Well, the party is over...but, presumably, the after-parties have only just begun!

Tonight’s broadcast of the 77th annual Academy Awards was entertaining. It even shook things up a tad by bringing entire groups of nominees up on stage before announcing the winner, and even presenting several Oscars in the aisles…presumably to save time, not the winner’s feet. Not surprisingly, Jaime Foxx and Hilary Swank both won for their lead roles in Ray and Million Dollar Baby, respectively. Baby also took home Oscars for best director (Clint Eastwood) and best picture. Sadly, the nominees I was most rooting for did not win. Natalie Portman and Clive Owen were both nominated for their supporting roles in the film Closer, and gave, in my opinion, two of the best performances of the year. Yet, the Golden Globes they received were to be their last major honor this year, with The Aviator’s Cate Blanchett and (yet again) Million Dollar Baby’s Morgan Freeman taking home the golden statues. However, I was pulling hardest for fellow blogger Morgan Spurlock’s fast-food-defaming Super Size Me to win the award for best documentary. Unfortunately, Born into Brothels (which, in all honesty, was a decent movie) won the award. Yet, I did agree with several of the Academy’s choices, with The Incredibles winning best animated feature, and the screenplay awards going to Sideways for adapted, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for original. And Chris Rock was an OK host…not the best, but better than David Letterman.

Finally, I did quite poorly predicting the winners this year, getting less than half right. Last year I only missed one! Hopefully I will have better luck next year.

So, I caught the last 5 minutes of American Idol last night before 24 came on. It was the first of the show I had seen this season. If you are familiar with the show, then you know that the last thing AI does before it opens the phone lines for voting is a quick recap of all the performances that night (it was all guys last night, while the girls will be performing tonight). None of them were really any good. A couple of them were able to hold their notes well enough, but I have a hard time seeing any of them being the next Ruben or Clay. Hopefully there is at least one girl that has some talent...though I have no intention of watching to find out.

On a side note: we live in a very strange world. Check out this and this for proof.

The movies of 2005:

With so many movies coming out this year that I am planning on seeing I thought I would share what I am looking forward to and why. Where I can I have posted links to the trailers, though some of them don't have trailers yet.

The following are movies that I am curious about. I may not be psyched to see them, but for some reason or another I am intrigued.

Cursed: Wes Craven's new film from a Kevin Williamson (Scream) script. Though I am hoping this will be a great horror flick, the fact that it is rated PG-13 and not R worries me a little (it did originally receive an R-rating, but was edited down to get the lower rating). After all, how many GOOD PG-13 horror films are there?

OK...so there was one good one...The Ring...which is why I am curious about The Ring 2. Though I have to say I saw no reason to make a sequel to the original (aside from making the studio money), it is a little comforting to know that there were two sequels and a prequel to the original Japanese film on which The Ring was based. In fact, Hideo Nakata, who directed Ringu and Rungu 2, is directing The Ring 2, so hopefully it will be better than your average horror sequel.

Then there is director Ridley Scott's new epic about the crusades, Kingdom of Heaven. Normally I am a big fan of Scott (who has directed such films as Blade Runner and Gladiator), but this looks like nothing more than an attempt to remake Gladiator. Plus, Orlando Bloom is hardly capable of carrying a film the way Russell Crowe did. This is probably the movie I am most skeptical about right now, though I am sure I will end up seeing it.

Though there is not much info about it yet, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe could be good. My big fear about this film is that it is being made to cash in on the success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and will not be given the attention it needs to succeed on its own. We will find out this winter.

Like many movies based on comic books, The Fantastic Four has been in "development" for years. So the fact that it finally got made is somewhat impressive...that or the studio is hoping to make a quick buck of the recent success of comic-to-film adaptations and rushed it into production before it was ready. Either way, this is on my radar.

And, lastly, there is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I have no idea why Tim Burton keeps doing remakes (did he learn nothing from Planet of the Apes?), and I personally prefer his more original works, like Big Fish (though he does have the Nightmare before Christmas styled Corpse Bride coming out later this year). Yet, I am curious to see how dark Burton goes with this. After all, the story was originally for kids.

Then, there a couple of movies that I will see, but based more on obligation than anticipation.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith will finally conclude what started out as a great series, but has been reduced to the psychotic pipe dream of one George Lucas. Who knows, maybe it will be better than The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. I can hope.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire may end up being a great film (the first three were!), but the book is so long that it will be all but impossible to turn it into a good movie. Plus, I have a hard time believing that Mike Newell, who directed Four Weddings and a Funeral, is a good choice to direct a Harry Potter film. We will see. Again, I hope it turns out better than I think it will.

Now, for the movies I am actually EXCITED to see!

We'll start with Ron Howard and Russell Crowe's new collaboration, Cinderella Man. To quote IMDb.com, this film is "the story of Depression-era fighter and folk hero Jim Braddock, who defeated heavyweight champ Max Baer in a 15-round slugfest in 1935." A Beautiful Mind was great, so I am really looking forward to this one.

Then there is Batman Begins. After the silliness of Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, Memento director Christopher Nolan is returning the Dark Knight to the dark-style of film that made the 1989 original so great. I can't wait for this one!

Is it even possible to turn Douglas Adams' classic book into a good movie? We will find out when music video pioneers Hammer & Tongs bring us the big screen adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This one is going to be really good or really bad!

Generally, I go see anything that either Steven Spielberg or Tom Cruise make, so another collaboration from them (after 2002's Minority Report) is high on my list of movies to see. Check out War of the Worlds.

After the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I'll go see anything Peter Jackson makes, so I will be there opening day for King Kong.

And finally (whew!), comes the movie that I want to see based solely on the trailer (OK, and a little on the reputation of the comic books series). The trailer for Sin City is the without a doubt the coolest I have seen since the 1999 Fight Club trailer. There is a lot of buzz surrounding this movie, and it stars everyone in Hollywood and their mother. If you only watch one of the trailers I have posted here, WATCH THIS ONE!

Itchana Tchones part 4 is finally here...unfortunately you have to pay to play it! They do give you a sample of the game to whet your appetite, but what good is that? Ah well.

In TV ratings news; it seems Lost is almost as invinceable as Desperate Housewives, but , sadly, Alias (now up against American Idol) is not. Click here for more.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Ryan, happy birthday to you!