And the Oscar goes to...

The show we wait all year to see is now over. Was it good? Were there any surprises? What movie won big? Umm... let's go through those questions one at a time shall we?

Was it good (the show)? Not really. I was a big fan of Hugh Jackman hosting the show last year. His Broadway style numbers were so fun and entertaining. I also enjoyed the style in which they announced the acting winners last year, by bringing out five previous winners. This year Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin hosted the show and it was sub-par to say the least. All the problems that plagued shows past, showed their ugly heads this year. There were unfunny jokes, clips and long boring video montages. Overall it failed to keep me entertained, and I'M A MOVIE LOVER!

Were there any surprises? Yes! The one and only big surprise came at "Best Supporting Actress"... Mo'Nique. Are you serious? The same woman that acted in Soul Plane and Phat Girlz just won an Oscar? Yes! And it sounds like deserving so. I did not watch it, so I can't criticize. And I will say this, she accepted her award with respect, class and grace. Very happy for the woman that has always been able to make me laugh.

What movie won big? The Hurt Locker. "Best Director" and "Best Picture" ahead of Avatar is a huge victory for the movie about the troops in Iraq. I loved the movie, and knew it had the lead over Avatar, I just knew it. The Academy loved Drama, and as great as Avatar was, The Hurt Locker was far better story telling by Katherine Bigelow.

Bigelow became the first women EVER to win the Oscar for "Best Directing", wow. Truly an amazing feat that was the icing on the cake for one of the best war movies ever made. Bigelow accepted, shaking at times, and found it difficult to find her words, but she did. Staying backstage for only a few moments while Tom Hanks announced The Hurt Locker for "Best Picture"; Bigelow returned onstage, as she is one of the producers on the film as well.

A few notables are Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges and Christoph Waltz. Sandra Bullock was humble, thankful and comedic while accepting her award. It's her first nomination and really solidified her as more than just a comedic actress in Hollywood. Way to go Ms. Bullock, my wife and I were rooting for you the entire way!

Jeff Bridges has delivered great work, year after year, in his illustrious career. He has stood the test of time, accepting great roles, one after the other. His Oscar win for "Crazy Hearts" capped a 4 nomination loosing streak. He thanked his parents, both actors, both deceased, for inspiring him to be an actor. Great work!

And lastly, Christoph Waltz who was so amazing in Inglourious Basterds. He won for "Best Supporting Actor" and thanked Quentin Tarantino for guiding him through the journey of movie making, as unorthodox as his style is.

Again, great movies, great characters, great performances, very poor show. Hopefully they take a few notes from what worked so well last year and apply it to next. They SHOULD look at last year, as it was a year when viewership went up from 2008 when the Oscars had it's lowest watched show ever. Come on Producers, make the show as fun as it is to go to the movies! Minus the 3D of course.

It's late, I'm tired, it's my Birthday tomorrow (today), goodnight!

Iron Man 2 featurette

Check this doozy of a video out. This is an international featurette; only about a minute and a half are the actual featurette, the rest is the trailer. Great behind the scenes footage, check it out!

Disney's Rapunzel now titled Disney's Tangled, new logo...

This news is actually a few days old, but I thought I'd share... Disney's Rapunzel is now titled Disney's Tangled and here is the new logo.

No way... David S. Goyer to write Superman: The Man of Steel?!

Holy mother of Mary... this is a big deal to me. David S. Goyer, the man who helped Christopher Nolan create a new Batman for a new generation, is set to write the next Superman film for Warner Brothers.

Latino Review first reported the news, with a few plot points as well. This tells me, it's been a work-in-progress for awhile. Here's a few things Latino Review knows:

Lex Luthor AND Brainiac are the primary villains.

Brandon Routh will not star, and Bryan Singer will not return to direct.

It will indeed be called The Man of Steel, not Superman...

No origin story here, just fun filled action that is believable to our times.


That last point is very important. The previous Singer incarnation was too light for our times, especially with what's going on in our world. We need dark, we need more action out of a Superman film. I'm so excited about this news, as Goyer is a bit of a Comic book nerd like myself. What do you guys thinks? Let us know.

Quickie: The Karate Kid trailer 2

This movie looks good, I don't care what anyone thinks about it being a pointless remake... check it out.

You know what's a good movie? (Part 3)

To recap, Tonedog and I thought it would be a cool idea to try a six degrees of separation type game. We'll talk about a good movie, then find a common actor, director, plot, etc., and then move on to the next movie.

In the last installment of "YKWaGM?" Tonedog talked about Toy Story.
Today, I'm going to tie that in with a few common themes with The Incredibles, number one obviously being animation, and number two, Pixar.

Disney distributed Pixar's The Incredibles in 2004, roughly 10 years after Pixar's smash hit Toy Story. This film is easily one of my favorite animated features of all time, and includes an all-star cast including Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee, Sarah Vowell and Brad Bird.


The concept for the movie originated with Brad Bird, a former director and executive consultant on my favorite television series The Simpsons. Bird had also previously directed the excellent animated classic The Iron Giant. Work on The Incredibles started out as a traditionally-animated feature for Warner Bros.' animation studio, but after the studio shut down, Bird took the idea with him and went to Pixar.

Pixar had a lot of work on their hands making the feature. It was planned to be a whole 15 minutes longer than any of their previous films, and had a lot of difficult animation that needed to be perfected, such as long hair, skin and clothing on human characters.

One of the main reasons I appreciate the film so much is because of it's adult tone. While primarily a kids movie, the film had a lot of grown-up issues in it, such as the government ban of superheros, insurance company practices and family and marital problems. There's even [spoiler alert] a character that dies in the end!
The humor in the movie is also just plain genius, and reminiscent of the sarcastic tone found in The Simpsons.

Like that, Pixar once again revolutionized the animated film industry as we knew it, just as they had done a decade before with Toy Story. It's also the first Pixar film to feature an entirely human cast of characters.

The movie eventually opened up to $70,467,623 its opening weekend, averaging about $9,000 per screen, the highest opening weekend for Pixar at the time, and held its # 1 spot the second week. It went on to become the 5th highest grossing film of 2004, and the 3rd highest for Pixar after Finding Nemo and Up.
It is ranked in over 25 professional film critic's Top 10 lists for 2004.
It was nominated for 4 Academy Awards and won 2 of them, including Best Animated Feature, the 2nd of Pixar's 4.

Till today, I'd have to rank The Incredibles as my favorite animated movie of all time, tied with Disney's most recent hit, and Academy Award nominee for best picture, Up. I hope a sequel will soon be in the works, as they have a lot of different ways to continue this story line.

I hope you can all agree with me when I say that Pixar's The Incredibles is most definitely one of the greatest films of the 2000s.

Check back for our next installment of You Know What's a Good Movie? to see what movie Tonedog will tie-in with this new classic.

Quick and Simple: Daniel Craig finalizes deal for Cowboys & Aliens

Just as the title reads... Bond, James Bond is in talks to replace Robert Downey Jr. in the comic book adaptation, Cowboys & Aliens.

A few days ago we told you about Downey's departure from the project due to scheduling conflicts; Craig is the first big name to be mentioned as far as a replacement.

I like Craig, I do, but he's no Downey. I don't think he can be as comedic as Downey, but can definitely portray a sense of toughness we haven't seen since the action movies of the 80's. So with that being said... please Dreamworks, hurry up and make this movie cause I can't wait!!!

UPDATE: Deadline is reporting that the deal is done, and Craig is confirmed for the picture. I think it's a good move for Craig while he sits and waits to see what happens with the "Bond" franchise.