Apollo 13 on a course for Blu-ray
40 years after the launch of Apollo 13, the film which bears its name comes to Blu-ray from Universal.
Like many Univeral titles, Apollo 12 will contain U-Control, and will also carry the audio commentary from the DVD along with the featurettes Lucky 13, Lost Moon and Conquering Space. Th edisc also includes BD-Live and D-Box as well as pocketBlu controls.
No problems here as the 50Gb disc arrives on April 13th.
Fall out Boy falling out?
Rockers Fall Out Boy appear to have fallen out - if 'tweets' written by bassist Pete Wentz are anything to go by.
In a series of recent posts on his Twitter.com blog, Wentz has confirmed the band are currently on hiatus, and hints that it might be a permanent thing.
He writes, "I don't know the future of Fall Out Boy. It's embarrassing to say one thing and then have the future dictate another. As far as I know Fall Out Boy is on (a) break.
"As much as I don't have a solo project, I also can't predict that I'd ever play in Fall Out Boy again."
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2009, Wentz explained he and his bandmates desperately needed a break from each other: "We've been seven years straight of just driving albums and tour, tour, tour. Everybody just needs to decompress."
The band formed in 2001 and became a big deal four years later, when their debut album From Under the Cork Tree achieved double platinum status after selling more than 2.5 million albums in the United States alone.
They have since become one of America's top bands.
Cameron: 'Avatar' won't win
James Cameron is convinced his sci-fi epic 'Avatar' will lose out at the upcoming Academy Awards, but hopes his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow takes home the Best Picture Oscar instead.
Cameron's blockbuster will go up against Bigelow's gritty war drama 'The Hurt Locker' for the coveted prize at the upcoming ceremony in March, along with eight other films including 'Up In The Air', 'The Blind Side' and 'Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire'.
The moviemaker will also compete with his former spouse for the Best Director Oscar, but he's convinced Academy bosses will overlook 'Avatar' because of his previous behaviour at the famous event.
Cameron is adamant Oscar bosses weren't impressed with his speech when he picked up the Best Director trophy for Titanic in 1998, in which he quoted one of the film's famous lines, telling the crowd, "I'm king of the world!"
He tells Empire magazine, "I always believe it's very unlikely that lightning will strike twice. I believe it's very unlikely that we will win because I made such a jackass out of myself last time. Although there might be some curiosity about what I might do."
But Cameron hopes Bigelow's movie goes on to rule the ceremony instead.
He adds, "The Hurt Locker is a very, very strong picture. Of the contenders, it's definitely the strongest. Certainly it's Kathryn's moment. I would happily lose to her. I've already got one of those damn statues. I'd be pissed off if somebody else won, but I wouldn't mind if she won."
Among expected picks, `District 9' still surprises
NEW YORK – In an Oscar year defined by inclusion, fewer movie folks than normal spent nominations morning feeling snubbed.
With the field of best picture nominees doubling from five to 10, there were more celebrations Tuesday and still some surprises:
"DISTRICT 9" INVADES: Yes, the relatively low-budget South African science-fiction hit was in the Oscar buzz. But no film benefited more from the expansion of best picture nominees, and it's still surprising to hear it announced alongside movies such as "Up in the Air" and "The Hurt Locker." Science-fiction is among the rarest of genres to cross that threshold, with only "Star Wars" and "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" (and now "Avatar") previously getting best picture noms. "District 9" earned four nominations in all, including editing, visual effects and best adapted screenplay.
COENS RETURN: Ethan and Joel Coen are back at the Oscars. Their "A Serious Man" earned mostly high praise, but had floated on the edge of predictions through awards season. For a film from heavyweight filmmakers, it has been a distinct underdog. But two years after they took home best picture and best director for "No Country for Old Men," the Coens are again up for best picture and best original screenplay.
COMEDY LOSES OUT, AGAIN: The best picture expansion didn't help comedy. Sure, there are comedic qualities to movies such as "Inglourious Basterds," "Up" and "A Serious Man," but out-an-out comedies like "The Hangover," "(500) Days of Summer" and "It's Complicated" all came away empty handed. After a win for best comedy or musical at the Golden Globes, some had thought "The Hangover" — one of the most crowd-pleasing films of the year — would squeak into the top 10. But after the nominees were read, "(500) Days of Summer" didn't even get the best original screenplay nomination that many had predicted. One comedy, a dark one, did earn a surprising nomination for best adapted screenplay: "In the Loop."
SUPPORTING ACTRESS SWAP: While Jeff Bridges' performance in "Crazy Heart" has been roundly hailed and is generally viewed as the favorite for best actor, co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal has gone mostly under the radar. Tuesday, she was nominated for best supporting actress — her first Oscar nomination.
MUSICAL CHAIRS: A few of the most interesting choices were hidden away in music categories. Wes Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" was, as expected, nominated for best animated film (a category that included the shocker of "The Secret of Kells"). But Alexandre Desplat's playful original score also earned a nomination. In best song, "Loin de Paname" from the somewhat unheralded French film "Paris 36" was nominated. Another foreign film also sneaked into the best makeup category. The terrifically stylish and underrated "Il Divo" will compete in the three-film field with "Star Trek" and "The Young Victoria."
Oscar nominations -- who was NOT Nominated: Clint Eastwood, 'Star Trek,' Tobey Maguire ...
Even with 10 films in the race for best picture at the Oscars, there was no room for Golden Globe champ "The Hangover," BFCA and PGA nominee "Invictus," BFCA, Globe and SAG nominee "Nine" and PGA nominee "Star Trek."
Clint Eastwood -- who won two of his four Oscars for directing best picture champs "Unforgiven" (1992) and "Million Dollar Baby" (2004) -- was snubbed for his helming of "Invictus" despite his win with the National Board of Review and a nod from the Golden Globes. Eastwood had also contended at the Oscars for his directing of best picture nominees "Mystic River" (2003) and "Letters From Iwo Jima" (2006).
The all-star cast of "Nine" was loaded with past Oscar winners headed by two-time champ Daniel Day-Lewis but only previous supporting actress champ Penelope Cruz ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona") merited a mention in the acting races.
Also missing from this year's Oscars ballot are Globe drama actor nominee Tobey McGuire ("Brothers") as well as all the leading men who contended for the musical/comedy Globe. Globe drama actress nominee Emily Blunt ("The Young Victoria") failed to make the cut as did all the musical/comedy Globe actress contenders save for winner Meryl Streep ("Julie & Julia").
NOT NOMINATED FOR BEST PICTURE
"The Hangover"
"Invictus"
"Julie & Julia"
"The Messenger"
"Nine"
"A Single Man"
"Star Trek"
"This Is It"
NOT NOMINATED FOR BEST DIRECTOR
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, "A Serious Man"
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, "Up"
Clint Eastwood, "Invictus"
Tom Ford, "A Single Man"
Rob Marshall, "Nine"
Lone Scherfig, "An Education"
NOT NOMINATED FOR BEST ACTOR
Sharito Copley, "District 9"
Matt Damon, "The Informant!"
Daniel Day-Lewis, "Nine"
Robert Downey Jr., "Sherlock Holmes"
Ben Foster, "The Messenger"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "(500) Days of Summer"
Hal Holbrook, "That Evening Sun"
Tobey Maguire, "Brothers"
Viggo Mortensen, "The Road"
Michale Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man"
NOT NOMINATED FOR BEST ACTRESS
Emily Blunt, "The Young Victoria"
Abbie Cornish, "Bright Star"
Marion Cotillard, "Nine"
Penelope Cruz, "Broken Embraces"
Audrey Tautou, "Coco Before Chanel"
NOT NOMINATED FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, "It's Complicated"
Anthony Mackie, "The Hurt Locker"
Christian McKay, "Me and Orson Welles"
Alfred Molina, "An Education"
Peter Sarsgaard, "An Education"
NOT NOMINATED FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Diane Kruger, "Inglourious Basterds"
Melanie Laurent, "Inglourious Basterds"
Julianne Moore, "A Single Man"
Samantha Morton, "The Messenger"
NOT NOMINATED FOR BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"Avatar"
"(500) Days of Summer"
NOT NOMINATED FOR BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"Fantastic Mr. Fox"
"Invictus"
"Julie & Julia"
"The Road"
"A Single Man"
Oscar's Snubs: Star Trek, The Hangover, Michael Jackson!
Does it count as a snub if you never believed that no matter how many Best Picture spots there were, there'd never be enough for your favorite movies?
And so it came to pass today, that popular (and critical) favorites Star Trek, The Hangover and Michael Jackson's This Is It found themselves denied a shot at Oscars' biggest prize.
Star Trek earned four technical nods, natch, for the 82nd Academy Awards. The Hangover and This Is It got zip.
Some other notable snubs:
• Inglourious Basterd's Diane Kruger was a Screen Actors Guild nominee for Best Supporting Actress. Today, was denied an Oscar nod when Crazy Heart's Maggie Gyllenhaal "stole" her spot.
• Say, remember that delightful romantic-comedy (500) Days of Summer? Oscar didn't. Nothing.
• Nancy Meyers movies usually produce Oscar nods, but not this time. It's Complicated didn't figure anywhere, for anyone—Oscar cohost Alec Baldwin, included.
• Once, onetime Best Actress winner Marion Cotillard looked like she might save Nine from awards-season obscurity. Instead, Penélope Cruz got the film's lone acting nod, in the Best Supporting Actress category. (Overall, the box-office bust managed four nods.)
• You may have not heard of The Secret of Kells, but the folks who made Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs likely will never forget the film that "stole" its nomination for Animated Feature.
Canadian Jason Reitman gets three Oscar nominations
Two Canadians will face off in the battle for Best Picture and Best Director at the March 7th Academy Awards.
Montreal’s Jason Reitman has been nominated for three Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Up in the Air. And Kapuskasing native James Cameron is up for Best Director and Best Picture as well for his 3-D epic, Avatar.
Toronto-born Christopher Plummer was nominated for his portrayal of Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station.
Reitman was also nominated, along with Sheldon Turner, for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The announcements were made at about 5:35 am PST Tuesday.
Adding to the strong Canadian contingent is writer/director Neil Blomkamp; the South African-born Vancouverite earned an adapted screenplay nod for District 9, which is also up for Best Picture.
There were few surprises among the major nominations — Avatar and The Hurt Locker led with nine nominations each, including a face off between former husband-and-wife directors James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow.
In the acting races, Maggie Gyllenhaal was a surprise Best Supporting Actress nomination for Crazy Heart. As expected, Sandra Bullock was nominated for The Blind Side, which is also up for Best Picture. And the entire leading cast of Up in the Air — George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick were also nominated.
Jeff Bridges garnered his fifth Oscar nod — he has yet to win — this time for playing a broken-down country singer in Crazy Heart.
Hurt Locker director Bigelow — only the fourth woman to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar — could make history if she takes home the golden statuette.
The expanded Best Picture list — now 10 from the usual five — left room for a few surprises among the expected nominations for James Cameron’s Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Precious, Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire and Inglorious Basterds. Pixar’s animation Up was nominated, along with alien drama District 9, The Blind Side and the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man.
'Avatar,' 'The Hurt Locker' lead Oscar nominations
BEVERLY HILLS, California – The science-fiction sensation "Avatar" and the Iraq war thriller "The Hurt Locker" lead the Academy Awards with nine nominations each, including best picture and director for former spouses James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow.
For the first time since 1943 the Oscars feature 10 best-picture contenders instead of the usual five.
Also nominated for best-picture Tuesday: "District 9"; the animated comedy "Up"; the World War II saga "Inglourious Basterds"; the football drama "The Blind Side"; the recession tale "Up in The Air," the 1960s drama "A Serious Man," and the teen tales "An Education" and "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' By Sapphire."
Acting nominees include the four stars who have dominated early awards shows: lead players Sandra Bullock for the American football drama "The Blind Side" and Jeff Bridges for the country-music tale "Crazy Heart" and supporting performers Mo'Nique for "Precious" and Austri's Christoph Waltz for "Inglourious Basterds."
The best-picture and director categories shape up as a showdown between ex-spouses who directed films that have dominated earlier Hollywood honors.
Cameron's "Avatar" won best drama and director at the Golden Globes, while Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" beat out Cameron at the Directors Guild of America Awards, whose recipient usually goes on to earn the best-director Oscar.
"The Hurt Locker" also beat "Avatar" for the Producers Guild of America top prize and was chosen as last year's best film by many key critics groups.
Bigelow, whose films include "Point Break" and "K19: The Widowmaker," is only the fourth woman nominated for a directing Oscar, following Sofia Coppola for 2003's "Lost in Translation," New Zealand director Jane Campion for 1993's "The Piano" and Italian director Lena Wertmuller for 1975's "Seven Beauties."
No woman has ever won the directing Oscar, and until Bigelow, no woman had ever won the Director's Guild honor.
Lee Daniels, who made "Precious," became only the second black filmmaker nominated for best director, after John Singleton for 1991's "Boyz N the Hood."
Also nominated for best director are Jason Reitman for "Up in the Air" and Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds." "Up in the Air" co-writer Reitman also had a nomination for adapted screenplay, while Tarantino also earned a nomination for original screenplay.
Longtime audience darling Bullock has never been nominated for an Oscar before but is considered the best-actress front-runner, playing a wealthy woman who takes in homeless teen Michael Oher, now a star with the American football team the Baltimore Ravens.
Bullock is up against past Oscar winners Meryl Streep as chef Julia Child in "Julie & Julia" and Britain's Helen Mirren as Leo Tolstoy's bullheaded wife in "The Last Station," along with first-time nominees Carey Mulligan as a British teen involved with an older man in "An Education" and Gabourey Sidibe as a Harlem teen overcoming horrible abuse and neglect in "Precious."
Sidibe made her screen debut in "Precious," earning an Oscar nomination for her first professional acting job.
Bridges, nominated four times previously without winning an Oscar, is viewed as the man to beat this time for his role as a boozy country singer trying to clean up his act in "Crazy Heart."
Also nominated for best actor are past Oscar winners George Clooney as a frequent-flyer junkie in "Up in the Air" and Morgan Freeman as South African leader Nelson Mandela in "Invictus," Britain's Colin Firth as a grieving gay academic in "A Single Man" and Jeremy Renner as a bomb disposal expert in Iran in "The Hurt Locker."
Mo'Nique and Waltz were nominated for wicked roles, she as a reprehensible welfare mother in "Precious," he as a gleefully garrulous Nazi in "Inglourious Basterds." They were breakout roles for both, Mo'Nique leaping into the awards elite after a career of mainly lowbrow comedy, Waltz making his first Hollywood splash after working mostly in European theater and television.
Also up for supporting actress are "Up in the Air" co-stars Vera Farmiga as Clooney's frequent-flyer soul mate and Anna Kendrick as his reluctant business protege. The other nominations went to past Oscar winner Spain's Penelope Cruz as a filmmaker's needy mistress in the musical "Nine" and Maggie Gyllenhaal as a single mom involved wit Bridges' character in "Crazy Heart."
Joining Waltz in the supporting-actor lineup are Matt Damon as a South African rugby player in "Invictus," Woody Harrelson as a military man giving bad news to next of kin in "The Messenger," Canadian Christopher Plummer as aging author Tolstoy in "The Last Station" and Stanley Tucci as a serial killer in "The Lovely Bones."
With 10 best-picture contenders, this is the first time since 1943 that so many films are competing for Hollywood's highest honor. From 1931 to 1943, the Oscars featured between eight and 12 best-picture nominees. There were 10 in 1943, when "Casablanca" won best picture, but the show switched to five nominees after that.
Last summer, academy organizers decided to go back to 10, saying they wanted a broader range of titles in the mix, including worthy populist movies that often miss out on best-picture nominations in favor of the smaller dramas Oscar voters typically prefer.
Freeman got the news of his nomination while in Rome.
"This is my fifth nomination and I'm more proud of that than all the rest of it I think," he said, also approving of the expansion of the best picture category although it did not include "Invictus."
"I think it's a good call, a good call, some good pictures. We didn't get a best picture nomination? Well that's a big letdown. Well there you go. That's my problem, I thought we should get a best picture nomination. But it's OK."
Blockbuster best-picture contenders usually translate to better ratings for the Oscar broadcast, whose TV audience peaked with Cameron's "Titanic" triumph 12 years ago. Ratings have been so-so ever since, hitting an all-time low two years ago.
Luckily for Oscar overseers, the show this time includes the biggest thing since "Titanic." Cameron's "Avatar" has soared past "Titanic" to become No. 1 on the box-office charts, with $2 billion and climbing worldwide.
"Up," a travel adventure about a lonely widower who flies his house off to South America suspended from helium balloons, is only the second animated film ever to earn a best-picture nomination, following "Beauty and the Beast" in 1991, when the category had only five contenders.
Along with best picture, "Up" was nominated for animated feature, along with "Coraline," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "The Princess and the Frog" and "The Secret of Kells." Pixar Animation, which made "Up," has produced four of the eight winners since the animated-feature category was added in 2001, including "Finding Nemo" and "WALL-E."
Along with "Avatar" and "District 9," a third sci-fi hit, "Star Trek," had been considered a likely best-picture nominee, but it missed out, scoring only technical nominations, including visual effects and makeup.
Best-picture nominee "The Blind Side" was a huge hit but generally viewed as a longshot for a nomination in the top Oscar category.
Actors snubbed for acclaimed performances included Emily Blunt for "The Young Victoria," Julianne Moore for "A Single Man" and Diane Kruger for "Inglourious Basterds."
Oscar nominees are chosen in most categories by specific branches of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, such as actors, directors and writers. The academy's full membership of about 5,800 was eligible to vote for best-picture nominations and can cast ballots for the winners in all categories at the Oscar ceremony itself.
The 82nd Oscars will be presented March 7 in a ceremony airing on ABC from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.
This season's ceremony continues last year's effort to liven up the show. Organizers chose song-and-dance Hugh Jackman as host a year ago rather than the usual comedian, and this time, they decided to go with dual hosts, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.
Oscar producers Adam Shankman, a choreographer and director whose films include "Hairspray," and Bill Mechanic, former studio boss at 20th Century Fox, are promising to step up the fun quotient at this year's show.
Honorary Oscars, which took up a big chunk of space during past shows, were moved to a separate event last fall, freeing up more time to focus on the expanded best-picture nominees and other categories viewers care most about.
List of 82nd annual Academy Award nominations
Complete list of 82nd Annual Academy Award nominations announced Tuesday:
1. Best Picture: "Avatar," "The Blind Side," "District 9," "An Education," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," "A Serious Man," "Up," "Up in the Air."
2. Actor: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"; George Clooney, "Up in the Air"; Colin Firth, "A Single Man"; Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"; Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker."
3. Actress: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"; Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"; Carey Mulligan, "An Education"; Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire"; Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia."
4. Supporting Actor: Matt Damon, "Invictus"; Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"; Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"; Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"; Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds."
5. Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, "Nine"; Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"; Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"; Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"; Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."
6. Directing: James Cameron, "Avatar"; Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"; Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"; Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air."
7. Foreign Language Film: "Ajami," Israel; "El Secreto de Sus Ojos," Argentina; "The Milk of Sorrow," Peru; "Un Prophete," France; "The White Ribbon," Germany.
8. Adapted Screenplay: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, "District 9"; Nick Hornby, "An Education"; Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, "In the Loop"; Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air."
9. Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker"; Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"; Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, "The Messenger"; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "A Serious Man"; Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy, "Up."
10. Animated Feature Film: "Coraline"; "Fantastic Mr. Fox"; "The Princess and the Frog"; "The Secret of Kells"; "Up."
11. Art Direction: "Avatar," "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," "Nine," "Sherlock Holmes," "The Young Victoria."
12. Cinematography: "Avatar," "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "The White Ribbon."
13. Sound Mixing: "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Star Trek," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."
14. Sound Editing: "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Star Trek," "Up."
15. Original Score: "Avatar," James Horner; "Fantastic Mr. Fox," Alexandre Desplat; "The Hurt Locker," Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders; "Sherlock Holmes," Hans Zimmer; "Up," Michael Giacchino.
16. Original Song: "Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog," Randy Newman; "Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog," Randy Newman; "Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36," Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas; "Take It All" from "Nine," Maury Yeston; "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart," Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett.
17. Costume: "Bright Star," "Coco Before Chanel," "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," "Nine," "The Young Victoria."
18. Documentary Feature: "Burma VJ," "The Cove," "Food, Inc." "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers," "Which Way Home."
19. Documentary (short subject): "China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province," "The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner," "The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant," "Music by Prudence," "Rabbit a la Berlin."
20. Film Editing: "Avatar," "District 9," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."
21. Makeup: "Il Divo," "Star Trek," "The Young Victoria."
22. Animated Short Film: "French Roast," "Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty," "The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)," "Logorama," "A Matter of Loaf and Death."
23. Live Action Short Film: "The Door," "Instead of Abracadabra," "Kavi," "Miracle Fish," "The New Tenants."
24. Visual Effects: "Avatar," "District 9," "Star Trek."
Punxsutawney Phil predicts 6 more weeks of winter
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. – The groundhog has spoken. And it's bad news.
Punxsutawney Phil has emerged to see his shadow before chilly revelers in Pennsylvania, meaning winter will last another six weeks.
German tradition holds that if a hibernating animal sees its shadow on Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early.
The Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club annually announces Phil's forecast at dawn on Gobbler's Knob, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
Phil's announcement came before hundreds of onlookers who huddled as temperatures hovered in the teens.
The Groundhog Club says since 1887 Phil has predicted more winter weather by seeing his shadow nearly 100 times, but there are no records for nine years.