Every site you go to these days has a list of their top 10 best movies of the year. But how many time can you look at slight variations of the same lists you only semi-agree with?

Besides, ranking entire movies is a big job. After much debate on the subject, we here at Screen Rant have decided that, in the end, a year in movies is perhaps best defined by specific movie moments that are now and forever burned into our collective memory.

So, without further ado, here are our picks for those 2009 movie moments which audiences collectively remember as being unforgettably awesome, hilarious, moving, inspiring or are otherwise just plain enjoyable…

(By the way, there will be some spoilers in the items below since all the movies in this list have been out for a while.)

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10. The Kidnapping Scene in Taken

Taken is a movie that had many standout moments. But the one scene that gets the whole thrill ride started is probably the best. Ex special forces guy Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) finally gets a phone call from his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace), who is off running around Europe, only to learn that his daughter is moments away from being abducted by some violent criminals.

The situation is certainly every parent’s worst nightmare, but Bryan Mills handles it like a seasoned pro: He calmly instructs his daughter on what to do, knowing full well that she’s going to be taken, and when the kidnappers find her cellphone, Bryan, with unwavering calm, promises them that if they do this, he’s going to find them and kill them (which, of course, he does). In that single moment the world experienced a great revelation: Liam Neeson is a bonafide action movie badass. Move over Jason Bourne.

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9. Walt Kowalski’s Last Stand in Gran Torino

Young folks know Clint Eastwood as the accomplished director of acclaimed films like Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, and Invictus. However, us middle-to-older folks still remember a time when Clint Eastwood was one of America’s most iconic movie badasses. Gran Torino was the first time we’d seen “Tough Eastwood” onscreen in awhile, but when the movie finally reached its violent climax, we had no doubt who would be left standing when all the guns finished blazing – or so we thought.

Walt Kowalski was as brave and heroic as any other iconic Eastwood character, but where a younger Eastwood would’ve solved his problems with violence, the older, wiser, Eastwood gave us another option to consider: Noble self-sacrifice. Walt’s last stand against a gang of neighborhood thugs was deep, harrowing, and certainly thought-provoking.

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8. The Closing Credits Photo Montage of The Hangover

For the whole runtime of The Hangover, I didn’t think it could get funnier than watching those three guys (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis) wake up in a drunken stupor, only to be confronted by surreal absurdities – including a live baby and a live tiger – littered about their suite. But then, just as the end credits rolled, something funnier indeed came along.

If you made an immediate run for the lobby bathroom, you missed it all; the photograph montage of what actually went down while the boys were blacked out was both outrageous and raunchy as hell. Director Todd Phillips could have left it all to your imagination and the brief explanations we got in the film – but thank god he didn’t. Hilarious stuff.

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7. The Car Bomb Scene in The Hurt Locker

There were so many scenes in The Hurt Locker that we debated, including what is arguably the best sniper battle ever filmed. However, since I’m writing this, I’m going to highlight the car bomb scene. I first saw this scene screened for a NY Comic Con panel back in February, and it left my nails chewed down to the cuticles.

The scene takes place on the day that SSgt. William James (Jeremy Renner) goes out on his first mission with his new partners in the Explosive Ordinance Device unit. The mission is to disarm a car rigged with so many bombs that SSgt. James doesn’t even bother wearing protective armor – it’s pretty much a do or die situation. The bomb site is totally exposed, the bomb itself is expertly made and death could strike at any moment. With a sharp eye for photography, editing, sound and silence, director Kathryn Bigelow makes us sweat every precious tick of the clock.

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6. Rorschach Delivers a Hot Grease Facial in Watchmen

The crowd is still divided about stylistic choices of the overall film, but one Watchmen moment that definitely transposed perfectly from comic book page to film screen was the prison scene in which one unlucky convict tries to step up to Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley). Not only does Rorschach beat the guy with a lunch tray, he also tosses a vat of sizzling grease in the guy’s face!

After that came the all-time classic Rorschach line, “You all got it wrong: I’m not trapped in here with you – you’re trapped in here with me!” I’ve never seen an audience go from being horrified to applauding quite that fast.

Continue reading for the 5 best movie moments of 2009…

This week:

We look at the weekend box office; Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley move to London Boulevard; Michael Uslan talks The Shadow; Spider-Man knows Good People; George Clooney returns to TV and Charlie’s Angels 3 appears to be heading this way!

Box Office

Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans are fighting it out for the top spot. Both Sony films should make about $21 million over the weekend showing that all America wants is women in skin tight PVC and fat men in cop uniforms. There’s a movie pitch in there somewhere.

Brendan Fraser’s lucky streak at the box office ran out with Inkheart bagging just $2 million on Friday. A weekend of maybe $6.5 million should mean that Fraser will be knocking at Universal’s door come Monday looking for a fourth Mummy movie.

Clint Eastwood kicked all new comers off his lawn this weekend with a $14 million gross for Gran Torino. Who says that you need Oscar nominations for box office?

Speaking of Oscars - Slumdog Millionaire leads the pack with a predicted weekend gross of $9 million. Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet’s Revolutionary Road should manage about $5 million by Monday, which is far from Titanic numbers.

Meanwhile on the opposite end of the prestige picture scale My Bloody Valentine should murder another $9 million while that other horror movie Bride Wars should scare up another $5 million bringing its total just short of $50 million. 

Movie News

1. Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley will team up for London Boulevard. The thriller marks the directorial debut of The Departed screenwriter William Monaghan. The thriller which is based on the novel by Ken Bruen is inspired by the classic film Sunset Boulevard. Farrell will play a recently released convict who befriends a reclusive actress (Knightley).

London Boulevard will start shooting in London (obviously) this summer.

Source: The Daily Mail

2. Comic book adaptations keep coming. The Shadow is on his way and Batman producer Michael Uslan has given some details on the film.

Uslan told MTV:

“I think the one thing going in is we all see The Shadow as more of a force of nature than a specific person in a secret identity. The Shadow may actually be many people. We’ve gone back to the pulp roots, the comic book roots of The Shadow, with a dash of the radio roots, but we’ve deeply ensconced ourselves in the world of pulps and comics.”

I wouldn’t hold your breath for this one though. When asked about when we might see the film he replied:

“Sam (Raimi) and Josh Donen are my partners and we have it set up Sony, and a wonderful writer named Siavash Farahani who has worked for me before is writing the screenplay. It’s coming along great, we’re very excited about it. You know, it takes time to nurture these things. You probably know all the stories. The first Batman film took me 10 years to get made.”

The Shadow was originally made into a film in 1994 starring Alec Baldwin. It wasn’t very good.

Source: MTV

3. Spider-Man himself – Tobey Maguire is developing a film called Good People based on a novel by Marcus Sakey.

According to Variety:

“Good People concerns a couple in debt from several rounds of futile fertility treatments who think their problems are solved when they stumble upon money found in their deceased tenant’s apartment.”

Sounds like Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave.

Maguire is producing and is mulling over starring in the film that will be scripted by Kelly Masterson.

Source: Variety

4. George Clooney is set to return to the role of Doug Ross in E.R . Clooney left the medical drama ten years ago to have a successful film career, but now that the show is wrapping up after 15 years they’ve lured him back with a final guest-starring role.

Ladies you can check out a more mature  Doug Ross below.

He scrubs up well. Get it?

Scource: Extra TV

5. Be afraid – be very afraid.

It looks like Charlie’s Angels 3 might be on its way. Producer and star Drew Barrymore seems keen on returning to the franchise. Whilst promoting He’s Just Not That Into You Barrymore said:

“I’m so into it-’Charlie’s Angels 3!’”

Barrymore’s producing partner Nancy Juvonen remarked:

“It’s percolating up. It’s rising to the surface.”

I’m going to go out on a limb and say if this does go ahead don’t expect McG to be at the helm. He appears to be trying to distance himself from the Angels movies and with Terminator: Salvation on the horizon he wouldn’t want to open old wounds.

The original films (based on the television series) co-starred Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu.

Source: Coming Soon

That’s it for now. See You at the movies

Clint Eastwood drives to the top of the box office with Gran Torino; Ewan McGregor is Pierce Brosnan’s Ghost; Sienna Miller will not be visiting Nottingham; Morricone is not a Basterd; Moore, Neeson and Seyfried know Chloe; the Joker may have the last laugh in Batman 3 and Farrell, Weir and Harris are on their Way Back.

Box Office

Clint Eastwood showed his star power by capturing the number one position at the box office with a fantastic $30 million gross for Gran Torino. Clint’s Oscar touted movie was making good bank on limited release but it looks like the American masses love the ageing action icon. The film should have good legs and a final gross of  $100 million is not out of the question.

Bride Wars should claim the runner-up position with about $20 million showing that women will watch Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson in just about anything. David Goyer’s The Unborn had a good start and should gross about $18 million. Okay David – you have Monday to celebrate and then it’s down to getting Chris Nolan to start writing the next Batman movie.

Not Easily Broken surprised many and should bank $6 million by Monday, which isn’t bad for a movie that’s only showing in 724 screens. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Bedtime Stories inch closer to the magic $100 million mark and Tom Cruise shows that he’s a bigger star than Will Smith as Valkyrie has out grossed Seven Pounds.

Movie News

1. We thought that The Ghost was going to be a Pierce Brosnan and Nicolas Cage team-up, but it looks like Cage has dropped out and Ewan McGregor has stepped in as the ghostwriter for the former British Prime Minister in the Roman Polanski helmed thriller.

Source: Pierce Brosnan

2. There’s more trouble in Nottingham as it appears that Sienna Miller has dropped out of the next Russell Crowe, Ridley Scott team-up. Miller was due to star as Maid Marrian in the re-imagining of the popular legend.  The film has had numerous delays because of weather, script troubles and reported fights between Crowe and Scott.

There’s no official reason as to why Miller made (maid?) the descision but if you believe the unreliable Page Six then it’s because of Crowe’s vanity:

“Originally the movie was about a love triangle between Maid Marian, Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. It is now all about Russell’s Robin Hood. Literally, 40 pages of script were redone and now are just devoted to him and his massive ego. It’s amazing.”

Sounds to me like it’s all a lot of Crowe bashing, but I’m sure we will find out more in the near future.

Source:IMDB

3. It was previously reported that master soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone would be scoring the music for Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, however he will now be composing Giuseppe Tornatore’s Baaria instead.

It could be worse, he could have gone on to score Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables.

Source: Playlist

4. Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried will star in director Atom Egoyan’s Chloe.

Accpording to Variety:

“Moore will play a successful doctor who suspects her husband (Neeson) of cheating. She tests his fidelity by hiring an escort (Seyfried) to seduce him. The move creates complications that put her family in danger.”

It sounds very 1990’s and that’s not a bad thing!

Neeson will next be seen in Taken while Seyfried was in the smash hit Mama Mia – yikes!

Source: Variety

5. The Dark Knight producer Charles Roven spoke with MTV about the follow-up to the mega grossing  film. The producer (although coy) did indicate that The Clown Prince of Crime may appear in future instalments of the Bat-franchise. Roven said:

“We have to separate the actors from the role. On a personal level, Heath (Ledger) was a friend of mine. We had worked together before The Dark Knight, but I still think that The Dark Knight is its own thing, and we have to separate them.”

If they decide to recast I think Joaquin Phoenix woul be a good choice – it’s a shame that he has “retired.”

Source: MTV

6. Colin Farrell and Ed Harris will star in Peter Weir’s The Way Back alongside Jim Sturgess and Saoirse Ronan. According to Variety:

“The thesps are in final negotiations to star for Weir in the fact-based story of a group of soldiers who engineered a grueling escape from a Siberian gulag in 1942. Weir wrote the script, based on the memoir by Slavomir Rawicz. Farrell plays a tough, tattooed Russian; Harris an American; and Sturgess portrays a young Polish inmate. Ronan will play a Russian on the run who meets up with the fugitives.”

Screen Rant reviews Gran Torino

You know I’m getting pretty used to taking heat for my movie reviews, and I have no doubt that it’ll happen again for this review of the Clint Eastwood written and directed film, Gran Torino. But you know what? I don’t care, and I don’t apologize for my reviews. You may be entitled to your opinion, but you know what? So am I – like it or not. So… onward.

Gran Torino is the story of Walt Kowalski, an old veteran of the Korean War. As the film opens we see that his wife has just died, and within seconds of his appearance we know exactly what sort of character Walt is: a cranky, grizzled (and racist) old timer who despises what’s become of the people in the world around him.

He sneers at his disrespectful teenage grandchildren who show up at the funeral making jokes, texting on their phones and dressed inappropriately. The relationship between Walt and his two sons is strained at best and there is not much patience or empathy heading in either direction.

The neighborhood he’s lived in for well over 30 years is no longer populated by lower middle class white folks, but has turned into an Asian neighborhood – much to his chagrin. A Hmong family lives next door: A grandmother, single mother and her two teen kids – Thao (played by Bee Vang) and Sue (Ahney Her). Thao is quiet and intelligent but utterly shy, while Sue is very outgoing and fearless.

The local Asian gang wants to recruit Thao whether he wants in or not, and he doesn’t. Unfortunately you don’t just say “no” to a gang and being the weak fellow he is, they talk him into trying to steal next door neighbor Walt’s mint 1972 Gran Torino. Walt stops him but Thao gets away unrecognized.

Soon the gang is back one night to forcibly take Thao with them, and Walt comes out with his 50 year old rifle and chases them off. Eventually he learns that Thao was the boy who broke into his garage, and reluctantly takes him on to work off his bad deed (at the urging of Thaos’s mother).

Eventually Walt sees the good and potential in Thao and takes it upon himself to show him how to be a man and try to help him steer clear of the gang.

Eastwood is just great to watch in this film – he has the greatest snarl in this movie, and he uses it often and to great effect. He’s totally convincing as the retired old war vet who’s seen it all and is pretty much afraid of nothing. As a matter of fact at one point in the film I actually decided that this was basically another Dirty Harry film, much like last year’s Rambo – revisiting a familiar character after many years in order to show us what happened to him.

Of course he wasn’t really Harry Callahan, but it didn’t take much of a leap to swap characters and end up with pretty much the same movie. The way he confronts trouble is awe-inspiring. In particular there’s one scene (that ends up very funny) where he comes up against three African-American men who are harassing Sue – it’s classic.

Now, I’ll tell you – there’s nothing “cinematically amazing” about this film. No “cutting edge” direction or camera angles or visual effects or anything else. What you have is Clint “I’m still a bad ass at 78″ Eastwood, great characters and a great story. Depending on how good or bad I consider a movie, when assigning it a “score” (which I’m regretting more and more these days – people get caught up in the numbers) I go one of two ways:

• If it’s awful, I start at zero and start looking for worthwhile things about it that will add “points.”
• If it’s great, I start at the top and look for things that maybe didn’t work here and there and deduct from there.

In this case I started at the top, but I couldn’t think of anything that I didn’t like about the film or struck me the wrong way – so there you have it: 5 out of 5 stars from me.

Now yes, of course… Walt is a racist, hurling every sort of ethnic slur you can think of – but the point is that he learns to look past his prejudices and sees people for who they are, not for their race or heritage. And if you’re a long time Clint Eastwood fan based on the hard-edged character he played back in the Dirty Harry and spaghetti western days you’ll really enjoy this.

On the other hand (and I know I’m generalizing) if you’re on the young side, you’ll probably think he’s a cranky old bastard and what’s he getting so fired up about.

There is plenty of foul language in the film and violence as well – It’s rated R, so leave the kiddies at home.

Over at Esquire there’s an interview with Clint Eastwood, and I just had to post some excerpts here. This has been a rough year for Hollywood in regards to the passing away of some awesome actors and directors from an earlier era. An era before political correctness and sensitivity training ruled the day.

We’ve lost the likes of old greats like Roy Scheider, Charlton Heston, Paul Newman and Sydney Pollack (among many others). And I’m already dreading the day we lose Clint Eastwood.

In my brief and utterly inadequate eulogy of Roy Scheider, I took some heat for saying:

Roy Scheider was one of a now dwindling number of “man’s man” actors. Tough guys who drank whiskey, smoked cigarettes, had craggy facial features and wouldn’t be caught dead in the same room with a metrosexual.

To me, the few comments I received about that exemplified exactly the sort of thing Clint Eastwood said in a recent interview. I’m going to break my rule of no profanity on the site so that his comments come across as he intended. Clint is 78 years old now (and still looks like he could kick anybody’s ass), and he had a few things to say about society, or people in general today:

“My father had a couple of kids at the beginning of the Depression. There was not much employment. Not much welfare. People barely got by. People were tougher then.”

“We live in more of a pussy generation now, where everybody’s become used to saying, “Well, how do we handle it psychologically?” In those days, you just punched the bully back and duked it out. Even if the guy was older and could push you around, at least you were respected for fighting back, and you’d be left alone from then on.”

“I don’t know if I can tell you exactly when the pussy generation started. Maybe when people started asking about the meaning of life.”

Amen, Clint. Amen.

Of course in today’s online world, people are “tough” behind their little keyboards – saying things to people who disagree with them that are so vile and reprehensible that they defy description. Of course this is done anonymously, behind some clever nickname and perhaps a fake email address.

But “real world” toughness? God forbid there’s a problem with someone’s iPod or they hit a “no cell reception” zone – it’s the end of the world. Oh, and as far as saying something vile to someone’s face? Highly doubtful – although they might say “yeah, I’d say it to your face!” Again, online and anonymously.

God forbid the U.S. encounters any real hardship on a broad scale – I think most of us would fold like a house of cards.

Clint Eastwood directed and will star in Gran Torino, opening on January 9th – and you can bet your ass I’ll be seeing it (and reviewing it here).

Thanks to Neil at FilmSchoolRejects for finding this little gem.

The Box Office; Brad Pitt gets Lost; Pesce is Smokin’ Aces; we learn more details about Stallone’s The Expendables; Twilight really is Near Dark and Kenneth Brannagh talks Thor!

Box Office

Keanu Reeves barely justified his hefty salary for The Day The Earth Stood Still. The Sci-Fi remake mustered a disappointing $33 million over the weekend. Not great for a $100 million plus film. It might barely limp to the century mark and the box office, but word of mouth isn’t great. By the time next weekend is over it may be lucky to have earned $50MM in the U.S. – so this could be another financial disappointment for Fox.

Four Christmases should manage another $14 million bringing its total close to $90 million. Rival Christmas film Nothing Like The Holidays should muster about $3 million over the weekend. Looks like there wasn’t much festive cheer for that. Well a good turkey is always needed at Christmas.

Twilight should muster another $8 million bringing its total to $150 million. Not bad going for movie that only cost $37 million. James Bond film Quantum of Solace should bank another $4 million bringing its total gross to $160 million. It looks like it should become the highest grossing Bond in the franchise’s 46 year history.

Punisher War Zone will make about $1 million dollars this weekend, bringing its total to a pathetic $7 million. Not good, not good at all.

On a more cheerful note, Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino should bank about 250, 000 from six theaters. That’s pretty damn impressive!

Movie News

1. Brad Pitt will star as Percy Fawcett in The Lost City Of Z for director James Gray. The film is based on a true story. According to Variety:

“Fawcett left Victorian society to explore in the Amazon, and he became obsessed by the idea of an advanced civilization he called Z, which he believed existed in the depths of the jungle. Along with his son, Fawcett headed into the jungle in 1925 in search of Z and was never seen again.”

Sounds pretty interesting, and if done right it could clean up at the box office and during awards season.

Source: Variety

2. Joe Carnahan has announced that PJ Pesce will be directing the follow-up (it’s actually a prequel) to Smokin’ Aces.

It’s not the first direct to DVD sequel for Pesce, he directed the belated Lost Boys 2 last year.

I still haven’t seen Smokin’ Aces even though I’ve had it on DVD for the last year. Even if it’s a masterpiece I can’t imagine wanting to see Pesce’s film.

Source: Smokin’ Joe Carnahan

3. The main film on any true film fan’s calendar for 2009 has to be The Expendables. The Sylvester Stallone film co-starring Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and Forrest Whitaker.

Harry Knowles at Ain’t It Cool News spoke with Sly who revealed that UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture has joined the film’s line up. He also revealed that Lundgren and Li would indulge in some sort of fisticuffs.

Come on Sly – get Arnold and Bruce involved – even if only in a brief cameo capacity.

Source: AICN

5. It would appear that recent tween vampire film Twilight has put a stake through the heart of the propsed Near Dark remake. The reason? The films would be too similar! Producer Brad Fuller had this to say:

“I think that Twilight was the same type of thing we were going for although Near Dark was a much darker, sexier, rated R version of that. But I’m concerned that, conceptually, that Near Dark and Twilight are too similar in terms of a vampire movie. For now, that movie is on hold…with the success of that film, we would not measure up. It’s not the right time to make that.”

That has to a first for Hollywood – not making a film because the idea wasn’t original enough.

Brad – you do realize that your film as a remake? Just checking.

Source: Empire

5.  My fellow Irishman Kenneth Brannagh has been talking about his Thor movie to MTV. Brannagh said the following:

“I am directing Thor or The Mighty Thor as you might like to call it. I think it will (just) be Thor.”

When asked about the appeal of directing such a film he said:

“To work on a story about one of the immortals, Gods, extraordinary beings, inter-dimensional creatures. There’s science fiction and science fact and fantasy all woven into one. It’s based on Norse legends which Marvel sort of raided in a brilliant way.”

When casting came up Ken said:

“There’s been lots of talk – I sound like a politician – but we are too early at this stage. We’re getting the story and the visual effects together and all of that is very exciting. Someone sensational is going to play the part but it is early days.”

Fifteen years ago Brannagh would have been a great fit for the role, but alas- that’s not going to happen. The Shakespearean star has had a bit of career resurgence recently with his Sleuth remake, along with his starring role in Valkyrie as well as BBC television’s detective show Wallander.

Source: MTV

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

The 2009 Golden Globe Nominations have been officially announced and it looks like The Dark Knight has been almost totally snubbed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

That’s right folks, The Dark Knight received just one nomination: a Best Supporting Actor nod for Heath Ledger’s groundbreaking (and freaky) turn as The Joker. No Best Director nomination for Chris Nolan; no Best Screenplay nomination for Chris and Jonathan Nolan; no Best Original Score nomination (although Dark Knight composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard are both nominated in that category for work on two other films).

So, want to see which films stole the slots that rightfully belong to TDK? Check out the  list of the 2009 Golden Globe Nominees in film:

BEST DRAMA
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Revolutionary Road
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

ACTOR (DRAMA)
Leonardo DiCaprio – Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas – I’ve Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road

BEST MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges

ACTOR (MUSICAL OR COMEDY)
Javier Bardem – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell – In Bruges
James Franco – Pineapple Express
Dustin Hoffman – Last Chance Harvey
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges

ACTRESS (MUSICAL OR COMEDY)
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand – Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep – Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson – Last Chance Harvey
Rebecca Hall – Vicky Cristina Barcelona

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Gomorrah
I’ve Loved You So Long
Waltz with Bashir
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Everlasting Moments

ANIMATED FILM
Wall-E
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler
Kate Winslet – The Reader

DIRECTOR
David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes – Revolutionary Road

SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare – The Reader
Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley – Doubt

ORIGINAL SCORE
James Newton Howard – Defiance
Alexandre Desplat – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
A.R. Rahman – Slumdog Millionaire
Hans Zimmer – Frost/Nixon
Clint Eastwood – Changeling

ORIGINAL SONG
“Down to Earth” by Peter Gabriel / Thomas Newman – Wall-E
“Gran Torino” by Clint Eastwood / Kyle Eastwood – Gran Torino
“I Thought I’d Lost You” by Miley Cyrus – Bolt
“Once in a Lifetime” by Beyoncé Knowles – Cadillac Records
“The Wrestler” by Bruce Springsteen – The Wrestler

So there’s a lot on this list I’m OK with (like Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise receiving Supporting Actor Comedy nominations for Tropic Thunder, or Kung-Fu Panda getting a nod for Best Animated Film); there are some things on this list I couldn’t care less about (Best Musical or Comedy, anyone?); and there definitely some things on this list that make my head just want to explode.

Forgetting my obvious (and aforementioned) problem with the fact that The Dark Knight has been shut out of nearly every relevant category, I think that a film as wonderful as Let The Right One In was should have earned a Best Foreign Language Film nomination. And how Colin Farrell got a Best Comedy Actor Nod for In Bruges (which also got a Best Picture Comedy nod) will forever be beyond me.

On the flip side, James Franco getting a Best Comedy Actor nod for Pineapple Express is just plain awesome; it’s also good to see Mickey Rourke back on the rise, earning a nomination for his apparently soul-wrenching turn  as a washed up athlete in The Wrestler (which I have yet to see). However it’s strange as hell that after so much early buzz Clint Eastwood’s old-man-turned-vigilante drama Gran Torino only got one nomination… for Best Original Song.

Other than that, it seems to be award season as usual. No surprise that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is leading the pack in nominations (after all the tremendous buzz), or that a Sam Mendes domestic life drama (Revolutionary Road) is also raking in the nominations. I haven’t seen Frost/Nixon, but it seems to have impressed the right people, because it’s coming out of left field to grab up a handful of nominations. Might have to get out and see that before Oscar season rolls around.

Speaking of the little gold guy, what do you think about The Dark Knight’s chances at the 2009 Academy Awards, now that you’ve seen the Golden Globe nominations? Do you agree with the list of nominees, or do you feel some great films didn’t get the recognition they deserve? Sound off and let us know.

(You can read the full list of Golden Globe Nominees (Film and Television) by clicking here)

Source: First Showing

The A-Team doesn’t come together; Ripley’s Believe it or Not gets a director; Steven Soderbergh has Cleopatra coming at ya; Crispin Glover teams with Tim Burton and McG gets into the spy business with Dead Spy Running .

Box Office

The world economy may be in crisis, but the box office is still going strong. Claiming the number one spot with ease is High School Musical 3. It’s no surprise really considering the built in audience and the amazing number of tickets that were booked in advance by Effronettes. The tween musical should bank about $50 million by Monday morning.

Saw V claimed the runner-up position with a $30 million gross. It’s amazing that people still come back to this franchise. I have to say that I haven’t watched any of the films past the original. With Halloween on the way, this should hold up next weekend, then drop like a stone.

Colin Farrell and Edward Norton had a flaccid opening with Pride and Glory. Now there was a sentence that I never thought that I’d write…ever! The cop pic should gross an estimated $6-7 million over the weekend.

Clint Eastwood’s Changeling should make around $500,000 from 15 locations. The Angelina Jolie starrer is being tipped as potential Oscar bait. Having said that – the film looks like a bad television movie. I’d save my money and go see the new Dirty Harry film… sorry, I mean Gran Torino. Oliver Stone’s W should pocket another $5 million, but I feel that the end is near. The film will probably have to wait for a few years to be rediscovered, or at the very least end up in an Oliver Stone “Presidents” triple pack beside JFK and Nixon.

Movie News

1. Poor 20^th Century Fox. The studio hasn’t had a decent hit all year and now it looks like they’ve lost one of next years major tent pole films. John Singleton has quit The A-Team and Fox still can’t get a script that works. That means no cast and no director – this will now open on June 2010 a year later than previously planned. That’s one plan that’s not coming together!

Don’t feel sad for the studio though, they have a stellar line up that includes Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel, Tooth Fairy, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

Kill me now, please!

Source: Variety

2. Jim Carrey’s long in development hell Ripley’s Believe it or Not may finally be made. Believe it or not. Chris Columbus is in negotiations with Paramount to helm the film. Tim Burton had been in the frame to direct at one point, but I guess Paramount wanted the film to be flat and mediocre.

Believe it or Not: Carrey’s next film is called I Love You Phillip Morris, while Colubmus’ is titled I Love You, Beth Cooper. Coincidence? I think so.

3. Steven Soderbergh is developing a 3D live-action rock ‘n’ roll musical about Cleopatra entitled Cleo. No really.

The Ocean’s director is trying to get Catherine Zeta Jones to play the titular queen, while he wants Hugh Jackman to play Mark Antony (not the JLo one). The $30 million film is currently being shopped around Hollywood.

You gotta love those crazy ideas that Soderbergh has – this is even crazier than the Liberace movie that is in development with Zeta Jones’s other half Michael Douglas.

Source: Variety

4. Crispin Glover has signed on to play the Knave of Hearts in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. The cast includes Anne Hathaway and Burton regulars Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

The last thing that I saw Glover in was the terrible Charlie’s Angels, but I do have Beowulf sitting on my “to watch pile” so my opinion of him may improve.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

5. Speaking of Charlie’s Angels, Mc G will direct and produce Dead Spy Running for Warner Bros. The film will be based on the forthcoming book by Jon Stock, which follows the exploits of a newly trained spy. McG is currently working on a little low budget film that has no expectations at all. The film is Terminator: Salvation.

Source: Variety

That’s it for this week. See you at the movies.

What was I thinking? This movie looks like it’s going to be fantastic!

The synopsis of the film over at IMDB is:

Disgruntled Korean War vet Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) sets out to reform his neighbor, a young Hmong teenager, who tried to steal Kowalski’s prized possesion: his 1972 Gran Torino.

However the trailer doesn’t make that look like it’s the plot of the movie at all. As a matter of fact, despite the fact that the name of Clint’s character being different in the movie, for all intents and purposes it looks like a revisiting of the Dirty Harry franchise along the lines of Rocky Balboa.

But don’t take my word for it… see for yourself:

[See post to watch Flash video]

Head over to Apple.com for higher-res versions of the trailer.

Gran Torino poster featuring Clint Eastwood

Based on the description above, this looks like a trailer designed to get people’s butts in seats but then deliver more of a “message film” than people may be expecting. That’s OK with me – Eastwood is an excellent director and I have faith that this will be a great movie.

Gran Torino opens on December 17th.

This week:

Rob Reiner reads the Book of Shadows; 13 isn’t unlucky for Mickey Rourke and Jason Statham; we take a peek at Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino; will you see Saw V and Spider-Man makes sure that Sam Raimi doesn’t know Jack.

1. Rob Reiner will direct the action-adventure film Book of Shadows.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“The story follows a young man who must embark on the perilous journey of first love and face many trials of maturity while on the dangerous quest to close a mythical tome called “Book of Shadows” in order to restore balance to the world.”

Sounds like it could bring the director back to his Princess Bride heyday.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

2. The poster for Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino is now online.  When the film was first announced earlier in the year the internet went crazy over the idea that the film could be a new Dirty Harry film. While the film does not feature Harry Callaghan, Clint sure does look bad ass!

Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino

Source: USA Today

3. It’s almost Halloween and that can only mean one thing – there’s a new Saw movie on the way! Saw V (how odd for a film to use Roman numerals these days) opens Friday and you can check a batch of clips, interviews and trailers on Terror Feed.

Source: Terror Feed

4. Riding high on the crest of The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke has signed on to star with Jason Statham in 13.  The film is a remake of the Franch language film 13 Tzameti.

According to Variety:

“(The film) centers on a man who steals a mysterious package that promises to pay out a fortune.”

50 Cent will co-star.

Source: Variety

5. Sam Raimi does not know Jack – Ryan that is. How many times can I make that joke?

Raimi is too busy with Spider-Man 4 to helm the reboot of Tom Clancy’s all American hero.

There was news a few moths ago was that Raimi was miffed that his Spider-Man star (you know what I mean) James Franco was turned down by Paramount.

Raimi said:

“I’m really excited about Spider-Man… Production [on more Spider-Man films] would start probably by March, I’m guessing of 2010. I loveTom Clancy, and I hope they’d keep me in mind… But because I’m committed to ‘Spider-Man and making that picture, I think it’s going to knock me out of the running for the Jack Ryan picture.”

Here’s a crazy idea Paramount – let Ben Affleck star and direct the new Jack Ryan. You never know…

Source: MTV

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

Moviehole got the low down on the film, which is a coming of age comedy and presumably Oscar bait. According to the site this is the plot:

“(The Gran Torino) is the prized possession of the film’s central character (he doesn’t budge when his granddaughter mentions that she’d like the car when pop finally keels over) a senior named Walt, grandfather and local sour-puss. When a local Asian boy named Tao attempts to steal the car, Walt, against the advice of others (largely the local priest), forms his own form of punishment.”

“Ultimately, Walt sets Tao on the right path – giving him a job (even if it’s just doing things around the house for the old man) and teaching him how to communicate with others.”

Apparently the film is filled with humor, which is a big change of pace for Eastwood, who seems to be taking himself very seriously recently. Too seriously!

So what is up with old Clint?

It’s hard to believe that less than 10 years ago Eastwood directed Space Cowboys – a fun old-guys action romp, with one of my personal favorites – James Garner.

He was also knocking out mid-range thrillers like Blood Work and True Crime. So why has he decided to take the prestige picture route recently and make films for award season?

I feel that he’s trying to build a legacy, one that is more than just- Clint Eastwood: Cowboy.

I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with making quality films, but I just feel that Eastwood is turning his back on his fans… the folks who were there for The Rookie and Heartbreak Ridge. I’m sure that somebody liked those. Anyone? Bueller?

In the meantime we will have to hope and pray for a new Dirty Harry, but it’s looking more like a remake/reboot/reimagining than a sequel which is a shame.

Gran Torino opens on December 22, 2008.

Source: Moviehole