Worst Picture Nominations
Disaster Movie & Meet the Spartans (double nominee from the same writer-directors)
The Happening
The Hottie & The Nottie
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
The Love Guru

Worst Actor Nominations
Larry the Cable Guy, Witless Protection
Eddie Murphy, Meet Dave
Mike Myers, The Love Guru
Al Pacino, 88 Minutes & Righteous Kill
Mark Wahlberg, The Happening & Max Payne

Worst Actress Nominations
Jessica Alba, The Eye & The Love Guru
The cast of The Women (Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Meg Ryan)
Cameron Diaz, What Happens in Vegas
Paris Hilton, The Hottie & The Nottie
Kate Hudson, Fool’s Gold & My Best Friend’s Girl

Worst Supporting Actor Nominations
Uwe Boll (as himself), Uwe Boll’s Postal
Pierce Brosnan, Mamma Mia!
Ben Kingsley, The Love Guru & War, Inc. & The Wackness
Burt Reynolds, Deal & In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Verne Troyer, The Love Guru & Uwe Boll’s Postal

Worst Supporting Actress Nominations
Carmen Electra, Disaster Movie & Meet the Spartans
Paris Hilton, Repo! The Genetic Opera
Kim Kardashian, Disaster Movie
Jenny McCarthy, Witless Protection
Leelee Sobieski, 88 Minutes & In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

Worst Screen Couple Nominations
Uwe Boll and any Actor, Camera, or Screenplay
Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, What Happens in Vegas
Paris Hilton and either Christine Lakin or Joel David Moore, The Hottie and the Nottie
Larry the Cable Guy and Jenny McCarthy, Witless Protection
Eddie Murphy and Eddie Murphy, Meet Dave

Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel Nominations
The Day the Earth Blowed Up Real Good
Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Speed Racer
Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Worst Director Nominations
Uwe Boll, 1968: Tunnel Rats, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale and Uwe Boll’s Postal
Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
Tom Putnam, The Hottie & the Nottie
Marco Schnabel, The Love Guru
M. Night Shyamalan, The Happening

Worst Screenplay Nominations
Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
The Happening
The Hottie and the Nottie
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
The Love Guru

Worst Career Achievement
Uwe Boll

--Greg MacLennan

For those of you curious how they brought Benjamin to life, and for those who need further proof this film deserves best visual effects, watch this short but very interesting piece. Check it out HERE.

--Greg MacLennan

I'll be the first to admit I was wrong, and I'll be the first to tell the Academy how they were wrong. Benjamin Button leads with 13 nominations, check out the nominees below...

Best Motion Picture of the Year
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

(What? No Batman? I guess it wasn't good enough? I guess every other Guild and award giving committee was wrong? Stupid Holocaust, who knew you'd ruin the lives of others this way too!)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Richard Jenkins for The Visitor
Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn for Milk
Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler

(Happy to see Brad Pitt get a nom even though he won't win. I'm decently happy with this batch.)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie for Changeling
Melissa Leo for Frozen River
Meryl Streep for Doubt
Kate Winslet for The Reader

(Kate Winslet for The Reader? Wasn't that a supporting role? I mean she's won all the other awards for supporting. And why the Revolutionary Road snub? She was amazing in that? I think Oscar just screwed Kate Winslet out of another Oscar. Also I'm sad Cate Blanchett got overlooked again for a great performance.)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Josh Brolin for Milk
Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder (2008)
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt (2008/I)
Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008)
Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road (2008)

(Michael Shannon is a sneak attack on the category, but a welcome one. But it would have been nice to see Dev Patel get some acting love for Slumdog Millionaire. Also don't get me wrong, I love RDJ, but I think that spot deserved to go to Colin Farrell)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams for Doubt (2008/I)
Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Viola Davis for Doubt (2008/I)
Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler (2008)

(Taraji was awesome, and we're happy everyone knows it. The double Doubt love seems excessive, but at least Marisa Tomei is representing for The Wrestler. But again, where is Kate Winslet? Oh right, she got bumped up to leading and systematically effed out of actually winning. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen.)

Best Achievement in Directing

Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant for Milk

( I guess Batman directed itself did it? One of the best and most ambitious films of the year just was on auto-pilot was it? Oh and sure, Darren Aronofsky doesn't deserve anything for crafting such an intimate and real film. Oh well, at least we can seek solace in the fact that Danny Boyle is going to win, I'd be okay with David Fincher too.)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonagh, In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Wall E

(Frozen River? What's that? But I'm happy about In Bruges and Wall-E love.Course Wall-E couldn't have been much of a screenplay since it has no words.)

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Eric Roth, Robin Swicord The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley Doubt
Peter Morgan Frost/Nixon
David Hare The Reader
Simon Beaufoy Slumdog Millionaire

(And Batman takes a back seat to the Holocaust yet again!)

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Tom Stern Changeling
Claudio Miranda The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wally Pfister The Dark Knight
Roger Deakins, Chris Menges The Reader
Anthony Dod Mantle Slumdog Millionaire

(If Wally doesn't take it I'll be sad, but Benjamin Button and Slumdog did a fine job were both great too. And Maryse Alberti on The Wrestler, why forget him? And say what you want about Australia, but Mandy Walker did a phenomenal job on it. I guess the Academy wanted to show how wrong they could get it with this category.)

Best Achievement in Editing

Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Lee Smith The Dark Knight
Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill Frost/Nixon
Elliot Graham Milk
Chris Dickens Slumdog Millionaire

(I'm happy with Benjamin and Slumdog, and could see those winning. But I loved The Dark Knight too.)

Best Achievement in Art Direction

James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis Changeling
Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando The Dark Knight
Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway The Duchess
Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt Revolutionary Road

(Again a happy toss up between The Dark Knight and Benjamin, but The Duchess did look impressive.)

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Catherine Martin Australia
Jacqueline West The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Michael O'Connor The Duchess
Danny Glicker Milk
Albert Wolsky Revolutionary Road

(The Duchess seems like a sure shot, the Academy loves this shit. But Australia was totally wicked too.)

Best Achievement in Makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

(It's hard to deny Benjamin this award, and if not him, then Hellboy was pretty incredible. It's hard to say that when the Dark Knight was so good too.)

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Alexandre Desplat The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
James Newton Howard Defiance
Danny Elfman Milk
A.R. Rahman Slumdog Millionaire
Thomas Newman WALL·E

(What? Dark Knight overlook again?! I hope Slumdog, Wall-E or Benjamin win then.)

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Slumdog Millionaire A.R. Rahman, Gulzar ("Jai Ho")
Slumdog Millionaire A.R. Rahman, M.I.A ("O Saya")
WALL·E Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman ("Down to Earth")

(How in the hell did they overlook the Boss for "The Wrestler", simply mind boggling. I was really looking forward to him growling it out on stage and seeing Mickey Rourke cry.)

Best Achievement in Sound
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL·E
Wanted

(Gotta go Dark Knight.)

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL·E
Wanted

(Gotta hit the Dark Knight again!)

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

(Hands down Benjamin Button. They married those visual effects and made you weep with them. The other two were great, but Benjamin made my jaw hit the floor.)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL·E

(Wall-E for the win!)

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (Germany)
Entre les murs (France)
Revanche (Austria)
Okuribito (Japan)
Vals Im Bashir (Israel)

(I'm ignorant to this category this year.)

Best Documentary, Features

The Betrayal - Nerakhoon
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

(See above.)

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306

(See above.)

Best Short Film, Animated

Ubornaya istoriya - lyubovnaya istoriya
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

(Presto is the best thing since sliced bread. It's on your Wall-E DVD. It can't lose.)

--Greg MacLennan

It's a slow day for news, and Oscar nominations are tomorrow, so I thought I'd take a stab and put in my predictions before the actuals came out. What do you guys think? I put a star next to who of my predicted 5 I think will walk away with the gold man himself. Also, I'm only doing the top 6 categories, because...well...I'm lazy.

Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire*

Best Director
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire*
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler

Best Actor
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler*
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Sean Penn, Milk
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon

Best Actress
Meryl Streep, Doubt*
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky
Cate Blanchett, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight*
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionare
Josh Brolin, Milk
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Best Supporting Actress
Kate Winslet, The Reader*
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Penelope Cruz, Vicky, Christina, Barcelona
Viola Davis,  Doubt

--Greg MacLennan

Kiss Kiss, Bang Banged that is. Shane Black, the man who brought us The Monster Squad, The Lethal Weapons, and the exceptional 2005 cult hit Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is coming to town to screen the latter film and talk to you. See it again cause you love Shane Black and want to ask him if Lethal Weapon has a future, see it because Robert Downey Jr. is amazing, see it because Val Kilmer is amazing, see it because Michelle Monaghan's boobs are amazing, I don't care just see it. All this is being brought to you by the Austin Film Festival, check it out below for the official word:

Join us for a special screening of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, written and directed by Shane Black, and starring Robert Downey, Jr., Val Kilmer, and Michelle Monaghan, followed by Conversations in Film with Shane Black.   Thursday, January 29, 2009
7:00 pm
Alamo Lake Creek map
13729 Research Blvd
Austin , Tx 78750 In his lively debut as a director, screenwriter Shane Black creates a movie that is defiantly smartass and too cool for the room. I couldn’t have liked it more.”
- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

One of the Austin Film Festival’s most popular panelists – if not the most popular – Shane Black made his mark as a screenwriter when his action/buddy script “Lethal Weapon” became a runaway hit at the box office. With his tongue-in-cheek sensibility, Black immediately became known as a writer who could create memorable and complex characters. Follow-up screenplays include “The Last Boy Scout” and the seriously underrated “The Long Kiss Goodnight”.

We hope you’ll come and take part in what promises to be a fascinating and entertaining discussion on creating timeless tough guys and even tougher women, Ponzi schemes, exhilarating plot twists, directing your own script, the meaning of life, and what smashes into what else and what explodes when that happens.   Cost: $12   To purchase tickets*, click here.   Seating is limited. Purchase your tickets today!   *Austin Film Festival members are invited to purchase tickets by calling 512-478-4795 for the discounted price of $10.

--Greg MacLennan

Run on over to our DVD Section and check out what the world has in store for you this Tuesday. Whether it's a kid (big kids too!) underground futuristic adventure film, or a limited collectors edition of The Notebook, we got it all. (and a link to Amazon for easy purchasing, which goes to benefit our site.) So check it all out, and thanks for your support!

--Greg MacLennan

So we somehow got enough love to make the list of nominees for the Austin American Statesman Social Media Awards and well, thanks! Now they are determining who will make the final 25, get invited to a swank party, and be labeled the social media award champion. And guess what, part of their determining of that comes from the comments people leave about the nominees, so we need YOU to mozey on over to HERE, and leave a comment about how great we are, what we do for you, and how much you love us and why. Thanks everyone!

--Greg MacLennan

We've held off on reporting about Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell being cast in Iron Man 2 for some time now. Why you ask? Well we just didn't want to print rumors or lies, have you guys read it, brag to your friends about knowing it, and then being completely and totally wrong. We like to look out for you that way, but now it seems you can feel free to tell your friends all about Sam Rockwell, because he sure is. Here's what the man had to say about his Iron Man/Justin Hammer casting while pimping two movies at Sundance.

"Yeah, he's a rival. He takes over all the weapons stuff after Tony's left. I don't know if he takes over Stark Industries. I'm not really sure yet. He's a money dude. That's about all I can say ... They were like, we don't have a script but this is the deal and this is the character."

Shooting is set to take place this April, with a release date set for next year.

The fastest 90 minutes to ever grace a silver screen is back with a sequel. That's right boys and girls, Crank 2: High Voltage is here with a trailer, and this time Chev Chelios isn't out for revenge, he's out for his heart. Literally, someone has taken his heart and he needs to get it back. A man so badass you gotta kill him twice, consider my $8 spent.

--Greg MacLennan

It appears as though America's obsession with big fat idiots outweighed their desire for blood, guts and three dimensional breasts. Sadly enough I had a bet on you America, and you let me down. Never will I put my money on the line when it comes to the lowest common denominator again. I went with my gut, and the better reviewed picture, but you sure taught me a thing or two. Other than that, Benjamin Button crossed the $100 million mark, and Slumdog is running like its got new legs with its post Golden Globe weekend outting. Check it all out in our Box Office Results Section.

--Greg MacLennan