The list of nominees for the 67th annual Golden Globe Awards were announced earlier today, and you can check out the whole list below.

The Globes aren’t the most respected of all awards ceremonies (not that many…if ANY are these days), but they are good for one important thing: Academy Awards potentials. Many of the nominees and winners of Golden Globes will go on to land Oscar nominations as well, so movie fans watch with sharp eyes.

Just a glance over the list of nominees, you can see why so many people have trouble taking awards like this seriously. There’s a select group of movies that feel like they’re given these nods just because of their status and not due to their quality. These movies could in fact be the very best of the best this year — I do not know for sure — but when you see films like Nine which hasn’t even been released yet getting so many nominations, you scratch your head, especially knowing how much love musicals get JUST for being musicals. [...]

The pilot episode for Caprica, the new Battlestar Galactica prequel series, isn’t set to debut on SyFy until January 22, 2010; but this doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to wait any longer. If you wish it, you can either go and buy the full movie (Read: DVD Review: ‘Caprica’), which was released a while back and will be edited down to become the pilot episode, OR you can stay here and watch the entire pilot episode right this very moment! This isn’t the exact cut that will be used for the debut, but it is close enough for those of you who just can’t wait any longer.

As you can read in the review linked above, I enjoyed the beginning of the series quite a lot. Watching it while still depressed over the loss of Galactica gave it a tough challenge to overcome, and while it’s highly unlikely that it will ever be anywhere near what BSG was, that doesn’t mean that it won’t be a great and compelling new show. And knowing producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, it will also have many connections to its predecessor for us to mine and ponder over. [...]

Up In The Air
Directed by Jason Reitman
Starring George Clooney, Jason Bateman, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
Release date: December 4, 2009 (limited)

Up In The Air: Life In The Descent

The beauty of getting lost at the movies is that it allows us to visit worlds vastly different from our own. It is the greatest exercise in being a fly on the wall. It is the ultimate act of voyeurism. Going to the movies, listening to an album or reading a book are some of the greatest trips we will ever take in our lives. Jason Reitman’s Up In The Air is one of those experiences. Before I go any further, it must be stated that Jason Reitman is his own man. He stepped out of his father’s shadow as soon his first feature, Thank You For Smoking, was released in 2006. He followed that with Juno in 2007 and the rest, as they say, is history. While it helps to be Ivan Reitman’s son in order to have a shot in this business, you have to have talent and hunger to survive in this industry; Jason Reitman has both in spades. He is three for three as far as directing films is concerned. The nepotism claim can be thrown away. He, like Nick Cassavetes, Jake Kasdan, and especially Sofia Coppola have forged their identities in the entertainment business. A famous last name can only get one so far, you have to have the talent and skills to truly survive and endure in the film business [...]

The interactive board game Scene It? Deluxe Star Trek Edition is on sale right now for only $7.99 (that’s 73% off the list price of $29.99).

There are other editions reduced up to 75% off on the Scene It? sale page, like the Ice Age and South Park editions at only $4.99 each and the Twilight edition for only $19.99 (reduced 33%).

Grab these games at their discounted price while you can, because they’ll probably sell out fast (trust me on this one, after writing all about the previous $8 sale, I didn’t act fast enough for myself and missed out on it, doh!).

The Star Trek Edition comes with the following [...]

The Runaways is a little independent film based on the 70s rock band of the same name that featured Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, and Lita Ford. The movie stars young up-and-coming actresses Dakota Fanning (I Am Sam, Push) as Currie and Kristen Stewart (Panic Room, The Twilight Saga) as Jett. It will first debut next month at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, but it doesn’t need to worry about being picked up by a studio for distribution anymore; that part of the quest is now taken care of. It’s being reported that Bob Berney and Bill Pohlad‘s Apparition Films has officially acquired the rights to the film, and already has plans to release it on March 19, 2010.

The Runaways is directed by relative newcomer Floria Sigismondi, who based the story on Cherie Currie’s book, Neon Angel: the Cherie Currie Story. The movie also stars Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie’s Halloween and Halloween II) as Lita Ford, Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development, Whip It) as Robin, Michael Shannon (Bug, Revolutionary Road) as Kim Fowley, and Tatum O’Neal (Paper Moon, The Bad News Bears) as Marie Harmon. [...]

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is Assassin’s Creed II for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 for only $39.78 each (that’s 34% off the list price of $59.99).

Released last month, the popular sequel game made it onto our holiday gift guide Video Game Edition this year and has been greatly improved upon from the first game.

Note, this sale is only for today while supplies last (and there’s a good chance this one will sell out really quickly).

Check out details about the game here below, along with an excerpt from our holiday gift guide [...]

Rounding out our coverage of the 2009 Video Game Awards, here’s the teaser trailer for the new Prince of Persia video game entitled Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, and it’s an interesting prospect to behold.

Jake Gyllenhaal was on hand to introduce the game’s trailer, as well as a new (but mostly the same) trailer for his new movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The game is interesting because if you’re like me, you’ll wonder how this thing is going to play out. We all know the deal: movies adapted from video game titles are terrible and video games adapted from movies are terrible. So what happens when a video game is made that will likely be based more on the gigantic upcoming film that’s based on a hugely-popular pre-existing video game franchise? For example, as you will notice, Prince Dastan does look a tad more like Gyllenhaal in the trailer than he may have in the past. Things could go bad here, and they could go there very quickly. If the developers (Ubisoft, who have done the best of the game’s titles) stayed true to the old games this could be all the fun the others were, so let us hope and hope and hope. [...]

Much like Batman: Arkham Asylum, Halo 3: ODST seems to have just been released not too long ago this year, but both games have follow-ups on the way. In Halo‘s case, however, we’ve known that the Bungie team was making a new game called Halo: Reach, and we had even seen a very tiny super-teaser trailer. At last night’s VGAs on Spike, a brand new teaser trailer for Halo: Reach was unveiled, and it gives us a nice little cinematic peek at the game and what we can expect.

Where Halo 3: ODST was a prequel to Halo 3 and was the first game where you did not play as the SPARTAN II soldier known as Master Chief, Halo: Reach is a prequel to the entire series, presumably based on the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach. The game will take place during the war between the Covenant and the Humans during the Battle of Reach. We will be playing as Lieutenant Noble Six, a member of Noble Team, which consists of SIX of the Master Chief-like SPARTAN II super-soldiers. [...]

Ladies. Gentlemen. Geeks of all ages; lend us your eyes. As promised, it is finally here: our epic Holiday Geek Gift Guide ’09!

So far we’ve offered up multiple guides with many gift suggestions from Wii sports accessories (Read: Holiday Gift Guide: Wii Sports Accessories) to some of the coolest specialty geek toys and gadgets (Read: Geek Guide: Specialty Christmas Gift Suggestions) to the best video game gift ideas (Read: Holiday Gift Guide: Video Game Edition ’09).

Now comes the mother of all guides: the guide that will share with you all of the vest best of the best in DVD and Blu-ray movies and TV series out there. This is the place that you want to go to locate, learn about, and discover the DVDs and Blu-rays that you want to buy your friends, loved ones, yourself (we all deserve a little treat in these hectic times), and maybe even your favorite pizza guy. We’ve also included the online order deadlines for Christmas delivery.

Without further delay, we invite you to keep on reading and discover the cherished DVD and Blu-ray treasures of the year 2009 in our Holiday Geek Gift Guide ’09! [...]

In what can perhaps be claimed as the biggest surprise of the night during Spike TV’s Video Game Awards, a brand new teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II was shown to the masses! As it was with Batman: Arkham Asylum 2, it appears that most people had no idea that this game was even in the works, let alone that there was an awesome trailer ready to go. With the huge new Knights of the Old Republic MMO being developed by BioWare, Star Wars and its universe is making a big push at completely taking over the world of gaming!

Once again, the trailer is of the cinematic variety, and it shows we the Apprentice from the first game walking down a corridor as the voices of Jedi Master Yoda and the dark Sith Lord Vader ring through his head, swaying him from one side to the other. We then get a glimpse at what appears to be a Rancor…a really f’n big Rancor. [...]

Seventh Moon
Directed by Eduardo Sanchez
Starring Amy Smart, Dennis Chan, Tim Chiou
Lionsgate
Release Date: October 6, 2009

Back in the summer of 1999 I refused to get caught up in the hype over The Blair Witch Project, but when the movie came out on video that October I watched it and delighted in rediscovering the sensation of what it was like to enjoy an old-fashioned horror flick that eschewed gory special effects in favor of building an atmosphere of mounting dread and the unseen terrors roaming the woods. Nevertheless, the movie was a huge hit and soon became part of the pop culture lexicon. It’s just a shame that none of the actors from the film or even its two directors went on to the prolific careers they deserved.

One of Blair Witch‘s directors, Eduardo Sanchez, has only made two films in the ten years since its release. The most recent of which, Seventh Moon, has seen some decent film festival play and is now available on DVD as part of the Ghost House Underground series. It’s clear that Sanchez is still trying to recapture some of that same filmmaking magic that conjured his greatest triumph so far as a director, but the time for that may have passed a long time ago.

Newlyweds Yul (Tim Chiou) and Melissa (Amy Smart) have decided to spend their honeymoon in China so they can further explore the rich culture that is part of the birthright Yul has been mostly unfamiliar with his whole life [...]

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is HBO’s monumental World War II miniseries Band of Brothers for 60% off.

The DVD is on sale for $31.99 (that’s 60% off the list price of $79.98; the Blu-ray is on sale for $39.99 (that’s 60% off the list price of $99.98).

Both editions contain all 10-parts of the 2001 award-winning miniseries executive produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, and include bonus features like the 80-minute documentary “We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company” and a 30-minute “Making of Band of Brothers” featurette. The Blu-ray edition also has picture-in-picture commentary and an interactive field guide [...]

Another trailer that debuted at Spike TV’s Video Game Awards last night was for the new Tron game that is based on the upcoming movie sequel Tron: Legacy. The game’s title will be Tron: Evolution, and it was introduced by one of the stars of the film, Olivia Wilde.

As you’ll notice in the trailer, it says “Before The Legacy Starts,” so they’ll be setting the game before the new movie, which is what a lot of games do. Most video games based on movies come out before the actual film is released and no one likes a spoiler. Another thing that most video games based on movies have a tendency of doing is sucking, and unfortunately, the gameplay that they show here is not going to be blowing your face off.

Hopefully the game is still in its early stages and a lot of work is to be done before it is released this time next year. A well-done game in the world of Tron could be a really fun time…at least for you true geeks. [...]

Spike TV held their annual Video Game Awards last night, and while the awards portion of the show was pretty forgettable, there were bright spots. These bright spots came in the form of a collection of new and sometimes unexpected video game teaser trailers being debuted during the program.

One of the bigger surprises of the night came in the very beginning of the show when a mysterious giant box appeared on the stage and a creepy, high-pitched voiced screeched out through the venue as dangerous green gasses were leaked out the box. It wasn’t long before it clicked that the voice belonged to none other than The Joker as voiced by fan-favorite Mark Hamill. This was the introduction of a new cinematic trailer that featured both Harley Quinn and Joker. It was obvious that it was for Batman: Arkham Asylum, but it was not clear whether it was for new DLC content or an actual sequel. A sequel, so soon? Can’t be! [...]

Last night I had the pleasure of experiencing a night of geek culture at the Distant Worlds: The Music of Final Fantasy concert at the Rosemont Theater in Rosemont, IL. Of course, as a Final Fantasy fan, I had a blast, and the music was superbly performed by the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra.

One of the most exciting moments of the night came when the crowd was given a world premiere performance of two songs from the upcoming MMORPG i. Along with the music, fans were shown footage that had premiered at the Tokyo Game Show earlier this year. Fans of the series will be happy to know that longtime series composer Nobuo Uematsu (who was also at the show and performed during the concert’s finale) will compose all the music for the new game.

If you’re a fan of the game series and you also want to see the music preformed live, you will want to keep an eye on the Distant Worlds site for upcoming tour dates. The group will spend the first half of the year in Europe recording a new CD with the Stockholm Symphony, and will then return to North America to play dates across the country including a return date to Chicago, two nights in San Francisco, and a concert with the San Diego Symphony in time for Comic-Con 2010 in July [...]

Amazon is currently offering Stephenie Meyer’s The Twilight Saga novels at a discount of up to 62% off. The books offered on sale are the versions with the original covers (they are not the movie tie-in editions). The first three books are the trade paperback editions and the fourth book is in hardcover.

Twilight
The Twilight Saga, Book 1 | $4.25 (61% off) | trade paperback

New Moon
The Twilight Saga, Book 2 | $4.25 (61% off) | trade paperback

Eclipse
The Twilight Saga, Book 3 | $5 (62% off) | trade paperback

Breaking Dawn
The Twilight Saga, Book 4 | $10.50 (54% off) | hardcover

The Twilight Saga Collection, which collects all four books in hardcover in a box set, is currently on sale for 46% for $44.99.

Grab these items at a discount now before supplies run out; there’s no indication as to when the sale ends, so it could be any moment. Act fast!

Also, you can currently get up to 60% off on Twilight Toys & Games, like Twilight Board Game for only $9.99 (50% off) [...]

Frequent Tonight Show visitor William Shatner has appeared several times on the late night talk show just to do a recitation of the tweets of Gov. Sarah Palin as if they were spoken word (see William Shatner Recites Tweets and Shatner: Recites Sarah Palin Tweets).

Now that Palin has an autobiography out, Shatner returned to the show Friday night to recite some passages from the governor’s new book, Going Rogue. This time around, when Shatner finished his segment, he didn’t just walk off stage. Instead, Palin herself walked on stage carrying a copy of Shatner’s autobiography Up Till Now. As Shatner looked on, Palin recited some passages from Shatner’s book.

Watch the video here below!

Also below is a three-part video with a lengthier interview with Shatner from his December 1 appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, as well as the recent episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live that Shatner was on [...]

As Adam Sandler reminded us in his “The Chanukah Song,” Chanukah is the Festival of Lights that lasts for eight crazy nights. This year’s Chanukah festivities began last night and in celebration, Neil Diamond has released a video of his version of Sandler’s holiday favorite.

Check out the animated music video for Diamond’s version of “The Chanukah Song” embedded here below.

Let’s face it, “The Chanukah Song,”was really a Neil Diamond song from the beginning, I’m surprised it took this long for Diamond to figure it out. The cover tune was part of Diamond’s recent holiday album A Cherry Cherry Christmas, which also includes mainly Christmas classics like “White Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” [...]

Soon Apple’s App store will be blessed by the presence of an actor so profound that he adds quality to everything he appears in.

Samuel L. Jackson is of course such an actor, and he’s coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch in the form of iSamJackson, a soundboard app that contains a collection of original recorded quotes of sage-Jacksonian insight.

The soundboard is fully customizable, includes a personality scanner and an “Ask Sam” feature that allows users to seek instantaneous advice from the world’s most badass living individual, according to the developer Heatwave Interactive [...]

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Shawn Levy
Starring Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest
Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: December 1, 2009

I’ll be honest, when I found out the exhibits at the Museum of Natural History would be coming to life on screen once more in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian I wasn’t all that enthusiastic. I figured the “magic” was already revealed in the first movie and that this sequel would just be more of the same. Let’s face it, the first film, which starred Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a night guard at the Museum of Natural History in New York, was a hit, so why mess with a perfect formula? That’s why screenwriters Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant were smart enough to stick with what drew audiences in initially — the inanimate exhibit figures coming to life at sundown and Larry fighting villains attempting to gain control of a powerful object — while making it much more than just a simple repeat of its predecessor.

The sequel finds Larry out of his museum night guard duds and into the role of CEO of Daley Devices, the company founded to sell his inventions, like the The Glow-In-The-Dark Flashlight and The Unloseable Keyring. The successful Larry decides to visit his old place of employment, the Museum of Natural History, the setting of 2006′s Night at the Museum, which is now closed for renovations and its famous exhibits packed away in crates to be sent to permanent storage at the Smithsonian Institute’s Federal Archives in Washington DC. After hours, the figures come to life and Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams) explains that Pharaoh Ahkmenrah’s Tablet, which is what animates the figures at sundown, won’t be going to the Archives with everyone else. While the situation is dire for his friends, Larry is distracted by his phone’s incoming messages and all of his business ventures to do anything about it [...]