MUSIC : Pearl Jam is back!

Pearl Jam performed their brand new track 'Got Some' from their forthcoming album, Backspacer on the first Tonight Show with Conan O' Brien.

Almost 20 years and counting..
but these guys still rocks it HARD!

TV : First Look At The New V Miniseries

I did post about it in this entry a few months ago. Here's the first trailer for the new V miniseries, coming soon.

The leader of the Visitors, Anna is played by Morena Baccarin. Fans of Firefly and Stargate SG-1 might've recognized her. The series also stars Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) & Scott Wolf (remember him? Double Dragon? No?). 

The trailer looks promising; reminded me of The 4400. But still, us the old-skool fans, was kinda' hoping for the whole rodent-swallowing thing. And no offense, but we prefer Diana. 

But still, after seeing this trailer, I'm actually very interested to see it. I would love to see how the new concept and premise works. What do you guys think?

WEB : Watchmen + Peanuts

Cute, isn't it?


It's here..
Seats booked..
Will be watching it tomorrow...

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?

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?

WEB : Japanese Watchmen Trailer

"Oh no, not another Watchmen trailer, Edd!"

Er.. yes, it's another Watchmen trailer.
In Japanese.. this time with Castro, Nixon and JFK.




How come the Japanese get the coolest Watchmen trailer?

WEB : Not So Great News About Watchmen

New York Times reports that Warner Bros. have lost the case for WATCHMEN. According to the New York Times, a judge has claimed he intends to rule that 20th Century Fox do own a copyright interest in the Alan Moore graphic novel which dates back to the late 1980's. What this means for WATCHMEN is unclear at this point but Fox have previously made it known they seek to permanently block the movie from being released which now must be seen as a distinct possibility.

*gasp*

One of the likely scenario's from all this is 20th Century Fox winning a free massive summer campaign which they can release under their banner, despite all the hard work Warner Bros. have gone through, and reaping the majority if not all the rewards in the process.

Another interesting thing to consider is whether 20th Century Fox will have the final edit on Zack Snyder’s film and whether they will tweak and cut it however they like. How would Fox butcher a near 3 hour deconstruction of the superhero genre? That is scary.

I really, really hope they will find some sort of agreement and settle this matter out of court. Big money will be involved of course, but we can only hope that the movie will be released with Snyder's final cut. *fingers-crossed*

WEB : Review of The First 22 Minutes of Watchmen

Devin Faraci at CHUD.com got a chance to watch the first 22 minutes of Warner Bros. Pictures' Watchmen this weekend at Butt-Numb-A-Thon in Austin and has described what he saw in full. And I quote..:

"..It will look and feel like a real movie. That's a weird thing to say, but there are lots of people out there who, having only seen the trailers released to the public, are jumping to the conclusion that Zack Snyder has made a Watchmen filled with speed ramping and flashy money shots. From what I've seen this isn't even remotely true at all. The footage is stylish - well shot, with rich visuals and dynamic compositions - but it looked more like a modern take on a noir film than anything else. What I saw was moody, sometimes muted. Snyder allows his takes to be long, eschewing a quick cut style that many seem to think would rule the day in this film. The 22 minutes I saw didn't feel like an action film at all."

Very promising indeed. You can check out his full article here.

WEB : Pearl Jam's Ten - Four Special Package Reissues

*gasp*

must.. have... this... NOW!

*faint*

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from pearljam.com :

PEARL JAM ANNOUNCES THE REISSUE OF BAND'S DEBUT ALBUM, TEN: FOUR SPECIAL EDITION PACKAGES IN STORES MARCH 24, 2009

Ten, the debut album that sold 12 million copies and introduced the world to Pearl Jam in 1991, will be reissued in four (4) new and expanded editions. Pre-orders of the Super Deluxe Edition begin today, through the Ten Club at PearlJam.com. All four editions will be available for purchase on March 24, 2009. The reissue of Ten serves as the launch of a planned two-year catalogue re-release campaign leading up to the band’s 20th anniversary in 2011.

Each Ten package will include two versions of the album: the remastered version of the original album PLUS an accompanying remixed version done by the band's long-time producer, Brendan O’Brien. Details on specific extras for each of the four packages are listed below:


THE FOUR EDITIONS OF TEN: ALBUM EXTRAS PER PACKAGE
1. Legacy Edition (2-disc set in mini-LP style slipcase) :
· Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
· Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O'Brien, plus six bonus tracks: "Brother," "Just a Girl," "State of Love and Trust," "Breath and a Scream," "2,000 Mile Blues" and "Evil Little Goat".
· Re-designed packaging

2. Deluxe Edition (2-disc set plus DVD specially designed hardbound package) :
· Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
· Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O'Brien, plus six bonus tracks: "Brother," "Just a Girl," "State of Love and Trust," "Breath and a Scream," "2,000 Mile Blues" and "Evil Little Goat".
· DVD of Pearl Jam’s previously unreleased 1992 MTV Unplugged performance including never before seen bonus performance of "Oceans" with 5.1 surround sound audio remix.

3. Vinyl Collection (2-LP set)
· LP 1: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl
· LP 2: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl and remixed by Brendan O’Brien

4. Super Deluxe Edition (2-disc set plus DVD, 4 LPs and replica cassette in linen-covered, slip-cased clamshell box) :
· Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
· Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O'Brien, plus six bonus tracks: "Brother," "Just a Girl," "State of Love and Trust," "Breath and a Scream," "2,000 Mile Blues" and "Evil Little Goat".
· DVD of Pearl Jam’s previously unreleased 1992 MTV Unplugged performance including never before seen bonus performance of "Oceans' with 5.1 surround sound audio remix
· LP 1: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl
· LP 2: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl and remixed by Brendan O'Brien
· LP 3 & 4: Drop in the Park – Live at Magnuson Park in Seattle on September 20, 1992 (audio mixed by Brendan O'Brien)
· Cassette: replica of original "Momma-Son", Pearl Jam demo cassette featuring "Alive," "Once" and "Footsteps".
· Package also includes an Eddie Vedder-style composition notebook filled with replica personal notes, images and mementos from the collections of Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament, a vellum envelope with replicated era-specific ephemera from Pearl Jam’s early work and a two-sided print commemorating the Drop in the Park concert.

WEB : First Pic Of Johnny Depp as Mad Hatter

Not sure if it's real.. but johnny-depp.org posted this pic of Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s Alice and Wonderland [3D] remake for Disney.

Kinda' excited about this one because AiW is one of my favourite novel to read when I was a kid. I always thought that Burton is the perfect man to direct an AiW movie, because of his strong visual style.

..but Depp sure looks a 'lil bit like Carrot Top, yes/no?

WEB : Watchmen Theatrical Trailer [HD]

... with dialogue.
... and background music by Muse - 'Take A Bow'.

WEB : The Seven Ladies of Nine

The cast of Rob Marshall's upcoming musical, Nine.

from left : Dame Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Fergie, Nicole Kidman, and Kate Hudson.

Plus Daniel Day Lewis.

Ok, I'm sold.

WEB : Watchmen New Character Posters

Warner Bros. have released six new character posters for WATCHMEN.
Check them out.

WEB : Watchmen Featurette - Girls Kick Ass

*Orgasmic*

Journey / Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) - The Greatest Music Video Ever.

Journey - Separate Ways

I love Journey. There's no 2-way about it, I just freakin' love 'em. The song above is probably one of their best song, and definitely my all-time favourite (.. I even made it as my ringtone).

The music video - now that's something else. It's the epitome of 80's rock music videos. The one that defines it. Everything good and awesomely bad things that you can think of an 80's music videos are all present here. This video definitely rules the freakin' universe!

If you need a reason to watch it, I'll give you one. Heck, I'll give you 12! :

1. Air guitar, bass, drums AND keyboards at the beginning of the video. Plus points for the keyboard player for making nasty rock faces.
2. Steve Perry's giving constant orgasmic face while singing.
3. Steve Perry's awesome mullet.
4. Tight high-waisted jeans.
   
5. 80's trademark group camera-mugging shot at 01:15.
6. Keyboard on the wall at 01:34. Awesome!
7. Chick with leather skirt and big hair at 02:05.
8. The location - looks like an abandoned IKEA factory.
   
9. The solo drum fill at 02:36.
10. 80's trademark group head-turning shot at 02:52.
11. Headless Steinberger's bass guitar at 03:15. Cool!
12. Unnecessary slow-mo sequence at 03:37.

And for those reasons my friends, this music video is quite possibly the most rockin', awesome, spectacular, greatest music video in the history of all living things. If you don't like the video, or Journey's music for that matter, than you should go fuck yourself. Simple as that.

WEB : Watchmen New Trailer & Poster

The anticipation keeps building up..

Last night on Spike TV Awards 2008, Zack Snyder, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Ackerman & the super-duper stunning Carla Gugino premiered the official new trailer to worldwide audience featuring tons of new footage not featured on the last trailer that I posted here.

Say what you want about Snyder (slo-mo cuts, dizzying 360 panning, wide-angle CGI shots, etc..), but that guy sure knows how to cut a freakin' awesome trailer.

Watch the clip below, and for you MCR fans out there, u might notice the guy at the beginning of the clip. BTW, MCR is also confirmed to close the movie with a Bob Dylan's cover (*yaay for Zacko & Sha*).



And the fun doesn't stop there.. Yahoo Movies introduced a fantastic new teaser poster which re-creates a famous moment from the opening scene of the film and is briefly shown in the final shot of the trailer above.

If you notice, the poster reveals the movie will be R-Rated for "graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language". Glad to know that Snyder doesn't resort to cutting this movie into a G or PG in order to make more money. Hoping that the nudity refers to Gugino.. :).

Awesome stuff.