Best picture:
Million Dollar Baby

Best director:
Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby

Best actor:
Jamie Foxx, Ray

Best actress:
Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby

Best supporting actor:
Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby

Best supporting actress:
Cate Blanchett, The Aviator

Best adapted screenplay:
Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Sideways

Best original screenplay:
Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry and Pierre Bismuth, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Best foreign film:
The Sea Inside (Spain)

Best animated feature film:
The Incredibles

Best animated short:
Ryan

Best live action short film:
Wasp

Best documentary:
Born Into Brothels

Best documentary short subject:
Mighty Times: The Children’s March

Best art direction:
The Aviator

Best cinematography:
The Aviator

Best film editing:
The Aviator

Best costume design:
The Aviator

Best makeup:
Lemony Snickets A Series of Unfortunate Events

Best original score:
Finding Neverland

Best original song:
Al Otro Lado Del Rio from The Motorcycle Diaries

Best sound editing:
The Incredibles

Best sound mixing:
Ray

Best visual effects:
Spider-Man 2

Honorary Academy Award:
Sidney Lumet

Copyright 2005 Academy Awards. All rights reserved.

Million Dollar Baby took home 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Photo Copyright Warner Bros. Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Hit - Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson, Jesse Eisenberg

This film is what you might call a B movie. I enjoy B movies. I enjoyed this B movie. No naked breasts in this B movie, but I will overlook that crucial shortcoming because there was a nice shot of Shannon Elizabeth hanging upside down in a car that had a gravity defying aspect that was quite nice. This film did have a few cleaver elements that I feel will make a lasting contribution to the B movie genre.

The Highlights:

• Werewolf Killed by LAPD, gangland style
• Lex Luthor (with hair) getting snagged from above by a werewolf
• Craig Kilborn getting wrecked by a werewolf
• Scott Baio also getting wrecked by a werewolf
• Girl werewolf on girl werewolf action

The Lowlights:

• Actors producing “abbreviated” performances
• Entirely unpalatable dialog
• Werewolf costume purchased from the shady costume shop off of San Fernando Blvd. in Glendale.

The Verdict:

• I laughed quite often during this film.
• Female talent was well cast across the board.
• Not cult classic material by any stretch, but an enjoyable, viewable film that I found to be a relief from the mainstream Hollywood drivel I have been forced to sit through as of late.

For the past few months I have worked as a P.A. on the television show Robot Chicken. The show recently premiered on Cartoon Network and I invited Miss Movies along to the premiere party. She had a chance to talk about the show with writers Mike Fasolo, Tom Root, and Doug Goldstein who have all contributed to this site in the past.

Personally I have seen the episodes countless times and have them memorized, so I enjoyed watching the show with a fresh audience. The response seemed positive and I think everyone is proud of all the hard work that has gone into the show up to this point.

Congratulations to the crew of Robot Chicken, and keep up the good work.

Television Show - Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, Corey Campodonico, Alex Bulkley
Guest Starring - Sarah Michelle Gellar, The cast of That 70’s Show, Linda Cardellini, Ryan Seacrest, Joey Fatone, Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Donald Faison, etc.

Robot Chicken is the first stop motion animation television show. It will air on Cartoon Network on Sundays at 11:30pm during Adult Swim programming.

Robot Chicken has a similar style to Saturday Night Live which includes small vingettes that parody other television shows and popular culture. Some parodies include: The Real World ~ Metropolis, Access Hollywood, N*SYNC with “Enter the Fat One,” HBO’s Oz, American Idol with “Zombie Idol,” and That 70’s Show with “That `00 Show.”

This show has some great humor which will hopefully have a following of weekly viewers.

ABC’s the Bachelorette Jen Schefft is in love… with herself.

Tonight’s real suckers: Jerry and JP. They had it comin’

Photo Copyright ABC.com. All Rights Reserved.

To see what movies are coming to a theatre near you this March, click here.

March 1, 2005

Flight of the Phoenix ( PG-13 ) - Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson

Spongebob Squarepants Movie ( PG ) - Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown
Hit or Miss: Hit

Excorsist: The Beginning ( R ) - Stellan Skarsgard, Izabella Scorupco

March 8, 2005

Barbie Fairytopia ( UR ) - Barbie

Cover Story ( UR ) - Elizabeth Berkley, Jason Priestley

Ladder 49 ( PG-13) - John Travolta, Joaquin Phoenix
Hit or Miss: Hit

Lightening in a Bottle ( PG-13 ) - Clarence Brown, Ruth Brown

Stage Beauty ( R ) - Claire Danes, Billy Crudup
Hit or Miss: Hit

Woman, Thou Art Loosed ( R ) - Kimberly Elise, Loretta Devine

March 15, 2005

Alfie ( R ) - Jude Law, Marisa Tomei

Dead Birds ( R ) - Henry Thomas, Patrick Fugit

The Incredibles ( PG ) - Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter
Hit or Miss: Hit

What the Bleep do we know? ( R ) - Marlee Matlin, Elaine Hendrix

March 22, 2005

Being Julia ( R ) - Annette Bening, Jeremy Irons

Blood Angels ( R ) - Unknown

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason ( R ) - Renee Zellweger, Jim Broadbent
Hit or Miss: Miss

Fat Albert ( PG ) - Kenan Thompson, Kyla Pratt

Final Cut ( PG-13 ) - Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino

Finding Neverland ( PG ) - Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet
Hit or Miss: Hit, home movie pick of the month

March 29, 2005

Closer ( R ) - Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen
Hit or Miss: Miss

Miss - Starring Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Gavin Rossdale

Based on the Hellblazer comic books, this story follows Constantine (Reeves), a more than human man who tries to buy his way into heaven by doing good deeds like being an excorsist. In an attempt to do good, Constantine teams up with Los Angeles Police Detective Angela Dodson (Weisz) to find the answers behind her sister’s suicide. The more they uncover about this unfortunate event, the more they realize they are dealing with supernatural occurances.

For a movie that is incredibly visually stimulating, I found it difficult to come to the realization that this movie ultimately falls flat and really has no point whatsoever. There is little explanation about certain vital aspects of the film that provides no contextual clues for its audience as to what is happening. And the ending of the movie really made me want to spit because even though a portion of the character is cured, he would still revert back to his bad habits… awful continutity concerning character and understanding of character. Bottom Line: No way in H-E- double hockey stick should you see this movie now or when it comes out on video.

Best Scene: The conversation with the devil.

Best movie debut: Gavin Rossdale

Rated R
Horror / Science Fiction
Running Time: 2 hours 1 minute

Hit - Starring Will Smith, Kevin James, Eva Mendes, Amber Valletta

Alex Hitchens “Hitch” (Smith) is out to help every man achieve love. He is considered a “date doctor,” or a dating coach for men who are looking for love but can’t seem to make the right first impression. While helping a client in need, Hitch finds himself falling in love. Unfortunately he begins to feel that his practice is easier said than done.

Who wouldn’t love a movie where you get to see the dance stylings of Kevin James? I have a feeling he may have come up with the dance section all by himself. This movie offers the audience a lot of laughs and still manages to steer clear of being a corny romantic comedy. Will Smith is perfectly cast and has a certain charisma that he provides for his character. Kevin James is likeable as a man that is desperately seeking the love of a woman that is considered way out of his league.

For some reason I could not believe a woman as beautiful as Eva Mendes would ever be a journalist. This is not to say that all journalists are unfortunate looking but I just really don’t see her character being of that particular profession. Maybe it would be more suiting for her to be a photographer who is in a rut and needs to make some cash by taking pictures of glitterati.

Bottom Line: Hitch is a great date movie for any night of the week.

Hit- Starring Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Sam Shepard, Joan Allen, James Marsden

The story begins with an older gentleman reading “The Notebook,” to an old woman in a nursing home. “The Notebook,” follows the story of two young lovers Allie (McAdams) and Noah (Gosling). Their love is separated by her disapproving parents. 7 years later, Allie is engaged to an army soldier, yet she still unsatisfied by where her life has taken her. She returns to Seabrook to find Noah in search for the meaning of true love.

If only the story was as simple as boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. This plot would have satisfied me, but the story goes beyond this simple plot line and touches on so many emotions it is outrageous. Although I found the ending extremely sad (for those of you who know people with the sickness that Gena Rowlands character is suffering from you will understand) yet I really enjoyed the whole movie and even found myself wanting to watch the story again days later.

Let’s talk about Ryan Gosling. Mr. Gosling creates an extremely lovable Noah character. He performs on target, the women of the world respond, and instantly fall in love with this character he has created. And I am sure some women will not be able to separate the real Ryan Gosling from his fictional portrayal of Noah Calhoun. This may cause problems for his personal life. But it is just too bad that he is a good actor and he has a pretty face. I guess one should be so lucky. Nice work Mr. Gosling, I really enjoyed your performance and your ability to dress the set with your handsome face.

Rachel McAdams. Bottom line: Love her. She was great in Mean Girls and I really liked to see her transform from the Mean Girl character to a fun loving debutante. Her on-screen beauty is so captivating and so real I feel that she would be georgous in any costume or character. Her portrayal of Allie was everything I would have pictured Allie (the book character) to be. It is nice to see someone who has a captivating talent for theatre. I hope to see more of her and more of Ryan. They are a dynamic duo.

Other actors that added to the greatness of this movie include: Sam Shepard (if you have read Buried Child you know that this is indeed the same Sam Shepard- apparently he can do everything well), Gena Rowlands provides a heart-breaking performance as does James Garner, James Marsden is a nice addition to the cast (plus he is quite good looking), and lastly, the great Joan Allen who is an actress to be clearly remembered and honored.

Bottom Line: Rent this movie ASAP! And don’t forget the tissues.

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality.
Drama / Romance
Running Time: 2 hours 1 minute

Bonus Features on the DVD: Deleted, extended, and alternate scenes, commentary, and how they picked the location of the film.

Photo copyright Screen Gems. All Rights Reserved.

Miss Movies humorous personalized tagline: If he builds it, she will come. (This tagline has no affiliation with New Line Cinema or Screen Gems Films)