According to Variety, Eric Bana is in final negotiations for a leading role in director Joe Wright’s assassin thriller, Hanna. He is likely to take the part as the father of Saoirse Ronan’s title character, Hanna who has been raised to be a remorseless murder. Read the full story

Oscar season is in full swing with ballots recently sent out and the ceremony less than two months. Today we have two sets of nominees. First comes from the Writer’s Guild Association, with ceremonies held on Saturday, February 20, 2010. Check out the nominees below, followed by the American Society of Cinematographers. Read the full story

THR recently published a list provided by The Academy’s visual effects branch that contains seven films up for the best visual effects nominations. The list includes:

Avatar

District 9

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Star Trek

Terminator Salvation

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

2012

They plan to take this list down to 3 films and announce it on February 2nd along with the rest of the categories. The ceremony will be held on March 3rd.

This award is going to go to AVATAR hands down. If I had to guess what the other two noms are going to be, I would have to say Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and District 9. I could see the Academy not giving D9 a nom because while revolutionary in what they were able to do with the budget they had, there are better looking films like Star Trek.

Who do you think the final nominations will be?

One of the biggest awards that forecast the Best Picture Oscar races comes in the form of the Producers Guild of America. It’s nice to see Up get a picture nom as well as animated and I can’t believe Star Trek made it. It’s a great mix of most of my favorites this year (excluding the obligatory Invictus) and I’m very happy to see District 9 made the cut.. Thanks to Awards Daily we have the nominations below. Read the full story

2009 was a year filled to the brim with solid films. Unlike last year, when I had trouble finding 20 films to call my favorites, this year it was hard letting a number of them go. In a year defined by the mainstream resurgence of great sci-fi and new technologies ranging from an onslaught of 3D to mass digital projection, here are a list of films that personally resonated with me. Note: Out of the main contenders, I haven’t had the chance to view The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Crazy Heart or A Single Man yet. Let the list begin. Read the full story

After developing a list of thirty incredible films from 2009 that I enjoyed more than the rest, I was forced to choose only fifteen of those to call my “favorite films” of 2009. Like choosing fifteen orphans to take home and love and fifteen orphans to march off a cliff, I begrudgingly chose my fifteen favorite films of 2009. Staring at the list for what seemed like hours on end I ultimately decided to stop even trying to make a “final” decision and stick with my gut. Even if my gut immediately disagrees with my brain and vice-versa. As painful as it was to decide on these films and leave out so many other great ones, whether you agree with what is on my list or the order of my list is really not too important. What is important is that you see these films. 2009 was a great year for cinema. To only see the large films that had the budget to saturate your daily dose of advertising mania, no matter how great those films may be, would be a shame. 2009 proved the art of cinema is still alive and well, and we shouldn’t take it for granted. Don’t take my word for it — go see these films. You may not love them as much as I did, but joining in on the discussion, whether for or against, is all that really matters. So without further avoidance of the inevitable, This is my fifteen favorite films of 2009. I really enjoyed them and I hope you do too. Read the full story

Avatar and Star Trek star Zoe Saldana recently spoke to MTV about her upcoming films, including the follow up to this year’s summer hit, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. Read the full story

The other day fellow Film Stage writer Hash Aguirre told me he purchased J.J. Abrams’ summer hit Star Trek on iTunes via a digital file. I was extremely confused when he told me this because like me, Hash is a big time hard disc media supporter. This is when he hit me with a bomb shell I was never expecting. He told me that iTunes was offering DVD style features along with the films purchase. I couldn’t believe it, so I went on to iTunes myself and I saw the picture above. What I want you to notice is the upper right hand corner of the screen, the tiny box that says iTunes Extras. Then look underneath that box: Read the full story

Last night at the DVD/Blu-Ray premiere of Star Trek ScifiWire got some scoops on Star Trek 2. First, off Producer/writer Damon Lindelof stated why the time frame for the next installment won’t be until 2012. Read the full story

With his successful relaunch of the Star Trek franchise back in May, everyone wants to know what J.J. Abrams will do next. At a press conference to commemorate the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray release of Star Trek, Abrams was questioned on that very topic. He seemed reserved on the subject, yet was willing to share his excitement of continuing his alternative Star Trek universe. Although some fans of the original series may be disappointed by this, Abrams is shooting to allure the general public (which proved to be successful with his first Star Trek release).

Being a science fiction film, many simply expect the Star Trek sequel to be shot in 3-D. Abrams stated that he stayed away from it with the first Star Trek because it was only his second feature film, and the technology was so new. However, upon seeing and being amazed by the preview footage from James Cameron’s, “Avatar,”  Abrams has definitely been researching the technology more and considering it for the  sequel.

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