"The Road" Trailer

And so the much delayed film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" is finally unveiled. And the movie...doesn't look bad. In fact, I'm pretty interested in seeing it now. I'm cautious though because I personally felt that this Pulitzer Prize-winning, New York Times best seller, and Oprah's Book Club selection was TERRIBLY boring! The movie looks to be a major step in the right direction. Unlike the book the movie looks like it's about something. Viggo Mortenson is also looking promising as the lead. Oh, and you can bet your momma's soul that the company is going to make sure everyone knows that the author of "No Country For Old Men" wrote this, all but ensuring it becomes an Oscar contender long before we see it. The road for Oscar won't be easy though (no pun intended): just ask delayed movies like "The Soloist" and "All The Kings Men" for prood that when a studio delays a film, they usually delay it for a reason.

'Slumdog' Wins NBR

The National Board of Review has given out it's awards to what the voters felt were the best films of the year. Below is the full list of the awards given by the NBR:

• Best Film: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
• Best Director: DAVID FINCHER, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Best Actor: CLINT EASTWOOD, Gran Torino
• Best Actress: ANNE HATHAWAY, Rachel Getting Married
• Best Supporting Actor: JOSH BROLIN, Milk
• Best Supporting Actress: PENELOPE CRUZ, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Best Foreign Language Film: MONGOL
• Best Documentary: MAN ON WIRE
• Best Animated Feature: WALL-E
• Best Ensemble Cast: DOUBT

• Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: DEV PATEL, Slumdog Millionaire
• Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: VIOLA DAVIS, Doubt
• Best Directorial Debut: COURTNEY HUNT, Frozen River
• Best Original Screenplay: NICK SCHENK, Gran Torino
• Best Adapted Screenplay: SIMON BEAUFOY, Slumdog Millionaire and
ERIC ROTH, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Spotlight Award: MELISSA LEO, Frozen River and
RICHARD JENKINS, The Visitor
• The BVLGARI Award for NBR Freedom of Expression: TRUMBO

• Top Ten Films:
(In alphabetical order)
BURN AFTER READING
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
DEFIANCE
FROST/NIXON
GRAN TORINO
MILK
WALL-E
THE WRESTLER

• Top Five Foreign Language Films:
(In alphabetical order)
EDGE OF HEAVEN
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
ROMAN DE GUERRE
A SECRET
WALTZ WITH BASHIR

• Top Five Documentary Films
(In alphabetical order)
AMERICAN TEEN
THE BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON)
DEAR ZACHARY
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED

• William K. Everson Film History Award: MOLLY HASKELL and ANDREW SARRIS

Now obviously the big deal for these results is that the independant film "Slumdog Millionaire" won the top prize, which should bode well for Fox Searchlight who released Oscar nominees "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Juno," and likely has similar Oscar hope with this film. Though I congradulate Fox on this win, this does not mean an Oscar win in the future (or even a nomination). The problem with this film is while it is critically acclaimed, unlike Sunshine and Juno, the audiences are ignoring this film completely at the box office, and so the word-of-mouth that drove the aforementioned films just isn't there. What is nice to know is that both "The Dark Knight" and "Wall•E" were among the top ten films of the year, which bodes well for their Oscar chances.

The Coen Brothers latest comedy "Burn After Reading" was also in this list, so we may see a screenplay nomination at the Oscars come yet. Of course "Wall•E" won the Best Animated Feature award, and Penelope Cruz won Best Supporting Actress for "Vicky Cristina Barcelon," proving what I suspected all along: That this performance would have legs and likely be remembered come awards season. Clint Eastwood won Best Actor for "Gran Torino," so this movie could be the big surprise at the Oscars. If there is an upset (and this can be considered so) is that Josh Brolin won Best Supporting Actor for "Milk." Which is all fine and good, seeing as how there are three potential Best Supporting Actor nominations coming from that movie. The thing that surprised people was that Heath Ledger was actually beat in this category.

It appears that while Heath may be considered a lock at the Oscars, he might not be a lock anywhere else. See folks, while I think we all agree he should win an Oscar for his role, there is a slight chance he'll lose. Now I post this list because it's interesting, but don't use these awards as a guide for how you should place your bets come Oscar night. The NBR and Academy rarely votes the same way, and the winners rarely match between the two. "No Country For Old Men" did but that was a rare exception. For now I'd like to congradulate "Slumdog Millionaire" for it's big win, and hoping it can go the distance come Oscar time.

McDormand Is In (As Far As I'm Concerned)

To those of you who've been wondering when it would be safe to go to the theater again I am glad to report that "Burn After Reading," the Coen brothers follow-up to their Best Picture winner "No Country For Old Men," is a fun movie. It's not great, and I wouldn't count on there being too many Oscar nominations for it, but it's one of the better movies in theaters right now (and it's certainly better then "The Women"). In fact, there is only one potential Oscar nomination I see on the horizon: Best Supporting Actress for Frances McDormand. The wife of one of the directors themselves, McDormand won an Oscar for Best Actress in the classic film "Fargo." Since then she's been greatly underappriciated, turning in great performances under her "plain" looking face. In this movie she shows a comic timing and ability that makes you wish women were allowed to be funny more often. We'll see how the race pans out, but for now she's in.

The Coen Brothers Lost Treasure

Though I was a fan of the Joel & Ethan Coen's movies before they struck Oscar gold with last years "No Country For Old Men," I admit that I've only seen a handful of their movies. I've been attempting to rectify that mistake, and one that I discovered recently was "Barton Fink," a movie I'm sorry I skipped for so long. Both funny and poetic, this movie about a struggling screenwriter really spoke to me. Seeing as how I've been struggling with my own book this was a nice little wake up call. To watch this movie is to understand how writing works. Only a few movies can do that ("Adaptation" and "Whisper of the Heart" come to mind). The funny thing about this wonderful movie is how cheap it was.

I got this movie for $2.99 at a local retail store. Even though I'm saving money for Japan I found the deal too much to pass up for a Coen Brothers film. Netflix this, watch it on TV,or buy a cheap DVD of it. This is an overlooked gem if ever I saw one.