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Awards season coverage:
<< Live Golden Globes play-by-play recap
<< Golden Globes roundup (Brassy predicted the most correctly with 9/13)
<< Oscar nominations column (with idiotically brave predictions for the winners)
Dailydigest @ Livejournal: Cinefex article on visual effects selection process; EW article on Oscar nominees’ reactions
New affiliates: Even more! Our latest three are fansites for Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, and Matt Damon.
See Short Attention Span Theater for daily reports on updates and housekeeping, or our Yahoo Group for email alerts and newsletters.
Top stories
Oscar nominations! The biggest surprises, in my opinion? Fernando Meirelles, Keisha Castle-Hughes, and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Particularly Meirelles, who came out of nowhere into the Best Director category and was so unexpected that none of my sources spelled his named right for a good three hours. Johnny Depp I fully expected, and I even predicted that Cold Mountain/Anthony Minghella might get snubbed entirely. It was the whole “We actually saw some of these movies this year—damn, people other than Tom and Nicole can act!” nominations that surprised me.
Deaths: Jack Paar (USAToday)
Box office: The Butterfly Effect comes in at #1, with Along Came Polly dropping to #2. Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! came in at “a distant third.” (Cinescape)
Gothenburg Film Festival: Correspondent Vladimir reports from Sweden all this week—as a juror, no less.
The Razzies: I am thinking that Gigli will sweep. Maybe a little Cat in the Hate here and there. (Jo Blo)
Oscar Watch: Sasha does the who-got-what math; readers write in with Oscar firsts (Keisha Castle-Hughes is the youngest Best Actress nominee ever, etc.)
New images
Cinema Confidential: The Big Bounce, Secret Window, Bridget Jones 2, King Arthur, Around the World in 80 Days, Alexander
Coming Soon: The Perfect Score, The Big Bounce
Dark Horizons: Alexander
IGN: The Big Bounce
Jo Blo: Star Wars clone trooper pic
LOTR News Journal: Troy
Movieweb: The Perfect Score, You Got Served
Z Review: Secret Window, Cellular, Blade 3
Trailers and multimedia
Apple: Oscar movie trailers; I’m Not Scared, Valentin, Zatoichi, The Reckoning, The Ladykillers, Intermission
AICN: Natural City
CHUD: Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed
Empire Movies: Kill Bill Vol 2
IGN: a Punisher mini-site. Hey, whatever pays the bills
Jo Blo: raw footage from a Star Wars exhibitors’ clip (with screen caps)
The Movie Box: Intermission, The Reckoning, Eulogy clips and featurette, 50 First Dates clips
Moviehole: Starship Troopers 2
Trailer Park: Episode III footage
Casting calls and future films
Quick casting
Dark Water: Tim Roth (Empire Movies)
The Grudge: Bill Pullman, Clea DuVall, William Mapother (Cinescape)
King Kong: Naomi Watts has been confirmed (Coming Soon)
The Longest Yard: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Snoop Dogg. Yes, it is a remake (Empire Movies)
A Lot Like Love: Amanda Peet, Ashton Kutcher (Empire Movies)
Meet the Fockers: Barbra Streisand is supposedly reading the script. (Cinema Confidential)
Ocean’s Twelve: …is looking for someone to play “a stunning Europol agent.” (Film Jerk)
Princess Diaries 2: John Rhys-Davies (IGN)
Sex Talk: Ryan Reynolds, John Whitesell. Something about a talk show host using sports metaphors for sex. Didn’t Ashley Judd do this movie with animal metaphors? (Coming Soon)
The Skeleton Key: Peter Sarsgaard, Kate Hudson, dir. Iain Softley (Wings of the Dove), scrwr Ehren Kruger (The Ring) (SciFi Wire)
Tintin: Gregory Smith (“Everwood”)? (Dark Horizons)
Screenwriters
Imaginary Children: Kelly Asbury (Shrek 2) will write and direct this live action/CG animated fantasy. (SciFi Wire)
Magnum P.I.: Mike McCullers. Brian Grazer, He of the Hateful Seuss Movies, will produce (Movieweb)
Namor: David Self (Road to Perdition) will adapt from the comic (Superhero Hype)
More films
Alexander: Or “Alexander!,” as I like to call it. Apparently Baz Luhrmann is calmly moving forward with his version, taking his own sweet time, and not worrying about a glut of sword-and-sandal epics in 2004. Oh, and a trilogy called “Macedonia’s Alexander the Great” is now in production, due to the woeful paucity of Alexander biopics currently on the market. (Dark Horizons)
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves: Because nothing says “quality” like “Cuba Gooding Jr. and Sylvester Stallone.” (Moviehole)
Barbershop 2: Smilin’ Jack Ruby reports from the junket. (CHUD)
Bridget Jones 2: The Edge of Reason: Coming Soon has a set report.
Cars: Pixar’s next will use the voices of Paul Newman, Owen Wilson, and Bonnie Hunt. (Jo Blo)
Elmore Leonard movies: AICN has a rundown of the various Leonard adaptations in the pipeline.
The Fountain: Is the Aronofsky epic back on, or is Ellen Burstyn crazy? (AICN)
Hide and Seek: Production started today on the John Polson (Swimfan) thriller. Premise: “[Robert] De Niro as a recently widowed father who is trying to reason with his traumatized nine-year-old daughter (Dakota Fanning) who has created an imaginary friend that is causing the child to do bizarre and dangerous behavior.” Famke Janssen and Elisabeth Shue also star. (Cinescape)
House of Wax: Film Jerk has new details on the Robert Zemeckis/Joel Silver production. Sadly, it sounds a lot more like House of Texas Chainsaw Wrong Turn Creepers.
Kingdom of Heaven: Orlando Multimedia has another set report, this time translated from a Spanish website.
Lady Luck: Donald Petrie (Welcome to Mooseport) will direct. Premise: “The film focuses on Connie Albright, described as “a sexy, dynamic and fun Manhattanite in her 20’s.” Almost everything in her life is perfect: she's won the lottery three times, hit the jackpot in Las Vegas, and can always find a parking space in midtown. Her sleep is untroubled by worry or responsibility and millionaires stumble over her on a daily basis. The only thing lacking is her love life; she can't find her soulmate, the ideal beau who sets her blood a-tingle, makes her toes twiddle and blasts her with chemistry so strong that neon lights flicker for blocks. During the shooting of a masked-ball sequence in an Aerosmith video, she meets Robert Hardin, and – after losing him – her luck is sucked into a black and bottomless abyss. Suddenly broke and homeless, without a nickel for subway fare, Albright searches for Hardin with a romantic hunger born of total financial despair. Luckless and bereft, she takes a job -- as Hardin’s assistant. Unaware that the man she loves is her new boss, she finds herself falling for him, and it takes Albright a painfully long time to put two (hearts) and two (souls) together.” An Aerosmith video? (Film Jerk)
Supergirl: There’s gonna be another one. (IGN)
Turn: Marcus Nispel (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) will direct yet another remake of a Japanese horror movie, as soon as he gets done butchering the Frankenstein TV series at USA with Martin Scorsese. (SciFi Wire)
The Wizard of Oz: American McGee (of the creepy Alice video game) will develop a trilogy that tells “an original story of what happened in Oz before Dorothy landed and explain where the various characters came from. A series of events will occur over the span of the film, and by the end, Oz will be left at the point where L. Frank Baum's original novels begin.” I hear the petitions firing up right now. (SciFi Wire)
Reviews (Here be spoilers!)
AICN: Super-Size Me, Dig!, Napoleon Dynamite, Never Die Alone, Brother to Brother, Tiptoes, Saw, Hero, Last Life in the Universe, Zatoichi, Riding Giants, Down to the Bone, We Don’t Live Here Anymore, Bright Young Things, Monster
No Dawn: Fog of War, Capturing the Friedmans, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Pieces of April, L’Isola, In the Cut, Hip Hip Hora!, The Weakness of the Bolshevik, Touching the Void, Shara, Northern Star, Spellbound, The Soul Keeper
Upcoming DVDs
CHUD: The Postman Always Rings Twice, Cat Chaser
DVD Fanatic: Thirteen, House of the Dead, The Critic, Cabin Fever
DVD File: One from the Heart, Thirteen, PTU, Buffy (S5), Annie, Storyville
DVD Savant: Gaslight double bill, Kanto Wander, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
DVD Talk: Between Your Legs (Entre las piernas), Lucía Lucía, Crash!, Underground, Walt: The Man Behind the Myth, Die Nibelungen, Grind, True History of Mafia: Godfathers Collection, Pavement, Viral Assassins
IGN DVD: Ed Wood: SE cancelled; most anticipated DVDs of 2004; Planet of the Apes: 35th Anniversary CE, Radio
Jo Blo: The Simple Life (S1), Spellbound (2003), The Accidental Tourist
Interviews and profiles
Latino Review: Erika Christensen (The Perfect Score)
SciFi Wire: Ewan McGregor (Episode III)
Other news
Ananova: LOTR second hottest ever Oscars [betting] favourite; Oscar nominations in full; Lord of the Rings dominates Oscar nominations; Jerry Lewis discharged from hospital; J-Lo and Ben nominated as worst on screen lovers; Fashion parade at the Golden Globes; Surprise Golden Globe awards for The Office
IMDB: Affleck Throws Himself Into Damon Screenwriting Collaboration; 'Gigli' Heads Up Razzie Nominations; Talk Show Host Jack Paar Dies at 85; Judge Seals Documents in Jackson Case; Cruise and Kidman Reunite at Golden Globes; Pitt Tried To Stifle Roberts' Moder Attraction; Redford Praised By Guevara Family; Tarantino: I Like To Upset Audiences; Lopez Not Promoting 'Jersey Girl' with Affleck; Paris Hilton Stars at Rio Fashion Show; Judges Can't Decide Scripter Award
Jam Showbiz: 'Rings' receives 11 Oscar noms; Streisand considering 'Fockers' role; Amanda Peet in 'Love' with Kutcher; 'Rings' reigns at Golden Globes; 'Gigli' receives 9 Razzie nominations; Sandler in 'Longest Yard' remake; 'Butterfly' flutters into top spot; Roth swims over to 'Dark Water'; Shirley MacLaine steps into 'Shoes'; Berlin film fest program announced; Predictions for Oscar nominations; Ripley, author of 'Scarlett', dies
Sci Fi Wire: King Leads Oscar Nods; Berry Hospitalized Briefly; French Author Sues Over Nemo
Superhero Hype: More on Halle Berry’s Catwoman accident
USAToday: Oscar noms announced; Miramax streak ends; star-studded Pepsi ad; Osbournes return; FCC crackdown?
Yahoo: 'Rings' Pulls in 11 Oscar Nominations; Ex-Disney Board Urges Vote Against Eisner; New Zealand Expected Jackson Oscar Nods; D-cinema on faster track; Disney's Grateful to Dali for 'Destino' Idea; Sundance Jurors "Dig" Rocker Doc
Zap2It: Oscar Nominees React to Nods; Oscar Nominations Spawn Fun Facts; 'Seabiscuit' Producers Yet to Be Decided; No Sushi at the Governor's Ball, 'Finding Nemo' Directors Ask; Dave Matthews Band Awarded for Philanthropy; Free 'Thirteen' Rentals Offered to SAG Members; Indies Rock the Oscars
Fun and games
DVD Fanatic: Win Lost in Translation on DVD
DVD File: DVD giveways
E! Online: Golden Globes Fashion Police
IGN: Tales from the Toybox #7: Sideshow/Weta’s 3:4 Gollum bust
Short Attention Span Theater: Thoughts on Golden Globe Fashion; Fashion Intervention; Julia Roberts and the CHUD Sewer Chewers are equally horny; petitions go up to keep "The Hug" in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; "Matey Got Back"
Parting shot
Ananova: Because a picture really is worth a thousand words.
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