthal and the cast of I’m Not There

Best Director

• Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Male Lead

• Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Savages

Best Female Lead

• Ellen Page, Juno
  

Best Feature

• Juno

Best Supporting Male

• Chiwetel Ejiofor, Talk To Me

Bests First Screenplay

• Diablo Cody, Juno

Best First Feature

• The Lookout

Best Supporting Female

• Cate Blanchett

John Cassavetes Award

• August Evening

Best Foreign Film

• Once

Best Screenplay

• Tamara Jenkins, The Savages

Best Documentary

• Crazy Love

Best Cinematography

• Janusz Kaminski, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Steven Spielberg's dramatic feature based on the protesters accused of starting the riot outside the 1968 Democratic Convention, The Trial of the Chicago 7, will be delaying production for the foreseeable future.

The story started earlier today when Collider was reporting that Spielberg dropped out of the project. In fact, Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily and Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider went to their own sources and got the real story, that Aaron Sorkin's script wasn't quite ready and that Spielberg was worried about a potential actors' strike in June to start production in April. The project isn't scrapped and Spielberg will continue developing the script with Sorkin, the creator of The West Wing and screenwriter of the recent Charlie Wilson's War, and producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, but they didn't want to hold up the cast or crew from getting work in the spring in case SAG can't work out a new contract with AMPTP and choose to strike.

Nikki Finke's article also debunked the rumors that Will Smith would be playing Black Panther activist Bobby Seale, stating that only Sacha Baron Cohen had been cast as Abbie Hoffman and that the rest of the Chicago defendants would be played by unknowns to keep the costs down.

Dominic Monaghan has been cast in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which Gavin Hood (Tsotsi) is directing from a David Benioff screenplay. The former Lost and Lord of the Rings star will play Barnell, a mysterious character from Wolverine's past with the ability to manipulate energy and electricity. Daniel Henney (My Father) has also just been cast as Agent Zero, a member of the Weapon X program and an expert tracker with lethal marksman skills.

This is from I Watch Stuff and sent to me by Lauren.

Universal Pictures and Hasbro have announced a six-year partnership that will produce at least four films based on the following games: Monopoly, Candy Land, Ouija, Battleship, Magic: The Gathering, and Stretch Armstrong. Aside from Ridely Scott's inexplicable involvement in the Monopoly project, very little is known about how the properties would be developed into feature films. So how about I pitch some ideas?

Ouija - A group of gullible teenagers attribute a string of recent murders to a ghost, only to find out it was just their asshole friend doing it. (Note: This should be made in Asia first, then remade here.)

Clue - A wealthy mansion-owner invites a group of similarly affluent guests over to watch Clue.

Battleship - A hotshot naval commander attempts a daring new formation of lining up his fleet in a row along the border. This fails, but the young leader still finds victory after the enemy can't find his fucking destroyer.

Monopoly - A light-hearted gathering erupts in argument; the film ends abruptly.

Stretch Armstrong - This movie (and toy) should never be made, but will star Jim Carrey and a lot of low-budget CGI.

Candy Land - A band of outcast teenagers find themselves in a colorful, candy-coated world where their movements are dictated by color. It turns out they're just really, really high.

Magic: The Gathering - An exciting battle between a powerful orc shaman and a dwarf paladin suddenly becomes dull when someone realizes it's a card game.

Any other/better ideas? It seems like the Magic movie should work in woeful virginity, but I'm not sure how.

The secret to Daniel Day-Lewis' amazing performance in There Will Be Blood? According to this it was all about the hat. The main reason I am posting this is so you can click on that link above and what frustrates me to no end. They have an article on a piece of clothing, with a photo, yet they have an ad covering up half of the whole thing. You would think they would want people to see what they are actually talking about.

Another reason why I really like George Clooney. He is frank and to the point here and doesn't just plead the fifth and not answer the questions. He answers exactly what he thinks the winners will be and even takes a little shot at his own film. Basically what I am talking about, over at Time Clooney predicts the Oscars.

I am pretty sure Michel Gondry has never seen this show before.

Variety reports that David Fincher will direct Black Hole for Paramount Pictures. Based on Charles Burns' graphic novel, Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman were set to adapt the screenplay in March 2006.

This is how the book is described:

Suburban Seattle, the mid-1970s. We learn from the out-set that a strange plague has descended upon the area's teenagers, transmitted by sexual contact. The disease is manifested in any number of ways - from the hideously grotesque to the subtle (and concealable) - but once you've got it, that's it. There's not turning back.

As we inhabit the heads of several key characters - some kids who have it, some who don't, some who are about to get it - what unfolds isn't the expected battle to fight the plague, or bring heightened awareness to it , or even to treat it. What we become witness to instead is a fascinating and eerie portrait of the nature of high school alienation itself - the savagery, the cruelty, the relentless anxiety and ennui, the longing for escape.

And then the murders start.

As hypnotically beautiful as it is horrifying, Black Hole transcends its genre by deftly exploring a specific American cultural moment in flux and the kids who are caught in it- back when it wasn't exactly cool to be a hippie anymore, but Bowie was still just a little too weird.

To say nothing of sprouting horns and molting your skin...

After posting the scenes to this years best picture nominees I came across this clip (via Red Carpet District)of one of the best films, and probably the biggest tragedy that it wasn't a bigger success, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. This clip contains a fairly large spoiler but the spoiler is also contained in the tile. It's not so much what happens in the scene as to how. This is the emotional turning point and the most important scene in the entire film, it also contains pitch perfect performances, music and editing.

Down below I said that the Coen Brothers scene at the gas station is the best written scene of last year, I will throw this out as being the best directed scene from any film in the past 12 months.

Watchmen director Zack Snyder has posted a new blog about the end of filming for the big screen adaptation of the graphic novel. He has also included this new image featuring Rorschach from the film.

I promise to refrain from getting too sentimental, but I want to take a moment to say thanks to the Watchmen cast & crew. You have all been phenomenal. It has been quite an experience and I could not have done it without the hard work and determination of each and every one of you. A film adaptation of Watchmen has been in the works for almost 20 years and thanks to you, it is finally in the can. It has been such a pleasure to be surrounded by a team that is so dedicated and that has given 110% each and every day. I am extremely grateful for the level of attention to detail put forth by each department to capture all of the texture that makes Watchmen the incredibly unique property that it is. Although we still have a lot of work to do in post, the shoot has been an experience I will not soon forget!

Thank you,

Zack

P.S. While I'm in the process of thanking people, I figure it's a good time to say thanks to the Watchmen fans for all of their continued support. Since the crew got wrap gifts, I figured you deserved a little something as well. So, to bring a little closure to the previous "Storyboard" blog, I've included a frame from the film that shows what it looks like when it all comes together. Thanks!

Richard Corliss over at Time Magazine has gone back and reevaluated the 1998 Academy Awards. While he makes some convincing arguments I don't agree with all of his choices. It's hard to argue against Titanic winning best picture, that wasn't simply a movie, it was a phenomenon. It wasn't my favorite movie that year but I think it definitely deserved that award. How could you not reward it for the massive success that it was? I remember trying to see it about six weeks after its release and it still being sold out of all shows that night. Below are my revisionist Oscar's (my pick for winners are in bold) for that year, go over here to see Corliss' picks.

BEST ACTOR
Jack Nicholson: As Good As It Gets (Oscar winner)
Matt Damon: Good Will Hunting
Robert Duvall: The Apostle
Peter Fonda: Ulee's Gold
Dustin Hoffman: Wag the Dog

Duvall's performance is one of my favorite of all time. He throws himself head first into this movie and never looks back until the very last credit has appeared onscreen. It's hard to go against Jack, since he is one of my favorites but Duvall reaches another level that is just above all the other actors.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robin Williams: Good Will Hunting (Oscar winner)
Robert Forster: Jackie Brown
Anthony Hopkins: Amistad
Greg Kinnear: As Good as It Gets
Burt Reynolds: Boogie Nights

All of these performances are good and I am a big fan of Robin Williams' work in Good Will Hunting but Reynolds probably deserves it more. As the matriarch of a dysfunctional family he holds the entire film together and it about the only one in the film that can see the whole picture, not just what is in front of their eyes.

BEST ACTRESS
Helen Hunt: As Good as It Gets (Oscar winner)
Helena Bonham Carter: The Wings of the Dove
Julie Christie: Afterglow
Judi Dench: Mrs. Brown
Kate Winslet: Titanic

I'm agreeing with Oscar here, for no other reason than I haven't seen two of these performances and I can't really remember Julie Christie in Afterglow. Not because she was bad but because I think the last time I saw that movie was about 8 years ago.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kim Basinger: L.A. Confidential (Oscar winner)
Joan Cusack: In & Out
Minnie Driver: Good Will Hunting
Julianne Moore: Boogie Nights
Gloria Stuart: Titanic

There is one moment I absolutely love from Good Will Hunting. It is when Minnie Driver and Matt Damon are laying in bed and she tells him she says "I can be in the NBA. I'm tall, I like to wear shorts. Hook! Hook! Dunk! Dunk! Baby, I'm all about three points." That isn't enough to get my vote though. I think I am going with Moore here because that is my favorite film out of the five nominees.

BEST PICTURE
Titanic (Oscar winner)
As Good as It Gets
The Full Monty
Good Will Hunting
L.A. Confidential

Like I said above, Titanic is not my favorite movie of this year (Hell, it is fourth out of just those five nominees) but it is hard to not vote for it when it accomplished so much and was such an enormous hit. When you go back and watch it, its really a great film. Sure there is the clunky dialogue and simple story but those final minutes as the ship is sinking into the ocean more than make up for any shortcomings. The film also has the absolute perfect ending for this story.

When I first read this casting announcement I got excited because I thought it said Burt Reynolds was joining the cast of Wolverine. But alas, we will not get to see the over stretched face of the septagenarian playing some sort of mutant, instead Ryan Reynolds is the newest member of the X-Men Origins: Wolverine cast. Also joining the prequel are Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch and hip-hop musician Will.i.am. The comic-book franchise film — due to start shooting this month in Australia, with Rendition director Gavin Hood behind the camera — will also feature Hugh Jackman (reprising the title role, which he played in the three previous X-Men movies), Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, and Lynn Collins.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is in negotiations to play the role of iconic DJ The Count in writer/director Richard Curtis's (Bridget Jones's Diary) The Boat That Rocked. The film recounts the true story of a British pirate radio station that operated from a boat in the North Sea when the BBC was only broadcasting two hours of pop music each week in the '60s. Other Rocked stars include Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh, Rhys Ifans, and January Jones.

Beyonce Knowles has signed on to star in and executive produce the upcoming 1950s period movie Cadillac Records. Beyonce will play blues singer Etta James in the film, about the seminal Chicago record label Chess Records and its founder, Leonard Chess, who started out selling albums out of his Cadillac. James, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Chuck Berry are among the legends who recorded on Chess. Darnell Martin (Their Eyes Were Watching God) is directing and also wrote the screenplay. Adrien Brody has already been cast as Chess, and Jeffrey Wright (Waters), Cedric the Entertainer (Willie Dixon), and Columbus Short (Little Walter) are also on board.

I hope she is better here than in Dreamgirls, which this sounds similar to. Watching that film again Beyonce is the weak acting link, seemingly surrounded by much more talented screen presences. While I'm not the biggest fan of Jenifer Hudson's performance at least she shows a multitude of emotions, Beyonce just seems to be there doing nothing.

Here are a selection scenes from this years best picture nominees.

No Country for Old Men-Maybe the most perfectly written scene all year.



There Will Be Blood-One of my favorite scenes in my favorite movie of last year.



Juno-The opening credits, the best of any last year.



Michael Clayton-There is a great moment right after this where Tom Wilkinson offers George Clooney a piece of bread.



Atonement-The first part of that amazing tracking shot.

Spike Jonze has commented on that leaked clip of Where the Wild Things Are.

"That was a very early test with the sole purpose of just getting some footage to Ben our vfx (visual effects) supervisor to see if our vfx plan for the faces would work," Jonze said. "The clip doesn't look or feel anything like the movie, the Wild Thing suit is a very early cringy prototype, and the boy is a friend of ours Griffin who we had used in a Yeah Yeah Yeahs video we shot a few weeks before. We love him, but he is not in the actually film...Oh and that is not a wolf suit, its a lamb suit we bought on the internet."

There Will Be Graffiti

Two stories landed this week, from the AP and USA Today respectively, regarding Marfa, Texas, the filming location of No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood last year.

Here's a look at Scott Bowles' piece at USA Today:

Not that many Marfans have seen either film. The closest theater is in Alpine, 26 miles east. The tiny Rangra Theater, however, does have two screens. One is showing No Country, the other Blood. Neither sells out much.

"I thought they were OK," retired rancher Bill Owens, 61, says over an enormous dill pickle, a favorite theater concession. "I hope they win (Oscars) because it'll be good for Marfa. A little artsy-fartsy, though. They weren't no Giant, I'll tell you that."

Here is a link to the AP story, via Yahoo Movies.

I wanted to like this much more than I did but it is too hastily edited and doesn't seem to follow any singular thread throughout its running time. There doesn't seem to be any real rhyme or reason as to what clip selected from any of the movies. We see a few moments from I'm Not There but they don't all focus on Cate Blanchett and Emile Hirsch shows up when Hal Holbrook is the only representative from Into the Wild. But by the time it gets to showing There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men everything feels right again and this is a good excuse to be reminded of all the great films from last year.

The clip also sort of lost me at the end, when it is revealed to be dedicated to Heath Ledger.

From The Wall Street Journal:

Toshiba announced on Tuesday (Feb. 19) that it is halting production on its HD DVD players and recorders, ceding the market to Sony's Blu-Ray high definition format. Toshiba said there was no longer any chance of HD DVD winning out between the two formats, especially after Time Warner announced last month that it would side with Blu-ray and Best Buy and Wal-Mart's recent decisions to only sell Sony's format. Toshiba said it sold about one million HD DVD players, including players that can be attached to Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, compared to Blu-ray's 6.3 million sold, including Sony's PlayStation 3 units, which can play the format. Sony's victory can help the company erase memories of its loss in the videocassette war of the 1980s, when its Betamax format lost out to VHS.

In case anybody missed it here is that clip from Where the Wild Things Are. I still have no idea what this is, as it is being reported as everything from test footage that was distributed to studio heads circa holiday 2005 to get studio backing for the film to something from the final product. Either way, enjoy.

Ever wanted to know why Peter Bogdanovich wears that thing around his neck? You didn't? Well, someone over at The Huffington Post did and he was kind enough to answer. He also answers questions about his sleeves and what kind of jacket he was wearing the last time he saw Cary Grant with just enough smug self importance to make himself still seem relevant. But the guy mad The Last Picture Show, so what are you going to do?

You have developed a very distinct signature style of wearing ascots. How did that start?

They are not ascots. An ascot is usually silk and an English thing. I'm just wearing a bandanna; it's not so fancy. Most of the time they are cotton and different sizes. It started when I was shooting The Last Picture Show in Texas, and I liked wearing it because it made me feel secure. I don't know why. But it feels cozy, and I kept wearing it.

Sometime later today or tomorrow Lauren is going to offer up a guest review of Step Up 2: Step Upper. I'm sure that is not actually what it is called and I can't bring myself to go over to IMDB to find out the real title. To get everyone a little warmed up for that I offer up her review of the original Step Up.

I finally saw the film Step Up. It was pretty intense. If by intense I mean terrible. And by terrible I mean awesome. If by that, it is really awesome.

Again, it's in my favorite vein of movies where someone has to choose between _________ and jail. In this case, it was dancing. Dancing or jail. I wish these were the sort of situations that presented themselves to me on a daily basis.

The premise of this film is that Tyler (the main character) and his homeboys Mac and Skinny leave a party and break into the Maryland School of the Arts. Mac and Skinny get away, while Tyler gets caught. By the judge, Tyler has to do community service at the scene of the crime. This gives him ample opportunity to demonstrate his dance skillz on the hood of a stolen car courtesy of Mac and Skinny after work. This grabs the attention of dance aficionado Nora, who is in desperate need of a dance partner for the Senior Showcase.

Interesting things I have to point out:

-Skinny has a scrolling marquee belt that says "SKINNY." I believe that Skinny is 12 years old.

-These guys hug. A lot. Mac and Tyler (and probably Skinny as well, but his character is really stupid so I don't remember half the time he was on screen) play basketball. Street basketball. You know it must be intense. So intense that they hug after every basket. It got to the point where they hugged more than me and my girlfriends, and we hug a lot.

-Nora and Tyler dance on a roof of some industrial building. You know, because that's where she used to go as a kid. Now seriously, who lets their kids hang out in the industrial district of Baltimore? That's really not ok.

-Eventually Tyler quits the dancing because Nora's partner comes back. He does, however, show up five minutes before her Senior Showcase and tell her he's ready to do it. They go with "the old routine."

-After all this (or maybe before some of this, who knows) 12 year old Skinny steals PJ's Escalade. PJ shoots him, and he dies.

That's why it's not a good idea to steal PJ's Escalade.

EDIT: Best quote of the movie:

Tyler: I know about having nothing. It sucks.

A clip from Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are has shown up online but will probably be pulled soon. You can tell it is a very early in the process with sound mixing off and effects missing. It's hard to judge this without context to the rest of the film but I really love the look of the whole thing. Magic hour filming with crazy animal costumes, two things you don't see in films much these days. It's also the strangest thing I've seen all week. In case the clip is pulled before anyone sees it, here a re a few stills from it.

UPDATE: There is part of me starting to think this actually isn't from the movie. I have no idea and there is no way to know for sure something feels a little off. I don't think this is fake by any means, it looks way too good, way too professional to be that (right?) but something still felt off. Then I saw this photo again, one that was released a while back and I noticed something. The costume in this photo and the one in the video are quite a bit different. Not only the shade on the one in the photo but also notice the crown worn there. Then again, maybe this photo is from a test and not the final costume. I am probably putting too much effort into this but the NBA All Star game is a little boring and I have nothing else to do.



UPDATE 2: I have watched this about five more times now. There is no way this is from a test, it looks way too great and there are too many angles and set ups for this to be a simple test. Of course, whatever this is it is still very early.

UPDATE 3: Maybe I was right with my initial thoughts, then again this just proves more that I know absolutely nothing. Film Ick (where I originally saw the video) is now reporting that this footage is form a test. What is says on their webiste:

[EDIT: I'm now told this clip was a test shot in the summer of 2005 in Griffith Park. And that's not the final Max, but Griffin Armstorff who improvised everything you see him do here. Presumably, Benicio Del Toro was then given dialogue to match the improv lines, but it's also fairly clear that the basic scene outline was probably preplanned first of all. On top of everything else, I think we can expect the finished film to look even better than this does]

Then again, Moriarty over at AICN has actually seen the film and offers more insight on the clip and says this looks like a real clip with actual work done to it.

Here are the ADG guild winners for Best Production Design for a Feature Film. Not really the most interesting of awards, just an excuse to post some pictures from the winners.

Period Film

• “There Will Be Blood” PD: Jack Fisk

Fantasy Film

• “The Golden Compass” PD: Dennis Gassner

Contemporary Film

• “No Country For Old Men” PD: Jess Gonchor

I posted a video for this about a week but it was taken down, now a brand new trailer has been posted online for M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening.

Ellen Page has signed on to star opposite Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins) in the psychological thriller Peacock. The film marks the third new project Page has joined in the last two months. (The other two are Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Whip It!, about a roller derby girl, and Sam Raimi's horror film Drag Me to Hell.) Peacock centers around Murphy's character, a split personality, who fools the small town of Peacock, Nebraska, into believing his two personalities are man and wife. Page plays a struggling mother who holds the key to Murphy's character's past, sparking a battle between his two personalities. Michael Lander will be making his feature directing debut on the script he co-wrote with Ryan Roy.

According to AICN three actors will continue on with the role played by Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. The three actors are Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. Who knows how this will play out? Its been a while since Gilliam has made a great film. If this does somehow come together it could be a nice tribute to Ledger's final performance.

What I am assuming is a better quality, non leaked red band trailer for David Gordon Green's Pineapple Express. I can't say any of this for sure because for some reason the age verification is not working for me, it says the information I have entered is incorrect. It also won't work for every other persons birthday and address that I know, because I have tried to enter that info too.

Announced presenters scheduled to appear at the 2008 Academy Awards, including all four of last year's winners in the acting categories—Alan Arkin, Jennifer Hudson, Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker—as well as Amy Adams, Jessica Alba, Cate Blanchett, Josh Brolin, Steve Carell, George Clooney, Penelope Cruz, Miley Cyrus, Patrick Dempsey, Cameron Diaz, Colin Farrell, Harrison Ford, Jennifer Garner, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway, Katherine Heigl, Jonah Hill, Dwayne Johnson, Nicole Kidman, James McAvoy, Queen Latifah, Seth Rogen, Martin Scorsese, Hilary Swank, John Travolta, Denzel Washington and Renée Zellweger.