WEB : Watching and Liveblogging the Oscars..

Join me at the live blog discussion at mlive.com here.

I'll be live-updating the winners here in this blog. Keep refreshing the page :

• Best Supporting Actress : Penelope Cruz (yaay!)
• Best Original Screenplay : Milk
• Best Adapted Screenplay : Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Animated Feature Film : Wall - E
• Best Animated Short Film : La Maison En Petits Cubes
• Best Art Direction : The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Best Costume Design : The Duchess
• Best Makeup : The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Best Cinematography : Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Live Action Short Film : Toyland (Germany)
• Best Supporting Actor : Heath Ledger (well-deserved!)
• Best Documentary Feature : Man On Wire (yaay!)
• Best Documentary Short Subject : Smile Pinki
• Best Visual Effects : The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (what? beating TDK & Iron Man?)
• Best Sound Editing : The Dark Knight
• Best Sound Mixing : Slumdog Millionaire (wow! I thought TDK got this locked)
• Best Film Editing : Slumdog Millionaire
• Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award : Jerry Lewis
• Best Original Score : Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Original Song : Jai Ho - Slumdog Millionaire (..I still think Springsteen should nab this one)
• Best Foreign Language Film : Departures (Japan) (beating Waltz With Bashir! Yaay!)
• Best Directing : Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
• Best Actress : Kate Winslet - The Reader
• Best Actor : Sean Penn - Milk (I kinda' expect he would win.. but quite a suprise)
• Best Picture : Slumdog Millionaire (as expected!)

8 major awards for Slumdog Millionaire, Sean Penn beating Mickey Rourke, Penelope won, Heath Ledger emotional win, Winslet out-of breath speech and funny Japanese acceptance speeches ("Domo Arigato, Mr Roboto!"). All and all it was a good show.

It's a wrap.

WEB : Watchmen Mega Pics Spam & Viral Links

Just a few days away from the upcoming official release of Watchmen.
But for now, enjoy the pics & links below..



Cool portrait pictures from Empire magazine.



















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Newly released pictures.. Nite Owl's Antartica's Suit, The many faces of Rorschach, The Axis of Evil and International Alternate Posters..













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Watchmen viral marketing campaign is awesome.
Check out the 8-bit, 1980's arcade style online game below.


(click here to play)


A great introduction to The Minutemen in this video journal..



Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons speaks..



The New Frontiersman faux-PSA, The Keene Act & You..



Watchmen comic within the comic story, Tales of The Black Freighter (and Under the Hood) is getting a DVD release.. yaay! Here's the trailer..



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Other Links :

Official Watchmen Movie Web Site - official site
Watchmen Movie Production Blog - tons of behind the scenes videos
I Watch The Watchmen - recommended
Watchmen: The Official Movie Countdown Widget - you can put the widget in your blog
Watchmen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - click if you want to hear MCR version of Bob Dylan's 'Desolation Row'
The New Frontiersman Viral Microsite - awesome viral stuff
Watchmencomicmovie.com - my personal fave
Watchmen Wiki - all things Watchmen

FILM : Official Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglorious Basterds' Trailer

.. or click here for the HD version.

Can't help but feel that this trailer is a little bit on the commercial side, probably made by The Weinstein Company.. because we all know, Quentin always has something hiding up his sleeves.

Looks cool.. what do u guys think?

FILM : Review - The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008)

Pure maniacal fun.

Those are probably the most accurate words to describe Kim Ji-Woon's The Good, The Bad, The Weird (TGTBTW), an obvious homage to Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly but smart enough to pay respects to its Italian spaghetti western predecessors while mixing it with its own unique Asian flavor to the genre. It's masterfully directed, damn funny and most importantly thoroughly enjoyable (at 129 minutes!).

The story of TGTBTW is actually very simple. The film is set in 1930's Manchuria and the title refers to three Manchurian gunslingers, all after the same mysterious treasure map (a Mcguffin - much like the briefcase in QT's Pulp Fiction).

In the first of many references to Sergio Leone's masterpiece, the film trio is introduced one at a time : The Weird (Song Kang-ho) is a klutzy thief and who accidentally comes across the map during the opening train robbery scene. The Bad is a ruthless bandit (Lee Byung-hun) and The Good is a bounty hunter and sharpshooter (Jung Woo-sung). Unsure of each other personal motivations, The Good and The Weird team up to secure the map and reach the treasure site before either The Bad or the imperialist Japanese beat them there. In other words, the whole movie is a damn big chase sequence, like a more violent and stylish version of Wacky Races.

In true Leone fashion, the movie boils down to a succession of set-pieces -wide-open plains and deserts, train robberies, gun battles, knife fights, opium dens, horse chases and tense Mexican stand-offs - but Ji-woon, a master at mood manipulation, (as witnessed on his previous films, A Bittersweet Life and A Tale Of Two Sisters) once again delivers a genre-busting film, with moments of extreme sadistic violence are mixed with comedy and action, and grand action set-pieces played with calmer character driven drama.

While the film may be lacking in plot (unnecessary subplot involving Russian mobsters) and story depth, it is indeed a very stylish eye-candy. The action is beautifully choreographed and incorporates everything from classic Mexican standoffs to fast paced swordplay and Kung-fu wire work. I guarantee you will enjoy the opening train robbery scene and the very elaborate and completely ridiculous jeep-horse chase sequence across the desert that's like a Guy Ritchie film meets The Road Warrior. It's exciting, funny and entertaining as hell!

Chemistry among the three lead actors are great. Lee Byung-hun, much like Lee Van Cleef's Angel Eyes is decent as an insecure bandit with the typical Korean sadistic gangster mentality that we all love from Korean gangster flicks. Least developed of the three, is Jung Woo-sung, gracefully playing a cool and calm bounty-hunter reminisce of Clint Eastwood's Blondie. But the heart and soul of the movie is Song Kang-ho, in a very commanding comedic performance evoking Eli Wallach's Tuco. It comes as no surprise that all three of the lead actors were nominated in the 3rd Asian Film Awards (full nominees list here).

Kudos also should be given to the musical score, riffing on Latin rhythms and brass orchestration, along with heavy Asian percussion. One scene in mind is during the thrilling climax, the wild percussion-heavy music starts to morph into Nina Simone's 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'. Pure brilliance.

TGTBTW is not the first 'oriental Western' (as it bills itself on closing credits). Last year, Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django is a perfect example of genre-busting J-Western, and Chinese director He Ping already had a crack at a C-Western with Sun Valley. But then again, the original spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s were partly inspired by Japanese samurai movies, anyway. Some people may suggest that this movie has bitten off more than it can chew for what is essentially an old-school chase movie. Some may call it a ridiculous, silly movie. Well, it is... but it's the most amazing, incredible silliness I've ever seen in a long time.

WEB : 81st Oscar Nominations & Talking Points

BEST PICTURE:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

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

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penélope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
Doubt, Written by John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, Screenplay by Peter Morgan
The Reader, Screenplay by David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire, Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Frozen River, Written by Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky, Written by Mike Leigh
In Bruges, Written by Martin McDonagh
Milk, Written by Dustin Lance Black
WALL•E, Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

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

ORIGINAL SONG:
"Down to Earth" from WALL•E, Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
"Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire, Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
"O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire, Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman andMaya Arulpragasam

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Some talking points for this years list :

• No The Dark Knight best picture nomination? Man, if The Dark Knight couldn't get itself a nomination, then you can't imagine any comic book movie ever reaching that height. I thought it would happen this year, but then again..
  

• And no Chris Nolan too? Hmm..

• Many people are discussing online about the nod Brad Pitt got for Benjamin Button. Did you know that Brad Pitt does not appear onscreen for the first 52 minutes of his performance? Even after that, it is enhanced with extensive makeup and special effects. The question could be asked - is this the very first digital performance nominated for an Oscar? If he can get nominated, why not Andy Serkis startling work as Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings back in 2002?

• Meryl Streep received her 15th acting nomination. Fifteenth! That's a new record..
  

• I thought the Academy loves Clint Eastwood. Where's Gran Torino? Complete shut-out.
  

• No Kate Winslet in supporting actress category (and rightly so, because she was the lead in The Reader). Penelope Cruz and Marisa Tomei is smiling.. :)

• No Springsteen for Best Original Song? The Boss fans won't be happy.
  

• Although I haven't seen Happy-Go-Lucky, many angry people online are discussing about the snub for Sally Hawkins in Best Actress category. In fact she is the only actress not to be nominated for an Oscar after winning the 4 major non-Oscar awards (National Society of Film Critics, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association, The New York Film Critics Circle and the Golden Globes). Read more about it here.

• Stephen Daldry has made only three films and he's been nominated for Best Director every time with Billy Elliott, The Hours and The Reader. How the Academy voters loved him..

• Downey Jr nomination is a pleasant suprise. It's cool but I prefer Tom Cruise performance in Tropic Thunder.
  

So what do u guys think? Full list of nominees here.

WEB : VHS Tapes (1975-2008) R.I.P - Never Forget

Sad but true, readers. As of December 2008, VHS is no longer manufactured. Running from 1975-2008, VHS brought joy into our lives for 33 amazing years.

VHS is probably the perfect format for film fans of my generation. I can say that I have a quite large collection of VHS tapes. Many of my P. Ramlee films collection, award shows, obsolete TV shows, cartoons - most of them taped from TV; are in VHS format and still occupying the TV cabinet shelves and drawers in my home. Watching these VHS is like taking a trip back to my childhood; it brought back a lot of memories.

I assume many of you would probably remember those days of VHS rental. Even when laser discs was making quite a business, many of us would prefer renting VHS simply because they were more titles to choose and the size of VHS tape is much more compact.

I can still remember back in the days, video rental store catalogs were photo albums with photos of the VHS cover art. And in late 80's, early 90's when VHS were available for purchase, the pirate manufacturers were releasing VHS in fancy clamshells, complete with printed front and back sleeves.

In the early 90's, when grunge was at the highest level of popularity, my friends and I were avid collectors of concert + live performances, and those rare and hard to get VHSes. Every kid in my school probably owned a copy of VHS tape with concerts by Green Day, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and a must-have at that time, Nirvana's 'Live, Tonight, Sold Out'. I remember during school holidays, I would 'turun KL' to find all those rare concert tapes and bring it back to Alor Setar so that I could brag to my friends. And by the time the school starts, I was probably the most popular kid in class, because all of my friends wanted to borrow the tapes. Silly I know, but popularity comes with a price..

And speaking of school, I'm definitely sure most of you guys (and some girls) remember your first experience with pornography. If you're age is between 25 to 35 years old now, I can surely bet you saw it first on VHS tapes, probably with some friends at their house when their parents weren't home. And boy was it hard to swap tapes with your friends at school, at risk of being caught by your teacher.

After the sudden popularity of VCD and the digital format, VHS is no longer considered a viable medium for releasing new films (as well as old ones). DVD has taken over and rightly so, thanks to the higher definition picture and better quality sound, not to mention the extras. The Internet and it's download availability also contributed to the fall of VHS. And sadly, the digital age killed the video star...

So this is my tribute to VHS. Thanks for the great memories. You will never be forgotten. Rest in peace.. and in our shelves.

*Picture taken from Nakatomi Stuff with great articles on VHS. They're also selling cool t-shirts to commemorate the death of VHS.

WEB : Golden Globe 2009 Winners List

Golden Globe 2009 Winners : -

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Kate Winslet, The Reader

BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MOTION PICTURE
‘Bruce Springstreen, ‘The Wrestler,’ The Wrestler

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA
Gabriel Byrne, “In Treatment”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA
Anna Paquin, “True Blood”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
WALL-E

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Waltz With Bashir

BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”

BEST TELEVISION SERIES - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
“30 Rock”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”

BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Colin Farrell, In Bruges

BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

BEST TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA
“Mad Men”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
Slumdog Millionaire

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• Hooray for Slumdog Millionaire! Personally, I've been rooting for it.. and boy did they win! A clean sweep, winning every award it was nominated for.
• Kate Winslet winning in both best actress categories, for The Reader and Revolutionary Road. Haven't watch both of it, but she's definitely a force to be reckon with.
  
• Mickey Rourke baby! At last..
• Heath Ledger! So glad he won..
  
• As expected Mad Men & 30 Rock won, and surprisingly the gap-toothed cutie, Anna Paquin from True Blood. Well-deserved.
• Colin Farrell for In Bruges is another delight. In Bruges should have won for Best Motion Picture-Musical Comedy too.
  

Overall, some good results. What do u think?