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2009 Academy Awards Nominations

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:43:52 GMT

81st Annual Academy Award Nominations
Benjamin Button Becomes Not-So-Curious Oscar Frontrunner

David Fincher’s time-bending generational saga of a man who ages backwards The Curious Case of Benjamin Button emerged as the immediate front-runner to win the 81st annual Academy Award for Best Picture receiving 13 total nominations including nods for Best Director David Fincher, Actor Brad Pitt, Supporting Actress Taraji P. Henson and Adapted Screenplay. Close behind with ten total nomination was the indie underdog darling Slumdog Millionaire, but with no acting nods it seems the films chances at walking away with the year’s top honor must now be considered relatively slim.

2009 Academy Awards Predictions

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:03:29 GMT

Milk, Knight Have a Shot but Millionaire and Button Will Lead the Noms

We’re less then a week away from the big reveal. Next Thursday, Hollywood finishes up with the overture and hits us with the opening credits to this year’s 81st Academy Awards presentation with the announcement of the nominees. Everything else has been handed out, the pre-season is over, the big game itself the only thing left for the star players to practice and get in shape for.

BEST PICTURE
LOCKS: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire – Expect both David Fincher’s Americana epic and Danny Boyle’s Dickensonian hardscrabble Indian love story to lead the way with the most nominations.

MY PREDICTION: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Gran Torino, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire

Read this article in its entirety right here:
http://www.moviefreak.com/artman/publish/features_2009academyawardspredictions.shtml

Films of 2008: Top Ten Best Films of the Year (pt 1)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:28:17 GMT

2008 Best and Worst
Little Robot Who Could WALL•E Year's Best Film

There is nothing wrong with a very good year at the movies. That’s what 2008 was, a very good year, full of plenty of entertaining motion pictures that hardly left me unsatisfied. From the big (Iron Man, Quantum of Solace), to the small (JCVD, Frozen River), to the somewhat in-between (Doubt, The Bank Job), there has been plenty for audiences to find comfort in.

Which films made our top Film Critic's Top 10 list? Read on to find out.

Read this article in its entirety right here:
http://www.moviefreak.com/artman/publish/features_2008topten.shtml

Films of 2008: A Second 15 Best, Plus the 10 Worst (pt 2)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:24:17 GMT

A Second Fifteen
1. Tell No One
2. Kung Fu Panda
3. The Fall
4. American Teen
5. Happy-Go-Lucky
6. CHE
....

Bottom 10
1. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan
2. 88 Minutes
3. 10,000 B.C.
....

Read this article in its entirety right here:
http://www.moviefreak.com/artman/publish/features_2008topten2.shtml

Films of 2008 - Unforgettable Moments, Great Performances (pt 3)

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:17:04 GMT

Year’s Best ‘Holy Crap!’ Moments

John Rambo returning to action and slicing legions of Burmese soldiers in half with a gigantic machine gun in Rambo, the look on a young prostitutes face as she takes a teenage (if still elderly looking) Benjamin Button’s cherry in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Marlena’s explosive exit in Cloverfield, Nixon admitting wrongdoing in Frost/Nixon, a heat-seeking rocket taking out a bad guy as he gaily leaps between building in Punisher: War Zone, a mechanical crane tossing a police car through the air in Eagle Eye, the Joker introducing a fellow villain to a pencil in The Dark Knight.

Read this article in its entirety right here:
http://www.moviefreak.com/artman/publish/features_2008topten3.shtml

2008 Winter/Holiday Movie Preview

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:47:57 GMT

2008 Holiday Preview
Hollywood Unleashes the Oscar Bait to Finish Off the Year

December can be pretty great most years, sometimes even awesome. Not only do the studios release some of their most challenging and original works hoping for Academy Award recognition, the popcorn fare can be pretty darn sensational, too. With that in mind, here are some of the highlights scheduled to hit theaters between Thanksgiving and the end of 2008. Remember, release dates are subject to change, some of these titles not hitting screens here until sometime in 2009.

2008 Fall Movie Preview

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:22:19 GMT

Here Come the Fall
As the Calendar Switches Seasons, Hollywood Finally Gets Serious

The irony here of course is that the season’s big story had nothing to do with the eagerly anticipated return of 007 in Quantum of Solace, Oliver Stone’s election year take on a sitting Commander-in-Chief W, award-winning director Clint Eastwood’s drama Changeling with Angelina Jolie, Moulin Rouge auteur Baz Lurhmann’s massive WWII love story Australia with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, or the fangirl frenzy getting ready to pounce all over the adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s teenage vampire love story Twilight.

2008 SIFF Recap

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:48:34 GMT

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Seattle's Annual SIFF Marathon Comes to an End

And so another Seattle International Film Festival has come to a close. The stars have flown back home, the movie houses are going back to their regularly scheduled summertime fluff and the staff over at Cinema Seattle breathes a sigh of relief that they've managed to get through another 25 days of movie-going hysteria and didn't collectively collapse from exhaustion.