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2009-05-17T14:52:00.003-05:00

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The Oscars: Same Old Stuff

2009-02-22T23:22:00.003-06:00

So here are the winners, in the order they were given.

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role

The Winner: Penelope Cruz
My prediction: Marisa Tomei
Notes: Well, I did have it down to Tomei and Cruz. I picked wrong. o-1

Best Writing, Screenplay Based On Material Previously Produced Or Published

The Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My prediction: Slumdog Millionaire
Notes: Back On Track. 1-1

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly For The Screen

The Winner: Milk
My prediction: Milk
Notes: Better. 2-1

Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role

The Winner: Heath Ledger
My prediction: Heath Ledger
Notes: Easiest pick of the night. 3-1

Best Achievement In Directing

The Winner: Danny Boyle
My prediction: Danny Boyle
Notes: I am extremely happy he won. 4-1

Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role

The Winner: Kate Winslet
My prediction: Kate Winslet
Notes: Oh Hell Yeah. It's about time Kate got one. 5-1 (Could I actually go 7-1?)

Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role

The Winner: Sean Penn
My prediction: Mickey Rourke
Notes: Well dang it. Damn You Sean Penn! I told you he was a Hollywood sweatheart. 5-2

Best Motion Picture Of The Year

The Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My prediction: Slumdog Millionaire
Notes: I am almost as happy to see Slumdog win as I am seeing Kate win. 6-2

Well, what do you know. 6 out of 8. I am nothing if not consistent. For those of you scoring at home, this is the 4th year in a row I have emerged with a 6 for 8 record.

The Oscars: My Predictions

2009-02-22T10:13:00.004-06:00

As many of you who have spent the last three years with me and my blog I am mister 75% when it comes to Oscar Predictions with a consistent 6 for 8 in each of the last three years. I have a feeling I won't be that lucky this year. Luckily I has seen all 18 movies involved in the top 8 awards. There is in my opinion only one clear favorite in any of the 8 catagories so I any going to take some chances and pick who I would vote for to win. Okay here we go. Wish me luck.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based On Material Previously Produced Or Published
The Nominees:
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

My prediction: Slumdog Millionaire
Notes: Wow, only Milk is left out or this would be a mirror image of Best Picture. Milk is nominated but in the next catagory. Benjamin Button might win. It is a three hour movie based on a short story, just imagine if it had been a full novel.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly For The Screen
The Nominees:
Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
WALL·E

My prediction: Milk
Notes: I think Milk will probably get the win but I would be very happy if In Bruges or WALL·E won. Both are very well written.

Best Achievement In Directing
The Nominees:
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
David Fincher for The Curious Case Of Banjamin Button
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Saint for Milk

My prediction: Danny Boyle
Notes: Boyle had the least to work with primarily unknown actors and still made a wonderful film.

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role
The Nominees:
Amy Adams for Doubt
Penelope Cruz for Vicky Christina Barcelona
Voila Davis for Doubt
Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler

My prediction: Marisa Tomei
Notes: Here is were it starts getting very hard. I think Cruz and Tomei are the front runners and they are running neck and neck. Either could win.

Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role
The Nominees:
Josh Brolin for Milk
Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt
Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road

My prediction: Heath Ledger
Notes: It's really a shame for the "other four" in this one. Heath Ledger has been the front runner for over a year now, and well deserved. I just hope the Academy voted for his performance and not the fact that he passed away.

Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role
The Nominees:
Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Joile for Changling
Melissa Leo for Frozen River
Meryl Streep for Doubt
Kate Winslet for The Reader

My prediction: Kate Winslet
Notes: The battle of the titans. Winslet have 5 career nominations but she looks like an amateur compared to Streep's 15 career nominations. I do really feel that it is Winslet's year. Anne Hathaway may be her biggest competition.

Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role
The Nominees:
Richard Jenkins for The Visitor
Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn for Milk
Brad Pitt for The Curious Case Of Banjamin Button
Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler

My prediction: Mickey Rourke
Notes: This is another hard one. I think it will come down to Penn and Rourke. Penn is a hollywood sweetheart so he may win.

Best Motion Picture Of The Year
The Nominees:
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

My prediction: Slumdog Millionaire
Notes: And the big one. This may be a three way race between Benjamin Button, Milk and Slumdog. On this I went with my choice. Either of the other two could win, but I am hoping for Slumdog.

So, we will see how it all turns out in 12 hours.

Best Picture Nominees

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And last, the Best Picture Nominees. And remember, I am going to present them in the order they are listed on IMDb.com.

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is the story of a man's life, but he is no ordinary man, he ages backwards. We follow his story from birth where he is abandoned on a step through his life and many loves and adventures. This is the type of movie the Academy loves. Grand adventures, full story, in the tradition of Forrest Gump. If you had asked me in December I would have said this was the shoe in for Best Picture, now I not so sure.

Frost/Nixon follows the preparations and filming of David Frost's interviews with former President of the United States Richard Nixon. It shows the back stage wrangling and mind play between to the two men. Although this was a good film, I'm not sure it has much of a chance. It was mainly driven by the personalities of the men involved in the interviews, it wasn't big enough in scope.

Milk follows about ten years in the life of Harvey Milk including his failed elections and his election to San Fransisco's Castro district supervisor. Milk became the first openly gay elected official in the nation and rallied the gay population in San Fransisco. Now we are getting closer to what the Academy likes. Social and political story. This is one could pull off the win.

The Reader follows man remembering two events from his past. First, his affair with an older woman who had him reader stories to her because she couldn't read them herself. And second, the trial of six women accused of being former Nazi Concentration Camp Guards including the woman he had an affair with. Like Frost/Nixon this is a quiet little film that really works based on the performances of the leads.

Slumdog Millionaire is the story of a young man explaining how he could answer the questions on a television game show. But it is more then that. It is the spirit of a boy who grew up in the slums of Mumbai. It is the resiliency of the young man as he struggles against a world that won't let him flourish. It is the determination of the young man to find his true love. What a great movie. It is epic in scale, including scenes in many different locations in India including the Taj Mahal. It is endearing and at time heartbreaking. The question is can it win over the Academy when it could be considered by some as more Bollywood then Hollywood.

Best Actor Nominees

2009-02-20T10:41:00.003-06:00

Next up is the Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role Nominees. And remember, I am going to present them in the order they are listed on IMDb.com.

Richard Jenkins plays Professor Walter Vale in The Visitor. Walter Vale is a college professor at a crossroads in his career. He is just going through the motions and doesn't want to do anything but work on his book and learn to play the piano but with little success. When he has to return to New York to attend a seminar he discovers two people living in his apartment. He eventually lets them stay and forms a friendship of the young man, who teaches him how to play the drums. Richard Jenkins may be hampered by his quiet performance. He never really shows any emotion until the end of the movie.

Frank Langella plays Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon. Richard Nixon was the President of the United States, at least until he resigned after Watergate. Several years later he agreed to do an interview with David Frost, a journalist that he felt he could handle so that he could get his own message out and gain prominence again. Langella did a good job portraying the former head of state. The problem is just about everybody knows who Nixon is and what he acted like so Langella had to fit into a pretty strict performance or people wouldn't beleive him.

Sean Penn plays Harvey Milk in Milk. Harvey Milk was a gay politician in San Fransisco. He was the first openly gay man to be voted into office in the country. As he gained power he also gained enemies and this is what lead to his downfall. As I said with Langella, Penn is portraying a known politician but in this case a lot fewer people know him so Penn has a little room to work with. That being said, he did a great job. This is going to be a tight race.

Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. Benjamin Button is not normal. He ages backwards, being born an old man and progressing through life getting younger and younger. Pitt, like Jenkins, plays a pretty quiet role here. Besides growing young, Button is pretty just a normal person, so all Pitt has to do is look and act normal.

Mickey Rourke play Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler. Randy "The Ram" Robinson is a wrestler past his prime, by about 20 years. He continues to wrestle hoping for a little bit of the glory but also having to make a living by working part time at a grocery store. I see this coming down to Penn and Rourke, Penn is a Hollywood darling but Rourke has the whole career comeback angle working for him. Rourke does a great job as a has been trying to gain back glory, just like in real life.

Tune in tomorrow for Best Picture.

Best Actress Nominees

2009-02-19T23:53:00.003-06:00

Next up is the Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role Nominees. And remember, I am going to present them in the order they are listed on IMDb.com.

Anne Hathaway plays Kym in Rachel Getting Married. Kym has just left rehab to attend her sister's wedding. She still has issues, mainly with her family in an over protective father and a sister who doesn't seem to want her there. She struggles with the fact that she is not the center of attention that she is used to being. Hathaway does a good job showing the struggles this young woman is facing. Hathaway has so far been known mainly for comedy work and lighter roles. If she keeps picking these kind of roles she will be nominated again.

Angelina Jolie plays Christine Collins in Changeling. Christine Collins is the mother of a lost child. The police will not help her, instead returning a child that is not hers. She feels she has to do something to force the police to look for her boy, but it ends up sending her to a mental institution. Jolie is a good actress but I am not sure this role will win it her her. She doesn't seem to show enough emotion. Maybe it is because she is trying to stay calm and find her son, I don't know, it was just a meh performance to me.

Melissa Leo plays Ray Eddy in Frozen River. Ray Eddy is a mother struggling to make ends meet for her two sons. Her husband has just run out on her and taken the payment for the trailer now she has to figure out a way to get the money before Christmas. Her solution: helping illegal aliens cross the river into America. Melissa Leo is a wild card in this years nominations. I don't know her work very well but it looks like it consists mostly of character parts. In this movie she does a decent job and probably deserves a mention but that's about it.

Meryl Streep plays Sister Aloysius Beauvier in Doubt. Sister Aloysius is the head nun at a school in New York. She directs her nuns to watch out for anything suspicious that happens. Sister James finds it in the form of Father Flynn and a young boy. Sister Aloysius takes it upon herself, without any proof whatsoever, to run Father Flynn out of the school and the church. As I said in the review of Doubt, I think Streep got the nomination purely on reputation. Yes, she does a good job, a very good, but she just doesn't seem to put out her best performance here. It is just not vintage Streep.

Kate Winslet play Hanna Schmitz in The Reader. Hanna Schmitz is a woman who works on a cable car. She helps a young man who is feeling sick get home. He comes back to thank her and the have an affair over the summer. Latter it is revealed that during the war she was a Nazi concentration camp guard and she is put on trial. Winslet is making her sixth appearance as an Oscar nominee, but she hasn't won yet. I say yet because she will win an Oscar in her career which hopefully is a long one. She will probably win multiple Oscars. I think she will get the first one this year. Out of the five nominees, her performance stands out. She is distant at times but so would Schmitz be if she was hiding the fact that she was a nazi guard. She just does the best job this year.

Tune in tomorrow for Best Actor.

Best Supporting Actor Nominees

2009-02-17T17:23:00.003-06:00

Next up is the Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role Nominees. And remember, I am going to present them in the order they are listed on IMDb.com.

Josh Brolin plays Dan White in Milk. Dan White is a conservative political rival of Harvey Milk. White was elected supervisor at the same time as Milk. White and Milk work together but Milk turns on White during a particular political situation and White feels Milk has wronged him ruined his career. Brolin is good at being the quiet man in the background of a burgeoning political powerhouse. It's always the quiet ones. Brolin is solid, but that's about it.

Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder. Lazarus is an Australian actor that is so much into method acting that he has a radical procedure do to appear black in his next movie. He even tries to live the life 24 -7. Every once in a while the Academy surprises me. This is not a traditional role that would get an Academy nomination in a typical year, hell, it probably wouldn't get nominated in most atypical years, but this year is different. This year has Heath Ledger. I sincerely hope the Academy didn't throw Downey a bone knowing that he probably wouldn't win. We need more good comedic performances recognized.

Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Father Flynn in Doubt. Father Flynn is a priest who is accused of abusing a young boy. There is no evidence that he did it. Sister Alyosius is convinced he did it and is determined to remove him from the Church. Philip Seymour Hoffman, as usual, is very good at acting both guilty and innocent. He leaves the audience wondering. A cool bit of trivia: As with the play, Hoffman was the only one on the crew to know if he was guilty or innocent.

Heath Ledger plays The Joker in The Dark Knight. Neurotic, psychotic, criminal, evil, all these words could easily describe the Joker. Genius is also a word that can describe him. The Joker is the quintessential Batman Villain. Genius can also describe Heath Ledger's final performance. Brilliant would work too. Lets face it, this is a one man race. Everyone by now knows that Ledger died shortly after filming of The Dark Knight. He will get a lot of sympathy votes but he would have deserved the Oscar even with out them. This movie literally would not be the same with out Ledger as the Joker. You put anybody else in the role and this movie would be a $200 Million movie instead of a movie approaching a Billion dollars worldwide.

Michael Shannon plays John Givings from Revolutionary Road. John Givings is a mathematician, at least he was one until he had a nervous breakdown and was submitted to electric shock treatment. The treatments also left him with the ability to tell the absolute truth and see through anyone's motives. Now this is how you do a character that only has a short part of the movies. Shannon is able to become the conscience of the film and he did it in two scenes. Too bad he is going up against Ledger.

Tune in tomorrow for Best Actress.

Best Supporting Actress Nominees

2009-02-16T21:24:00.003-06:00

Today we look ate the Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role. I am going to present them, along with the other nominees tomorrow through Friday, in the order they are listed on IMDb.com.

Taraji P. Henson plays Queenie in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. Queenie runs a seniors home in New Orleans. One night she discovers a baby on the steps of the home. The baby turns out to be Benjamin Button who ages backwards. Queenie steps in and raises Benjamin. Henson does a good job in her role. She show ed kindness and tolerance to this small child when no one else would. If it is Benjamin Button's night Taraji very well may be the first of many major awards for the movie.

Amy Adams plays Sister James in Doubt. Sister James is a young nun under the guidance of Sister Aloysius (played by Meryl Streep). Sister James is the one to initially have doubts about Father Flynn, albeit after Sister Aloysius asked the nuns to be on alert for something. She immediatly regrets having said anything and starts to have more doubts about herself. Amy Adams does a good job but I don't see her getting the Oscar this year. There is just too much competition.

Viola Davis plays Mrs. Miller in Doubt. Mrs. Miller is the mother of Donald Miller, whom Father Flynn is accused of wrongdoings with. Donald is the first African American student in the school and is one of the choir boys. She has a wonder scene where Sister Aloysius tells her about the sister's suspicions and she seems to accept that it may have happened but that Donald is better off in the school then in a public school and she feels the sacrifice is worth it. But that is the problem. She is on screen for less then 10 minutes. I feel she is the longshot.

Penelope Cruz play Maria Elena in Vicky Christina Barcelona. Maria is the ex-wife of Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem). Vicky (Scarlett Johansson) and Christina (Rebecca Hall) both fall in love with Juan Antonio. Maria re-enters Juan Antonio's life and she and Vicky finally start hitting it off, but there is a problem. Maria Elena is crazy. If something doesn't go right in her life she shoots first and asks questions later, if she even asks an questions. Cruz does a good job of being calm one moment and crazy the next. Now we are getting into the ones that I think have the inside track to the Oscar. I think the Oscar will either go to Cruz or...

Marisa Tomei who plays Cassidy in The Wrestler. Cassidy is an aging stripper who becomes the object of affection of a run down aging wrestler Ram (Micky Rourke). She starts to like Ram, but tries to keep the relationship professional. Tomei interjects a little hope into an otherwise depressing movie. You think that if Ram can get Cassidy to love him he might have a chance at happiness without the need of wrestling.

Tune in tomorrow for Best Supporting Actor.

Best Picture Nominee: Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

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Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But hilarity ensues when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of Jamal's increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show's seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out. At the heart of its storytelling lies the question of how anyone comes to know the things they know about life and love.

Trivia: Mercedes-Benz asked that its logos be removed in scenes taking place in the slums. The company, according to Danny Boyle, did not want to be associated with the poverty-stricken area, fearing that that might taint its image. Director Danny Boyle placed the money to be paid to the 3 lead child actors in a trust that is to be released to them upon their completion of grade school at 16 years of age. The production company has set up for an auto-rikshaw driver to take the kids to school everyday until they are 16 years old. The current exchange rate for 20,000,000 Rupees (the grand prize on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire") is USD$411,600. This movie was almost released straight to DVD instead of getting a theater release.

It is refreshing to see Hollywood respond to a movie that has no American Superstars in it, a movie that can survive and actually thrive on a well written story, a movie that is intelligent. Everyone in this movie did a great job. If you haven't seen it yet I highly suggest that you do. You might even be surprised come Sunday night.

Best Picture Nominee: The Reader (2008)

2009-02-14T16:36:00.002-06:00

Middle aged German barrister Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) recollects to himself his lifelong acquaintance with Hanna Schmitz, (Kate Winslet) a relationship with whom he never disclosed to anyone close to him. Young Michael (David Kross) first met Hanna in 1958, when he was fifteen, she thirty-six. Hilarity ensued as the two had a turbulent summer long love affair, dictated by Hanna that their encounters would begin with him reading to her followed by lovemaking. Michael next encountered Hanna in 1966, when Michael, now a law student, attended the Nazi war crimes trial of five female former S.S. concentration camp guards, one of whom is Hanna. Through listening to the testimony, Michael comes to the realization that he is in possession of information which could save Hanna from a life in prison, information which she herself is unwilling to disclose. In deciding what to do, Michael is torn between his differing views of justice.

Trivia: Stephan Daldry's first choice for the lead role was Kate Winslet, who originally turned down the offer due to a scheduling conflict with Revolutionary Road. When Nicole Kidman accepted the role, the producers built in a hiatus in order to allow her to finish filming Australia. However, by the time Kidman was set to begin her scenes on the film, she withdrew because of her pregnancy, vacating the role. Winslet, who was now available, agreed to replace Kidman. Producers Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella both died before the completion of the movie. As the film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, the Academy made an exception from their rules not to name more than three producers as nominees because of this rare circumstance. In the end the two producers Donna Gigliotti and Redmand Morris who took over duties were nominated as well as the posthumously honored Minghella and Pollack. The shooting took a break for David Kross to turn 18 so the love scene could be shot.

The movie is divided into two parts. The Affair, and The Trial. I think Winslet does a good job portraying Hanna in both parts of her life. Winslet is nominated for Best Actress which is curious because she was nominateed for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for the same role.

Best Picture Nominee: Milk (2008)

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Upon moving to San Francisco from New York City in 1972, forty year old Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) gains focus in his life as a gay activist in the city's Castro district. Hilarity ensues as gay rights activism turns to political activism as Milk decides he can be a more effective voice for the gay community as a politician, elected or not. Through several elections and losses both for a city seat and a state assembly seat, Milk becomes the first openly gay man in the United States to be elected to political office when he wins a San Francisco supervisor seat in 1977. His many political battlefronts include one with the national anti-gay Save the Children crusade, led and fronted by singer Anita Bryant. Closer to home, Milk has a continuing struggle with his fellow supervisor, Dan White (Josh Brolin), a staunch social conservative.

Trivia: Thousands of people agreed to take part in the film as extras for free. The filming location for Harvey Milk's business, Castro Camera, was the real storefront where the actual business had once been. At the time of filming (mid-2008), it was a gift shop called "Given"; the film crew worked with the owner of the gift shop to recreate the look of Milk's camera store inside the space and restored it to its 2008 appearance after filming. It was widely reported that while filming a scene at the old Castro Camera, some of the actors claimed that they saw a man come in and sit on a couch. After the scene was filmed, nobody else claimed to have seen the man, and the actors themselves went on to claim that it was perhaps the ghost of Harvey Milk. The apartment that was used in the film is the real apartment Harvey Milk lived in on the Lower Haight in San Francisco.

Tonight we have another multi-nominated film. Besides Best Picture, both Sean Penn and Josh Brolin were nominated as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively. Josh Brolin doesn't have a chance, he will be up against Heath Ledger, the almost certain supporting actor winner. But Sean Penn has a decent chance. I don't hide the fact that I dislike Sean Penn, mostly because of his politics, but he has had some good roles. I also think he gets more then his share of accolades for his work, basically he gets nominations like this because he is Sean Penn (See Meryl Streep). But his take of Milk is very engaging and is in my top three male performances this year. As with Frost/Nixon, I was alive when this true story actually happened, but I was under 10 and pretty oblivious to the news so it was interesting to see what was happening on that side of America coupled with my trip last summer to San Fransisco it was a pretty cool film to watch.

Best Picture Nominee: Frost/Nixon (2008)

2009-02-11T11:44:00.003-06:00

Following the resignation of US President Richard Nixon (Frank Langella), television talk show host David Frost (Michael Sheen)wants to arrange a series of interviews with him to air on television. Part of the reason Frost thinks the interviews would be compelling to both the public and the television networks is that Nixon never admitted any guilt of or offered any apology for the Watergate scandal which led to his resignation. Nixon, with a few interview offers on the table, ultimately agrees to Frost's proposal partly because of the high $600,000 guaranteed appearance fee, and partly because he wants to take command of such an interview to show the world that he is still presidential so that he can resurrect his political career. Nixon believes he can railroad Frost, who is better known as a pop cultural entertainment styled interviewer than an investigative political interviewer. However, Frost has every intention on these interviews being hard hitting and pointed; in addition to his producer John Birt (Matthew Macfadyen), Frost hires two investigative reporters known for their previous exposés on Nixon: Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt) and James Reston Jr. (Sam Rockwell). Nixon's chief adviser for the interviews is his current chief of staff, Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon). Prior to the interviews, ground rules are negotiated, most importantly surrounding Watergate: the total percentage of time Watergate can be discussed and the definition of what constitutes Watergate. Hilarity ensues as the four interviews progress, each side trying to manipulate the interviews to his best advantage. Behind the scenes, Frost is having difficulty with the rest of his professional life: his regular talk shows are being canceled and he has not reached anywhere near the total $2 million financing for this project. Ultimately, Frost has to finance the project with much money out of his own pocket. It isn't until a chance telephone call that the tides turn on the interviews.

Trivia: Both Frank Langella and Michael Sheen repeat the roles they created on stage. Ron Howard would only agree to direct if the studio would allow both actors to appear in the film version. Frank Langella won a Tony Award in 2007 for playing Richard Nixon in the original stage production. Even while off-camera, all of the actors would remain in character and continue the Frost/Nixon rivalry by bickering and making fun of each other. Director Ron Howard admitted voting for Richard Nixon in the 1972-election. In 1977, the year of the actual David Frost and Richard Nixon's interviews, Ron Howard was directing his first feature film, Grand Theft Auto.

First off, let me say that I am reviewing the Best Picture Nominees in alphabetical order, so this should have been The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, but I have already reviewed it, you can see the review below. So next up is Frost/Nixon. You know, it's funny. I was alive when Watergate happened and these interviews were shot, but I was 7 when they were so I have no recollection of the actual interviews. I do recognise the name David Frost, but I couldn't point him out in a croud. What made this movie good was the interaction between David Frost and Richard Nixon. I liked the games Nixon played on Frost trying to get him out of he comfort zone. It makes me kind of want to see the original interviews to see if they come across the same way. The movie kept me interested in what would come next. Frank Lagella did a great job as Nixon. Will he win the Best Actor catagory? Probably not, there is a lot of good competition there.

Oscar Month Twofer: Doubt (2008)

2009-02-10T17:02:00.002-06:00

Hilarity ensues as a charismatic priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), is trying to upend St. Nicholas' strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep), the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear and discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the community, and indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller (Joseph Foster). But when Sister James (Amy Adams), a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her guilt-inducing suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and to expunge Flynn from the school. Now, without a shard of proof besides her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius locks into a battle of wills with Father Flynn which threatens to tear apart the community with irrevocable consequence.

Trivia: The Broadway play ran for over a year, with 525 performances. The play won four Tony awards: Best Play, Best Director (Doug Hughes), Best Actress (Cherry Jones), and Best Featured Actress (Adriane Lenox). Oprah Winfrey reportedly lobbied for the role of Mrs. Miller, but John Patrick Shanley refused to even give her a reading.

Hmmm, let's see, why am I reviewing this movie during Oscar Month? Did it get nominated for any Oscars? Oh yeah, three. One for Meryl "I always get nominated" Streep for Best Actress. One for Amy "See I can play dramatic roles" Adams for Best Supporting Actress and one for Viola "Whoo Hoo, two scenes one nomination!" Davis for Best Supporting Actress. Okay, let's take these one at a time. Viola Davis was in a total of two scenes. That's it, two. The first is an extended dialogue with Meryl Streep's character, Sister Aloysius. In the second, she appears only for about 10 seconds and does not speak. I don't mean to denegrate Ms. Davis (who plays the mother of the boy Father Flynn is accused of acosting) , but she was only in two scenes. They were nice scenes but really. I know Michael Shannon was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Revolutionary Road and he was in two scenes, but he really made an impact on the movie. Viola Davis didn't have as much impact. Wasn't there anyone else? Next Amy Adams. She is okay in her role as the young nun who didn't know quite what to do or who to believe but not groundbreaking. Then there was Meryl Streep. The Mercedes of the bunch. The top dog. The queen of acting. The, well, you get my point. Sometimes I think the Academy falls back on what they know. They know Streep. Was she good? Yes. Was she scary? Yes. Was she imtimidating? Yes. Was this her best work? Nope. Of course a subpar performance from her could beat plenty of career performances by others, but not this year. I did like how the movie kept you guessing all the way through if the father was guilty or not.

Oscar Month Twofer: The Visitor (2008)

2009-02-10T16:46:00.004-06:00

Hilarity ensues when a widowed college professor Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) returns from school to his home in New York and finds a couple living in his apartment. Tarek Khalil (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Danai Jekesai Gurira) have been staying there for a few months. Tarek is a musician and street performer and Zainab makes jewlery. Vale lets them stay and Tarek starts to teach him how to play the African Drum. Tarek is stopped by police and detained on a missunderstanding but it turns out that they are illegal immigrants.

Trivia: The parking lot in which Walter parks is car after arriving in New York--on East 11th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue--was torn down shortly after the film was released.

Richard Jenkins is nominated for Best Actor in this small film. He does a wonderful job of a professor just going through the motions until he meets Tarek and his love of music is awakened. Then his concern over Tarek's situation shows through. It is a touching film and Walter and Mouna (Tarek's mother played by Hiam Abbass) romance is tender. It is a nice quiet movie worth seeing.

Ocsar Month Twofer: The Wrestler (2008)

2009-02-09T14:06:00.004-06:00

Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke) is an aging professional wrestler, decades past his prime, who now barely gets by working small wrestling shows in VFW halls and as a part-time grocery store employee. As he faces health problems that may end his wrestling career for good he attempts to come to terms with his life outside the ring: by working full time at the grocery store, trying to reconcile with the daughter he abandoned in childhood and forming a closer bond with a stripper, Cassidy (Marissa Tomei), who he has romantic feelings for. Hilarity ensues as he struggles with his new life and an offer of a high-profile rematch with his 1980s arch-nemesis, The Ayatollah, which may be his ticket back to stardom.

Trivia: Darren Aronofsky revealed that Mickey Rourke wasn't the first choice to play Randy "The Ram" Robinson. First choice in line was Nicolas Cage, but he turned the movie down due to creative differences. Second choice was Sylvester Stallone. Aronofsky was trying to get Stallone back in the ring again but he has been too busy working on Rocky Balboa at the time. Only two days after its completion, "The Wrestler" was screened on Venice Film Festival and walked off with the Golden Lion award for Best Picture. Mickey Rourke also would have walked off as Best Actor if the Venice jury chairman, director Wim Wenders, had had his way but Wenders' vigorous campaigning could not topple a longstanding festival rule which insists that one film is not allowed to win both awards. Rourke happily contented himself with finally being the star of a prize-winning picture. The scene where a fan hands "The Ram" a prosthetic leg is based on an actual event from an ECW show where a fan repeatedly yelled "use my leg" and eventually tossed his prosthetic leg to Tommy Dreamer who in turn used it on his opponent. Darren Aronofsky and Marisa Tomei attended the same high school, Edward R. Murrow High School.

Today you are getting a Twofer so be sure to keep reading my review of Rachel Getting Married below. This movie is all about Mickey Rourke. I shudder to think of what it would have looked like if Nicolas Cage had played The Ram. Rourke deserves all the accolades he is getting, including the Best Actor nomination. Rourke's career actually parallels Ram's. Rourke's golden days are behind him and this movie is his comeback, just like Ram struggles to make his own comeback. This part is perfect for Rourke and I think he put a whole lot of his own life into the role. I would not be surprised if he won. Now I just said the movie was all about Rourke, well, most of it is. Marisa Tomei stole most of the scenes she was in from Rourke (It didn't hurt that she played a stripper, after all I am a guy). She provides a bright spark where most of the movie is a little depressing. She has also be nominated (For Best Supporting Actress).

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for another Twofer (Doubt and The Visitor)

Oscar Month twofer: Rachel Getting Married (2008)

2009-02-09T13:40:00.004-06:00

Hilarity ensues when you realize the star of the picture Anne Hathaway is not Rachel and she is not getting married. She is actually Kym, Rachel's (Rosemarie DeWitt) sister and Kym just got out of rehab. Kym has had issues all her life which culminated in an accident and a death while she was inder the influence of Percocet. Kym has gotten out of rehab just in time for her sister's wedding. The wedding is being held at the family home so much choas abounds. Rachel just wants the wedding to be good and to have it be her day, but she feels Kym's selfishness is butting in. The family is pretty disfunctional to begin with but add the wedding plans, an over protective father following Kym's every move, the rehearsal dinners where Rachel meets her fiancee's family for the first time just adds to the drama. Friction builds between Kym and Rachel. Will it push Kym over the edge?

Trivia: Jenny Lumet spent about 7 weeks writing the script. It was her first to be made into a film, even though it was the writer's 5th screenplay. The dishwasher scene was based on an actual event involving Sidney Lumet and Bob Fosse.

Overall this was a good little film. Anne Hathaway has been nominated for a Best Actress Oscar and the performance deserves it. This could be her break out role. Most of her filmography involves bubblegum Disney type roles with little ability needed to accomplish. (See The Princess Diaries, Ella Enchanted, Get Smart, The Devil Wears Prada, Bride Wars). In this she plays an addict with a tormented past struggling to cope with something she did. Nice job. Also I was relieved to see that the film did not fall into the cliche of the Maid Of Honor falling for the Best Man and living happily ever after.

Oscar Month: Changeling (2008)

2009-02-06T12:05:00.002-06:00

The year was 1928, Los Angeles. As Christine (Angelina Jolie) said goodbye to her son, Walter, and departed for work, she never anticipated that this was the day her life would be forever changed. Upon returning home, Christine was distressed to discover that Walter was nowhere to be found. Over the course of the following months, the desperate mother would launch a search that would ultimately prove fruitless. Yet just when it seemed that all hope was lost, a nine-year-old boy claiming to be Christine's son seemed to appear out of thin air. Overcome with emotions and uncertain how to face the authorities or the press, Christine invites the child to stay in her home despite knowing without a doubt that he is not her son. As much as Christine would like to accept the fact that her son has been returned to her, she cannot accept the injustice being pushed upon her and continues to challenge the Prohibition-era Los Angeles police force at every turn. As a result, Christine is slandered by the powers that be, and painted as an unfit mother. In this town, a woman who challenges the system is putting her life on the line, and as the situation grows desperate, the only person willing to aid her in her search is benevolent local activist Reverend Briegleb (John Malkovich). Not much hilarity there to ensue.

Trivia: Based on the true story of the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, also known as the Wineville Chicken Murders. There is a roadside café named "Bummy's" which appears early on in the film. This is possibly in memory of Clint Eastwood's long time collaboration with Production Designer Henry Bumstead, who passed away in 2006. His nickname was "Bummy". Both Hilary Swank and Reese Witherspoon lobbied for the role of Christine Collins. Clint Eastwood cast Angelina Jolie at the suggestion of Executive Producer Ron Howard, who noted that Jolie's "look" would fit best with the time period. J. Michael Straczynski first learned of the story of Christine Collins from an unnamed source at Los Angeles City Hall. The source had stumbled across case files regarding the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders among other discarded documents scheduled for destruction. Straczynski took the files himself and became obsessed with the case, doing extensive research over the course of a year. Virtually every event depicted in the film appears as cited in legal documents, with dialog often taken verbatim from court transcripts. The exception is the insane asylum sequences which are based more on conventions of the time than documented events. Straczynski wrote his first draft of the screenplay in only eleven days.

Angelina Jolie is nominated in the Best Actress catagory for this period crime drama, and she does a good job as the mother wondering what happened to her child and fighting against the police. The movie is nice a simple and beautifully shot as most of Eastwood's movies are. It is worth seeing. But I am going to talk about movie posters. The one at the top of the page is the American version. The one to the left is Spanish (at least I think it is, it is written in Spanish). (click on the posters to see larger versions of them.) The second one is a powerful poster with a woman looking in on a child that might be her son or it might not be. You can see the concern on her face. The face is instantly recognizeable as Jolie, so you get the star power on the poster. It is a nice poster. The American one on the other hand. What the heck is up with that? Jolie looks huge. She also looks hungry. Hungry enough to eat the small bite size kid in front of her? Maybe. The picture is not enven that flatterying of her. I think the second poster is a much prettier picture of her. It also gives the impression of being in the past. If I saw the first poster without knowing what the film was about I couldn't even start to guess what it was about. No clue. And what is with the solid white background? There are many times when the foreign posters are superior to the domestic versions. Why is that? Because they think we can't understand it? Because they think if the poster doesn't have the stars full face promenantly shown we will fail to recognize them, no half hidden face, no reflections? They think that if the poster is to artsy that we will not watch it? Dear Hollywood, we are not idiots, (well at least some of us aren't. See Meet The Spartans: $38 million dollars at the boxoffice.)

Oscar Month: Revolutionary Road (2008)

2009-02-04T15:39:00.003-06:00

It's 1955. After seven years of marriage Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April Wheeler (Kate Winslet) have fallen into a life that appears to most as being perfect. They live in the Connecticut suburbs with two young children. Frank commutes to New York City where he works in an office job while April stays at home as a housewife. But hilarity doesn't seem to ensue, and they're not happy. April has given up her dream of becoming an actress. Frank, on the other hand, has never found his dream, he hates his job and puts very little effort into it. One day, April suggests that they move to Paris as a means to rejuvenate their life and get out of their unhappy existence. April's plan: she would work, you would be amazed at how much money a secretarial job in an embassy makes. Frank would then have free time to find himself and discover his passion. Initially skeptical, Frank ultimately agrees to April's plan. When circumstances change around the Wheelers, April decides she will do whatever she has to to get herself out of her unhappy existence.

Trivia: This is the first film collaboration between Kate Winslet and husband Sam Mendes. First movie Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have worked on together since Titanic (1997). Kathy Bates is also a Titanic veteran. The rights to adapt the book into a movie were bought in 1967. Child actors Ryan Simpkins and Ty Simpkins, who play Frank and April's children, are real-life siblings.

Well, the Oscars are fast approaching so for the next couple of weeks, we are Oscar talk all the time. All of the movies this month will be Oscar Nominees. Today's film is Revolutionary Road. To say this film is depressing is an understatement. There are no likable characters in it. April is a stilted unsatisfied housewife who feels like she is being imprisoned in her own home. Frank is an angry unsatisfied man having to work at a job he hates at the same company his father languished in for 20 years just so he can take care of his obligations (also known as his wife and children). They fight constantly. The neighbor has a secret crush on April. The real estate agent (Kathy Bates) looks to the couple as a way to revitalize the neighborhood. The lone bright spot is Bates's son John (played by Michael Shannon). John is mentally ill. He also doesn't sugarcoat anything and acts as the conscious of the film pointing out how everybody is pretending to be happy while in reality they can't stand each other. Shannon parleyed this 5 to 10 minute role into a Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination. Too bad he will be up against Heath Ledger.

Gran Torino

2009-01-28T14:52:00.004-06:00

Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) is a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy an old man, who can't get along with either his kids or his neighbors, a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. Hilarity ensues when his neighbor Thao (Bee Vang), a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal his Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Thao's family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood.

Trivia: Open casting calls for Hmong actors were held in Hmong communities in Detroit, Michigan; Saint Paul, Minnesota; and Fresno, California. None of the Hmong actors in the cast had acted in a film before except Doua Moua. Clint Eastwood encouraged the Hmong actors to ad-lib in the Hmong language. A Gran Torino was also the car used in the 70s cop show Starsky & Hutch.

This is a typical Eastwood movie if you compare it with his last several movies in which he appears as well as directs. And by that I mean 1) it is pretty good, 2) Eastwood plays a sour old guy set in his ways that changes a little through the story but still comes out as a sour old man, and 3) We are bound to see Eastwood glare into the camera with his trademark scowl. I am not sure good a message it is though. Kowalski teaches Thao some things and you think he is grooming him to take care of himself but when it actually comes time for the confrontation at the end of the movie, Kowalski leaves Thao behind. I know that is the only way to come to the conclusion the film does come to but still it feels like a betrayal. Still its a good movie.

Yes Man (2008)

2009-01-08T11:53:00.003-06:00

Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) is in a funk. His girlfriend left him and now he is afraid to interact with anyone. He even misses his best friend's engagement party. Hilarity ensues when one day he meets an old friend who invites him to a siminar stressing that to truly live you need to stop saying "no" and say "yes"...to everything. Once he starts doing this his life changes, his job gets better and he meets Allison (Zooey Deschanel). But not everything is going the way he hopes when his friends start taking advantage of him and Allison questions whether he really loves her or if he just can't say no.

Trivia: Based on a biographical book written by Danny Wallace, a British author, producer, and journalist who spent six months answering "yes" to any given question or proposal and recording the results. Jim Carrey performed his own bungee jump stunts. Speaking of stunts the day before Zooey Deschanel had to get on the scooter for the first time, her stunt double fell off and shattered her hip. Zooey was told that the stunt woman would have about a nine month recovery, so she was asked to get on the bike for the shot herself. Even though one of the movie's main posters has Jim Carrey running through a field of flowers gracefully (see above left), he does not run through a field of flowers once throughout the film. There are multiple references to Harry Potter in the film. David Heyman, one of the film's producers, also produces the Harry Potter films. While Carl is in the video store you can see another Jim Carrey movie, The Number 23, playing out of focus in the background. He also picks up The Cable Guy to rent.

For me Jim Carrey movies are interesting and mildly funny, this one is no exception. Is it a good movie? Yes. Did it make me laugh? Yes. Is Zooey Deschanel totally awesome? YES! I admit I am a little biased when it comes to Ms. Descahnel (Zooey, if you are reading this, call me.) since I have a pretty major crush on her (a 10 year age difference isn't that much, really). She is at her ultimate cuteness in this movie and she sings! How awesome is that? As for the rest of the movie. It is fun but it is formulaic, I kept wondering when something was going to happen to sour the relationship and it hit right on cue, then it was "He's got to do something her to win her back." Ahh, there it is. Not every movie has to be Oscar calibur to be good, not every movie has to be perfect. This is a fun movie to see.

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2009-01-06T11:14:00.006-06:00

seusne ytiraliH. (okay okay, I'll go back to normal) "I was born under unusual circumstances." That is how Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) describes his birth. You see, when he was born his body was that of an 80 year old. The thing about Benjamin is that as time went by he grew younger, but like all of us, he is not able to stop the passage of time. The story follows his diary as he lives his life in New Orleans (abandoned by his father and taken in by Queenie (Taraji P. Henson) who runs an old folks home), and his adventures into the world. Along the way he meets a lot of people, including Elizabeth Abbott (Tilda Swinton) the wife of a diplomat and spy in Minsk, Russia, Captain Mike (Jared Harris) a tug boat Captain, and Daisy (Cate Blanchett) the young granddaughter of a resident of the old folks home, and his life long love.

Trivia: Filmmakers worked closely with Levi's to obtain clothing items from their Levi's Vintage Clothing collection to authenticate various time periods captured throughout the film. Principal photography was targeted to last a total of 150 days, excluding the time it would take to create the visual effects for the metamorphosis of Brad Pitt's character to the infant stage. Brad Pitt stated it took 5 hours each day to complete the make-up required for the role. The second Hollywood feature film, after Denzel Washington's Deja Vu, to film in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Well this is the first and maybe only shoo-in for a Best Picture Oscar nomination this year. It definitely is the type of movie that Oscar loves, a dramatic and romantic love story that stretches over years and years. But does it have a chance? Well, in a word, yes. This is a solid movie with a solid cast. Brad Pitt. He does a great job with the different ages that he plays, you feel his struggle to live his life. Cate Blanchett. She is at her loveliest in this role, and she gets to dance. Tilda Swinton. She is only in the movie for about 10 minutes out of almost 3 hours but she ends up stealing her scene from Pitt. The makeup and special effects. They were awesome. We all have seen age makeup where an actor looks older then they really are, but it was the younger look that was so impressive. At one point Pitt looked like he had just finished Thelma and Louise the day before not 17 years before. Blanchett also gets the youth treatment. It is a good film and is considered by most as the Oscar frontrunner. We shall see.

The Fall (2006)

2009-01-05T11:39:00.002-06:00

At a Los Angeles hospital in the 1920s, Alexandria is a child recovering from a broken arm. She befriends Roy Walker, a movie stunt man with legs paralyzed after a fall. Hilarity ensues as at her request, Roy tells her an elaborate story about six men of widely varied backgrounds who are on a quest to kill a corrupt provincial governor. Alexandria's imagination starts to run wild as her vision of the story gets more and more vivid and the line between fiction and reality begins to blur. But Roy has his own motives for befriending Alexandria that include procurement of Morphine.

Trivia: The film was shot on 26 locations over 18 countries. The director claims that there are no special effects in the film despite its surreal looks. Everything was shot on real locations. A miscommunication between the casting agent and Catinca Untaru (Alexandra) led her to believe that Lee Pace (Roy) was a real-life paraplegic. Director Tarsem Singh found that this brought an added level of believability to their dialogue, so he decided to keep almost the entire cast and crew under the same impression. Singh had to speak to the actor playing Alexandria's father and explain that his role was smaller than it appeared, since the script implied that he played the role of the bandit (actually played by Pace) in the fantasy scenes. Apparently it was hard to keep up the lie - a makeup artist walked into a room to find Pace standing and almost passed out from shock. The cinematic poster for this movie is based on the Salvador Dali painting, "1935_03_Face of Mae West Which May Be Used as an Apartment", circa 1935.

I saw Bedtime Stories this weekend (the review will be up in a couple of days) that had a man tell a story to two children and the story was acted out by the three of them and included other people in their lives. It was okay, a fun little romp. This movie blows it out of the water. It was a lot sadder then Bedtime Stories which is a comedy, and it deals with a lot of heavy issues including suicide, but it is still a lot better movie. Alexandria's imagination of the story is so vivid and full of color it is like a painting. It truely has no bounds. This picture was just so lush and beautiful. The thing I like the most is that the story was told by an American man about a native indian, a bandit, an explosives expert, a runaway slave, an East Indian swordsman, and Charles Darwin, but instead of just having Alexandria imagine the cliches that we associate with these name, her vision was of far away places and had a distinct far east feel. Her imagination was allowed to roam free. This is a gorgeous film, you should find it and see it.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

2009-01-02T09:38:00.006-06:00

An evil elf, Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) breaks an ancient pact between humans and the magical creatures, as he declares war against humanity. He is on a mission to release The Golden Army, a deadly group of fighting machines that can destroy the human race. As Hell on Earth is ready to erupt, Hellboy (Ron Perlman), our favorite red hero, Liz (Selma Blair), firestarter and Red's girlfriend, Abe Sapian (Doug Jones), the fishy brains of the outfit and the rest of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense set out to defeat the evil prince before The Golden Army can destroy humanity's existence. Their only hope lies with Princess Nuala (Anna Walton), Nuada's twin sister. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Peter Jackson approached Guillermo del Toro to direct Halo, and even though del Toro considered it, he turned the offer down so he could direct this sequel. Del Toro also turned down I Am Legend, One Missed Call, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for the same reason. This is actually the second time del Toro opted for a Hellboy movie over a Harry Potter movie. He also turned down Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to direct the first Hellboy. As in the first movie, the agents that accompany Hellboy are named for things found while digging in the earth, albeit decidedly tougher than the first group: Marble, Flint, Steel (true, this is an alloy that is mostly iron, but Iron is not a common last name). The movie mentions Bethmoora, a city in the fiction of the early 20th century visionary writer Lord Dunsany. Also note that the Golden Army is hidden in Ireland, Dunsany's homeland. The term "glamour" used for the fairies' cloaking skill also originates in Dunsany's "The King of Elfland's Daughter". Just like the first film, none of the cast member's names are written on the posters, mentioned in the trailers or shown in the opening credits. The number 7 appears throughout the movie, most notably when it is stated that the Golden Army consists of "70 times 70", but also during the scene in the auction house, where the crown piece is listed as lot 777, with a starting price of $7,000,000. As the Angel of Death, Doug Jones could only see out of the crack across the mask he wore. Also, the mechanical wings he was wearing weighed about 40 pounds. Doug was originally supposed to walk around the set, but when it was discovered that he could barely stand, they instead hung him from a wire. This is why The Angel of Death floats. The Angel of Death's voice is done by Doug Jones doing each line twice, once in a higher pitched voice and then in a lower pitch, and then the two takes were blended together.

Wow, has it really been over a month? Anyway, Hellboy. This is one of the few times the sequal is better then the original. Guillermo del Toro pulls out all the visual magic for this one. Visually the movie is absolutely beautiful. The magical creatures seen and wonderful, especially Prince Nuada, Princess Nuala, and the Angel of Death (which could have easily stepped out of Pan's Labrinth). The Prince and Princess were beautiful and ethereal, while the Angel of Death was disturbingly beautiful. While the story will never seriously contend for a screenwriting award, it was still a good story and better then the first. Ron Perlman is solid and Selma Blair pulls liz off a lot stronger then before. Good solid movie.

Kataude Mashin Garu (The Machine Girl) (2008)

2008-11-21T11:26:00.005-06:00

Ami (Minase Yashiro) is a typical college girl. She's bright, friendly, popular and athletic, with nothing to set her apart from other girls her age other than the fact that she is an orphan, left to care for her younger brother when her father committed suicide after being falsely accused of murder. But while there is tragedy in their past, the siblings' future looks good, except for one thing. Ami's brother has racked up a considerable debt to another boy at school, and that boy just happens to be the heir to a clan of vicious ninja-yakuza. Ami's brother can't pay, violence breaks out and in the course of trying to avenge her brother, Ami is captured by the clan. They torture her and hack her arm right off. Ami escapes, barely alive, and is taken in by the owners of a machine shop who build her a customized, bullet-spewing arm. From that point, hiarity ensues as the quest for revenge is on in earnest.

Trivia: The yakuza family preys to Hanza Hattori, in Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Hattori Hanzo is a highly regarded maker of swords.

I have no idea what brought me to this movie but it was very funny. Let me tell you up front. This movie is not subtle and doesn't pretend to be. It was over the top grusome with blood spraying everywhere like a fire hose. But it is so over the top that you laugh. Of course Minase Yashiro is very pretty and she spends 90% of the movie in that little school girl outfit so that is all good. And with that I think I will leave you with two words...Drill Bra.

The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

2008-11-03T14:34:00.006-06:00

Upon moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother (Mary-Louise Parker), twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace (both played by Freddie Highmore), along with their sister Mallory (Sarah Bulger), find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of faeries and other creatures. Hilarity ensues when mysterious noises start to appear while everyday object start to disappear, the family blames Jared. When Jared finds a hidden room belonging to his great uncle Arthur Spiderwick, he finds Spiderwick's Field Guide and uncovers the fantastic truth of the Spiderwick estate and of the creatures that inhabit it.

Trivia: Film prints were shipped to some theaters under the fake title -- "Widow". The movie contains plotpoints from all 5 Spiderwick novels but most of the fouth novel is left out.

Okay, let me get this straight. You took 5 novels, right? 5 Novels to pull information out of, according to Amazon.com, 672 pages and all you got was a measly 97 minutes? What is up with that? You spend the money to invest in cutting edge special effects dozens of CGI characters and you can only come up with 97 minutes of movie? Yes, it is a children's movie but still, who said children's can't be engaging? Did you ever think that the reason children are all supposedly inflicted with very short attention spans is because we are forcing them into it? I have not read the Spiderwick books so I can only go with what I saw so I recommend renaming this movie The Undiscovered Country because that is what it is. There is a whole new world out there that looks really promising but you only get a glimpse. Like I said, there are literally dozens of fantasy characters but only 4 of them talk. The rest are basically soldier trolls that run around. Thimbletack, a little mouselike creature pretty much just shows up and with one or two sentences is excepted into the family so to speak. Hogsqueal is rescued by Jared Grace and the next thing you know, they are bosum buddies. And speaking of Jared. He finds the Field Guide left by his great uncle and 3 hours into reading it, he has a full and complete knowledge of this new world and can navigate through it easily. We get to a point where the hero's quest is revealed. Now we are getting somewhere, right? Adventure, perils, struggles? Nope. He pulls the book out, flips it open to a page in less then a second, reads some words outloud and poof, quest complete. Then there is Simon. He didn't even read the book and he can grasp the concepts and fashion pretty devestating weapons to use against the bad guys. That is pretty devestating to the bad guys, completely harmless to the good guys. Whoo Hoo! Oh yeah, there is a "Wait a minute, who are those guys and when did they come from" moment added in for good measure. If you want the wonder this movie provides AND prefer a good story, watch The Bridge To Teribithia. Way better movie.

An American Crime (2007)

2008-11-02T17:22:00.004-06:00

Based on a true story that shocked the nation in 1965, the film recounts one of the most shocking crimes ever committed against a single victim. Sylvia (Ellen Page) and Jennie Fae Likens (Hayley McFarland), the two daughters of traveling carnival workers are left for an extended stay at the Indianapolis home of single mother Gertrude Baniszewski (Catherine Keaner) and her six children. Times are tough, and Gertrude's financial needs cause her to make this arrangement before realizing how the burden will push her unstable nature to a breaking point. What transpires in the next three months is both riveting and horrific, leaving one child dead and the rest scarred for life. Hilarity is far from ensuing in this tragic tale.

Trivia: The film is based largely on actual court transcripts from the case. Ellen Page literally starved herself for her role as Sylvia. When director Tommy O'Haver noticed she was looking thinner, he asked her if she was eating and she replied "No, because Sylvia wasn't being fed." Most of the cast were completely unaware of the real Likens murder until after they read the script. Released the same year as The Girl Next Door, which was based on a novel inspired by the Sylvia Likens murder.

I really like Ellen Page. She is such a solid actor. Most people know her from Juno but I first saw her in Hard Candy. Both amazing movies that I highly recommend, although Hard Candy is very much and adult movie so keep the youngsters away. Every movie I have seen her in has been amazing. As a movie this was as good as any of hers but The Girl Next Door was closer to the full story of this devastating murder. Usually a movie embellishes true crime giving it an intensity and terror through dramatic license. This movie actually pulled way back from the actual chilling atrocities Gertrude Baniszewski and her family committed on this girl. It even made Gertrude seem tragic instead of the evil that she was if you read the actual accounts of the torture. Most of this is from Catherine Keener who played Gertrude. So would I recommend this one? Yes, and The Girl Next Door (the one from 2007, not 2004). Both are chilling.

Hayao Miyazaki Double Feature

2008-10-27T14:49:00.007-05:00

Kaze No Tani No Naushika (1984)

(Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)

In the far future, a thousand years after a nuclear war left the Earth as a nuclear holocaust. The Valley of the Wind, a small kingdom ruled by King Jil struggles for survival as the community tries to defend the Valley from gigantic Ohm creatures and toxic plants that live beyond the Valley in the Sea of Decay, whilst Jil's daughter and heiress to the throne, Princess Nausicaa tries to understand and feels it is wrong to destroy the toxic jungle. The Valley is attacked by the Tolmekian people who plan to destroy the Sea of Decay by using the giant warriors that started the holocaust. After Nausicaa is taken prisoner, she escapes and goes beneath the Sea of Decay where she discovers the toxic plants are not poisoning the air but are purifying the world by draining the air of radiation and toxins. With everything at stake, Nausicaa unites with the Ohms and set out to the Valley to foil the Tolmekians plan of unleashing the Great Warrior before they start another holocaust. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: After the original, heavily re-written and edited 1980s release of this film in the United States (as "Warriors of the Wind"), which substantially changed the movie, Hayao Miyazaki demanded that any new licensor for his films be contractually bound to do no edits whatsoever aside from a straight translation and dub. Disney (who bought the rights to all of Miyazaki's films except Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro (1979)) has honored this stipulation. Nausicaä is the name of a character in Homer's Odyssey. Ohmu means "king of the insects" in Japanese. The "Nausicaans" from Star Trek: The Next Generation were so named because the Star Trek writers were big fans of Japanese manga and anime, and Nausicaa in particular.

This one of Miyazaki's first features and it is a wonderful little film. There are normally three things you can count on in a Miyazaki film. Nature overcoming man, flying machines, and very strong female characters. You get all of these in Nausicaa. The princess, Nausicaa is a warm, kind hearted person adored by all of her fellow countrymen. She is strong, smart, daring, beautiful, and tough. Her compassion for all things living is amazing. She flies a glider with great skill, and the other humans all fly planes. The flying sequences are so vivid and beauitful. The forrest with it's defending insects and deadly spores really is a good way to show what could happen after we destroy our world. This is a wonderful movie and I would highly recommend it and Miyazaki's other movies...and speaking of his other movies...

Kurenai No Buta (1992)

(Porco Rosso)

In Early 1930's era Italy, air pirates, bounty hunters and high flyers of all sorts rule the skies. The most cunning and skilled of these pilots is Porco Rosso, a man cursed with the head of a pig after watching the spirits of the pilots killed in the last air battle he fought in rise to the heavens. He now makes a living taking jobs, such as rescuing those kidnapped by air pirates. Hilarity ensues. Donald Curtis, Porco's rival in the air and in catching the affections of women, provides a constant challenge to the hero, culminating in a hilarious, action packed finale.

Trivia: Porco Rosso was originally planned as a 30-45 minute in-flight movies for Japan Airlines. Director Miyazaki eventually expanded it into a feature-length production. The name of the production studio (Ghibli) is embossed on the engine Piccolo installs in Porco's new plane. Marco Paggot (Porco Rosso's real name) is named after an Italian animator who had worked with Hayao Miyazaki earlier in his career. Miyazaki mentioned in a chat room that the ghost plane scene was inspired from a passage in a Roald Dahl story. Hayao Miyazaki has stated that he prefers the French language cast (in particular Jean Reno as Porco Rosso) over the Japanese cast.

Wait, I bet you are saying, "Will, you just said Miyazaki movies normally have 3 things, that nature stuff, airplanes, and strong female characters. I only see the airplanes." And that is mostly true. Porco Rosso is just about the only exception on the nature vs man part, but...Miyazaki frequently works in pigs as a show of the dark side of man and Porco Rosso is no exception there. Miyazaki does a good job in showing the callous nature of Porco, but on the other hand, he also shows a soft side to Porco. As for the strong female characters? Well, it has them too, in the forms of Gina, an old flame who isn't quite out, and Fio, the 17 year old daughter of Rosso's Italian friend and who redesignes Rosso's plane and, with the help of her many female relatives rebuilds the plane as well.

Balls Of Fury (2007)

2008-10-15T11:08:00.006-05:00

In the unsanctioned, underground, and unhinged world of extreme Ping-Pong, the competition is brutal and the stakes are deadly. Down-and-out former professional Ping-Pong phenom Randy Daytona (Dan Folger) is sucked into this maelstrom when FBI Agent Rodriguez (George Lopez) recruits him for a secret mission. Randy is determined to bounce back and recapture his former glory, and to smoke out his father's killer - one of the FBI's Most Wanted, arch-fiend Feng (Christopher Walken). But, after two decades out of the game, Randy can't turn his life around and avenge his father's murder without a team of his own. He calls upon the spiritual guidance of blind Ping-Pong sage and restaurateur Wong (James Hong), and the training expertise of Master Wong's wildly sexy niece Maggie (Maggie Q), both of whom also have a dark history with Feng. All roads lead to Feng's mysterious jungle compound and the most unique Ping-Pong tournament ever staged. There, Randy faces such formidable players as his long-ago Olympics opponent, the still-vicious Karl Wolfschtagg (Thomas Lennon). Can Randy keep his eye on the ball? Will he achieve the redemption he craves while wielding a paddle? Is his backhand strong enough to triumph over ensuing hilarity?

Trivia: Jason Scott Lee who plays the role of Eddie also played the role of Bruce Lee in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story which included a scene where Bruce Lee has to fight to defend his teaching of martial arts to white people. The scene is recreated when Daytona has to play the Dragon because Wong is teaching him, a white man, ping pong.

For some reason I thought this movie would try to be funnier. In saying this I mean, I thought they would pack it full of site gags and stuff like that ala The Naked Gun (which was good) or Meet The Spartans (which was not). It didn't. It was a straight up parody of Enter The Dragon with Ping Pong taking the place of Martial Arts. As with all parodies, it really helps the movie if you have seen the original, you get a lot more out of it if you do. I have and it was very funny. Two of the actors really stand out to me. James Hong has been in a ton of stuff. Wong's charatcer was written specifically to Hong's unique style and cadence. It was hilarious. And then there is the one and only Christopher Walken. This man could probably carry a whole movie be himself. He definitely stole every scene he was in.

Wednesday (Day 12) - Frustrated

2008-09-24T08:55:00.003-05:00

I'm frustrated, my hands are tied

I'm frustrated, my brains are fried

I'm frustrated, no place to hide

12 days after Ike and I still have no power. Why? And before you say, well, there were over 2 million people without power and there are still 600,000 + people without power, yes, I know that, I understand that Ike was devastating and I consider myself truly blessed that 1) my family is all okay, 2) my apartment excaped without damage, 3) I have relatives I can stay with.

But here is why I am frustrated. Day 3. Kingwood High School across the street gets power, the businesses just to the east of my on Kingwood Drive get power, the power seemingly stops at my apartment complex. Day 4. I see why, there is a power pole behind the complex that has a tree leaning on it. and it is sitting at a 60 degree angle. By the time I return to my apartment that night, the tree is gone. Day 5. I drive by my apartment and no lights, but there is a crew from Florida Power and Light in the street working on something, the Kingwood High School parking lot is full of power trucks staging, ready to go. There are about 50 of them. Later on, I drive by and there are 8 trucks at my apartment complex replacing the power pole that was sitting at 60 degrees, so new pole, power should be restored right? Nope. Day 6. My parents get power so I head up to there place since I sleep with a breathing machine and the last couple of nights have been miserable (but it could have been worse because we were in an unseasonably cool spell). Day 8. back in town for my nephew's birthday, hilarity ensued, power didn't, went back to my parent's. But the traffic lights on my street work now at least. Day 10. It is the choice of staying in my apartment but sleeping without my breathing machine and driving to work 30 miles away or driving back to my parent's and going to work the next morning 80 miles away. Well, they say the power in my zip code should be up Monday night some time so I stay. Bad choice, still no power plus now we are back to hotter days and nights so it never got below 80 degrees in my apartment even with the balcony door and bedroom window wide open (which by the way, I can stand in and see lights from across the street to mock me). So I am hot and sweaty and then I get sick so I end up staying home Tuesday (or rather going over to my aunt's house since she got power Monday night). My brother also got power back Monday so now I am officially the last one in the family without power. I went by last night, no power but we have street lights now.

Centerpoint Energy said they would be working day and night until they get the power fixed but you watch the TV news at 6 (that is if you have a place to watch it that has power) and they show power trucks returning to the staging areas. I have spent most of the days after Ike with my sister's family and my Aunt only returning to my apartment after 8 p.m. to sleep. I have yet to see a power truck after dark. I know they are working on it, which is why I am just frustrated and not mad as hell, but I am starting to inch my way over. Day 12...

Thurday 9 a.m. - I Will Survive

2008-09-18T08:59:00.002-05:00

First I was afraid
I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live
without you by my side
But I spent so many nights
thinking how you did me wrong
I grew strong
I learned how to carry on

Go on now go walk out the door
just turn around now
'cause you're not welcome anymore
weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye
you think I'd crumble
you think I'd lay down and die
Oh no, not I
I will survive
as long as I know how to love
I know I will stay alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my love to give
and I'll survive
I will survive

I was willing to give FEMA the benefit of the doubt for what happened after Hurricane Katrina. It was a situation that just about no one expected. The devastation was unprecedented. The response was slow because they had to get organized. I get that. But people, that was three years ago and you would expect that after the flack you went through, you would have better prepared. Yes, the response was quicker. But then evrything started to unravel. I will admit at this point that niether I nor anyone in my family had to depend on disaster relief to survive. We had enough food and water. So what I am telling you is from what I have seen and heard, well, actually just heard since I never saw a FEMA truck, worker or POD.

Oh yeah, don't you just love governments and their acronyms? POD is the new catch phrase. It means Point Of Distribution. And it doesn't work. Here is why. The lines. There were reportedly lines in excess of 5 and a half miles long. There were 60 PODs in the 26 declared disaster relief counties on southeast Texas, 26 in Houston. I think they could have broken those down a little and spread them out. Use local help, send them to community centers and places like that so that the poeple who need them, the people without cars can get to them. There was one instance where the Pasadena Mayor was told by FEMA that there would be a POD ready at a high school stadium the next morning at 8. He had volunteers there, and police, and had created a 2 mile driving maze on the parkinglot so that the streets would not be blocked. Well, at 8 there had the ice truck there, but no sign of a food truck or a water truck. They didn't want people to have to wait in two lines so they waited to give out the ice. Meanwhile, he had told people the noght before, and so the line started growing, and growing. Finally they put the ice back on the truck because it was melting and called to find out where the other trucks were. "They are on their way" was all he got. Meanwhile the line had now filled up the 2 miles on the parking lot and spilled out onto the street for 3 and a half miles (something they had wanted to avoid). There was another instance where it was geting late and th curfew was about to kick in and a truk still had food and supplies on it. The driver of the truck was willing to sleep in his truck, and the police were willing to guard the truck until the next morning so they could hand out the rest of the food as soon as they could, but a FEMA official would not budge and made the truck return to the staging point. It took FEMA a day or to to start getting things in because nobody had told them where to stage, so they didn't even start sending the trucks into the area. Just little things like that make me wonder. I think our local officials have done a great job. Maybe the next time one of our cities needs FEMA they can just send in the trucks and let us take it from there.

Wednesday 9:41 p.m. - Hello Darlin'

2008-09-17T21:40:00.004-05:00

Hello darlin' nice to see ya
it's been a long time
you're just as lovely as you used to be
how's your new love are you happy
hope you're doin' fine
just to know it means so much to me

Oh boy, what a few days we have had down here. You never know you miss something until you don't have it. I miss electricity, the internet, TV, refrigerated food, water, a place to wash clothing, cellular phone service, the corner gas station that is open all night long. But I get ahead of myself, I bet you are wondering what I have been doing the last couple of days.

Well, the power went out in Humble around 1 a.m. Saturday morning. The power lasted longer in Coldspring, it went out around 4:30 a.m. right as Ike was raging outside. Ike kept the rain and wind coming well into the afternoon and sometime around 9 to 10 a.m. the eye passed us to the west. Dad ended up putting the hummingbird feeders back out and we watched as a hummingbird swarm mobbed the feeders. It was pretty funny watching the struggle to get to the feeders when a large blast of wind swept by. The eye actually passed over Kim and family in Humble. We were able to get occasional text messages to and from Kim so we knew they were okay, but other that, the cell phone was not our friend. We could not get any calls into Houston. At one point I called my father's cell phone, I put the receiver up to my ear, it rang twice and went straight to voice mail. He was standing 2 feet away from me and it never rang. We also know now that people outside the area were unable to call in, but we could call out and I got a hold of Bucky and left messages with Meg (Both from FilmWise). Mom was able to talk to her sister. We ended up with very little damage, and that was only to the tall tree in the front.

I was really curious about my apartment so around 5 I headed back into Houston. There were a lot of trees down everywhere and a lot of trees laying across powerlines. Debris was cluttering the streets. A few places had high water but nothing got really deep so I continued on. I am happy to say that my apartment was undamaged. My aunt's house, where Kim and family was staying only lost part of a tree in the back yard, and my brother's house only lost a few limbs. So all in all, we were unscathed.

Now we just had to wait for power. And wait, and wait, and wait. As of right now, my parent's are the only ones with power and they got it back at 8 tonight. For those of you scoring at home that is 111 and 1/2 hours (5 and a half days). We also had to worry about food and water and you know, basic survival. The fridges in all four houses were useless so anything in them would need to be used quickly or thrown out. A lot was eventually thrown out. An HEB store near my brother and Aunt was opened using emergency generators and the lines started to form, lines at the store entrance, (they only allowed a certain amount of people in) lines to get ice, lines to pay, lines to get gas (wow). the ice and water was rationed so you got enough for one day, the next day we started over. But eventually, power began to be restored and more stores opened, and more gas stations opened. Houston is slowly getting back to his feet.

I'll tell you more tomorrow.

Saturday 12:02 a.m. - Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight

2008-09-13T00:01:00.002-05:00

Goodnight, sweetheart, well, it's time to go,
Goodnight, sweetheart, well, it's time to go,
I hate to leave you, but I really must say,
Goodnight, sweetheart, goodnight.

The winds have picked up and the radar shows the rains are approaching. I am going to go to bed while I can. I will post a new post in the morning, assuming the power is still on. Talk to you later.

Will

Batten Down the Hatches

2008-09-12T21:49:00.003-05:00

Kim here. It's almost 10:00 here in Humble and all is still well and intact. There have been some pretty strong gusts come through. Enough gusts to make a mother worry. We've gone Trailer Park Silly by placing old quilts over the windows for "just in case" something wants to hurtle through and fly some glass around. At least the quilts will catch the glass (well, at least we hope so). No one is sleeping near a window and a few of us have moved into the center of the house. Mick's family will all be sleeping downstairs where there are no threat of trees falling on the house.

The kitten is sleeping with a heating pad under him and Colby deciding that he will be adopting the baby, at least for now while we're still living here with Aunt Lynn. As soon as we get our house, then we'll have to decide where the kitten will be going.

Ciao for now.

Ike From Inside the City

2008-09-12T19:53:00.005-05:00

Hello all. This is guest blogger, big sister Kim, reporting from inside Humble about 50 miles south of where Will is blogging from. I have to make this quick because power keeps flickering off and on and I've lost the computer already twice. Let's hope I get past this post before it goes out for good.

The wind is really picking up but the neighborhood we are in seems to be in party mode. All of the neighbors are outside, playing music and running up and down the street like complete idiots. I guess some people believe they are invincible.

On a lighter note though, a kitten has been rescued from certain Ike havoc. Mick, Will and my younger brother lives a few blocks away and called with a dilemma to this house of cat loving peoples. Rachel, his daughter, found a tiny kitten in the backyard stranded and scared. They saved him from the big bad outdoors and brought the little tyke inside. He was scared and shaking but he immediately carries the name Ike now. Imagine that. Mick has three children ages 7, 5 and 2. So, you can imagine the noise generated from that household and what a small kitten was going through. He got away from clutching kid hands and went in under the dishwasher. The KRT came to the rescue. That's Kitten Rescue Team me, Aunt Lynn and my son Bradley. We went armed with tuna and kitty treats. Well, the little guy was so cozy under the dishwasher that Mick has to completely pull it out to get him from behind it.

Kitten now saved from the spiders and dust bunnies and in the hands of some cat loving folks and oh how cute is he. We've brought him home to five other cats and we'll see if we can get him fed and surviving the big terrible Ike that bares down on us. We believe he may be about four weeks old and think that his mother must have been moving the litter when he was abandoned in the backyard. This weather makes a mother nervous, I tell you. Just ask Mom.

So, here we sit, five grown cats and one little kitten, three adults, one teenager and one tween all hunkered down to ride out the winds. The trees are a blowing and I think the neighbors have taken leave of their senses.

Ciao for now.

Friday 7:30 - Blowin' In The Wind

2008-09-12T19:33:00.002-05:00

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

The feeder bands have reached us. The wind is starting to blow. Clouds are starting to move fast. Humming Birds have disappeared but Mom won't let Dad take the feeders down yet. It looks like he will have to do it in the dark. Ike is making his presence known. Galveston is starting to get the rain bands. Here we go.

Friday 7 p.m. - A Little Too Late

2008-09-12T18:47:00.002-05:00

It’s a little too late
I’m a little too gone,
A little too tired of this hangin’ on
So I’m letting go while I’m still strong enough to
It’s got a little too sad
I’m a little too blue
It’s a little too bad
You were too good to be true
I’m big time over you baby
It’s a little too late

Oh my goodness. The national media is crazy. Someone over at FilmWise.com mentioned to me that they started to get concerned when they saw that we faced "certain death". I kind of brushed them off saying yeah, it's serious but I have prepared as much as I could. I have been watching local coverage all day so I decided to switch to CNN as a change. Holy Cow! The world is going to end! In thirty minutes I heard Wolf Blizter say "get out or face 'certain death'" at least 25 times, plus it was plastered all over their crawl. I had no idea it was that bad. They got the quote from a National Hurricane Center statement. Yes, this hurricane is going to be devestateing to Galveston and the coastal counties. Yes, an estimated 40% of the residents in Galvestion have reportedly decided to ride out the storm even after mandatory evacuations were announced. Yes, that is extremely stupid and based on the projected storm surge will cost a lot of lives, but "certain death"? I think the problem was Hurricane Rita. We in Houston have so many terrible memories of the Rita Evacuation (it took me 5 hours to get the 30 something miles to my parent's house). Some people spent upwards of 20 or 30 hours in cars trying to get out of Houston only to have Rita jog east at the last minute and leave Houston virtually untouched. For a long time Ike looked like it would do what Rita did so people decided to chance it. In 1900 Galveston was struck by a hurricane that killed 7000 people and is still the worst natural disaster in American history. Ike will not come close but more people will die because they didn't want to evacuate, but "certain death". wow.

Friday 4:30 - Cloudy Day

2008-09-12T16:25:00.002-05:00

Cloudy day this is my cloudy day
One for you and one for him one for her and one for them
This looks like a cloudy day for me

Well, it is a beautiful day in southeast Texas, that is if it wasn't cloudy. The temperature is warm, but not really hot. The Sun is out enough to cast a shadow through the clouds. The eye of Ike is about 10 hours away from reaching Galveston, which is already flooding due to the unprecedented storm surge (It could be the highest in modern history). But I am not bothered by that since Galveston is over 100 miles away. The feeder bands have yet to reach us and will probably not for a long time.

On a more serious note, it seems Ike has claimed his first American victim, and in a really tragic painfully stupid way. A 9 year old boy was killed when a tree limb that his father was cutting down in preparation for the storm fell on him. Becoming the victim of a hurricane is easy, don't be there, go inland. That family's house is not more important then that young man's life.

Friday 3 p.m. - With A Little Help From My Friends

2008-09-12T14:55:00.002-05:00

What would think if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me.
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,
And I'll try not to sing out of key.
Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,
He gets high with a little help from his friends,
Oh I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.

I always think it is funny walking into a grocery store just before a hurricane and seeing the feeding frenzy. The shelves are empty, the clerks are exhausted, people are worrying that they only have ten gallons of water and 15 cases of tuna. I understand the need to stock up on essentials, it's just funny. I mean, we have known Ike was a possible threat for a few days and now everyone is panicking? Same way with Gas Stations (some of which are 20 cents a gallon higher oday then they were yesterday). There are cars lined up waiting for gas that they could have gotten last night, or the night before, like I did. Well, it seems the human race does not have a monopoly on the feeding frenzy right before a hurricane.

It was true during Hurricane Rita, and it is true for Hurricane Ike. The Humming Birds are swarming around my Mom and Dad's porch. They are emptying several bottles a day of sugarwater as they are getting read to hunkerdown for the storm. So Mom and Dad are these Humming Bird's friends by leaving the feeders up until the last minute. Good Luck Guys, We're All Counting On You.

Friday, 1:30 - I've Been Everywhere

2008-09-12T13:28:00.003-05:00

Boston, Charleston, Dayton, Louisiana, Washington, Houston, Kingston, Texarkana,

Monterey, Ferriday, Santa Fe, Tallapoosa, Glen Rock, Black Rock, Little Rock,
Oskaloosa, Tennessee, Hennessey, Chicopee, Spirit Lake, Grand Lake, Devil's Lake,
Crater Lake, for Pete's sake.
I've been everywhere, man; I've been everywhere, man
'Cross the deserts bare, man, I've breathed the mountain air, man
Of travel, I've had my share, man, I've been everywhere.

I thought I would give you a sense of where I am. I am in Coldspring. A town in San Jacinto County Texas (the big red arrow is pointing at me. That blue line on the left? That is the projected path of Ike.

As you can see, if it follows the projected path, we will be on the east side, or the dirty side. This is where the most damage will be. During Hurricane Rita the dam on the Trinity River that holds in Lake Livingston almost broke. If it did it wouldn't affect us much since it would flow down the Trinity. But I would hate to be down river from it.

Friday Noon - No Rain

2008-09-12T12:14:00.003-05:00

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
I like watchin' the puddles gather rain
And all I can do is just pour some tea for two
and speak my point of view
But it's not sane, It's not sane

For those of you that don't know, I live in Houston. And for those of you that don't watch news or don't pay attention to news half way across the world, Hurricane Ike is bearing down on us and it looks like it will be pretty bad. I will be blogging at regular intervals until we lose power, and we may get a treat and have a guest blogger, my sister Kim. So a little background. I am currently at my parent's house in Coldspring Texas which is 105 north of Galveston. The current forecasted track of Ike is to follow the I-45 corridor through Houston and north through southeast Texas. This could be a problem for us because it will put us on the dirty side of the storm.

The dirty side of a hurricane is the north east quadrant of the storm. The reason it is called the dirty side is that because of the counter clockwise rotation of the storm, the strongest wind is there and the most rain is there because the storm picks up moisture as it sweeps over the water and dumps it on the dirty side. By the time it gets to the clean side, most of the rain has already been dropped.

So for now we are just waiting as Ike inches forward. I will keep you updated.

Tropic Thunder (2008)

2008-08-28T13:31:00.003-05:00

When a group of actors decide to make the ultimate war movie hilarity is bound to ensue. Meet Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) an aging action star trying to recapture his stardom, Academy Award Winning Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.), Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) a rap star turned actor, and Jeff Potney (Jack Black) comedic star of such films as The Fatties and The Fatties Fart 2 but with a drug problem, and Kevin Sanduskey (Jay Baruchel) the guy whose name noone remembers. This ensemble is retelling the story of "Four Leaf" Tayback (Nick Nolte) and his unit's daring rescue mission in the jungles of Veitnam. After production delays and cost overruns producer Les Grossman (a bald Tom Cruise) threatens to scrap the project so director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) decides to send the unit into the jungle by themselves to get a grittier feel and promptly steps on a mine. Can this group of actors make it through the jungle and back to civilization? Can they work as a team? Will they ever figure out that this isn't a movie anymore?

Trivia: The poster for "The Fatties" behind Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) in the trailer features the names of a few of the film's actual crew members: costume designer Marlene Stewart, editor Greg Hayden, director of photography John Toll, and screenwriter Justin Theroux. In addition, the poster contains the DreamWorks Pictures logo, the Dolby Stereo logo, and a fictional composite of several MPAA ratings (reading "PG - Parental Guidance - under 11 requires accompanying parent or guardian"). The title is a play on "Tropic Lightning," nickname of the 25th Infantry Division which did see action in Vietnam.

I am pretty much neutral on Ben Stiller. He can be funny or not, it's hard to tell. There's Something About Mary was hilarious but some of his later stuff was pretty blah. It works better when he is more of a straight man (Night At The Museum, Meet The Parents) as opposed to full on comedic character (Zoolander). This time he directs the movie so this is his baby. It was a good movie when it came to making fun of the movie industry and the actors. Robert Downey, Jr. keeps being good. This time he plays the prototypical method actor. Instead of getting makeup every morning he undertakes a controversial skin pigment procedure to become black for his role. Tom Cruise steals some scenes as the producer. Over all it was a pretty good average movie.

Trivia Answers: Who Are We?

2008-08-24T22:42:00.004-05:00

We had a lot of replies this week. No one got all of the full character names (although they did get the full names listed in IMDb so they got credit.) Rachel came out on top. Here are the scores (Possible 5 points per movie, perfect score 50): Rachel 50. Justdrewit 48. TK421 46. Keith 45. Hanna from Sweden 37. Bratzks 35. TravisBickle 24.

1.Garden State - Natalie Portman as Sam, Zach Braff as Andrew Largeman

2.The Mask - Cameron Diaz as Tina Carlyle, Jim Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss.

3.Disclosure - Michael Douglas as Tom Sanders, Demi Moore as Meridith Johnson (I know this one was very dark, sorry)

4.Bram Stoker's Dracula - Sadie Frost as Lucy Westenra, and Winona Ryder as Mina Murray/Elizabeta

5.Hook - Robin Williams as Peter Banning, Dame Maggie Smith as Granny Wendy Darling

6.Logan's Run - Michael York as Logan 5, Jenny Agutter as Jessica 6 (if you got the numbers you would have really impressed me, no one did. IMDb did not list the numbers on the Logan's Run page)

7.Animal House - Tim Matheson as Eric "Otter" Stratton, Peter Riegert as Donald "Boon" Schoenstein.

8.Jaws - Roy Scheider as Police Chief Martin Brody, Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper

9.Gladiator - Connie Neilson as Lucilla, Russell Crowe as General Maximus Decimus Meridius (I got a few of you with this one. I had a lot of guesses for the movie being 300)

10.Fight Club - Helena Bonham Carter as Marla Singer, Edward Norton as The Narrator.

The Dark Knight (2008)

2008-08-13T13:43:00.004-05:00

One year has passed since Batman (Christian Bale) stopped Ra's Al Ghul's plan to have Gotham eliminated and the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Jonathan Crane AKA the Scarecrow, and after the city was nearly plundered with his toxins. Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) and his vigilante alter-ego the Batman (Christian Bale), continue the seemingly endless effort to bring order to Gotham, with the help of Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and newly appointed District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), a new white knight in Gotham. But a new threat has now emerged into the streets. Hilarity ensues as The Dark Knight (Christian Bale) faces a rising psychopathic criminal called The Joker (Heath Ledger), whose eerie grin, laughter, and inhuman morality makes him as dangerous as what he has yet to unleash. It becomes an agenda to Batman (Christian Bale) to stop the mysterious Joker (Heath Ledger) at all costs, knowing that both of them (Christian Bale and Heath Ledger) are on opposite sides. One has no method at all and seeks to see the world plunge into the fire he has yet to light and the other is the Joker (Heath Ledger) [Okay, Just kidding]. One represents the symbol of hope and uses his own shadow to bring the peace and order he has yet to accomplish doing.

Trivia: This is the first Batman film to not have "Batman" in the title. As a joke, one bat suit was made with nipples, as in Batman & Robin. It was presented to Christian Bale as the real bat suit, but he knew instantly it was a joke, having seen a few design pictures during preproduction. He did pose for some publicity photos in the "nipple" suit. When asked, "Why Heath Ledger as the Joker?" Christopher Nolan said, "Because he's fearless." While filming on the streets of Chicago in April 2007, the filming was carried out under the fake movie title "Rory's First Kiss" named after Christopher Nolan's son Rory. Fliers regarding the filming carried this fake title, complete with a fake "RFK" logo for the movie and an address for the film's production offices. To prepare for his role as the Joker, Heath Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character's psychology, posture and voice (the last one he found most difficult to do). He started a diary, in which he wrote the Joker's thoughts and feelings to guide himself during his performance. He was also given Alan Moore's comic "Batman: The Killing Joke" and "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth" to read. Ledger also took inspiration from A Clockwork Orange's Alex and Sid Vicious. It's Sir Michael Caine's opinion that Heath Ledger beat the odds and topped Jack Nicholson's Joker from Batman: "Jack was like a clown figure, benign but wicked, maybe a killer old uncle. He could be funny and make you laugh. Heath's gone in a completely different direction to Jack, he's like a really scary psychopath. He's a lovely guy and his Joker is going to be a hell of a revelation in this picture." Caine bases this belief on a scene where the Joker pays a visit to Bruce Wayne's penthouse. He'd never met Ledger before, so when Ledger arrived and performed he gave Caine such a fright he forgot his lines. Bruce Wayne develops and wears a new Batsuit in the film. This Batsuit was an improvement on the outfit from Batman Begins, and made Christian Bale more comfortable and agile in his performance. It was constructed from 200 unique pieces of rubber, fibreglass, metallic mesh, and nylon (producing an impression of sophisticated technology), with elastic banding added for tightening the costume to fit Bale. The gauntlets had their razors made retractable and able to be fired. The suit's cowl was based on a motorcycle helmet and separated from the neck piece, allowing Bale to move his head left/right/up/down, and comes equipped with white eye lenses for when Batman turns on Bat-sonar. The Joker make-up was composed of three pieces of stamped silicone, which took less than an hour to apply to Heath Ledger on each day of shooting. Ledger described it as "new technology which is much quicker to apply than regular prosthetics"; he felt he was not wearing any make-up at all. In only 6 days of release, The Dark Knight made more money than Batman Begins entire domestic run.

Geez it has been a long time since I wrote a review. I am going to save comments about Heath Ledger until later. Currently The Dark Knight sits on the IMDb Top 250 Movies list at the lofty position of 3. This is actually a slip for it since from the first days of the movie it sat at number 1. So is it the best movie ever made? Probably not. But it was damn good and fun to watch. The length got a little long towards the end but though I thought about it, I didn't look at my watch. There was action through out and they kept you at the edge of your seat. The actors. Christian Bale turned in a servicable Batman. Gary Oldman as Detective Gordon was good. Maggie Gyllenhaal was way better then Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. Aaron Eckhart turned in a good Harvey Dent/Two Face. Which brings me to a point. The two villians. Batman movies in the past have suffered from multiple villians. Heck, comic book movies in general usually do (See Spider Man 3) and this movie is no different. If I could have gotten rid of anything it would have been Two Face. Don't get me wrong, the movie did a whole lot better with the two then the franchise had earlier and Two Face's story worked in well with the rest but this movie was all Joker and could have easiler been only Joker and survived just as well. Two Face could have been saved for the next movie. So this brings me back to Heath Ledger. This is his movie, don't even think otherwise. He ownes the movie from start to finish. The scenes with him just seem better. I was waiting for him to come back on screen. Jack Nicolson owned the Joker back in 89, but Heath Ledger performed a hostile takeover. The darkness of these movies compared to the Batmans in the 90's also really helped. Heath got to play an infinitely scarrier Joker then Jack did. It is a shame Ledger passed away. The Joker could have definitely been in another movie.

By the way, I actually got to see this with a bunch of friends in a fancy old style theater (with decorations and stuff from a bygone era) and an organist in Oakland, California. It was an awesome way to see it. And I plan to take my brother to the Imax version sometime soon. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Sunday Night Trivia: Who Are We?

2008-08-10T23:37:00.004-05:00

Welcome back. I had a wonderful vacation and I a roaring to get back into the thick of things. Tonight I want you to identify the movie, the two actors, and most importantly the names of the characters (The more complete the name the better). Please email your answers to me. (remember you can click on the picture to hugeify it.)

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Trivia Quickie: Answers

2008-08-06T16:31:00.002-05:00

Well heck. I only got one response to this quiz. Too hard? Oh well, after three tries Keith was able to fill in all the correct answers. The link to four of the five movies is Sean Connery.

Entrapment (that is Catherine Zeta Jones swimming in a scotish loch)

There's Something About Mary (This is the one that was the odd one out, no Connery)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (The camels were following the tank)

The Hunt For Red October (The periscope of the Red October as seen from The Dallas)

Robin Hood: Prince Of Theives (This is Sit Guy of Gisborn coming to see Maid Marion, Sean Connery played Sir Richard The Lionheart as a cameo at the end of the movie.)

Trivia Quickie: A View From Afar

2008-07-20T23:48:00.003-05:00

This week I am conducting a quick quiz. On Friday I am heading out for the Bay Area for a vacation so I am going small on this quiz. As you can see all the picture feature views through optical enhancers (binoculars, telescopes, etc.) Name the movies. Four of the movies share something in common, one doesn't. Bonus points if you can tell me which one doesn't and what the commonality is. Please email your answers to me. (remember you can click on the picture to hugeify it.)

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Dirty Harry (1971)

2008-07-15T10:13:00.005-05:00

1971. San Francisco is under the terrorizing eye of a psychopathic sniper called Scorpio, who claims in one of his written letters to the SFPD, that he will keep killing until his demands are made. Inspector 'Dirty' Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is a no nonsense San Francisco police officer with his own ideas of how to handle police work. Callahan has a reputation of losing partners and is not to happy when he is assigned a new partner for the Scorpio case. It becomes a menacing task for Callahan, as he's been assigned to apprehend the menacing killer at all cost. Hilarity ensues as the case later unravels into a cat-and-mouse game between the two men. One killer with a sinister, distasteful laugh. The other, a killer with a badge.

Trivia: The title role was originally intended for Frank Sinatra who had to pull out because of a hand injury. The script then passed to Paul Newman, who also turned it down but said it would be a perfect vehicle for Clint Eastwood. Audie Murphy was first approached to play the Scorpio Killer, but he died in a plane crash on May 28, 1971 before his decision on the offer could be made. It is widely accepted that this movie was loosely based on the events surrounding the Zodiac Killer who was actively killing people in San Francisco at the time. After Harry has foiled the bank robbery at the beginning of the film, he strides over to the one surviving robber. In doing so, he walks in front of a theatre which is showing Play Misty for Me, which Eastwood directed and starred in. The final scene where Harry throws his badge in the river is a homage to a similar scene from High Noon. Although Harry was supposed to use a Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Mag, the actual gun used was the Model 57 in .41 Magnum. All the outdoor scenes were actually filmed in San Francisco except for the bank robbery which Dirty Harry foils, when he first utters his immortal phrase, "Do you feel lucky?" This scene was shot on a set. A police department in the Philippines ordered a print of the movie for use as a training film. In the final scene, Clint Eastwood really did throw his badge into the quarry pond. The SFPD issued another badge with the same number to replace it.

"I know what you're thinking. 'Did he fire six shots or only five?' Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" This is probably one of the most recognized movie quotes of all time and it really shows you Callahan's character. He is blunt, he is cynical, and his methods are definitely unorthodoxed, but he gets the job done and as long as justice prevails the ends justify the means. This is one of the founding films for this type of cop, the hard, rugged loner who always seems to be in trouble with his superiors, but it is also a kind of subgenre of lone lawmen that has been around in Westerns for decades. The problem now, and I think I have mentioned it before, is that I didn't see it when it came out (I was one and Mom and Dad wouldn't take me, dangit!), so I didn't get to see it as a groundbreaking movie. It is a very good cop movie, but I have seen movies like it before. This lowers the mental impact a movie like this should have given me. Sometimes, well most of the time, seeing an older movie like this really impresses me and I marvel on how good they made movies back in the day as it were, but Dirty Harry was just good, not mindblowing good or anything like that. Maybe after reviewing so many movies I am starting to get more cynical, or hopefully, just more discerning and selective as to what a "great" movie is.

Super Duper Summer Trivia: Answers

2008-07-13T15:05:00.004-05:00

Okay TK, I get the idea. Sheez. Well, we have two with 100% score! So if you haven't figured it out what they have in common yet, they are all first sequels or second movies, Part 2s as it where. TK421 was the first to get full marks, followed by Rachel with full marks of her own, Agrajag got 13, the lovely Hannah from Sweden got 11, as did the lovely Buckykatt who is not from Sweden.

1.The Lost World: Jurassic Park Part II

2.American Pie 2

3.Hot Shots! Part Deux

4.Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

5.Clerks II

6.Superman II

7.Rush Hour 2

8.Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

9.Spider-Man 2

10.Hannibal

11.Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

12.The Matrix Reloaded

13.Lethal Weapon 2

14.X2 - X-Men United

15.Laura Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life

Man Of The House (2005)

2008-07-09T16:27:00.004-05:00

Texas Ranger Roland Sharp (Tommy Lee Jones) is assigned to protect the only witnesses to the murder of a key figure in the prosecution of a drug kingpin -- a group of University of Texas cheerleaders. Hilarity ensues as Sharp must now go undercover as an assistant cheerleading coach and move in with the young women.

Trivia: This is the first movie to have the permission from the University of Texas to use well-known UT symbols including: the UT tower (lit in orange and white - traditional lighting when a football game is won), Bevo (the longhorn mascot), UT cheerleaders, UT band, UT spirit organizations, and the UT Texas Exes. The Austin GameBreakers of the North American Football League provided the players and Coaches for the roles of the Texas Longhorns and for the Arkansas Razorbacks in the movie. The "meaty" pizza the cheerleader is caught eating was made with all vegetarian meats. This film was originally entitled "Cheer Up". Originally Tommy Lee Jones's character was to be a CIA agent working in Virginia, but Jones thought it would be much better to work as a Ranger in Texas, the state that he lives in. No one involved with the film could think of an appropriate ending until director Stephen Herek came up with one months after the rest of the movie was shot. Heather (Vanessa Ferlito) mentions that Full Metal Jacket is her favorite movie. R. Lee Ermey who plays Captain Nichols in the film also appeared in Full Metal Jacket. The pizza delivered to Sharp is from Mangia Pizza, an actual pizza chain in Austin. Sharp identifies his pizza as "The Carnivore", which is a real item from Mangia's menu. The pistol used by Tommy Lee Jones is not a prop, it is his own Colt 1911 that he brought to the set after refusing to use the prop gun.

Tommy Lee Jones is the best thing to happen to Texas films in a really long time, maybe ever. He lives in Austin and he loves to make films about Texas filmed in Texas. He also grew up in my home town of Midland. How cool is that? Very. I am glad that they decided to use UT as a setting for this movie, if they had picked Texas A&M we would have had to watch a bunch of guy cheerleaders, um, excuse me, yell leaders (and I said "guy" with a "u", get your mind out of the gutter. *grin*). Anyway, where was I, oh yeah, ummm...cheerleaders. It is pretty funny that we get to see TLJ be the foil for these girls, and vice versa. His deadpan delivery really plays into the hilarity ensuing. So, it will never be compared to the masters but it was a fun little movie.

Don't forget to try the Super Duper Trivia!

Top 250: WALL·E (2008)

2008-07-08T12:07:00.009-05:00

What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL*E discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL*E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, hilarity ensues as WALL*E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets an adventure into motion. Joining WALL*E on his journey across the universe is a cast of characters including a pet cockroach and a heroic team of malfunctioning misfit robots.

Trivia: The main character's name is actually an acronym, standing for Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth-Class. EVE stands for Extraterrestial Vegetation Evaluator and M-O stands for Microbe Obliterator. Most of the predominantly robot cast of characters (including WALL*E and M-O) are voiced by Ben Burtt through mechanical sounds of his creation. The film contains numerous references to Apple computers: -when WALL-E is fully charged by the sun, he makes the same "boot up" sound that Apple computers have made since the earliest Macintosh system -WALL-E watches his favorite movie every night on the screen of an iPod -The villainous Autopilot's voice is provided by Apple's text-to-speech system, MacinTalk -EVE's sleek design as an evolution of WALL-E's parallels the sleek iMac design having evolved from the boxy, beige Apple IIe. Steve Jobs, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Apple Computer, was CEO of Pixar until its acquisition by Disney in 2005, and as a shareholder and member of the Disney Board of Directors is still actively involved with the company. WALL*E collects numerous objects from the 60's-80's including a VCR tape of Hello, Dolly! (featured prominently in the film), a Rubik's Cube, and even an Atari 2600 with the game Pong. Despite the film taking place over 800 years after these objects were created, all the objects are still in working condition. The name of the ship that the humans are living on is "The Axiom." In logic and math, an axiom is something unquestionable or taken for granted. Director Andrew Stanton explained why he used excerpts from Hello, Dolly! in an interview: "When I got to 'Hello, Dolly!' and I played 'Put On Your Sunday Clothes,' and that first phrase 'Out there...' came out, it just fit musically... I finally realized, 'You know what, this song is about two guys that are just so naïve, they've never left a small town, and they just wanna go out in the big city for one night and kiss a girl. That's my main character.' And then my co-writer, Jim Reardon, said, 'You know what, he could actually discover an old tape in the trash, and that's how he got inspired by it, and it's a great way to show that he's got a romantic slant.' So we started looking at the movie, and when I found the other song, 'It Only Takes A Moment,' and saw the two lovers holding hands, I realized 'That's a perfect way for my main character to express the phrase 'I love you' without being able to say it.'"

I am sure that if you know me at all you know that I am a huge PIXAR fan so WALL*E was a very highly anticipated release for me. They just have a talent for telling a compelling story. From the very beginning you feel a friendship with this lonely little robot left alone on Earth for 700 years. His personality is quirky, his house is endearing and he has a cockroach as a friend, how cool is that. Then EVE shows up and you can sense the feelings that WALL*E has for her from the start. By the way, if you have never heard of Ben Burtt, I will bet you anything that you have heard his work. Ben Burtt is a sound designer, but not only that, he is an Oscar award winning sound desginer that is responsible for among many other things, the voices and sounds for the aliens and droids of Star Wars, the rumbling sound of the gigantic boulder in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the sound of the lightsabers.

Hairspray (2007)

2008-07-03T15:19:00.006-05:00

Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky), an overweight teenager with all the right moves, is obsessed with the Corny Collins Show. Every day after school, she and her best friend Penny (Amanda Bynes) run home to watch the show and drool over the hot Link Larkin (Zac Efron), much to Tracy's mother Edna's (John Travolta) dismay. Hilarity ensues after one of the stars of the show leaves, Corny Collins (James Marsden) holds auditions to see who will be the next person on the Corny Collins show. With all of the help of her friend Seaweed (Elijah Kelley), Tracy makes it on the show, angering the evil dance queen Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow) and her mother Velma (Michelle Pfeiffer). Tracy then decides that it's not fair that the black kids can only dance on the Corny Collins Show once a month, and with the help of Seaweed, Link, Penny, Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah), her father (Christopher Walken) and Edna, she's going to integrate the show.....without denting her 'do!

Trivia: Jerry Stiller, who played Wilbur Turnblad in the original film version of Hairspray, appears as Mr. Pinky in this version. It took John Travolta four hours to put on the fat suit and make-up required for him to become Edna Turnblad. To facilitate filming for the "Run and Tell That" dance number, the production cut up a 1957 GMC transit bus into 9 pieces. There are 5 gel-filled silicone prosthetic appliances for parts of Edna's face. One day, while the cast was waiting between takes, John Travolta began singing "Summer Nights" from his first musical, Grease. Co-stars Amanda Bynes and Zac Efron were so excited that they immediately began sending text messages to their friends about what was happening. Amanda Bynes' character, Penny, is seen constantly eating lollipops. Her father, who is a dentist, became very worried for Amanda's dental health, as it was estimated she ate about 40 lollipops a day. Amanda told him that she wasn't really eating all of them, when in reality she ate them all. In a classroom scene a teacher mentions that Everest is not Earth's highest geographical point. She asks what the actual highest point is and there isn't time for an answer before the bell. The answer is Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador, which is the furthest point from the Earth's center, but closer to local sea level than Everest. (The Earth bulges at the equator.)

Okay, I get it, these ladies are fat. I understand that the movie is about the discrimination show to large women. I expected a lot of fat jokes. But I expected them from the "bad guys", the evil ones, the ones were are not supposed to like. I also understand that this is a comedy and as such there are stereotypes that get exploited and stuff but really. The movie lost a lot of my respect when Motermouth Maybelle was able to persuade Edna to let tracy stay and dance with the black kids. How did she do it? By pulling Edna over to the side and explaining that they were big and beautiful and that they should stand up against oppresion? Nope, she showed her the buffet. Visually the movie was bright and cheerful and the music and dance numbers were fun to watch. Amanda Bynes as Penny is probably my favorite character. Christopher Walken was fun too. And then there is Nikki Blonsky. She was upbeat, she was fun, she could dance, she was the star, the movie was about her, she made the movie. But this was her first role and because of that if you look at IMDb.com she is listed second? Third? Try eleventh behind Allison Janney who was on screen in about three scenes. Now let's talk about the character that didn't work. Edna. Everytime I saw her the first thing that went through my head was "hey, that's John Travolta". He never sells the character. You do need a little background on Edna though. She is always played by a man. It is traditional. The original Broadway Edna was Harvey Fierstein and it was Devine in the 1988 movie. I will admit that I have not seen either in character but I have always associated Devine with cross-dressing and I am pretty sure Harvey Fierstein could pull it off. Edna is meant to be played up and a little over the top, okay, a lot over the top but it just doesn't seem to work for me with Travolta.

Don't forget this weeks quiz. Get your answers in soon or regret it for the rest of you lunch break.

Classic Hilarity Ensues: A Look Back

2008-07-01T10:11:00.006-05:00

Today I am reposting one of my favorite reviews ever. I had a lot of fun writing this one. Enjoy - Will P.S. be sure to try out my Super Duper Summer Trivia!

King Kong (1933)

Carl Denham, a film director famous for shooting 'animal pictures' in remote and exotic locations is unable to find an actress to star in his newest project and so is forced to wander the streets searching for a suitable woman. He chances upon a poor girl, Ann Darrow, and convinces her to get on a ship with nothing but men and sail around for at least six weeks with no stops at any ports and be in his picture by buying her dinner. I mean really, just because you buy her dinner doesn't mean you can...ahem, back to the story. The crew sails from New York with only Denham knowing the final destination. He is looking for a mysterious island that is not on the charts. It is Skull Island and it hides a secret, a beast known only as Kong. Meanwhile on the ship, first mate and dastardly devil Jack Driscoll starts to fall in love with Ann and Ann with him. Mmmm...first mate. Denham reveals this movie's theme, beauty and the beast. This is pre-Disney, so no talking teapots. The crew finds the island and land to find a politically incorrect inappropriate stereotypical native civilization performing a ritual concerning Kong, I swear one of the natives looked just like Buckwheat from the Little Rascals. The natives become fascinated with Ann, the "golden woman" and thinks she would be Kong's type, but the crew returns to the ship with Ann. That night the natives come aboard and kidnap Ann to become the bride of Kong, he has a thing for blondes, I guess. Kong is revealed to be an 18 to 24 foot tall gorilla, depending on where he is at the time, who takes Ann back to his lair for a little jungle fever. A rescue party lead by that cad Driscoll goes to search for Ann, but all are killed by Kong, all that is except that rascal Driscoll who is able to rescue Ann and return to the village. Kong, enraged that some guy would steal his wife goes on a killing spree of the politically incorrect inappropriate stereotypical natives. Denham is able to gas the giant ape and takes him back to New York for some fun. Dubbed "King Kong, the eighth wonder of the world" the great beast is chained to a stage with very strong "chrome steel." When Kong hears that his babe will be married to that scoundrel Driscoll the next day, he goes crazy. Hilarity ensues. Kong searches for Ann who in the mean time has gotten a hotel room with that wretched Driscoll. Kong finds Ann and tries to persuade her to return with him to the island. He says he will clean up the island for her and get rid of all those pesky dinosaurs and he would stop monkeying around with the boys and that they could have a good life together. Ann's answer? Scream. Which seems to be her answer to a lot of things. Kong, feeling boxed in with all the buildings and commuter trains running about, takes Ann to someplace more quiet so they can talk. He has heard the the Empire State Building has a magnificent view so he takes her there. In a classic case of police brutality, the authorities use airplanes to shoot and kill Kong, you know because if you watch Cops, domestic violence is never a good call to get for a cop. Denham then blames Ann for everything with the line, "T'was beauty killed the beast." Typical, blame the woman, if she hadn't been wearing the blonde wig, if she hadn't come on to Kong with all the screaming and the jiggling of her legs and her suggestive dress. That has been happening since Adam and Eve. So the moral of the story: If you gots the Jungle Fever, make sure she is down with it too, or you could end up as a bullet riddled corpse on a New York street, which, come to think about it, isn't that unusual.

Trivia: King Kong's roar was a lion's and a tiger's roar combined and run backwards. Close-ups of the pilots and gunners of the planes that attack Kong were shot in the studio with mock-up planes. The flight commander is director Merian C. Cooper and his observer is producer Ernest B. Schoedsack. They decided to play the parts after Cooper said that since they created Kong, "we should kill the sonofabitch ourselves".

Okay, so I had a little fun with the plot summary above. Everybody knows the plot of this classic movie. King Kong is one of the most recognized, if not the most, character ever created. The movie has had a major influence in film history. It was truely a groundbreaking movie. Movies like Wallace and Gromet: Curse Of The Wererabbit is still using the same techniques that Willis O'Brian used to bring Kong to life. King Kong was the first movie to really give a visual effect a character and identity. Kong comes alive. When we look back on it from our perspective, it is primative and sort of campy, but we still believe Kong is alive and we can connect with him. We still feel sad when he dies at the end of the movie. Not bad for an 18 inch puppet. The movie still stands up to today's mega visual effects movies.

Super Duper Summer Trivia: Now With 50% More Fun!

2008-06-29T23:51:00.003-05:00

Welcome to my Super Duper Funtastic Trivia night. In honor of my sister coming home after a long time (Friday night and I can't wait) my quiz tonight is extra larger. I put some realy challenging pictures in this time to keep my FilmWise friends on their toes. Simply name the movie. Oh, and one more thing, all of these movies have something in common. If you figure that one out it will help in trying to figure out what the movies are. Bonus points for getting the thing they all have in common. Please email your answers to me. (remember you can click on the picture to hugeify it.)

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Sunday Night Trivia: Father Answers

2008-06-27T09:49:00.006-05:00

Wow, it looks like this week was all for the ladies. Besides my Dad (I tried the questions out on him), all the people who sent in answers were Lovely Ladies. But even better, they were international with one from Sweden and one from Germany. BubbyChubs from Germany got all the answers right and is crowned the winner, Nunis from Sweden struggled with pre 90's American TV but did okay, Buckykatt put in a good showing and my Aunt did well. The Answers will be formated like this (show (year), character, actor)

1. Hello, I am the father of three boys, Robbie, Chip, and Ernie. I am a widower. For a while the boy's grandfather lived with us and then his brother came and helped take care of the house. I am an aeronautical engineer.

(My Three Suns (1960), Steve Douglas, Fred McMurray)

2. Hi, I am the widowed father of a young son. I am a very important man in my small town and everyone knows me. My aunt lives with me and helps me raise my son like she raised me.

(The Andy Griffith Show (1960), Andy Taylor, Andy Griffith)

3. Geez, I am nothing like those first two guys. I am the father of a daughter and I am still married to a wonderful woman, even if she is a dingbat. I have been known to be very opinionated and I am not very fond of my daughter's choice of a husband.

(All In The Family (1971), Archie Bunker, Carroll O'Connor)

4. Whoo Hoo! It's my turn. I am the father of two, no, three little brats, um, I mean kids. The boy does get on my nerves some times but my daughter is already smarter then me. When I get down, my friends can always cheer me up with a beer...mmm...beer.

(The Simpsons (1989), Homer Simpson, Dan Castellaneta {Voice}) All the older people missed this, all the younger ones got it.

5. Welcome! I am the father of two little monsters. We are so proud. I am passionately in love with my wife, especially when she speaks French! We like long walks in the moonlight through the cemetery. We live with my mother and brother in a large mansion.

(The Addams Family (1964), Gomez Addams, John Astin)

6. I am the father of three children, two boys and a girl (although my oldest son just kind of disappears. Later on one of my son's friends moves in above the garage and he essentially becomes part of the family. I own a hardware store.

(Happy Days (1974), Howard Cunningham, Tom Bosley)

7. I am different then most of the fathers on this list because both of my boys are grown men, and unfortunately they are snobs. I don't know where they get that from. I was injured on the job and because of this an English physical therapist lives with us.

(Frasier (1993), Martin Crane, John Mahoney)

8. I should be pretty easy to identify. I am a widower with three sons. Once I meet a woman who had three daughters and we knew that this bunch should get together.

(The Brady Bunch (1969), Mike Brady, Robert Reed)

9. I am just a simple man. I live with my animal loving daughter, my cantankerous mother-in-law, and my cousin's son. We have a large place with a cement pond out back.

(The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Jed Clampett, Buddy Ebsen)

10. My situation is radically different then the rest. My TV son is my real son and my TV wife is my real wife. We wrote her pregnancy into the story line and the episode in which she gave birth was seen by 68% of American Televisions and was seen by more people then any other Television show up to that time.

(I Love Lucy (1951), Ricky Ricardo, Dezi Arnaz)

Again, thanks to all the fathers out there and Way To Go Bubby!

Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008)

2008-06-18T08:54:00.014-05:00

Good morning and welcome to this special edition of Hilarity Ensues. Today we are celebrating our 3rd blogiversary and we have a special treat for you. I have lined up a special interview. I am really excited about this one but I feel I have to warn you now. We have asked that spoilers be limited as much as possible but our guest is old so he may forget so consider yourself warned. And with that on to the interview.

Hilarity Ensues: I would like to welcome Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. to our blog. Welcome Dr. Jones.

Indiana Jones: Please, call me Indy, the only people who call me Dr. Jones end up being bad guys.

HE: {using my best Sean Connery impression} I thought y'all named the dog Indiana.

IJ: That's funny, did you think that up all by yourself? {mumbles} Geez, if I had a dime for every time someone said that...

HE: Um, okay, Indy. It has been 19 years since we last saw one of your big screen adventures, what have you been doing?

IJ: Well, I have been teaching mostly, I still have some adventures but you know I am getting older, it ain't as easy as it used to be.

HE: What about the War? The last time we saw you was pre-WWII.

IJ: Yeah, I did a few things in the war.

HE: Don't be modest, I heard you describe as a war hero. Well, this time your adventures are in South America, can you give us a little taste?

IJ: Sure, well, you see, there was this cave and when you went in you really had to watch yourself because any false move would get you skewered. I was looking for a golden idol and I was pretty sure it would be booby trapped so I took in a bag of sand, but I miscalculated and when I switched the idol for the bag, I set off the trap and had to get the hell out of there. Then there was this boulder that started to roll...

HE: Um...Indy? I think that was from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

IJ: Was it? I am getting old you know, it ain't as easy as it used to be. That was in South America wasn't it?

HE: Yes, it was. Have you learned to speak Hovitos yet?

IJ: No, I didn't think it was necessary after Belloq died. Okay, where was I?

HE: The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.

IJ: Oh yeah, the crystal skull. Magnificent specimen, made out of seamless quartz, it had dramatic magnetism.

HE: Dramatic Magnetism?

IJ: Well, yeah, you see sometimes it would strongly attract metal, even gunpowder thrown in the air, and sometimes, like riding in the back of a jeep, it would not. Sometimes it would attract things like Dog Tags but leave guns alone. It even attracted gold, which isn't magnetic. All you had to do was drape it in burlap and it was no longer magnetic. That was a nice touch.

HE: Speaking of the crystal skull, what are your thought about leaving biblical legends behind for more far-fetched legends like...well, it is hard to explain without giving it away.

IJ: You mean the alien?

HE: Um, yeah, at least it wasn't me that gave it away.

IJ: You think anybody that has seen the commercials couldn't figure that out? Aliens are everywhere, you can't avoid them, and some of them are better friends then humans. Without Chewy I could never have made that Kessell Run like I did, he was...

HE: Indy? Han? Can we get back to KOTCS? So you aren't worried about the unbelievability of an alien element?

IJ: Heck no, look who wrote the story. George and his space stories have been very good to me. Besides, how believable was a big golden box hidden in a room for thousands of years being able to sustain thousands of live snakes? Or a beautiful French woman being the last descendant of Jesus? Oh wait, wrong grail.

HE: Who is Mutt Williams? And what is this affinity for dog references?

IJ: He is a Johnny Strabler wanna be with his slick backed hair and the comb.

HE: Johnny Strabler?

IJ: Yeah, Marlon Brando, The Wild One? Don't you watch any movies?

HE: I guess I missed that one.

IJ: Anyway Mutt comes to me with a note from Ox, that's Professor Oxley, you should ask him what he thinks about aliens sometimes. Well, Ox was in trouble and Mutt's mother thought I could be of some help.

HE: Who is Mutt's mother?

IJ: Are you sure you want me to say? I mean the spoiler thing you said earlier and all.

HE: If the readers have made it this far, there is no way to stop them now, besides she is in the commercial.

IJ: Okay, Mutt's mother in Marian Ravenwood Williams. You know, from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Ah, Marian. We had fun making this movie. Looks like it is about time for me to go. Thanks for having me, and congratulations on three years.

HE: No, thank you, this has been a pleasure. But before you go I have one more question. In The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, does hilarity ensue?

IJ: What do you mean?

HE: You know, hilarity, does it ensue?

IJ: I don't get it, is this supposed to make sense?

HE: Well, it's kind of me signature gimmick. I also say hilarity ensues some time during the movie.

IJ: Okay, um, oh, that is the name of your blog. Ha, that is pretty funny. Just let me tell your readers. Dear Readers, hilarity ensues from the first minute on. How was that?

HE: Thank you. That was Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr. And to my wonderful readers, Thank you for your readership, I couldn't do it without you, well, I guess I could, but what would be the point? Thank you for three great years. Be sure to try my current trivia quiz "Father Knows Best"

Sunday Night Trivia: Father Knows Best

2008-06-14T21:58:00.005-05:00

Sorry no pictures this week, the following men are iconic, so pictures would be way to easy. I will describe a fictional father and you tell me the name of the character, the name of the actor, and the name of the TV show they were on. Please email your answers to me. Don't worry, Father Knows Best is not one of the answers...or is it?

1. Hello, I am the father of three boys, Robbie, Chip, and Ernie. I am a widower. For a while the boy's grandfather lived with us and then his brother came and helped take care of the house. I am an aeronautical engineer.

2. Hi, I am the widowed father of a young son. I am a very important man in my small town and everyone knows me. My aunt lives with me and helps me raise my son like she raised me.

3. Geez, I am nothing like those first two guys. I am the father of a daughter and I am still married to a wonderful woman, even if she is a dingbat. I have been known to be very opinionated and I am not very fond of my daughter's choice of a husband.

4. Whoo Hoo! It's my turn. I am the father of two, no, three little brats, um, I mean kids. The boy does get on my nerves some times but my daughter is already smarter then me. When I get down, my friends can always cheer me up with a beer...mmm...beer.

5. Welcome! I am the father of two little monsters. We are so proud. I am passionately in love with my wife, especially when she speaks French! We like long walks in the moonlight through the cemetery. We live with my mother and brother in a large mansion.

6. I am the father of three children, two boys and a girl (although my oldest son just kind of disappears. Later on one of my son's friends moves in above the garage and he essentially becomes part of the family. I own a hardware store.

7. I am different then most of the fathers on this list because both of my boys are grown men, and unfortunately they are snobs. I don't know where they get that from. I was injured on the job and because of this an English physical therapist lives with us.

8. I should be pretty easy to identify. I am a widower with three sons. Once I meet a woman who had three daughters and we knew that this bunch should get together.

9. I am just a simple man. I live with my animal loving daughter, my cantankerous mother-in-law, and my cousin's son. We have a large place with a cement pond out back.

10. My situation is radically different then the rest. My TV son is my real son and my TV wife is my real wife. We wrote her pregnancy into the story line and the episode in which she gave birth was seen by 68% of American Televisions and was seen by more people then any other Television show up to that time.

Happy Father's day to all you fathers out there. Thank you, we love you.

Sunday Night Trivia: a little of this answers

2008-06-10T09:44:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posting the answers. I have had a great response this week. Please keep it up. I love it. This week the winner (with nine and a half out of ten) is TK421. I had several get eight out of ten.

Friday (Daaaaaaammmmmnn)

Clue (Another secret passageway?)

The Mask (Can Cameron Diaz come lick my ear? Please?)

Silence Of The Lambs (This is one of the Death's Head Moths that Buffalo Bill raises)

The Cannonball Run (I thought I would get most of you with this one. This isn't a Bond Movie even though that is Roger Moore. He is playing a guy who thinks he is Roger Moore. TK421 guessed Cannonball Run II, so close)

This Is Spinal Tap (this is during the Stonehenge show, I almost put the 18 inch Stonehenge in)

The Mummy

Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (NPH is hilarious in this as himself)

The Da Vinci Code

10.

Our Man Flint (This is Austin Powers way before Austin Powers)

Sunday Night Trivia: A little of this, a little of that...

2008-06-01T22:28:00.002-05:00

Good evening and welcome to tonight's quiz. These pictures are a mish mash of different movies, there is no clear theme. Just identify the movie. Please email your answers to me. (remember you can click on the picture to hugeify it.)

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Sunday Night Trivia: Water Water Everywhere Answers

2008-05-27T08:03:00.002-05:00

TK421 didn't get every picture, but he got darn close. Everyone is gonna kick themselves on number 9 (especially this week with the fourth movie opening). By the way, TK421 didn't get number 9 but he got closest by guessing I.J. and the The Last Crusade. Thank You to everyone who submitted guesses.

1.The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Alan Quartermain is shooting at floating targets from the bridge of the Nautilus)

2.The Shawshank Redemption (Andy has escaped and they are looking for him)

3.The Fugitive (Harrison Ford is about to throw a dummy off that ledge...um, I mean jump from that ledge)

4.King Kong (2005) (they are heading for the island)

5.La Dolce Vita (although this is probably the most famous scene {She is in the Trevi Fountain in Rome} I really would have been impressed if anybody had actually gotten this one)

6.Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (this one would have been easier if you clicked on the picture to view it bigger, I always recommend you do that. This is the dragon's egg clue underwater in the bath.)

7.Wild Things (everyone got this one, what does that say about us? Hmmm)

8.The Bourne Identity (this was from the first seconds of the movie when Bourne was found floating in the ocean)

9.Raiders Of The Lost Ark (See, you're kicking yourself right now right? This is when he is running from the Hovitos {too bad he can't speak Hovitos} to grab hold of the plane as it goes by in the prologue)

10.The Princess Bride (that is one of the shrieking eels)

The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle (2000)

2008-05-23T12:33:00.005-05:00

35 years after their television show was cancel, we find our heroes living day to day in a deteriorating Frostbite Falls on the residuals from reruns. While in Pottsylvania Fearless Leader (Robert DeNiro, yeah, that Robert DeNiro), Boris Badenov (Jason Alexander) and Natasha Fatale (Rene Russo) hatch an evil plan to take over the world by brainwashing the poulation of the United States and getting the voters to vote for Fearless Leader. All then need is a cable television station. Check, they create RBTV (Really Bad Television). They need to get to America. Check, they dig a tunel. They need to become real and not just cartoons. Check with the help of a Hollywwod Producer that buys the rights to the Rocky and Bullwinkle Movie. Hilarity ensues when FBI Agent Karen Sympathy (Piper Parabo) is assigned to stop the trio in the only way they have every been stopped before, with the help of moose and squirrel.

Trivia: The Whassamatta University infirmary is labeled "J. Ward", a homage to Rocky and Bullwinkle creator, Jay Ward. This film was originally in pre-production in the early 1990s, with Danny DeVito and Meryl Streep set to play Boris and Natasha. Legal problems with copyrights prevented the film being made until several years later. The students in the film were actually real students of Chapman University, where part of the film takes place. June Foray, one of the surviving members of the original "Rocky and His Friends", who created the voice of Rocket J. Squirrel, does Rocky's voice for this film. She also recreates the voice of Natasha (when Natasha is in cartoon form) and her ubiquitous "old woman" voice from the old series as the voice of the narrator's mother. For the narration, Keith Scott is doing an imitation of the voice of the late William Conrad, who had been the narrator for the original animated adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, "Rocky and His Friends".

It is pun filled, low brow, infintile at times and has a ton of movie cliches and doesn't take itself seriously. That is why it is funny. I will admit that I am not a die-hard Rocky and Bullwinkle fan (I don't go out of my way to watch it) but I will stop and watch it if I come across it. The thing that makes the Rocky and Bullwinkle series fun to watch is that it doesn't cater to one kind of kid like some, well, most of the cartoons of today. Any age could watch it and it would be funny. And in fact it is even funnier the older you get. Today if a cartoon isn't trying to teach a child some moral lesson it isn't worth making. This leads to boring cartoons. They are to generic, too politically correct, too something. I have no idea how kids can sit there are watch that stuff over and over and over again on DVD. Talk about brainwashing kids, there is something fishy there. Of course DeNiro did seem to have a pretty pained look on his face when he was delivering some of his lines (especially when he had to do the Taxi Driver monologue, "You looking at me?") and Natasha didn't have enough lines. I know Badenov is supposed to be the main villian but in the original series Natasha had the best lines.

And don't foget to take a crack at the trivia questions below. Have a happy Memorial Day Weekend. See ya on the other side.

IMDB Top 250: Iron Man (2008)

2008-05-19T13:46:00.002-05:00

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a playboy. He is also the owner of Stark Industries, a company that he inherited from his father. He is also a genius engineer when it comes to making weapons. This is good because Stark Industries is the primary provider of weapons to the U.S. military. On a trip to Afghanistan to show off his new weapons system, Starks convey is attacked and Stark is captured by rebel insurgents. During the attack he is hit by shrapnel and is in danger of dying if the pieces left in his body reach his heart. To counter act this he builds a device that magnetically protects his heart. Meanwhile the insurgents want him to build them a missile system just like the one he was showing off. Hilarity ensues when he decides to build himself a suit, a suit of iron.

Trivia: Rachel McAdams was Jon Favreau's first choice to play Pepper Potts, but she turned the role down. The role eventually went to Gweneth Paltrow. Jon Favreau describes the film as "a kind of independent film-espionage thriller crossbreed; a Robert Altman-directed Superman, with shades of Tom Clancy novels, James Bond films, RoboCop, and Batman Begins." In the comics, Tony Stark participated (and became Iron Man) in the Vietnam War; later this was retconned to the Gulf War. In this film, the character's origin was retconned to Afghanistan, as Jon Favreau did not wish to make the film a period piece but instead give it a realistic contemporary look. Stan Lee, the creator of Iron Man, had originally based Tony Stark on Howard Hughes, whom he felt was "one of the most colourful men of our time: an inventor, an adventurer, a multimillionaire, a ladies man and finally a nutcase." Robert Downey Jr. further described his portrayal of Stark as "a challenge of making a wealthy, establishmentarian, weapons-manufacturing, hard-drinking, womanizing prick into a character who is likable and a hero." To prepare for his role as Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. spent five days a week weight training and practiced martial arts to get into shape. In the scene where Pepper discovers Tony removing the damaged Iron Man armor, you can clearly see Captain America's shield partially constructed on a workbench. This same scene was shown in many trailers, but the image of the shield was edited out. To prepare for his role as Obadiah Stane, Jeff Bridges read some of the "Iron Man" comic books that featured Stane, and grew a goatee and shaved his head (which he said was something he always wanted to do). Gwyneth Paltrow only needed to travel 15 minutes to get to the studio. She claimed that this is a part of the reason she took the role, as she could be home with her two children during the entire shoot. The comic book version of Jarvis is a human, Jeeves-like butler, serving Tony Stark and the Avengers, the superhero team Iron Man helped to found. In the film, Jarvis has been re-imagined as an artificial intelligence. According to Peter David's novelization, "JARVIS" is an acronym that stands for "Just A Really Very Intelligent System."

As I said a few time I think, Marvel Comic adaptations need to be judged on their own merit, compared to other Marvel Comics adaptations. In that context Iron Man is a great film. We aren't talking Oscar worthy or anything but that is not what they were going for. On the other hand, this also fits into the Summer Blockbuster category. It fits well there too. This is just a very fun film to watch. It is amazing what a good actor can do for a film and Robert Downey, Jr. is, among other things, a very good actor. He really makes this film. It just wouldn't be the same without him. Gweneth Paltrow is very cute in her role as Stark's secretary/assistant Pepper Potts (what a great name).

Here are some things to look for: Stan Lee's cameo, he said it was his most fun cameo. Be on the look out for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Engagement and Logistics Division. The characters have fun making fun of it. And by all means, stay till the end after the credits for one last scene, you won't be disappointed.

Remeber to check out my latest quiz (Water Water Everywhere) and send in your answers.

Sunday Night Trivia: Water Water Everywhere

2008-05-18T20:10:00.002-05:00

Good evening to you worthy friends. Tonight's quiz is al about being washed up. Each picture shows water very prominently. Identify the movie. Please email your answers to me. (remember you can click on the picture to hugeify it.)

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Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer (2007)

2008-05-16T12:59:00.002-05:00

The whole gang is back. What gang you say? Why the Fantastic Four. Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) can stretch his body to, well, fantastic lengths. Susan Storm, aka The Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba) can bend light to make herself invisible and can create force fields, and, lets face it, has a fantastic body. Johnny Storm, Susan's brother, aka the Human Torch (Chris Evans) can light his body on fire and can fly, he is also fantastically arrogant. And Ben Grimm, aka The Thing (Michael Chiklis) has a body made from rocky and he is very strong. In the time between movies our fantastic heros have become fantastic celebrities, and it seems a fantatsic wedding has been fantastically planned. Susan and Reed are getting hitched...finally. Fantastic hilarity ensues when there is an unwanted wedding guest. A silver man on a flying silver surf board crashes the party and did I mention that he is here to destroy the world?

Trivia: Stan Lee plays himself in a cameo as a rejected wedding guest, in a tribute to his own fictional comic book incarnation. It has become a tradition for Lee to have cameo appearances in live-action adaptations of his comics; he appeared in the first Fantastic Four film playing the Baxter Building's mailman, Willie Lumpkin. The cameo scene where Stan Lee is refused entry to the wedding is in keeping with the comic series. In the 1960s story of Reed Richards and Susan Storm's wedding, two characters, obviously representing writer Stan Lee and artist/plotter Jack Kirby, are also not allowed to attend the wedding. Although the film uses the premise that the Silver Surfer gets his powers from his board, this is clearly not the case in the comics. In the comics, the Surfer is able to fly on his own and use his full gamut of powers without the aid of his surfboard. He uses it, however, as it significantly decreases the energy required for flight. The wedding dress Jessica is wearing in the wedding scene is a custom made design by the German luxury fashion brand Escada.

Sequels, Superheros sequels especially are hit and miss. This one pretty much missed. It is an okay movie sure, but I would expect more from Marvel, of course few of Marvel's superhero movies are actually very good. Most of them are okay. So after looking back at it, as a Marvel superhero movie it is good. In the first movie Johnny was the comic relief. You need a comic relief on a team for it to work well. They decided to go overboard and everybody is comic relief in this one. It is the too many cooks in the kitchen syndrome that has hampered superhero movies over the years. How to out do the original movie, which was good, not great, but good. So they took one of the few things that worked in the first one and multiplied it by four. Reed becomes a love sick absentminded professor type. Susan has a whole sctick when she inadvertantly switches powers with Johnny and ends up burning her clothes off, which would have greatly increased the entertainment of the movie except for the fact that it is PG so nothing was seen...dammit. Johnny seems to be the most serious of the group. It did have some thought provoking parts, well, kind of thought provoking cerning the fact that everyone know who they were. No secret idenities here. I can see where a secret identity could come in handy.

Pathfinder (2007)

2008-05-12T16:15:00.003-05:00

When a native woman finds the remains of a viking ship on the shores of North America 500 years before Columbus she find the lone survivor to be a young boy. She adopts him as her own and 15 years later he is at the brink of manhood. That is when hilarity ensues. The Vikings, led by Fran Tarkington, come back and start killing everyone for no apparent reason then they are bigger and stronger and, well, they are Vikings. The only hope for the whole American continent lies on the shoulders of this young man because only he knows the ways of the Viking.

Trivia: Actors wore hockey shoulder pads underneath their viking costume to make them appear larger and fiercer. Despite knowing that the Vikings' helmets didn't historically have large animal horns on them, the film makers decided to add them in anyway. This would work with the modern audiences who have an ingrained stereotype of what a Viking should look like in their mind. Moreover, the horns make the Vikings look more terrifying. The Vikings in the film are actually speaking Icelandic, which is the closest language to old Viking. The Pathfinder's house was constructed around a real tree which was found at the location and had to be re-enforced. The design of the Indian huts was partly inspired by the famous opera house in Sydney, Australia.

Apparently Vikings a vicious hulks of men bent on killing everybody they can find but it also appears that they don't make Vikings the way they used to because a man who was trained as a Viking at the age of 6 (and wasn't good at it then) can grow up in another culture for 15 years with only a single sword to train with and without help from anyone else, a young native woman, and a brave who is mute is able to kick the butts of the biggest Vikings in the group. I will admit, the first few Vikings that this guy kills could have underestimated him but you would think that after a while they would realize that he could fight. This movie also seems to want to point out that the Natives are in the same situation. The wise old pathfinder and elder of the tribe is able to fight and hold his own against the Vikings when the young warrior braves just rush in and get slaughtered in seconds (because they failed to head the white man's warnings. So white man who grew up as a native and old guy = good fighters. Young Indian Braves = bad fighters. I never thought I would say this but Antonio Banderas did it better, as in portraying the Viking culture in the 13th Warrior. Oh yeah, I forgot. They used stock footage of an avalanche. Stock footage!? What the heck? It was right out of a documentary about alpine skying or something. Uggghhh!

IMDb Top 250: The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (2007)

2008-05-08T15:11:00.005-05:00

At the age of 43, Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body, except his left eye. Bauby used that eye to blink out his memoir one letter at a time. Hilarity ensues when flesh eating zombies storm the hospital and Bauby becomes a hero when he is able to lead the resistance...well, okay, there were no zombies. Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he'd only visited in his mind.

Trivia: Actor Johnny Depp had originally been set to play the lead character, Jean-Dominique Bauby. However, he dropped from the project due to scheduling conflicts (filming for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End). The script, written by Ron Harwood, was originally in English. Director Julian Schnabel convinced the studio, Pathe, to change the language to French to stay true to Bauby's life and story.

I know I had a little fun with the plot summary above but I think Mr. Bauby would approve. He said "Other than my eye, two things aren't paralyzed, my imagination and my memory." I was just using my imagination. I think this movie did a good job showing how isolated Bauby was. His body was his prison. The diving bell analogy really worked to convey that isolation. The director also did a great job with the camera. It was like you were seeing the world through Bauby's eye. It was claustrophobic to say the least.

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

2008-05-07T13:14:00.003-05:00

The T-Virus created by the Umbrella Corporation has raged out of control. First it was contained in The Hive, an underground research facility under Raccoon City. It got out. Then the walls surrounding Raccoon City contained it. It got out. Now several years later it has effectively caused the extinction of the human race. Only small pockets of humans still survive but they have to stay on the move. If they stay in one place too long the flesh eating zombies find them. Alice (Milla Jovovich), a survivor of both the Hive and Raccoon City outbreaks is alone in the Nevada Desert. Umbrella needs her because her blood is the key to the cure. From their secured bases across they globe they search for her using their satelites. She knows this. Hilarity ensues as Alice hooks up with a band of survivors lead by Claire Redfield (Ali Larter). The band also has a familiar face for Alice. Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) is still alive and with the survivors as they try to stay alive. Meanwhile Umbrella finally gets a break and identifies Alice from Satelite photos near their Las Vegas facility (luckily, this is where their main research into the cure is being held). The head scientist at the facility decides to try and capture Alice...bad idea. At the facility, Alice meets a few of her "friends."

Trivia: Alice's new costume was designed by Milla Jovovich's clothing line, Jovovich-Hawk. This is the first live-action movie trilogy based on a video game. Prints were shipped to some theaters under the fake title "Raccoon City" -- which is the name of the city featured in many of the video games. For the crow attack scene, only two crows were used for the entire sequence. The rest of the crows were entered with special effects.

So Alice progresses from a frightened Umbrella Security employee with drug induced amnesia to a programmed fighting machine capable of telekenesis to a Road Warrior that can survive alone in the wilds if need be, all the while killing flesh eating zombies. Of course, I don't think the word zombie was used in this film either so that would mean the word was never used in any of the movies. Like the last movie, this one suffers a little from the "we have to make it bigger" syndrome, although, RE:A has a lot more zombies in it. So in this one the world is infected. They did decide to create a crow attack (you see the crows feasted on all the dead undead so that couldn't have been good.). So, if you are a movie franchise about flesh eating zombies where do you go from here? They are making a full length CGI animated version of the next movie. I guess Milla Jovovich finally said, "oh you have got to be kidding me." On the whole it is a decent trilogy and it probably helped that I saw all three in a few weeks time so that some of the recalls to the previous movies made better sense to me.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

2008-05-06T09:54:00.004-05:00

When we last left our heroine Alice (Milla Jovovich) she was in the Raccoon City hospital under the treatment of the Umbrella Corporation recovering from injuries sustained from fighting off hundreds of flesh eating zombies. When she wakes up, she finds herself alone, the hospital abandoned and we see a newspaper that says "The Dead Walk". It seems the Umbrella Corporation decided to reopen The Hive, a research facility and home to some really hungry zombies...bad idea. Hilarity ensues as the T-Virus escapes into Raccoon City and starts to infect the whole population. Meanwhile Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), a members of the S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Service), tries to get her team out of the city but doesn't make it before Umbrella closes the gates and traps everyone left in. Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) and his commando team also get stuck inside. Their only hope to get out is to find the daughter of an Umbrella scientist. To increase the chances of getting his daughter back the scientist send both Jill and Carlos's team in where their paths are bound to cross. Umbrella decides that it is time to test its secret weapon, Project Nemesis and unleashes it on the unsuspecting S.T.A.R.S. Project Nemesis seems invincible but there might be one thing that can stop it...Project Alice.

Trivia: Was originally entitled Resident Evil: Nemesis after the third game in the "Resident Evil" (aka "Biohazard") videogame series, of the same name, which had a similar plot. The title was later changed to Resident Evil: Apocalypse after the release (and subsequent box-office failure) of Star Trek: Nemesis. During the church scene, when Alice fires at the motorcycle to kill one of the Lickers, the slow motion bullets have the Umbrella logo on the rear of the shells. Aside from archive footage from the first film featuring shots of Eric Mabius, the only person to return after the previous film is Milla Jovovich. Sienna Guillory based her movements of Jill by watching the way Jill moved in the game "Biohazard 3: Last Escape". The first sequence showing Alice waking up in the hospital through to her cocking a shotgun outside, consists entirely of footage shot for the first film. The dogs were not computer-generated. Make-up was applied to them. Although the word "zombie" is never used in the film, it is featured in the ending credits. German comedian Tom Gerhardt who portrayed the infected father in the gate closing sequence, is credited as "zombie dad". All other zombies are credited as "undead". The newspaper with the headline "The Dead Walk!" is an homage to George A. Romero's Day of the Dead, in which exactly the same newspaper headline was displayed. It was Milla Jovovich's idea about having the heat wave in Raccoon City as the reason why her character and Jill Valentine are wearing very few clothes. Unfortunately, the shoot was in November in Toronto. The film contains many visual and thematic references to the games.

The problem with sequels in general is that they think it has to be bigger and better and more explosive and, well, you get the idea. Resident Evil worked because it was self contained. Get out of The Hive and you will survive. So how do they make it bigger and put the characters into a more deperate situation? Release the virus on a city. What's next? The wole world? This is a the same situation with Alien and Aliens. The first one was contained on the ship, The second one was on a colony but then they did a good thing and restricted it back down in Alien3 to a prison planet (the only thing on the planet is the prison. After seeing Alice start to rediscover her combat training abilities in the first movie she is full blown combat queen here with supernatural physical abilities (that we later discover is from Project Alice). Basically she can kick anybody's butt. One thing that puzzled me though. The T-Virus is transmitted at points by airbourne and mostly but physical touch by scratch or bite. It infects the living who eventually become undead or rise from the dead when they are killed. At one point the group goes through a cemetary and we see the cliche of the dead digging themselves out of the ground. First off, how did the already buried get infected and second, why did they all decide to dig out and break through right at that moment. Well, I guess that is why it is a cliche. So if you are paying attention I guess you already know what movie I am going to review tomorrow.

Resident Evil (2002)

2008-05-05T15:43:00.002-05:00

Deep in the bedrock below Raccoon City, in a secret research facility run by the Umbrella Corporation known as The Hive, the main computer, known as the Red Queen malfunctions, shuts and locks down the facility and murders all the scientists and employees. Meanwhile Alice (Milla Jovovich) wakes up on the floor of a shower in a mansion. Alice does not remember where she is or who she is. Alice is part of the security for The Hive, but doesn't remember this. Hilarity ensues when a comando team from the Umbrella Corporation is sent into the Hive with Alice to shut down the Red Queen and reopen the facility...Bad idea. Scientist at The Hive were working on a virus with a small side effect, anyone infected would become a flesh eating zombie.

Trivia: This film was originally titled "Resident Evil: Ground Zero," but the title was changed to just "Resident Evil" after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the USA. The password into the Red Queen's Chamber is "12177". Connections to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: - Main character's name is Alice. - Computer is named 'Red Queen'. - 'The Red Queen' needs to kill someone who is infected, so she tries to get someone else to chop off their head. (Off with her head!) - Alice in Wonderland paperweight. - A white rabbit was use to test the T-virus. - To enter the hive they go through a mirrored door (through the looking glass). - The Red Queen also succeeds in cutting off "her" head - the medic in the laser hallway. - Kaplan worries about time, as the White Rabbit does. (Mentioned in commentary) - Matt is sitting on the ledge when Rain and JD hear the first zombie. This is mentioned in the commentary as a reference to the Caterpillar. Even though they're everywhere, the word "zombie" is never spoken in this film. Milla Jovovich's character, Alice, never has her name spoken, written or identified until the end credits. After returning to the laser hallway they find the bodies have vanished. This is a direct reference to the games, in which the bodies will vanish if you leave and reenter an area. Kaplan's lines draw attention to this. Milla Jovovich did all of her own stunts except the pipe jump in the sewer scene. She used a stunt double in that scene, because her agent thought she would get strangled by the hanging wires. During the shooting of the sewer scenes, Milla Jovovich right-hooked Paul W.S. Anderson in the face, giving him a big black eye. By the end she hurt about three cast and crew members. To prepare for their roles, the actors playing commandos, Milla Jovovich and Eric Mabius had a week of commando training (climbing, martial arts, weapons handling, etc.) with ex-Navy SEAL Jaymes Butler. All the minor cuts and bruises on Milla Jovovich's character are real. No make-up was applied.

I admit that I am not much of a gamer and I am not much of a scary movie fan so you are probably asking why in the heck am I watching a zombie movie based on a zombie video game. Well, I will tell you. Milla Jovovich. Plan and simple. I like her, I have since The Fifth Element. I know she has a reputation for not being in "good" movie and most of her roles are of girls who can kick ass. But I like her. So here we are, a bunch of commandos in full black combat gear and Milla Jovovich in a red dress cut to her thigh wearing combat boots. As for movies based on video games this one is actually really good. This a definitely not Doom, thank goodness. Besides the whole zombie aspect you can really see a comando team having to go in and subdue a rogue computer (well, at least I can, I'm optimistic like that). As long as you can get past the dead rising and wanting to eat you, the story stands up rather well. The only problem I see is that they might decide that they need to do a sequel.

Classic Movie Wednesday: WarGames (1983)

2008-04-30T16:20:00.003-05:00

A young computer whizz kid (Matthew Brodrick) accidentally connects into a top secret super-computer which has complete control over the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Hilarity ensues when it challenges him to a game of Global Thermonuclear War between America and Russia, and he innocently starts the countdown to World War 3. Can he convince the computer he wanted to play a game and not the real thing?

Trivia: The studio had a Galaga and a Galaxian machine delivered to Matthew Broderick's home, where he practiced for two months to prepare for the arcade scene. The computer used to break into NORAD was programmed to make the correct words appear on the screen, no matter which keys were pressed. The NORAD command center built for the movie was the most expensive set ever constructed up to that time, built at the cost of one million dollars. The producers were not allowed into the actual NORAD command center, so they had to imagine what it was like. In the DVD commentary, director John Badham notes that the actual NORAD command center isn't nearly as elaborate as the one in the movie; he refers to the movie set as "NORAD's wet dream of itself." According to John Badham, the scene of the jeep trying to crash through the gate at NORAD and turning over was an actual accident. The jeep was supposed to continue through the gate. They added the scene of the characters running from the jeep and down the tunnel and used the botched jeep stunt. First cinematic reference to a "firewall" - a security measure used in computer networking and Internet security. This does not predate the existence of the Internet, however, which is considered to have started in 1969. The computer in David's room is actually an IMSAI 8080. The person who supplied the computer for the film tells how Matthew Broderick saved a shooting day by figuring out a programming sequence for the keyboard on his own after instructions were lost. The WOPR, as seen in the movie, was made of wood and painted with a metal-finish paint. As the crew filmed the displays of the WOPR, Special Effects Supervisor Michael L. Fink sat inside and entered information into an Apple II computer that drove the countdown display. Graphics on the large NORAD war room screens were rendered in advance by an HP 9845C desktop computer. In 1982 the 9845C was comprised of a base with built-in keyboard and a 14" color monitor that mounted on top. Cost of a 9845C was about $90,000 (inflation-adjusted) and the entire "desktop" computer weighed about 100 pounds.

Next to the HAL-9000 saying "I'm afraid I can't do that Dave" this movie may have the most famous computer voice in the movies and easily the most recognizable. When Joshua (the computer) asks Matthew Brodrick "Shall we play a game?" it sends chills down my back. Despite the early 80's computer technology this movie does stand up pretty well. I wonder what they would have thought back then if they could see a computer from today. It probably could easily have run that entire room (the NORAD set). This is actually the second movie of Matthew Brodrick's career (after Max Dugan Returns) and three years before really hitting it big as Ferris Bueller. Ally Sheedy plays Matthew Brodrick's girlfriend and I had a crush on her back then (I was 13). Also in this movie is that icon of cinema Dabney Coleman.

Sunday Night Triva: Computers Are Our Friends Answers

2008-04-27T23:11:00.003-05:00

Agrajag finally got his answers in and he only missed one of the movies. Kim did pretty well, too. Here are the answers.

1.V.I.K.I., (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence) from I, Robot

2.Deep Thought from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Universe

3.Vox 114, the New York Public Library's Holographic Librarian From The Time Machine

4.Skynet from Terminator 2: Judgment Day

5.W.O.P.R. (War Operations Plan and Response) also called Joshua from WarGames

6.The Red Queen, the Main Computer of The Hive, an underground military research facility that accidentally created a whole bunch of zombies from Resident Evil (the Red Queen used a holographic representation of a young girl, the daughter of the creator who spoke in a British accent. It was spooky, especially when she said "You are all going to die down here.")

7.The Master Control Program from Tron

8.MU-TH-UR 182 Model commonly called Mother the main computer on the space ship Nostromo from Alien

9.HAL-9000 (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) call Hal by the crew from 2001: A Space Odyssey

10.And last but not least, Emerac, a business research computer in the Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn comedy Desk Set.

Sleuth (2007)

2008-04-24T10:49:00.003-05:00

Hilarity ensues as two extremely clever British men are in a game of trickery and deceit. Andrew Wyke (Michael Caine), an aging famous author who lives alone in a high-tech mansion, after his wife Maggie has left him for a younger man; and Milo Tindle (Jude Law), an aspiring actor, equipped with charm and wit, who demonstrates both qualities once again). When Wyke invite Tindle to his mansion, Tindle seeks to convince the former into letting his wife go by signing the divorce paper. However, Wyke seems far more interested in playing mind games with his wife's new lover, and lures him into a series of actions he thoroughly planned in seeking revenge on his unfaithful spouse.

Trivia: This is the second film of Michael Caine's to be remade with Jude Law taking over the Michael Caine role. Previously, Law appeared in Alfie. Michael Caine switches roles in this movie. Caine played the Tindale role with Lawrence Olivier in the Wyke role in the original 1972 version. The film was shot entirely in sequence. The remote used by Andrew Wyke is actually an Apple Universal remote used to control Apple Computers/iPod Docks.

With just about every remake, it is inevitable that if you have seen the original you will compare it to the original and it is hard to review it without being influenced by the original. I have seen the original. The '72 version starring Caine and Lawrence Olivier was a light hearted psychological mind game, not just between the two men, but with the audience. The twists and turns in the movie kept you captivated and it was a tour de force for the two actors and looked like they were really haveing a lot of fun. I highly recommend it. Now back to this movie. The basics of the story are the same so you don't get the same jolt when certain things happen, but on the other hand, Caine's character is completely different then Olivier's. How it is different would spoil the movie for you. All I can say is that both Caine and Law did good jobs playing off of each other, and the movie would probably have rated a little higher for me if I had not seen the original, but once the cat is let out of the bag you can probably bet it isn't going to go near another bag for a long time. (I hope that made sense to you because it sure didn't to me.)

Don't forget to get your trivia game answers in to me.

Enchanted (2007)

2008-04-22T11:19:00.005-05:00

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Andalasia, a beautiful young maiden named Giselle (Amy Adams) lives in a cottage in the forest. But before she can marry the dashing Prince Edward (James Marsden), hilarity ensues when Giselle is sent tumbling down a magical well - and finds herself in the non-animated, extremely disenchanted world of modern-day New York City. There, she befriends a cynical divorce lawyer, Robert (Patrick Dempsey), who isn't so sure that her prince is coming to rescue her. Giselle's spontaneous singing and fairy-tale demeanor enchant everyone around her as she waits for Prince Edward. But she's about to discover that love in the real world isn't always as easy as sharing a single True Love's Kiss - and that she'll need courage, spunk and maybe just a little enchantment if she's ever going to find her own happily-ever-after.

Trivia: The bus driver's hair is shaped like Mickey Mouse's ears, as well as the green pepper slices on the pizza Robert and Giselle are served at the Bella Notte restaurant. In the scene where Prince Edward is standing on top of a moving bus, billboards for Hairspray (the Broadway Production) and Superman Returns are visible. James Marsden, who plays Prince Edward, stars in Superman Returns, and the movie, Hairspray, based off the Broadway Production. In the scene where Edward is on top of the bus, the people riding on tour buses next to him laughing and pointing at him weren't extras, but actual real tourists. The actresses who provided the voices for three previous animated Disney princesses make appearances in the film: Jodi Benson (‘Ariel’ in The Little Mermaid), Paige O'Hara (‘Belle’ in Beauty and the Beast), and Judy Kuhn (Pocahontas). Also, Julie Andrews, who starred as the title character in Disney's live-action Mary Poppins, provides her voice here as the Narrator. Cathleen Trigg's character's name is Mary Ilene Caselotti. This is a tribute to Mary Costa, the voice of Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Ilene Woods, who did the voice of Disney's Cinderella, and Adriana Caselotti, the voice of Disney's first princess, Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The law firm where Robert works is Churchill, Harline and Smith, the surnames of the songwriters from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Two of the elderly men dancers appeared together in West Side Story. One of the elderly men dancers appeared in Mary Poppins as a chimney sweep.

What can I say? As an admitted Disneyphile, this movie just called to me. I didn't get a chance to see it in theaters so it garnered a top spot on my netflix queue. What I love about it is how it can have fun with itself. It doesn't take itself seriously and how could it? Andalasia is pure Disney charm. Amy Adams works well as the out of place princess and you couldn't help but like her. James Marsden is hilarious as Gisselle's prince charming (um...I mean Prince Edward). Three of the songs were nominated for Oscars this year and each had the Disney magic behind them. The "Happy Working Song" is pure Disney (I keep saying that) with Amy Adams accompanied by pigeons, rats, and coachroachs (relax, it is actually pretty charming). "So Close", the romantic dance near the end was just beautiful. But it was "That's How You Know" that was the best. It was a full on production number in the middle of Central Park. It blended the fairytail feel with a live music feel if that makes any sense. Disney is at it's best when it isn't trying very hard to be anything else but just trys to be Disney.

Don't forget to send in your answers for this weeks quiz.

Sunday Night Trivia: Computers Are Our Friends, Maybe

2008-04-20T18:48:00.003-05:00

Good evening to you worthy friends. Tonight I am looking for two answer per picture. One, the name of the movie, and two, the main of the main computer from the movie. Each movie has a computer and each computer has a specific name (not "That computer in the movie that does the thing") I am looking for the specific name with the exception that I will accept that common name people call it. For example, C-3PO is his specific name, but sometimes Han Solo calls him "Goldenrod". I will accept either. Each picture contains a picture of the computer or a representation of the computer except number 4. In number 4 the movie never showed the computer but the man shown works for the company that created it. Please email your answers to me. (remember you can click on the picture to hugeify it.)

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August Rush (2007)

2008-04-17T13:51:00.002-05:00

This is a story of a music prodigy named Evan. Lyla (Keri Russell) a renowned and beautiful cellist and Louis (Johnathan Rhys Myers) a bass player in club meet at a party and fall in love on a beautiful night under the stars. Hilarity esues as circustances keep them apart. Lyla has an accident and thinks she loses the baby but Lyla's father gives the baby to an orphanage without telling her for the sake of her career. Both Louis and Lyla give up their music career. Eleven years later, poor little Evan (Freddie Highmore) believes that their parents are waiting for him and goes to New York to find them. In New York, his music gift leads him to success but also gives him some trouble. A monger (Robin Williams) uses Evan to make money by playing on the sidewalk and working for handouts. Meanwhile, Lyla's father tells her the truth and Lyla heads to New York to find Evan. Lious decides to find Lyla and eventaully makes it to New York. Evan eventaully is given a chance to study at Julliard and he is granted an opportunity to play his music in the central park in front of thousands of people. Evan, going by the name of August Rush is the headliner. The beginning act is a guest cellist named Lyla Novacek.

Trivia: James Morrison was offered the part of Louis Connelly and turned it down to concentrate on his music. Liv Tyler and Claire Danes were each considered for the role of Lyla Novacek before Keri Russell was cast. Robin Williams' performance as "Wizard" was reportedly inspired by rock star Bono.

Over all it was a good movie but I do have some issues with it. I know he is a prodigy and all but you would think that living in a boys home for 11 years would have prepared him at least a little for a life on the streets. Also Freddie Highmore seems to sleepwalk through this movie. He's just there, nothing special. The music is great all around and is what made it a good movie. I love the way Evan heard music everywhere in life and his guitar solos were totally awesome. It has gotten to the point in recent years where I am really skeptical about a movie that has Robin Williams in it. He isn't the same as he used to be like in Dead Poet's Society and Good Morning Vietnam. He seems to be at his best playing serious characters that have a lot of humor in them. I hope I am not letting the cat out of the back now but Keri Russell is beautiful.

Sunday Night Trivia: Trailer Trash 2 Answers

2008-04-12T10:32:00.002-05:00

Hey, I'm back, sorry and stuff. Here are the answers for Trailer Trash 2. If you notice, all the pictures are from movie trailers of movies that have not or have very recently been released.

1.Speed Racer

2.Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

3.Sex and the City: The Movie

4.Iron Man

5.Flawless

6.Leatherheads

7.Step Up 2: The Streets

8.Get Smart

9.Tropic Thunder

10.The Incredible Hulk

And now for the two movies that have something in common. They are Iron Man and Tropic Thunder. And Robert Downey, Jr. is the common piece. If you look, the man in picture number 4 and picture number 9 are both the same man, Robert Downey, Jr.

Sunday Night Trivia: Trailer Trash 2

2008-03-23T23:33:00.005-05:00

Welcome to another installment of Trailer Trash Trivia. The trivia game where you identify the movie from a still taken from the trailer. The player who correctly identifies the most movies will win absolutely nothing at all! I see you are all anxious to start so here we go. Name the movie from the picture then please email your answers to me. As a bonus two of the pictures share something in common. Name the two movies and what they have in common. Hint: I am looking for something very specific that you can see in the picture. (remember you can click on the picture to hugeify it.)

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Trivia Answers: Something Seems Familiar

2008-03-17T13:14:00.005-05:00

Well,if you haven't figured out the link here it is. Each pair of actors played the same character, one in the movie and one on TV.

3. Donald Sutherland and 1. Alan Alda both played Hawkeye Pierce on MASH

9. Rod Steiger and 2. Carrol O'Connor both played Police Chief Bill Gillespie on In The Heat Of The Night

12. Walter Matthau and 4. Jack Klugman both played Oscar Madison on The Odd Couple

5. Kristy Swanson and 11. Sarah Michelle Gellar both played Buffy Summers on Buffy The Vampire Slayer

6. Kurt Russell and 8. Richard Dean Anderson both played Col. Jack O'Neill on Stargate

7. Melanie Griffith and 10. Sandra Bullock both played Tess McGill on Working Girl.

Impman got them all except the O'Connor/Steiger answer and Mick was able to answer all the movies/TV shows. Well Done.

Glory (1989)

2008-03-11T14:55:00.003-05:00

As the US Civil War drags on and drains even the vast resources of the north, an experiment is made with black troops, creating a special regiment under an all-white officer corps. The traditional military establishment considers this a bad joke, but a young abolitionist idealist Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Brodrick) from a very privileged family agrees to take on the dubious honor of commanding the black volunteers, mainly illiterate former slaves (among them Morgan Freeman, Andre Braugher, and Denzel Washington in an Academy Award winning performance) and gains the rank of Colonel. Even his personal friend and second in command, Major Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes), lacks confidence in the project; yet they must overcome countless difficulties in training, procurement, and ensuing hilarity before the unit can even enter the War.

Trivia: The film depicts the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry training through the Christmas holidays of presumably 1862 (after the September 1862 Battle of Antietam,) but the real 54th Massachusetts did not organize until March 1863, and were engaged in their first battle on James Island, SC on 16 July 1863, and then Battery Wagner (the final battle in the film) on 18 July 1863. Matthew Broderick is believed to be a distant relative of Robert Gould Shaw, the character he plays. With the exception of Shaw, none of the primary characters are based on real people in the 54th. The relief sculpture in the credits is the Robert Gould Shaw and 54th Regiment Memorial in Boston Common, by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The inaugural battle for the real 54th Massachusetts was at James Island, South Carolina, on 16 July 1863. The scene depicting this engagement was filmed during late February of 1989 at the Girl Scout Camp on Rose Dhu Island near Savannah, GA. It actually snowed during filming, and heaters had to be brought in to melt the snow. Later, in the Christmas at Camp Readville Scene, filmed in March 1989 at the old Train Roundhouse in Savannah, Georgia, snow blowers were brought in to blow chipped ice onto the ground to give the appearance of a winter snow.

I think at different times I have seen this whole movie, just not all together in one setting. I can't believe it was made 19 years ago. That makes me feel old, because I remember when it came out. All the leads did fantastic jobs in this film. Morgan Freeman is, well, Morgan Freeman. Andre Braugher did great in his movie debuts as the educated black friend of Shaw who was the first to volunteer and then struggled through training. Matthew Brodrick brought a sensitivity to the role that I don't think many could have brought. And then there is Denzel Washington. He was very dynamic in this film and deserved the Oscar.

Sunday Night Trivia: Something Seems Familiar...

2008-03-02T00:42:00.010-06:00

Tonight we are going to go in a slightly different direction. I have given you 12 actors, you need to sort them out into pairs. Now not any pair will work. There needs to be a reason that you group the two together. So, get to sorting. Give me the names of the two and why you put them together. The only hint I will give you is that all six pairs will be grouped together for the same reason so once you figure it out, you have it made. I will give you two weeks. Please email your answers to me.

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The Oscars: And The Oscar Goes To...

2008-02-24T21:15:00.005-06:00

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Atonement
Away from Her
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

The Winner: No Country For Old Men
My Prediction: No Country For Old Men
Notes: Well, there you have it.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Juno
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
The Savages

The Winner: Juno
My prediction: Juno
Notes: Fabulous. I am so stoked that Diablo Cody won. It would be great if more scripts like this one started showing up.

Best Achievement in Directing
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Julian Schnabel
Juno - Jason Reitman
Michael Clayton - Tony Gilroy
No Country for Old Men - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson

The Winner: The Coen brothers
My prediction: The Coen brothers
Notes: It seems to be the Coen's night.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Ruby Dee - American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton

The Winner: Tilda Swinton
My prediction: Cate Blanchett
Notes: Well, you can't get them all right, and I did say Swinton was the biggest competition for Blanchett.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton

The Winner: Javier Bardem
My prediction: Javier Bardem
Notes: Hey, I finally got a best supporting actor right! Woo Hoo!

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away from Her
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney - The Savages
Ellen Page - Juno

The Winner: Marion Cotillard
My prediction: Julie Christie
Notes: Well, that is what I get for over analyzing it. I should have gone with my gut feeling and picked Cotillard.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises

The Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis
My prediction: Daniel Day-Lewis
Notes: Man, when he got on stage I really saw how good an actor he is because he was nothing like Daniel Plainview. Wow.

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

The Winner: No Country For Old Men
My prediction: No Country For Old Men
Notes: Well, well, well.

Now this is scary, two years ago I went 6 for 8, last year I went 6 for 8, and tonight...6 for 8. This time it was the two actress awards that I missed. I was oh so close to picking Cotillard for best actress but I still would have picked Blanchett for supporting actress so I wouldn't have sweep. Anyway, starting tomorrow I will review the nominated films that I have seen but not reviewed yet. See ya then.

The Oscars: My Predictions

2008-02-23T10:38:00.002-06:00

I know this is what all of you have been waiting for but i have to warn you right now, after reading this post, the actual Oscars ceremony tomorrow night will be anticlimactic. I will be predicting the big 8 awards. That is the four acting categories, the two writing categories, directing and best picture. I will start with the writing and end with best picture. To give you some background, this is my third year doing this. The first year I missed two, Supporting Actor and Director. Last year I missed two, Supporting Actor and Adapted Screenplay. So you see, I have a problem with the supporting actor category. I hope I can do as well this year. Let lets get this started.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Atonement
Away from Her
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

My prediction: No Country For Old Men
This may be my downfall category this year. I have not seen The Diving Bell and the Butterfly but I have heard a lot about it and it may sneak in for the win and the other three aren't slouches either. They all have good solid stories.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Juno
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
The Savages

My prediction: Juno
I have a bad feeling that this might be the only major award for this wonderful movie.

Best Achievement in Directing
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Julian Schnabel
Juno - Jason Reitman
Michael Clayton - Tony Gilroy
No Country for Old Men - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson

My prediction: The Coen brothers for No Country For Old Men
Now we are getting into easier predictions. Anderson might have an outside shot but I think it will be the Coens year.

And now the big five...

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Ruby Dee - American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton

My prediction: Cate Blanchett
Rudy Dee's performance was great, but it was very, very short. Same goes for Amy Ryan who pretty much disappeared half way through. Saoirse Ronan had a pivotal role but she also disappeared half way through as her character grew up. Which leaves Swinton and Blanchett. Swinton will be Blanchett's main competition but I think Blanchett will get the nod.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton

My prediction: Javier Bardem
The only category with an easier prediction is best actor. Of course, with my track record, I might have just doomed Mr. Bardem's chances. The other's had good performances but Bardem will be just too much for them.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away from Her
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney - The Savages
Ellen Page - Juno

My prediction: Julie Christie
Ugh...this one was hard for me. Her is my thought process. 1) Laura Linney is a great actress but it is pretty much a consensus that she will come up short. 2) Cate Blanchett will win best Supporting Actress. 3) Ellen Page is too young. I think the voters will think that she has plenty of time to get her Oscar. By the way, Page is my favorite and I really really really hope she wins. 4) This leaves Christie and Marion Cotillard. Here is where Academy voting comes into focus. It has been pointed out a lot the the Academy voters tend to be older (hence the non vote for Page) so they will go for Christie, who they know and understand. 5) Christie plays a character afflicted with a disease, Alzheimer's, and this tend to sway the vote sometimes. 6) Cotillard does have an outside chance, ala Roberto Benigni, but she is still "an outsider".

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises

My prediction: Daniel Day-Lewis
If there was ever a stone cold lock in the Oscars it will be this pick. If anybody else wins it will probably be considered the biggest upset in Oscar history. The Academy loves bold performances and they love fixing a perceived wrong (Day-Lewis' loss for Gangs Of New York).

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

My prediction: No Country For Old Men
Atonement was beautifully shot but it will come up short. Michael Clayton is a solid movie but it is too main stream to win (besides the fact that the other four are better). Juno, as much as I love it and wish it would win, has a major problem, it is a comedy and they really tend to under perform in the Oscars, especially for Best Picture (Go ahead and prove me wrong, Academy! I dare you! Do you think it worked? Probably not.) There Will Be Milkshake, I mean Blood has produced the big pop phrase of the year* but was slow and tedious through the middle parts. *By the way the pop phrase of the year is "I drink your milkshake. I drink it up!" Day-Lewis used it to explain oil drainage, and no, I don't know why it has become so popular.

Well, there you have it, now there is no reason to waste your time watching the OScars, go out to the movies or something, the theaters will probably be empty.

The Oscars: Best Picture

2008-02-22T10:10:00.005-06:00

And the nominees are:

Atonement

In 1935, 13-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis and her family live a life of wealth and privilege in their enormous mansion. On the warmest day of the year, the country estate takes on an unsettling hothouse atmosphere, stoking Briony's vivid imagination and hilarity ensues. Robbie Turner, the educated son of the family's housekeeper, carries a torch for Briony's headstrong older sister Cecilia. Cecilia, he hopes, has comparable feelings. All it will take is one spark for this relationship to combust. When it does, Briony, who has a crush on Robbie, is compelled to interfere, going so far as accusing Robbie of a crime he did not commit. Cecilia and Robbie declare their love for each other, but he is arrested, and with Briony bearing false witness, the course of three lives is changed forever. Robbie is offered the choice of prison or joining the Army to fight in World War II. Briony continues to seek forgiveness for her childhood misdeed. Through a terrible and courageous act of imagination, she finds the path to her uncertain atonement, and to an understanding of the power of enduring love.

Juno

Sixteen year-old Juno MacGuff is the type of girl that walks her own path, and doesn't really care what others may think of her. She learns that she's pregnant from a one-time sexual encounter with her best friend, Paulie Bleeker. Although she would rather not be pregnant, Juno is fairly pragmatic about her situation. Initially she decides that she will have an abortion, but that's something that she ultimately cannot go through with. So she decides to have the baby and give it up for adoption. But first she has to tell her father, Mac, and stepmother, Bren, that she is pregnant. The next step is to find prospective parents for the yet unborn child. In the Pennysaver ad section, Juno finds Mark and Vanessa Loring, a yuppie couple living in the suburbs and hilarity ensues. Juno likes the Lorings, and in some respects has found who looks to be a kindred spirit in Mark, with whom she shares a love of grunge music and horror films. Vanessa is a little more uptight and is the one in the relationship seemingly most eager to have a baby.

Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton is an in-house fixer at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, Clayton takes care of Kenner, Bach, & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder, Marty Bach. Clayton is burned out and hardly content with his job as a fixer, but his divorce, a failed business venture, mounting debt and ensuing hilarity have left Clayton inextricably tied to the firm. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, umm, I mean at U/North the career of litigator Karen Crowder rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class-action suit that Clayton's firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life.

No Country For Old Men

Violence, mayhem, and hilarity ensue after a hunter stumbles upon some dead bodies, a stash of heroin and more than $2 million in cash near the Rio Grande. He is soon running from a psychotic killer that seems to be one step ahead of him.

There Will Be Blood

In the 1890s, Daniel Plainview, a struggling silver miner, finds his true wealth in petroleum extraction while taking the orphaned child, H.W., as his own for a valuable family man image. In 1911, Plainview gets a tip on a valuable supply of oil on the struggling Sunday family ranch in the impoverished Little Boston, California and hilarity ensues. In his quest to acquire the property, Plainview meets the sanctimonious Eli Sunday, the young reverend of the local church with his own ambitions for his diocese and the profit from the oil. As the oil wells begin, an escalating conflict arises between exploiters of many kinds while Plainview's ruthlessness gradually sinks into a slowly mounting malevolent madness. In doing so, it begins to drive every emotional bond he has away that all his wealth can never replace.

Well, there it is, tune in tomorrow for my predictions. So let me know your predictions or thoughts on this year's Oscars.

The Oscars: Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role

2008-02-21T08:49:00.002-06:00

And the nominees are:

George Clooney - Michael Clayton in Michael Clayton

George Clooney a Hollywood darling, and as such gets the benefit of the doubt a lot of times. I will admit that he is a good solid actor and I like him in most things that he does including this movie. Clooney plays Michael Clayton, a lawyer that is known for "fixing" problems. In this case he has to fix Tom Wilkinson (also nominated) who freaks out during a deposition and takes his clothes off as hilarity ensues. He also butts heads with Tilda Swinton (also nominated) who is lead counsel for the company Clooney and Wilkinson's firm work for. This is the first of three understanded subdued performances in the category. To me Clooney is just acting pensieve and looking forlorn through the entire movie. Maybe that is just what the movie needed and I don't know what I am talking about but he is just kind of blah.

Daniel Day-Lewis - Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood

Daniel Day-Lewis is the favorite. He plays a charismatic and ruthless oil prospector, driven to succeed by his intense hatred of others and psychological need to see any and all competitors fail at ensuing hilarity. It definitly is an over the top performance. Day-Lewis is one of those actors that completely loses himself in a role. He becomes Plainview. The performance itself should be able to win the Oscar for him but he will also probably be helped in the fact that most people think he should have won the 2003 Oscar for his role as Bill The Butcher so this has the elements of being a make-it-up-to-you-for-a-past-loss Oscar that the Academy seems to give out sometimes.

Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

I have no problem whatsoever in saying that Johnny Depp is my favorite actor. Except of his three turns as Captain Jack Sparrow, Depp has never played a charactor even remotely like any of the other characters he has played. The man has range. In this one he plays one of the most evil characters in literature, a vicious serial killer who butchers his victims with his straight razor with pretty much no remorse at all and then hilarity ensues. He and his accomplice Mrs. Lovett get rid of the bodies by baking them into pies and selling them to the public. Oh yeah, he gets to sing too. Now he wouldn't have a chance on American idol but he does a decent job on the vocal side and his ruthless protrayal is great.

Tommy Lee Jones - Hank Deerfield in In The Valley Of Elah

Tommy Lee Jones is another one of the actors I like to see because hilarity always ensues. This is the second of the understated subdued performances nominated this year. The film tells the story of war veteran Hank Deerfield and his search for his son, a soldier who recently returned from Iraq but has mysteriously gone missing. Hank's investigation is aided by a police detective (Charlize Theron) who becomes personally involved in the case. TLJ really plays this one quietly with a lot of sad looks and consernation on his face. He seems to be tired and beaten up emotionally throughout the whole film.

Viggo Mortensen - Nikolai in Eastern Promises

Viggo Mortensen turns in the last of the three subdued performances with his role as a Russian Mafia enforcer with a small concience working his way up through the ranks of the Russian Mob in London. Mostly he just stands around waiting for his bosses to tell him to do something but when he has to do anything, he does it full on. Which leads us to the most talked about scene of the movie. Viggo goes full throttle as well as full frontal in a steam bath fight for his life. I could have done without seeing little Viggo and out of the five films nominated in this category, this is the weakest.

Well, there you go, tune in tomorrow for the big one, Best Picture.

The Oscars: Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role

2008-02-20T13:25:00.004-06:00

And the nominees are:

Cate Blanchett - Queen Elizabeth in Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Cate Blanchett reprises her Oscar nominated role from 1998. (Here is a bit of trivia for you to impress your collegues with. There have been 4 previous actors to be nominated twice for playing the same role. Bing Crosby as Father O'Malley, Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson, Peter O'Toole as King Henry II, and Al Pacino as Michael Corleone. This marks the first time an actress has done it.) It is 27 years after Elizabeth was crowned Queen of England (which takes place in Elizabeth). Elizabeth faces one of her biggest challenges when Spain works at undermining her reign and installing Mary, Queen of Scots as the rightful Queen. Spain eventually send the Spanish Armada and the Spanish Inquisition (I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition*) and hilarity ensues. It seems to me that all an actress has to do to pretty much guarentee an Oscar Nomination is to play an English Queen. Blanchett didn't win last time, she lost to Gwyneth Paltrow, and I don't think she will win this time either. I think she has a lot better chance winning best supporting actress, and I think her being nominated for Best Supporting Actress will cost her votes on Best Actress since the voters will be able to say they voted for her.

Julie Christie - Fiona Anderson in Away From Her

Julie Christie plays a woman with Alzheimer's disease. Fiona decides to check into a nursing home so that she doesn't become a burden on her husband Grant. We follow Grant as he comes and goes from the nursing home and watch as Fiona slips further and further away from him. Christie does an extraordinary job in this movie. I thought very seriously that she had a good shot at the Oscar until...

Marion Cotillard - Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose

...I saw La Vie En Rose. Marion Cotillard plays Edith Piaf, the famous french singer and cultural icon. The movie follows the life of Piaf through flashbacks all the way back to her childhood. Cotillard really captures Piaf from what I am able to gather from other sources (Piaf died 7 years before I was born, but i have still heard some of her songs even though I didn't know it.) Speaking of the 1999 Academy Awards, that was the last time an actor won an Oscar in one of the four major acting categories from a role in a Foreign Language film. In that case it was Roberto Benigni for La Vita E Bella. I can definitely see one going to Cotillard.

Laura Linney - Wendy Savage in The Savages

This is the movie that I haven't seen yet (there seems to be one every day). Laura Linney is a wonderful actress but I can't really judge her performance. She plays Wendy who, with her sibling Jon, with whom she has drifted apart, have to take care of an aging parent.

Ellen Page - Juno MacGuff in Juno

I really first came across Ellen Page in Hard Candy and the movie just really blew my mind and I have love watching her ever since. After taking three pregnancy tests, 16-year-old Minnesota high-schooler Juno discovers she is nine weeks pregnant with a child who is fathered by her friend and longtime admirer, Paulie Bleeker. Although she initially opts for an abortion, a last-minute change of heart leads her to decide to have the baby and make a plan for the child's adoption. I loved her in this film too. She showed an acerbic wit and intellegence you don't usually find in teenage film charcters (they are usually in comedies and stuff). I really hope she can win it this year but I think she is a dark horse at best. She will definitely be back as long as she picks movie like these two.

Well, there you go, tune in tomorrow for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

*Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

(If anybody got that joke before looking down here give yourself a gold star. If you got it after looking give yourself a silver star, If you have yet to get it, go watch Monty Python's Flying Circus right now, before it is too late!)

The Oscars: Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role

2008-02-19T06:33:00.004-06:00

And the nominees are:

Casey Affleck - Robert Ford in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

Casey Affleck has been a busy boy (as have many of the actors this year, Josh Brolin was in three nominated movies American Gangster, No Country For Old Men, and In The Valley Of Elah). Affleck was also in Gone Baby Gone, but we are here for The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and as you can tell from the title Affleck is a coward. Robert Ford joins Jesse's gang after growing up reading about Jesse and Frank James in the newspapers and dime novels. He lives and breaths the James brothers and considers himself an expert on the two. He slowly gets disenchanted with Jesse when he realizes that Jesse isn't the almighty train robber portrayed in the stories of hilarity ensuing. The curious thing about this role is that in my opinion, it is the leading role. He is the narrator, he is telling us his story, he is on screen more then Jesse. The only thing stopping him from being the lead actor is that Jesse James is played by Brad Pitt and Pitt was also one of the producers. This is the problem with the supporting roles, they may not be long (Ruby Dee had 4 scenes that lasted less then ten minutes on a 2 1/2 hour movie, Casey Affleck carries the movie and is on the screen longer then the "Lead")

Javier Bardem - Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men

Bardem is the front runner right now and seems to have the Oscar all but sewn up. Anton Chigurh is an emotionless, compassionless killing machine. His inability to comprehend human life is matched only by his ability to take it, as he does with ruthless abandon. Hired to track down drug money by a group of Americans, he quickly kills those who hired him and begins to search for the money on his own as hilarity ensues. Bardem does a good job of playing the psychotic killer.

Philip Seymour Hoffman - Gust Avrakotos in Charlie Wilson's War

Philip Seymour Hoffman is very good in this movie. He plays a cynical crass CIA agent assigned to help Charlie Wilson with his covert war against the soviets as hilarity ensues. Typical Hoffman role typical Hoffman effort, good.

Hal Holbrook - Ron Franz in Into The Wild

This one is the only one I have not seen and as such I don't know what to say. Does he have a chance against the rest of them? All I know is that at age 82, Holbrook is the oldest nominee in Academy Awards history in the Best Supporting Actor category. It didn't work for Peter O'Toole last year, I din't think it will work for Holbrook this year. Oh yeah, and hilarity ensues.

Tom Wilkinson - Arthur Edens in Michael Clayton

Tom Wilkinson plays a lead attorney for a prestigious New York firm. In the middle of a crucial deposition involving a class action lawsuit against the firm's largest client, U-North, an agricultural products conglomerate, Edens began rambling incoherently and stripped naked. Dispatched to fix the situation, Michael Clayton (George Clooney) gets Edens out of jail in Milwaukee and learns that his friend, who had a mental breakdown in the past, is not taking his medication. Hilarity ensues.

Well, there you go, tune in tomorrow for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

The Oscars: Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role

2008-02-13T12:50:00.008-06:00

Well, it is Oscar time and now that the writers are back, let the hilarity ensue. I will be going over the four major acting categories and the Best Picture Nominees this week before making my predictions in the top 8 categories (I am 12/16 in the last two years!).

And the nominees are:

Cate Blanchett - Jude Quinn in I'm Not There

I have yet to see this but it is the one that is the most facinating to me. The movie is six different stories revolving around characters based on the life or the legend of Bob Dylan. Blanchett plays Jude Quinn, a version of Dylan at the height of his fame in the 1960s, when his original fan base was rejecting him as a sell-out. Blanchett's scenes are in black and white, and use surreal imagery based on those in Federico Fellini's 8½. Blanchett is also nominated for Best Actress as she was 9 years ago for playing Queen Elizabeth in Elizabteh: The Golden Age. I think she has a better chance with this one.

Ruby Dee - Mama Lucas in American Gangster

I haven't seen this one either. It is a movie about a heroin kingpin from Harlem who smuggled heroin into the US on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War. Ruby Dee plays the mother of the main character Frank Lucas, played by Denzel Washington. At 83 years old, she is the second oldest nominee ever behind Gloria Stuart from Titanic.

Saoirse Ronan - Briony Tallis in Atonement

Ahh, finally we get to a film I have seen. Saoirse plays Briony younger sister in this tale of misunderstanding and regret. Saoirse plays 13 year old Briony who has a very vivid imagination and a crush on Robbie Turner (played by James McAvoy) son of the family housekeeper in World War II era England. Robbie on the other hand is infatuated with her sister Cecilia. Briony is portrayed at three different stages in life by three different actresses (by Saoirse at 13, by Romola Garai at 18, and by Vanessa Redgrave at 77). Saoirse out acts Romola by a long shot. Redgrave was only in the movie for a very short time. At 12, Saoirse is 71 year younger then Ruby Dee.

Amy Ryan - Helene McCready in Gone Baby Gone

This movie is about two Boston area private detectives investigating a little girl's kidnapping, which ultimately turns into a crisis both professionally and personally. Ryan plays Helene McCready, a drug-addicted mother whose child has been abducted, that's recently brought her national attention. Ryan is good in the part but it isn't very long. I just don't see her chances as being very high (of course short performances have won before. Dame Judy Dench won for a role that was on the screen for 8 minutes.)

Tilda Swinton - Karen Crowder in Michael Clayton

This one puzzles me. Tilda Swinton plays the lead counsel for a company that is being sued for releasing cancer-causing chemicals. She is nervious and neurotic and sweats a lot. Basically she is losing it, but she is just someone for George Clooney to beat up on at the end. I guess she does play a great neurotic person. Who sweats a lot.

Well, there you go, tune in tomorrow for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Paris, Je T'aime (2006)

2008-02-04T10:14:00.000-06:00

Paris, the City of Love. Hilarity ensues as 18 filmmakers bring their own unique styles to five minute stories centered in and around Paris (and no, it isn't Paris Hilton, thank God.) 1) A man parks his car on a Montmartre street and muses about how the women passing by his car all seem to be "taken". Then a woman passerby faints near his car, and he comes to her aid. 2) A young man, hanging out with two friends who taunt all women who walk by, strikes up a friendship with a young Muslim woman. 3) A young male customer finds himself attracted to a young printshop worker and tries to explain that he believes the man to be his soulmate, not realizing that he speaks little French. 4) An American tourist (Steve Buscemi) waiting at the Tuileries station becomes involved in the conflict between a young couple after he breaks the cardinal rule of avoiding eye contact with people on the Paris Metro. 5) A young woman sings a Spanish lullaby to her baby before leaving it in a daycare. She then takes an extremely long commute to the home of her wealthy employer (whose face is not seen), where she sings the same lullaby to her employer's baby. 6) A beauty products salesman makes a call on a Chinatown salon run by a woman who proves to be a tough customer. 7) Prepared to leave his marriage for a much younger lover, a man instead decides to stay with his wife after she reveals a terminal illness - and rediscovers the love he once felt for her. 8) A mother (Juliette Binoche), grieving over the death of her little boy, is comforted by a magical cowboy (Willem Dafoe). 9) A boy tells how his parents, both mime artists, meet in prison and fall in love. 10) An older man (Nick Nolte) and younger woman meet for an arrangement that a third person ('Gaspard'), who is close to the woman, may not approve of. It is eventually revealed that the young woman is his daughter, and Gaspard is her baby. 11) An American actress (Maggie Gyllenhaal) procures some exceptionally strong hashish from a dealer. 12) An African man, dying from a stab wound in the Place des fetes asks a woman paramedic for a cup of coffee. It is then revealed that he had fallen in love at first sight with her some time previously. By the time she remembers him, and has received the coffee, he has passed. 13) An aging couple (Bob Hoskins and Fanny Ardant) act out a fantasy argument for a prostitute in order to keep the spark in their relationship. 14) A young backpacker tourist (Elijah Wood) falls in love with a vampiress. 15) While visiting Pere Lachaise Cemetery, a young woman breaks up with her fiance (Rufus Sewell), who then redeems himself with the aid of advice from the ghost of Oscar Wilde. 16) After mistakenly believing that his girlfriend, a struggling actress (Natalie Portman), has broken up with him, a young blind man reflects on the growth and seeming decline of his relationship with the actress. 17) A separated couple meet at a bar (run by Gerard Depardieu) for one last drink before the two officially divorce. 18) An American woman tourist, a letter carrier from Denver, Colorado on her first European holiday, recites in rough French what she loves about Paris.

Trivia: The original intention of the film was to represent each of the 20 arrondissements of Paris but this idea was abandoned together with filmed segments by directors Christopher Boe and Raphael Nadjari. The one with Nick Nolte (Parc Monceau) was shot in a single continuous shot. When the characters walk by a video store, several posters of movies by the other directors of Paris, je t'aime are visible in the window.

With directors like Joel and Ethan Coen, Alfonso Cuaron, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven, and great directors from France, Austrailia, Japan, Brazil, Germany and Canada how could this movie go wrong? I really like the concept of different short films with one unifying theme and place. In this we had comedy, drama, live action cartoons (the mimes), Sci-Fi (vampires), even a little western thrown in (a cowboy riding a horse through the streets of Paris), just about everything you would want in a movie, well, except for explosions. And it was nice to see some of the International actors mixed in together, some actors we, as Americans, do not get to see very often. They are currently doing one for New York and one for Shanghai. My favorite segments were probably (as I numbered them above) #2, #5, #9, #12, and #16.

Trivia: All Mighty Gun Answers

2008-02-03T09:57:00.000-06:00

We have a winner! The Lovely Meg (A good ol' Texas girl) had a perfect score. So with out any further ado. (I still haven't figured out where the original ado went)

1.Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
Demi Moore as Madison Lee
(This was by far the hardest one, only Meg got it or was even close. Two of the most misidentified guesses were Lara Croft:Tomb Raider and Face/Off)

2.American Beauty
Chris Cooper as Col. Frank Fitts, USMC
(this was also largely misidentified, this time as L.A. Confidential and it was a little tricky in that the person holding the gun is not visible, a few people guessed Kevin Spacey, but he isn't holding the gun)

3.Police Academy
Steve Guttenberg as Cadet Carey Mahoney

4.Logan's Run
Richard Jordan as Francis

5.Die Hard
Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber

6.Boogie Nights
Mark Wahlberg as Dirk Diggler
(Bonus points to Meg for recognizing this was from a movie within a movie where Wahlberg is playing Diggler who is playing Brock Landers in a 70's porn film)

7.Se7en
Kevin Spacey as John Doe
(only two people got this one)

8.Murder By Numbers
Sandra Bullock as Cassie Mayweather

9.Blazing Saddles
Cleavon Little as Bart

10.Unforgiven
Clint Eastwood as William Munny

Sunday Night Trivia: The All Mighty Gun

2008-01-19T08:51:00.000-06:00

It has been a while since I have done a quiz. I hope you haven't been too upset. The theme this week is the All Mighty Gun. Each shot will have a gun in it, what you need to do is 1) identify the movie. 2) Identify the actor holding the gun. and 3) to make it a little interesting, identify the character holding the gun. Some are easier then others, are you up to the Challenge? Then please email your answers to me. I will give you two weeks for this one so that the maximum number of people can have a chance. (remember you can click on the picture to hugeify it.)

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10.

Live Free Or Die Hard (2007)

2008-01-16T11:13:00.000-06:00

NYPD Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) has faced some brutal terrorists in his career, but now, he's about to face what may be his most dangerous enemy yet. McClane receives a call to bring in a hacker named Matt Farrell (Justin Long), because there has been a breach in an FBI computer system. Farrell is one of the many hackers who are suspected in the attack, and all known hackers are to be questioned. But after McClane gets to Matt's apartment, a group of men show up and try to kill McClane and Matt, who barely escape with their lives. As it turns out, a group of terrorists led by Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) are systematically shutting down the United States computer infrastructure. Hilarity ensues when they crash the stock market, crippling America's economy. It turns out that Matt knows enough about hacking to know exactly how Gabriel is shutting down the USA. Gabriel, a disgraced former Department of Defense employee, plans to bring the country to its knees, but he doesn't count on McClane and Matt figuring out what's going on. Gabriel wants McClane and Matt out of the way, and for McClane, the situation becomes personal when an enraged Gabriel kidnaps his daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who is a student at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Gabriel may think he now has the upper hand on McClane, but he has no idea how far McClane is willing to go to rescue Lucy.

Trivia: The French title translates as "Die Hard 4.0: Return to Hell". The movie's title, Live Free or Die Hard, is a reference to New Hampshire's State Motto "Live Free or Die". Consequently, the New Hampshire state film office received several phone calls asking where in the state the movie was filmed (none of the action was set on New Hampshire and focused on a little New York but mostly Washington). According to Bruce Willis and Director Len Wiseman in the DVD Commentary, the story originally involved McClane's son, Jack. Originally, he was supposed to be the computer hacker John has to deliver to the FBI. Eventually that idea was dropped and the hacker became the Matt Ferrell character. It was then decided to bring in his daughter Lucy to keep up the series continuity of McLane always having a personal stake in what happens in the story. When filming the scenes of John walking through the corridors talking to Gabriel on the two-way, there were no written lines of dialog for Bruce Willis, according to Len Wiseman on the DVD Commentary. So what they did on set was have Willis hold the two-way up to his mouth and speak gibberish so it looks like he's talking to Gabriel. If you'll notice, there are a couple of times where the two-way isn't all the way up to Willis's face and you can see his mouth doesn't match the dialog being spoken. When introduced to an agent Johnson, McClane says: "Johnson, again?". A nod to the two agents Johnson in Die Hard, despite the fact that McClane and the two agents Johnson never spoke to each other or met face to face. The name "Tovarek", which Mai Lihn (the very hot Maggie Q) uses as an FBI agent, is a Polish word and one of it meanings is "hot chick" (the correct Polish word is "towarek", but it's pronounced like this). The car that is stolen in the film by McClane and Farrell is a 2006 E60 BMW 5 series, which was chosen due to a poll that found that people wanted films that had more BMWs in it. The main reason being that the alternatives (Audis and Mercedes-Benzes) were too common and not bold and imposing enough to go with the characters in the film. The particular BMW model (5 series) was chosen because the director, Len Wiseman, found "the 3 series too common, the 7 series too uptight and every other car either too feminine or compensative for a midlife crisis.... Everything McClane isn't, yet".

When in doubt, go back to what made you a bunch of money. Recently this has been happening a bit: see Rocky Balboa, Rambo. However, this is actually a very good movie.The action is not too farfetched (well there is a little poetic license, but what do you expect, it's a Die Hard movie). You would also hope that it wouldn't be that easy to disable America now, or at least the eastern seaboard. By the way, in the Die Hard universe, what did the rest of the country go through when Washington and New York went down? I say this because the bad guys go to one of the power hubs in West Virginia (I'll talk about this later) and it seems that the guards and stuff were pretty much oblivious to what was happening 200 miles away (yeah, they guards did go to the helicopter pad and say that they couldn't land there, but you would expect someplace that vital to be surrounded with a military response if a cyber terrorist attack was in progress). Oh yeah, West Viginia. McClain and Farrell drive to Middleton, West Virginia, yep, I said drive. I checked (excpet there isn't a Middleton that I could find) the closest point in West Virginia to Washington is just under 200 miles (who knows if Middleton is right on the border or not). Now I know this is McClain's movie and he is the hero, but couldn't he get someone else to go check out the power plant instead of driving two to two and a half hours (he didn't look like he was speeding or anything)? I mean he did have a contact with the FBI a few blocks away (at this point the cell system was down). Then while he is at the power plant in West Virginia, Farrell says the Kevin Smith is in Baltimore, except he says he is "close" in Baltimore. I checked, Baltimore is also just under 200 miles away. At least this time they take the helicopter. This is why Die Hard is and always will be supperior to any reincarnation. Die Hard happened in one building, so you don't have to worry about these time issues. But out of the other three movies, this is probably the best.

Top 250

2008-01-14T13:01:00.000-06:00

3:10 To Yuma (2007)
Number 194 on IMDb's Top 250

Rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) heads into Bisbee to clear up issues concerning the sake of his land when he witnesses the closing events of a stagecoach robbery lead by famed outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe). Hilarity ensues when Wade is arrested in Bisbee and Evans finds himself one of the escorts who will take Wade to Contention to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma and prison. Evans will get a much needed $200 for the service. Evans' takes on the job of taking Wade to the station not only to save his land but to prove to himself that he can be more than just a naive rancher in the eyes of his impetuous and gunslinging son William Evans. The transport to Contention is hazardous and filled with ambushes from Indians, pursuits by Wade's vengeful gang and Wade's own conniving and surreptitious demeanor that makes the ride all more intense.

Trivia: The movie was funded in conjunction with New Mexico's Film Investment Program. The weekend before shooting was scheduled to wrap, a freak storm dumped nearly 2 feet of snow on the supposedly drought plagued town. Labourers shoveled the snow from the buildings' balconies and roofs and distributed 89 dump trucks worth of dry soil on the ground. Backhoes created an 8 foot tall rampart of snow just beyond camera sight lines for the remaining 6 days of shooting. The short story upon which the film is based was published in Dime Western Magazine in 1953. The action begins in the hotel room with a deputy sheriff guarding a 21 year old robber. As the bad guy posse rides into Contention City you can clearly see seven men on horseback. But when William is asked how many men are approaching he responds "Seven, or eight." This is a nod to the original version of the movie in which the number of men changed back and forth between seven and eight.

At 122 minutes this movie was 30 full minutes longer then the original that was released 50 years and one month earlier. So, needless to say, there was a lot more in this movie then the original. This is probably one of the few remakes to actually be as good as the original. The orginal, you may remember starred Glen Ford as Wade and is a solid movie, but it was short, at least by today's standard (today only comedies seem to be less then 100 minutes). The extra length gave Wade and Evans more of a change to interact which is one of the really great parts of the movie, not the gun play, not the landscapes, not the horses, though all are wonderful, it is the mind games Wade plays on Evans and the men. Wade truely seems to be playing and really looks like he is enjoying it.

Top 250

2008-01-07T14:28:00.000-06:00

Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Number 146 on IMDb's Top 250

Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) returns to London with the help of a sailor, Anthony Hope (Jamie Campbell Bower) after being sent away by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) who was in love with Todd's wife. Barker, however, has changed his name, he goes by Todd now, Sweeny Todd. Hilarity ensues and songs burst out as he opens a barber shop above Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Shop were Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) sells the self proclaimed "worst pies in London." With the help of Mrs. Lovett, Todd plots his revenge on anyone who has ever done him wrong and hopes to be reunited with his daughter, Joanna (Jayne Wisener), who is now Judge Turpin's ward. In the meantime, he might as well help procure some meat for Mrs. Lovett.

Trivia: This is the sixth Johnny Depp-Tim Burton collaboration. They previously made Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Corpse Bride together. Helena Bonham Carter underwent extensive vocal lessons and studied baking in preparation for her role. To prepare for the role of Adolfo Pirelli, Sacha Baron Cohen hired his personal barber as a consultant on shaving techniques, and took up to 16 hours to learn how to handle a razor. Helena Bohamn Carter's hairstyle is tribute to the hairstyle worn by the original Mrs. Lovett, Angela Lansbury. At the end of the song "A Little Priest", Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett strike the same pose as the promotional material used for the original Broadway production of the musical.

The Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaboration is today's equivalent of the the great colaboration of the past like John Ford and John Wayne. Ford and Wayne made 21 movies together and quite a few are considered as some of Wayne's best like Stagecoach, The Searchers, The Quiet Man, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Burton's films are not as mainstream as Ford's but then again, Depp isn't as mainstreem as Wayne. Depp has a gift for playing the quirky characters that fitt perfectly into Burton's quirky worlds. Helena Bonham Carter also completely fit into that world. She has a slightly grubby quality to her that fits Mrs. Lovett. Oh yeah, this is a musical, I need to talk about the music. Neither Depp nor Carter have sang before and they do admirable jobs of it, again fitting into the Burton world. I realize that this isn't your typical musical fodder, I mean Todd butchers people and Mrs. Lovett cooks them into pies, but it really is a good musical and a great movie.