Oscar Visual Effects Candidates Narrowed to Seven

The first Oscar short list for the highly competitive visual effects award has been whittled from fifteen films to seven, and the three most likely winners, at least in my opinion, are still in the running. This award is quickly becoming one of the biggest Oscars handed out every year. It's not in the Big Five - picture, actor, actress, director, screenply - but it has probably become the most coveted technical award every year. That prominence should only grow as visual effects become a more integral part of what we wouldn't traditionally think of as "effects" movies. For example, I think Benjamin Button is the runaway choice this year. Last year, David Fincher's Zodiac was loaded with them, but you'd never notice. And because he's using effects to create more commonplace things, the challenge is much greater than making an army of skeletons. Here are the seven potential nominees, and remember that this list will eventually be cut to three: Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Iron Man
Journey to the Center of the Earth
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Voters of the Academy's Visual Effects branch will see 15 minutes of each film on Thursday, January 15th, after which, they'll nominate the three finalists. Those movies will be revealed the following Thursday when all the Academy Award nominations are announced.

'The Mummy' to Return from the Dead Again?

Citing a source "deep inside" Universal - and yes, I used those quotation marks to add even more possible innuendo - Cinema Blend is reporting that the studio is setting the wheels in motion for a fourth Mummy movie, most likely without Brendan Fraser.How does this happen? Well, you see, this summer's entry in the series, The Mummy: Kiss of the Spider Woman or whatever it was, actually cashed in. It didn't make Sex and the City profit or Mamma Mia! profit, but it earned about 2.5 times its budget, and if you're a franchise, that's reason enough for one more Roman numeral.But things will change. Cinema Blend says, "Almost no one involved with the third movie wants anything to do with The Mummy's future," pointing out that new cast member Jet Li was not a fan and that Fraser wants to focus on a sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth. The website also says that Rob Cohen is persona non grata with the studio, and they'll be looking for another director if or when the fourth movie happens. This is almost exactly what I said the studio should have done with the third movie: Retire the O'Connells altogether and let the movie be about the mummies for a change. Wisely, the end of the third film tips its hand at a South American or Central American location for the next adventure, so you just need mummies with different heroes for each movie. It's how horror franchises have worked for decades.Of course, I don't want a fourth Mummy movie - didn't even want the third - but if they're going to do it, they may as well find a better approach.