'Up' circa 1965

Above you will find a "Premake" trailer for Up. Using very clever special effects and editing, the above film portrays a trailer for the hypothetical film Up from 1965. Very, very cool.

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DreamWorks epic to star Hugh Jackman, Chris Pine

It has just been revealed by DreamWorks Animation that their upcoming 3D epic, Rise of the Guardians, will star Chris Pine, Hugh Jackman, Jude Law, Alec Baldwin, and Isla Fisher.

Peter Ramsey will be directing the series, along with co-director William Joyce who is the author of the upcoming series of novels The Guardians of Childhood, upon which the film will be based. Also worth mentioning is the fact that everybody's favorite ex-Hobbit director, Mr. Guillermo Del Toro is on as executive producer!

The screenplay "follows a group of heroic childhood legends, each with extraordinary abilities. When Pitch (Law), an evil spirit akin to the Boogeyman, lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world."

When announced in 2009, DiCaprio was set to voice Jack Frost, which has been taken over by Star Trek star Chris Pine. Other character's include the Easter Bunny (Jackman), Santa Claus (Baldwin), and the Tooth Fairy (Fisher).

This plot sounds rather cliché (and is just begging for awful jokes), and you know how I feel about 3D. Also, the star-studded cast is never a good sign--when a studio packs stars on the screen it usually always means they're compensating for something. That something is usually story. Still, I won't pass judgment on this project just yet; that isn't fair.

However, I will pass judgment once it's released on November 21, 2012.

(But, honestly, I'm way more looking forward to DW's Peabody.)

Source: Variety

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The Oscar Noms and My Predictions

Well folks, it's that time of year again, and award-winning is in the air. The Oscars are taking place in just over a month, and, right on schedule, the nominations were announced today. No real surprises as far as the nominations go, although perhaps a but more noms for The King's Speech than expected--although this isn't a bad thing, seeing as it was a wonderful film. Still, the list is worth a look.

Below you will find the complete list of nominations, as well as my predictions of the winners bolded. Keep in mind there is a distinct difference between who I think will win and who I think should win. Bolded will be who I think will win.

And now, without further ado, this year's Oscar nominations!

Best Picture
'Black Swan'
'The Fighter'
'Inception'
'The Kids Are All Right'
'The King’s Speech'
'127 Hours'
'The Social Network'
'Toy Story 3' (more info at TPB here.)
'True Grit'
'Winter’s Bone'

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, 'Black Swan'
David O. Russell, 'The Fighter'
Tom Hooper, 'The King's Speech'
David Fincher, 'The Social Network'
Joel and Ethan Coen, 'True Grit'

Best Actor
Javier Bardem, 'Biutiful'
Jeff Bridges, 'True Grit'
Jesse Eisenberg, 'The Social Network'
Colin Firth, 'The King's Speech'
James Franco, '127 Hours'

Best Actress
Annette Bening, 'The Kids Are All Right'
Nicole Kidman, 'Rabbit Hole'
Jennifer Lawrence, 'Winter's Bone'
Natalie Portman, 'Black Swan'
Michelle Williams, 'Blue Valentine'

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, 'The Fighter'
John Hawkes, 'Winter's Bone'
Jeremy Renner, 'The Town'
Mark Ruffalo, 'The Kids Are All Right'
Geoffrey Rush, 'The King's Speech'

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, 'The Fighter'
Helena Bonham Carter, 'The King's Speech'
Melissa Leo, 'The Fighter'
Hailee Steinfeld, 'True Grit'
Jacki Weaver, 'Animal Kingdom'

Best Animated Feature Film
'How to Train Your Dragon'
'Illusionist'
'Toy Story 3'

Best Foreign Film
Mexico - 'Biutiful'
Greece - 'Dogtooth'
Denmark - 'In a Better World'
Canada - 'Incendies'
Algeria - 'Outside the law'

Best Original Screenplay
'Another Year'
'The Fighter'
'Inception'
'The Kids Are All Right'
'The King's Speech'

Best Adapted Screenplay
'127 Hours'
'The Social Network'
'Toy Story 3'
'True Grit'
'Winter's Bone'

Best Art Direction
'Alice in Wonderland'
'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I'
'Inception'
'The King's Speech'
'True Grit'

Best Costume Design
'Alice in Wonderland'
'I Am Love'
'The King's Speech'
'The Tempest'
'True Grit'

Best Original Song
'Coming Home' - 'Country Strong'
'I See the Light' - 'Tangled'
'If I Rise' - '127 Hours'
'We Belong Together' - 'Toy Story 3'

Best Original Score
'How to Train Your Dragon' John Powell
'Inception' Hans Zimmer
'The King's Speech' Alexandre Desplat
'127 Hours' A.R. Rahman
'The Social Network' Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Best Documentary
'Exit Through the Gift Shop'
'Gasland'
'Inside Job'
'Restrepo'
'Waste Land'

Best Film Editing
'Black Swan'
'The Fighter'
'The Kings Speech'
'127 Hours'
'The Social Network'

Best Makeup
'Barney's Version'
'The Way Back'
'The Wolfman'

Best Sound Editing
'Inception'
'Toy Story 3'
'TRON: Legacy'
'True Grit'
'Unstoppable'

Best Sound Mixing
'Inception'
'The King's Speech'
'Salt'
'The Social Network'
'True Grit'

Best Visual Effects
'Alice in Wonderland'
'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1'
'Hereafter'
'Inception'
'Iron Man 2'

Best Documentary (Short Subject)
'Killing in the Name'
'Poster Girl'
'Strangers No More'
'Sun Comes Up'
'The Warriors of Qiugang'

Best Visual Short Film (Animated)
'Day & Night'
'The Gruffalo'
'Let's Pollute'
'The Lost Thing'
'Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)'

Best Short Film (Live Action)
'The Confession'
'The Crush'
'God of Love'
'Na Wewe'
'Wish 143'

The Awards ceremony will air February 27 on ABC.

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Another New 'Pooh' Poster

Although I still love the simplicity of the first Winnie-the-Pooh poster, this new one is great. Still minimalistic and beautifully-drawn; and we get some reassurance that they aren't drastically changing (or getting rid of) any of the characters that we all know and love.

Kudos to Mr. Lasseter. It is a breath of fresh air to see something so timeless and universally-loved being revived in such a classy and wonderfully-straightforward manner.

Just a few more months...can't wait to see it...can't wait...can't...

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Mr. Peabody to get a new voice from Downey

Briefly: One of my favorite contemporary actors, Mr. Robert Downey, Jr., has been cast in a new film for DreamWorks, Mr. Peabody and Sherman. The film, of course, will be based on the original cartoon, which was a part of Jay Ward's classic Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Although I hope it will be as good as the following clip from the original show, I have my doubts--especially since it is coming to you from the writers of the recent Yogi Bear flop. Although, it is being headed by Rob Mikoff, director of The Lion King and Stuart Little. I just don't know what to think yet; I have so many conflicting emotions about this project . . .

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'TS3' Award Updates

Everyone's favorite animated film of last year has been raking in the awards. Last night it won, to nobody's surprise, the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature. Pixar has swept the category every year since its creation half a decade ago.

In his acceptance speech, Lee thanked everyone at Disney and Pixar, John Lasseter, Randy Newman, and the whole cast of "an animated movie that beats with a human heart." His speech was certainly the most genuine (and funny) of the evening. Watch it in its entirety here.

In addition to this honor, Toy Story 3 has been nominated for three Orange British Academy Film Awards by BAFTA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The nominations include Animated Film, Adapted Screenplay, and Special Visual Effects. The awards will be presented in a few weeks on February 13 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.

Also, Toy Story 3 has won a Critics' Choice Award and the Golden Tomato from the king of all film review websites, Rotten Tomatoes.

All of these honors bestowed upon Toy Story 3 are excellent and well-deserved. However, they will be small bananas compared to the Oscar for Best Picture that I am certain Toy Story 3 is going to win.

Certain!

(I hope . . .)

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'Winnie-the-Pooh' Poster

To the left you will find the newly-released poster for WDAS' upcoming film Winnie-the-Pooh.

Awesome. Just great. This poster is very minimalistic, yet tells a story all in itself. It is well-drawn, simple, and makes me want to see the movie even more. This is easily one of my favorite movie posters, well, ever!

Winnie-the-Pooh, which will be the last film out of Walt Disney Animation Studios for a few years (expect the next in 2013 or so) and the last hand-drawn film from them for even longer (2014/15), will be released this summer! I am very excited to see it; not only do I love all of the Pooh characters, but I just adore the animation style that this film is going to be re-embracing. Boy am I glad that Lasseter took the reigns on this one and prevented a straight-to-DVD, CG disaster of a film and turned it into something that I know I will love . . .

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