83rd ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS... Glad to see that Inception got major props (except for Best Director...sorry Christopher Nolan) this year, though with 12 Oscar nominations, methinks that The King’s Speech will win Best Picture next month. Nope— I never saw that film. In the wake of him preparing to don the Bat cowl once more for The Dark Knight Rises when it begins filming later this spring, it would be cool to see Christian Bale win for Best Supporting Actor. But with Geoffrey Rush of The King’s Speech up for nomination in the same category, that probably won’t be the case (despite the fact Bale won the trophy at the Golden Globe Awards almost two weeks ago). I hope Natalie Portman will win her first Oscar for her performance in Black Swan. No, I didn’t see that film either. I’m simply rooting for Queen Amidala to have a great awards season, haha. Props to Jeff Bridges and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld in getting nominations for True Grit. Great movie... The ending could’ve been better though.



I'm surprised to see that five movies (Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter 7, Hereafter, Inception and Iron Man 2) are up for nomination in the Best Visual Effects category this year. If only this were the case at the Oscars in 2006 (which, like every other year before this one, had only 3 flicks up for Visual FX nomination)... Maybe then, Revenge of the Sith would've been considered for the coveted special effects prize that year. Though this wouldn’t have prevented the first Transformers movie from being robbed of the Best Visual FX trophy in 2008 (The Golden Freakin’ Compass won it). Oh well. I think Inception will win the award. If not—then Iron Man 2. Too bad Jon Favreau won’t direct Iron Man 3... That is all.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, Part 2... I didn’t want to upstage yesterday’s news about Anne Hathaway being cast in The Dark Knight Rises, so I just thought that I’d post a separate journal entry about Inception's Tom Hardy officially playing Bane in next year’s Bat flick. While it’s too bad that he won’t play the Black Mask as mentioned in an earlier Blog, I see a lot of possibilities plot-wise in how Bane could be portrayed in Batman 3. In fact, I myself speculated about how Christopher Nolan could approach this villain back in summer of 2008. Even a recent Entertainment Weekly article had the same ideas that I did...with the proposal that Bane become the new head of the League of Shadows (which was led by Liam Neeson’s Ra’s al Ghul before he bit the dust in Batman Begins) in Batman 3. What’s missing from this scenario is Talia al Ghul (with Minka Kelly playing her, haha) being at Bane’s side as he wreaks havoc on Gotham City. Also missing, of course, from the characters that will show up in The Dark Knight Rises is Azrael himself. Oh well. What are the chances that Nolan will make up for this omission by having Bruce Wayne don armor that will come close to resembling the blue and gold mechanical suit that Jean-Paul Valley uses to defeat Bane at the conclusion of 1993's Knightfall comic book series? I hope the chances are good.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, Part 1... I just read online that Anne Hathaway has officially been cast as Catwoman in next year’s Batman flick. Niiiice. Considering that Christopher Nolan was able to turn the Joker into an Oscar-winning role for the late Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, I have absolutely no doubt that Nolan has great things in store for Selina Kyle and her feline alter-ego in The Dark Knight Rises. Of course, I’m still hoping that the Black Mask will appear in Nolan’s third Bat flick. That is all.

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES... Check out the newest trailer to this March's alien invasion film (starring Aaron Eckhart, Bridget Moynahan, Michelle Rodriguez and others) below. All I can say is, I AM STOKED to watch Battle: Los Angeles when it comes out in theaters less than two months from now. Hopefully, the actual movie will have that trippy song ("The Sun’s Gone Dim and the Sky Turned Black" by Icelandic musician Johann Johannsson) that's been played in the background of this clip as well as the teaser trailer that made its debut in front of the film Skyline last November. I saw the newest trailer in front of The Green Hornet after I watched it at an AMC theater yesterday (I might review Hornet on this Blog. Might). That is all.



The obligatory screencaps from B:LA: