Here Comes the Family (Films)

This is a great time to go to the movies if you've got families.  "The Muppets" was released to great critical acclaim and has re-introduced the characters in a way that means they'll be coming back in a big way after the dust settles with this film.  "Arthur Christmas" was released to great critical acclaim and is poised to become a new holiday classic for many families.  And Martin Scoresese's "Hugo" was released to great critical acclaim and is hailed as one of the best films of the year.  In fact, these three films are three of the best reviewed films of the year.  I know, I was sort of surprised too.  We're lucky to get one great family film a YEAR (much less three in a WEEK)!

So people have wondered that since the reviews are great, where do these films stand with Oscar?  Well, "Arthur Christmas" is officially the front-runner to win Best Animated Feature.  Provided that Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" doesn't pull a surprise win, I think this is the one to beat.  "The Muppets" will get a Best Song nomination for "Pictures in My Head," but I think the witty screenplay has a chance of being nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay as well.  As for "Hugo"...well folks, this is the big one.  I think "Hugo" will be running in the race for Best Picture.  Word-of-mouth is going to make this film a sensation.  The 3D may wake the Academy up and make them realize this style of film making needs its own award.

Despite being pretty reliable, Scoresese is an underdog because he's directing a family film instead of a gritty drama (the Academy loves underdog stories).  Finally though, this is a movie (as Sasha Stone constantly reminds us) is a movie the Academy could just "like."  The trick to winning in this race is to be a movie that everyone can like (if not outright love), and in this respect "Hugo" has a lot going for it.  Either way, ignoring the Oscar race altogether, this is rare time when family films are plentiful in theaters, and parents need to take advantage of this because who knows when this much quality family entertainment will just fall into our laps again?

"Happy Feet Two" is NOT Winning Best Animated Feature (But it Might Win Best Song)!

I saw "Happy Feet Two" tonight on IMAX 3D.  You can read my full review here, but to sum it up: "Happy Feet Two" will NOT be nominated for Best Animated Feature!  It's not as dull as "Cars 2" was, but it certainly failed to live up the quality of the original film.  That said, I DO believe that P!nk has got Best Song in the bag with her downright moving song "Bridge of Light."  Listen to the song below...

...and tell me that's not one of the most things you've heard all year.  And trust me, this is BETTER in the movie itself!  Hey, I said the movie wasn't good, I didn't say it was terrible.  There were some great scenes in that movie...just not enough to make it a good movie, and competition is still even without Pixar in the race this year.  But Best Song...man, I'm almost tempted to say this win is in stone, but maybe the Broadway song from "Captain America: The First Avenger" will sneak in there.  Who knows?

Know What's My Favorite Animated Number: 5!

Well folks, there are eighteen films up for Best Animated Feature, which means there will be five nominations.  Yay!  I always like five more than three, it's just a shame that five seems like a stretch this year.  For the record, here's what's up for consideration:

“The Adventures of Tintin”
“Alois Nebel”
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked”
“Arthur Christmas”
“Cars 2″
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Gnomeo & Juliet”
“Happy Feet Two”
“Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil”
“Kung Fu Panda 2″
“Mars Needs Moms”
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”
“Rio”
“The Smurfs”
“Winnie the Pooh”
“Wrinkles”

Looking over that list, conventional wisdom goes that the Academy will go in this direction:

The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Happy Feet Two
Rango
Winnie The Pooh

However, if the voting is done correctly, and based purely on quality and does not let popularity effect the voting at all, then this will be our five nominees:

The Adventures of Tintin
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung fu Panda 2
Rango

Yes, I fully expect "Cars 2" to sit this one out.  If it gets in, it will be because Pixar is loved by the Academy, but it has no serious chance of winning.  Of course there are some eyebrow raisers in there (wasn't the whole selling point of "The Smurfs" that it was a LIVE ACTION movie of the cartoon?!), but not a bad list. What's frustrating is that if "How To Train Your Dragon" was released this year, then there is no doubt in my mind it would have won.  Most of these films seem second nature to that one (although, in all fairness, "Toy Story 3" wasn't as good as "The Illusionist" either).  It will be interesting to see whether or not the Academy goes for the popular films, the smaller films that are of stunning quality, or a little of both.

And keep in mind folks, this category has made major mistakes in the past, just like every other award in this show.  In 2004 the list of nominees were "The Incredibles," "Shark Tale," and "Shrek 2."  "The Incredibles" walked home with the gold and was the obvious winner.  But look at those films and ask yourself this: How the heck did the Academy not have room for THIS movie?!

I know, it boggles the mind sometimes.

Memo To The Academy: Honor the Voice Actors

Alright Academy: It's time to get over your old fashioned beliefs about animation and create a category for honoring voice over work.  I think it became painfully obvious after "Rango" was released that voice acting is crucial to these animated movies.  More than ever before, big established actors are giving out Oscar worthy performances in voice over work.  Yet none of it is being recognized, and the Academy is too busy deciding whether five movies are enough or not in the Best Picture category, and are thus overlooking awards that would obviously be good for the show.  Think about it: If you start awarding Oscars to voice actors it gives you a chance to have a whole new branch in the Academy to sell memberships to.

You can attract lots of big name talent who might make poor live action films, but in animation shine.  You could attract kids to watching the Oscars because animation will now have a very prominent role at the awards.  And - because many voice actors are also face actors in real life - you honor more actors, which are the main reason anyone not as interested in movies watch the Oscars anymore (Editor's Note: The hosts haven't been a major draw for this show in YEARS).  I'm going to make a list of what a potential award category would look like, complete with nominees.


Best Actor In An Animated Feature

Antonio Banderas - "Puss In Boots" (I'm making an educated guess on this one based on his previous work)
Jack Black - "Kung Fu Panda 2"
Jim Cummings - "Winnie The Pooh"
Johnny Depp - "Rango"
Jesse Eisenberg - "Rio"


Best Actress In An Animated Feature

Emily Blunt - "Gnomeo & Juliet"
Isla Fisher - "Rango"
Anne Hathawy - "Rio"
Salma Hayek - "Puss In Boots" (Again, this one's a guess)
Angelina Jolie - "Kung Fu Panda 2"


Best Actor Featured In An Animated Feature

Ned Beatty - "Rango"
Michael Caine - "Cars 2"
Dustin Hoffman - "Kung Fu Panda 2"
Tom Kenny - "Winnie The Pooh"
Gary Oldman - "Kung Fu Panda 2"


Best Actress Featured In An Animated Feature

Abigal Breslin - "Rango"
Joan Cusak - "Mars Needs Moms"
Leslie Mann - "Rio"
Emily Mortimer - "Cars 2"
Michelle Yeoh - "Kung Fu Panda 2"




Now some of those names I'm just tossing out there because we haven't seen ALL the animated films that are supposed to come out, but take a moment and look at that list!  That's not only good acting, it's a considerable amount of talent you're drawing.  You can't tell me this category wouldn't catch on when you have nominees like that?  Who knows, maybe you could give some of the "de faco" awards to actors who get nominated in the voiceover category, instead of wasting it on the main acting awards (*cough* Paul Newman's Best Actor win for "The Color of Money"*cough*).  Just a thought.

Best Song Frontrunner

Disney's "Winnie The Pooh" is currently out in theaters.  Chances are you haven't seen it (it DID open opposite of "Harry Potter and the Death;y Hallows Part II" after all).  Well, I did, and though it's not the best animated film I've seen, I wouldn't be too surprised to see it win Best Animated Feature.  It's not complicated but it's so charming and sweat that it's hard not to leave with a big smile on your face, which could go a long way with the increasingly aging Academy members.  One aspect I did like though was the music, which was written but Kristen and Robert Lopez (who was one of the co-writers of the "Avenue Q" score if you can believe it).  I don't know if this song is going to be groundbreaking, but it's fun and catchy enough that I think it would be a lot of fun to see this nominated for Best Song.

Back In Game: The State of the Race

Well, more than a year after I stopped updating this blog I thought I would never return to it. To be honest, I almost deleted this blog because I felt it was just taking up space.  Well, a recent book project I'm working on (which I'll discuss more about in a few days) sort of jolted me back to this blog, and I realized that this blog still may have some usefulness to it.  So how do I make my grand return?  Why, but discussing the state of the race.  And there are three films I want to focus on.  The first two are the closest things to locks on a Best Picture nomination, with a third that sounds like a sure thing on paper (but a long shot in practice).  The first is Terrence Malick's very polarizing "The Tree of Life."  Though praised by many (including myself) as a masterpiece that must been seen to be believed, it never-the-less has not caught on with the public.

They don't get it.  They wonder what the point of it is.  The non-linear structure confuses them.  I think most people go in expecting a story and don't realize that "The Tree of Life" is a movie more about ideas than what happens to the characters on screen.  I know that sounds strange, but that's pretty much what it is.  Despite it clearly being the best film of the year so far, this is the same Academy who awarded "The King's Speech" (a good movie by the way) a Best Picture nomination over the more ambitious "The Social Network."  Why?  Hard to tell, but there was a lot of talk that most members of the Academy didn't even know what Facebook was.  If THAT was a problem, I see "The Tree of Life" having a much steeper climb!  The other movie that seems like a good bet right now is Woody Allen's "Midnight In Paris."  Ironically, this is the polar opposite of "The Tree of Life."

This is a movie that is story driven, has well defined characters, and have a journey and destination in mind.  That fact that it's popular AND smart makes this a good bet even if the coming months should bring us more ambitious films!  Part me is still a little cynical of the idea that the Academy would nominate this for Best Picture when they couldn't bring themselves to nominate "Match Point" for anything other than it's screenplay, but with the Best Picture number that could be anywhere between five to ten films...well, anythings possible.  And then we have...

..."Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II."  None of the Harry Potter films have won Best Picture.  None of the Harry Potter films have won any Oscars.  Most of the movies are critically mixed.  But "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II" could change all that.  It's opened to the best reviews of the franchise.  It's got some of the best reviews of the year.  They match up (if not pass) the previous ten years Best Picture winners.  Not to mention audiences around the world are eating it up to the point where it could potentially make more money than "The Dark Knight" and "Avatar."  If this was any other movie, it would be automatically considered a strong Best Picture nominee (if not winner).  Since it's Harry Potter though, we're just going to have to wait and see if the Academy follows the audiences cheers.

With so little competition nobody knows anything yet.  Well, actually, I do know one thing: For the first time I can think of, Pixar has absolutely no chance of being nominated in Best Animated Feature.  That may make that race at least a little more interesting.

"How To Train Your Dragon" Review

After years of living in Pixar’s shadow Dreamworks Animation has finally delivered a film that rival’s the animation king of CGI films. “How To Train Your Dragon” tells the simple story of a young Viking named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) who is considered weak by the rest of the Vikings for being unable to hold his own in a fight with dragons who destroy their town on a weekly basis (the town is old but the houses are new). His dad is the leader of the Vikings named Stoick (Gerard Butler) who - like most fathers in animated films - considers his son to be awkward and a bit of a disappointment. No, he’s not odd in that he’s gay, because he has a crush on the feisty Viking girl Astrid (America Ferrera), but odd because he has no violent traits.

Read Rest of Review Here

"The Secret of Kells" Review

Chances are if you were watching this years Academy Awards when the Best Animated Feature category came up you - like the rest of the world - were completely unsurprised that Pixar’s “Up” walked away with the statue. However like the rest of the world you were likely confused when the category nominated a film called “The Secret of Kells,” a film virtually no one had heard of. I’ll admit if I wasn’t as deep into the movie industry as I am I probably wouldn’t have heard of it either. That said while I heard of it I still didn’t know what it was about or where it really came from. Turns out it was a co production between France, Ireland, and Belgium, though it was recorded in English in preparation for an American release.

Read Rest of Review

New "Toy Story 3" Trailer

More Toy Story 3 Info

We now have more of an idea of what "Toy Story 3" will look like.  I like what I see, and while some people are complaining because they don't like the idea of making sequels...well, if anyone can make a good sequel it's Pixar.  With "Up's" recent Best Picture nomination some are wondering whether or not "Toy Story 3" is next.  Eh, hard to say.  The movie would have to be special to get nominated there.  The Academy is lukewarm to live action sequels, so an animated sequel seems more unlikely right now.  Either way we almost certainly have another Best Animated Feature nomination on their hans.

The Secret of Kells?

Surprised to see "The Secret of Kells" nominated for Best Animated Feature over "Ponyo" at the Annie Awards?  Yeah, me too.  Ever hear of this film?  Me neither.  Thankfully one Bing search showed me this trailer for the film:

I must admit that I'm intrigued.  Now the only question is why does it qualify for the Annie's this year and not next year when it's supposed to open?

37th Annie Award Nominations

And here are the nominations for the Annie Awards (this isn't looking good for "Ponyo"):

Best Animated Feature

• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — Sony Pictures Animation
• Coraline — Laika
• Fantastic Mr. Fox — 20th Century Fox
• The Princess and the Frog — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• The Secret of Kells — Cartoon Saloon
• Up — Pixar Animation Studios

Best Home Entertainment Production

• Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas — Universal Animation Studios
• Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder — The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
  
• Green Latern: First Flight — Warner Bros. Animation
  
• Open Season 2 — Sony Pictures Animation
  
• SpongeBob vs. The Big One — Nickelodeon

Best Animated Short Subject

• Pups of Liberty — Picnic Pictures
• Robot Chicken: Star Wars 2.5 — ShadowMachine
• Santa, The Fascist Years — Plymptoons
• The Rooster, The Crocodile and The Night Sky — Barley Films
• The Story of Walls — Badmash Animation Studios

Best Animated Television Commercial

• Goldfish: In The Dark — Blur Studios, Inc.
• Idaho Lottery “Twiceland” — Acme Filmworks, Inc.
• McDonald's Nutty Trade — Blue Sky Studios
• Spanish Lottery “Deportees” — Acme Filmworks, Inc.
• The Spooning — Screen Novelties /Acne Media

Best Animated Television Production

• Glenn Martin, DDS — Tornante, Cuppa Coffee Studios & Rogers Communications
• Merry Madagascar — DreamWorks Animation
• Prep and Landing — ABC Family/Walt Disney Animation Studios
• The Simpsons — Gracie Films

Best Animated Television Production for Children

• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse — Disney Television Animation
• SpongeBob SquarePants — Nickelodeon
• The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack — Cartoon Network Studios
• The Mighty B! — Nickelodeon/Polka Dot Pictures/Paper Kite Productions
• The Penguins of Madagascar — Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES___________________

Animated Effects

• Scott Cegielski “Monsters vs. Aliens” — DreamWorks Animation
• Alexander Feigin “9” — 9 L.L.C.
• Eric Froemling “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Tom Kluyskens “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — Sony Pictures Animation
• James Mansfield “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character Animation in a Television Production

• Mark Donald “B.O.B.'s Big Break” — DreamWorks Animation
• Mark Mitchell “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Kevan Shorey “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
• Tony Smeed “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Phillip To “Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space” — DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Feature Production

• Andreas Deja “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Eric Goldberg “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Travis Knight “Coraline” — Laika
• Daniel Nguyen “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Bruce Smith “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character Design in a Television Production

• Bryan Arnett “The Mighty B! - Catatonic” — Nickelodeon/Polka Dot Pictures/Paper Kite Productions
• Ben Balistreri “Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends” — Cartoon Network Studios
• Craig Kellman “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
• Bill Schwab “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Character Design in a Feature Production

• Daniel Lopez Munoz “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Shane Prigmore “Coraline” — Laika
• Shannon Tindle “Coraline” — Laika

Directing in a Television Production

• Pam Cooke & Jansen Yee “American Dad: Brains, Brains & Automobiles” — 20th Century Fox/Fuzzy Door/Underdog
• Rob Fendler “Popzilla” — Animax
• John Infantino, J.G. Quintel “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack: Candy Casanova” — Cartoon Network Studios
• Bret Haaland “The Penguins of Madagascar - Launchtime” — Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation
• Jennifer Oxley “The Wonder Pets: Help The Monster” — Nickelodeon/Little Airplane Productions

Directing in a Feature Production

• Wes Anderson “Fantastic Mr. Fox” — 20th Century Fox
• Pete Docter “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Christopher Miller, Phil Lord “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — Sony Pictures Animation
• Hayao Miyazaki “Ponyo” — Studio Ghibli
• Henry Selick “Coraline” — Laika

Music in a Television Production

• Michael Giacchino “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Kevin Kiner “Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Weapons Factory” — Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.
• Guy Moon “The Fairly OddParents: “Wishology-The Big Beginning” — Nickelodeon

Music in a Feature Production

• Bruno Coulais “Coraline” — Laika
• Michael Giacchino “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Joe Hisaishi “Ponyo” — Studio Ghibli
• John Powell “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” — Blue Sky Studios

Production Design in a Television Production

• Mac George “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Andy Harkness “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Janice Kubo “Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends” — Cartoon Network Studios

Production Design in a Feature Production

• Christopher Appelhans “Coraline” — Laika
• Ian Gooding “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Tadahiro Uesugi “Coraline” — Laika
• Christophe Vacher “9” — 9 L.L.C.

Storyboarding in a Television Production

• Sunil Hall “The Mighty B!: Catatonic” — Nickelodeon/Polka Dot Pictures/Paper
• Robert Koo “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
• Brandon Kruse “The Fairly OddParents: Fly Boy” — Nickelodeon
• Joe Mateo “Prep and Landing” — ABC Family/Walt Disney Animation Studios Kite Productions
• Adam Van Wyk “The Spectacular Spider-Man: Final Curtain” — Culver Entertainment

Storyboarding in a Feature Production

• Sharon Bridgeman “Astro Boy” — Imagi Studios
• Chris Butler “Coraline” — Laika
• Ronnie Del Carmen “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Tom Owens “Monsters vs. Aliens” — DreamWorks Animation
• Peter Sohn “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios

Voice Acting in a Television Production

• Danny Jacobs - Voice of King Julien - “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation
• Nicky Jones - Voice of Chowder - “Chowder: The Dinner Theatre” — Cartoon Network Studios
• Tom Kenny - Voice of SpongeBob - “SpongeBob SquarePants — Truth or Square” — Nickelodeon
• Dwight Schultz - Voice of Mung Daal - “Chowder:The Party Cruise” — Cartoon Network Studios
• Willow Smith - Voice of Abby - “Merry Madagascar” — DreamWorks Animation

Voice Acting in a Feature Production

• Jen Cody - Voice of Charlotte - “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Dawn French - Voice of Miss Forcible - “Coraline” — Laika
• Hugh Laurie - Voice of Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. - “Monsters vs. Aliens” — DreamWorks Animation
• John Leguizamo - Voice of Sid - “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur” — Blue Sky Studios
• Jenifer Lewis - Voice of Mama Odie - “The Princess and the Frog” — Walt Disney Animation Studios

Writing in a Television Production

• Daniel Chun - “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XX” — Gracie Films
• Kevin Deters, Stevie Wermers-Skelton - “Prep and Landing” — Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Valentina L. Garza - “The Simpsons: Four Great Women and a Manicure” — Gracie Films
• Billy Kimball and Ian Maxtone-Graham - “The Simpsons: Gone Maggie Gone” — Gracie Films
• Billy Lopez - “The Wonder Pets - Save the Honey Bears” — Nickelodeon Productions/Little Airplane Productions

Writing in a Feature Production

• Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach - “Fantastic Mr. Fox” — 20th Century Fox
• Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy - “Up” — Pixar Animation Studios
• Timothy Hyde Harris and David Bowers - “Astro Boy” — Imagi Studios
• Christopher Miller and Phil Lord - “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” — Sony Pictures Animation

JURIED AWARDS__________________________________

Winsor McCay Award — Tim Burton, Bruce Timm, Jeffrey Katzenberg

June Foray — Tom Sito

Ub Iwerks Award — William T. Reeves

Special Achievement — Martin Meunier and Brian McLean

Certificate of Merit — Myles Mikulic, Danny Young and Michael Woodside

And Then There Were Five (Finally)

Big news for the Best Animated Feature award: For the first time since 2001 (the year Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" won) there will be FIVE nominees for Best Animated Film!  This is the list of eligible films, I've highlighted the ones that I feel have the best shot at a nomination:

“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel”
“Astro Boy”
“Battle for Terra”
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
“Coraline”
“Disney’s A Christmas Carol”
“The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”
“Mary and Max”
“The Missing Lynx”
“Monsters vs. Aliens”
“9”
“Planet 51”
“Ponyo”
“The Princess and the Frog”
“The Secret of Kells”
“Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure”
“A Town Called Panic”
“Up”

Right now the favorite to win is "Up."  Mainly because it looks like Pixar has a good chance at (finally) getting a Best Picture nod with that film, and ask any person who tracks the Best Foreign Language Feature race how that usually goes.  Once in awhile a foreign film will get nominated for Best Picture.  It usually shows up in Best Foreign Language Film too.  The Academy will always go the conservative way and give the foreign film Best Foreign Language Film whether it deserves Best Picture or not.  This is an easy way to "spread the love around," so if "Up" does get nominated don't be too surprised if that fact alone makes it an automatic winner in this category.  Still, competition looks stiff, so it's going to be interesting what happens.

P.S. While I would love to see "A Christmas Carol" nominated over "Coraline" chances are the Academy will pass since they showed little love for Zemeckis's previous animated outing "The Polar Express."

Full 'Princess' Clip

Though I don't like spoiling too much Disney has released a full clip of their highly anticipated "The Princess and the Frog."  Okay, so it's not a great scene, but it sure is great to hand drawn animation again.

Animated Race Gets More 'Fantastic' By The Day

I know I've said it before, but the Best Animated Feature race actually feels like a race this year.  Though people predict that Pixar's "Up" will walk away with the prize (as well as a Best Picture nomination) I can't help but feel that in a year with such strong contenders, Pixar won't be the favorite to win even if their film is the best of the bunch.  They've won this award four times already.  In fact they've won the previous two years.  I think one of these others films is going to walk home with the gold, and our good friend "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" looks to be another contender in this race.

Cloudy With A Chance of Oscars

Well folks, I personally didn't care for "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs" much.  You can read my review here, but I thought that the movie - while funny - wasn't something worth remembering.  That said the movie does hold a 86% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes and was a surprise number 1 hit at the box office, so at this point anything is possible.  I'm still not sure if we're getting three nominated films or five (I'm guessing three), but Sony's animated underdog (in the sense that Sony needs this film to succeed...badly) might just squeeze into the nominees at one point.  If we get stuck with three nominees they should be:

• Ponyo
• The Princess and the Frog
• Up

If we get five nominees they should be:

• 9
• Coraline
• Ponyo
• The Princess and the Frog
• Up

I would hate to see 'Cloudy' sneak in on either of those lists (but if we have five, nudging out "9" for a slot would be a lesser offender since that was a movie with lots of style but little substance).

New Trailer For "The Princess and the Frog"

Before I go to bed I present the second trailer for Disney's much anticipated return to traditional animation "The Princess and the Frog":

First Image of Dreamworks "Oobermind"

Though it was announced a mere couple weeks ago it looks like Dreamworks is planning on bringing this movie out as early as next year (November 5th to be precise). Dreamworks have come a long way since making "Shrek." With "Kung fo Panda," "Monsters vs. Aliens," and now "Oobermind" Dreamworks is finally starting to up the quality of their films a bit. So what's "Oobermind" about? Well it's about a villain (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) who finds life a little boring after defeating the hero of the city (Ben Stiller...of all people). The movie is being directed by Gary Trousdale, one of the men responsible for directing Disney's acclaimed classic "Beauty & The Beast." With Trousdale directing you can bet this will be something to keep an eye out for. Maybe Dreamworks will finally snatch another Best Animated Feature Oscar since they won for "Shrek" in 2001.

Are Pixar's Best Picture Odd's Looking "Up?"

The movie has received a 96% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.com. It was the first animated film chosen to open the prestige Cannes Film Festival. Critics are calling it a revolutionary film. Roger Ebert loves it. It will likely open at number 1 this weekend and stay in the top five for months. Chances are it's already won the Best Animated Feature Oscar (though the competition in that category is looking more tough then it has in recent years). So now we ask the ultimate question: Will "Up" be the Pixar film that finally break into the Best Picture category? Boy I would love to think so. I loved the movie. I think it's excellent. This would easily be a Best Picture contender for any other film. But I'm going to go on a limb and say, no, it's not happening. Now I'm not saying I throw in the towel. I'm putting that title under my Best Picture Predix and I'll leave it there til the end of the year.

I think it's time the Academy stop mucking around and recognize that Pixar makes classics and it's nonsense that they haven't cracked the top category by now. The only reason I'm not fully backing this idea is simple: "Wall-E." If "Wall-E" couldn't crack the top category then I'm having a hard time thinking of any reason this one will. Is it THAT much better then "Wall-E." No. It's more of less of the same quality. But despite a lackluster year where we're considering an apocalyptic film that's based on a highly overrated book as a frontrunner for Best Picture shows just how much the Academy goes out of their way to keep animation out of the top category. It will get multiple nominations but will likely only walk home with Best Animated Feature. And really, if that happens again, that category is going to feel like such a shallow victory. I mean, more so then it already does.

Disney's "A Christmas Carol" Poster

Though Disney may be returning to 2D animation with "The Princess & The Frog" they aren't going to throw in the towel with 3D animation yet either. In fact, they may have done one of the smartest things by signing a multi-picture deal with Oscar-winner Robert Zemeckis. Now Bob may be best known for "Forrest Gump" and the "Back To The Future" trilogy, but in recent years he's been perfecting motion capture technology. His most recent work was with "Beowulf," which took in so much more money with it's IMAX and 3D showings that Hollywood had to sit up and take notice. His most noticble work in recent years was "The Polar Express." Though the movie was snubbed an Oscar nomination in favor of Dreamworks (far more subpar in my opinion) "Shark Tale," Bob had the last laugh when word-of-mouth made his film a much bigger hit. Not only that, but IMAX found it could be a yearly tradition, and the thing was re-released for five years straight every Christmas at IMAX.

That said though "The Polar Express" is starting to run out of steam, and IMAX needs a new tradition to keep them alive during the holidays. Enter Disney's "A Christmas Carol." Bob has wrote the screenplay, directed the film, and Disney is finally coming home to IMAX after a long absense. What should make this a big hit is Jim Carrey providing the voice of not only Scrooge, but the three ghosts as well. If this movie is half as good as "The Polar Express" was we should have a new Christmas tradition on our hands. Oh, and hopefully the Academy won't blunder the nomination with this one.

Limited Run For Disney's New Princess?

One of my most eagerly anticipated movies is Disney's return to 2D animation "The Princess and the Frog." Early on it was reported that the movie would be released this summer. But thanks to some protests about the main characters race, name, and occupation the film had to be retooled and will now open for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Or will it?

According to "The Disney Blog" Disney may actually be flirting with changing the date once again. See, last year Disney thought they had a smash hit with "Bolt"...

...which, despite getting solid reviews, Miley Cyrus, and an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film, the movie didn't exactly make a lot of money at the box office (though the 3D showings had more legs then the 2D showing). While there were a ton of reasons why this could have happened, the thing Disney singled out was competition from "Twilight"...

...which was fighting for teens money just as much as "Bolt" was, and it ultimately won (having the advantage of a best selling book on its side). Disney was hoping to avoid that fate this time around with their return to 2D, but wouldn't you know it: That new Sherlock Holmes movie was bumped up in it's release date, and now shares the same week as "The Princess and the Frog." Well, Disney obviously doesn't want competition from ANOTHER big budget release (especially since this one might actually be good), so they are considering changing the release pattern. Though they haven't commited to changing the date again, they ARE considering releasing the movie as a limited release film first and slowly expanding it as the weeks go by.

This would be a pretty daring move on their part, as this is a release stradegy normally saved for low budget films and Oscar contenders. Seeing that Disney hasn't made a "must see" film in years though, this sort of "word-of-mouth" advertising may be just what they need to get people excited about this film. Nothing is confirmed yet, but I think this is an interesting way to sell the movie. What do you guys think?