Random Thoughts and Observations

1. Listen to The Dark Knight score here.

2. The Dark Knight looks great on Blu-ray. The scenes for IMAX are presented in 1.77:1 and the non-IMAX scenes are 2.40:1. You can barely tell when it switches back and forth because it's so intense (as Jemaine would say). The extras for the disc are a little sparse and I wish Nolan did commentaries, but with a film this good, who cares? By the way, my Molly Sims-Jamie Lynn Sigler moment is the emergence (ahem) of the batbike.

3. Hugh Jackman has been tapped to host the Oscars. I guess I can no longer deny that the Oscars are the Super Bowl for women and gay men.

4. I'm through with The Office. It's off my weekly recording until someone tells me otherwise. It's been coming down the pike for the past few weeks, but Phyllis throwing baby Jesus in the drawer was the last straw. Too bad Jessica Alba and Jack Black are guest-starring on the show immediately following the Super Bowl.

5. Every film critic group in America is passing out awards. I'm going to limit further lists and discussions to Houston and the I-35 corridor. Click below for the 2008 Austin Film Critics Awards.

Top 10 Films
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Milk
Synecdoche, New York
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Wrestler
WALL*E
Frost/Nixon
Let the Right One In
Gran Torino


Best Picture
The Dark Knight

Best Director
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight

Best Actor
Sean Penn, Milk

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Original Screenplay
Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Dark Knight, Jonthan Nolan & Christopher Nolan

Best Cinematography
The Fall, Colin Watkinson

Best Original Score
The Dark Knight, James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer

Best Foreign Language Film
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) - Sweden

Best Documentary Film
Man on Wire

Best Animated Feature
WALL*E

Breakthrough Artist Award
Danny McBride, Pineapple Express/The Foot Fist Way/Tropic Thunder