The winners for the 83rd annual Academy Awards have been announced, and you really can’t say any movie swept the awards like was expected.

While The King’s Speech was expected to walk away with a slew of awards, it ended up only coming up with four of the 12 it was up for.  While still a respectable number, it wasn’t quite what anyone was expecting.

Many are commenting on the poor performance of James Franco and Anne Hathaway as hosts, but, I’m sorry, I just didn’t think they were that bad, but to each their own.

Now, on to the night’s winners.

The films with the most wins were:

• The King’s Speech – 4 out of 12 nominations
• The Social Network – 3 out of 8 nominations
• The Fighter – 2 out of 7 nominations
• Inception – 4 out of 7 nominations
• Black Swan – 1 out of 5 nominations
• Toy Story 3 – 2 out of 5 nominations

And the winners by category are:

• Best Motion Picture of the Year: The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company)
• Achievement in Directing: The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company), Tom Hooper
• Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”
• Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
• Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
• Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
• Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing), Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
• Best Original Screenplay: The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Seidler
• Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: In a Better World – Denmark
• Achievement in Art Direction: Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney), Robert Stromberg (Production Design), Karen O’Hara (Set Decoration)
• Achievement in Cinematography: Inception (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister
• Best Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) Lee Unkrich
• Best Animated Short Film: The Lost Thing (Nick Batzias for Madman Entertainment) A Passion Pictures Australia Production Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
• Best Live Short Film: God of Love – A Luke Matheny Production Luke Matheny
• Best Documentary Feature: Inside Job – (Sony Pictures Classics) Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs A Representational Pictures Production
• Best Documentary Short Subject: Strangers No More – Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon A Simon & Goodman Picture Company Production
• Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original score):The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
• Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original song): ”We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• Achievement in Film Editing: The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
• Achievement in Visual Effects: Inception (Warner Bros.) Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
• Achievement in Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) Colleen Atwood
• Achievement in Make-up: The Wolfman (Universal) Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
• Achievement in Sound Mixing: Inception (Warner Bros.) Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
• Achievement in Sound Editing: Inception (Warner Bros.) Richard King

If you’d like to see the complete list of nominees, with winners highlighted, check them out after the jump.

Continue Reading ->

The 2011 Razzie Winners have been announced, but can you really refer to them as “winners”?

Each year the Razzies host their “awards” show the night before the Academy Awards, because is there really a better night to honor the worst Hollywood offers us each year?  The 31st Annual Golden Raspberries were held last night, and here are the “winners” for you.

2011 GOLDEN RASPBERRY AWARDS FULL LIST OF WINNERS

• Worst Picture: The Last Airbender
• Worst Actor: Ashton Kutcher in Killers and Valentine’s Day
• Worst Actress: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristen Davis and Cynthia Nixon in Sex and the City 2
• Worst Screen Couple/Ensemble: The entire cast of Sex and the City 2
• Worst Supporting Actor: Jackson Rathbone in The Last Airbender and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
• Worst Supporting Actress: Jessica Alba in The Killer Inside Me, Little Fockers, Machete and Valentine’s Day
• Worst Screenplay: The Last Airbender
• Worst Prequel, Sequel, Remake or Ripoff: Sex and the City 2
• Worst Eye-Gouging Use of 3D: The Last Airbender
• Worst Director: M. Night Shyamalan for The Last Airbender

A total of 41 published this week.

FunJug.com

• Mario Kart is back
• Blake Griffin Salm Dunk
• 150 Movie Lines & Catch-Phrases
• Tama Zoo Drill
• An Awkward Moment for Newscasters
• 5 year old needs a job before getting married
• Saturday Shorts: A Date With Your Family

SeanPAune.com

• Indiana Teacher Charged With Two Counts Of Child Seduction
• Oscars Won’t Allow Banksy to Accept in Disguise
• Sucker Punch Music Trailer
• Soapdish and The Bodyguard To Receive Remakes
• Alini Brito Claims Naked Calssroom Romp Was Due to Diabetes
• Scattercast Episode #134: Fists of Fury
• King’s Speech Gets Re-Cut to Receive a Lower Rating

TechnoBuffalo.com

• Maryland Government Asking Employees For Facebook Logins
• Apple To Introduce New High-Speed Connections This Year
• Evidence Mounts For MacBook Pro Refresh This Week
• Blue Technobuffalo Wallpaper
• Video Game Sales Dipped 4% in January
• Kno Tablet May Become Software Only
• 4G Showdown: AT&T Vs. T-Mobile (video)
• Stock Levels Hint iPad 2 Due Any Day Now
• Playable Angry Birds Birthday Cake
• HTC Inspire 4G Giveaway Winners
• Apple iPhone 4 Vs. Motorola Atrix
• Motorola Atrix for AT&T Unboxing (Video)
• Motorola Atrix Laptop Dock Hands-On (video)
• Netflix and CBS Strike Two-Year Content Deal
• A History of Game Controllers (Infographic)
• Apple Event To Be Held March 2nd
• New MacBook Pro 13-Inch Specs and Pictures Leak Out
• Dell Streak Teams Up With World Order in Japan (video)
• Apple Releases Developer Preview of Mac OS X Lion
• Samsung Galaxy S 4G Review (video)
• Ask Sony President Phil Molyneux Your Questions
• Will You Be Buying a Xoom? (Poll)
• Nexus S Users Report Color Issues After Update
• Android Honeycomb First Impressions (video)
• SoldierKnowsBest Weekly Recap Video For Feb. 25th
• Flashback Friday: Jon Rettinger’s First Video
• Possible iPhone 5 Part Reveals Larger Screen

The King’s Speech is up for multiple Oscars this weekend, and is also heading back to theaters with a slightly altered edit.

With the Academy Awards this weekend, everyone is focused on how many awards The King’s Speech will walk away out of the 12 it’s nominated for.  One issue for the film has had during its release is that the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) gave the film an R rating which has limited its poential audience.

Having seen the moving myself a few weeks ago, I noted that the film lacked any nudity or any violence, and when I dug deeper I came to find out that the rating was based solely on language.  Yes folks, once again, people fear words.

The Weinstein Company has agreed to edit two sections for language, and they will be allowed to immediately re-release the film to theaters as opposed to the 90 days that a film most normally wait for a new cut to be allowed to be released.

Thus far the film has grossed $106 million in domestic box office, and $130 million internationally off of a $15 million budget.  While normally a movie does better in the PG-13 rating as it allows teenagers to attend without a parent having to accompany them, but somehow I don’t see teens rushing off to see a movie about an English King with a stammer in droves.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s an excellent movie, but even if it was rated G I somehow doubt a ratings change would make more people go.  I somehow doubt the R rating was keeping people out of he theaters.

And yet again I am left wondering how words could  be so powerful that they make a movie an R rating because it says one or two words too many times.  Do we really feel certain words that much?  Oh, please, you hear worse on the streets any day of the week.  Yet, somehow, they get spoken in a film, they become some sort of horrible attack on kids.  Whatever.  Someone needs to fix the MPAA, but somehow I don’t see that happening.

Either way, if you haven’t seen the film yet, I highly recommend it as it’s an absolute joy of a production to watch … language or not.

It’s episode #134 of Scattercast … and goes a bit ranty this week.

Charlie Sheen is an idiot.

iPad 2 … yeah … darn it.

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Alini Brito, one of the two teachers in the infamous James Madison High School lesbian scandal, is now suing to regain her job.

Back in Dec. 2009 I wrote up the story of Alini Brito and Cindy Mauro and how they had been discovered in a vacant classroom at James Madison High School by a janitor in what he described as an act of lesbian sex.

While both women denied the allegations, the school board found them guilty and let both of them go.

Normally this would be the end of the story, but it appears that Brito is suing the school for wrongful termination, and she’s demanding her job back.  The reason?  Mauro was doing nothing more than helping her with a diabetic attack.

WCBS and The New York Daily News have reported on the lawsuit filing, and it appears that the whole thing was a misunderstanding.  Brito had begun feeling ill during a school assembly, and Mauro offered her some candy that she had back in her classroom.  When the two got back to the room, Brito took to feeling worse, and asked to lay down on the floor.  She took off her sweater so that Mauro could place it under her head, and then her feet were placed up on a chair to help with her circulation.

It was sometime around this point when the janitor happened upon them and found Brito naked from the waist up and Mauro between her legs.

This has all been explained now by it all appearing to have only allegedly been a misunderstanding, and was nothing more than a case of one teacher helping another with a diabetic attack.

My issue with Brito, however, is two-fold.  I’ve known some diabetics in my life, and not one of them ever said to me, “I need to get these clothes off” (yes, perhaps a pillow, but still … eh) and neither did any of them say they needed to get their legs up for circulation.  True, everyone is different, but that still seems a tad odd to me.

Secondly, the school board had an investigation of the incident, and they found you both guilty.  I understand they aren’t a court of law, but there was obviously something to the charges for them to terminate you both.  Have you somehow miraculously just come up with new evidence that you somehow did not share with the school when it first mattered?  That’s … odd.

Again, nothing has been proven as of yet, and this is just a whole lot of allegations flying around, but something definitely does not make sense to me in all of this.

At least they didn’t involve any of the students if something really did happen between them.

Early 90′s movies Soapdish and The Bodyguard are reportedly both receiving modern takes on their basic stories.

First up is The Hollywood Reporter reporting that a remake of the 1991 soap opera based comedy Soapdish has found a writer.  There is some speculation that the film will change from being about soaps to reality shows, but it will still be the same basic premise of what goes on behind the scenes of a hit show.  Ben Schwartz – a writer, comedian and actor – has been tapped to pen the script for Paramount.

The other announcement today comes from /Film that reports a remake of the Kevin Costner/Whitney Houston film from 1992, The Bodyguard, is going to be retooled for the 21st century.  The theory is that the new bodyguard would be an Iraqi vet, and the dangers would be ratcheted up factoring in things like gossip bloggers and more aggressive paparazzi.

Is this really where we are now when it comes to films?  ”Oh, a film has hit the 20 year mark, that means we can remake it!”  We’ve already made it through a good chunk of the 1980′s remakes, so it’s only right we get started on the 1990′s films now.

I have several times that Hollywood is out of ideas, but now it’s just reached the point where you can no longer deny it.  I loved Soapdish, but I have absolutely no urge to see a remake of it, and I never saw the original version of The Bodyguard, so there is no way I will see an updated one.

Come on Hollywood, you aren’t even trying any more, and it’s getting embarrassing.

Sucker Punch is due to hit movie theaters on March 24th, and they’re squeezing out one more trailer to try to garner some more interest.

I’ve been following the development of Sucker Punch since last summer, and it amazes me about the only time you hear it discussed is in the same breath as, “Zack Snyder will begin working on his new Superman movie … as soon as he’s done with something called Sucker Punch that none of us can be brothered to look into.”

There is no denying that this highly stylized film is not going to appeal to the masses, these types of projects never do, but damn it does look fun.  And, sure, the plot might suck, we won’t know until we see it, but somehow I think we will be visually entertained enough to not care.

Any way, enjoy this new trailer, and if you get a chance, check out the movie once it hits on March 24th.

The Academy Awards have shot down a request by street artist named Banksy to accept a potential Oscar while wearing a disguise.

As I mentioned last week, street artist Banksy is definitely in Los Angeles right now, and since that report he’s hit at least two more locations with a third awaiting confirmation.  While it was speculated that he was in town due to his film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, being nominated for Best Documentary.  There was no confirmation either way until earlier today.

Banksy did contact the Oscars asking if he could attend the awards ceremony in his trademark chimp mask seen to the right, with a request of up to four more people attending in the same disguise to keep people off his tail.  If he should win, all five would go to the stage to accept the award, but all of this has been shot down.

Academy executive director Bruce Davis told Entertainment Week:

The fun but disquieting scenario is that if the film wins and five guys in monkey masks come to the stage all saying, “I’m Banksy,” who the hell do we give it [award] to?

There was also a fear of copycats attempting to get into the awards show wearing similar disguises.

The question of whether or not Banksy will appear at the show now is back up in the air.  Of course, with his identity unknown, he could be siting in the front row and no one would know it so long as he doesn’t stand up should his movie win.

We’ll find out what happens Sunday night at the awards show, but I can’t say I’ve ever looked forward to this category being announced this much.

An ex-Indiana teacher has been charged with two counts of felony child seduction involving a female student.

Mandy Jared, 33, was charged with two counts of child seduction, considered class D felonies, last week following allegations that were leveled against her last Dec.  Apparently a 17-year-old student told another teacher at Zionsville Community High School that she and Ms. Jared, the school’s art teacher, had engaged in sexual activity on four occasions, two of which happened in the school’s dark room.

The second teacher informed the school principal on Dec. 9^th, 2010 of the allegations, and Ms. Jared immediately resigned from the school where she had been teaching since 2002.

It is unknown why Ms. Jared was only charged with the two counts that happened on school property, when the reports indicate there were four separate incidents between her and the student.  Jared surrendered to the Boone County Jail on Tuesday, and is expected back in court on Feb. 22^nd to have the charges read against her.

And here we have our second entry in the 2011 teacher sex scandals category in as many months.  Sadly this isn’t an auspicious start to the year, and I’m sure there will be more of these as the year chugs along.

A total of 43 published this week.

FunJug.com

• Family Feud Pot Smoking Answer
• Misery Bear: Valentine’s Day
• superHarmony
• The Problem with Jeggings
• The King Spits
• Real Life Mario Kart!
• Tonight I’m Frakking You
• Saturday Shorts: The Bully – The Problems Of Agressive Adolescents

SeanPAune.com

• Michelle Obama Pushes For Portion Controls In Restaurants
• The Amazing Spider-Man Swings Into Theaters
• Fall 2011 TV Scorecard
• Banksy Hits The Streets Of L.A. Pre-Oscars
• Second Thor Trailer Released
• Scattercast Episode #133: Look at me, I’m artsy!
• Apollo 18 Trailer

TechnoBuffalo.com

• Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Makes Its Debut
• Samsung Galaxy S II Makes Its Debut
• Sony Xperia Play Launches At Mobile World Congress
• Apple Said To Be Working On Smaller iPhone
• How Important Have Apps Become? (infographic)
• Giveaway: Shout it From the Mountain Tops! Reminder!
• Ask The Buffalo For Valentine’s Day
• Rogers Receiving Xperia Arc And Xperia Play
• iPhone 5 Reportedly To Have 4-Inch Screen
• Ask The Buffalo – Your Questions Answered For Valentine’s Day (Video)
• Motorola XOOM Tablet Games (video)
• Giveaway: Shout it From the Mountain Tops! Finalists Poll!
• Criterion Collection Teams Up With Hulu
• Borders Book Stores File For Bankruptcy
• Console Wars – Move vs. Kinect: Design (Round 1)
• Motorola Defends XOOM Pricing
• Google Music Store Could Launch With Honeycomb
• Jon on CNBC Talking about Robots and AI (video)
• Which Gaming Platform Do You Prefer? (poll)
• Apple Files Patent For Smart iPad Bezel
• When To Buy A New Cell Phone (video)
• Giveaway: Shout it From the Mountain Tops! Finalists Reminder
• Radio Shack Prices Motorola ATRIX At $149
• Flashback Friday: Nintendo 1991 Customer Care Training Film
• SoldierKnowsBest Weekly Recap Video For Feb. 18th
• iPad 3 And Larger iPod Touch Rumors Hit From Apple
• Samsung Galaxy S 4G Unboxing (video)
• Giveaway: Shout it From the Mountain Tops! Winners

Apollo 18 tells the story of an unknown NASA mission to the Moon, and why we’ve never gone back in the years since.

It’s rare that a movie sneaks up on me without me hearing much about it.  I had head the name Apollo 18 here or there, but had never really gotten a handle on what it was about.  The trailer has now popped up, and while it follows the “found footage” format that was made popular by movies such as The Last Broadcast and The Blair Witch Project, it adds the concept of an otherworldly locale and a question that has been on the minds of space enthusiasts for years about why we’ve never returned to our only natural satellite.

To be honest, I find holes with the whole concept for the outset that there could have never been an Apollo launch that people didn’t know about (launching a rocket tends to create a lot of very visible evidence), and it appears to get a little wacky later on with some sort of “space spider” antagonist, but yet I find myself intrigued enough to possibly want to watch it some day.

Here’s the Apollo 18 trailer in all its under-the-radar glory.