No…Freaking…”Lost”…Tonight…

There is a strange emptiness that I am feeling this morning. Is it because I need to eat a snack? Is it because I am at work and really want to be at home playing MLB 2K9 on the X-Box or perhaps 18 holes of Tiger Woods on the Wii? Perhaps I am craving a Fresca? Well…yes, all of those things are true…but the real reason is because there is no “Lost” tonight. Sure, there is some clip show that is designed to help the casual “Lost” fan get reacquanted with what’s been happening…but come on, the real psychos like you and I don’t need that clip show.

So…what to do tonight? Well, since I purchased the MLB Extra Innings package, I am going to watch the Phillies play the Brewers. If the game gets out of hand, why, it’s “The Wrestler” on BluRay. I can’t wait to see how brutal Mickey Rourke looks in spectacular 1080 perfection.

Cinematically Correct note: I’m still bitter about Mickey Rourke losing Best Actor. Complete nonsense.

These Oscar Predictions Are So Good That You Can’t Be Wanting To Not Be Reading Them

It’s about time for me to go over who I think will be winning the major categories tonight at the Academy Awards. I’ve read a mess of other blogs and looked over their predictions and you basically will read the exact same type of thing here. The only difference is I am picking who will win, who I think should win of those nominated, and who or what was screwed out of a nomination.

Here are my Academy Award notes and predictions. As always, please…no wagering.

Best Original Screenplay

• Will win: Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”
• Should win: Martin McDonagh, “In Bruges”
• Biggest ripoff: Nick Schenk, “Gran Torino”

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Will win & Should win:  Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”
• Biggest ripoff: Christopher Nolan & Jonathan Nolan, “The Dark Knight”

Best Supporting Actress

• Will win: Penelope Cruz, “Vicki Cristina Barcelona”
• Should win: Amy Adams, “Doubt”
• Biggest ripoff: Kate Winslett, “The Reader” (yes, this was a supporting role!)

Best Supporting Actor

• Will win & Should win: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
• Biggest ripoff: That Heath Ledger won’t be getting this award in person.

Best Director

• Will win: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
• Should win: David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• Biggest ripoff: Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”

Best Actress

• Will win: Kate Winslet, “The Reader”
• Should win: Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
• Biggest ripoff: Kate Winslet, “Revolutionary Road”

Best Actor

• Will win: Sean Penn, “Milk”
• Should win: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler” (Oddly enough, Penn will have two undeserved Oscars after this one, since he robbed Bill Murray last time)
• Biggest ripoff: Clint Eastwood, “Gran Torino”

Best Picture

• Will win: “Slumdog Millionaire”
• Should win: “Slumdog Millionaire:
• Biggest ripoff: “The Dark Knight”

Leaked List Of Oscar Winners Said To Be False

Upon hearing that the leaked list of winners from this Sunday’s Oscar ceremony was false, I became sad. See…that list had Mickey Rourke winning Best Actor and if he doesn’t, it’s going to get ugly at the Cinematically Correct household. By ugly, I mean that I may ceremoniously trash all of my DVD and/or BluRay discs of films featuring Sean Penn. Well…maybe not.

It’s not that I dislike Sean Penn’s acting or that I dislike “Milk”. It’s more about the fact that I am smitten with Rourke’s in “The Wrestler”. I just can’t understand how people could not vote for Rourke simply because he is a lunatic. Marlon Brando has two Oscars and he was completely nuts. I’m talking bats*** crazy people.

Voting Is Open

After a few minutes of internal debate due to potential Internet embarrassment, I have decided to open up voting for the 2009 Cinematicals. You can do so by clicking “Vote For The 2009 Cinematicals” here or use the menu bar above here.

Please vote. If anything, you can give me some grief over my unabashed love of “The Dark Knight” and “Role Models”.

The Movie Release Wasteland

It’s that time of year folks. It’s time for movie studios to dump their trash onto the movie going public. “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”. “Notorious”. “My Bloody Valentine 3-D”. “Hotel For Dogs”. Good Lord. This has to be one of the weakest movie release weekends in box office history. At least “Defiance” wants to be a serious movie, even if the reviews are pretty poor right now.

So again, I implore you to go see something like “The Wrestler”, “Gran Torino”, or “Revolutionary Road”. Next week could bring us another decent flick, “Killshot”. Then, we have “Taken” on the 30th, “Crossing Over” on February 27th, and finally, “Watchmen” on March 6th. Can you believe there is actually another movie, “All About Steve”, due for wide release on the 6th of March? Talk about dead in the water.

Sweet, Sweet Redemption For Mickey Rourke

What a crazy photo. You’ve got Mickey Rourke and The Boss, longtime buddies, holding up their freshly won Golden Globe awards. Can you imagine how surreal last night must have been for Rourke?

Here are some thoughts about the easily predictable awards from last night:

• I have seen Sean Penn in “Milk”, Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, and I feel that Rourke’s performance in “The Wrestler” was the best of those three. I’m on record saying that not only is Rourke the best of 2008, he gave one of the best performances in movie history.
• So Sean Penn skips the entire show because “Milk” wasn’t nominated for Best Picture? Too bad that great talent doesn’t come complete with great class. Sean…grow up dude. If everyone did what you did, there wouldn’t be a show would there?
• It’s great to see Kate Winslet finally winning some awards. It will still never make up for the highway robbery of her losing for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”.
• While I was pulling for James Franco, the Best Actor in a Comedy win for Colin Ferrell for “In Bruges” is well deserved. I continually forget about that underrated dark comedy.
• Again…how does “30 Rock” continually win this stuff? I’ve seen it and I just don’t see how it is funnier than “The Office”.
• Poor David Fincher. He finally is recognized for how great of a director he truly is…and gets trumped by Danny Boyle’s coming out party.  One day Fincher…
• I’m glad to see that Jeremy Piven has completely recovered.

“Bride Wars” Must Be Stopped At All Costs

Please do not see “Bride Wars”. If you do, the terrorists will win. Well…it won’t be that bad but you will only be enabling a laundry list of idiots. From the screenwriters to the studio execs, everyone involved with the production of this movie should be exorcised from the entertainment business.

I realize that my hope of epic failure for “Bride Wars” will be for naught. This movie is going to make a bunch of money this weekend, only furthering the advancement of douchebag cinema. It will also allow Kate Hudson, quite possibly the worst actress on the planet right now, to continue to steal money from the American public. There will be more on her later today.

Sadly, “Bride Wars” will make more cash and be seen by more people than the following movies this weekend:

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, gotta see it still.
• “Gran Torino”, Go. See. This. Movie.
• “Frost/Nixon”, another I have yet to see.
• “Revolutionary Road”, have to see it…
• “Valkyrie”, so underrated.
• …and finally…”The Wrestler”.

If anything, I beg you to go see “The Wrestler”. When a movie like that is successful, it means that the knucklehead studio execs will want to make movies like it. That means they will be willing to take risks on edgy stories and actors that aren’t “stars”.

Cinematically Correct note: If any producers or Darren Aronofsky reads this, please email me for my address and where to send the check…I can be bought.

Mickey Rourke Talks “The Wrestler”

If you read my review of “The Wrestler”, you know that I loved the movie and Mickey Rourke’s performance.

Also, how sweet are Mickey Rourke’s glasses?

Has There Ever Been A More Fitting Song From A Movie?

There isn’t any doubt that once I put together my Best Movies of 2008 list that “The Wrestler” will be in the mix. It’s quite possibly my favorite movie of 2008 so far.

I’m not a big Bruce Springsteen fan and I find him to be a bit overrated. Yes, I think The Boss is overrated…please be nice. However, the song he wrote specifically for “The Wrestler” is just flat out perfect for the movie. Fox Searchlight has put the song online for your listening pleasure.

Cinematically Correct note: When I listened to this song, I got weepy.

The Artist Formerly Known As The Independent Spirit Awards

The IFC announced the 2009 Spirit Award Nominations today and three movies are tied for the most nominations, “Rachel Getting Married”, “Frozen River”, and “Ballast”, with six each. Here are my main objections:

• It is safe to say that I am completely floored that “Milk” was ignored for Best Picture and Gus Van Sant for Best Director. Honestly…how is all that even possible?
• I am a little more than surprised that “The Wrestler” did not have more nominations, especially since Darren Aronofsky was also left out of the Best Director race. At least Mickey Rourke was nominated for Best Actor.
• Where is “Slumdog Millionaire”? It’s a Fox Searchlight flick, which should mean it is totally filled with indie spirit. It isn’t even up for Best Foreign Film.

The full list of nominees can be seen here.