Oscar Picks

Well it's Oscar time again and I have to admit, this was a pretty good year for movies! This year's Oscars are hosted by Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, and Ted) so that's new... Anyway, here are my picks for this year's Oscar Nominee's: Enjoy!

(Only select categories featured.)

Best Picture: Lincoln – Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy
Best Director: Steven Spielberg – Lincoln
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln as Abraham Lincoln
Best Actress: Naomi Watts – The Impossible as Maria Bennett
Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln as Thaddeus Stevens
Best Supporting Actress: Sally Field – Lincoln as Mary Todd Lincoln
Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay: Lincoln – Tony Kushner from Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Best Animated Feature: ParaNorman – Sam Fell and Chris Butler
Best Animated Short Film: Paperman – John Kahrs
Best Original Score: Lincoln – John Williams
Best Original Song: "Skyfall" from Skyfall – Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
Best Sound Editing: Skyfall – Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
Best Sound Mixing: Lincoln – Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, and Ronald Judkins
Best Production Design: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent, and Simon Bright
Best Cinematography: Lincoln – Janusz Kamiński
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater, and Tami Lane
Best Costume Design: Lincoln – Joanna Johnston
Best Film Editing: Lincoln – Michael Kahn
Best Visual Effects: Marvel's The Avengers – Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, and Dan Sudick

Valentine's Day: Top 10 "Horror-ble" Love Stories

Ah, Valentine's Day...my least favorite holiday! Valentine's Day is supposed to be all about love, flowers, candy and greeting cards..."blarg!" I've never been a fan of Valentine's Day, but as a horror movie fan, I realize that there are actually a lot of love stories in horror movies, such as the recent release of Warm Bodies (2013). And so this Valentine's Day, I thought I'd look back at some of the many horror movie love stories. CHERNOBOG'S BLOG PRESENTS: The Top 10 Horror-ble Love Stories! Enjoy...

#10 Corpse Bride (2005) - Tim Burton's morbid romance of a shy would-be groom who accidentally marries a dead woman is frighteningly delightful!
#9  Bride of Chucky (1998) - The murderous, possessed doll Chucky (Brad Dourif) returns and finds his perfect mate, Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly), to share in his killing spree!
#8 Let the Right One In (2008) - Based on the Norwegian horror novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, a young boy befriends a vampire girl. The film was remade for American audiences as Let Me In (2010).
#7 Cemetary Man (1994) - In this provocative, foreign, Italian/French, horror film based on a Tiziano Sclavi (Dylan Dog) novel, Francesco (Rupert Everett) is a cemetery caretaker who searches for love while he digs graves and kills zombies.
#6 I Walked with a Zombie (1943) - From legendary producer Val Lewton, when a young nurse falls in love with a Haitian plantation manager whose wife is believed to be a zombie! Loosely based on  Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, the title was chosen by RKO executives despite Lewton's wishes.
#5 My Bloody Valentine (1981) - What would Valentine's Day be without a murderous rampage by a deranged killer with a holiday obsession (i.e. Halloween, Friday the 13th)?! Coal-miner Harry Warden enacts his vengeance on a small town on Valentine's Day on the anniversary of a terrible accident. Horribly remade as My Bloody Valentine 3D in 2009)
#4 Bride of Re-Animator (1989) - After director Stuart Gordon's campy "splatterfest" Re-Animator (1985) starring Jeffrey Combs, director Brian Yuzna brings the cast back as Dr. Herbert West attempts to create a perfect woman!
#3 Candyman (1992) - In this bizarre tale by Clive Barker of an urban legend come to life, a young grad student (Virginia Madsen) gets more than she bargained for when she researches the legend of Candyman (Tony Todd) a killer with a hook for a hand who appears when you say his name 3-times.
#2 The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) - In director James Whale's campy sequel to Frankenstein (1931), Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) coaxes Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) to create a mate (played by Elsa Lanchester) for his monster (Boris Karloff)!
#1 Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - Director Francis Ford Coppola's epic film of one of the most famous Gothic romances in literary history. This big-budget remake starred Gary Oldman as Dracula, Keanu Reeves as Harker, Winona Ryder as Mina and Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing. Trivia: The Original Dracula starring Bela Lugosi was released on valenine's Day, 1931.

"I love dead...hate living." - Bride of Frankenstein

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Ravens: Super Bowl Champs!

Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens, Super Bowl XLVII Champions! On Sunday, February 3r, 2013, The Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49rs, 34-31 at Super Bowl XLVII! Despite the horrendous halftime show featuring Beyonce and the 30-minute long power outage, not to mention the awful and tedious Super Bowl commercials, it was actually an impressive game. I don't really consider myself a football fan even though I played briefly when I was young, although not very well. Recently I have maintained somewhat of a fondness for the Baltimore Ravens. Ever since I visited Baltimore, Maryland to attend the 201st birthday celebration of Edgar Allan Poe back in 2010, I discovered that the Ravens (who've been around since 1996) took their team name and mascot (named "Poe) for "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe, since Poe lived, worked and eventually died and was buried in Baltimore. Being a Poe aficionado, I enjoyed the fact that Poe's memory and works lived on in what would seem the most unlikely of homages: The Baltimore Ravens. Since then I have fancied myself somewhat of a Ravens fan, having purchased a Raven's cap when I was in Baltimore and I proudly wear it on occasion (despite derision). Being a native born Texan, naturally you would think I was a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan, but sadly that is not the case. The only time I can remember rooting for the Cowboys was in my youth around the time of the Super Bowl was when they won against the Buffalo Bills in 1993 (XXVII) and 1994 (XXVIII). The Baltimore Ravens and the city of Baltimore, Maryland celebrated their victory today with a parade filling the stadium and marching down the streets with pride. This is the second Super Bowl win for The Ravens and I congratulate them and the city of Baltimore for their victory! GO RAVENS!

 

LINKS: Baltimore Ravens Official Website , The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore,
Poe Forevermore.com