Joan Crawford's Oscar for Mildred Pierce Sold At Auction

Joan Crawford's Oscar sold on September 25, 2012,  for $426,000. 

Her win at the Academy Awards was for her role in the 1945 movie, Mildred Pierce.

She won the Oscar after a string of poorly received movies and actually did not believe she would win.

Hollywood lore has it that she pretended to be sick in order to skip the presentation.

When she won, she invited the newspaper reporters into her home and received the Oscar in bed. She said, "Whether the Academy voters were giving the Oscar to me, sentimentally, for Mildred or for 200 years of effort, the hell with it -- I deserved it."

I can recommend Mildred Pierce both the Joan Crawford Academy Award winning version, the HBO miniseries with Kate Winslet AND the book by James M. Cain.

See you
at the movies!
Brenda





Official 85th Academy Awards Commemorative Movie Poster

The Official 85th Academy Awards Commemorative Movie Poster is a handsome piece that celebrates the Best Pictures Oscar winners from 1927 to 2012. As you’ll no doubt guess from looking at the poster, it features 85 Oscar statues that were inspired from the winning movies.

It was created for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by an English artist, graphic designer and illustrator by the name of Olly Moss in collaboration with Gallery1988. Moss has created other posters for which he is well known, including a movie poster for Thor.

We particularly like the black and white statue for The Artist (2011), the statue for the The Lord of the Rings (2003) and the statue for the Godfather (1972.)

Yes, the 85th Academy Awards poster is for sale online. You can order a copy of the poster directly from Amazon by clicking right here.

See you
at the Oscars!
Brenda

Quick Links:

Buy your Official 85th Academy Awards Poster from Amazon.
Have you seen the Official Oscars App?
Follow my Academy Awards Board on Pinterest.


85th Academy Award Best Picture Nominations


The 85th Academy Awards will be presented on February 24, 2013 and this year we have an impressive list of thought-provoking Best Picture nominations.

That list includes Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook and Zero Dark Thirty.

As the Ottawa Citizen said, it is an "Oscar List Worth Talking About." I agree.

Five of these movies have proved not just discussion-worthy but also, unlike the case with last year's nominations, have done well at the box office. A successful run at the box office is important for the future of movie making.

So what do you think of this year's nominations?

See you
at the movies!
Brenda

Quick Links:

Buy this photographic picture of the Academy Award's Oscar Statuette on Allposters.
Check out the Official Oscars App.

New on DVD & Blu-ray This Week

New on DVD & Blu-ray This Week Skyfall

Most noteworthy this week in the way of new DVD and blu-ray releases, at least in terms of box office success, is definitely the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall.  Skyfall, although not considered perfect, faired pretty well with the expert reviewers and James Bond fans alike.  It, along with all of the new releases this week, will be available at Amazon and elsewhere on February 12, 2013.
Other new releases include The Perks of Being a Wallflower, starring Harry Potter's Emma Watson. While I haven't seen it, I know one of my son's friends enjoyed it enough to make it move onto my 19-year old son's must-see list.

A Disney film called Wreck-It Ralph appears for downloading only this week. If you want to own it on DVD and blu-ray disc you will have to wait until March 5 at which time and in typical Disney fashion, at that time you'll have various choices from the four-disc DVD, blu-ray and digital combination pack to a more simple and affordable DVD.

Called hilarious and heartwarming, the story of Robot and Frank is of a cat burglar who is being overtaken by dementia.  His children want to see him go into a nursing home but he winds up living with a robot who helps him cope with cleaning, cooking, etc. It sounds like an interesting film and is one I would like to see. (Robot and Frank is not available on blu-ray disc.)

The Sessions is a biopic that deals with the story of a poet and polio survivor, sexual intercourse and disabled people. It is apparently a story of optimism told with some humour. However, because of its content matter it is of course rated R and not a movie that I would choose to see lightly. Helen Hunt, who we haven't seen for awhile, plays the sex surrogate.

Is there a new DVD or blu-ray disc in your future?

See you
at the movies!
Brenda



Free Johnny Depp Kindle eBook

Image if you were able to cast a spell and conjure up Johnny Depp on your doorstep! That's something I'm sure more than a few have done and that is exactly what happens in Anne Kelleher's Conjuring Johnny Depp, a free short story in eBook form for your Kindle or other eReader. At least it is free today, Feburary 9, 2013.
I'll admit I have not read the short story yet but I have downloaded it and I am encouraged by the positive Amazon customer reviews. If you read it, be sure to come back and let us know what you think.
 
See you
at the movies!
Brenda
 
Quick Links:
 

Peter Pan on Blu-ray and DVD

Peter Pan on Blu-ray and DVD

Many Peter Pan fans been asking for a very long time, "When will Peter Pan be released from the Vault?"


Their wait was finally over when, on February 5, 2013 the the sixtieth anniversary of the original release of Peter Pan, Disney released Peter Pan from the Vault again.  

As Disney says, “Now, for the first time ever, we’ll be able to see Disney’s Peter Pan in high definition. Never Land looks like it has never looked before.”   

Disney released three versions of Peter Pan, including the Diamond Edition blu-ray DVD combination with two discs in DVD or blu-ray packaging and a Diamond Edition with three discs that also includes a digital copy of the movie and a storybook application. 

I love that Disney created new cover artwork from the illustrations of Mary Blair for this release.
 
Mary Blair was an artist who created concept art for Peter Pan and for other Disney movies that included Alice in Wonderland, Song of theS outh and Cinderella.
 
I think this cover is absolutely stunning, particularly in the gold colored three-disc Diamond Edition version shown here. If it wasn’t so ridiculous, one might actually want to own two copies of the movie just to have both versions of the artwork.
 
As a matter of fact, I think this artwork is nice enough to grace the walls of a child’s bedroom or even my family room, but I digress!

Of course, the re-release of Peter Pan means that the movie has been digitally restored and the sound upgraded.
 
As always with Disney’s re-released movies, it includes a long list of more than FOUR HOURS of bonus features that includes a new song and previously deleted scenes.
 
Here's the Peter Pan blu-ray movie trailer:

 
And here are a few bits from the expert reviews of the Peter Pan blu-ray movie release that are already available:
 
Blu-ray.com calls this latest release of Peter Pan, "even more wondrous and magnificent" than the original. They say that the sound is strong and that the video is stunning although fans will note that it is slightly different than the original.
 
High-Def Digest says that Disney has done another marvelous job, that it looks and sounds fantastic and says, of course, that Disney fans MUST own it  but that for others it is most definitely HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
I cannot wait to see Peter Pan again. How about you? Or maybe you already  have! If so, be sure to leave us a note a nd let us know what you thought. You can order your  copy of Peter Pan (2013) from Amazon by clicking here.

See you
at the movies!
Brenda


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