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)

The 85th Academy Awards Nominees! (How Did Our Predictions Fare?)

Andrew: Hello readers! All week we've been posting our predictions for who we think will be nominated for this year's 85th Academy Awards, and this morning the awesome duo of Emma Stone and Seth MacFarlane announced those nominees. 

So...how did our predictions fare? Listed below are all of the nominees that were announced today - nominees that are in italics are the movies that we got CORRECT. (And a reminder that we did not predict the short film categories, so those will not be posted below.)

BEST PICTURE
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Lincoln
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Amour
Django Unchained
Argo

BEST DIRECTOR
David O. Russell
Ang Lee
Steven Spielberg
Michael Haneke
Benh Zeitlin

Andrew's Top Ten Films of 2012! (And Sarah's Bottom Five!)

Andrew: Hello readers! First off, Happy New Year! Secondly, ymight remember that at two separate points last year we posted articles called Sarah & Andrew’s Top Ten Lists for 2012 So Far. We posted our first at the start of July and we posted our second at the start of October (so the halfway point and three-quarters point of the year). Now that 2012 has come and gone, it’s time to reveal our final lists that includes films that we saw in the final quarter of 2012! In those last three months we saw 17 new releases in the theatre, including a bunch of Oscar contenders.

So here’s the deal – just like the last two times, we have criteria for our lists: the films included have to be films we’ve actually seen and reviewed, and they had to be films that were released in theatres for public consumption in the United States during the 2012 calendar year. This means that a movie like Zero Dark Thirty, which doesn’t get a wide release in the USA until January 11^th, would qualify because it’s been playing in cities like New York for a couple of weeks. Again, these are from among all the movies we've seen and reviewed this year, so if a movie isn't on this list, it's possible we just didn't get around to seeing it.

And one last thing: because I personally found that each of our last two Top Ten Lists were a little lengthy, we’re splitting them up into two different posts. And at the bottom of each post will be the other’s BOTTOM five of the year (the post headline kinda gave that away though, didn’t it?). So check out my personal Top Ten List for 2012 and Sarah’s Bottom Five of 2012 after the jump!

007 Returns With Quite Possibly the Best Bond Film Ever: Our Review of "Skyfall" (2012)

Directed By: Sam Mendes (American Beauty) 

Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes

Rating: PG-13 for intense violent sequences throughout, some sexuality, language and smoking

Run Time: 2 hours, 23 minutes

Synopsis: Following a mission gone wrong in which critical information on undercover NATO agents is stolen and 007 (Craig) is shot and presumed dead, M (Dench) and MI6 are brought under attack by a hacker named Silva (Bardem) with a vendetta against M, and a bureaucrat (Fiennes) looking to force M into retirement.

REVIEW

Andrew: Hello readers! Last week Sarah and I were fortunate enough to catch a screening of the new James Bond movie Skyfall a full two weeks before its wide release. Skyfall stars Daniel Craig (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) in his third turn as 007, Judi Dench (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) in her 7^th appearance as M, and Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men) as a villain named Silva who has a personal vendetta out against M. We also get some new additions to the franchise in Ralph Fiennes (Schindler’s List) as Gareth Mallory, the Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, who believes MI6 and M’s ways to be antiquated, and Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End) as a new MI6 agent named Eve.

I, personally, have been REALLY looking forward to this film because the Bond series is by far my favorite film series (as I’m sure it is for a lot of people). I thought Casino Royale was breath of fresh air to the series and possibly even the best of them all so far, which some traditionalists might find blasphemous. Quantum of Solace was a bit of a letdown but I like it when you put it back-to-back with Casino Royale…

Sarah: Yeah, it was definitely a follow-up to Casino Royale, it fit in quite nicely following up on the effects Vesper Lynd’s death had on him. As a stand-alone film, it’s not that great.

But now you have Skyfall. Bond got his revenge for Vesper in Quantum of Solace so now we’re back to more of a stand-alone Bond film. We’re back to BOND, as it were.

Bond is back, ladies and gents, and better than ever!

The Full-Length Version of Adele's "Skyfall" Theme Is Here!

Andrew: Hello readers! The other day a snippet of the theme song Adele is singing for this fall's new James Bond movie, Skyfall, was leaked on the internet and we posted it here on our blog. After a day or so though, the media player with the snippet was taken down and we promised to repost it once it was up and working again.

Well something better is here and it's the full-length version of the song complete with a lyric music video! Gotta say, it sounds even better than the snippet promised and it makes us ever MORE excited for Skyfall (which looks like it's going to be amazing).

Check out the song below and let us know what you think!



Skyfall, Daniel Craig's third go-round as 007, hits IMAX theatres in the United Kingdom on Friday, October 26th, debuts in the US on Thursday, November 8th and goes wide on Friday, November 9th.


Source: The Film Stage

Listen to a Preview of Adele's Theme Song for "Skyfall"!

UPDATE: The 90 second snippet of the song that hit the internet yesterday has been taken down. Our apologies! As soon as it's back up somewhere we'll update the post again!

Andrew: Hello readers! Just a quick little post here about something that hit the web today that got me excited. It was revealed not too long ago that Adele, probably the world's most popular singer right now, would be singing the theme song for this November's new James Bond film Skyfall.

Well evidently she's already hit the recording studio because a preview of said song, aptly titled "Skyfall," has hit the web and you can listen to it right here, right now! My favorite part is towards the end when the classic slow Bond theme comes in.

We can't wait to hear the whole thing! Check it out!




Skyfall hits IMAX theatres on Wednesday, November 8th and then goes wide on Friday, November 9th. Daniel Craig returns for his third go-round as 007, Judi Dench returns in her 7th turn as M, and we get some new faces in Ben Wishaw as Q, Naomie Harris and Berenice Marlohe as the Bond girls, Javier Bardem as the villain and Ralph Fiennes in a not-quite clear role yet.

The Full Length Trailer for "Skyfall" is Here!

Andrew: "That was dope." "Wow."


Those are the first things Sarah and I said, respectively, after we finished watching the new full length trailer for this fall's new James Bond movie, Skyfall. Needless to say, we're pretty damn excited for this (as you might have surmised if you've read our favorite films lists or our Lieber Award post). I'm absolutely loving the premise of this entry into a great franchise (leaving behind the relative stink of Quatum of Solace).Just.......just watch this trailer below. November 9th can't get here soon enough.





Skyfall stars Daniel Craig in his third turn as 007, Judi Dench as M (she's the best M in the series, in my humble opinion), and Javier Bardem in what looks to be a pretty sweet villain role.

The First Trailer for the New 007 Movie "Skyfall" is Here!

Andrew: Hello readers! I'll keep it short and sweet. Very exciting movie news today as the first trailer for the new James Bond movie, Skyfall,  has hit the web and IT. LOOKS. AWESOME. Check it out below! (Note: There is a trailer for a new Bond video game after the movie trailer. That's not so exciting.)

OFFICIAL TEASER TRAILER FOR SKYFALL

Ok Sarah, now that we've both seen the trailer, what is your immediate reaction to it?


Sarah: We're back to the Bond movies that are supposed to grace the silver screen! None of this revenge stuff. None of this pining after women. This is James Bond we're talking about! Killing bad guys and slaying the ladies with his sexy bad-boy demeanor. This teaser trailer seems to bring this back and I am so excited!


A: I 100% concur. Skyfall looks SO much better than the last Bond film, Quantum of Solace, and I LIKED that one! As I've mentioned on my Favorite Films article, Casino Royale is one of my top 10 favorite movies of all-time and I've loved the James Bond franchise since I was little kid. So I'm very excited to see Skyfall bring back the same level of awesomeness that Casino Royale did.

Skyfall stars Daniel Craig in his third go-round as James Bond, Judy Dench returns as M, and Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem join them in roles I'm excited to see play out. This film can't come out soon enough, in my opinion.


S: It will be here soon! So excited for this little tease!