AND THE OSCAR NOMINEES ARE:

1. Best Picture: "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck.," "Munich."

2. Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"; Terrence Howard, "Hustle & Flow"; Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain"; Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line"; David Strathairn, "Good Night, and Good Luck."

3. Actress: Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"; Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"; Keira Knightley, "Pride & Prejudice"; Charlize Theron, "North Country"; Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line."

4. Supporting Actor: George Clooney, "Syriana"; Matt Dillon, "Crash"; Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"; Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"; William Hurt, "A History of Violence."

5. Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "Junebug"; Catherine Keener, "Capote"; Frances McDormand, "North Country"; Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"; Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain."

6. Director: Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"; Bennett Miller, "Capote"; Paul Haggis, "Crash"; George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck."; Steven Spielberg, "Munich."

7. Foreign Film: "Don't Tell," Italy; "Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas)," France; "Paradise Now," Palestine; "Sophie Scholl — The Final Days," Germany; "Tsotsi," South Africa.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"; Dan Futterman, "Capote"; Jeffrey Caine, "The Constant Gardener"; Josh Olson, "A History of Violence"; Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, "Munich."

9. Original Screenplay: Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, "Crash"; George Clooney and Grant Heslov, "Good Night, and Good Luck"; Woody Allen, "Match Point"; Noah Baumbach, "The Squid and the Whale"; Stephen Gaghan, "Syriana."

10. Animated Feature Film: "Howl's Moving Castle"; "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride"; "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit."

11. Art Direction: "Good Night, and Good Luck.," "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," "King Kong," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Pride & Prejudice."

12. Cinematography: "Batman Begins," "Brokeback Mountain," "Good Night, and Good Luck.," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "The New World."

13. Sound Mixing: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," "King Kong," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Walk the Line," "War of the Worlds."

14. Sound Editing: "King Kong," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "War of the Worlds."

15. Original Score: "Brokeback Mountain," Gustavo Santaolalla; "The Constant Gardener," Alberto Iglesias; "Memoirs of a Geisha," John Williams; "Munich," John Williams; "Pride & Prejudice," Dario Marianelli.

16. Original Song: "In the Deep" from "Crash," Kathleen "Bird" York and Michael Becker; "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow," Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard; "Travelin' Thru" from "Transamerica," Dolly Parton.

17. Costume: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Mrs. Henderson Presents," "Pride & Prejudice," "Walk the Line."

18. Documentary Feature: "Darwin's Nightmare," "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "March of the Penguins," "Murderball," "Street Fight."

19. Documentary (short subject): "The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club," "God Sleeps in Rwanda," "The Mushroom Club," "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin."

20. Film Editing: "Cinderella Man," "The Constant Gardener," "Crash," "Munich," "Walk the Line."

21. Makeup: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," "Cinderella Man," "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith."

22. Animated Short Film: "Badgered," "The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation," "The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello," "9," "One Man Band."

23. Live Action Short Film: "Ausreisser (The Runaway)," "Cashback," "The Last Farm," "Our Time Is Up," "Six Shooter."

24. Visual Effects: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," "King Kong," "War of the Worlds."

After I see more of the nominated films I will give you a list of who I think should win. In the meantime let me know who YOU think shoudl win.

ALSO:

CORPSE BRIDE ON DVD

Twelve Years ago Tim Burton released his masterpiece "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Over time this film became one of the classic animated tales of our time. Now, Tim Burton has released another film using the amazing technology of Claymation. Corpse Bride can be described easily with the films tagline. "There has been a grave misunderstanding." Victor Van Dort (played by Johnny Depp) has accidentally married a dead woman. Strange? Yes. Creepy? Yes. Does it work as a film? Yes. Tim Burton is only film maker who can take this gruesome a topic for a film and make a delightful family film.

A word of warning for Burton fans:

This film is NOT as good as “Nightmare.” This isn’t to say the film isn’t amazing, but do not expect Corpse Bride to live up to “Nightmare.”

The soundtrack is amazing, yet there are not as many classic songs, and the characters in the film are not as memorable or quirky as those in "Nightmare."

Both are as amazing as the other. In fact, Corpse Bride does triumph over “Nightmare” in one way. The claymation in “Bride” is so detailed it makes some of “Nightmare’s” animation seem sketchy.

That said “Corpse Bride” is an amazing movie that I'm sure will go down with "Nightmare" as a classic Claymation Masterpiece.

I recently saw the new film "Brokeback Mountain," which is better known as 'The Gay Cowboy Movie.' The film stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as, you guessed it, gay cowboys who share camping and fishing trips up on Brokeback mountain. It's hard enough for them to continue their monthly visits when, during this particular time period, homosexuality is shunned in American society, but to make matters worse both men are married. Ledger has a wife and two kids, while Gyllenhaal has a wife and a new born boy. The film captures the struggle the men must go through just to continue seeing each other, never mind avoid their desires to start a life together in public. The movie is fantastic and really plays with certain emotions and allows the audience to decide whether or not they believe their relationship is worth the trouble, or whether or not it is right for two men to have a lifestyle such as they do. I definitely think that the movie is worth seeing, but there are many people who will not like the movie because of their own personal views. Nontheless I highly recommend this film.

What do you get when you take Mary Poppins and add one too many spoonfuls of sugar? You get Nanny McPhee, the new film written by and starring Emma Thompson. The film follows a single father and his seven children, who, aside from their cuteness factor are the worst behaved kids you have ever seen. After driving out their seventeenth Nanny, the children’s father, played by Colin Firth, seeks the help of Nanny McPhee, a Nanny with an unorthodox way of teaching children morals.

This film is very enjoyable. It has a storybook feel to it, but is unpredictable and takes you places you never expect.

The sequel to ‘Underworld’ is in theaters now and I wasn’t too psyched about seeing it. I’d never really sat down and watched the first one, and it just seemed like it would be two hours of senseless violence between mythical creatures. Well, I was right. The film follows a female Vampire and her best friend (who is half vampire-half Werewolf) as they fight in the long lasting war between Vampires and Werewolves. Most of the film is just none-stop creature on creature battle scenes, with gory results. But for once I enjoyed it. Seldom do I like films riddled with Fantasy violence, because it seems stupid and fake. But with ‘Underworld’ I didn’t feel as though the fight scenes were out of place. Everything had its place in the plot line. Even though I hadn’t seen the first film I was able to follow this movie without getting TOO confused. It probably would have helped to have seen the first film, but I got along just fine. I won’t be rushing out to buy the DVD when it is released, but if you’re just looking to get out to the movies; the film is decent and will keep you interested.

My Grandma and I went to see the new Hapy Madison film 'Grandma's Boy' this weekend and I thought it would be fun to compare what I thought to what she thought.

My Review: It was stupid and utterly pointless. The humor was dry and didn't make you laughas much as you would expect.. Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond) was an absolute riot, but she wasn't in the movie as much as you might think she would be. The movie left alot to be desired and though certain scenes would make you laugh out loud, the film maker tried too hard to make a stupid-comedy that people would love, like Anchorman or Dodgeball.

Grandma's Review: I thought it was funny and entertaining, but they pushed the drug humor a little too far. Overall, though it was funny.

One of the best films of 2006 is on DVD today.

Set during the Cold War, 'Lord of War' stars Nicolas Cage as an international arms dealer, whose life is legendary to military leaders, but is a secret from his own family. The film appears as though it will be violent, and the title suggests nothing less than that. But, the story is actually very slow paced with many scenes of dialogue, showing how Cage's character got to be where he is. NOT how the weapons are used on others. THe opening sequence of this film is one of the best I've ever seen. The opening credits is from the P.O.V. of a bullet. The bullet is first shown as scrap metal, then formed into a shell, put into a crate, shipped overseas, picked up, loaded into a gun, and shot at an African villager. This entire scene is set to Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" and is a very hard hitting opening. The rest of the film is just as good.

ALSO AVAILABLE IS THE TWO DISC COLLECTORS EDITION OF LORD OF WAR THAT INCLUDES A SPECIAL DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE COLD WAR AND HOW IT INFLUENCED THE FILM..

Also on DVD:

Two for the Money starring Al Pacino
The Man starring Eugene Levy and Samuel L. Jackson

Sorry, everyone. I know I promised a review for Hoodwinked AND Grandma's Boy for Saturday, but I got sick over the weekend, and this is the first chance I've gotten to post a new blog entry.

Hoodwinked is a film that puts a new twist on the story of "Little Red Riding Hood." Though the trailers show a quirky and offbeat animated film, the previews show none of the films wit and cleverness.

The film is shown from the perspective of four people. Red, The Wolf, Granny, and the Woodsman. Each of the characters has their own unique twist on the story that will keep you laughing throughout the entire film.

I will hopefully be checking out "Grandma's Boy" tonight.

This weekend I will be reviewing the new film "Hoodwinked," which follows the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but with a twist.

I will also be seeing last weeks film "Grandma's Boy" with, who else, but my Grandma. My Review, as well as hers on Saturday.

Wes Craven's "Red Eye" is everything a thriller film should be. A film that you can't tear your eyes away from and makes your heart beat faster with every scene.

The film follows a hotel reservations manager who is seated next to an assassin on a plane to Miami. This assassin needs her to help him carry out his plan or he threatens her fathers life. The greatest thing about this film is that the assassin knows what he is doing. He can't be outsmarted! Every desperate attempt she makes to break away from him is caught by his hawk's eye. It is an amazing piece of work.

Hostel may be the best film of 2006, but you must take into account that this is the only 2006 movie release that I have seen this year.

This movie was downright awful. I was excited about seeing it, because it reminded me alot of 'Saw' and this film is produced by Quentin Tarantino. Saw and Saw 2 are my favorite horror films of all time and Tarantino's 'Kill Bill Volume 2" is a classic film that stands highly on my list of all time favorite movies.

Hostel is not similar to any of these films and provides none of their cleverness, wit, or well coregraphed scenes of violence. Oh, sure there is alot of violence in 'Hostel' but the violence is stupid, pointless, and sick.

Hostel follows a group of men, who are backpacking across Europe. After staying at an old run-down Hotel in Germany, the guys decide it would be fun to go to "Slevakia" to see all the 'pretty girls.' If you would like a detailed summery of the first forty-five minutes of 'Hostel' just go out and rent 'Euro-Trip." My friends and I were shocked at the similarities between both films and will not be surprised if a law-suit erupts.

After the "Euro-Trip" esque opening the film takes a sick and twisted turn. The film then decides to focus on the topic of 'torture.' The moment the torture scenes began I knew this film was a waste of time. 'Saw' provides audiences with mind-bending psychological twists and turns with every drop of blood that is shown on screen. Hostel just gets funnier with each drop of blood.

There was one point during the film where the theater roared with laughter, as a torturer slip on a puddle of blood and accidentally cuts his own leg off with a chainsaw. What can I say: It was funny!

In the middle of the film people started getting up and leaving the theater, others were howling with laughter. And then there was one guy giving us dirty looks because we thought the film was so funny. He must be in the film industry.

Anyway, my overall review: This movie is one of the stupidest films ever made! The plot was dumb, it wasn't scary, and to top it all off IT WAS AN ACCIDENTAL COMEDY.

I can't wait for the 'Scary Movie' guys to take a crack at this one.

Oh and by the way, two of the six writers of the 'Scary Movie' franchise have written a film called 'DATE MOVIE' which is set to open Febuary 17th. I can't wait!

The Wedding Crashers was one of the funniest films in theaters this summer and it is now on DVD! I, naturally, rushed right out and bought it. But I often wonder if buying the extended version of the film is better than buying the regular version.

With the "Anchorman: Unrated, Uncut, and Uncalled for" Extended cut of the film I found that certain hilarious one liners were left out, to make way for bolder, often less funny scenes.

However the uncut version of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" adds some hilarious new scenes and doesn't leave any of the original hilarious one-liners out.

So will it be worth buying the "Uncorked" version of Wedding Crashers?

Yes. The DVD has actually included both the theatrical version that was released in movie theaters AND the directors cut of the film. Is that genius or what? Why can't all the movies do that?

The DVD for Wedding Crashers also comes with a CD that features songs from the soundtrack.

Songs include:

1. Some Say by Sum 41
2. Nice To Meet You Anyway by Gavin Degraw
3. Sooner or Later by Michael Tolcher (my personal favorite on the album)
4. 24 Hours by The Sounds
5. Out Here All Night by Damone
6. Spanish Teeth by Robbers on High Street
7. Sweetheart by Jont

Also on DVD: The Cave - A terrible film that seemed to me like a major rip off of AVP: Alien Versus Predator

As of January 2nd the best and worst movies of 2005 (in my opinion) are:

BEST

1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
2. Walk the Line
3. The 40-Year-Old-Virgin
4. Saw II
5. King Kong
6. The Producers
7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
8. Cinderella Man
9. Wedding Crashers
10. March of the Penguins

WORST

1.The Island
2. Boogeyman
3. Stealth
4. Elizabethtown
5. Doom
6. Yours, Mine, and Ours
7. Rebound
8. Dukes of Hazzard
9. Bewitched
10. Valiant

Film places may vary. I still have a few more filsm I need to review before making my FINAL list.