It is always tough to make Best Picture nominations. But by now there are plenty of indicators and other awards that have been bestowed. So taking an educated guess, here are my predictions for the Best Picture category.

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Precious, The Buzz: How strong is the hype on this critically acclaimed urban drama and Sundance darling? Tyler Perry AND Oprah have stepped on as executive producers, almost ensuring that magical combo of strong reviews and popular support.

A Serious Man. The Buzz: The Coen brothers don’t need no stinkin’ stars (no offense, Michael Stuhlbarg) for what looks to be another darkly comedic triumph. The film earned kudos all around at Toronto.

The Lovely Bones, The Buzz: Peter Jackson returning to drama to helm the highly anticipated adaptation of a widely celebrated novel, with Oscar-nominated leads Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Saoirse Ronan? The force with this one is strong.

Up in the Air, The Buzz: This George Clooney dramedy directed by Jason Reitman (‘Thank You for Smoking’) was the toast of Toronto, earning raves across the board. EW’s Oscar guru Dave Karger writes that the film “lives up to all the hype” and “seems like a great bet for a nomination.”

Up. The Buzz: Pixar’s 10th straight critical darling was also their 10th straight box office smash, earning $291 million. ‘WALL-E’ was considered a dark horse a year ago, but with the Best Picture category expanded to 10 slots, ‘Up’ could be a shoo-in.

Nine, The Buzz: Not to be confused with the psychedelically animated ‘9,’ or the actioner ‘District 9,’ this is the musical directed by Rob Marshall (‘Chicago’), based on Fellini’s ‘8 ½,’ and starring Oscar heavyweights Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard. Yeah, this one’s a safe bet.

Avatar, The Buzz: Reactions to the first trailer weren’t as unanimously positive as promised (at least for those NOT wearing 3-D glasses), but we’d be fools to doubt long-reigning “King of the World” James Cameron, who has not-so-subtly hinted at “revolutionizing filmmaking” with this sci-fi epic.

The Hurt Locker, The Buzz: One of the best reviewed films of the year, Kathryn Bigelow’s startling war drama is another film that a year ago would no doubt be on the outside looking in but now stands a solid shot at a Best Picture nom given the wider field.

Invictus, The Buzz: Clint Eastwood has about a .500 batting average of making Oscar’s short list since he’s become primarily a director, with ‘Mystic River,’ ‘Million Dollar Baby’ and ‘Letters From Iwo Jima’ all making the cut. Expect this Nelson Mandela story to up his stats.

Star Trek. The Buzz: J.J. Abrams’ dynamic reboot is the definitive example of the type of film the Academy would like to see get nominated, if only to boost ratings. Unlike, say, ‘Transformers,’ it was worshipped by critics and audiences alike.

This film is a Clint Eastwood movie. He has a way of putting his mark on each of his films, making it distinctly Eastwood. The movies tend to get to the point of the story. They are tight and don’t waste space or the audience’s time. Once again with Invictus, his style of moviemaking works for him and this tight, no nonsense film can proudly be called an Eastwood film.

The film is essentially about the period of Nelson Mandela’s life when he was released from prison after twenty-seven years. Afterwards he was elected President of South Africa. He presided over a divided country. The blacks don’t trust the whites and vice versa. In order to unite the country Mandela (Morgan Freeman) came up with the idea of using sports.

Rugby is the sport of choice in South Africa and the Springbok team represented South Africa. The team was lead by Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and he and his teammates were far from favorites to win the 1995 World Cup. Still Mandela thought they could and he enlisted the help of Francoise to inspire the team to greatness.

This is the bare bones of the plot and the bare bones of the script. We get glimpses along the way of the country, Mandela and Pienaar but there are no “getting to know you” scenes. It is either basic to the plot or it is not shown.

At first this lack of detail is off putting but as the film progresses the audience is drawn into the quest for glory of the rugby team and with Mandela’s vision of unity. The emotions of the story have a life of their own and eventually make the movie a rousing success.

Most of us know little to nothing about the sport of rugby, but that is not a block to enjoying this film. As long as you can appreciate the dream of unity Mandela has, and how he uses the team to achieve that goal then you will be able to follow the film. Freeman and Damon are at the top of their game and they are in the hands of the maestro himself. Eastwood does things the “Eastwood way” and ends up with one of the best movies of the year.

Final Grade: A Must See Film!

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American Beauty 1999 is certainly not ranked number one, but it is a fine example of an iconic image for movie poster history. Pulp Fiction 1994 is a highly sought after poster, especially this Cannes Film Festival version. The Gold Rush 1925. Metropolis 1927 36×83 size sold for $690,000 making it the most expensive poster.

The Mummy 1932 was recently sold for $435,500. The Black Cat 1934 sold for $286,800 and the style B is going under the auction block in November 2009. 1927-28 Oscar Best Picture winner Wings.
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King Kong 1933 is 41×81 in size. Frankenstein 1931 had a recent auction price of $189,000. Babe Comes Home is 1927. The Mad Doctor is a Mickey Mouse poster from 1933.
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Jules et Jim 1962 was paid homage to in Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky 2001 which is just an ego poster for Tom Cruise. If one must choose a Tom Cruise poster it would have to be Risky Business 1983. Gun Crazy 1950 aka Deadly is the Female is a great example of pulp art.

Le Divorce 2003 is a nicely designed poster with the Eiffel Tower snugly tucked in the cleavage. The Rocketeer 1991 is a great example of art deco work making this poster highly sought after. Jaws is a very famous poster. Of course the picture shown on the poster is not even in the movie, in fact it is a hand drawn image.

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Notorious Bettie Page 2005 has a classic look of an iconic image but the popularity may not be enough to push this poster too high on the list. Star Wars Episode One 1999 is a well thought out designed poster with the Darth Vador image in the shadow of young Annikin. This Alien 1979 poster is a very recognizable image that should put it at a decent number on the list. Also from 1979 is Manhattan with Woody and Mia at the 59th street bridge, both scene and poster are etched into movie history.
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All About Eve 1950 poster is a throwback to the 1950s design era. Grand Hotel 1931 was the best picture winner of that year and the poster captures the feeling of that movie. Casablanca is of course a classic, and so is the poster and it is a bonus as an Academy Award winner. Naturally Chinatown has to be on the list. The wild vivid colors are beautifully designed.

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Posters for The Final & Edge of Darkness and another in the series of Kick Ass pos

Let me say that I have not seen this movie. I normally don’t do this, but I can’t help myself. This movie has been made so many times. It has been done on Sex and the City, other Hugh Grant movies, and more.

The story is Sarah Jessica Parker who plays Meryl Morgan, an overcaffeinated New York City woman who, and despite running the city’s most faaabulous boutique real estate firm, blabs about her biological clock to complete strangers and has a rare talent for jumping up and down and shrieking. Hugh Grant is her estranged mate Paul, who cheats, leaves rambling voice mails and stammers. Both are playing to their respective stero-type. When the pair stumble onto the murder scene of of Meryl’s client and get an eyeful of the killer, they are conveniently whisked into temporary witness protection in a small Wyoming town with a red neck and a heart of gold.

Ick!!

This stinker is someone reeks of producers that had to throw some money away this year for tax purposes. It is hard to believe this movie gets made.

Final Grade: Septic Tank Smell – Stay Away.

Academy Awards Odds (More Academy Awards odds to follow when the nominees are announced)
2010 Academy Awards – Odds to Win Best Picture

1. Up in the Air 3/1
2. The Hurt Locker 7/2
3. Precious 6/1
4. Inglorious Basterds 15/2
5. An Education 8/1
6. The Lovely Bones 9/1
7. Public Enemies 10/1
8. Up 10/1
9. Avatar 10/1
10. Shutter Island 10/1
11. A Serious Man 12/1
12. The Road 15/1
13. Nine 15/1
14. Invictus 15/1
15. Cheri 15/1
16. Biutiful 15/1
17. Bright Star 15/1
18. A Single Man 20/1
19. The Human Factor 20/1
20. Taking Woodstock 25/1
21. Amelia 25/1
22. The Informant 25/1
23. The Last Station 25/1
24. The White Ribbon 30/1
25. Star Trek 50/1

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The Wolfman posters look very cool and deserved to be posted here.

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If the following movies appear on your list then consult your therapist as to what this says about your list making. This is not a top sci-fi list but it is a must-have list. If you have not seen all of the following movies please get busy checking them off your list of movies to see.

La Jetee (1962)
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)
Quatermass and the Pit or Five Million Years to Earth (1967)
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The President’s Analyst (1967)
Barbarella (1968)
Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)


The Andromeda Strain (1971)
The Omega Man (1971)
THX 1138 (1971)
Night of the Lepus (1972)

Westworld (1973)
La Planète Sauvage (The Fantastic Planet) (1973)
Sleeper (1973)
Dark Star (1974)

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Flesh Gordon (1974)
The Stepford Wives (1975)
Death Race 2000 (1975)
Alien (1979)

The last sale of The Black Cat 27×41 movie poster managed a sale of $286,800. At least one of these versions will make it onto our top 100 movie poster list.

Heritage Auction Galleries is offering over 2000 classic movie posters for auction during their November 2009 Signature Collection. The main draw of the auction is to be The Black Cat, a one sheet poster from 1934. It is estimated to bring in the neighborhood of $250,000.

The Black Cat (Universal, 1934). One Sheet (27″ X 41″) Style B.

In 1931, Universal Studios found their niche in the motion picture industry, creating a style of film that would propel them well into the next decade. With the release of Dracula early in the year, and Frankenstein near year’s end, Universal became known for their chilling gothic horror films. It was a trend that would continue with the release of such genre classics as The Invisible Man (1932), The Mummy (1933), The Black Cat (1934), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and The Wolf Man (1941). As important as the movies, however, were the two actors who portrayed the Transylvanian Count and the Man-Made Monster, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Both had worked as contract players since the silent era, and both were instantly elevated to the realm of superstar by these career-defining roles. Since the passing of the great Lon Chaney in 1930, Universal had searched for a replacement for the man who had sent thrills and chills up and down the spines of movie-goers in such memorable films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Now they had found not one, but two, horror megastars. It didn’t take studio brass long to realize that if one horror star was good, two would be better, so they planned several films that would feature the popular duo- The Black Cat being the first of eight. The Black Cat tells the story of Peter and Joan Allison (David Manners and Julie Bishop as Jacqueline Wells), a young couple on their honeymoon who find themselves the inadvertent guests of famed architect Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff), former head of a World War I prisoner of war camp and the current leader of a Satanic cult. Accompanying the Allisons is Dr. Vitus Verdegast (Lugosi), a survivor of Poelzig’s camp. During Verdegast’s internment, Poelzig stole both Verdegast’s wife and his daughter, and now cat-phobic Vitus is back for revenge and must play a game of chess for Allison’s soul. . What follows is a bizarre mix of horror, sadism, necrophilia, and Satanism that marks one of the most chilling and atmospheric pictures ever released. The Black Cat contains some of the most unsettling scenes of any classic Universal horror film and is considered the darkest and is very disturbing, even by today’s standards. The scene of Karloff reciting the Black Mass in Latin is especially ominous. How this one got past the Hays Office is anyone’s guess as censors in Italy, Finland and Austria banned the movie outright, while others required cuts of the more gruesome sequences! The film is written and directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, who served as set designer for such Expressionist masterpieces as Der Golem: wie er in die Welt kam (1920), Die Niebelungen (1924), Metropolis (1927), and M (1931) in his native Germany before emigrating to the U.S. His attention to set detail is evident in every frame of this visually stunning film, which borrows inspiration from both the Bauhaus and Art Deco movements.

When the film was released, it quickly became Universal’s biggest hit 1934, and ensured future Karloff/Lugosi pairings. Although the iconic pair would make several more films together, none reached the level of utter perfection demonstrated in this classic from the Golden Age of Universal Horror.

It should come as no surprise, then, that paper from this Universal horror masterpiece is in very high demand. Unfortunately, the supply is incredibly limited. Although there are four copies known to exist of the Style-A “blue” poster – Heritage sold a copy in March 2007 for $286,800 – this is the only known example of this extremely powerful and more horrific, striking Style-B one sheet which happens to be even more rare than one sheets for the other Golden Age Universal Studio horror giants of the day – Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Bride of Frankenstein – and is at least every bit as great in the world of serious movie poster collectors.