New Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited several actors, directors, writers and other various filmmakers, artists and designers to become its newest members.

There are quite few cool names on the list, so here are some of the highlights.

Russell Brand, Bradley Cooper, Gerard Butler, Peter Dinklage, David Duchovny, Robbie Coltrane, Jennifer Garner and Dominic Monaghan are among the 27 actors invited.

Director invitations include Tom Hooper, Lisa Cholodenko and John Cameron Mitchell.

Cholodenko was also invited to the writers branch along with David Seidler and Aaron Sorkin.

Other notable names include composer Terence Blanchard, and producer Kevin Feige.

To be honest, it's surprising that several of these people haven't already been invited to attend. Seriously, Aaron Sorkin isn't in the academy already. Plus, Blanchard is a renowned jazz artist who has scored most of Spike Lee's movies.

The good news is there are a lot of young artists on the list, so it's nice to see the academy adding some young blood to their membership.

Stephanie's top Oscar moments

1. Christian Bale wins an Oscar. He's one of the best actors of our time and this win is no doubt the first of many.

2. Colin Firth is the dreamiest. I haven't met the woman yet who's not completely in love with Firth.

3. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are the perfect couple. The "Sherlock Holmes" co-stars had the best banter of the night and made me a little more excited for "Sherlock 2."

4. Kirk Douglas and Melissa Leo steal the show. First Douglas hams it up and provides the best moment of the night and then Leo drops an Oscar F-bomb in her excitement at winning.

5. Chuck can sing. Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore are adorable during their performance of "I See the Light" from "Tangled." I fell a little more in love with TV's Chuck.

6. The best movie actually wins. Sometimes the best picture winner isn't always the best film of the year. No offense to "The Social Network" but the best movie won.

7. Anne Hathaway was a fun host and did a great job with what she had to work with. James Franco was his usual awkward self, but I did appreciate all the "General Hospital" shout-outs. Next year how about Hathaway and Hugh Jackman, who was an unexpected star of the show.

8. Natalie Portman is a glowing winner. She's one of my favorite actresses and I love that she seemed genuinely excited even though she was the favorite. I've liked her since "The Professional."

Credit: Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Oscar nominations: They forgot who?

So let me get this straight, "Inception" is one of the best pictures of the year with one of the best original screenplays, visual effects, original score, art direction, cinematography, sound editing and sound mixing, but not one of the best directors.

What does Christopher Nolan have to do to get a best director nomination. First he's ignored for "The Dark Knight" and now "Inception," which by the way was the only decent movie in theaters for a big chunk of 2010.

I guess we'll have to keep hope alive for "The Dark Knight Rises."

The other huge miss by the Academy was in the visual effects category where "Tron: Legacy" wasn't nominated.


How is it possible that a movie that takes place inside a computer doesn't have the best visual effects of the year. It's true that "Iron Man 2," "Inception," "Harry Potter," and "Alice In Wonderland" all had spectacular effects, but seriously "Hereafter."

Now I haven't seen "Hereafter" but, I find it hard to believe that it had better effects than "Tron: Legacy." It should win based on the light cycle scene alone. I understand that the Academy looks down its nose at sci-fi, but come on, it's their jobs to recognize the best movies of the year regardless of genre.

These continuous slaps in the face makes them lose credibility.

Oscar nominations: first impressions

Now that I've recovered from waking up at 5:30 in the morning, let's discuss the Oscar nominations. Tim and I will have a more in-depth discussion on this week's show, so these are just my first impressions.

"The King's Speech" led the way with 12 nominations including Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor. Colin Firth has become the favorite for Best Actor, though he has stiff competition from James Franco in "127 Hours."

I'm hoping that these nominations along with the 14 Bafta's and the Producer's Guild win is pushing "The King's Speech" ahead of "The Social Network" which received eight nominations including Best Picture, Actor, Adapted Screenplay and Director.

"True Grit" followed with 10 and "The Fighter" received seven. Christian Bale, Melissa Leo and Amy Adams were all nominated in the Supporting categories. It's no secret that I've been in love with Bale since "Newsies" and "Swing Kids" so I'm very excited to see him finally recognized for his talent.

Also getting well deserved recognition is "Toy Story 3," only the third animated film to be nominated for Best Picture. A lot of people criticized Pixar for campaigning for the top prize instead of Best Animated Feature, but obviously they knew better.

I think it helps that these characters are so familiar that you have to be a robot not to get emotional about their final chapter.

A few nominations that got our nerd levels jumping were "Iron Man 2," "Inception" and "Harry Potter" for Best Visual Effects, while "Tron: Legacy" was nominated in the sound editing category. Among "Inception's" eight nominations were also Best Picture and Original Screenplay, though Christopher Nolan was snubbed for director.

There weren't any big surprises this morning, though there was a few notable snubs which we'll cover in a separate column.

Be sure to stay with us for complete Oscar coverage on "Inscaped," as well as our usual hilarious live blog during the show.

"Inception": Best Film of the Decade

I'll say it now, so you will know where I stand on this film right away: "Inception" is one of the best movies of the decade.

I have read a lot of mixed reviews about the film, many people saying that the story was too confusing to keep up with, or overall they just really didn't understand the point. This is how I respond to the people saying this: When have you ever known Christopher Nolan to write and direct a film that you can just sit there and stare at? Come on, people. Films like "The Prestige" and "Memento" that you can watch over and over again and still catch things that you didn't see the last time. When I do this with a film, I know it was written to perfection.

I can see how people can let themselves get confused, because of all the interesting ideas that Nolan proposes with the story. Such as the different levels of dreams states, the dangers of traveling deep into your subconscious and the dangers and advantages of technology. There is so much in this movie to talk about, that people who don't do well with "smart" films like this can get lost.

However, the basic storyline, it very easily to pull out. A team of extractors trained to invade someone's dreams and steal their secrets, is put together to plant an idea in a young businessman's head to break up his father's empire. Only, they are unaware that the dead wife of their leader (DiCaprio) is on the hunt, determined to bring him back down so deep into his subconscious that he will never wake up again. It's really not that hard to follow.

Anyway, onto my own review of the film. I don't think I have ever been dazzled by a film so much that it has left me speechless. Everything about this film is dazzling. With such an ensemble cast, that doesn't seem like so far a stretch. Leonardo DiCaprio is fabulous, of course, but that is no surprise. When you give him a great script and he's under the direction of a man like Christopher Nolan, he will always be Oscar-worthy. Overall, this may be one of the best ensemble casts that I have ever seen in a film with DiCaprio, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanbe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Berenger, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine and Marion Cotillard.

However, other than Dicaprio, the other performance that really stands out for me is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's. He is just perfect in this film, elegantly presenting a character, Arthur, that you can't help but take a liking to. The relationship between Cobb (DiCaprio) and Ariadne (Page) may be considered the heart of the film, however, the lighthearted side of this story is given completely to Arthur and Eames (Hardy), so much so, that Gordon-Levitt and Hardy steal every scene that they are in. I know that the Best Supporting Actor category is always very competitive every year, but if Joseph Gordon-Levitt does not get a nomination, I will be extremely disappointed with the Academy.

Moving on to then effects, which may be the coolest and most convincing effects I have ever seen. One of the most dazzling parts of this film is the anti-gravity-hallway-fight-scene in which Arthur has to battle Fischer's (Murphy) projections while the others of the team travel into the third layer of the dream. It is extremely easy for me to call this the coolest action sequence I have EVER seen done on film. It surprised me even more to learn that none of that sequence is computer generated. They actually built three different hallway sets for the sequence, and editing everything together. Now that is magic! This film should get an Oscar in Film Editing just for that single sequence. However, in all honesty, I do have to say the overall editing in this film is spectacular. Especially in the last half hour, when you are cutting back and forth between three different layers of the dream and it can easily get jumbled up and sloppy.

There is also something to be said about the score, composed by the always brilliant, Hans Zimmer. The music acts like a catalyst for the pacing of the film, and helps leave you on the edge of your seat.

I can talk about this movie for days, weeks even. It presents and proposes ideas that shoudl excite and frighten us. It tells the stories of this characters in one of the simplest and most genius ways imagined. As a writer, I always rely on my dreams for new ideas, new directions, and simple entertainment. For a writer to make that entire concept the basis of a great film is complete brilliance, and gives them the opportunity to let a film unfold like never before. It allows you to break some rules and create a whole new type of storytelling. Because of this, there is so much more to talk about than just the story. This is going to be the film to beat for many, many years to come. At least for me. In my eyes, it is hard to reach perfection, and "Inception" has succeeded in taking that very last step over 'The Dark Knight", where is left just a hair short of masterpiece!

Now I'm not saying that this film has to win 10 Oscars, though, it would be nice. As long as it gets recognition in the categories of Best Supporting Actor for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Film Editing, Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture I will be happy. I would be elated if it won any of them!

History made twice at Oscars

The big story to come out of the Academy Awards last night was the Best Director Oscar being awarded to a woman, Kathryn Bigelow, for the first time in the 82 year history of the awards.

That is a huge deal and especially cool considering that only three other women in history have been nominated for that award: Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion and Sofia Coppola.

Also somewhat poetic that Barbara Streisand presented the award to Bigelow. In a controversial move in 1992, Streisand was shut out of the directing category for her film "The Prince of Tides."

Bigelow's film "The Hurt Locker" also took the Best Picture prize for which she also produced, so she got two Oscars last night.

While all of the attention was focused on Bigelow and being the first woman to win that award, history also was made in the Adapted Screenplay award.

Geoffrey Fletcher came out of nowhere to win the award for "Precious." Everyone had expected "Up in the Air" to take it. Fletcher himself probably thought "Up in the Air" was going to win.

With his win, Fletcher became the first African American to win an Academy Award for Screenwriting. Yes, it has never happened before. Shocking.

Well deserved in my opinion.

And even cooler was that "Precious" was Fletcher's first full length feature screenplay.

Academy Awards live coverage

Last minute Oscar thoughts

Two things that are making me crazy right now.

First is that "Precious" won a lot of Independent Spirit Awards last night and now all sorts of different Web sites like Drudge Report and Roger Ebert are thinking this is a sign of some giant upset tomorrow. The main headline on the Drudge Report is "OSCAR UPSET? 'PRECIOUS' SWEEPS INDY AWARDS"

One GIANT problem with this way of thinking. You can't take it seriously because "The Hurt Locker" wasn't up for any of those awards. Due to being at some festivals in 2008, "The Hurt Locker" was at LAST year's Spirit Awards. "Precious" was the ONLY Academy Award Best Picture nominee nominated in that category.

"The Hurt Locker" WILL not be taken out of the equation tomorrow so that leaves "Precious" where it was two days ago... with a Best Supporting Actress award. And that's probably it.

Second is almost everyone calling "Avatar" the front runner. I mean, come on! Just winning a Golden Globe does not make a film the front runner. Winning a ton of critic's awards, a Producer's Guild, Writer's Guild and Director's Guild award does make a front runner.

Finally, here is my updated Best Picture ranked list. I tried my best to see "A Serious Man," but Netflix was not cooperating at all.

1. "The Hurt Locker"

2. "Up"

3. "District 9"

4. "Up in the Air"

5. "Avatar"

6. "The Blind Side"

7. "Inglorious Basterds"

8. "Precious"

9. "An Education"

Oscar roundtable special

Stephanie and I got together with the Inscaped behind the scenes guys, Tony and Emile, to create a special Academy Awards roundtable discussion.

Both Tony and Emile have extensive backgrounds in production and are great minds to talk about technical aspects of the films nominated for this year's Oscars.

First up, in part one is Best Picture and Best Director:



Next up is the Best Acting and Screenplay awards:



And finally, the categories that usually screw up everyone's Oscar guesses... the Technical categories. Luckily we break down what each one is, what they means and who are the frontrunners:

Ranking the Best Picture nominees (so far)

Figured out that I've seen seven out of the 10 Best Picture nominees at the Academy Awards this year, so I decided to show my thought process and rank each one in order of the best to the rest.

Of course, the No. 1 position means I think it should win Best Picture. As I see the other three films the list will be updated.

1. "The Hurt Locker"

2. "District 9"

3. "Up in the Air"

4. "Avatar"

5. "The Blind Side"

6. "Inglorious Basterds"

7. "An Education"

Which means I still have to see "Up," "A Serious Man" and "Precious." After two days of bad movies: "Shutter Island" and "An Education" I'm going to have to wait a few days on catching "Precious" and "A Serious Man."

And keep "Up" to watch last because it's supposed to be fantastic.

Oscar predictions

With the announcement of the Academy Award nominations less than 24 hours away it is time for Tim and I to reveal our Oscar predictions.

Stephanie:

Best Picture: Since the top five are predictable at this point, I will stick with what I think the other five will be. "Up," "Star Trek," "District 9," "An Education" and my dark horse "The Hangover."

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Jeremy Renner and Morgan Freeman. No surprises here Jeff Bridges has been on a roll.

Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep ("Julie & Julia"), Gabourey Sidibe, Helen Mirren and Carey Mulligan. Again no surprises as the acting categories have been the same at most of the big awards.

Best Director: James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow, Jason Reitman, Quentin Tarantino and another dark horse Neil Blomkamp. While Lee Daniels has done his best work on "Precious" his previously lackluster resume will be a disadvantage.

Supporting Actor/Actress: While Tim thinks there could be some surprises, I think MoNique and Christoph Waltz have these categories locked up, so it doesn't matter who else is nominated.

Surprises: There are a few underdogs who can sneak in including Emily Blunt for Best Actress which would bump Gabby Sidibe out of the running. I'm also hoping to see Sigourney Weaver in the Supporting Actress category.


Finally, after last year's Best Original Song debacle I hope the Academy nominates some really worthy candidates so we can enjoy good musical performances. Likely choices include, "I See You" from "Avatar," anything from "The Princess and the Frog" and "I Want to Come Home" from "Everybody's Fine" performed by Paul McCartney. You know the Academy can't pass that up.

So now all that's left to do is to wait and see how completely wrong I am.

Tim here. Well, below this.

Leave it to Stephanie to take the words right out of my mouth. Her choices in acting directly mirror mine.

And how I would love to Blomkamp to be nominated. No offense to Daniels, but no one else could have directed "District 9."

I also agree with her that the top five are already locked in: "Avatar," "Up in the Air," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglorious Basterds" and "Precious." And I would love, love for her other nominees to get the nod tomorrow morning. But, I am more of a realist (today). "District 9" and "Star Trek" have great shots, but "The Hangover" doesn't. Look for a film like "A Serious Man" or "A Single Man" to get that spot.

Surprises (I would love to see): Sharlto Copley for Best Actor (For being his first movie? Holy crap.) Not only was it an amazing performance, but talk about character range. At first you were laughing at the character, then hating him, then feeling compassion for him and then rooting for him. And then take into consideration that a lot of his performance was improved.

Anthony Mackie for Supporting for "The Hurt Locker." Another out of nowhere performance. Renner might get the spotlight in the film, but Mackie deserves some of it. Too bad it's an unwinable year in Supporting Actor.

Prepping for our big Oscar show

So, right now I am knee deep in research for the Academy Awards episode of "Viewpoints On..." Lots of statistics and figures. A ton of information.

I am going to put a lot of it, or try, into the show. But, since there is literally a million different things to discuss here is an interesting topic:

"Great directors who never won a Best Director Oscar" and I am not counting "Honorary" ones.

And the list will shock you.

• Robert Altman
• Cecil B. De Mille
• John Frankenheimer
• Alfred Hitchcock
• Stanley Kubrick
• Akira Kurosawa
• Sidney Lumet
• Orson Welles

And here are a few contempory directors that have never won:

• Tim Burton
• Spike Lee
• Michael Mann
• Brian De Palma
• Ridley Scott
• Peter Weir
• DARREN ARONOFSKY! (Robbed for a nomination this year)
• David Fincher (At least got a nomination this year)
• Chris Nolan

Yeah I left Tarintino off the list. All complaints can be sent to Stephanie Holland care of Viewpoints.

Also, Gus Van Sant... yeah I'm talking to you. You lost me at "Elephant."

A review of 'The Queen' review

I have a confession to make.

I really didn’t want to see “The Queen” and write a review of it for our Oscar special. I did everything I could to try to avoid doing it. I even tried to subtly manipulate others into doing it.
It’s not that I have anything against the movie or the people involved, the movie was great and I did enjoy it. It’s just that I equate the death of Princess Diana with something horrible that happened in my life and reminders of that subject bring up bad memories.

Crazy, eh?

In the days leading up to Diana’s car accident my mother was in the hospital after having a heart attack. The doctors told us that she had congestive heart failure. At the time it didn’t look good and I was very depressed. The day of Diana’s accident, my friends decided to take me out for the night as a well needed distraction. I felt horrible and a little guilty for having fun while my mother was in a hospital bed, but I was going stir crazy sitting at home.
I remember it was late when I got home. My sister’s room was right next to the front door and as I walked in I heard the scariest words I have ever heard to this day.

“She died,” my sister said.

I had completely forgotten about Diana that night and thought she was talking about my mother. I really can’t explain with the proper words how I felt that exact second those words were uttered. When I used to hear people talking about having a broken heart I would roll my eyes, but that is the best way to explain how I felt that moment. It really felt like my heart broke and I couldn’t move at all. I wouldn’t say I was stunned, but I just didn’t know what to do.
I don’t remember how I figured out it was Diana and not my mother. I do remember not watching any news coverage about the death, funeral etc. So seeing “The Queen” was like seeing the news coverage for the first time.

I did enjoy the film, but I am also reminded how I felt for those few seconds almost 10 years ago.

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