Flickr/lostinangeles

It’s no secret that box office sales have taken a hit with the popularization of Netflix and other streaming services. And now that big, flat screen televisions are getting cheaper, will people stop going to the movies all together? A recent CNN.com article quoting George Lucas had this to say:

‘Movie theaters will never, ever go away,’ despite improved and cheaper home theater systems and the quicker availability of new film releases on DVD and online, producer George Lucas says.

The ‘Star Wars’ producer’s optimism about the future of community cinemas was shared by other producers and industry executives interviewed by CNN this week at CinemaCon, the theater owner’s annual convention.

Do you agree– do you plan to go to the movies for years to come, or are you making the digital switchover? Read the full story to get all the facts and then decide for yourself.

If you don't understand this Lego reenactment, then you missed the best movie of 2010. (Flickr/Profound Whatever)

Start by printing out this year’s Best Picture nominee movie posters and hanging them around your living room as decorations:

127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Next, move on to something easy for your friends to play– the “Have You Seen Me?” Oscars game. Download this list of every Oscar nominated movie this season, and have your guests give themselves one point for every movie they saw in the theater, and a half point for every movie they saw at home. Pick up a cheap dvd at the grocery store today, wrap it in some colorful tissue paper, and voila! You have a prize for your most movie-educated friend.

Next, the most important game of the night: the Oscars pool. Download this year’s Oscar pool sheet here and print it out double-sided for your guests to fill out when they arrive. Have them number the nominees one through five (or however many nominees there are for each category), with one meaning they think the nominee will win, and five meaning they think it has no chance. As the winners are presented, guests will get a score for each category, and in the end, low score will win the pool. Have everyone throw in $5 to start, and winner takes all at the end of the night. (If you’re feeling generous, house rules can be that the biggest loser gets their $5 back.)

Flickr/死んだシーン

Finally, pick up a few boxes of your favorite movie candy (Sour Patch Kids, Junior Mints and Sno-Caps can all be found at CVS) and pop some popcorn. Put these out as refreshments for your guests, and get to watching! You have no excuse now, so go out, young grasshopper. Go out and throw that Oscars party.

Flickr/grebo guru

After months of waiting with bated breath, today was finally the big day. No, not the State of the Union, silly– the announcement of this year’s Oscar nominees of course! 56 movies were nominated in total, but you certainly don’t have time to watch that many before the Feb. 27 Academy Awards. Still want to make a big splash at your Oscars party? Just follow our advice and watch this year’s five most-highly nominated films, and you’re all set. See below for these Oscar darlings, and visit the Academy Awards official site for a complete list of nominees.

(1) The King’s Speech (12 nominations)

• Best Picture
• Original Screenplay
• Directing
• Colin Firth – Actor in a Leading Role
• Geoffrey Rush – Actor in a Supporting Role
• Helena Bonham Carter – Actress in a Supporting Role
• Art Direction
• Cinematography
• Costume Design
• Film Editing
• Original Score
• Sound Mixing

(2) True Grit (10 nominations)

• Best Picture
• Adapted Screenplay
• Directing
• Jeff Bridges – Actor in a Leading Role
• Hailee Steinfeld – Actress in a Supporting Role
• Art Direction
• Cinematography
• Costume Design
• Sound Editing
• Sound Mixing

(3) Inception (eight nominations)

• Best Picture
• Original Screenplay
• Art Direction
• Cinematography
• Original Score
• Sound Editing
• Sound Mixing
• Visual Effects

(4) The Social Network (eight nominations)

• Best Picture
• Adapted Screenplay
• Directing
• Jesse Eisenberg – Actor in a Leading Role
• Cinematography
• Film Editing
• Original Score
• Sound Mixing

(5) The Fighter (seven nominations)

• Best Picture
• Original Screenplay
• Directing
• Christian Bale – Actor in a Supporting Role
• Amy Adams – Actress in a Supporting Role
• Melissa Leo – Actress in a Supporting Role
• Film Editing

Click on me and you can see me better. Thanks.

A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I had our annual Christmas party/dinner/Yankee Swap. And this year, our lovely hostess and host threw in a twist: a game. We were given a list of nine quotes from Christmas movies and asked to name that movie. Out of the 15 of us at the party, your truly finally had the opportunity to win one of these things (because obviously I excuse myself from my Oscars games), and if I do say so myself, I stepped up to the plate. That’s right– I won. And it was a nice prize, too (travel coffee mug and a few hot cocoas). But I could only name seven of the movie quotes, and I missed two (blasphemy!). Take a look at my very authentic entry card pictured here (click on the photo to make it bigger), and see if you can guess the ones I got wrong. If you can outscore me, I’ll share some hot cocoa with you.

By the way, I do realize it’s New Year’s Eve…I’m a bit late with this one. Be safe and have a great night!

Flickr/Double Feature Podcast

Scary movie fans were rejoicing this Halloween with the release of “Saw 3D,” the final installment in the terrifying series that spawned the torture porn sub-genre. It topped the box office this weekend, bringing in $24.2 million, with “Paranormal Activity 2″ taking a second place $16.5 million. Do the original “Saw” and “Paranormal Activity” make your list of all-time scariest movies? Rack your brain with a little help from “Time” magazine’s best 25.

But then again, after you see what they’ve got for #20, you may just discount their picks completely.

Flickr/benstein

Don’t have enough Facebook in your regular life– need it in the movie theater, too? Well then you’re in for a treat this weekend. “The Social Network,” David Fincher’s much-hyped tale of the early days of Facebook, hits theaters Friday, and Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake are sure to attract crowds. You don’t have to be a Facebook fanatic to “like” this, but  if social media isn’t your thing, get your gore on in early anticipation of Halloween with another brand-spanking new weekend flick. Well, except for “Freakonomics.” Don’t expect that one to be too gory.

“Case 39”
“Chain Letter”
“Freakonomics”
“Hatchet II”
“Let Me In“

Flickr/LauraFries.com and dsearls

There’s a super-secret deal going down, and if talks go through, Amazon.com could be the next big thing in movie rentals. Bloomberg.com today is reporting:

Amazon.com Inc. has approached media companies including Time Warner Inc. with plans to start an online video subscription service to rival Netflix Inc., said three people with knowledge of the talks.

The service, sold for a monthly fee by the Seattle-based Web retailer, would consist of older films and TV shows, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the conversations are private. They said talks are early and could still fall apart.

Think Amazon could actually rival Netflix? Read the full story and decide for yourself.