Oscar and Razzie Nominees

I promised an update for "Sutton At The Movies," and I'm going to keep that promise. I've got you reviews for The Crow, The Butterfly Effect, Ginger Snaps Back, The Punisher (circa 1989), and The Punisher (circa 2004). Ginger Snaps Back is the third part of a trilogy, and you can read the reviews for the first movie and the sequel too.

The Oscar nominations are out, so being the huge movie geek I am, I might as well post the nominees...

BEST PICTURE

• The Aviator
• Finding Neverland
• Million Dollar Baby
• Ray
• Sideways

BEST ACTOR

• Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda
• Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland
• Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator
• Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
• Jamie Foxx, Ray

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Alan Alda, The Aviator
• Thomas Haden Church, Sideways
• Jamie Foxx, Collateral
• Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby
• Clive Owen, Closer

BEST ACTRESS

• Annette Bening, Being Julia
• Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace
• Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
• Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby
• Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Cate Blanchett, The Aviator
• Laura Linney, Kinsey
• Virginia Madsen, Sideways
• Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda
• Natalie Portman, Closer

BEST DIRECTOR

• Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
• Taylor Hackford, Ray
• Mike Leigh, Vera Drake
• Alexander Payne, Sideways
• Martin Scorsese, The Aviator

BEST ANIMATED MOVIE

• The Incredibles
• Shark Tale
• Shrek 2

BEST ART DIRECTION

• The Aviator
• Finding Neverland
• Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events"
• The Phantom of the Opera
• A Very Long Engagement

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• The Aviator
• House of Flying Daggers
• The Passion of the Christ
• The Phantom of the Opera
• A Very Long Engagement

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• The Aviator
• Finding Neverland
• Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events"
• Ray
• Troy

BEST DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE-LENGTH)

• Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids
• The Story of the Weeping Camel
• Super Size Me!
• Tupac: Resurrection
• Twist of Faith

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

• Autism Is A World
• The Children of Leningradsky
• Hardwood
• Mighty Times: The Children's March
• Sister Rose's Passion

BEST EDITING

• The Aviator
• Collateral
• Finding Neverland
• Million Dollar Baby
• Ray

BEST FOREIGN MOVIE

• As It Is In Heaven (Sweden)
• The Chorus (France)
• Downfall (Germany)
• The Sea Inside (Spain)
• Yesterday (South Africa)

BEST MAKEUP

• Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events"
• The Passion of the Christ
• The Sea Inside

BEST MUSIC (SCORE)

• John Debney, The Passion of the Christ
• James Newton Howard, The Village
• Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, Finding Neverland
• Thomas Newman, Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events"
• John Williams, Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

• "Accidentally In Love" by Counting Crows, from Shrek 2
• "Al Otro Lado Del Río" by Jorge Drexler, from The Motorcycle Diaries
• "Believe" by Josh Groban, from The Polar Express
• "Learn To Be Lonely" by Minnie Driver, from The Phantom of the Opera
• "Look To Your Path (Vois Sur Ton Chemin)," from The Chorus

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

• Birthday Boy
• Gopher Broke
• Guard Dog
• Lorenzo
• Ryan

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

• Everything In This Country Must
• Little Terrorist
• 7:35 In The Morning
• Two Cars, One Night
• Wasp

BEST SOUND EDITING

• The Incredibles
• The Polar Express
• Spider-Man 2

BEST SOUND MIXING

• The Aviator
• The Incredibles
• The Polar Express
• Ray
• Spider-Man 2

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban
• I, Robot
• Spider-Man 2

BEST SCREENPLAY (ADPATED)

• Before Sunset
  screenplay by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, and Ethan Hawke
  story by Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan
• Finding Neverland
  screenplay by David Magee
• Million Dollar Baby
  screenplay by Paul Haggis
• The Motorcycle Diaries
  screenplay by José Rivera
• Sideways
  screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor

BEST SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL)

• The Aviator
  written by John Logan
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  screenplay by Charlie Kaufman
  story by Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry, and Pierre Bismuth
• Hotel Rwanda
  written by Keir Pearson and Terry George
• The Incredibles
  written by Brad Bird
• Vera Drake
  written by Mike Leigh

Jamie Foxx gets nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor? Good for him. And Uma Thurman getting the shaft for Best Actress blows hard.

But anyway, since I posted the Oscars, I might as well list the Razzie Awards nominees. Because if we celebrate film achievements, we should celebrate cinematic setbacks as well.

WORST PICTURE

• Alexander
• Catwoman
• Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2
• Surviving Christmas
• White Chicks

WORST ACTOR

• Ben Affleck, Jersey Girl and Surviving Christmas
• George W. Bush, Fahrenheit 9/11
• Vin Diesel, The Chronicles of Riddick
• Colin Farrell, Alexander
• Ben Stiller, Along Came Polly, Anchorman, Dodgeball, Envy, and Starsky & Hutch

WORST ACTRESS

• Halle Berry, Catwoman
• Hilary Duff, A Cinderella Story and Raise Your Voice
• Angelina Jolie, Alexander and Taking Lives
• Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, New York Minute
• Shawn and Marlon Wayans in drag, White Chicks

WORST SCREEN COUPLE

• Ben Affleck and either Jennifer Lopez or Liv Tyler, Jersey Girl
• Halle Berry and either Benjamin Bratt or Sharon Stone, Catwoman
• George W. Bush and either Condoleeza Rice or his pet goat, Fahrenheit 9/11
• Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, New York Minute
• Shawn and Marlon Wayans, White Chicks

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Carmen Electra, Starsky & Hutch
• Jennifer Lopez, Jersey Girl
• Condoleeza Rice, Fahrenheit 9/11
• Britney Spears, Fahrenheit 9/11
• Sharon Stone, Catwoman

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Val Kilmer, Alexander
• Arnold Schwarzenegger, Around The World In 80 Days
• Donald Rumsfeld, Fahrenheit 9/11
• Jon Voight, Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2
• Lambert Wilson, Catwoman

WORST DIRECTOR

• Bob Clark, Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2
• Renny Harlin and/or Paul Schrader, Exorcist: The Beginning
• "Pitof," Catwoman
• Oliver Stone, Alexander
• Keenan Ivory Wayans, White Chicks

WORST REMAKE OR SEQUEL

• Alien vs. Predator
• Anacondas: Hunt For The Blood Orchid
• Around The World In 80 Days
• Exorcist: The Beginning
• Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed

WORST SCREENPLAY

• Alexander
  written by Oliver Stone, Christopher Kyle, and Laeta Kalogridis
• Catwoman
  written by Theresa Rebec, John Brancato, Michael Ferris, and John Rogers
• Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2
  written by Steven Paul and Gregory Poppen
• Surviving Christmas
  written by Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont, Jeffrey Ventimilia, and Joshua Sternin
• White Chicks
  written by Keenan Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Andy McElfresh, Michael Anthony Snowden, and Xavier Cook

That's all I've got. Sutton out.

Elektra Wishes She Were As Cool As Raphael

After being torn between seeing Darkness and Elektra, I flipped a coin and saw Elektra. Probably the best compliment I can give it is that it was better than Catwoman. At least Jennifer Garner learned how to use her weapons, as opposed to that lazy Halle Berry's CGI whip. Elektra wasn't much better than Catwoman, but it was still better. Two stars.

They rolled the trailer for the new Fantastic Four movie in front of Elektra, and it looks great. Am I the only one that thinks it should have been released on April 4, 2004? The "Fantastic Four: 4-4-04" marketing ploy was right there! It would have been a genius ad campaign, folks. No two ways about it. They also showed the trailer for Constantine, which also looks fun. I hadn't heard of Hellblazer prior to Constantine being made, so I'd be going into the movie with no preconceived notions about the characters or plot or anything. A totally clean slate. Maybe that could help with my enjoyment of the movie.

I'm working on a big update for "Sutton At The Movies." And I mean big. Maybe four or five movies if I get them done to my liking. I've got two done and one almost done, and I may have one or two more in me. I won't set an actual date to expect them, but don't worry, they're coming. And if you don't visit "Sutton At The Movies," why not? If Libby likes it, you should too!

Now that VH1 has done sequels to I Love The 80s and I Love The 90s, I wonder if they'll get around to a sequel to I Love The 70s. Like I Love The 70s 2: The Sequel or something. Maybe they'll do I Love The 60s. VH1 has five years to kill before they can do I Love The 00s, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're not working on it right now. At this point, VH1 should just change their name to The Pop Culture Channel or something. The I Love The series and the stupid "Top 40 Random Things We Feel Like Talking About" thing have gone too far. It's insanity. Insanity!

Too much insanity, even for me. Sutton out.

Horror Movie News, Plus Comic Talk

My Inner Comic Book Geek and I need to have a long talk. Why? I was perusing Amazon.com for some comic book movies to add to my wish list. I've always liked comic book movies, and I figured that if I'm gonna get into comic books, I might as well have a collection of comic movies to go with it. Well, I ended up adding Supergirl to the list. Freaking Supergirl. At least the lead actress is cute, because otherwise I'd be pissed. It could be worse, though. I could have added Howard The Duck if it had been released on DVD. But once again, my Inner Movie Geek reminded me that I'm a glutton for the punishment that is bad B-movies. And he's right. Touché, Inner Movie Geek. You win this round.

Wow... just wow. I just saw a commercial for what I can only describe as Finding Nemo performed by Disney On Ice. I thought Finding Nemo was overrated in the first place, so why would I want to see ice skaters doing it?

I haven't done this in a while, so why don't we bring my Horror News segment into 2005? First up, 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland has been hired to scribe Saw 2, which will be released October 28 of this year. He better hurry up and start working, because Lions Gate has less than ten months to produce it if they're gonna make their release date. And if 2005 is anything like 2004, Halloween will be here before we know it.

Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses sequel The Devil's Rejects has received an R rating, as opposed to the expected/dreaded NC-17. No word yet on what's been cut, but I've got money that says it'll eventually surface on DVD.

The DVD of The Grudge comes out February 1, but you might want to wait until later in the year. Fangoria Magazine reports that the unrated director's cut will be released later in the year. Why not just release both the unrated cut and the PG-13 cut on the same day? Or do like what New Line Cinema did with the Jason Goes To Hell DVD, and put them both on the same disc? These studios are so stupid, On the topic of The Grudge: Takashi Shimizu (who directed not only The Grudge, but the four Ju-On movies that The Grudge was based on) will return to direct Grudge 2.

According to Fangoria, both Lions Gate's High Tension and Dark Castle Entertainment's remake of House of Wax will be released on June 3rd unless one studio moves the movie to another date. I wonder which will do better: an NC-17 splatter movie from France that will get shown in maybe 100 theaters max (if that), or a remake of a Vincent Price movie that stars Elisha Cuthbert and Paris Hilton.

Okay, that's all I've got. Sutton out.

Movies And Comics To Start 2K5

Man, I had something I wanted to talk about, but I completely forgot what it was. Maybe it'll come back to me. Just maybe. One of these days... I think. It better, or I'll have to dropkick the memory part of my brain into the Stone Age.

I caught my first theatrical movie of 2005 Friday night when I caught a late showing of White Noise. All I can say is "wow. Just "wow." Sure, I couldn't stop myself from making Batman and Ghostbusters jokes during the movie, but White Noise is a total mind teaser. Michael Keaton is great, the concept is super-creepy, and fans of Unsolved Mysteries would definitely enjoy it. The only drawback is the weird ending that comes completely out of nowhere. It was up there with Saw in terms of sheer "where the hell did that come from?" value. I enjoyed the movie as a whole, but some parts weren't of the highest quality. It could be worse, though. Three and a half stars.

Did you know "embargo" spelled backwards is "o grab me"? You do now!

The extreme lack of strictly comic book stores around here makes me frowny. I don't want to drive 45 minutes to a bookstore to get comics when there should be a store around here that sells just them. If one exists, I don't know of it. I just want some comics, is that so wrong? I feel so left out. I might just have to find a way to get subscribed to some of these comics. Or just find a big sack o' cash and score the graphic novels on my Amazon.com wish list. As long as I get some comic-y goodness, everything will be A-OK. My inner comic book geek is shouting in my ear, "It's about time you let me come out to play, loser." And you know what? He's right. I wouldn't be happy if I had to live in the shadow of Inner Movie Geek and Inner Pro Wrestling Geek either. Maybe they can all co-exist as one now. If not, I'll have to lock them all in the Thunderdome. Three inner geeks enter, one walks out. And it'll be brutal, folks. Imagine a big cross between Comedy Central's old Beat The Geeks game show and Being John Malkovich, with heaping helpings of Celebrity Deathmatch and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Be there, or be square.

Not much else to say. Sutton out.

I *heart* Comics

Welcome back to the blog, where we're live in '05 and hoping you readers had a safe and happy New Year's celebration. Am I the only one who thinks 2004 just flew by? It seems like 2004 just started yesterday, and now it's already 2005. Like the saying goes, time flies. And 2004 must have had some big wings, because it flew through the sands of time pretty quickly. And the 2004 archives can be read at the link above, if you're wondering where they went.

I think some of you readers are starting to rub off on me, What makes me say that? I'm starting to develop an attraction to comic books. I got into Buffy and Smallville because of you guys, and comics are next. I've been a fan of Batman for a long time, even if I've never really been into comics, and I'd love to get my hands on "Batman: Year One" or "The Dark Knight Returns." I've started really getting into The Punisher lately too, and I've heard the "Welcome Back Frank" series is great, so I wouldn't mind coming across that, What sucks is that I don't know where the nearest comic book store is, and I don't have the cash right now to buy them anyway. One of these days, though... they will be mine.

All the Smallville I've been watching lately makes me want a red Kryptonite ring, Somebody find me some red Kryptonite! Now! Even if a Smallville High School class ring would be really geeky, it'd be neat to own one.

Nothing left to say, Sutton out.

Goodbye, 2004

Happy New Year! Whoooooo!

2004 out.