Oscar Picks

Here's my predictions for Oscars this year.

Best Picture: The Social Network

Best Director: David Fincher

Best Actor: Colin Firth

Best Actress: Natalie Portman

Best Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo

Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3

Best Art Direction: Inception

Cinematography: Black Swan

Costume Design: The King's Speech

Documentary Awards: Exit Through the Gift Shop

Documentary Short Subject: The Warriors of Qiugang

Film Editing: Black Swan

Foreign Language Film: Dogtooth

Makeup: Wolfman

Score: Social Network

Original Song: Toy Story 3

Short Film Animate: Night & Day

Short Film Live Action: God of Love

Sound Editing: Inception

Sound Mixing: Inception

Visual Effects: Inception

Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network

Original Screenplay: The King's Speech

~Lauren

Twigman Awards

We are proud to announce the winners of this years Twigman Awards. This year we had some interesting films put out, and we were delightfully surprised by some we'd initially written off. To be honest, most of my favorite films were too obscure to qualify for the Twigmans, but this year we did have some of the better animated films in recent years.

Best Picture How To Train Your Dragon

I know that Toy Story 3 has gotten most of the attention this year in terms of best animated film, but I think that How To Train Your Dragon is every bit as magical. This film was a sheer delight. The dynamic dialogue, the well written characters, and the stunning animation set this film apart. Even the Academy was smart enough to recognize this film's brilliance in their nominations this year. I think it's fair to say that it doesn't stand a chance at the Oscars, but here we salute this film's excellence.

Best Director Christopher Nolan, Inception

Nolan's vision in Inception was breathtaking. He transported us into a new world. He brought together some of the most talented actors and actresses in the business and dazzled us with his vision. We watched Paris get folded onto itself, a man redefine his life, and a widower come to terms with his grief. Without Nolan this film would have never worked.

Best Actor Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Eisenberg nailed his performance of computer wiz Mark Zuckerberg. He was the socially awkward genius we all loved to hate, but he also managed to make something about Zuckerberg pitiable, and for that I say we should salute him.

Best Actress Emma Stone, Easy A

Emma Stone's performance in Easy A was an unexpected delight. Her turn as Olive was refreshing and enjoyable. I was ready to write this film off, but Emma Stone made Easy A fantastic. Her Olive was relatable and lovable, something rare in the days of High School Musical.

Best Supporting Actor Nicolas Cage, Kick Ass/The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Runner's up: John Malkovich in RED, Sharlto Copley in The A-Team

This was a particularly difficult choice this year, but no one is going to deny this was a good year for Nick Cage in supporting roles. His Big Daddy in Kick Ass was one of the greatest action heroes of the year, and his turn as a wizard in The Sorcerer's Apprentice was the best part of that film. While both Malkovich and Copley did great supporting roles, Cage did it twice.

Best Supporting Actress Chloe Moretz, Kick Ass

Watching Hit Girl kick ass to "Bad Reputation" was one of the most enjoyable moments of cinema in 2010. Her highly watchable performance was one of the most memorable roles of the year, if not one of the most controversial. While this year included several other roles for her in films such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid, it was Kick Ass she'll be remembered most for.

Best Use of a Previously Written Song in a Movie "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien," Inception

I love Edith Piaf. I was a little hesitant when I first heard this song played in Inception, but I quickly got on board. Most people don't think much about this musical indicator that the dream is about to end, but the song adds a deeper meaning to the film that I'm not sure most people realize at first viewing. Next time you watch this film, keep in mind that Edith is saying that after a tumultuous and tragic life she has no regrets, and her life is starting anew.

Best Screenplay Toy Story 3

This script was brilliant. It had one of the best openings ever, and it stayed true to the tone of the previous two movies. We were introduced to a whole host of new characters, each more marvelous than the last. I was worried that this sequel would go the way of so many others and suck, but by the time we got to Buzz Lightyear's spanish mode no one had any doubts that this film surpassed Toy Story 2.

Best Costuming The Sorcerer's Apprentice

This year's costuming was kind of weak, but Nick Cage's getup in this film is worth remembering, if only for the importance of the pointy shoes.

Best Visual Effects Inception

Tron did a great job creating a new tech world for us to enjoy, but Inception turned a city onto itself. Besides, the zero gravity scenes were amazing in their simplicity.

Best Technical Explosion The Expendables

Sadly, the mushroom cloud of monkeys in Toy Story 3 does not count as a technical explosion, so I can't give that the Twigman this year, even if it was awesome. Still, we had several explosions this year in films ranging from Inception to Kick Ass. But let's face it, this clip is just awesome.

Best Pyrotechnics (The "Cody" Award) The Losers

Let's face it, fire is sexy. The Losers reminded us of this in this scene.

Best Drop of the F-Bomb Kick Ass

~Lauren

When trailer music goes bad

I've been trying to resist posting about the horrific second Red Ridding Hood trailer. Now, I know in the past I've talked about how the right choice of music in a trailer can make the trailer. The example I've cited before was the use of "The Day The World Went Away" by Nine Inch Nails in the Terminator: Salvation trailer. So you understand, given my love of NIN, how it pains me to witness its abhorrent use in Red Ridding Hood. The music selection in the first trailer, especially the use of Soulsavers as the opener, was well done. This one it's a hot mess. It turns the movie from feeling like a thriller into a campy mess. It completely destroys the tone. It left me with the same bitter taste in my mouth as when I watch a trailer that uses yet another Clint Mansell or John Murphy score.

~Lauren

The Eagle

Last night I went with some friends to catch The Eagle. I was actually kind of excited to see this film. I love Jamie Bell's career, and the trailer looked decent. To be fair, I went in realizing I'd probably be unable to keep myself from comparing it with 2010's highly watchable Centurion. That said, my overall impression is, on a scale of one to five, it's a 2 1/2 in terms of a well made film. In terms of watchablity on that same scale, it's a seven.

This film is nothing if not entertaining. Unfortunately, I can't really decide how much of the humor was intentional. What was supposed to be a story of male camaraderie in the face of certain death came off as a campy, thinly veiled homoerotic love story. The plot isn't terrible strong, nor is it historically accurate, not that we can expect movies to be terribly historically accurate in this day and age. Still, this movie does a lot of things right. The armor, the costuming on a whole, the tidbits of Roman culture, Jaime Bell's stellar performance...

Unfortunately, as an action movie, it falls short. I don't ask for much from an action movie. Granted, I'm a woman, so all I want are hot men and fabulous, gratuitously violent fight scenes. Something blowing up is always a bonus. There is a reason I lobbied for one of the categories in the Twigmans to be best technical explosion. Still, The Eagle fails to stand up to my standard. The editing on the fight scenes was atrocious. It was nearly impossible to follow what was going on. Indeed, I wasn't even sure who won the battles until it cut to the survivors laying out the dead. I knew there was a problem when my roommate leaned over and asked if Uwe Boll edited the fight scenes. The camera work throughout the movie continued to be nonsensical, as was it's bizarre use of eagle cries as sound effects. My favorite nonsensical moment was when an eagle cry sounded whilst the camera focused on a barn owl. Yeah, it was a lot of that.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

As for the ending, it felt a bit contrived, to the extent that it became a completely different movie altogether. Honestly, someone should have died. Preferably Channing Tatum. Also, I'd like to know who told the filmmakers that the Scottish Picts used to be Aztecs.

~Lauren