The SurlyGurls Predict The Academy Award Winners
The 84th Annual Academy Awards ceremony is all set to run this Sunday and we SurlyGurls are pretty EXCITED! Billy Crystal is back to host, which is a real treat considering Eddie Murphy was originally scheduled to host. Let’s not forget the terrible hosts that have plagued the show over the last couple years! Do you remember how awful Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin were when they hosted!?! On paper they sounded like such an awesome choice, but in reality it was almost unwatchable!!
But, that was years ago and there is no need to focus on that now! Let’s turn our attention to this year and get on to our predictions!! We’ve carefully considered each category and here’s how we think things are going to go down on Sunday night.
Best Picture
Andrea – The Artist – I love this movie! This unique little French film is a delight to watch. It is an uplifting and stylish homage to the early days of Hollywood. Everything about this movie is pure, innocent and full of romance. Again, I loved this movie!! Hands down, ‘The Artist’ is the best film of the year.
Whitney - The Artist – There is no way this won’t win. It’s all anyone is talking about. It’s amazing. It’s silent and in black and white and one of the most talked about films of 2012.
Best Director
Andrea - Michel Hazanavicius – Hazanavicius took a big risk with this picture, but his creativity, skill and direction turned it into one of the best movies of the year. He’s been receiving praise and accolades at every turn and he’s leaving the Kodak Theatre without a statue!
Whitney - Michel Hazanavicius – Another no brainer, really. How can you give the best picture to a movie and then not give the director the award as well? Plus, it takes real talent to bring out the subtle nuances and emotions from actors without any dialogue.
Best Actor
Andrea - Jean Dujardin – His performance is the very foundation of this movie. Dujardin carries the film with body language, facial expressions and his contagious and endearing smile. This truly outstanding performance is visibly richer and more vibrant than any of the other nominations.
Whitney - Jean Dujardin – The man says more with his eyebrows than most actors say in an entire page of dialogue. Brad and George will have to duke it out another time, their good looks and popularity won’t win out this time.
Best Actress
Andrea - Viola Davis – I was routing for Davis to grab the Golden Globe for her exceptional performance, but Meryl Streep nabbed it instead. But, in spite of that fact, I have a feeling that Davis will take home the little gold guy. Also, I really want to see her give the acceptance speech!
Whitney - Meryl Streep – I didn’t see The Iron Lady, and while I am a huge Anglophile, and love (almost) all things to do with Britain, I just have no desire to see it. I would really like to see Viola Davis win this, but how can you beat Ms. Streep?
(read the rest of this entry to find out who we’ve picked to win in the remaining categories…)
Box Office Results · February 20, 2012
Many of us had the luxury of long weekends this week, with Family Day in most of Canada and President’s Day in the States. But, it appears that not many of us wanted to spend any of it with Nicolas Cage and his unique brand of “whisper yelling”.
Though, when you make the late night talk show rounds and all anyone wants to talk about is the rumours of you being a vampire and how insane the directors are… it’s probably not a good sign. So no surprise that ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ stalled at the starting line and finished the box office race in the third position with $22.1M.
So while ‘Ghost Rider’ essentially crashed and burned, ‘Safe House’ leapfrogged over ‘The Vow’ and claimed the top position earning $23.8M this weekend.
‘This Means War’ also failed to find an audience this weekend, landing in fifth position with $17.4M. Perhaps if it had been only a romantic comedy or only an action flick it would have had better numbers. Seems the blending of the rom-com and action styles just confused the majority of moviegoers.
The anime film ‘The Secret World of Arrietty’ by the adored Hayao Miyazaki snuck into the top ten with $6.5M. You may think that debuting in the ninth position is nothing to cheer about, but Arrietty actually is the most successful opening of any of the Disney-distributed Miyazaki films. It is also makes it the fifth-highest anime debut in the U.S., just behind one ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ and three ‘Pokémon’ movies. It appears that if the little Borrowers had been jumping out of balls or playing cards and fighting each other it would have been unstoppable!
Here is the estimated breakdown of the weekend totals:
|
TW |
LW |
Movie Title |
Weekend Gross |
Total Gross |
Week |
| 1 | 2 | Safe House | $23,800,000 | $78,100,000 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | The Vow | $23,100,000 | $85,027,000 | 2 |
| 3 | - | Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance | $22,100,000 | $22,100,000 | 1 |
| 4 | 3 | Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | $19,920,000 | $53,036,000 | 2 |
| 5 | - | This Means War | $17,385,000 | $18,995,000 | 1 |
| 6 | 4 | Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (3D) | $8,000,000 | $33,873,000 | 2 |
| 7 | 5 | Chronicle | $7,625,000 | $51,104,000 | 3 |
| 8 | 6 | The Woman in Black | $6,710,000 | $45,321,000 | 3 |
| 9 | - | The Secret World of Arrietty | $6,457,000 | $6,457,000 | 1 |
| 10 | 7 | The Grey | $3,142,000 | $48,035,000 | 4 |
(via boxofficemojo.com)
[Image Credit: Universal Pictures]
Countdown to the Oscars!
Well, you’ve had plenty of time to mull over the Oscar nominations and with a week to go before the telecast it is time to really focus and finalize those picks as well as put the finishing touches on your Oscar TV viewing party!
What’s that? You’re stuck for party ideas? No worries, here’s a few you can steal and pass off as your own. Personally, we love the idea of incorporating the nominated movies into the party theme.
So, this year why not host a party with a black-and-white dress code or even a roaring 20s style costume party in celebration of ‘The Artist’. Nothing like some flapper dresses and pinstriped suits to add some razzle dazzle to your shindig! Though, the film is set during the prohibition years and we certainly would not be merging that into our party theme!
(The SurlyGurls love their adult beverages!)
Cost of Living: Monsters vs. Security Guards
‘Cost of Living’ is an awesome little sci-fi short written and directed by first-time movie maker BenDavid Grabinski. Damn! We think we’re in love!! ♥
It features Bret Harrison (Reaper, Breaking In) and Brandon Routh (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Chuck) as Silas and Jerry; two average guys working a dead-end job for an evil, monster-creating organization. It’s essentially a day in the life of the security guards at the Umbrella Corporation or Aperture Science. Speaking of Aperture Science, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Thing) even does a wicked pseudo-GLADoS impression in her cameo as the voice of the computer.
Also, we’d like the record to show that we totally agree with Jerry regarding the necessity of memory guide posts! They are so important!
The full film is now online; you will be a better person for having watched it.
We’ve conveniently embedded it right there for you! Watch it now!
[ via Fo Industries ]
Reactions? Worth the buzz it got at Fantastic Fest last year?
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New in Theatres · February 17, 2012
Now with Valentine’s Day behind us the only fire burning is the one emanating from Nic Cage’s cursed skull! Boom! Well, that’s not true. There is plenty of passionate fire within the super sexy love triangle in ‘This Means War’, not to mention all the explosions!
So, so many explosions!
Just a little side note, the more explosions a romantic comedy has the better! That is totally our kind of romantic comedy! Where were you on Tuesday when ‘The Vow‘ ranked in almost $12M and the title of the best mid-week Valentine’s Day gross ever!?
But, if awesome action sequences, sex and violence aren’t your thing, there are a few other options. But, they involve football and family friendly anime, so we’re betting ol’ Nicolas Cage and his unique brand of “whisper yelling” have a pretty profitable weekend.
GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE
Directing: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Writing: Scott M. Gimple, Seth Hoffman (screenplay), David S. Goyer (screenplay/story)
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds, Idris Elba, Violante Placido
Price of Admission will get you: an insane CGI thrill ride and the vague idea of a plot about a devil boy…or something. In fact there is so much CGI they should have just cast Andy Serkis as the Ghost Rider! Don’t forget, it’s in 3-D!
Running Time · 95 min
Genre · Action / Fantasy / Thriller
Rating · PG-13
THIS MEANS WAR
“It’s SPY against SPY.”
Directing: McG
Writing: Simon Kinberg (screenplay), Timothy Dowling (screenplay/story), Marcus Gautesen (story)
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, Til Schweiger
Price of Admission will get you: an action-packed rom-com fuelled solely on the fact the two hot male leads do not subscribe to the “bros before hos” guy code.
Running Time · 98 min
Genre · Comedy / Action / Romance
Rating · R
THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY
“No Friendship is Too Small.”
Directing: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Writing: Mary Norton (novel), Hayao Miyazaki, Keiko Niwa (screenplay)
Starring: Bridgit Mendler, Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, Saoirse Ronan
Price of Admission will get you: a lovely anime adaptation of the beloved children’s literary classic ‘The Borrowers’.
Running Time · 94 min
Genre · Animation / Adventure / Family / Fantasy
Rating · G
(read the rest of this entry to find out what is out this weekend…)
Read the rest of this entry
Happy Valentine’s Day Readers!
We hope your nights are full of good food, chocolate and movies…no matter who you’re spending it with!
Check out our New In Theatres post for some last minute ideas of what to see with your Valentine!
Midseason T.V. Premieres – Feb 14, 2012
Well television fans, you demanded it and, you got it!
One of t.v.’s wackiest show, ‘Cougar Town’, premieres its new season tonight on ABC at 8:30 PM. We won’t lie, when this show first started we thought it was going to be a giant waste of time. But, then we watched a few episodes of it, and it was really weird and really quite funny. So, we’re kind of glad it’s back.
Well done Courteney Cox, you’re the only one to do anything worth watching since ‘Friends’ ended.
