Award season is heating up. This article gives you a preview of tonight’s Critic’s Choice Awards where Star Trek is up for five awards. We also have photos of Chris Pine and JJ Abrams appearing at award shows this week, and news of where Zoe Saldana is showing up. Plus we have the latest Oscar buzz and what some potential Star Trek effects nominees are saying about Star Trek. All that plus video of Kristin Chenoweth’s audition for Spock.
Critic’s Choice Preview
Tonight is the first big award show of the seasons, the Critic’s Choice Awards, which is the award show from the National Broadcast Critics Association. The show airs live on VH1 tonight (January 15th) at 9 PM, 6 PM Pacific. Star Trek has been nominated in five categories. Here they are:
BEST ACTION MOVIE
• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Star Trek
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
• Inglourious Basterds
• Nine
• Precious
• Star Trek
• Up In The Air
BEST SOUND
• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Nine
• Star Trek
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
• Avatar
• District 9
• The Lovely Bones
• Star Trek
• 2012
BEST MAKEUP
• Avatar
• District 9
• Nine
• The Road
• Star Trek
Star Trek’s Michael Giacchino was also nominated for his Up score, but not for his Star Trek score.
The AwardsDaily site handicaps the Critic’s Choice awards and actually doesn’t pick Star Trek to win in any of it’s categories, with Avatar beating it for Action Movie, Sound and Visual Effects, Basterds beating it for Ensemble and District 9 winning for Makeup. We will find out tonight.
The show is hosted by Kristin Chenoweth. VH1 has posted some promotional videos including "Kristin’s Lost Screen Tests", including this one for Star Trek.
JJ at NBR + Zoe to present at Golden Globes + Pine at Ovation
The annual Golden Globe Awards are being held this Sunday. Star Trek is actually not up for any awards, but Star Trek’s (and Avatar’s) Zoe Saldana will be there to represent. Zoe Saldana was announced as one of the presenters. Last year’s Golden Globes also had a Star Trek moment, with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto appearing together for the first time. This year’s Golden Globes airs on NBC, Sunday January 17th at 8 PM Eastern, 5 PM Pacific.
Speaking of appearances, on Monday JJ Abrams attended at the National Board of Review Awards in New York. Star Trek was named a Top 10 Film of 2009, by the NBR. Here is a photo of JJ Abrams speaking on stage.
JJ Abrams speaking at NBR Awards (Getty)
Star Trek’s Chris Pine also appeared at an award show this week. Pine (who appeared in last year’s play "Farragut North") presented at the LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards on Monday. Here is a photo from that event.
Chris Pine presenting at LA Ovation Awards (WireImage)
Potential Star Trek Visual and Sound Effects Nominees talk about their work
Variety has been running a series of profiles for various films in contention for Oscars, including some comments from the potential nominees.
Star Trek’s visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett tells Variety
(We were) adding a new level of elegance in using colors and the lens flares and the cinematography of it. Just creating memorable imagery. That’s something I was very excited about.
…
‘Trek’ is an enormous design exercise. It’s something you can easily underestimate. I’m extremely proud of the way the movie looks. There’s a level of art there I think is sometimes neglected in our field.
Star Trek’s supervising sound editor Mark Stoeckinger tells Variety:
This film is laced with iconic sounds that are derivative of the original TV series. We never included the exact same sound, but we were given inspiration from (the series) or got ideas from it.
…
[Ben Burtt] was tasked with getting us a little more iconic in our sound and be even more exacting,. We had modernized some sounds that sounded great, but we wanted to make sure they made sense for the people that knew the series.
Award Watch Links: Trek wins Golden Tomato + More Oscar Buzz
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Star Trek is the Winner of the Rotten Tomatoes Golden Tomato for best reviewed Sci-Fi Fantasy film of 2009 (and 2nd for Wide release film)
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Variety looks at effect of Golden Globes and expanded ballot on Oscars, including possibility of Star Trek being nominated for Best Picture
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Awards Daily assesses the state of the Oscar Race, and the possibility of Star Trek being nominated
What could win:
BEST ACTION MOVIE
• Avatar
• Star Trek
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
• Inglourious Basterds
• Star Trek
BEST SOUND
• Star Trek
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
• Avatar
BEST MAKEUP
• Star Trek
Makeup? The only movie on the list with noticeable makeup were the aliens in Star Trek. The Na’vi from Avatar are CGI right? And 9 is CGI as well.
For acting ensamble I’d vote inglorious basterds. Christoph Watlz was soooo perfect in that film. Along with Brad Pitt and the others!
And the Best Picture Oscar goes to StarTrek!!
I doubt that would happen but it would be cool. I just hope Avatar doesn’t trump Trek on everything.
Is Kristin Chenoweth necessary?
4. THX-1138-Wielding The Wave Motion Gun – January 15, 2010
Is Kristin Chenoweth necessary?
In a metaphysical sense? or did you have a real point?
2.
Too bad Inglorious Bastards sucked. I went to it thinking I was going to be watching a movie about Brad Pitt killing Nazi. No one warned me that Brad Pitt (and his team) were minor characters. A third of the film deals with them. The rest is torn between a young Jewish girl who survives the slaughter of her family only to die before she can take out her revenge, (major disappointment); a war propoganda movie about some hotshot Nazi I don’t care about, and the love affair of the Jewish girl and her black employee. Mix in a German officer who eats desert like a farm animal, historical inaccuracies and unnecessary items like Brad Pitt’s neck scar and a title purposefully misspelt and you have the plot. Oh, and lest I forget, I also didn’t know that I would be READING half the movie. Its in subtitles! I don’t go to the movies to read, I read books.
Funny, I thought the one BAD actor in Inglorious Basterds was Brad Pitt. Everyone else gave subtle nuanced performances while he mugged for the camera like he was in a completely different movie! The rest of the cast played it as a drama, he acted like he was in a farcical comedy!
Disgraceful!
It’s actually pretty easy to pick the winners of these categories. Avatar is going to sweep the technical awards for pretty much all the awards shows, just as Titanic did.
BEST ACTION MOVIE
• Avatar
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
• Inglourious Basterds
BEST SOUND
• Avatar
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
• Avatar
BEST MAKEUP
• District 9
Hmmmmm… Gotta confess that Chenoweth’s Spock reactions were what I was actually thinking in the theater!
– 24thCRS!
BEST COVERAGE OF STAR TREK
-Anthony Pascale and the trekmovie staff.
@7 To be fair to Brad Pitt he was in a farcical comedy. It certainly couldn’t be called a serious drama.
Loved District 9 but best make up? Really?
I honestly don’t see how District 9 is up to par with the other scifi/action/whatever films on the list. I just don’t see it.
But I wish them all luck at the awards shows.
If Star Trek does not win in all categories, there is no God.
Also, Chris Pine looks perfectly star-like in that photo, contrary to a comment I read recently that he had somewhat let himself go this past year. He clearly hasn’t.
My pick:
Best Action Movie
-Avatar
Best Sound
-Star Trek
Best VFX
-Star Trek
Best Make-up
-?
:)
There will be no awards for “Star Trek”. But that’s okay. This movie succeded on all levels except engineering. “Avatar” will dominate these awards, the Golden Globes and the Oscars. Even though “Star Trek” is the better movie.
#10 I second that motion!
Inglourious Basterds WON Best Acting Ensemble.
Avatar WON Best Action Movie
Is CGI makeup or not?
Did a big cannon go off when CGI ate the jobs of model makers?
I dunno. Your opinions??
I don’t know if CGI really counts as makeup, but to be technical, all movies have some makeup. ;)
Think I just a glimpse of Paul McCartney posing with the cast of Star Trek during commercials.
I loved Trek 09, but with the plot holes, and bad editing,
BUT, after watching Avatar tonight.
Avatar is a better movie, on every level, sorry!
& watch it Avatar on 3D, the glasses may annoy, if your not used to glasses, but its sooo worth it.
My predictions in post 8 were all correct. Avatar swept all the technicals. Although you have to wonder about critics giving awards for tech categories when they have no expertise
@ 22
I’d have to disagree with that. Avatar is a great film, but it doesn’t have the same energy level as Star Trek does. Plot holes ? Sci-Fi movies tend to have a lot of them, since their always dealing with unrealistic science. I saw many plot-holes in Avatar too.
6.
Inglorious didn’t suck. In my opinion. The story was more interesting than Avatar. And definitely more intense. Quentin Tarantino did what he does best, throws curveballs. The French girl did die before she could see her plan work but she got the last laugh…on the projector screen. The chapter wasn’t called “Revenge of the French Girl.” It was called “Revenge of the Giant Face” and rightfully so.
Sure Brad Pitt was only in a third of the movie but I didn’t go to see a Brad Pitt film. I went to see a Quentin Tarantino film about Nazi’s getting slaughtered with taste…and that’s just what I got (with a special surprise at the end, which I won’t share for spoiler purposes). Brad Pitt served his purpose and got in several laughs (when I went to the theatre anyways).
The other players in the film played their roles beautifully including, but not limited to, Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa. So you had to read sub-titles for half the movie. It didn’t kill you did it? You’re still alive aren’t you? Then it’s not the end of the world. Authenticity adds substance to film. Something most American films lack. So the Germans, French and Italians spoke their actually language instead of an English substitute. Good on ya Tarantino. You just made one of the best films of your career.
Inglourious Basterds was a great big ball of crap. Crappiest movie I’ve seen in years. The only redeeming quality was the perfomance of Christoph Waltz as Col. Landa – everything else about the movie was absolutely terrible. Just my two cents.
Kristin Chenoweth was my favorite part of the new movie.
Star Trek should win everything! It deserves it.
Having seen both Star Trek and Avatar, I can say honestly and wholeheartedly that Star Trek was a better movie, and while the CGI cat people were tremendously well done the overall effects for Avatar were merely more voluminous, not necessarily better.
I’m saying this in all honesty. Star Trek actually manages to make an emotional connection and make statements about destiny and purpose. Avatar is a Disney movie on steroids.
#26 : I haven’t seen IB, but Tarantino’s been sniffing his own farts for so long he’s lost touch with what made his movies great in the first place, so I’m not surprised by that review. Kill Bill Vol. I was a train wreck and Vol. II was saved only by a sublime performance by the late David Carradine (delivering a monologue Tarantino stole from smarter people).
This was supposed to be funny?
#5
OK, can you offer me an explanation for Kristin Chenoweth? I’m (as Spock might say) all ears.
BTW, the quote I was paraphrasing was something that Miles Davis said about Al Hirt. It’s called a joke. Some of them are funny and some maybe not so much. But it doesn’t mean I stop trying.
Star Trek definitely deserves to win for sound.
All of Avatar’s sound FX were retread effects from other action movies, most noticeably Jurassic Park!
“Kristin Chenoweth was my favorite part of the new movie.”
—
LOL