Category: General

Howard Stern to Replace Simon Cowell?

According to the New York Post, Howard Stern is in talks to replace Simon Cowell on American Idol. Because Rupert Murdoch owns both the Post and Fox, the story has legs. Stern has repeatedly said on his radio show that he is the only person that could replace Cowell, but he wouldn’t be interested in the job. Is this whole thing one big negotiating ploy with Sirius because his contract is up at the end of the year? Will Stern retire from the industry altogether, as he often says he’d like to do? Time will tell.

Oscar Doesn’t Laugh

It has long been known that the Academy does not recognize comedy, and this year’s nominations were no exception. With the exception of Julie and Julia, none of the Golden Globe comedy winners were nominated for an Academy Award. Some insiders hoped that movies like The Hangover and (500) days of Summer would be nominated. However, this does beg the question of what exactly is a comedy? Though The Hangover is certainly a comedy, what about Up in the Air? Does that count? Apparently not, as it’s a “tragi-comedy.” Sigh…it’s all so confusing.

[Image via Aurelien]

War of the Roses

As you can see from the earlier post, Oscar nominations are in. James Cameron is predictably up against his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, for Best Director. Cameron and Bigelow were married from 1989-1991. Despite the title of this post, Cameron and Bigelow remain close friends and seem to be rooting for one another. In fact, Cameron even stated,”if [Kathryn] wins, I’ll be cheering.” Wow, how Demi and Bruce of them.

Oscar Nominations!!

Actor in a Leading Role
  • Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
  • George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
  • Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
  • Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
  • Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role

  • Matt Damon in “Invictus”
  • Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
  • Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
  • Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
  • Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role

  • Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
  • Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
  • Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
  • Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
  • Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role

  • Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
  • Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
  • Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
  • Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Animated Feature Film

  • “Coraline” Henry Selick
  • “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
  • “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
  • “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
  • “Up” Pete Docter

Art Direction

  • “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
  • “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
  • “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
  • “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
  • “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Cinematography

  • “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
  • “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
  • “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
  • “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
  • “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Costume Design

  • “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
  • “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
  • “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
  • “Nine” Colleen Atwood
  • “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Directing

  • “Avatar” James Cameron
  • “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
  • “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
  • “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
  • “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Documentary (Feature)

  • “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
  • “The Cove” Nominees to be determined
  • “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
  • “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
  • “Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

Documentary (Short Subject)

  • “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
  • “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
  • “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
  • “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
  • “Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Film Editing

  • “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
  • “District 9” Julian Clarke
  • “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
  • “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
  • “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

Foreign Language Film

  • “Ajami” Israel
  • “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
  • “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
  • “Un Prophète” France
  • “The White Ribbon” Germany

Makeup

  • “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
  • “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
  • “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Music (Original Score)

  • “Avatar” James Horner
  • “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
  • “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
  • “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
  • “Up” Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)

  • “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
  • “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
  • “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
  • “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
  • “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture

  • “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
  • “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
  • “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
  • “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
  • “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
  • “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
  • “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
  • “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
  • “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
  • “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

  • “French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
  • “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
  • “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
  • “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
  • “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

Short Film (Live Action)

  • “The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
  • “Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
  • “Kavi” Gregg Helvey
  • “Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
  • “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Sound Editing

  • “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
  • “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
  • “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
  • “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
  • “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Sound Mixing

  • “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
  • “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
  • “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
  • “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
  • “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Visual Effects

  • “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
  • “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
  • “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

  • “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
  • “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
  • “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
  • “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
  • “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Writing (Original Screenplay)

  • “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
  • “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
  • “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
  • “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
  • “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

[List provided via Oscar]

James Cameron calls himself a Jackass

Apparently Hollywood doesn’t have a sense of humor. Who knew? When James Cameron won the Oscar for Titanic in 1998 and declared himself “king of the world,” no one was amused. In hindsight, even Cameron himself seems to regret it. Is anyone aware that this was an actual line from Titanic? I think it’s time to lighten up a little.

[Image via Seattle Weekly]

Avatar v. Gone With the Wind

For some reason inflation seems to be the best kept secret when it comes to setting film records. While Avatar might have grossed an insane amount of money, it doesn’t even come close to Gone With the Wind, which would have earned 1.5 billion dollars domestically with today’s ticket prices. When Gone With the Wind was released in 1939, the Governor declared a state holiday, and tickets were 40 times the regular cost. Click the link below to see the list of top grossers when adjusted for inflation.

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm