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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

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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%

All The Winners From The 2009 Oscars!

PopSugarUK — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:36:36 -0800

The 2009 Oscars took place in LA last night with our fellow Brits taking home a huge number of awards! Slumdog Millionaire was the big winner with eight gold statues including Best Picture and Best Director for Danny Boyle, while Kate Winslet won Best Actress for her role in The Reader - here's what she had to say in the press room following her win! Sean Penn won Best Actor for his role in Milk, beating out Mickey Rourke to the gong, while Penelope Cruz and Heath Ledger won the Best Supporting trophies, with Heath's award being picked up by his family. Pop, Buzz and Molly attended the ceremony, so don't forget to check out all the gossip from them, and stay tuned to PopSugar UK for more news!

Wall-E, Man On Wire, The Duchess and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button all won statues at the ceremony last night, so for a full list of winners, and photos from the press room of the presenters and winners, just read more.

Best picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Best director: Danny Boyle Slumdog Millionaire

Best actress: Kate Winslet The Reader

Best actor: Sean Penn Milk

Best supporting actress: Penelope Cruz Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best supporting actor: Heath Ledger The Dark Knight

Best original screenplay: Milk

Best adapted screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire

Best animated feature film: Wall-E

Best animated short film: La Maison en Petits Cubes

Art direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Costume design: The Duchess

Make-up: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire

Best live action short film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Best documentary feature: Man on Wire

Best documentary short subject: Smile Pinki

Visual effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Sound editing: The Dark Knight

Sound mixing: Slumdog Millionaire

Film editing: Slumdog Millionaire

Best original score: Slumdog Millionaire

Best original song: "Jai Ho" - Slumdog Millionaire

Best foreign language film: Departures (Japan)

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Images include: Sarah Jessica Parker, Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Aniston, Jack Black, the Ledger family, Christopher Walken, Cuba Gooding Jr, Alan Arkin, Kevin Kline, Joel Grey, Seth Rogen, Anjelica Huston, Tilda Swinton, Goldie Hawn, Eva Marie Saint, Whoopi Goldberg, Kate Winslet, Sean Penn, Marion Cotillard, Sir Ben Kingsley, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Adrien Brody, Anthony Hopkins, Daniel Craig, Danny Boyle, Tina Fey, Daniel Craig, A.R. Rahman, Dustin Lance Black.

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Oscar Worthy Gadgets: Benjamin Button's Behind the Scenes Tech

GeekSugar — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:35:29 -0800

The main themes of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button involve love, life, and death, but behind the scenes, it was all about the technology. From the first scene, Benjamin Button was shot digitally, going from camera's hard drive, to director David Fincher's Mac Pro, and uploaded straight to Final Cut Pro for editing.

Using a Thompson Viper Digital camera, nearly all of Button was captured digitally, with only a few scenes filmed with traditional film. Fincher found that using digital technology was the way to go for getting lifelike effects, but still maintaining realism:

It’s not a special effects movie, but spanning that kind of time, there were a lot of difficulties. First, aesthetically, will you believe it’s Brad? Because he has to start out old, the audience has to see him as wizened and grizzled as we could make him and still be able to recognize him and see his performance in it.

How great is it that you have access to the same tools that an Oscar-nominated director does? This is exactly why I love being a geek!

Sugar Bits - Sophie Ellis-Bextor Gives Birth Nine Weeks Early

PopSugarUK — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:00:00 -0800

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has given birth to a son, who weighed just 2lb 10oz, nine weeks early. Sophie had pre-eclampsia, and also suffered from the condition with her first child, Sonny. Her mum, Janet Ellis, said Sophie and husband Richard Jones's new son "is doing fine. He is doing very well". - Mirror
In more baby news, Chris Evans and his wife Natasha welcomed their first child together yesterday. He weighs 7lb 4oz, is called Noah Nicholas Martin Evans, and is "a little belter". - Chris's Blog
Richard and Judy and their bosses are likely to cancel their New Position chat show on Watch when their deal ends in December, after their audience fell to 8,000 viewers. - The Sun
Leonard Cohen has donated $200,000 (£90,000) to the Australian bushfire victims. - Guardian
Michelle Obama will appear on the cover of Vogue magazine, having been photographed by Annie Leibovitz. - People
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has gone straight in at the top of the UK box office, taking £2.2million over its opening three days. He's Just Not That Into You took second spot, and Slumdog Millionaire slipped to third position after four weeks at number one. - Reuters

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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.

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Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

In the News: Benjamin Button House Is Up For Grabs

CasaSugar — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:00:00 -0800

The New Orleans home of Brad Pitt's character in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button can now be the setting of your own life story. The 7800-square-foot Victorian mansion in NOLA's Garden District is on the market for $2.85 million.To hear more details about the property, read more.

With six bedrooms, six bathrooms, a large yard, a library, a music room, and a reception hall along with incredible architectural details, the house is a prime example of old New Orleans architecture: built for entertaining. Unfortunately, I have no interior photos to share, but according to the real estate agent for the property, "It's much nicer than what people saw in the movie." Referring to the O'Hara cotton plantation in Gone With the Wind, she says, "It's more like Tara the than a home for old people." I actually passed by the house a few times while the movie was filming and swooned over the exterior, but then again, New Orleans is known for its coveted cribs.
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Brad Pitt Delivers as the Curious Benjamin Button

PopSugarUK — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:00:00 -0800

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a marvel of storytelling, special effects and acting, with an awesome performance from Brad Pitt as the eponymous character who is born an old man and becomes physically younger as the years pass by. The interiors and locations beautifully evoke the different eras the tale charts, from the First World War to the twenty-first century, but it's the film's moving portrayal of mortality that held me captivated.

Cate Blanchett gives a subtle performance as Benjamin's love interest, Daisy, and is as convincing in her portrayal of a dancer in her twenties as she is in old age. My girl Buzz found their relationship to be worth the admission price, and it is breathtaking to watch their physical transformations moving in opposite directions. There is strong support from Taraji P. Henson, who plays Benjamin's mother figure, Queenie, and from Tilda Swinton, whom Benjamin meets during one of his port adventures while he's working on a tug boat.

To see more stills from the film, and find out my star rating, just read more.

Brad Pitt has spoken about the effect the film had on his outlook on life:

"I was reminded that time is short, and you want to have that time be of personal value. Am I halfway, over halfway [through life]? Do I have a couple of years left? Or am I going to get hit by a car when I walk out of here? I don't know. So I want to make sure that I am not wasting that time."

Although the film is fully deserving of its mammoth thirteen Oscar nominations, it isn't quite the perfect article. For a movie loosely based on a short story (by F. Scott Fitzgerald), it is surprisingly long with a running time of two and three quarter hours. Parts of the story do drag, and it could have benefited from more cuts in the editing suite. Having said that, though, I still found myself leaving the cinema feeling like I'd experienced an epic, and would definitely recommend it as a must see film of the year. Check out the trailer and give it a try.

Images courtesy of Paramount

PopUK's New Release Roundup!

PopSugarUK — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 06:00:00 -0800

It's time to let you know all the new releases that I recommend this week! First up I have a couple of DVDs for you - Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla came out yesterday and I very much enjoyed this fun-filled crime caper. It has some amusing performances in it, especially from Gerard Butler and face to watch Tom Hardy.

I also recommend The House Bunny for some laugh out loud moments, and I have to admit I was very skeptical of it before I watched it. Anna Faris makes the Playboy bunny of the title likeable and amusing - it's a comedy in the same vein as Legally Blonde - though Colin Hanks is an uninspiring love interest for her. There's amusing support from the sorority girls she takes under her wing, including Kat Dennings, Emma Stone, American Idol's Katharine McPhee and Rumer Willis.

I'll be telling you all about The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button in my review on Friday, but films also worth checking out at the cinema this weekend include animated movie Bolt, a cavalcade of stars including Jennifer Aniston and Drew Barrymore in He's Just Not That Into You, or if you fancy something a little more serious you could go and see Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt.

To check out all my music choices this week, just read more.

Album releases this week include Which Bitch by The View - you can click on the album name to preview all the tracks! Welsh songstress Jem has her album Down To Earth available to download this week, and if you're looking for something a little different or what to discover some new artists, then check out Rough Trade's Counter Culture 2008 which includes tracks from Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes, as well as bands you might not have heard of. If you want some new singles to download, then Coldplay's "Life In Technicolour II" is released this week, as is Daniel Merriweather's "Change" and the awesome Of Montreal's uplifting "An Eluardian Instance".

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PopSugar UK's Must Haves For February

PopSugarUK — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 07:04:41 -0800

It's a new month so it's time for some of my Must Haves yet again! I'm turning my attention to goodies released this month, including many many DVDs, a couple of movies coming out at the cinema and a few albums to listen to as well. Don't forget to check out Fab UK's too! So without further ado, here they are!

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