Don’t tell that to Jason Segel.

The “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” star is a Muppet true believer, and when given the chance to reboot the felt-laden franchise he refused to settle for mediocrity.

Segel’s “Muppets” – he co-wrote and stars in the film – rekindles the humor and charm of Jim Henson’s creations while acknowledging how awkwardly they fit in the 21st century. Kid’s films are all about 3D glasses, Buzz Lightyear and computer animation, not old-school puppets who live to put on a show as if it were still 1979.

If any kiddie franchise can yank audiences back in time, it’s the new, improved “Muppets.”

The film introduces us to Walter, a human-like muppet voiced by Peter Linz. Walter and his brother Gary (Segel) embark on a tourist trip to Los Angeles where they plan to visit the old Muppets studios. Gary’s longtime squeeze, Mary (Amy Adams), comes along for the ride, but she hopes to get some alone time with her beau.

The old studios look like they would need a massive restoration just to be worth condemning, but a game Walter enters all the same just to soak in the memories. He ends up overhearing a plot by an evil oil baron (Chris Cooper) to raze the place and suck up the black gold buried underneath.

That simply won’t do, so Walter, Gary and Mary set out to find Kermit the Frog to see if he can somehow stop the oil baron from completing his wicked plans. But Kermit hasn’t seen the old Muppet gang in ages, and even if he can reunite them it’s still a long shot that they can raise enough money to buy back their old turf.

Never count out the Muppets, or a movie packed with enough meta-gags to make the “Scream” franchise blush.

“The Muppets” isn’t ashamed to acknowledge the culture deficit in play. Rashida Jones of “The Office” plays a TV executive who bluntly tells Kermit the Muppets are about as hip as Right Said Fred. That won’t stop them from putting on a show or Segel from instigating a number of bouncy musical numbers along the way.

“Muppet” movies are known for their celebrity cameos, but the new film struggles to make the most of its middling star power. Jack Black scores some laughs as both an anger management guru trying to tame Animal the drummer and, later, as an addled version of himself forced to co-host the reunion show. But other celebrities, like Selena Gomez, Neil Patrick Harris and Whoopi Goldberg, simply enter the frame, acknowledge the crowd and leave without firing off a funny line.

Why bother showing up? And does a Muppet film really need the Ragin’ Cajun himself, James Carville, to make an appearance?

The film’s early musical numbers are so enchanting you wish they’d decorate the rest of the film. But “The Muppets” forgo singing and dancing in order to get the gang back together, a feat made possible by a goofy “travel by map” plot device. If you’ve ever seen a film use dots on a geographic map to plot the hero’s course, you’ll grin like a toddler at the gag.

Segel isn’t as comfortable with the dance numbers as Adams, but he can’t so much as nudge that big, ol’ grin off his face. He’s earned it. He helped bring some old friends back to the big screen with all their humor and integrity intact.

—–

What’s to Like

Although this trailer isn’t as impressive as the previously-released teaser trailer for “The Muppets,” it’s still a lot of fun. With a talented cast including Jason Segel, Amy Adams and the muppets themselves, this film could be a real treat for families to enjoy.

What’s to Dislike

Nothing in the trailer looks particularly funny by itself but the electric fence scene and the clip in the car do have comedic possibilities. Unfortunately,  the plot description at the Internet Movie Database notes that in this film, the muppets must fight against a wealthy oil tycoon. This comedy could arrive in theaters with a few political swipes and an agenda that could undercut some of its likable qualities.

The Verdict

With a talented cast and a strong script, this could turn out to be an enjoyable film. “The Muppets” comes out in late November and could be a wonderful holiday treat if  the gags in the trailer are precursors to even funnier scenes in the film and if the film doesn’t take cheap political shots.

Release Date: November 23

I don’t know anything about her background, but at least Amy Adams looks like might have at one time not lived in the San Fernando Valley and experienced some life outside of a mall. She can also convey Lois Lane’s spunk without completely getting on my nerves. All in all, a very promising casting choice. Most of all, though, the choice shows the director’s confidence in his lead actor to hold his own. Adams is a star in her own right with real charisma.

Superman’s going to have his hands full.

The Los Angeles Times:

The 36-year-old star got the news on Sunday from director Zack Snyder, who phoned her from Paris, where he was promoting his just-opened film, “Sucker Punch.” There had been a crush of Hollywood interest in the lead female role in the Warner Bros. project but Snyder said that after meeting with Adams, she was the clear choice to take on a character that dates back to 1938 and has long represented the strong, professional woman who can hold her own against any man – even if he can leap tall buildings in a single bound.

“There was a big, giant search for Lois,” Snyder said. “For us it was a big thing and obviously a really important role. We did a lot of auditioning

In fairness to those reading this review and those involved in the creation of “The Fighter,” I’m going to confess upfront that  expectations probably diminished my enjoyment of what is arguably an impressive, quality film with a number of exceptional (and Oscar-worthy) performances.  Before moving to Los Angeles in 2003, when I had the nine-to-five life that made such things possible, I was a boxing fanatic who followed the sport religiously on HBO, Showtime, and pay-per-view; I also subscribed to all the magazines, and mourned the cancellation of  the USA Network’s Tuesday Night Fights as though a favorite Aunt had had passed on.

During the 1990’s and the early aughts, there were all kinds of memorable fighters and fights, but nothing like the storied 2002-2003 trilogy between “Irish” Micky Ward and the late, great, and legendary Arturo “Thunder” Gatti.

These two men were never the most talented boxers in their respective weight classes, they were something more. They aspired to greatness in every fight, were incapable of quitting, and had more heart than every superstar, belt-holding millionaire champion put together. We the fans adored these two and when HBO brought them together on May the 18th, 2002, for a fight with no belt or title or championship at stake, everything one loves about the always frustrating and frequently maddening sweet science came together over 10 unforgettable rounds that saw two warriors become living legends. Their second fight was just as good, the third was a rapture beyond my ability to articulate. If you saw it, you know what I mean.

“The Fighter,” unfortunately, roll its credits before any of this takes place. For whatever reason, the filmmakers weren’t interested in the making of an immortal, they were interested in the more provincial aspects of Micky’s (a very good Mark Wahlberg) relationship with his troubled, older brother Dicky (an exceptional Christian Bale) and his difficult mother Alice (an outstanding Melissa Leo). Set in the mid-90’s, when we first meet Micky he’s running out of his prime fighting years at the age of 30, considered nothing more than a stepping stone for bigger names in the fight game, a weekend father, and making ends meet in the city of Lowell, Massachusetts on a road-paving crew. This is a truly decent and gentle man who loves and is loyal to a family that also happens to be his primary problem in life.

Dicky’s an ex-fighter, Micky’s trainer (and a very good though increasingly unreliable one)  and something of a local legend. His claim to fame is going toe-to-toe with Sugar Ray Leonard in 1978 and a worsening crack addiction that’s swallowing him alive. As Micky’s manager, Alice is in over her head when dealing with a powerhouse like HBO and frequently makes bad, short-term decisions that help Dicky but damage Micky’s long-term career goals.

Buried in a working class town, suffering through a nowhere job, living in the shadow of his older brother, and all too aware he’s running out of time, Micky meets the woman who will push things with his family until they give, regardless of the consequences. Charlene (Amy Adams) is a college dropout who now tends bar at the local beer joint as she figures out her next move (if there is one). Before long, she and Micky are in love and seeing exactly what’s going on with his family, she urges him to make the kinds of decisions that can only result in one of two things: the family’s relationships will be forever destroyed or they will become healthier and productive, as they should be. Either way, Micky gets out alive with a shot at making something of his life.

Men.

Director David O. Russell does a superb job with his actors and most importantly, thanks to the wise decision to shoot on-location, in capturing the look, feel, and rhythm of life in Lowell. The characters and their relationships are suitably complicated, the story effectively simple and all of the expected plot beats are hit in the beloved genre of the boxing underdog. No complaints there. Good rousing stuff brought to you by likable, talented actors. But…

When the lights came up I felt cheated. You might as well leave the Rumble in the Jungle out of “Ali” or make a film about the Red Sox that ends before their 2004 Worlds Series win. For Micky’s sake, I’m glad he worked through his family relationships and found a good woman and blah, blah, blah. But that’s not what made Micky Ward Micky Ward, and there’s no way around the fact what we have is a working class soap opera while what’s left on the table is isn’t just the greatest story of Micky Ward’s life but also one of the greatest sports stories ever.  Furthermore, it’s a piece of sports history too few people know about that deserves to be told.

Listen, I get that it’s terribly unfair to judge a film on what you want it to be as opposed to what it is. But I simply don’t know how to write an honest review any other way. Just too close to this one.

For the record:

Trilogy against Micky Ward

In 2001, Gatti only had one fight, going up in weight to meet welterweight Oscar de la Hoya, who beat him by a technical knockout in five rounds. In 2002, Gatti returned to the junior welterweight division and defeated former world champion Terronn Millett by a knockout in round four.

He then split two ten round decisions with “Irish” Micky Ward, losing their first bout, but winning their second. Gatti-Ward I also earned “fight of the year” honors by Ring Magazine and the 9th round was called the Round of the Century by Emanuel Steward.

On June 7, 2003, he and Ward had a rubber match. Gatti broke his twice-repaired right hand on an uppercut to the hip in the fourth, and he dropped his arm. He fought nearly one-handed for several rounds afterward, using his right sparingly. In the sixth, Gatti dominated the round but got caught with an overhand right to the top of the head a second before the bell rang and went down. Gatti then recovered again and was never in trouble after that. The final scorecards read, 96–93 (twice), and 97–92, in favor of Gatti. The third fight between the two was again named “fight of the year” by Ring Magazine.

In July of 2009, at the age of 37, The Mighty Arturo Gatti was found dead in a hotel room. Initially, Gatti’s wife was charged with his murder but she was later released after the death was ruled a suicide. Truth be told, no one really knows what happened and we probably never will.

I missed “Julie & Julia” when it was first released … kind of on purpose. Meryl Steep’s acting of late — well, the last 15 years,  has become increasingly unbearable to sit though — which is why God invented Redbox. For a buck, I’ll try most anything — except sushi.

Surprisingly, both me and the misses (whose birthday is today — Happy Birthday, Pretty Wife!) were immediately drawn into what started out as a well-structured and charming based-on-a-true-story about two women in two different eras learning to love the art of cooking and coming of age as writers. 

Set in post-war France, Streep plays Julia Child. She’s married to an American diplomat (the always superb Stanley Tucci) and finds herself increasingly restless with all the time she has on her hands. In love with the local cuisine, she decides to fill the hours with a French cooking class and the rest as they say is history.

Set in post 9/11 New York (specifically 2002), Amy Adams (channeling Meg Ryan in a big way) is Julie Powell (who wrote the novel upon which the film is based), a frustrated bureaucrat with a loving husband and an unfinished manuscript who decides she needs a project that will help her to learn some self-discipline. That task ends up being cooking her way through all 524  of Julia Child’s recipes over the course of 365 days, and blogging about it at Salon.com.

Throughout, the film cuts back and forth between both stories, connecting the lives of the two women as they share somewhat similar struggles to discover their voice and a place in the world with the help of supportive and patient husbands. If you look too closely, you’ll see how trite the stakes are. But like I said, this is a mainstream film aiming to take you away into a couple hours of escapism. To Ephron’s credit, she doesn’t pretend any of this matters, but for a director working in an industry we’re told constantly is driven only by profit and the desire for big box office, she sure went out of her way to needlessly alienate conservatives.

The gratuitous Republican bashing gets off to a grand start early in the second act during a reunion scene with Julia and her sister. The whole point of this scene is not to move the main story but to let us know that Julia’s father is a “Pasadena Republican” and supporter of the dreaded Senator Joseph McCarthy. This of course is the set up. The punchline occurs later when we meet the old man, are reminded again of his Republicanism,  and discover that he is nothing more than a one-dimensional caricature of a stuffy, harumphing, disapproving right winger.

Peppered throughout, as well, are awkward moments of exposition to assure moviegoers that each one of our likable and sympathetic characters are Democrats.

Later, things really go off the rails when an out-of-nowhere subplot develops involving Julia’s husband and his awful persecution at the hands of those awful red-baiters. Because it never goes anywhere and has zero connection with the main story, both the dark and self-important tone and the self-conscious left-wing proselytizing of these shoe-horned scenes stop the film in its tracks.

For anyone who pays attention, it’s obvious that throughout Hollywood there’s a commandment nailed to every studio gate that reads: Thou Shalt Not Make A Movie Set In The 1950s Without A Tired And Cliched Joseph McCarthy Subplot. For Hollywoodists this commandment is a twofer. Not only does it present an opportunity to bash the right but there’s no subject our modern-day filmmakers are more in love with than themselves.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the end of Ephron saving money on Western Union to deliver her gratuitous anti-Republican messages to audiences who were promised a fluffy summertime couple of hours. Just as the story wraps up, Julie is called into her bureaucratic bosses office for phoning in sick when it was obvious to everyone that she wasn’t. After gently admonishing her for not being honest with him, he reminds her that “a Republican would’ve fired you.”

Julie obviously agrees and we’re left to wonder why what we’re told is an industry driven only by money would go so far as to damage the quality of a $40 million product just to childishly insult half the customers.

So much for the inspiration; their transportation comes in the form of a tiny, old and beaten Renault, a car that Anna scoffs at but Declan defends as reliable and guarantees her that it will get her where she needs to go. That same description can apply to the overall movie as well, as “Leap Year” appears to be an old, shopworn collection of parts from decades’ worth of other movies, and yet proves surprisingly sturdy, reliable and well worth taking for a ride.

“Leap Year” leaps right into well-worn romcom territory, complete with stereotypical characters, almost from the beginning. Anna (played by Amy Adams, who’s in danger of being trapped by one cute role after another) is a fussbudget apartment “stager” whose career involves filling apartments with furniture to give prospective renters and buyers a sense of what they look like when lived in, but then not actually including the furniture with the lease agreement. She’s engaged to a constantly-busy cardiologist (Adam Scott, a smarmy pretty-boy just waiting for a beatdown), who dashes off to a conference in Ireland right after misleading Anna into thinking they were about to get engaged.

Anna tries to jet off after her man in order to propose to him in Ireland on Leap Day, but bad weather forces her to land in Wales. One complication after another ensues, resulting in her hiring small-town bartender Declan (Matthew Goode) to assist her on her journey. The rugged country boy and stuffy city girl hate each other from the get-go, but in no-surprise fashion, they soon fall for each other.

That much is shown in the incessant TV commercials for this film, which offer up more of the plot than any movie in years, outside of the Tobey Maguire film “Brothers.” However, like “Brothers,” there are details throughout – ranging from the quality performances to unexpectedly nuanced endings – that make both films rise above their limitations to become films that stand firmly on their own accord.

Only here, in “Leap Year,” the fun is apolitical and simply rooted in an old-fashioned good time. The romance is sweet, the cliched situations are staged with enough verve to seem newly fresh, and the stars’ chemistry is palpably appealing. “Leap” also offers a non-stop tableau of Irish scenery making viewers wish they could go along for the ride.

Many critics are dismissing “Leap Year” for the fact it contains so many time-worn plot points, but as with Declan’s Renault, sometimes it’s fun to turn your worries off and enjoy the ride. “Leap Year” may not do much that’s outright original, but it’s willing to go the extra mile in making it fun.

The first thing that grabbed me was the character work. The hero, Julia Powell (her real life blog is here) is a foodie blogger played by Amy Adams. I’m used to watching Amy Adams over my kid’s shoulder in “Enchanted,” which plays in our house on continual loop. I didn’t know Amy knew how to turn down the volume and play a “plain-Jane, yet interesting”… but she’s awesome. This isn’t her usual glowing, perky role where she turns it on like a fire-hose. And she doesn’t turn invisible like when she played a piece of cardboard in “Doubt.”

Back to the characters because “J and J” is a feast of interesting, appealing people I haven’t seen chew up the screen like this in a long time. The real Julia Child is already a great character, but Streep not only personifies this larger than life personality, she pulls off hilarious physical acting. She’s a comedic presence that had our audience laughing with every scene. And she looks huge, just like the real Julia Child. As a 6′8″ fellow, I appreciated the height jokes like when Streep reclines in a bed only to have her feet extend well beyond the mattress.

But Streep shows us sides of Child we probably hadn’t seen before: her sexuality, her competitive spirit, and the mourning for children. How painfully ironic that her name was Child.

I don’t know how Streep does it, but she makes her jowls look bigger. Her hands look big and mannish. Her shoulders rounded so that she looks like she’s playing a man in drag, which is kind of how Child came off to me. A refrigerator in a dress.

Stanley Tucci was in another favorite food movie of mine, “Big Night.” My friends told me to see Big Night then go out for Italian food. My Beloved and I saw “J and J” on date night then went out for dinner. It was one of our better date nights… much better than the time I made her see “Mimic.” But guys, don’t be fooled into thinking this is a chick flick. It’s a people flick. I’d take anybody to see this and if they didn’t like it, they’d need therapy. Yeah, this is the first sure fire Oscar contender I saw this year. At least this is the one I’ll be rooting for when they award it to some movie about a transvestite who marries a 12-year-old boy then murders him because Republican Christians fired him from his job.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Stanley Tucci. He plays the nicest guy in the world. He’s a great, understated character to provide contrast to Streep’s living cartoon. Hats off to Chris Messina as Julie Powell’s long-suffering husband and Jane Lynch who plays Julia Child’s sister.

This is for Nora Ephron: stop wasting your time at Huffington Post and make more movies. As a married man, you’re one of the few who seem to get marriage… even men in marriage. You seem to like men, which is rare among women writers. As someone who writes graphic novels, you’re one of the few who gets what it’s like to long for a significant project to find its way to publisher. You get the narcissism of working on one’s craft while someone else is in the house being neglected for some great piece of art. As someone who knows his way around the kitchen, you get the love of cooking, experimenting with recipes, even shopping for ingredients. Finally, you get Julia Child… including details like her love of sending post cards.

My wife went through a phase when she became an airplane pilot in the ’90s where she studied great women of the last century. She stumbled on the biography of Child Appetite for Life by Noel Riley Fitch. So inspired was my Beloved that she mailed Julia a birthday greeting for her 88th birthday. A few weeks later, she received a hand written post card from Julia herself! We were both so excited and my Beloved went into a cooking phase where I was the benefactor.

Man, this makes me wanna cook something. Maybe I’ll try making beef bourguignon.

“Julie & Julia” follows the amusingly parallel lives of chef Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep), who achieved worldwide fame while revolutionizing the art of cooking starting in the ‘50s, and Julie Powell (Amy Adams), a young New York City woman searching for identity in 2002. Powell longs to be a successful writer like her friends and yet is trapped processing insurance claims from victims of the World Trade Center attacks.

Yet two things keep Powell happy: her loving and supportive husband, played by Chris Messina, and her passion for cooking. When she hears her friends talking about launching blogs, her husband convinces her to launch her own blog about cooking. Julie rises to the challenge by deciding to cook every recipe in Julia’s landmark tome “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” within a year – meaning she’ll have to cook 524 exquisite recipes in 365 days and live to blog about it daily.

As she embarks on this culinary quest, Julie learns more about Julia’s own personal life and her parallel loving marriage to her diplomat husband Paul (Stanley Tucci). Julie also gains confidence even as the strain of finishing her goal adds occasional strain to her marriage.

“Julie & Julia” deftly moves between the past and the present in a true screenwriting feat that draws one parallel after another between the two women separated by both an ocean and five decades of life experience. Ephron’s dialogue is crisp and fits both time periods to a T, while its depiction of two happy marriages in which no one’s secretly gay or committing adultery must set a Hollywood record for the modern era.

The film’s traditional moral values (not only is this a movie you could take Grandma to, she’ll likely wind up taking you) carry over into its traditional filmmaking qualities with sterling performances from the four lead actors (Streep could get a Supporting Actress nom, while this could lead to star-making roles for the previously little-known Messina). The exquisite cinematography by Stephen Goldblatt makes dozens of dishes spring to vivid life on the screen, and is sure to leave viewers craving a hearty meal after they leave the theater.

“Julie & Julia” isn’t hip or edgy, but viewers of all ages will appreciate a solid and sterling main course of a film over the quickly forgotten appetizers offered by the much weaker fare to be found in this summer’s multiplexes.

There’s also only one laugh — one — and all the special effects in the world simply can’t make up for a single chuckle over 105 very long minutes. The only good news is that Ben Stiller appeared to be even more bored than I was.

If you remember, Larry Daley (Stiller) was once a night guard at the Museum of Natural History in New York City where after the sun went down, thanks to ancient artifact, the exhibits all came to life. Mayhem ensued, adventure was had and lifelong friendships were formed.

A few years have passed (between films and for our characters) and today Larry has managed to tinker his way into fortune and some fame as a highly successful entrepreneur hawking inventions, like his glow-in-the-dark flashlight (so you can find it when the power goes out, duh), on infomercials.  

As is always the case in these films, success has made Larry unhappy and distracted, too worried about business meetings and deal-making to be the good father and friend he once was. For months now he’s neglected his museum friends and when he does show up for a long overdue visit he finds most of them boxed up for permanent storage, bound for the basement of the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

Of course Larry will have to save them and in the process the entire Smithsonian comes alive, including paintings, sculptures, a black and white Al Capone, a preening General Custer (Bill Hader), an obnoxious, hyper-feminist Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) and even the giant President Lincoln normally found seated in his DC memorial.  Returning for a second round is Owen Wilson’s miniature cowboy, who’s given much more to do than the barely returning Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt, Attila the Hun and Sacajawea.

Hank Azaria is our flamboyant baddie Kahmunrah, a lisping Pharaoh desperate to get his hands on the artifact that brought him and everything else to life. The plan is to resurrect his 2000 year old army and take over the world … or some such thing.

Other than the special effects, which are convincing, it’s obvious no one cared about anything else like believable relationships or a plot that made a lick of sense. The plot holes that keep Larry alive and running around all on his own are insulting. This isn’t a movie aimed at kids, this is a movie aimed at dumb kids … kids in need of helmets.

The dialogue’s terrible, full of those halting, irreverent asides that increasingly pass for wit these days, and the action scenes lack both excitement and tension. People run, people fight, people talk and talk and talk. Every character arc feels forced, the relationships even more so. When the great Ricky Gervais can’t brighten up his bookended moments, what hope is there for anything else?

Most lacking is any sense of magic or joy. When a movie advertises the Smithsonian coming to life, no matter how lackluster the rest might be, you expect at least a couple of “wow” moments, but there’s not a single one.

If there’s anything to recommend it’s a rare and appreciated sense of reverence director Shawn Levy shows for American history in this, a mainstream Hollywood film produced for young, impressionable minds. Even General Custer is given an un-PC opportunity to redeem himself and it’s nice to hear Teddy Roosevelt call America “a great country” and Amelia Earhart credit “American ingenuity” for the invention of flight. It’s just a sad fact these days that characters aren’t allowed to talk like this.  

Most interesting is a moment in front of the White House when a historical character says something like, “I’ve heard a great man leads this union.” You have to wonder if that line would’ve been allowed when Bush was president or had McCain won… Damn, I’m cynical.

Between this and the equally uninspired “Terminator Salvation,” if you must leave the house for a movie this holiday weekend, Blockbuster is your best gamble.

Slumdog Millionaire is about to win the Hollywood's Grand Prize

The “Battle Royale” of the night is Mickey Rouke from The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) vs. Sean Penn in Milk (Focus) in the Best Actor category. There have been two ties in major categories in Academy Award history. The first was in 1932 when Frederic March in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde shared Best Actor with Wallace Beery for The Champ. (March had one more vote, but in that era, any finish within 3 votes was rules a tie.) Then in 1968, Katherine Hepburn for The Lion In Winter and Barbara Streisand for Funny Girl tied for Best Actress. If there was any justice, Rourke and Penn would share the award. In any other year, either of them would be a lock. Forced to make a pick, I’m going with Rourke.

Does Streep's upset of Winslet at the SAG Awards set the stage for Meryl's third Oscar win?

Kate Winslet is on the cover of Time Magazine, and she has picked up a wheelbarrow full of hardware during this awards cycle, but a fair number of voters got their fill of Kate when she pulled off the double-win at the Golden Globes. My upset special is Meryl Streep for Doubt (Miramax). This is her 15th career nomination, and she has not won an Academy Award in 25 years (Sophie’s Choice in 1982). That is too long for the most-revered actress in history to go without getting one of those golden guys. Streep won the SAG Award for Lead Actress, and I think she has a real shot here. (It would be a huge upset.)

Finally if my predix hold up, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount) would win only 2 Oscars – Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup – despite 13 nominations. That would be the fewest wins for any movie with 13 or more nominations. In fact, 2 wins would be among the poorest showings ever for a movie with 11 nominations or more.

Tied for the biggest shutout in Oscar history; Benjamin Button could win for Makeup and Visual Effects

FEWEST OSCAR WINS FOR MOVIES WITH 11 NOMINATIONS OR MORE
1. The Color Purple – 0 wins (11 nominations)
2. The Turning Point – 0 wins (11 nominations)
3. Chinatown – 1 win (11 nominations)
4. Johnny Belinda – 1 win (12 nominations)
5. Becket – 1 win (12 nominations)
6. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – 1 win (11 nominations)
7. Pride of the Yankees – 1 win (11 nominations)
8. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – 2 wins (13 nominations) – predicted
9. Rebecca – 2 wins (11 nominations)
10. Sergeant York – 2 wins (11 nominations)
11. A Passage To India – 2 wins (11 nominations)
12. Judgement at Nuremberg – 2 wins (11 nominations)

After weeks of obsessive study, relentless debate and intense soul-searching, here are my final Oscar predictions for all 24 categories.

BEST PICTURE
My Pick – Slumdog Millionaire
Consensus Pick – Slumdog Millionaire
Dark Horse – Milk

BEST ACTOR
My Pick – Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Consensus Pick – Sean Penn, Milk or Rourke
Dark Horse – None

BEST ACTRESS
My Pick – Meryl Streep, Doubt
Consensus Pick – Kate Winslet, The Reader
Dark Horse – Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
My Pick – Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Consensus Pick – Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Dark Horse – None

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
My Pick – Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Consensus Pick – Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Dark Horse – Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

BEST DIRECTOR
My Pick – Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Consensus Pick – Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Dark Horse – David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Milk screenwriter Justin Lance Black

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
My Pick – Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Consensus Pick – Andrew Stanton, WALL-E
Dark Horse – Martin McDonagh, In Bruges

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
My Pick – Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Consensus Pick – Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Dark Horse – David Hare, The Reader

BEST EDITING
My Pick – Slumdog Millionaire
Consensus Pick – Slumdog Millionaire
Dark Horse – Frost/Nixon

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
My Pick – Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire
Consensus Pick – Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire
Dark Horse – Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight

BEST ART DIRECTION
My Pick – The Dark Knight
Consensus Pick – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Dark Horse – The Duchess

BEST SOUND MIXING
My Pick – The Dark Knight
Consensus Pick – The Dark Knight
Dark Horse – Slumdog Millionaire

BEST SOUND EDITING
My Pick – Slumdog Millionaire
Consensus Pick – Slumdog Millionaire
Dark Horse – The Dark Knight

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
My Pick – The Duchess
Consensus Pick – The Duchess
Dark Horse – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
My Pick – A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
Consensus Pick – A. R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
Dark Horse – Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
My Pick – Waltz with Bashir
Consensus Pick – Waltz with Bashir
Dark Horse – The Class

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
My Pick – Man on Wire
Consensus Pick – Man On Wire
Dark Horse – Trouble the Water

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
My Pick – WALL-E
Consensus Pick – WALL-E
Dark Horse – Kung Fu Panda

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
My Pick – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Consensus Pick – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Dark Horse – The Dark Knight

BEST MAKEUP
My Pick – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Consensus Pick – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Dark Horse – The Dark Knight

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
My Pick – Jaiho from Slumdog Millionaire
Consensus Pick – Jaiho from Slumdog Millionaire
Dark Horse – Peter Gabriel, Down to Earth from WALL-E

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
My Pick – Toyland (Spielzeugland)
Consensus Pick – Auf der Strecke
Dark Horse – The Pig

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
My Pick – Presto
Consensus Pick – La Maison en Petits Cubes
Dark Horse – This Way Up

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
My Pick – The Conscience of Nhem En
Consensus Pick – The Witness
Dark Horse – The Final Inch

Steve Mason is on Facebook and now also on Twitter.