catching up with Netflix DVDs

This past week I've seen some of the hits from last year that I missed. First, I saw Mamma Mia. I had serious reservations as I didn't love the stage musical and I'd heard some bad reviews. But I'd also heard from people who liked it and, hell, it's made half a billion dollars worldwide. Even beating Titanic in the UK. So all those people couldn't be wrong, right? Not right. What a train wreck of a movie. Blech. It was just crap. Like someone threw up on the screen and I'm not sure quite how they got there. I didn't like the costumes, hair and makeup, choreography, etc. And while Meryl and Amanda Seyfried can sing, the men couldn't and that was painful. It was all painful.

Also caught The Secret Life of Bees which I obviously know doesn't appeal to a wide audience. But I had heard good things and it was quite a nice little movie. Dakota Fanning is pretty rad and Michael from "The Wire" is in it. And so is Paul Bettany playing a racist asshole Southern father. And he's great.

And I finally saw Pineapple Express. I didn't know if I'd love this movie because I'm not a huge stoner fan but I have to say this movie was damn funny. I found myself laughing so hard and rolling off the couch many times. Bravo James Franco. Not sure if he was completely high in every scene (he looked it), but still. Rad.

Best/Worst Movies of 2008

Well, on the eve of the Oscar nominations, I figured it was time to break it down. So here are my favorite and least favorite movies of 2008. For the first time ever I had a hard time limiting my favorites to 10 so it was a good year for movies.

TOP 10 LEAST FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2008

10. Revolutionary Road - We don't need a movie to show us that living in the suburbs in a stale marriage with kids can be unsatisfying. Do we?

9. Rachel Getting Married - Two hour home video of the most annoying female I've ever met. No thanks.

8. Wanted - Two hour gun training session with zero story.

7. Made of Honor - Bland female lead and bland story that even Patrick Dempsey could not save.

6. 27 Dresses - Sure, I've seen this many times on HBO but Katherine Heigl has managed to go from fan favorite to annoying chick who should stop talking in only a few years. Bravo.

5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - People liked this movie and I should have but Jason Segel just couldn't carry this movie. And, again, the female lead was soo bland.

4. Mad Money - Only saw 20 minutes of this movie on TV but it was so terrible that it clocks in at #4.

3. The Other Boyelyn Girl - Ugh.

2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - My childhood is dead.

1. Changeling - Worst movie of the year by a mile. Nothing is close. Terrible acting, terrible story, too long. So terrible it makes me angry.

TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2008

Quickly, I must mention some movies I liked that didn't make the top 10. I still recommend these... Doubt, Last Chance Harvey, Wall-e, Tropic Thunder, Burn After Reading, Iron Man, Defiance, and, of course, my guilty pleasure, Twilight.

10. Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Not the most polished, not the best ending, but thoroughly entertaining. And Javier Bardem is easy to enjoy for 90 minutes.

9. The Wrestler - Mickey Rourke has a great comeback story though I do think he's basically playing himself in this film. Good performances by the two supporting females too.

8. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - People are seriously split on this film. I agree it wasn't a homerun, but something about the love story got me. Enough to move me to tears.

7. Sex and the City - Perhaps I enjoyed this so much because my expectations were low. But I was surprised by how funny, entertaining, and sometimes moving this movie was. Great chick flick.

6. The Reader - Loved this movie. Love Kate Winslet and David Kross in this movie. Cried. Very hard.

5. Role Models - Best straight up comedy I've seen in a long time. Laughed from start to finish.

4. The Dark Knight - Re-watched this last week and it held up. Christian Bale is still somewhat ridiculous but the action sequences are amazing and Heath Ledger is insanely awesome.

3. Milk - Sean Penn is great as usual and Gus Van Sant did a good job.

2. Frost/Nixon - Probably my most surprising movie of the year because I thought it'd be somewhat boring and Ron Howard usually makes fairly bland movies. But this movie was funny, tense, and filled with great acting by everyone. Definitely highly recommend.

1. Slumdog Millionaire - Awesome.

disturbing

I hope this is not true:

"Eddie Murphy will play Gotham villian The Riddler in the next Batman movie, reports The Sun.

The 47-year-old former Beverly Hills Cop was tapped by British director Christopher Nolan to reprise the role played by Jim Carrey in 1995’s Batman Forever.

The studio has also reportedly signed up Transformers star Shia LaBeouf, 22, to play Robin. Rachel Weisz is rumored to be taking up the Catwoman role."

All bad news.

the revolutionary story about millionaire nixon wrestling with his doubt about milk

I've been lucky enough to see a lot of movies via DVD screeners this holiday season. I would say that every one of these movies would be better viewed on the big screen but I couldn't wait for the weeks it would take me to get to the theater for all of these. Besides, my TV is pretty big. :) A few reviews before I forget everything...

Frost/Nixon
I went into this movie with pretty low expectations for a few reasons. One, I tend to think that Ron Howard is overrated as a director. Seems like a lovely nice guy, but I didn't care for A Beautiful Mind or The Da Vinci Code or Cinderella Man. But what he has here is a great screenwriter (Peter Morgan who wrote one of my favorite movies in recent years Last King of Scotland), and amazing actors. Two, I was surprised that they were able to make an interesting movie out of a very small subject matter that I didn't really care much about. But they inserted tension and life a series of interviews that took place over 30 years ago. I really enjoyed Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt in supporting roles. Frank Langella does a very good Nixon but I was even more impressed with Michael Sheen's Frost. Very charming.

Doubt
It was fascinating to see Doubt right after Frost/Nixon because it was interesting to compare two theatrical versions of highly acclaimed plays. I have to say that I thought, cinematically, Frost/Nixon was far better than Doubt. Doubt is adapted for the screen by the playwriter John Patrick Shanley and he also directs. The only other movie this guy has directed is Joe Vs. The Volcano. You heard me. The 1990 classic starring Tom Hanks. I'll admit I enjoy that movie when it's on TBS, but he certainly is not skilled enough to rise up to Best Director status with this movie. Amy Adams is good doing her usual naive innocent girl. And Meryl Streep is again amazing and doing an interesting NY accent. She is actually quite funny in some scenes which I didn't expect. I thought the standout was Philip Seymour Hoffman who was amazing. But this is really an actor's showcase. The film isn't that outstanding...from the production design to the direction to the cinematography. Go see for the performances but it's not at the top of my list.

Revolutionary Road
Based on a book, I'm not sure this is a movie for me. Or, I know it's not. I knew before I watched it that I would hate it and I did. Kate Winslet is one of my favorite actresses and she is awesome. Leo is also great. So is the direction. The music. The set design. The cinematography. But I am just not interested in watching 2 hours of a married couple fighting. They are miserable and the acting is so good that the emotional fights are just so...full of despair. I'll take a depressing movie but at least give me a character arc or a great story. Not just misery beginning to end.

The Wrestler
This movie is getting a lot of buzz for Mickey Rourke's "comeback" performance. I expected interesting things from director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream) but I just didn't think it was that interesting. A small story about a washed up professional wrestler, Rourke was good but, then again, I thought he was just playing himself. Evan Rachel Wood was actually surprisingly great but there was nothing fantastic enough about this story to really hook me. If you want to see a lot of Marisa Tomei's tits though, I highly recommend it.

Milk
Great damn movie. I think biopics are always restricting in some ways...so much to fit in...but Gus Van Sant does an awesome job of constructing this movie. We get just enough of Milk's life but not too much so that it feels long. I can't praise Sean Penn enough so I'll leave it at that. But Emile Hirsch and James Franco are also awesome. And it's the only movie so far that has moved me to tears.

Slumdog Millionaire
F-ing awesome. I almost don't want to say that because then it'll be too built up and if you ever see it, your expectations will be too high and the movie will fall short. All that is definitely possible. I came in with medium expectations and they exceeded them. I think it is just such a refreshing and original movie... from the way it's structured, to the colors, to the music, to the tone. Just nice to see something different. The cinematography truly stands out and I was happy to see it's the same DP who did The Last King of Scotland which I loved the look of. And it's finally nice to see something with a bit of hope and optimism. Go see it!

Golden Globe noms for 2008

So the Golden Globe nominations were announced and the best thing is that there will be a lot of star power among the attendees. Which is all that really matters as an avid red carpet watcher. I haven't seen all the movies yet but let's do a little run down of the main categories...

Best Motion Picture, Drama
Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
First off, I can say that Slumdog Millionaire is absolutely awesome. I am hoping this wins though I haven't seen the Reader and Benji Button yet. I can also add that the Frost/Nixon nom is well deserved but Revolutionary Road was not good. Just not a movie that needed to be made. It stole a nomination from Dark Knight and Milk as far as I'm concerned.

Best Motion Picture, Comedy/Musical
Burn After Reading
Happy Go Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Wow. I really can't comment on any of this. I missed Burn After Reading because I was in Europe and I hear that In Bruges and Vicky are really good. But I heard Mamma Mia sucked and I don't even know what Happy Go Lucky is. Damn Role Models was robbed and probably Tropic Thunder too. There is really no respect for the straight-up comedies.

Best Actor Drama
Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn in Milk
Brad Pitt in Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Well, Leo was good in Rev. Road but he won't win. Frank Langella was a great Nixon but I actually thought Michael Sheen was more impressive as Frost. No one listens to me though. I'm seeing Milk tonight but I'm sure Sean Penn is great. I'll weigh in on this later. Brad Pitt? Really? Haven't seen it but I have my doubts. And I hear the Wrestler is great and I should be seeing that next week. So I guess I'll weigh in on this category later....

Best Actress Drama
Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie in Changeling
Meryl Streep in Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas in I've Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road
So it's no secret that I didn't really enjoy Rachel Getting Married. And while I'm a huge fan of Anne Hathaway, I didn't really like this performance. It's good, but more overacting. Have I mentioned Changeling yet? Guess what everyone? Listen up. THIS MOVIE BLOWS GOATS. Ugh. What a mess. And I think Angelina is an overrated actress. She's fooling everyone but she can't act that well. I'll see Doubt next week but I'm sure Meryl is awesome. Haven't heard of the Thomas movie and while Kate Winslet is awesome as usual, I didn't find the movie that good. So who in the hell am I rooting for? I know Kate wants to win an Oscar so I guess I vote for her.

Best Actor Comedy
Javier Bardem in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell in In Bruges
James Franco in Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson in In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman in Last Chance Harvey
Don't really have an opinion except that Javier Bardem is hot. Dustin is good in Last Chance Harvey but not award worthy.

Best Actress Comedy
Rebecca Hall in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Sally Hawkins in Happy Go Lucky
Frances McDormand in Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia
Emma Thompson in Last Chance Harvey
I'm rooting for Meryl or Emma because I want to hear an acceptance speech from one of them.

Best Supporting Actor
Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes in the Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Okay, this category is really offensive. Let's keep in mind this is a category that combines Comedy and Drama. But Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder? It's an extended cameo for godsakes. And he's just dancing. He gets a nod instead of the Milk supporting cast or the kid in Slumdog? Offensive. I'm sure Heath Ledger will win and it's probably the most deserved.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams in Doubt
Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis in Doubt
Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler
Kate Winslet in The Reader
Clearly I have to try to see this Vicky Cristina Barcelona movie. I have a soft spot for Marisa Tomei from My Cousin Vinny though.

Best TV series, Drama
Dexter
House
In Treatment
Mad Men
True Blood
Go True Blood!! Mad Men is overrated and I don't watch Dexter (I know, I know). In Treatment was decent but really an actor's showcase. I will not comment on House which took a spot from The Wire and The Shield. There are no words.

Best TV series, Comedy
30 Rock
Californication
Entourage
The Office
Weeds
The Office is consistently the best.

Other things to touch on...I hope Anna Paquin wins for TV actress though I'm sad that no one else from True Blood got nominated. I also think that Danny Boyle deserves to win Best Director for Slumdog Millionaire. Amazing.

What do you think?

james bond in defiance

So tonight I went to a screening of a movie called Defiance. If you're not in LA, this movie will probably not come to your town. But it's directed by Ed Zwick (Glory, Last Samurai, Blood Diamond) and stars Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, and Jamie Bell. It's a true story that takes place during the Holocaust so it's not exactly Christmas fare. (But it is a somewhat uplifting story.) I wasn't that interested in it but it was a free screening and I was wooed by the fact that there was going to be a Q&A afterwards. Watching the movie I thought it was okay. Really well made, well directed, well acted. But it just never hooked me. But the thing about Q&A's is that they usually make you view the movie in a better light. Hearing people talk passionately about a movie they worked on for so long will usually do that. Oh, and who were the people talking? Zwick, Craig, Schrieber, and Bell. It may be because I have a huge crush on all of them but I certainly came out feeling better about the movie.

I've always loved Zwick because he created one of my favorite TV shows of all time, "My So-Called Life". I thought it would be inappropriate to raise my hand and ask a question about Jordan Catalano at the Holocaust screening so I held back. Then there was Daniel Craig. James Bond. Oh god. Will someone please explain to me how this guy's eyes got so damn blue? Unreal. And not to diminish the fact that he is a great actor...but he just has this presence that is so damn sexy. Even in the Chuck Taylors he was wearing. And he was funny. Almost as funny as Liev Schreiber who I've always liked. He's very tall and he was funny as hell. They were joined by Jamie Bell who was Billy Elliot long ago. Now he is a sarcastic funny 22 year old that I would say was cute if I wasn't 30 and that wasn't pervy. In one serious moment Bell said that just acting alongside these actors elevated his performance and Liev just started nodding emphatically. Funny. Then Zwick said that he had to go overseas to get all independent financing because all Hollywood studios were interested in making were huge action superhero movies and sequels. Then he looked over at Daniel and said "no offense". Also funny.

Anyways, the morale of the story is: the movie was okay, the true story was actually fascinating to learn about, and Daniel Craig is hot in person.

Bond and Harvey

Two quick movie reviews of two very different movies. We'll start with the small one...

Last Chance Harvey is a little bity movie starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. Someone described it as "Before Sunrise" for the older crowd. Hoffman flies to London to attend his estranged daughter's wedding and meets Emma Thompson there. The movie takes place over the course of a day or two and it's pretty much just Hoffman and Thompson talking to each other and getting to know each other. It's a charming little movie but, at a cool 88 minutes, I'm happy I didn't plop down $14 for this one. (It was a free screening). The best part about it was definitely Emma Thompson. I totally forgot how in love with this woman I am. She has always been amazing (Much Ado About Nothing, Peter's Friends, that "Cheers" episode, Sense and Sensibility) and I've missed her so much. I think she hasn't worked in the past few years to concentrate on her husband and family but she needs to go back to work. Screw them. Share your talent with the world!

Quantum of Solace (probably didn't need the link) is good. Not great, but good. I really liked Casino Royale (though it was way too long). But Casino had that amazing opening sequence and some great "character" scenes with Bond and Vesper. I totally fell in love with Daniel Craig in that movie and he brought a perfect balance of ruggedness and suaveness to the role. (Full disclosure - I never like any previous Bond movies...too patsy for me or something.) Craig is still completely amazing (and hot) in Quantum, but the movie is a mess. The script is lame and my friend at Sony tells me that it's because the writer's strike started just as the writers turned in their first draft. So they had to shoot a first draft which is a definite no-no in most movies. But still... Not sure if it's because director Mark Forster had never done an action movie...but the action sequences weren't even that good. They copied Bourne and, to make matters worse, they didn't even copy it well. The editing was choppy which I didn't mind, but they did a really poor job of establishing the geography so you couldn't enjoy the chases very well. They drastically cut the running time of this movie, yet it still felt long in some parts. The highlights were Jeffrey Wright (always great), Judi Dench (she had more to do), the French baddie (he's a good actor), and, surprisingly, the girl. She wasn't laughable like most old Bond girls of old. So, I guess I do recommend this movie because I will watch 100 minutes of a beat up Daniel Craig walking around in a suit any day. And it's pretty entertaining. But I'm looking forward to the next installment with a different story and a different director.

"I need a hero!"

Quick observation....
Footloose is on right now and I happened to catch the very climatic scene where Ren plays chicken with the evil Chuck. What I just noticed? The beautiful Ariel tosses up her hat and the race starts and that awesome song "Holding Out for a Hero" blasts on. It's exciting. The song is pumping and it's fast. And then I realize that all this tension comes during a tractor race. I use the term "race" loosely because, from what I can tell, the tractors are going as fast as me walking down the street. Literally. Yet we're supposed to be swept up in this exhilarating scene. Turns out, I was swept up when I was 10...and I guess I still am. Just blogging about it now.

Role Models

Saw Role Models this past weekend and it was awesome. People should see this movie. Probably one of the best straight-up comedies that I've seen in a while. Paul Rudd was amazing as usual and even Sean William Scott didn't bother me. The highlight though is Jane Lynch. I've seen her in the Christopher Guest movies and 40 Year Old Virgin but this was the funniest I've ever seen her. So, what are you waiting for? Go see it.

An American President

It's no secret that I'm in love with the movie "American President". I will watch it any time it's on TNT or TBS or any of my other favorite channels. I've always been a sucker for big speeches and optimistic characters and maybe that's why I love Aaron Sorkin...and Barack Obama. There's not much I can add to the Obama commentary from the past few days. He is awesome, it was an amazing and historic night, and his speech made me cry. But Tuesday night one thing struck me so strongly... He is just like a fictional movie President. And I mean JUST like a movie character. His delivery, his confidence, his words of optimism, hope, and his general ability to make flags wave, butterflies fly, and birds start singing. Pretty amazing really. Ahh, but not so amazing once you think about it. You see, his campaign chief David Axelrod, was a consultant for "The West Wing" when they were devising the Jimmy Smits Presidential nominee storyline. And what else? Well, Obama just hired Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. Besides the fact that his brother is probably the biggest agent in Hollywood (and the inspiration for Jeremy Piven's character on "Entourage"), Emanuel was the inspiration for Josh Lyman, Bradley Whitford's character on "The West Wing". Got all that?

Nonetheless, Obama's speech on Tuesday got me thinking of all of the great Presidents we've seen on the screen. His speech definitely reminded me of Andrew Shepherd from "American President" with a dash of Josiah Bartlett from "The West Wing". But also a bit of the humility of Dave Kovic/Bill Mitchell from "Dave". Plus a little bit of the rousing aggression of Bill Pullman's President in "Independence Day" and the intelligence of Laura Roslin from "Battlestar Galactica". And even though David Palmer from "24" claims he paved the way for Obama, I doubt Barack would trust Kiefer Sutherland to do anything besides get drunk at the Inaugural Ball and hit on Michelle.

and two more brief movie reviews

Damn, my unemployment is leading me to the movies more than I thought. Here's two more movies I saw today...

Zack and Miri Make a Porno
So, brief disclosure...I used to love Kevin Smith. Still do I guess... but I was way into Clerks, Chasing Amy, and, yes, most of all Mallrats when they were out. I haven't like his latest movies including Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob, Jersey Girl (didn't see it), etc. But "Zack and Miri" looked like it could be good.
I don't know if I'd say it was great...not really sure how to describe it. I will say that Justin Long is in this movie and he is really fricking awesome. There are some very funny parts and there are some gross parts. But the bottom line is that Seth Rogen is adorable and I think I would watch him in anything. He has the ability to deliver Kevin Smith's biting, expletive-filled, graphic rants about sexual positions and then in the next scene be totally vunerable and romantic and sweet. Hard to pull off but he does it effortlessly.

Eastern Promises
Yes, I know, this came out a year ago. BUT, I just saw it on HBO so that counts, right? I avoided this movie like the plague last year because I don't really enjoy the director David Cronenberg's work (A History of Violence, Existenz, Crash, The Fly). For some reason I had this movie totally wrong. I guess the trailer misled me because the film was totally different than I thought it would be. And I can honestly say that I really enjoyed it. Viggo Mortensen is amazing as usual and I was surprised at how good co-star Vincent Cassel was. Glad I was sitting at home this rainy afternoon. :)

brief movie reviews

But before I get to an Italian story, two brief reviews of movies I've seen in the past week...

Rachel Getting Married
I was excited to see this because I like Anne Hathaway (I know, I know) and it seemed to have emotions, weddings, sister relationships, etc. which seemed good. But it was fairly disappointing. First of all, Hathaway's character was so so damn unlikable that it was a major problem since she's the main character. I never felt empathy for her but rather liked her sister's character. The second problem was just the style of the film. Sure, it was different than most...a lot of handheld camera work, all the music included was actual musician characters in the movie, long lingering scenes at dinner tables, etc. But it felt indulgent and like I was watching a home movie. And, guess what folks? There's a reason people don't watch home movies of strangers. Not that fun.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Cute movie. Very very simple as there's not much to it. But it was nice, made me smile for 90 minutes, and the music was awesome. Songs from Band of Horses, The National, Tapes n' Tapes, Modest Mouse, etc. Good times.

80s girls

Lately there are been a rash of announcements about remakes that Hollywood is planning on tackling. "90210", "Footloose", "Rocky Horror Picture Show", "Top Gun", "Adventures in Babysitting", "Robocop", etc. It frightens me and makes me incredibly sad. I'll save my rant on Hollywood's lack of creativity and original ideas for another post. But right now I want to talk about 80s heroines. I was flipping the other day and caught some of "Karate Kid" and "Crocodile Dundee" and the original "90210". What do all of these things have in common? Real looking girls. I was struck that Elisabeth Shue might be considered "fat" by today's standards. The woman in "Crocodile Dundee" looks old. And Shannon Doherty has f-ed up teeth and a bad haircut. This certainly does not fly today. Teens and 20-somethings in mainstream movies and TV shows are so boring nowadays. They're all as skinny as sticks, they've all had their teeth whitened, have spray-on tans, and they've all got $500 haircuts. Molly Ringwald would never survive now. Nor would Ally Sheedy or Kelly McGillis or Justine Bateman or Lea Thompson. Which would be a bummer because those girls all rule. Long live the Shue!!

The Dark Knight

Wow. That was quite a movie. I'm definitely not going to give anything away for those of you who haven't seen it, but it was an experience. Quite unusually, I didn't see "The Dark Knight" until Monday night so I heard four days worth of comments and reviews from co-workers and friends. This may have helped because my expectations weren't over the moon. I'd say they were realistic...I thought it would be good but not great. I still don't know how I feel about it. It was better than I thought it would be. I guess it was definitely a great movie but it's so hard because it was certainly not fun nor full of any sort of joy. In fact, it may be one of the bleakest movies I've seen in a long time. But, yes, it's really fantastic and probably deserves a Best Picture nod in what will probably be a weak year. That being said, there were some good things about the movie as well as some flaws. Some thoughts....

The Good

- Heath Ledger is awesome. I had heard the rumors about a Best Actor nomination and was fairly skeptical. I, like many others, assumed this was because he is no longer. That's actually not true though. He is damn good in this and deserves all the attention. Wow. He certainly disappears into the role. No hint of the guy that's in "10 Things I Hate About You".

- The action sequences. I won't name them but there are some set pieces and explosions and chases that are just really badass and well done.

- Gary Oldman. I mean, most of the supporting cast is fantastic (Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart) but Oldman is so understated that it's kind of cool to watch.

- The writing by director Christopher Nolan. Not many action franchise directors could write their own movie. In fact, that would be fairly frightening. But Nolan is so damn talented and this screenplay holds it's own. Really well written.

- Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne. I love Christian Bale. Look no further than 1992's gem "Newsies" when I fell hard for him in a cowboy hat and getting on his song and dance. And I love it when Bale is just Bruce Wayne and gets to put on this rich boy bravado and offer the tiniest bit of humor in this otherwise dark movie. Of course, that leads me to the bad...

The Flaws

- Christian Bale as Batman. Sure, that sounds huge but really it's just his goddamn voice. And it pains me to say this (see aforementioned love of Bale.) I don't know why no one has the balls to ask anyone in an interview why in the hell Bale is choosing to bark his Batman lines in a gruff voice. In this sequel it's even more exaggerated than the first movie. I just don't get it. Seems ridiculous.

- Eric Roberts miscast as an Italian mobster. Ouch that hurt.

- It's long...but not too long like most most movies where it ends up being painful and making the movie bad. No, this is just long like "why in the hell isn't this two movies?" There's certainly enough plot to go around. So no, it never dragged but there was just a lot stuff in there.

- The damn out of focus shots. I won't go too into this but Nolan always uses the same DP and every one of his goddamn movies has a lot of shots that are out of focus. I don't see how this is acceptable at this level. It is not on purpose and is distracting. It's actually slightly less distracting in a crazy movie like this but it also happened in "The Prestige" and "Insomnia". Sure, the guy can light which is maybe why he keeps getting work. But he should fire his focus puller because it's lame to have so many shots out of focus in a $200 million dollar movie.

The Unexplicable or why I hate this goddamn country

After almost 3 hours of really tense action and horror, I emerged from the theater with two thoughts. One, man that was great. And, two, how in the f*&$ was that rated PG-13?! I don't think I've ever seen a more egregiously rated film. PG-13?! This movie was scarier and more violent than most rated R movies. Sure, there's no blood because they always cut away but that doesn't mean the audience doesn't know what in the hell just happened. And so many scenes with terrorism and hostages and psychopaths that revel in violence. An American movie has tits in it and it's slapped with an R rating and yet this is okay for kids? My cousin is 13 and I wouldn't let her watch this movie. Way too disturbing. Very very frustrating.... argh.....

In short, a fantastic movie that is no fun at all. :-)

SATC

That's "Sex and the City" for all of you...well, Men. I wasn't the biggest fan of the tv show but I would say that I would watch it when it was on and enjoy it for what it was - pure fluff. But the girls here love the show so we organized an outing for opening night. The best was that we were going to a special cinema called "gold class". The entire theater was only about 36 seats but that was because the seats were arranged in groups of two and they were huge laz-e-boy recliners with little tables in between them. Before the movie, you sit and look through a menu. Then you tell the waiter what you want to eat and how many cocktails you'll want throughout the whole movie. And that's it. You get your first drink before the movie and then I got my next two cuba libres as the movie went on. At one point some popcorn magically appeared. I opted out of the sandwiches and sushi, but I hear that was good as well. What a fantastic idea.

The bigger surprise was that the movie was actually pretty good! I was shocked. Sure, it was too long at 2hr and 20min, but I enjoyed it. Definitely a movie for women because half of it was a fashion show. But I was most shocked at the fact that there was some ACTING! and MOVING SCENES! What the hell? This wasn't the "Sex and the City" that I know. How dare they make me almost cry? Maybe I was just missing my friends. Anyways, it was enjoyable and I recommend it to all of my favorite females who I miss very very much. I can't believe how lucky I am to actual have a group of friends that are as close and ideal as the fantasy friendships found in the movies. So many years...so many stories.... I can't wait for some serious nights out with many coffees, ice creams, then cocktails.



*some VIPs not pictured :-)*

neglect

This blog has been neglected, big time. I even skipped the post Oscars round-up which was sad but I had to do it. No time to comb through thousands of party photos though I usually love to do so. Maybe I would have posted if I had had anything to say besides, "oh, doesn't keri russell look pretty?" and "i think anne hathaway beat katherine heigl in the battle of the one shoulder red dresses" and "damn james mcavoy is hot for a midget" and "cameron diaz is a hot mess who i want to hang out with." But, sadly, this job got in the way of blogging.

January until now has been a blur of getting up early, getting dressed, going to work, getting put through the wringer, driving home, maybe watching 30 mins of television, and falling asleep. But my job is mostly fun and challenging so I'm not complaining. I'm merely making excuses.

As you may or may not know, I leave for Prague soon and I'll be there for about 10 weeks. I'm hoping to use this site to update friends with photos and hysterical stories about Czech life. This may or may not happen. But at least I plan on trying to do so. And isn't planning half the battle? Or something?

p.s. Don't go see "The Other Boleyn Girl". Unless you want further proof that ScarJo has an ugly face and nothing more to offer than a large pair of breasts.

Top/Bottom 10 of 2007

God this has taken awhile....I was hoping to see a few more movies but who am I kidding.  Without further ado....

10 Worst Movies of 2007

(I'm only doing 8 because while I disliked "Atonement" and saw 15 other movies, I wouldn't say any of them were terrible.)

8.  Pirates of the Caribbean 3 - Expensive crap.  Longest acid trip scene ever in a kids movie with Johnny and the crabs on the ship.  Not good people.

7.  Michael Clayton - I know it's "good" but nothing happened and George Clooney acting like a smug George Clooney is not acting at all.

6.  Gone Baby Gone - I wanted to like this movie because I want Ben Affleck to find a career that doesn't involve acting.  It was actually fairly well-directed but, with the exception of the amazing Casey Affleck, everyone over-acted and it was poorly paced and put together.

5.  Simpsons Movie - God, who was I kidding?  That I could sit through 90 minutes of this unfunny stuff?  I was wrong.

4.  Dan in Real Life - Oh yeah, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, and Steve Carrell would make an amazing love triangle.

3.  Spider-Man 3 - I'm tired of these movies so I hope they stop making them.  More specifically, I'm tired of Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.

2.  Sweeney Todd - So perhaps my problem is that I dislike the musical.  But I didn't know the musical going in so I didn't know that the music sucked and was depressing.  Then add Tim Burton and his all grey sets and his dark lighting and poor Johnny Depp doing a one-note performance and you've got just a depressing muck of a movie.

1.  Blades of Glory - Tired.  Of.  Will.  Ferrell.

10 Best Movies of 2007

10.  Into the Wild - It made it on to my top ten only because the locations were absolutely f-ing gorgeous.

9.  Charlie Wilson's War - Actually, not that great of a story/movie as a whole, but the performances were so great and so entertaining to watch.  And no one writes witty dialogue like Aaron Sorkin.

8.  Waitress - A small little movie that made me smile.

7.  3:10 to Yuma - Solid picture.  Solid performances.  Solid pacing, solid score, solid everything.  Mature, professional, lovely.  Quite enjoyable.

6.  Bourne Ultimatum - I'm a bit biased but I still thought the editing was kickass and the train station scene was brilliant.

5.  Juno - Not nearly as good as "Little Miss Sunshine" (not sure why I'm comparing them), but it was funny and touching.  I laughed, I cried....good times.

4.  Knocked Up - I will see anything in the whole world that Paul Rudd is in.  This is no exception.

3.  Lars and the Real Girl - I know I liked this more than a lot of other people but damn if it wasn't charming.  Granted, Ryan Gosling can do no wrong in my mind, but if you can get a sex doll to move me more than any other movie, you've done something right.

2.  There Will Be Blood - Tough...I almost put this as number one but I decided it didn't quite make it.  Daniel Day Lewis is awesome of course...and I think the scenes in the church with him and Paul Dano are some of the best things I've seen in years.  PT Anderson is amazing and clearly has more range than I ever gave him credit for.

1.  No Country for Old Men - Josh Brolin makes a comeback!  Brand from Goonies has grown up and he's pretty great in this.  Obviously Javier Bardem is scary as hell.  Everyone is good.  Go Coen Brothers!

Best. Gift. EVER.

I was lucky enough to recently get this awesome gift from the blogger formerly known as speakmemory. I think it's pretty sweet. I'm going to use it as a litmus test for people to see if I should be friends with them.

further film opinions that no one cares about

Saw two movies this past weekend - Gone Baby Gone and Lars and the Real Girl.

Gone Baby Gone...I wanted to love this movie. I've always had a soft spot for Ben Affleck even though he went through a huge douchey phase. But now he's got Jennifer Garner who seems so nice and down to earth and he's trying to lay low and do good work. And he collected so much talent for this movie that I thought he could pull it off. And he certainly does pull off an average movie. Casey Affleck is great and I might even say that it's well-directed. The problem, for me, was the writing (which was also Affleck). Granted, it's adapted from a Lehane book but still. I had serious issues with the act structure and, all in all, I couldn't shake the feeling that most scenes felt forced. It's totally snobby and ridiculous to use this word, but it just didn't feel "organic". To be fair, everyone in our group who saw it seemed to like it more than me so maybe I'm off base. But I just wasn't moved. Or maybe the problem was that I saw it a day after this next movie....

Lars and the Real Girl...Great. Just great. Fantastically simple and terrific. Made me think I should just avoid huge studio features all together. If you know the premise about Ryan Gosling in love with a sex doll, you may think it sounds too weird. But if you know me, you know I don't like too weird. This movie is purely a love story and a really moving one at that. Gosling is amazing as usual and the film just really captures this small snow-covered town really well. Whereas Gone Baby Gone felt forced, this film felt completely natural. It looked like they really shot in a small snow-covered town, and the actors were really wearing three layers because it was cold, and not everyone was glamorous and attractive. If it comes to your city, go see it.

a year late

A year late on this but finally saw "Borat". What a f-$%ing unfunny movie. Overrated doesn't begin to describe it. Unbelievable that this made so much money. I didn't laugh once.