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Dark Knight, Battlestar Galactica Win at the 2009 Saturn Awards

BuzzSugar — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:30:51 -0700

It's that time of year again! The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films handed out the Saturn Awards last night to honor the best actors, movies, and TV shows in these genres. It's a lot for one awards show to cover, but these awards honored some great entertainment that doesn't always get mainstream attention.

Of course, some blockbusters got recognized, too: The Dark Knight took home lots of awards, including another honor for the late Heath Ledger. Iron Man also did very well, with Robert Downey Jr. nabbing the award for best actor and Jon Favreau for director. I love that even the little vampire movie Let the Right One In scored an award. Battlestar Galactica made a splash in the television categories, winning three awards.

To check out the full list of winners, just read more.

BEST SCI-FI FILM
Iron Man

BEST FANTASY FILM
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

BEST HORROR FILM
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER FILM
The Dark Knight

BEST ACTOR
Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man)

BEST ACTRESS
Angelina Jolie (Changeling)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Tilda Swinton (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A YOUNG ACTOR
Jaden Christopher Smith (The Day the Earth Stood Still)

BEST DIRECTOR
Jon Favreau (Iron Man)

BEST WRITER
Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight)

BEST MUSIC
Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard (The Dark Knight)

BEST COSTUME
Mary Zophres (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)

BEST MAKE-UP
Greg Cannom (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS
Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Timothy Webber, Paul J. Franklin (The Dark Knight)

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Let the Right One In

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Wall-E

BEST TELEVISION SERIES
Lost

SYNDICATED / CABLE TELEVISION SERIES
Battlestar Galactica

BEST PRESENTATION ON TELEVISION
The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice

BEST ACTOR ON TELEVISION
Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica)

BEST ACTRESS ON TELEVISION
Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR ON TELEVISION
Adrian Pasdar (Heroes)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS ON TELEVISION
Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter)

GUESS ROLE ON TELEVISION
Jimmy Smits (Dexter)

BEST DVD RELEASE
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer

BEST DVD SPECIAL ADDITION
Stephen King's The Mist (two-disc special edition)

BEST DVD CLASSIC RELEASE
Psycho (Universal Legacy Series)

BEST DVD COLLECTION
The Godfather -The Coppola Restoration

LIFE CAREER AWARD
Lance Henriksen

LIFETIME ACHIEVMENT
Leonard Nimoy

THE VISIONARY AWARD
Jeffrey Katzenberg

Source

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 05 May 2009 06:30:03 -0700

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to my selections below, you can also check out Incendiary, Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht: Season 4, and the second season of Lipstick Jungle on DVD.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett star in this curious tale of a child born as an old man, based loosely on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Using groundbreaking (and really cool) special effects, David Fincher directs this epic that follows the life of one man who grows up (and young) as an outsider.

I fell for the improbable romance between Benjamin (Pitt) and his normally-aging love, Daisy (Blanchett). Plus, when you stick both photogenic stars in gorgeous period costumes it becomes a feast for the eyes.

Special features include interviews with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, audio commentary featuring David Fincher, footage revealing the techniques behind the visual effects and makeup, and a step-by-step examination of the motion-capture process used to age Brad Pitt.

72 %

Two more up next, so read more.

Last Chance Harvey
Last Chance Harvey features two of cinema's most esteemed living actors: Dustin Hoffman plays Harvey, an aging pianist and Emma Thompson plays Kate, a woman who works at the airport. The two meet in an airport restaurant when Harvey travels to London for his estranged daughter's wedding.

They spend a pleasant day together - a surprise for both of them - and Harvey insists Kate accompany him to his daughter's reception. They are smitten with each other, but in the end Kate must decide if she truly wants to trust in love again. This movie is actually a pretty sweet pick if you're looking for something to watch with your mom this Mother's Day weekend.

Special features include the making of Last Chance Harvey, audio commentary with writer/director Joel Hopkins, and the trailer.

71%

Wendy and Lucy
Oh, man. Sad stories about dogs kill me but I still went ahead and saw this movie when it was out in theaters. The quiet little film, directed and co-written by indie darling Kelly Reichardt, effectively captures the bitter realities and melancholy that exist for those who live at or below the poverty lines, and on the edges of our society.

Michelle Williams plays Wendy Carroll, a young woman living out of her car who has her sights set on a job at an Alaska cannery. Things take a heartbreaking turn when her car breaks down in Oregon and her adorable dog, Lucy, goes missing. Williams' performance is incredible, and it's worth the doggy-related sad feelings you have to endure.

Special features include a collection of four experimental gems from the Film Faculty at Bard College, curated by director Kelly Reichardt.

84%

Oscar Nominee: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button For Best Costume Design

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:30:06 -0800

As we gear up for the Oscars, I'll be featuring the nominees for Best Costume Design. It's a big year for this category as the films nominated represent several vastly different historical periods. Be it eighteenth century England or San Francisco in the '70s, these films include some gorgeous threads. Today's featured movie is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

No matter what you think of Benjamin Button overall, most agree that the movie is a stunning technical and visual achievement, and part of this is the gorgeous costuming. Director David Fincher sets his magical tale inside a sepia-toned universe, allowing the costumes to indicate the changing times throughout the story while the palette gives it all a mystical effect - as if we've dusted off some old photo book in our grandparents' attic. That is, until Cate Blanchett's character bursts onto the screen in a vibrant red dress or Tilda Swinton glides across a room in a luxurious fur. These costumes tell us the movie isn't just a window into the past but a vibrant living thing to be experienced in the now.

To check out the romantic costumes for yourself, read more.

View 20 Photos ›

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Box Office: Gran Torino Drives Off With the Money

BuzzSugar — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 07:00:20 -0800

Recently, Clint Eastwood's movies (whether he's behind the camera or in front of it) are often critical hits but that doesn't necessarily translate into immediate box office success - until now!

Eastwood's latest movie, Gran Torino, debuted this weekend in the top spot, earning a whopping $29 million! It seems fitting that a movie that is rumored to be Eastwood's swan song is also his "best nationwide opening of all time, both as an actor and director." If you're gonna go out, go out on top!

In second place came Bride Wars which defied expectations with $21.5 million after a brutal week of being panned by critics. The horror flick The Unborn followed behind the brides in the third spot. Marley and Me and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button rounded out the top five respectively.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Box Office: Audiences Still Lovin' Marley

BuzzSugar — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:30:42 -0800

After breaking Christmastime records last week, audiences once again put the adorably naughty pup in the top spot at the box office over the weekend. Marley & Me, starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, earned an estimated $24 million "for a cume of $106.5 million in only 11 days."

In second place came Adam Sandler's Bedtime Stories followed by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in third, Valkyrie in fourth and Yes Man in fifth.

Another unusually great weekend for the box office during the holiday season! What did you check out this first weekend of the new year?

Photos courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Box Office: Marley Chews Up the Competition

BuzzSugar — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:45:56 -0800

Oh, Marley, that insanely profitable little scamp! The cute dog movie had the best Christmas Day opening ever and grossed a total of $51.7 million over the four-day weekend. According to Variety, Marley & Me "played more to females, as well as to older moviegoers. Of Marley's aud, 64% were women, while 62% were over age 25." The grand success of Marley surprised some folks who thought the family flick Bedtime Stories would surely take the top spot at the box office.

In second place for the long weekend was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which just barely surpassed Bedtime Stories. Valkyrie won fourth place, followed by Yes Man at No. 5. The Spirit had a "soft debut" over the holiday weekend and came in at No. 9.

Did you see any of these movies over the weekend? What did you think?

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Not Quite a Fairytale

BuzzSugar — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 07:30:57 -0800

The notion of youth being wasted on the young is a compelling one, without a doubt. It inspired a famous Mark Twain quote, which in turn inspired an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, which has now lent its name to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a film starring Brad Pitt as the title character, born old and destined to die young.

It sounds like a fairytale, and at times, the screen version feels like one, with ethereal flashbacks, eerily spot-on visual effects, and a sweet if improbable romance between Benjamin and his normally-aging love, Daisy (Cate Blanchett). But director David Fincher and screenwriter Eric Roth almost crowd out the movie's central love story with too much stuff - there's a hurricane plot, a daughter learning the truth about her family, and nearly an hour of Benjamin's wacky adventures. Instead of enveloping the audience in a mystical story, it fights against its narrative, constantly breaking its own spell. Yet there are reasons to watch Benjamin Button even when it feels like work, so to see the rest of my thoughts, just read more.

Though it doesn't fully kick in till almost halfway through the movie, the relationship between Benjamin and Daisy is worth the price of admission. They're sweet as children (Daisy young, Benjamin physically decrepit) and as 20-somethings (Daisy cool and sophisticated, Benjamin finally starting to look like Brad Pitt), but it's when they meet in the middle, in their 40s, that their love story takes over the film. They don't have much time as equals, and that lends an urgency to their relationship that the rest of the movie lacks. Pitt rightfully gets praised for his work as Benjamin, but Blanchett should get more credit for her performance; unlike Pitt, she doesn't have a voiceover to guide her through the story, but she's a strong enough actress to show Daisy's emotions even without the luxury of explaining them.

It's a shame that Fincher and Roth couldn't trust that story to work on its own, because with that relationship at the center - and maybe with some deeper musings from Benjamin on what it means to be living his life this way - the movie could have been a masterpiece. Instead, it feels emotionally remote and over-cluttered, with a structure reminiscent of both Forrest Gump (for which Roth was also the screenwriter) and Titanic. The early scenes with Benjamin growing up in a New Orleans retirement home are strong - and Taraji P. Henson is outstanding as Queenie, the mother figure who discovers Benjamin abandoned on her stoop and raises him as her own - but once Benjamin leaves home and joins a tugboat crew, the movie drags. It doesn't help that the flashbacks are intercut with scenes of a dying Daisy in the hospital; that plotline never really hits its stride emotionally and mostly just feels detached. And a few references to Hurricane Katrina permanently anchor the movie in a particular era, which feels at odds with its more timeless qualities.

Luckily, just when Benjamin Button starts to feel aimless, the love story takes center stage - and, with that, the movie builds some momentum to reach a satisfying enough end. The special effects are also remarkable (and it's a good thing, because when you're talking about aging Brad Pitt's face and putting it on someone else's body, doing it poorly would be disastrous); I'd be shocked if Benjamin Button doesn't end up in contention for all kinds of visual effects and makeup Oscars. It will probably be a Best Picture contender, too, but I'm less convinced that it's deserving of that honor; as good as it is in parts, Benjamin Button ends up falling short of what it could have been.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Sweet New Trailer For The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

BuzzSugar — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:30:32 -0700

The new trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is even more informative and interesting than the others that have come before it, and I am so intrigued by the eerie whimsy of it all. Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button, a man who is born old and ages backwards, growing younger as the years go by. As an elderly child
(yeah. . . that's right, I think), he befriends a little girl, Daisy, who grows older in the regular way, so at some point the two are the same age, "meeting in the middle." The story, along with the girl's reddish-brown hair remind me a little bit of The Time Traveler's Wife, the film version of which may be hitting theaters at the same time as Benjamin Button: Dec. 25.

This new trailer gives me goosebumps, a mixture of the good kind of chills and the willies. To see for yourself, read more.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Theatrical Trailer 2 | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

First Look: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button With Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett

BuzzSugar — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:30:19 -0700

Some folks are already declaring "Oscar!" just based on this Spanish-language trailer for the eerie Brad Pitt-Cate Blanchett movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I can definitely see where they're getting that feeling, as the trailer makes it look like the film succeeds in capturing the other-worldly atmosphere of the F. Scott Fitzgerald story on which it's based.

As ComingSoon puts it, the story follows "a man (Brad Pitt) who is born in his eighties and ages backwards. A man, like any of us, unable to stop time. We follow his story set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the twenty-first century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man's life can be." The post continues on to promise "a time traveler's tale of the people and places he bumps into along the way, the loves he loses and finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time."

Whoa, that's a loaded movie. But if anyone can handle it, it's Fight Club and Zodiac director David Fincher. Benjamin Button opens in theaters December 19 (oh, look at that, right when people start getting Oscars on the brain!). To check out the trailer which made my stomach all squirmy, read more.