Taking Woodstock Preview/Synopsis

Taking Woodstock Aug 28

Directed by Oscar winner Ang Lee ( Brokeback Mountian, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ) Staring Demetri Martin, Emile Hirsch, Imelda Staunton, Eugene Levy, Liev Schreiber, Paul Dano, Kelli Garner, Dan Fogler, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Written by James Schamus ( Crouching Tiger ) Cinematography by Eric Gautier ( Into The Wild ) Editng by by Oscar nominee Tim Squyres ( Crouching Tiger ) Music by multi Oscar nominee Danny Elfman ( Good Will Hunting, Milk )

Film is taken and adapted from the Elliot Tiber book on how he basically was responsible for assembling the largest concert setting of all time in upstate New York in August of 1969 that ended up being the ground breaking Woodstock concert festival.

Rated R For graphic nudity, some sexual content, drug use and language. 110 min.

Oscar chances ? Possible for Adapted Screenplay.

Inglourious Basterds Preview/Synopsis

Inglourious Basterds Aug 14

Directed by Quentin Tarantino ( Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown ) Starring Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Mike Meyers, Til Schweiger, Eli Roth, BJ Novack, Julie Dreyfuss. Written by Tarantino ( Resevoir Dogs, Kill Bill ) Cinematography by multi Oscar nominee and winner Robert Richardson ( The Aviator, Casino ) Editing by Oscar nominee Sally Menke ( Pulp Fiction, Mulholland Falls )

Story is set in Nazi occupied France during the second world war, and is about a group of Jewish-American GI's known as " The Basterds ", that are a special group of soldiers for a specific mission and manner, and that is to spread fear throughout the region occupied by murdering the Nazi's Third reich, by not only killing them, but also collecting their scalps as well, this mission led by American Lt. Aldo Raine. ( Pitt )

Rated R For strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality. 152 min.

Oscar chances ? Possibles for Original Screenplay, Editing and Cinematography. Many that have seen the film say Waltz is a scene stealer, so Supporting Actor could also be in the cards.

The Time Traver's Wife Preview/Synopsis

The Time Traveler's Wife Aug 14

Directed by Robert Schwentke ( Flight Plan ) Starring Rachel McAdams, Eric Bana, Ron Livingston, Brooklyn Proulex, Arliss Howard, Stephen Tobolowski. Written by Oscar winner Bruce Joel Rubin ( Ghost ) Cinematography by Florian Ballhaus, son of Oscar nomiee Michael Ballhaus, Editing by Oscar winner Thom Noble ( Witness, Thelma and Louise ) Original music by Mychael Dana ( The Sweet Hereafter )

TTW, is adapted from the Audrey Niffenegger novel, where the story follows the life of a professional Chicago librarian ( Bana ) who has an extremely rare gene, where he can time travel involuntarily, and the problems this has on his marriage and how those eccentricities of those time travel incidents and how they directly effect his wife Clare ( Adams ) mostly.

Rated PG-13 For thematic elements, brief disturbing images, nudity and sexuality. 107min.

Oscar chances ? Early word is it's McAdams career best role. Possibles for screenplay and editing.

Lame People Magazine

I know this has nothing to do with motion pictures, but some people and some things trancend any and everything, and for People magazine to not put Walter Cronkite on their front page is laughable and a disgrace and makes you look even more of a gossip rag than you ever have been. How you screwed the pooch on that lead story and put an new young actor on the cover instead of Cronkite is beyond me. LAME !

Public Enemies makes the top 5

As of now, July 14, Public Enemies has cracked my top 5 of 2009. Though the only actors in the film that broke into the acting categories is Marion Cotillard. Johnny Depp and Christian are good but nothing special that scream out at you that was great acting. Michael Mann also cracks the director category as well.

Updated performances worthy of accolades...

Picture

The Hurt Locker
Moon
Public Enemies
Star Trek
Sunshine Cleaning

Actor

Russell Crowe- State Of Play
Robert Downey Jr.- The Soloist
Clive Owen- Duplicity
Jeremy Renner- The Hurt Locker
Sam Rockwell- Moon

Actress

Amy Adams- Sunshine Cleaning
Cameron Diaz- My Sister's Keeper
Elle Fanning- Phoebe In Wonderland
Helen Mirren- State Of Play
Rachel Weisz- The Brothers Bloom

Supporting Actor

Jason Bateman- State Of Play
Clifton Collins Jr- Sunshine Cleaning
Jim Gaffigan- Away We Go
Anthony Mackie- The Hurt Locker
Karl Urban- Star Trek

Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt- Sunshine Cleaning
Abigail Breslin- My Sister's Keeper
Marion Cotillard- Public Enemies
Alison Janney- Away We Go
Rachel McAdams- State Of Play

Director

JJ Abrams- Star Trek
Katheryn Bigelow- The Hurt Locker
Kevin Macdonald- State Of Play
Michael Mann- Public Enemies
Zack Snyder- Watchman

Julie and Julia Preview/Synopsis

Julia and Julia August 7

Directed by Nora Ephron ( You've Got Mail, Sleepless In Seattle ) starring Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Jane Lynch. Written by Ephron, cinematography by two time Oscar nominee Stephen Goldblatt ( Batman Forever, The Prince Of Tides ) Editing by two time Oscar nominee Richard Marks ( As Good As It Gets, Broadcast News ) Original music by Oscar nominee Alexandre Desplat ( Benjamin Button, The Queen )

Movie is based from the book by Julia Powell, off her true story about how she ( a frustrated secretary ) goes on a year long goal of cooking all 524 recipes from Julia Child's Mastering The Art Of French Cooking. Powell then chronicles her ups and downs in achieving this goal on a blog that she has created, and becomes semi-famous within the food crowd.
The film also takes place in the years where Julia Child's time spent in Paris with her husband Paul before she was famous during the 40's and 50's when she was a foreign diplomat.

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some sexuality.

Oscar chances ? Good for Streep and decent for Adams. Studio will have to figure out category placement, as to who will campaign as a lead and or support. Possible for adapted screenplay as well.

Funny People Preview/Synopsis

Funny People July 31

Directed by Judd Apatow ( Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin ) Starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana, Jason Schwartzman, Jonah Hill, with cameos from Dave Attel, Sarah Silverman, Andy Dick and Norm MacDonald. Written by Apatow, cinematography by two time Oscar winner ( and usual Spielberg DP ) Janusz Kaminski ( Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List ), Editing by Craig Alpert & Bert White ( Talladega Nights ) Original music by first time film composer Jason Schwartzman.

Film is about a stand up comic George Simmons ( Sandler ) who finds out he has a fatal blood disease with only one year to live. George by chance catches the act of a up and coming, but struggling stand up Ira Wright ( Rogen ) and these two form an unlikley bond, mainly because neither really has any friends. George ends up hiring Ira as a semi personal assisatant and also serves as Ira's stand up mentor, while Ira helps George realize his legacy in stand up comedy to help him ease into his dying days.

Rated R for Language and crude sexual humor throughout and some sexulaity. 136 min.

Oscar chances ? I'd say the only chance it might have is original screenplay, but there are a few movie sites out there online claiming Sandler could get an Oscar nomination for his role, and it's the best thing he has ever done.

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince Preview/Synopsis

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince July 15

David Yates returns in the director chair after Order Of The Phoenix, with most of the principle cast returing with newcomer Jim Broadbent ( GONY, Bridget Jones ) added to the cast. Written by Oscar nominee Steve Kloves ( Wonder Boys ) Cinematography by 2 time Oscar nominee Bruno Dellonnel ( A Very Long Engagement, Amelie ) Editing by Emmy nominee Mark Day ( Sex Traffic ) Original music by Nicholas Hooper ( Order Of The Phoenix )

In the sixth incarnation of the series, Harry discovers a book with the words written on it " This book of The Half Blood Prince " and begins to even dig up more knowledge of Lord Voldemort's past. Some early reviews are claiming it to be the best Potter film yet.

Rated PG-13 For Scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality.

Oscar chances ? Very good chances in the tech categories, especially sound.

500 Days Of Summer Preview/Synopsis

500 Days Of Summer July 17

Directed by Marc Webb ( Seascape ) Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel. Written by Michael H. Weber & Scott Neustadter ( Pink Panther 2 ) Cinematography by Eric Steelberg ( Juno ) Editing by Alan Edward Bell ( Alex and Emma ) Original Music by Mychael Danna ( Lakeview Terrace, Fracture )

Film is a ro-dra/comedy, about a woman who doesn't believe in true love, and a young man who is truly a hopeless romantic, who falls for her, and delving in the ups and downs of romance, and as the title suggests the story moves through a span of 500 days.

PG-13 For seuxal material and language. 95 min.

Oscar chances ? Film will most likely recieve honors from Independent awards.

Bruno Preview/Synopsis

Bruno July 10

What haven't you heard or seen of this, another oddball character of Sacha Baron Cohen's ? It will be a hit with some people, some people will be offended and some people will think it's down right stupid.

Oscar chances ? Are you kidding ?