80th Academy Awards

I don't have much to say about this year's Oscars. Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton's wins were surprising. I'm not saying they didn't give great performances, I just expected Julie Christie and Cate Blanchett to win like pretty much everyone expected Daniel Day-Lewis to win.

I don't really care though.

The only person I wanted to win was Casey Affleck. But who can blame Javier Bardem?

Also: why wasn't Brad Renfro included in the In Memoriam section? Like Heath Ledger really is all that better than Brad Renfro? Shame on you, Academy!

Anyways, let's talk about Amy Adams! PHENOMENAL! She performed Enchanted's Happy Working Song, which was nominated for best song, but didn't win. That's How You Know should've won, but that didn't happen either.. eh... BUT! Amy Adams! Gorgeous! Talented! Gotta give credit to a girl who can own the stage all by her own and sing amazing live.



But then Kristin Chenoweth happened.. ehh.. Kristin performed That's How You Know and I realize she's a Tony Award winner and all, but, honestly, her performance was kinda headache-inducing. Her voice is just not right for this song. I don't know why Amy didn't perform this song as well.



And finally: Katherine Heigl rocked the red carpet. Without a doubt, best dressed celeb of the night! *hearts*

Box Office Buzz: Cloverfield & 27 Dresses liven up January

Who says January is a slow month? I think it's only slow if studios etc. make it a slow month by releasing crap. Let me applaud J.J. Abrams for releasing a potentially big monster movie called Cloverfield in January! And lookie.. it grossed $40 million in its opening weekend! See, if you release quality, the people will come. The movie looks great, I loved the initial marketing, Mike Vogel is awesome and I cannot wait to see this opening day here in The Netherlands.

But what I'm really happy about is 27 Dresses opening in the second spot with a pretty damn great $22 million. Yes, Katherine Heigl is able to open a movie! I knew she could do it! I know people wanted her to fail after what she said about Knocked Up in her recent Vanity Fair interview, and that she should be thankful to Judd Apatow. I defended her here, and like I said in that post, Katherine Heigl is a star. People will go see a movie for her. And it helps that Prince Charming himself James Marsden co-stars of course! Considering 27 Dresses cost only about $30 million to make, it's a hit for Fox already!

The other big release, Mad Money, did not do as well as Cloverfield and 27 Dresses, but that was to be expected as it stars Katie Holmes. Need I say more? Though the $7.6 million it grossed in its opening weekend is already more than I had anticipated. Ellen Page's Juno is heading towards the $100 mark, while those cute Chipmunks are heading for the $200 million! I will never doubt your movie making decisions again, Jason Lee. I take back everything bad I've said about making a Chipmunks movie. I Am Legend is heading towards the $250 million mark.. people sure love Will Smith!

The weekend numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1) Cloverfield - $40,037,000/$40,037,000
2) 27 Dresses - $22,750,000/$22,750,000
3) The Bucket List - $14,010,000/$41,569,000
4) Juno - $9,925,000/$85,052,000
5) First Sunday - $7,800,000/$28,466,000
6) National Treasure: Book of Secrets - $7,609,000/$197,492,000
7) Mad Money - $7,600,000/$7,600,000
8) Alvin and the Chipmunks - $6,900,000/$196,280,000
9) I Am Legend - $4,870,000/$247,447,000
10) Atonement - $4,759,000/$31,884,000

65th Annual Golden Globe Nominations

It's that time of the year again.. while I hear Paul McCartney singing about simply having a wonderful Christmas time, I'm talking about the Golden Globe nominations. My reaction? It's a mix between being underwhelmed, confused and happy for my girl Katherine Heigl.

Below you will find a partial list of nominees and my thoughts.

Best Motion Picture - Drama
American Gangster
Atonement
Eastern Promises
The Great Debaters
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Seven nominations for Best Drama? Seriously, seven! And the sad part is I have no interest in any of them except for Atonement. I've seen young Saoirse Ronan give a great performance in I Could Never Be Your Woman so I know she's a force to be reckoned with. I'm not surprised at all she got a nom for Atonement.. I've heard nothing but good things about her performance. The other movies.. I don't know. They're probably really great or else they wouldn't have been nominated. I haven't seen them, not just because of lack of interest, but most of them haven't been released here yet. I'm a little sad that Gone Baby Gone isn't nominated. I haven't seen it, but it's at least a drama I want to see.

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Across the Universe
Charlie Wilson's War
Hairspray
Juno
Sweeney Todd

Knocked Up isn't nominated for Best Musical or Comedy. Yet, Hairspray is. Are Zac Efron movies really eligible?

Best Peformance by an Actor - Drama
George Clooney (Michael Clayton)
Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
James McAvoy (Atonement)
Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises)
Denzel Washington (American Gangster)

Best Peformance by an Actress - Drama
Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age)
Julie Christie (Away from Her)
Jodie Foster (The Brave One)
Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart)
Keira Knightley (Atonement)

The usual suspects seem to be nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress Drama. I'm surprised Jodie Foster got nominated for The Brave One though. I didn't think the critics liked this movie much.

Best Peformance by an Actor - Musical or Comedy
Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd)
Ryan Gosling (Lars and the Real Girl)
Tom Hanks (Charlie Wilson's War)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Savages)
John C. Reilly (Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox Story)

Best Peformance by an Actress - Musical or Comedy
Amy Adams (Enchanted)
Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray)
Helena Bonham Carter (Sweeney Todd)
Marion Cotillard (Môme, La)
Ellen Page (Juno)

I liked the nominees for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy a little better. Yayness for Ryan Gosling's nomination! I really want to see Lars and the Real Girl. John C. Reilly is a great actor, but I'm surprised by his nomination. Mostly because I have low expectations for Walk Hard. Personally, I can't stand Amy Adams. I've hated her in everything I've seen her in. I'm seeing Enchanted on Saturday and I hope she can prove me wrong. I haven't seen Juno yet, but after seeing Ellen Page in Hard Candy, I'm sure she's fab in it.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson's War)
John Travolta (Hairspray)
Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There)
Julia Roberts (Charlie Wilson's War)
Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)
Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)
Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)

I'm happy Casey Affleck is finally getting the recognition he deserves. I knew John Travolta would get a nomination. A-List star + cross-dressing = nomination apparently. See also Blanchett, Cate. I'm always happy to see new talent like Saoirse Ronan and Amy Ryan getting nominated.

Into the Wild wasn't nominated in any of the major categories. I would've loved to see Emile Hirsch get some love. Ben Affleck as well for Gone Baby Gone. And Knocked Up should've been at least been up for Best Musical or Comedy.

I'll briefly walk through the TV nominations. How fast the mighty have fallen! No noms for Heroes, Lost or Desperate Housewives this year. David Duchovny and Californication get some love. I like David, but his new show not so much. Notably missing is THE OFFICE! I'm upset about this one. It's my favorite show! Steve Carell did get a nom, but no Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer or John Krasinski. >. Jaime Pressly from My Name is Earl and Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy) were nominated. Both girls were very underrated before they landed their hit shows and I'm happy they've been getting recognition the past few years.

Katherine Heigl graces Vanity Fair

The talented, beautiful and amazing Katherine Heigl graces the cover of the January issue of Vanity Fair. As you can see, the cover is absolutely stunning. I cannot wait to see to see the rest of the photoshoot! But the cover alone makes this issue a must-have for any Katie fan. Katie has been a favorite of mine since her Roswell days. I started watching Grey's Anatomy because of her. I'm absolutely thrilled the show brought her the recognition she deserves. Katie delivers a strong performance every week. She was nominated for a Golden Globe and won an Emmy earlier this year. That's why I kinda have to laugh in disbelief at an article posted on my favorite movie site, JoBlo.com. The writer claims that Katie is ungrateful, because she thinks the Judd Apatow hit comedy Knocked Up is "a little sexist." As you can read on the Vanity Fair site, Katie says, "It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days. I’m playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you’re portraying women? Ninety-eight percent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie." I don't understand why the writer seems to think Katie owes her career to this movie. And she's not slamming it. She's simply stating her opinion. I can see her point of view. Her character kicked Seth Rogen's character out of the car and drove off. And the scene where Leslie Mann thinks Paul Rudd is cheating on her? Ugh. However, Knocked Up is actually one of my favorite movies of the year. Stop with the hating just because she dislikes certain aspects of the movie. Must we all worship at the shrine of Apatow?

And just for the record: I paid my 8,75 euros to see Katherine Heigl on the big screen again. She was a star to many people long before the movie got released.