Oscar List of Winners!

You would notice that my last few post was with regard to the Academy Awards for Best Achievement in Visual Effects. Now to put a sort of closure to it, I'm posting the winners of the recent concluded 81st Annual Academy Awards.

As I have predicted, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button won the Academy Awards for Best Achievement in Visual Effects and Wall-e won the Best Animated Picture!

Yeah!

Here's the complete list of the winners of the 81st Annual Academy Awards:

• Best Motion Picture of the Year

WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire: Christian Colson

Other Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Ceán Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall
Frost/Nixon: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner
Milk: Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks
The Reader: Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti, Redmond Morris

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

WINNER: Sean Penn for Milk

Other Nominees:
Richard Jenkins for The Visitor
Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon
Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

WINNER:Kate Winslet for The Reader

Other Nominees:
Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie for Changeling
Melissa Leo for Frozen River
Meryl Streep for Doubt

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

WINNER: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight

Other Nominees:
Josh Brolin for Milk
Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt
Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

WINNER: Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Other Nominees:
Amy Adams for Doubt
Viola Davis for Doubt
Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler

• Best Achievement in Directing

WINNER: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Other Nominees:
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant for Milk

• Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

WINNER: Milk: Dustin Lance Black

Other Nominees:
Frozen River: Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky: Mike Leigh
In Bruges: Martin McDonagh
WALL·E: Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon

• Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire: Simon Beaufoy

Other Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Eric Roth, Robin Swicord
Doubt: John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon: Peter Morgan
The Reader: David Hare

• Best Achievement in Cinematography

WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire: Anthony Dod Mantle

Other Nominees:
Changeling: Tom Stern
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight: Wally Pfister
The Reader: Roger Deakins, Chris Menges

• Best Achievement in Editing

WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire: Chris Dickens

Other Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
The Dark Knight: Lee Smith
Frost/Nixon: Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
Milk: Elliot Graham

• Best Achievement in Art Direction

WINNER: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo

Other Nominees:
Changeling: James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
The Dark Knight: Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
The Duchess: Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
Revolutionary Road: Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt

• Best Achievement in Costume Design

WINNER: The Duchess: Michael O'Connor

Other Nominees:
Australia: Catherine Martin
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Jacqueline West
Milk: Danny Glicker
Revolutionary Road: Albert Wolsky

• Best Achievement in Makeup

WINNER: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Greg Cannom

Other Nominees:
The Dark Knight: John Caglione Jr., Conor O'Sullivan
Hellboy II: The Golden Army: Mike Elizalde, Thomas Floutz

• Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire: A.R. Rahman

Other Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Alexandre Desplat
Defiance: James Newton Howard
Milk: Danny Elfman
WALL·E: Thomas Newman

• Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire: A.R. Rahman, Sampooran Singh Gulzar("Jai Ho")

Other Nominees:
Slumdog Millionaire: A.R. Rahman, Maya Arulpragasam("O Saya")
WALL·E: Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman("Down to Earth")

• Best Achievement in Sound

WINNER: Slumdog Millionaire: Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty

Other Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
The Dark Knight: Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo
WALL·E: Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
Wanted: Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt

• Best Achievement in Sound Editing

WINNER: The Dark Knight: Richard King

Other Nominees:
Iron Man: Frank E. Eulner, Christopher Boyes
Slumdog Millionaire: Tom Sayers
WALL·E: Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
Wanted: Wylie Stateman

• Best Achievement in Visual Effects

WINNER: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron

Other Nominees:
The Dark Knight: Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Timothy Webber, Paul J. Franklin
Iron Man: John Nelson, Ben Snow, Daniel Sudick, Shane Mahan

• Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

WINNER: WALL·E: Andrew Stanton

Other Nominees:
Bolt: Chris Williams, Byron Howard
Kung Fu Panda: John Stevenson, Mark Osborne

• Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

WINNER: Okuribito(Japan)

Other Nominees:
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex(Germany)
Entre les murs(France)
Revanche(Austria)
Vals Im Bashir(Israel)

• Best Documentary, Features

WINNER: Man on Wire: James Marsh, Simon Chinn

Other Nominees:
The Betrayal - Nerakhoon: Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath
Encounters at the End of the World: Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser
The Garden: Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Trouble the Water: Tia Lessin, Carl Deal

• Best Documentary, Short Subjects

WINNER: Smile Pinki: Megan Mylan

Other Nominees:
The Conscience of Nhem En: Steven Okazaki
The Final Inch: Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant
The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306: Adam Pertofsky, Margaret Hyde

• Best Short Film, Animated

WINNER: Maison en petits cubes, La: Kunio Katô

Other Nominees:
Ubornaya istoriya - lyubovnaya istoriya: Konstantin Bronzit
Oktapodi: Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand
Presto: Doug Sweetland
This Way Up: Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes

• Best Short Film, Live Action

WINNER: Spielzeugland: Jochen Alexander Freydank

Other Nominees:
Auf der Strecke: Reto Caffi
Manon sur le bitume: Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont
New Boy: Steph Green, Tamara Anghie
Grisen: Tivi Magnusson, Dorthe Warnø Høgh

Yay! I feel satisfied with the winners! My only regret, Wall-e could have made the list of Best Picture nominees. Well, see you next year, Oscar! :)

81st Academy Award for Visual Effects

As promised in my previous post about the Academy Awards for the the best achievement in Visual Effects, I would like to create a post dedicated for my comments in this year's nominees for the said award.

The official nominees for the 81st Academy Awards for the Best Achievement in Visual Effects are:

• Iron Man
• The Dark Knight
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Luckily, I've seen all three in the big screen in the past. I would like to stress the fact though that these are just my personal comments and somehow, you may, or may not agree with me.

Iron Man. Plot: Tony Stark is the complete playboy who also happens to be an engineering genius. While in Afghanistan demonstrating a new missile he's captured and wounded. His captors want him to assemble a missile for them but instead he creates an armored suit and a means to prevent his death from the shrapnel left in his chest by the attack. He uses the armored suit to escape. Back in the U.S. he announces his company will cease making weapons and he begins work on an updated armored suit only to find that Obadiah Stane, his second in command at Stark industries has been selling Stark weapons to the insurgents. He uses his new suit to return to Afghanistan to destroy the arms and then to stop Stane from misusing his research. [Written by John Vogel of jlvogel@comcast.net]

Unlike the other two nominees, this movie is the most visual effects driven movie. I enjoyed the whole movie, much more its visual effects. The effects focus more on Iron Man itself. I have to admit, they look pretty real and the whole deal was very believable!

The Dark Knight. Plot:Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker. [Written by Peteagassi]

The realistic approach of the director make visual effects on this movie very limited. I can only think of the climatic battle scenes wherein the image and visual alterations have been made. Overall, it was Heath Ledger's performance that made the movie outstanding, but I doubt it'll win the award of this achievement.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Plot: On the day that Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, elderly Daisy Williams nee Fuller is on her deathbed in a New Orleans hospital. At her side is her adult daughter, Caroline. Daisy asks Caroline to read to her aloud the diary of Daisy's lifelong friend, Benjamin Button. Benjamin's diary recounts his entire extraordinary life, the primary unusual aspect of which was his aging backwards, being born an old man who was diagnosed with several aged diseases at birth and thus given little chance of survival, but who does survive and gets younger with time. Abandoned by his biological father, Thomas Button, after Benjamin's biological mother died in childbirth, Benjamin was raised by Queenie, a black woman and caregiver at a seniors home. Daisy's grandmother was a resident at that home, which is where she first met Benjamin. Although separated through the years, Daisy and Benjamin remain in contact throughout their lives, reconnecting in their forties when in age they finally match up. Some of the revelations in Benjamin's diary are difficult for Caroline to read, especially as it relates to the time past this reconnection between Benjamin and Daisy, when Daisy gets older and Benjamin grows younger into his childhood years. [Written by Hugg]

This movie focused more on the performances of the actor and the movie itself, rather than the visuals that it carries. But I loved the movie, and it managed to pull great deal of imagery and visual effects! The alterations and the modifications can clearly be seen on the character's faces. I also liked the scene with regard to the war at sea. God, loved that!

My thoughts is that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button would win the award, but it will face very tough competition with Iron Man, which is likely to be favored.

Update: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button won the award! View the full list of 81st Annual Academy Awards winners.

And the Visual Effects Oscar goes to...

The Academy Awards (Oscars) is a national film awards ceremony in the United States. It is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and gives recognition to those who have achieved the highest in a certain field in the movie industry the year before. And since the Oscar season is here, I decided to post something about the annual ceremony and technology. And your right, I wanted to feature the Academy Awards for the highest achievement in visual effects!

According to Wikipedia, here are the following criteria in order for a film to be nominated and win the prestigious award.

For a film to be nominated for this award, the effects artist must have created something not available for filming. For example, an entirely digital Empire State Building could not make a movie eligible, since one can easily film the building; on the other hand, a recreation of ancient Rome could, since it is impossible to film. However, movies are judged on the quality of all of their effects shots, not just one scene.

According to the official Academy Award rules, the criteria are:

• consideration of the contribution the visual effects make to the overall production and
• the artistry, skill and fidelity with which the visual illusions are achieved.

And I decided to list the previous films which garnered the prestigious award. Here they are:

1930s

• 1939 (12th) The Rains Came1940s

1940s

• 1940 (13th) The Thief of Bagdad
• 1941 (14th) I Wanted Wings
• 1942 (15th) Reap the Wild Wind
• 1943 (16th) Crash Dive
• 1944 (17th) Thirty Seconds over Tokyo
• 1945 (18th) Wonder Man
• 1946 (19th) Blithe Spirit
• 1947 (20th) Green Dolphin Street
• 1948 (21st) Portrait of Jennie
• 1949 (22nd) Mighty Joe Young

1950s

• 1950 (23rd) Destination Moon
• 1951 (24th) When Worlds Collide
• 1952 (25th) Plymouth Adventure
• 1953 (26th) The War of the Worlds
• 1954 (27th) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
• 1955 (28th) The Bridges at Toko-Ri
• 1956 (29th) The Ten Commandments
• 1957 (30th) The Enemy Below
• 1958 (31st) Tom Thumb
• 1959 (32nd) Ben-Hur

1960s

• 1960 (33rd) The Time Machine
• 1961 (34th) The Guns of Navarone
• 1962 (35th) The Longest Day
• 1963 (36th) Cleopatra
• 1964 (37th) Mary Poppins
• 1965 (38th) Thunderball
• 1966 (39th) Fantastic Voyage
• 1967 (40th) Doctor Dolittle
• 1968 (41st) 2001: A Space Odyssey
• 1969 (42nd) Marooned

1970s

• 1970 (43rd) Tora! Tora! Tora!
• 1971 (44th) Bedknobs and Broomsticks
• 1972 (45th) The Poseidon Adventure (Special Achievement Award)
• 1974 (47th) Earthquake (Special Achievement Award)
• 1975 (48th) The Hindenburg (Special Achievement Award)
• 1976 (49th) King Kong and Logan's Run (Special Achievement Awards)
• 1977 (50th) Star Wars
• 1978 (51st) Superman: The Movie (Special Achievement Award)
• 1979 (52nd) Alien

1980s

• 1980 (53rd) Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (Special Achievement Award)
• 1981 (54th) Raiders of the Lost Ark
• 1982 (55th) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• 1983 (56th) Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (Special Achievement Award)
• 1984 (57th) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• 1985 (58th) Cocoon
• 1986 (59th) Aliens
• 1987 (60th) Innerspace
• 1988 (61st) Who Framed Roger Rabbit
• 1989 (62nd) The Abyss

1990s

• 1990 (63rd) Total Recall (Special Achievement Award)
• 1991 (64th) Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• 1992 (65th) Death Becomes Her
• 1993 (66th) Jurassic Park
• 1994 (67th) Forrest Gump
• 1995 (68th) Babe
• 1996 (69th) Independence Day
• 1997 (70th) Titanic
• 1998 (71st) What Dreams May Come
• 1999 (72nd) The Matrix

2000s

• 2000 (73rd) Gladiator
• 2001 (74th) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• 2002 (75th) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• 2003 (76th) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• 2004 (77th) Spider-Man 2
• 2005 (78th) King Kong
• 2006 (79th) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• 2007 (80th) The Golden Compass

For this year? That'll be something I'll reserve for my next post. I'll post the nominees for this year, and I'll give my comments on each. I'll update this post once I'm done with it.

Yadda!

Update: As promised, I posted my thoughts on the nominees for the 81st Academy Award for Best Achievement on Visual Effects. If you have time, read though it.

Paypal Philippines Bank Codes

It's been a while since Paypal has been available in the Philippines, but I had alot of problems and questions when I was trying to sign up. So yeah, I'm posting the list of banks and their respective codes, the portion I had some problems searching.

Bank Name - Bank Code

• ALLIED BANKING CORP - 010320013
  
• AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND - 010700015
  
• ASIA UNITED BANK - 011020011
  
• BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS - 010030015
  
• BANGKOK BANK - 010670019
  
• BANK OF AMERICA - 010120019
  
• BANK OF CHINA - 011140014
  
• BANK OF TOKYO - 010460012
  
• BANCO DE ORO (& EQUITABLE PCI BANK) - 010530667
  
• BANK OF COMMERCE - 010440016
  
• BANK OF THE PHIL ISLANDS (BPI) - 010040018
  
• CHINA BANKING CORP - 010100013
  
• CHINA TRUST COMML BANK - 010690015
  
• CITIBANK N.A. - 010070017
  
• DEVT BANK OF THE PHILS (DBP) - 010590018
  
• DEUTSCHE BANK - 010650013
  
• EAST WEST BANK - 010620014
  
• EXPORT & INDUSTRY BANK - 010860010
  
• FUJI BANK - 010640010
  
• HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANK (HSBC) - 010060014
  
• INTL COMML BANK OF CHINA - 010560019
  
• INTL EXCHANGE BANK - 010680012
  
• JP MORGAN CHASE BANK - 010720011
  
• KOREA EXCHANGE BANK - 010710018
  
• INTL NEDERLAND BANK - 010660016
  
• LANDBANK OF THE PHILS - 010350025
  
• MAYBANK OF THE PHILS - 010220016
  
• METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST CO - 010269996
  
• PHIL BANK OF COMMUNICATION - 010110016
  
• PHIL TRUST COMPANY - 010090039
  
• PHIL NATIONAL BANK (PNB) - 010080010
  
• PRUDENTIAL BANK - 010150018
  
• PHIL VETERANS BANK - 010330016
  
• RIZAL COMML BANKING CORP (RCBC) - 010280014
  
• SECURITY BANK & TRUST CO - 010140015
  
• STANDARD CHARTERED BANK - 010050011
  
• UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK - 010299995
  
• UNION BANK OF THE PHILS (UBP) - 010419995
  
• UNITED OVERSEAS BANK - 010270189
  

Been busy these days, so I'm sorry for not making any updates for a while.

Grey's Anatomy Addiction

It was for one night that I tried watching an episode of Grey's Anatomy from a full season 1 DVD (which I did not intend to borrow). And it took only that night, no, it took only one episode to get me hooked on the series. Now I find myself not able to stop watching it!

Enter Meridith Grey, the main protagonist of the show. She is smart and has great potential. But the main problem with her, in my perspective, is that she always have love problems. Well, everybody has love problems, but she never solves hers. I know her character is written that way, and some of my friends say that the main theme of the show is about her love story(to which I disagree).

Enter Cristina, Izzie, and George, the three co-interns of Meridith, who throughout the series, has their own personal life problems. All four of them resolve their issues, while trying to help the patients at Seattle Grace Hospital recover, cope, and live. The show also brings in many memorable characters and stories, which can make you appreciate your life.

Nah, this post seems out of the theme, but just wanted to share my thoughts about the show.

For me, the main theme of the show is the struggle of the interns to pass their residency while at the same time, balancing their personal and professional lives.

Oh, by the way, my favorite characters are Miranda and George. Miranda simply gets the best lines on the show while George's character is the most misunderstood and underwritten.