Miley Cyrus's 'Last Song'

So it appears Miley Cyrus wants to break away from Disney and have a career on her own.  There is tremendous pressure on her to NOT turn out like Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan though!  With that in mind her upcoming role in "The Last Song" is...probably a good choice.  It's PG-rated.  She gets to contribute a few songs (real ones maybe).  She gets top billing.  Greg Kinnear and Kelly Preston play major roles.  Her part isn't hammered to audiences by the trailer (giving us the impression this may be a role movie and not a star vehicle).  The thing that could go either way for this film is the fact that it's based off a Nicolas Sparks novel.  For me the guy is hit and miss.  Some movies like "A Walk In The Clouds" and "The Notebook" range from excellent to pretty good.

Some of his movie adaptations are unrealistic and predictable.  Most of his stuff tends to be syrupy whether it be presented in print or celluloid.  I'm more than certain that this film will not get any Oscar nominations.  That said it's going to be fun to see where Cyrus's career goes from here.  With all the concerns that she may be trying to "sexy up" her musical career, it's nice to see a realistic transition from family star to real movie star with this movie.  If the movie is actually good then her career could get a critical boost.  If it's bad then be prepared for her to "sexy up" her movie parts as well.  I have to say though that scene where she's accepted to Julliard but has decided she's not going rings of a very bad TV movie cliche.

Jonas Brothers: Bigger Then The Beatles (Possibly Even Jesus)

Okay, so they aren't as big as The Beatles and likely never will be, but they will be coming to IMAX 3D in about a month...

...which means all you girls who loved them in "Hannah Montana: Best of Both Worlds" can get ready to watch another manufactured band from the Disney tween machine. This is perfect timing because with "Hannah Montana: The Movie" coming out and rumors of Miley Cyrus opting out of a third season...well, the Jonas Brothers seem to be the perfect replacement. Wholesome, good looking, and easy on the ears. They may be instantly forgettable but with faces like that you can sell a lot of posters which will in turn kill a lot of trees (so much for kids going green these days). So if this is such a marketing ploy why am I bothering to blog about it in the first place (and on an Oscar site no less)?

Easy: Because this is Disney's first movie on the IMAX since they released "Treasure Planet" on it years ago. Yeah, I know they released a couple of hour long documentaries in the past few years, but this is the first real movie they are releasing on IMAX since they decided the format wasn't really that profitable. I'm hoping the sucess of this will lead Disney to release their 3D remasters of Best Picture nominee "Beauty & The Beast" and "Toy Story" on IMAX as well as conventional theaters. I saw "Beauty & The Beast" on IMAX about eighr years ago and I still remember the experience. I was crushed when I found out we wouldn't get the IMAX versions of "Aladdin," "Pocahontas," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," or "The Little Mermaid" in this format. Hopefully this 3D thing will bring in lots of dough for Disney and convince them to give these films a second chance on the really big screen.

Peter Gabriel Pulls Out of Oscar

Nikki Finke over at Deadline Hollywood reports that Peter Gabriel will NOT be performing his Oscar-nominated song "Down To Earth" from "Wall-E" at the Oscars this year! This is the result of the producers trying once again to getting the show down to less then three hours. Unless the Academy starts giving away less awards this is not going to happen. You know it and I know it. In a letter to the Academy Gabriel says:

"I was delighted when "Down to Earth" was nominated for an Oscar. I was also pleased to have been asked to perform the song in the Oscar ceremony. However, in recent discussions with the Producers, it became clear that despite there being only three nominees, only 60-65 seconds was being offered, and that was also in a medley of the three songs. I don't feel that is sufficient time to do the song justice, and have decided to withdraw from performing.

I fully respect and look forward to the Producers' right to revamp the show. Even though song writers are small players in the film making process, they are just as committed and work just as hard as the rest of the team and I regret that this new version of the ceremony is being created, in part, at their expense."

I still very much look forward to attending the ceremony."

I'm sorry to see that we won't see Pete singing the song. Part of me also wonders if this choice could hurt the songs chances of winning the gold. Regardless, this is bad news for the Academy who is already faced with the possability of the worst rated Oscar telecast in years. No Dark Knight, no Peter Gabriel, no Bruce Springsteen, no Miley Cyrus, no "Wall-E" (kind of)...it's getting to be a mess folks. This is going to be one interesting year to see if the Academy can pull themselves out of this mess.

The 81st Academy Awards: Will They Watch?

Now that we've (mostly) gotten "The Dark Knight" snub out of our system, it's time to ask a burning question: Will people watch the Oscars this year? I'd like to be positive, I really would, but I think the answer is going to be a loud 'no.' In fact, I think this is going to be the poorest ratings for the Oscars in ten years (if not twenty). And this goes beyond "The Dark Knight." While that movie would have helped ratings, there were a few other things that would have helped. Not nominating songs from "The Wrestler" and "Bolt" cost the Academy two performers that would likely draw crowds: Bruce Spriengstein and Miley Cyrus. Yeah, I'm kind of glad that the Academy didn't vote for the "Bolt" song, but it's going to be really difficult to get people to watch a show when the performers consist of Peter Gabriel and a bunch of Indian singers doing Bollywood style dance numbers. And if Pete calls in sick, then we are in even more trouble.

"Wall-E" would help the ratings much. For starters, everyone knows it's going to win. Secondly, the Best Animated Film category hasn't helped draw in kids to watch the show much. After that what have you got? The actors? Well, that could help, but nobody cares about actors who win awards for films they haven't seen. Hugh Jackman might entertain people, but no matter how good a job he does if the ratings tank then the Academy will start pointing their finger at him for being the reason. Seeing as how only "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" has been a blockbuster, these movies will not draw in the audience. In short, I think this is the last year we'll see the Oscars on ABC. Next year the show will likely move to HBO, Showtime, or TNT. It's airing will be up for auction, and if the nominees next year prove to be films that don't attract audiences, I can imagine the buying price being very low.

Now, more then ever, the ratings of the Academy Awards will be most interesting. It will effect whether or not the show is commercially viable anymore. The fact that the movies getting nominations haven't gotten much of a boost from the awards speaks volumes. In short, this is going to be one rough year for the Academy. May God have mercy on their souls.

Nominees For The 14th Annual Critics Choice Awards Reveled

For your reading pleasure, here are the nominees for the Critics Choice Awards:

BEST PICTURE

Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
The Wrestler

BEST ACTOR

Clint Eastwood - Gran Torino
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS

Kate Beckinsale - Nothing But the Truth
Cate Blanchett - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey, Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
James Franco - Milk

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Vera Farmiga - Nothing But the Truth
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Kate Winslet - The Reader

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Milk
Rachel Getting Married

BEST DIRECTOR

Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant - Milk

BEST WRITER (Original or Adapted Screenplay)

Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Wall-E
Waltz With Bashir

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS (Under 21)

Dakota Fanning - The Secret Life of Bees
David Kross - The Reader
Dev Petal - Slumdog Millionaire
Brandon Walters - Australia

BEST ACTION MOVIE

The Dark Knight
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Quantum of Solace
Wanted

BEST COMEDY MOVIE

Burn After Reading
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Role Models
Tropic Thunder
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

John Adams
Recount
Coco Chanel

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

A Christmas Tale
Gomorrah
I’ve Loved You So Long
Let the Right One In
Mongol
Waltz With Bashir

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I.O.U.S.A.
Man On Wire
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Standard Operating Procedure
Young At Heart

BEST SONG

“Another Way to Die” (performed by Jack White and Alicia Keys, written by Jack White) - Quantum of Solace
“Down to Earth” (performed by Peter Gabriel, written by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman) - Wall-E
“I Thought I Lost You” (performed Miley Cyrus and John Travolta, written by Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele) - Bolt
“Jaiho” (performed by Sukhwinder Singh, written by A.R. Rahman and Gulzar) - Slumdog Millionaire
“The Wrestler” (performed by Bruce Springsteen, written by Bruce Springsteen) - The Wrestler

BEST COMPOSER

Alexandre Desp lat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Clint Eastwood - Changeling
Danny Elfman - Milk
Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard - The Dark Knight
A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire

Right now here are the leaders of the pack:

Milk (Eight Nominations)

Best Picture
Best Actor
Two Best Supporting Actor Nominations
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Director
Best Writer
Best Composer

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Eight Nominations)

Best Picture
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actress
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Director
Best Writer
Best Composer

The Dark Knight (Six Nominations)

Best Picture
Best Supporting Actor
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Director
Best Action Movie
Best Composer

Doubt (Six Nominations)

Best Picture
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Writer

Slumdog Millionaire (Six Nominations)

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Writer
Best Young Actor/Actress
Best Song
Best Composer

So what does this mean for Oscar season? Well, not too much, though we are starting to see a pattern emerge so that we have a slightly better idea of how the Oscar race is turning out. Here are some things we do know:

• "The Dark Knight" is more likely to get a Best Picture nomination if not outright become the favorite to win.
• "Revolutionary Road" may be trouble, based on it's total shut-out here.
• "The Curious Case of Benjiman Button" is looking to be more then just hype.
• "Slumdog Millionaire" could become this years "Little Film That Could" after all.

Other then that though we don't know much. The Golden Globes are going to be announcing their nominees soon, so once those are announced we may or may not have a good idea on how the Oscar noms will go. Remember, anything can happen and nothing is certain. I mean, just take a look at that song list: Miley Cyrus is a CCA nominee. Crickey!