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Blockbuster’s 85th Annual Academy Awards Live Blog

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LIVE BLOGGING NOW! Make sure to follow #BBAwards on Twitter from here on out, too! All times are Mountain.

10:05 p.m.: Here’s to the losers. Finally, a song I can get behind.

9:54 p.m.: Penny for your thoughts, woman standing behind Michelle Obama on her right, staring at her somewhat… longingly.

9:50 p.m.: Daniel Day-Lewis also wins for best joke.

9:48 p.m.: Ironically, Denzel is one of the only people who’s NOT drunk right now.

9:36 p.m.: Jane Fonda’s dress just burned itself into my LED screen.

9:24 p.m.: The older Dustin Hoffman gets, the more I’m convinced he was born in Jim Henson’s workshop.

9:16 p.m.: How can you not like Adele?

9:12 p.m.: Renee Zellwegger’s been spending too much time with Kristen Stewart.

9:07 p.m.: Arnold Horshack and Juan Epstien just got snubbed during the In Memoriam segment. At least you’re in good company, Ben Affleck.

9:02 p.m.: Surprise Babs appearance singing “Memories” to celebrate Marvin Hamlisch during the In Memoriam segment of the show. I guess this makes more sense than trucking a P.T. boat out for Ernest Borgnine. But just marginally.

8:48 p.m.: Does Kristen Stewart always look completely strung out?

841 p.m.: Random thought — why hasn’t Tom Selleck hosted the Oscars yet? I vote for that.

8:39 p.m.: Adele just killed. First, her manicurist, then the audience.

8:35 p.m.: Jennifer Lawrence just did the most amazing bit where she was a living person with rigor mortis.

8:32 p.m.: Reminder to self: Stop confusing the movies 28 Days and 28 Days Later.

8:24 p.m.: Anne Hathaway’s exit music was the theme to Godfather. I don’t even know what that means.

8:20 p.m.: Pretty sure MacFarlane just wanted to force someone to walk around the Oscars in a Nazi uniform, and that’s all that joke was.

8:18 p.m.: This was the third tie in Oscar history.

8:17 p.m.: What’s with all the blonde guys with long hair?

8:13 p.m.: Les Miserables just got their sound mixing Oscar from a CGI talking stuffed bear. And Marky Mark. #ThatJustHappened.

8:10 p.m.: Sure, you get an Oscar, but we’re gonna do that thing where we don’t actually let you get the award in front of everyone. Bully for you.

8:03 p.m.: Wolverine does show tunes. With Borat and Gladiator. What?

7:58 p.m.: Skinny Jennifer Hudson still kinda creeps me out.

7:53 p.m.: And apparently time travel is the theme of the evening — A musical number from 11 years ago. One of nominees for best actress wasn’t alive when this movie was released.

7:51 p.m.: The dad from Family Ties just won for best foreign film. And he’s also now apparently a Bond villain.

7:50 p.m.: How did Seth MacFarlane just not turn that into a Jewish joke? Shatner get involved again?

7:37 p.m.: Wait, Liam Neeson’s an American?

7:34 p.m.: Best Live Action Short went to Curfew. Everyone he’s thanking is in the balcony. Except Daniel Day-Lewis.

7:29 p.m.: I still think writing “dame” as a title is kinda funny, though.

7:28 p.m.: Dame Shirley Bassey just killed. Standing O.

7:23 p.m. Bond retrospective, and thank God they left Timothy Dalton off… er, nope. He’s there, too. Damn.

7:20 p.m.: Makeup and Hairstyling award goes to Les Miserables. Which is only because Nicholas Cage wasn’t in anything this year.

7:17 p.m. Anna Karenina wins for costume design. Best speech of the night. Clocked in at :08 seconds.

7:12 p.m.: We have our first “play ‘em offstage!” moment of the night… Followed by Keith Urban’s slow, sad headshake. When you’ve been pitied by Keith Urban…

7:08 p.m.: Life of Pi wins for Best Cinematography and the bad guy from Die Hard is doing the acceptance speech. Not Alan Rickman, that other dude.

7:05 p.m.: The Avengers are Assembling. YES.

6:58 p.m.: Paper Man wins animated short, Brave wins animated feature film… and apparently someone used their plantation mansion curtains to make a dress.

6:51 p.m. Christoph Waltz wins Best Supporting Actor. Tarantino looks completely hammered, 20 minutes in.

6:42 p.m.: Racism in sock puppet form. What is happening right now?

6:38 p.m.: The L.A. Gay Men’s Chorus singing about seeing every actress’ boobs. That. Just. Happened.

6:36 p.m. Well, No Ross, but they found Shatner.

6:34 p.m. It’s a roast. Chris Brown joke… and a Mel Gibson shot, too. The only thing missing is Jeffrey Ross.

6:32 p.m.: First shot at the Academy for Affleck’s snub.

6:31 p.m.: MacFarlane takes the stage. Tommy Lee Jones smiles for the first time in history.

6:25 p.m.: That’s it for Red Carpet. Next up: Awards, and my third glass of scotch.

6:17 p.m.: Daniel Day-Lewis is so method, he just refused to go near the balcony.

6:14 p.m.: Anne Hathaway just won Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers, and Chenoweth totally “psyched” her. No slippers for you, Anne.

6:13 p.m.: Chenoweth just copped to sporting a mullet in her youth. This surprises no one.

6:05 p.m.: George Clooney tied with Walt Disney for nominations in different categories. #FascinatingStat

6:02 p.m.: Adele is photobombing Jennifer Aniston’s red carpet interview.

5:53 p.m: ABC finally finds a British accent – Daniel Radcliffe.

5:51 p.m.: Kristin Chenoweth’s playing Let’s Make a Deal with Hugh Jackman and his wife. What’s in the box? WHAT’S IN THE BOOOX?

5:45 p.m.: Flipping between E! and ABC’s red-carpet coverage. ABC needs more British accents on their commentators. Also: purple hair. Also: Tim Burton-designed dresses. Point(s): E!

5:39 p.m.:  Bradley Cooper’s mom is bored with Kristin Chenoweth. Also, Bradley Cooper is a giant, comparatively. Did not mention A-Team 2, which is a bummer. Not really.

5:00 p.m. – Stars have been walking down the red carpet, speaking to interviewers like Ryan Seacrest.  Favorite part so far was hearing about how Daniel Day-Lewis sent letters and text messages to Sally Field and Joseph Gordon Levitt prior to the filming of Lincoln, signing them as Lincoln.


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Watch the 2013 Academy Awards Best Animated Short Film Nominees

Some of the Oscar categories are hard to make a good guess at which film will win because the films aren’t easily available to view.  Well, the Internet has helped change that in the past few years, so let’s take advantage of it to review one of lesser talked about categories:

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

2013's Academy Award Nominees for Best Animated Short Film

2013′s Academy Award Nominees for Best Animated Short Film

Below are the five nominees for 2013’s Best Animated Short Film.  Watch and review them to make your best prediction on which one will take home the Oscar this year.  You can watch all the films in about 35 minutes to help you decide which one you think will take home the Oscar this year, plus you seen some pretty great short films.

Paperman

Of all the nominees, this is the film that you’re most likely to have already seen as it played before Wreck-It Ralph in movie theaters during the past few months.

Fresh Guacamole

This may be considered abstract film, but it’s short and sweet and the idea is fun to watch.

 

Head Over Heels

This claymation short tells a beautiful story of two people overcoming a unique difference between the two so that they can be together.

 

Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”

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Certainly the animated short with the most name recognition,Matt Groening’s Maggie Simpson must survive a difficult day at her daycare after making a new friend.

UPDATE 2.21.13: The original embedded video has been removed so you will have to click here to watch Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare.”

Adam and Dog

The longest of the animated shorts at about 15 minutes, this short film tells the story of how a dog became “man’s best friend.” Yes, it is that Adam.

 

Now that you’ve seen all the movies up for Best Animated Short Film, be sure to cast your vote for the winner at BlockbusterAwards.com.  Take advantage of your new found knowledge and invite your friends to foolishly compete against you in your own Academy Awards online voting pool and then let it automatically track the results so you can rub it in their faces come Sunday night.

Argo Enters the Ranks of the Best Classic Historical Dramas

By Alex Castle

It’s starting to look like Ben Affleck’s Argo is the front-runner for the Best Picture trophy at this year’s Academy Awards, what with the Golden Globes and the SAG awards it’s already racked up. I’m not sure Argo was literally the best picture of 2012, though I liked it a lot; I thought what worked best about it was the way it evoked the chaotic atmosphere of post-Shah Iran and the palpable sense of dread the hostages must have felt. Likewise, Argo‘s main competition for the big prize, Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty gets the facts of the hunt for Bin Laden but also the way that search changed the people who led it.

Argo

The best historical dramas do this: they show us not just what happened, but what it felt like when it happened. Here are some of our favorite movies dramatizing real events, all available at Blockbuster stores, from Blockbuster By Mail, and instantly at Blockbuster On Demand.

The Right Stuff

The early days of the United States space program are beautifully brought to life from Chuck Yeager’s breaking of the sound barrier to John Glenn’s triumphant orbit of the Earth, with a great young cast of future stars including Dennis Quaid, Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Sam Shepard, and Fred Ward. Not a lot of three-hour-plus movies are this compelling, but I could sit through this one twice in a row.

Apollo 13

The only triumph greater than a successful space mission is the rescue of the astronauts from a space mission gone completely pear-shaped. Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon play the astronauts forced to improvise their way back to Earth in a craft not remotely designed for it, with a near unbearable sense of anxiety on the ground as NASA tries to bring them home safely.

Born on the Fourth of July

Oliver Stone has made quite a few historically-based dramas, but probably the least, shall we say fanciful, is the one about Ron Kovic, a gung-ho Marine volunteer who ends up paraplegic, badly shaken by the horror of war, and an outspoken critic of the Vietnam War. Tom Cruise earned an Academy Award nomination in the role, proving (to some) that he could actually act.

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Melissa Rivers: Secret Sauce for Academy Awards Picks

PMelissa Rivers is a professional. That much is certain, and when it comes to choosing your Academy Awards League picks, good luck finding someone with a better track record. Wanna know how she does it? Check out this Neil DeGrasse-level scientific approach she uses.

Blockbuster Awards Night Current Stats and Figures

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With thousands of people participating in the new online Academy Awards “Fan”-tasy Leagues at BlockbusterAwards.com, we’ve been seeing some interesting trends develop. Bookmark this page and come by daily, as we’ll keep it updated with how the picks are trending.

Last Updated Feb. 22, 9:08 a.m. Mountain Time

Best Picture
Amour: 1%
Argo: 40%
Beasts of the Southern Wild: 2%
Django Unchained: 5%
Les Misérables: 12%
Life of Pi: 6%
Lincoln: 21%
Silver Linings Playbook: 9%
Zero Dark Thirty: 5%

Best Director:
Ang Lee: 14%
Behn Zeitlin: 5%
David O. Russell: 17%
Michael Haneke: 2%
Steven Spielberg: 61%

Actor In a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper: 9%
Daniel Day-Lewis: 67%
Denzel Washington: 9%
Hugh Jackman: 13%
Joaquin Phoenix: 2%

Actress in a Leading Role
Emmanuelle Riva: 6%
Jennifer Lawrence: 47%
Jessica Chastain: 29%
Naomi Watts: 9%
Quvenzhané Wallis: 8%

Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin: 11%
Christoph Waltz: 30%
Phillip Seymour Hoffman: 7%
Robert DeNiro: 19%
Tommy Lee Jones: 33%

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams: 4%
Anne Hathaway: 66%
Helen Hunt: 4%
Jacki Weaver: 5%
Sally Field: 21%

Best Original Song
“Before My Time,” J. Ralph: 1%
“Everybody Needs A Best Friend,” Walter Murphy and Seth McFarlane: 6%
“Pi’s Lullaby,” Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri: 4%
“Skyfall,” Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth: 65%
“Suddenly,” Claude-Michael Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boulil: 24%

Adapted Screenplay
Argo, Chris Terrio: 38%
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar and Behn Zeitlin: 7%
Life of Pi, David Magee: 8%
Lincoln, Tony Kushner: 23%
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell: 23%

Original Screenplay
Armour, Michael Haneke: 9%
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino: 36%
Flight, John Gatins: 9%
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola: 16%
Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal: 30%

Foreign Language Film
A Royal Affair – Denmark: 15%
Amour – Austria: 61%
Kon-Tiki – Norway: 8%
No – Chile: 6%
War Witch – Canada: 11%

*Not all votes in a category will add up to 100% due to rounding

 

BB Awards Screenshot

The voting screen from BlockbusterAwards.com

5 Chick Flicks for Dudes

Well, fellas, Valentine’s Day is here and if you don’t already have plans for you and your sweetie… then I pity you, you stupid, stupid man.  Regardless, one of the longest standing Valentine’s Day traditions is seeing a romantic film to celebrate the Day of Love.  It’s a tradition that’s been around as long as the movies have been around.  If you’re lucky, you might get off relatively easy with a romantic comedy, nowadays called a “romcom” for short or referred to as chick flicks.

Let’s be honest though, there are a lot of bad romcoms out there.  I know, because I have seen a lot of them.  But every few years, a diamond in the rough emerges as a film that both you and your special lady can appreciate.  I’ve taken the liberty of listing five of my favorites below, so tonight and this weekend could be the perfect chance to rent one of these great films that is sure to be enjoyable for both you and her.

 

5.  So I Married an Axe Murderer

Don’t worry, she’s a butcher… but of what?

 

A lesser-known title from the early 90s draws upon the comedy of former Saturday Night Live funny man Mike Myers as Charlie MacKenzie in this quirky tale of a San Francisco poet who thinks he’s found and married the perfect woman, but she’s hiding a dark secret.

Why she’ll love it: She’ll eat up Charlie’s romantic gestures as he tries to convince Harriet to marry him and then embrace the challenges of being a newlywed couple.

Why he’ll love it: Because Mike Myers delivers a dynamite performance during his prime years (think Wayne’s World) to keep the 90s SNL-style humor strong throughout the entire film while playing multiple roles in this tale of love and … murder.

 

4.  Just Friends

Yes, that is Ryan Reynolds in fat suit.

It’s a tale that so many of us have lived though: Guy and girl are best friends. Guy secretly loves girl.  Girl only thinks of guy as a close friend.  But in this Ryan Reynolds romcom, Chris Brander (Reynolds) gets the chance to revisit his old love interest and best friend on a trip back to his small town home, 10 years after he moved away to become a big shot in Los Angeles.  Will he win her heart?

Why she’ll love it: As mentioned above, it’s a romance story that we’ve all been in or at least know someone who has.  Chicks love a romantic story that they can relate to.

Why he’ll love it: Chris Brander’s transformation from overweight, sensitive nerd, to calloused ladies man, and then back again to sensitive gentleman is filled with hilariously, disastrous effects as he tries to prove to his former best friend that they should be together.

 

3.  The Wedding Singer

Take a trip back to the 1980s in this romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.  Robbie Hart (Sandler) is a hopeless romantic wedding singer, that is until his fiancee ditches him at the altar.  But despite this heartbreak, he finds himself taking a liking to his new friend, Julia (Barrymore); however, she is already engaged.

Why she’ll love it: Can true love overcome crushing heartbreak, miscommunication, bad relationships, and wild 80s hairstyles?  She’ll enjoy finding out when watching this romcom.

Why he’ll love it: It’s Adam Sandler back when Adam Sandler movies were great.  Plus the film covers some awesome 80s rock music!

 

2.  When Harry Met Sally

It’s one of the most classic romantic comedies of all time and for good reason.  When Harry Met Sally chronicles the life and relationship of two people whose paths keep randomly crossing every few years until they become good friends.  But as their lives continue to change, they realize they’re feelings might be a little more complicated.

Why she’ll love it: Like all romance films, this one tells the charming (and many times frustrating) story of how two opposite people come together to find true love.

Why he’ll love it: Relationship struggles and Billy Crystal comedy at its finest.  One of the reasons this has been labeled as a classic since 1989 is because men and women both can enjoy the relationship nuances presented in this film.  This film also contains the famous “I’ll have what she’s having scene.”

 

1.  Hitch

“Don’t need no pizza. Got plenty of food there.”

Will Smith and Kevin James team up in this brilliant 2006 film about a secret “love consultant (Smith)” who helps an awkward accountant woo his rich and beautiful client.

Why she’ll love it: Hitch is chock full of classic romance film fanfare from the impossibly awesome date, sappy one-liners, and the dreaded relationship misunderstanding that leads to a couple’s falling out.  But she needn’t worry too much, it is a chick flick after all.

Why he’ll love it: Smith and James are an incredibly hilarious odd-couple duo whenever they are on screen together.  It’s pretty funny seeing super-suave Will Smith coach awkward Kevin James on how to be “cooler” and impress women.

 

What other movies would you add to this list as great chick flicks for guys?

BlockbusterAwards.com: Academy Awards online pool tool

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It’s that time.

The Academy Awards are the Hollywood-o-phile’s answer to the Big Game. It’s the capstone of a “playoff” series of awards shows ranging from MTV Kids’ Choice awards to the Golden Globes, and Blockbuster’s now the premier destination online for those who like to get involved on a more personal level. Enter BlockbusterAwards.com, where you can put your picks online, print out your choices and drop the hammer on your friends as you prove your prognosticative prowess.

Host a league yourself – maybe for that party you were planning? – or join one already started. Now’s a good time to get the office buzzing and we’re pretty sure you’ll dig the functionality we’ve got in store for you:

A rich collection of trailers and bios
Not sure which Lincoln movie we’re talking about (hint: Not the vampire one)? Click on the trailer for a memory jogger. What else has John Williams scored (seriously, you should know this one)? We’ve got the low-down on all of it.

Private, semi-private and public leagues
Make it a closed pool for your house party, or open it up to all your friends on Facebook and their friends’ friends. We have you covered.

Real-time, live scoring
Don’t worry about having to rewind your DVR because you forgot who won best Sound Mixing. We’re updating these in real time for you, and we’ve even handled weird mathematical permutations to ensure weighted scoring. You don’t have to invite the guy from accounting no one likes just to make sure someone’s keeping track.

The only way to be more in-the-know on the Academy Awards nominees is to see every movie and couple it with a few semesters of humanities courses.  Register for a free account (just need a name and email address) and you’re live.

Challenge your office.  Invite all your Facebook friends. Tweet out an invite to your followers. Play against your family spread across the country.  Create teams: your college buddies vs. your mom’s book club.  You can make as many pools as you like.

No need to wait any longer: Get over to BlockbusterAwards.com and sign up now; we’ll post updates as we see the stats evolve over the next few weeks.  Stay tuned…

Greatest Movie Speeches (Non-sports films)

Movies are known for delivering powerful moments.  It’s one of the things that makes them so great.  But for all the powerful monologues and scenes that have been portrayed on the silver screen over the years, there are a few that stand out as the best speeches ever delivered by movie characters.  Below are some of these moments from our favorite films.  Share if you agree or comment if you would recommend others.

6.  Armageddon - 14 Brave Souls
When it happens
: The rag-tag team of oil drillers has finally done all the training it can fit in. As they make their long walk to board the space shuttles to take them to destroy a meteor hurtling toward Earth, the fictional president of the United States delivers a powerful speech about mankind as the world finally sees its first glimpse of the only people who can save it.  The music does a nice job of building up this Michael Bay moment as well.

5.  Serenity – I Aim to Misbehave
When it happens
: For those of you who have never heard of the movie Serenity, it’s the movie ending to the great western-Sci-Fi (yep, you read that right) TV series Firefly.  If you haven’t seen either, you should.  This great Captain Malcolm Reynolds speech to his crew adequately sums up Nathan Fillion’s character and the spirit of the series as a whole. He delivers it after they finally figure out the series-long mystery of what created the zombie-like Reavers.

Sadly, I couldn’t find an clip that I could embed, so click here to see/listen to the speech.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds (2nd from right) and the crew of the Serenity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  The Dark Knight – Why So Serious
When it happens
: Any scene that Heath Ledger’s Joker was in during The Dark Knight was absolutely electrifying.  He owned this film and made it spectacular.  We had seen glimpses of the Joker and his madness before this speech (well, perhaps it’s just a story he tells), but this scene where he starts to take over Gotham’s crime scene was the moment when we finally saw what a ruthless psychopath he really was while he coined a phrase that would become part of the pop culture lexicon.

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Teachers to the Rescue Collection

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William Arthur Ward said, “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” It’s the same with movies—especially movies about inspiring teachers. With the release of Here Comes the Boom — about a teacher who takes to the mixed martial arts octagon in hopes of raising enough money to save his school’s music program — what better time to take a look at inspiring teachers of the silver screen.

All of these titles and more great collections are available to rent at Blockbuster On Demand.

Stand and Deliver
Based on the true story of a math teacher in East L.A. who turns around the lives of his troubled students by teaching them calculus. In 2011, the Library of Congress declared this movie “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” and it has been preserved in the National Film Registry. Edward James Olmos and a young Lou Diamond Phillips in prime acting form.

Lean on Me
Another film based on a true story, Joe Clark is a strict principal who practices tough-love at a decaying school in Patterson, NJ. He uses unorthodox methods and lights a fire under his teachers and students to fight a state takeover of the school by improving test scores. One of Morgan Freeman’s finest roles, and that’s saying something.

Blockbuster On Demand is here!


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Announcing Next-Level Entertainment!

Blockbuster On Demand is our new and improved digital movie rental service that allows you to instantly watch thousands of movies in stunning HD and full Surround Sound. Now you can see movies on multiple devices anytime, anywhere. We made this for you because we want you to enjoy that classic grab-a-movie-and-go experience on your TV, tablet, computer, or phone. Just download the app, sit back, relax, and enjoy the next level of entertainment.

What’s on offer this month? Our featured new releases include Hotel Transylvania, To Rome with Love, and End of Watch. And our top-notch editors created collections featuring handpicked top-rated titles on Rotten Tomatoes®. Collections like the action-packed One Last Job, the dramatic Shakespeare on Film, and the classic Better than the Book.

This is Blockbuster now. Nice to meet you, again.

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