The Peg Is In

Star Trek opens in theaters May 8

Official website – IMDB listing

I was born in 1966, the same year Star Trek debuted on television. As soon as I could reach the dial that changed the channel, I was a Trekkie. I watched the original Star Trek series in reruns whenever I could, usually sometime after school and before the news. My best friend Stephanie and I argued over which female space alien was prettier (the blonde chick on that planet that was too crowded), which crew uniform would flatter us (Uhuru’s – we both had big butts), which was the best episode (“The Doomsday Machine,” 1967). We saw them all multiple times, and were grateful no matter which one aired.

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The Gartin household's nominees for Best Vampire: Lina Leandersson and Robert Pattinson

Twilight: Official website – IMDB listing
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in): Official website – IMDB listing

Ken and I have been marinating our minds in a couple of recent Blu-Ray disc releases this weekend. My strong pull toward one and his strong pull toward the other has got me thinking about men and women and how we react differently to certain movies.

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Starting tomorrow, everybody!

http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/

See it in IMAX.

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Wow! I just got finished watching the Oscars, and what a movie year it was! Not only that, but I made my most accurate predictions ever. Didn’t that set with the Swarovski crystal curtain look incredible? And I think the device of having 5 past winners in a category present the award was marvellous. This year’s winners and nominees must have felt so lucky!

Here are the highlights and the things that surprised me:

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The 2009 Academy Awards are just two days away! Here’s who would win if I ran the show, along with my predictions for who will win.

Best Actor
On pure acting chops, the best was Sean Penn, but Hollywood is a big softie and tends to reward living the role. In that case, Mickey Rourke takes it. Frank Langella was damn good, but I don’t see him beating the Mick. Michael Sheen should have been nominated for Frost/Nixon.

– My pick: Mickey Rourke
– Who will win: Mickey Rourke

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I’ve been making good progress on my Oscar Run. Just to remind the uninitiated, an Oscar Run is an attempt to see all feature-length movies nominated for an Oscar or containing an Oscar nominee before the prizes are awarded. This year, that is this Sunday, February 22.

Coming soon: my top ten list from these movies, my Oscar predictions, and who would win if I were giving out the Oscars.

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Official website – IMDB listing

Oscar nomination: Costume Design

I was prepared to laugh it up over Australia. Something about the trailers hinted at a movie that was way too ambitious, too arch, too earnest, and at 3 hours, too long – and this was the director that gave us Moulin Rouge, after all.

Well, I finally watched it last night, and damned if I wasn’t laughing and crying at all the right parts (you know, when the director wants you to).

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A successful Oscar Run can only be achieved if you see every nominated feature length movie. Thus, I’m in a pickle, because the following films are hiding from me. Can you help?

I need to find a way to see:

• The Baader Meinhof Complex (from Germany)
• Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
• The Class (from France)
• Departures (from Japan)
• The Garden
• Trouble the Water

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Ray (Melissa Leo) turns to border smuggling to keep the heat on.

Official website – IMDB listing

Oscar nominations: Best Actress – Melissa Leo, Best Original Screenplay – Courtney Hunt

Times are tough. It’s the dead of winter in Massena, New York, and Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo) is a part-time cashier down to feeding her two kids nothing but Tang and popcorn. It gets cold in their rusted-out old trailer, but when your gambling husband takes off with the balloon payment for the double-wide you hoped to buy, what’s a mom to do? Loading Chinese and Pakistani illegal immigrants in the trunk of your car and smuggling them across the border suddenly seems like a viable option.

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Even Scott, the angry racist driving instructor, eventually succumbs to Poppy's goofy charm

Official website – IMDB listing

Oscar nomination: Best Original Screenplay – Mike Leigh

Do you know that moment when you open a bottle of champagne, and you can feel the cork moving in your hand, almost of its own volition? It’s like an angel is saying, “Let me out!” In the same way, giggles seem to explode from Sally Hawkins as she plays the irrepressible Poppy in Mike Leigh’s film, Happy-Go-Lucky.

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