Best Supporting Actress

I suggest everyone sign up for an account with movieclips.com so you can best experience the awards

The ladies who support are:

Penelope Cruz - 'Los Abrazos Rotos'
Perhaps category fraud, but she serves the story in support. Sexy vibrant and a little bit on the verge. She keeps getting better. Clip

Marcia Gay Harden - 'Whip It'
She layers this character so well. Brittle, warm, sexy, confident, loving, together all in one package. She sees past the caricature. Clip

Diane Kruger - 'Inglourious Basterds'
The consummate actress/spy, yet the reality of the situation and the fear are always showing behind the eyes. Clip

Melanie Laurent - 'Inglourious Basterds'
The scene where she is forced to eat with the man who almost destroyed her was magnificent. The fact that she kept up that level of acting after was no small feat. Clip

Mo'Nique - 'Precious'
The execution of Mary Jones was key, and Mo'Nique delivered a soul shaking performance of a very damaged woman. Best of the decade. Clip

Rosamund Pike - 'An Education'
Come across as dumb, but plays it on so many level that she quickly becomes the most intriguing character in the film. Clip

_____________________________________________________

Best Supporting Actor

I suggest everyone sign up for an account with movieclips.com so you can best experience the awards

The men who support are:

Niels Arestrup - 'Un Prophete'
The cruel and powerful teacher. He is seething anger and hate until he is betrayed and we see the sad lonely old man. Clip/Trailer

Peter Capaldi - 'In The Loop'
Props for remembering all those insults and keeping a straight face. Angry and frantic, you are waiting for his head to explode. Clip/Trailer

Zack Galigianakis - 'The Hangover'
Manages to be funny, irreverent, a little frightening and extremely moving all at the same time. Clip/Trailer

Woody Harrelson - 'The Messenger'
For all the gruff manly exterior, the pain of his life is slowly surfacing. A fully realized performance. Clip/Trailer

Anthony Mackie - 'The Hurt Locker'
The sense of reason in all the crazy. He has seem too much and it is taking its toll. Masterful performance. Clip/Trailer

Christolph Waltz - 'Inglourious Basterds'
There is a reason he swept the awards race. This was one of those performances that you can not imagine anyone else doing half as good. Scary, charming and it all seemed so effortless. Clip/Trailer

_____________________________________________________

Best Ensemble

I suggest everyone sign up for an account with movieclips.com so you can best experience the awards

The brilliant cast and casting directors are:

'An Education' - Casting Director Lucy Bevan
Carey Mulligan, Olivia Williams, Alfred Molina, Cara Seymour, Matthew Beard, Peter Sarsgaard, Amanda Fairbank-Hynes, Ellie Kendrick, Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike.

Each grouping has its own unique rhythm and flow. It comes across as completely genuine, even if the story does not. Clip

'In The Loop' - Casting Director Sarah Crowe and Meredith Tucker
Peter Capaldi ... Malcolm Tucker, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky, Paul Higgins, Mimi Kennedy, Alex Macqueen, Olivia Poulet, David Rasche, James Smith, Zach Woods, Enzo Cilenti, Johnny Pemberton, Joanna Scanlan and Steve Coogan.

With such fast paced dialogue you need a cast that will not get swallowed up by it. Each memeber works wonders. Clip

'Inglourious Basterds' - Casting Director SImone Bar, Oliver Carbone, Jenny Jue, Johanna Ray
Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger, Gedeon Burkhard, Jacky Ido, .J. Novak, Omar Doom, August Diehl, Denis Menochet, Sylvester Groth, Martin Wuttke and Mike Myers

Pitt aside, Tarantino is known for collecting interesting people to collaborate with. Here the pay off is outstanding. Clip

'Precious' - Casting Director Billy Hopkins and Jessica Kelly
Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz, Stephanie Andujar, Chyna Layne, Amina Robinson, Xosha Roquemore, Angelic Zambrana, Aunt Dot and Nealla Gordon.

The brilliance of these actors is no one goes for showy. No one tries to hog the spotlight and thus one of the most uniformly excellent acting was showcased. Clip

'Whip It' - Casting Director Justine Baddeley and Kim Davis
Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Jimmy Fallon, Alia Shawkat, Eve, Zoe Bell, Ari Graynor, Eulala Scheel, Andrew Wilson, Carlo Alban and Landon Pigg.

More than any film this year, I wanted to be on this set. They all work so well off one another. The energy is infectiousClip

'Das Weisse Band' - Casting Director Simone Bar, Carmen Loley, Markus Schleinzer
Christian Friedel, Leonie Benesch, Ulrich Tukur, Ursina Lardi, Fion Mutert, Michael Kranz, Burghart Klaußner, Steffi Kühnert, The Pastor's Wife, Maria-Victoria Dragus, Leonard Proxauf, Levin Henning, Johanna Busse, Thibault Sérié, Josef Bierbichler and many more.

They may be serious and dour, but each person is key, and each performance so finely tuned. Clip

_____________________________________________________

Best Limited Performance - Female

I suggest everyone sign up for an account with movieclips.com so you can best experience the awards

The small but powerful women are:

Mariah Carey - 'Precious'
She manages to make such an impact by just reacting. She reached a new level as an actress. Clip

Catherine Keener - 'Where The Wild Things Are'
The woman can deliver a complex and lived in performance, even without trying it seems.

Juliette Lewis - 'Whip It'
Ballsy and scary. She has been around the block a few times and wears it so well.

Melanie Lynskey - 'Away We Go'
Her happy life slowly crumbles away the more time you spend with her. Her sorrow is deafening.

Xosha Roquemore - 'Precious'
The humor to survive is all too real, and as a result says so much about her character. We all know our Joann's

Cara Seymour - 'An Education'
She stays a little back from the rest of the family, but her expressions tell a story almost more interesting then the one in the film.

_____________________________________________________

Best Limited Performance - Male

I suggest everyone sign up for an account with movieclips.com so you can best experience the awards

The small but powerful men are:

Colin Farrell - 'Crazy Heart'
On of the most interesting things about the film. He breezes in and steals the light.

Ralph Fiennes - 'The Hurt Locker'
Your eyes can't stay off him. Nails the weary and tired soldier. Clip

Fred Melamed - 'A Serious Man'
Hysterical. Steals the scene and almost walks away with the entire movie.Clip

Chris Messina - 'Away We Go'
The rock for his wife. His love is strong, but he too begins to crumble.

David Rasche - 'In The Loop'
His distain to mouth bleeding was hysterical.

Andrew Wilson - 'Whip It'
His frustration is hysterical to watch. You believe he has been with this teams forever. Clip

_____________________________________________________

'Mother and Child' trailer

This looks wonderful

Amanda Waller gets cast.

Oh Joy.
Angela Bassett, one of my favourite actresses who does not do nearly enough work (she should be working as much as Meryl) has been cast in ‘The Green Lantern’.
Now I was not really interested in the film as I never really rated TGL as much of a super hero, but now I am all interested because she play a villain.

Here is hoping they do not stick her as a minor player ala Shohreh Aghdashloo in X-Men: Last Stand who went from Oscar nominee to being killed by blow fish boy.

Shooting is starting now in New Orleans. Here is hoping we see much more of Bassett on the screen because she has been so missed.

'Maleficent' moves forward

You might recall that I reported on Tim Burton circling a new planned take on the Sleeping Beauty story, one that would focus on Maleficent, possibly trying to Elphaba her up a la 'Wicked'. Well, it’s definitely going ahead, though Burton is still not officially attached, which I am hoping against hope means the man will not be directing as his past few offerings have all been rather disappointing (for me at least).

'Alice In Wonderland' writer Linda Woolverton trying to get the screenplay together. Good luck to her! Judging my reactions to 'Alice' it was a bit of a incoherent nightmare.

Let's hope they bring on a director who can not only tell a story, but who can resist over doing it all the while having the capability to elicit a superb central performance. How awesome would it be to cast Sigourney.
That would be totally Wicked.

'Accidents Happen' trailer

How wonderful would it to see Geena Davis back in the awards race.

"You can't be fat and mean"

I just want her to prove them all wrong!

This little sneak peak couldn't come at a better time since I read this piece of casting news from Empire.

I had previously read in Variety that she was being considered for the lead. I was furious since the book (which is wonderful) has three leads. Skeeter (Stone), Minney (an black maid who cannot keep her opinions silent) and Abeline (an older black maid who is fiercely intelligent but keeps this quiet).
Of course Hollywood would have these two lead characters as supporting and make it all about the brave white woman helping the poor blacks. I hope against hope that this is a three lead film, with a slew of rich supporting players.

I am also hoping that someone hands the script to Sidibe as she would be fantabulous as Minney.

Someone make this happen!

Best Voice Acting

I suggest everyone sign up for an account with movieclips.com so you can best experience the awards

The vocally dexterous are:

Teri Hatcher - Mel Jones / Other Mother - 'Coraline'
She is warm, and then oh so creepy. Some of the best work of her career.

Philip Seymour Hoffman - Max Jerry Horovitz - 'Mary & Max'
Hysterical line delivery. His final line chokes you up something fierce.
Clip

Anna Faris - Sam Sparks - 'Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs'
Like the best of her comedy, her Sam is funny, ditzy yet so warm.
Clip

Dawn French - Miss Miriam Forcible - 'Coraline'
Only one of the best comedic actresses could pull off such phenomenal voice work.
Shame I do not have a clip.

Jenifer Lewis - Mama Odie - 'The Princess and the Frog'
She sounds like she is having an absolute ball doing this. The energy is infectious.

Jordan Nagai - Russell - 'Up'
So funny and real. The line readings are hysterical, and the touching moments are heart breaking.
Clip

_____________________________________________________

Can't Wait, Can't Wait, Can't Wait, Can't Wait, Can't Wait, Can't Wait, Can't Wait, Can't Wait, Can't Wait, Can't Wait, Can't Wait, Can't Wait

Best Editing

I suggest everyone sign up for an account with movieclips.com so you can best experience the awards

The masterful editors are:

James Cameron, John Refoua and Stephen E. Rivkin - 'Avatar'
The pacing was masterful.....you were never bored and never confused.

Julian Clarke - 'District 9'
The docu style and the action never felt forced.

Chris Innis and Bob Murawski - 'The Hurt Locker'
Repetitive bomb diffusing was always thrilling to watch.
Clip

Ant Boys and Billy Sneddon - 'In The Loop'
All the dialogue running rampant need a good shepherd to round it up.
Clip

Sally Menke - 'Inglourious Basterds'
Knows when to let the dialogue have centre stage.
Clip

Joe Klotz - 'Precious'
The fantasy sequences, the class room and the quick flash cuts of years of abuse never felt forced. The focus of Precious's face shows her growth.
Clip

_____________________________________________________

Best Visual FX

I suggest everyone sign up for an account with movieclips.com so you can best experience the awards

And the most visually effective are:

'Avatar'
It changed the game.
Clip

'Coraline'
The whole world was one wonderful and special effect.
Clip

'District 9'
Christopher Johnson. At that budget, to be able to give those eyes such expression, masterful.
Clip

'Star Trek'
Other worlds, other creatures and space...the final frontier.
Clip

'Watchmen'
It looked like a comic book, and Dr Manhattan alone was worth the admission.
Clip

>

'Where the Wild Things Are'
So subtle, you hardly notice. Those eyes carry such emotion
Clip

_____________________________________________________