Academy Award Nominations

The 84th Academy Award Nominations have been announced. You can see the whole list here. I've seen four of the nine Best Picture Nominees, and I'll try to catch some of the others before the ceremony on February 26th. Meanwhile, I'm surprised to see Steven Spielberg left off the list for Best Director, but glad to see Woody Allen there. I'm looking forward to seeing Billy Crystal host a ceremony with Allen and Martin Scorsese in the audience. Oh, and somehow, Tintin didn't even get a nomination for Best Animated Picture, yet somehow Kung Fu Panda 2 did. That makes no sense to me. Anyway, you can see how I ranked the films here.

It's LEGOlas!

I'm mostly without power due to snow and ice storms in the Pacific Northwest, so I won't be blogging much. Here, in the few minutes that I'm connected to a generator, is another teaser poster from LEGO, featuring Legolas from The Two Towers. You can see his hairpiece adds the molded elf ears. Based on the poster, I'd guess this figure will be appearing in the Helm's Deep set, so if you want a LEGO version of Orlando Bloom, you can pick this up or try to find one of the Pirates of the Caribbean sets.
[from TheOneRing.net]

The noteworthy parts of 2011

It's time for the first post to begin the recap of the previous year. Last year, I didn't start this until February, so I'm actually getting a jump on the subject. Overall, it was quite the year for me. I graduated from school, I've gotten back into theater. Haven't written as much as I'd like, but it's a new year and that's going to change. Below, you can read all about my favorite movie, the biggest surprise, the biggest disappointment, the best rumor,the best news, and the best trailer of 2011 movie year.

Week Links: Posters, Thor, and more

Still working on the 2011 recaps, so don't worry about that. So this week, it's another collection of links. There're more pictures from The Avengers, a couple pieces of news from Thor 2, a new promo for The Amazing Spider-Man, and a few other pieces of non-superhero movies news, including a film version of one of my favorite musicals. Also, I got a chance to see Martin Scorsese's Hugo, since its star is going to be playing Ender's Game, and I'd heard the 3D was actually well done. Turns out it was pretty good movie (#11 for 2011), though I had some trouble with the tone. Hugo was clearly made as a celebration of film, and made great use of 3D in juxtaposition to the works of Georges Méliès, but it jumped from fantastic to historic and back. Also, Hugo is a family film, so it's a little strange to see from Scorsese, but now I'm waiting to see him make a Departed-style film in 3D. He seems to understand the format better than most other directors, so you will believe you are being splattered in blood! Everything else is after the jump.

Waiting at the starting gate

I'm currently delaying any recap of the 2011 film slate until I can see Steven Spielberg's War Horse. Meanwhile, I've seen Tintin, Darkest Hour, and Sherlock Holmes. They're on the list, which is almost complete. Meanwhile, here's a couple pieces of news, and this picture of Thor and Captain America from The Avengers.