Two Tickets For... Live Blogs the 85th Academy Awards!

Andrew: Hello readers! Tonight Sarah and I will be live-blogging the 85th Academy Awards during the telecast on ABC. The show doesn't start until 8:30pm EST but we'll be kicking off our live blog event at 8:00pm EST. Sarah has to work a little late tonight, so she'll be joining me once the show has begun, and maybe we'll even get a visitor or two from some of our fellow movie bloggers! 

So come back tonight at 8:00pm when we start up our running commentary and analysis of tonight's Oscars!

Two Tickets For... Our Oscars Analysis & Predictions: Best Picture & Full Predictions!

Andrew: Hello readers! All week long leading up to this Sunday's 85th Academy Awards, Sarah and I have been discussing some of the acting categories, the screenplay categories, the directing category and a couple others, but it's all been leading up to the big one - Best Picture. Remember, four years ago after many people thought Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight got snubbed in this category, the Academy made the drastic change to up the number of nominees to 10. After two years of that, with some thinking the category was too bloated, the Academy changed the rules again so that between five and 10 films could be nominated based on first place votes. Even so, a total of nine films were nominated for Best Picture last year and we have the same number in 2013. 

BEST PICTURE

The nominees for Best Picture are:

- Amour

- Argo

- Beasts of the Southern Wild

- Django Unchained

- Les Miserables

- Life of Pi

- Lincoln

- Silver Linings Playbook

- Zero Dark Thirty

A: Sarah, we saw all of the nominated films except for Amour, and we follow the awards that lead up to the Oscars relatively closely. Taking everything in to account, even though there are a whopping nine nominees, which ones do you think we can whittle it down to that actually have a chance at winning?

Two Tickets For... Our Oscars Analysis & Predictions: Best Actor & Best Actress

Andrew: Hello readers! We're back with day four of our analysis and predictions for this Sunday's 85th Academy Awards! Yesterday we discussed the supporting half of the actingcategories, and today we're going to tackle the lead acting categories. Just like yesterday, Sarah, one of these categories is far more of a certainty than the other one is, so let's get that one out of the way first. 

BEST ACTOR

The nominees for Best Actor are:

- Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

- Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables

- Denzel Washington, Flight

- Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

- Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

A: Okay, Sarah, it's pretty obvious to people who have been following award season that there's only one nominee here who should be expecting hear his name be read from a card on Sunday. And that is...?

Two Tickets For... Our Oscars Analysis & Predictions: Best Supporting Actor & Best Supporting Actress

Andrew: Hello readers! We're back with day three of our analysis and predictions for this Sunday's 85th Academy Awards! Yesterday we covered the two screenplay categories and BestDirector, and today we're going to dip our toes into the acting categories by discussing Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. 

Sarah, one of these categories is 100% more up in the air than the other, so let's start with the one that's more of a sure thing and get it out of the way. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

The nominees for Best Supporting Actress are:

- Amy Adams, The Master

- Sally Field, Lincoln

- Helen Hunt, The Sessions

- Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook

- Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

A: Sarah, which one is the shoo-in for the little golden man?

Two Tickets For... Our Oscars Analysis & Predictions: Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay & Best Director

Andrew: Hello readers! As you may or may not know, Sarah and I are celebrating the upcoming 85th Academy Awards this week by posting our analysis and predictions of various categories. Yesterday we kicked things off by covering the Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song and Best VisualEffects categories, and today we are going to discuss the two screenplay categories and the Best Director category. So without further ado… 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The nominees for Best Original Screenplay are:

- Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal

- Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino

- Flight, Mark Gatins

- Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola

- Amour, Michael Haneke

A: At first glance this appears to me to be a relatively competitive category, and one that we’re relatively familiar with since we saw all of these films except for Amour, but I personally think it comes down to two candidates for the prize. Can you guess which ones I’m thinking of?

Two Tickets For... Our Oscars Analysis & Predictions: Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song & Best Visual Effects

Andrew: Hello readers! It's that time again where Sarah and I finally start breaking down the nominees for the 85th Academy Awards that will be held on Sunday, February 24th! Last year we did it in a pretty basic way and it seemed to go over pretty well, and we really don't want to over-do it this year, so we'll stick to a relatively similar format. 

A difference this year, though, will be the order in which we break down the different categories. Starting with this post, we will break down the Oscar nominees in the following categories on these days:

Monday, February 18th: Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song and Best Visual Effects

Tuesday, February 19th: Best Original & Adapted Screenplays, and Best Director

Wednesday, February 20th: Best Supporting Actor & Actress

Thursday, February 21st: Best Actor & Actress

Friday, February 22nd: Best Picture and full list of predictions

So Sarah, let's kick off our analysis and predictions for this year's Oscars, shall we?

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The nominees for Best Animated Feature are:

- Brave (Pixar)

- Wreck-It Ralph (Disney Animations)

- Frankenweenie (Disney Animations)

- ParaNorman (Laika)

- The Pirates! Band of Misfits (Aardman Animations)

A Six Pack Of... Romantic Movies to Watch on Valentine's Day!

Sarah: Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Let’s work on making the magic seem a little more magical with A Six Pack Of…Romantic Movies to Watch on Valentine's Day! These are the six movies that, if we had the time today, we’d pop into the Blu-ray player and enjoy together on this romantic day.

1.) Pride & Prejudice (2005) – starring Keira Knightley & Matthew Macfadyen 

S: We start with not only one of my favorite romantic movies but one of my favorite movies of all time! This is the perfect movie for those who love a classic story. I mean, c’mon, it’s like the original rom-com! There’s nothing like two individuals who misunderstand each other but in the end, after a whole slew of mishaps, find out that they really are perfect for each other! And when you put it under the perfect veil of the British, to me, it’s just perfect.

What else is so magical is the way that Pride & Prejudice is filmed. The cinematography really brings the romantic feel of this movie to life. So if this one makes your list for romantic movies, be on the lookout for the beautiful shots and scenics.

While this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, if you’re looking for something different give this beautiful film a chance.

Film's Effects on Audience May Vary: Our Review of "Side Effects" (2013)

Directed By: Steven Soderbergh (Magic Mike) 

Starring: Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Channing Tatum, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Rating: R for sexuality, nudity, violence and language

Run Time: 1 hour, 46 minutes

Synopsis: Emily Taylor (Mara) has battled depression ever since her husband, Martin (Tatum), went to prison for insider trading. Martin is finally released from prison and Emily attempts suicide, which gets her sent to Dr. Jonathan Banks (Law) who prescribes her a new drug called Ablixa. When Emily has a terrible reaction to the drug, it throws everyone's lives up in the air.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Last night Sarah and I saw Steven Soderbergh’s latest (and last?) film, one that came out this past Friday, called Side Effects starring Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Channing Tatum. It’s a movie that we didn’t really know a whole lot about going in to it. We’d seen the ads and trailer, we knew it was about pharmaceuticals and turns into a thriller of sorts, but other than that we didn’t know a whole lot about it going in.

Sarah, what did you think about Side Effects going in to it, and what do you think of it now that we’ve seen it?

Sarah: Well I expected it to be more of a traditional thriller I think, but one that felt like a Soderbergh film, if that makes sense. I was kind of apprehensive about it because I was thinking the trailer actually made it look more like Mara’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, one that was suspenseful like that.

But I actually didn’t like this one. You know, Soderbergh’s fingerprints are definitely all over this movie, with his stylistic choices and his characters, but…the actual storyline didn’t really do much for me.

Around The Web: "Monsters University" trailer, "Finding Nemo 2" casting news, "Argo" Blu-ray feature, & cool Oscars posters!

Andrew: Hello readers! Once again Sarah and I have rounded up some of the new, best and/or cooler things that we've seen around the worldwide web the past week to share with y'all. So let's get right to it!

THE FIRST FULL TRAILER FOR PIXAR'S MONSTERS UNIVERSITY

A: Yesterday found the online release of the first full-length trailer for Monsters University, the prequel to Pixar's 2001 hit Monsters, Inc. It's actually the international version of trailer (from Great Britain to be exact) so it's different than what we'll probably see Stateside in the near future, but take a look and we'll hit up our thoughts on it afterwards!

A: Personally I'm a little divided after watching this trailer. Sarah knows this, but Monsters, Inc. isn't one of my favorite Pixar movies, and in fact ranks in the bottom half of my personal Pixar film rankings, but the original is still funny and enjoyable enough to watch even now. But this trailer just fell flat for me. It was nice to hear Billy Crystal and John Goodman's voices in the roles of Mike Wazowski and Sully again, but you can definitely tell they've aged by a decade because they just don't sound the same. What do you think of the trailer, Sarah?

Who Knew a Zombie Movie Could Have So Much Heart?: Our Review of "Warm Bodies" (2013)

Directed By: Jonathan Levine (50/50) 

Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, James Franco, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich

Rating: PG-13 for zombie violence and some language

Run Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

Synopsis: R (Hoult) is a zombie who spends his days lumbering around an airport with other zombies, thinking internally about his existence as a zombie. While on a mission to feed one day, R and his pack attack a group of humans that includes the beautiful Julie (Palmer) and her boyfriend, Perry (Franco). When R eats Perry's brains he inherits Perry's memories and begins to fall in love with Julie...possibly turning human again in the process.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Last night Sarah and I finally got off of our lazy butts (relatively speaking) and hit up the theatre to see this past weekend’s new zombie romantic comedy…

Sarah: Also known as a zom-rom-com…

A: …a very apt description for the movie Warm Bodies, starring Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class), Teresa Palmer (Take Me Home Tonight) and Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine). This was a film that we didn’t see a whole lot of promotion for though we had seen the trailer before a few times and it looked silly, the kind of film that made us go, “Eh…maybe we’ll see it, maybe we won’t.”

But it’s that time of year, the doldrums of winter when studios generally dump the movies they have no hope for into theatres right before the Oscars (a term that Grantland has dubbed “Dumpuary,” which I love) so we went to the theatre because we’ve been slacking on the blog and didn’t really have high hopes for this movie. But now that we’ve seen Warm Bodies, Sarah, what did you think of it?

Boba Fett and Han To Get Their Own "Solo" Films?

Andrew: Hello readers! I'm in the process of transcribing our review of Warm Bodies right now, but I had to take a quick break and write up a quick update on yesterday's Around the Web post where Sarah and I mentioned Ain't It Cool News' scoop that Disney and Lucasfilm plan to make a stand-alone Yoda film.

Well, after we posted that yesterday, Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger gave a conference call yesterday in which he confirmed their plans to make a bunch of stand-alone Star Wars films that will be released during the same time period that they will be releasing Episodes VII through IX.

And today Entertainment Weekly reports that their sources have told them that two of the other stand-alone films Lucasfilm plans on producing will be a Han Solo origin story and a Boba Fett adventure!

As EW says:

"The Han Solo story would take place in the time period between Revenge of the Sith and the first Star Wars (now known as A New Hope), so although it’s possible Harrison Ford could appear as a framing device, the movie would require a new actor for the lead — one presumably much younger than even the 35-year-old Ford when he appeared in the 1977 original.

The Boba Fett film would take place either between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, or between Empire and Jedi, where the bounty hunter was last seen plunging unceremoniously into a sarlacc pit. Exactly who would play him isn’t much of a complication – in the original trilogy, he never took off his helmet. And in the prequels, we learned he was the son of the original stormtrooper clone, played by Temuera Morrison, who’s still the right age for the part if his services were required."

Around the Web: "Anchorman 2" casting, a new Star Wars film, a Marvel scoop, and more!

Andrew: Hello readers! So first, let us apologize for being so quiet around here lately. Whether it's the winter blues getting to us, the craziness of our day jobs keeping us from getting to the theatre...

Sarah:  Or because we've lately been preoccupied with me trying to get Andrew caught up on Downton Abbey from the beginning! 

A: But we've been slacking on the blog and for that we apologize, and we promise to kick it back into gear as we ramp it up to our LIVE BLOGGING of the 85th Academy Awards on February 24th!

We'll be posting more regularly the rest of the month, with new reviews (we're seeing Warm Bodies tonight), fresh columns, analysis of the upcoming Oscars, and some new stuff like THIS particular post.

This post, the first edition of something we're tentatively calling Around the Web, is going to be a weekly post where we share movie or television news and fun tidbits we've seen around the interwebs, as well as stand-out material from our fellow bloggers. We hope to make this a nice round-up of stuff you may or may not have already seen. So let's kick it off with some big movie news that has hit the net recently!