Your Childhood Memories, On The Big Screen

Okay, so we'll give you "GI Joe" and "Transformers." We'll even give you "Clue" (Mrs. Peacock was a man?!). But the recent trend of Hollywood popcorn flicks based on or loosely affiliated with toys and board games may be quickly getting out of hand. The example that comes to mind first: "Real Steel," in which a boy reconnects with his boxing robot trainer father while giant machines duke it out Rocky-style. If you missed it in theatres, don't worry, you can now buy it on Blu-ray or just play a few rounds of Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots with your dear old pappy.

And now, coming straight out of your childhood and into a theater near you: "Battleship." As in "'E-4.' 'You sunk my battleship!'" How do they turn the beloved game into a movie? Aliens. If you don't remember alien invaders in your version of this classic, you're not alone. But who knows, maybe it will end up being pleasantly entertaining. Especially with dialogue like this:

Admiral Shane: "Prepare to fire." Crew member: "Sir, which weapons?" Admiral Shane: "All of them."

But wait, there's more! While Universal did pass on a project to produce a movie based on the spook-tacular sleepover toy, the Ouija Board, another studio, Relativity Media, didn't consider it too much of a "stretch" to give the green light to this little gem: http://bit.ly/wrLvcD.

This revelation leaves us with only one unanswered question: How soon before the lights dim down for the premiere of "Connect Four The Movie?"

 

Win Every Trivia Contest About This Year’s Oscars

Quick -- what do Gary Oldman and Jonah Hill share in common? Give up? This year is the first either has been nominated for an Oscar (it’s pretty much a crime that this is Oldman’s first time around).

The Hollywood Reporter has posted their annual list of facts, stats, shockers, and snubs about the Academy Award nominations. The long, long list contains many interesting items like:

The Artist becomes just the fifth predominately or entirely silent film to score a best picture nomination and the first in 83 years…”

and

Hugo becomes just the fourth film released in 3D to score a best picture nomination…”

And then there are the entries that make you wonder, “Who keeps track of all this stuff?” Regardless, this helpful list should make it easy for you to take the title in any 2012 Oscar Trivia contest: http://bit.ly/wzCKtI

 

BONUS LINK: Cutest Oscar Dog Showdown

And the Oscar Goes to...

It’s that time of year again. The Academy has selected their nominations for the most prestigious film award on the planet. Scorsese’s “Hugo” came out on top with 11 nominations including adapted screenplay, costume design, cinematography, original score,  as well as best director and best picture. The best picture category is interesting this year with only nine nominees. Apparently after upping it to 10 from 5, the Academy has devised some sort of system where a film must receive a certain number of first-place votes to be nominated – thus, the odd number of nominees.

While some may be shocked to find Malik's "Tree of Life" in the running for best pic, there aren’t any surprises in the best actor/actress category. Meryl Streep, whose performance was praised in the critically-panned film “The Iron Lady,”  is up for her 17th nomination. She has astonishingly only ever won two and the buzz is that Viola Davis (The Help) will take it this year.

Check out the list of nominations for some of the top categories here and then hit the link at the bottom for a full printable list.

 BEST PICTURE

The Artist

The Descendants

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

The Help

Hugo

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

The Tree of Life

War Horse

 

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis, The Help

Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

 

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Demián Bichir, A Better Life

George Clooney, The Descendants

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Brad Pitt, Moneyball

 

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

The Artist, Written by Michel Hazanavicius

Bridesmaids, Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig

Margin Call, Written by J.C. Chandor

Midnight in Paris, Written by Woody Allen

A Separation, Written by Asghar Farhad

 

http://a.oscar.go.com/media/2012/pdf/nominees.pdf

Two Words: John. Williams.

Quick – name this song: Dun, dun, dun, dun, DA-dun, dun, DA-dun…

 If you guessed correctly (The Imperial March, duh!) then your Friday night probably just got booked.

Mesa Arts Center is hosting “Symphony Pops: The Music of John Williams” this Friday, January 27th at 7:30 in the PM. In a few short hours, conductor Joseph Young will take you on a whirlwind ride as you relive all your favorite moments from childhood. You’ll hear compositions from Star Wars, of course, and…

…JAWS Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dundundundundundundun

 …Superman Dun, dundundundun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dundundundun, DUN, DUN, DUN!

 …and many, many more.

The concert, presented by the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, will be very similar to what you just read except better.  For the John Williams aural experience of a lifetime, pick up some tickets over at mesaartscenter.com or just hit the link.

Olympic Fencer/Darth Vader Passes Away at 89

Bob Anderson, a former Olympic fencer who staged Darth Vader's light saber battles in two "Star Wars" movies, has died in West Sussex, England. He was 89. Anderson died peacefully Jan. 1 at a hospital, British Academy of Fencing President Philip Bruce wrote on the organization's website.

"He was truly one of our greatest fencing masters and a world-class film fight director and choreographer and both the fencing community and film world will miss him," Bruce wrote. "My heart felt sympathies and thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time."

Also read: 3D Version of 'Star Wars' Gets a Release Date

Considered to be Hollywood's go-to choreographer for sword-fighting, Bruce tutored Sean Connery and Lindsay Lohan, among others.

In "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," Anderson was Darth Vader's onscreen stunt double in the light saber battles -- including the scene in which the character cuts off the hand of Luke Skywalker. Anderson was uncredited in both films.

In a 1983 with Starlog magazine, Mark Hamill, who played Skywalker, said Anderson's contributions to the films should be made known.

Also read: 'Star Wars: The Complete Saga' Sets Blu-ray Sales Records

"Bob Anderson was the man who actually did Vader's fighting," he said. "It was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told [director] George [Lucas] I didn't think it was fair any more. Bob worked so bloody hard that he deserves some recognition. It's ridiculous to preserve the myth that it's all done by one man."

Anderson also lent his sword-fighting talents to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Princess Bride," "The Mask of Zorro" and the 1998 remake of "The Parent Trap," for which he tutored Lohan.

He was also Connery's stunt double in "Highlander" and performed sword-fighting stunts for Johnny Depp's and Orlando Bloom's characters in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."

Bruce is survived by his wife and three children.

Read more on Mr. Anderson’s life over on NPR.org. There’s also a bonus video of Viggo Mortensen talking about his time training with the sword-wielding legend.

Golden Globe Noms Are In!

The nominations are here and we’ve taken it upon ourselves to make a few predictions. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Hollywood Foreign Press has made their collective decisions on whom to nominate for a coveted Golden Globe Award. No real surprises here, although we are curious to see if Michel Hazanavicius’s (try saying that five times fast) critically-adored film ‘The Artist’ will take home an award for Best Screenplay or Best Motion Picture – Comedy. (View trailer)

Here’s a sampling of predictions from around the PFF office:

Best Motion Picture – Drama The Descendants

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Glenn Close (That’s right. She’ll steal it from Meryl Streep this year.)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Michael Fassbender

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical The Artist

View the entire list of the 2012 Golden Globe nominees.