Veronica Mars

Season two of Veronica Mars was pretty good. It had a lot of twists and turns and the most shocking season premiere of any show this season. The mystery of the bus crash was a strong though line for the season. I did figure out who the bad guy was a few episodes earlier.

I was heartbroken when Duncan went away but, it was okay in a way because it showed that no matter how hard Logan tries he'll never truly have Veronica's heart. Very intriguing that at the end Duncan had Aaron Echoll's killed. I was really pissed off that Rob decided to go that routt and let Aaron get away with murder but at least he got his in the end and I don't have to ever watch him again. And note to Rob Thomas don't ever do a courtroom sequence again unless you are actually going to put the time into making it right.

Man that was a pretty intense few minutes there wondering if Veronica's dad really was on the plane that Beaver blew up. I kept telling myself that they wouldn't get rid of him but, then again it seems that anything is truly possible on this show.

I still don't know how I feel overall about the Jackie character. Talk about a love/hate thing with her. While most of the time I hated her she did have a few good moments. And while I knew she wasn't going to Paris I did not anticipate her having a kid. That was an interesting little twist they gave to her leaving.

I love that Mac got so much more screen time this year and really, really, hope that they have the money to make her a serious regular next season.

I'm also looking forward to seeing how well the three extended mysteries work out instead of the one big mystery for the season.

And even though it was good season and Duncan will always be Veronica's true love I was still pissed off at her being with Logan at the end of the season. She is to good a character and to strong a woman to put up with a guy like that. Logan is the worst kind of person and she is so much better than him. Not to mention that Jason Dohring, the actor who plays Logan, really bugs me.

Here's to a hopefully stellar 3rd season, and better ratings.

The Notorious Bettie Page

There really isn't a lot to say about this movie because there wasn't a lot there. I had seen a preview for it back when I saw Imagine You and Me and it seemed pretty interesting plus Gretchen Mol and Lili Taylor was a nice bonus.

Really I don't know what was up with this movie. It actually was a rather interesting movie. A nice look at societies views on sex back then. It was interesting how the congressional hearings where all about the bondage and punishment in the movies Bettie and the others were making. The reason it was so interesting is that all the films were just women and it's intersting how back then they didn't give a hoot about the girl-on-girl nature of the movies just the S&M stuff. Or at least that's how it was presented in this particular movie.

One thing I didn't like about this movie was that it was in black and white. I had the same problem with Good Night, and Good Luck. Yes it took place in a time when movies where in black and white but peoples lives weren't so there's no reason for the entire movie to be in black and white. And I really don't like it when people make black and white movies with random periods of color.

Also one of the biggest issues for me was that while I did learn a lot of stuff about Bettie Page there wasn't a lot going on with the character, it didn't give Gretchen much to do. She had a couple of moments that really let her show glimpses of what she is capable of but really all the real work seemed to go to the supporting cast. I just found that very odd and rather disappointing because I was really hoping this would be a movie that would remind Hollywood of just how good Gretchen is. Hopefully it will at least get people to realize that she isn't the diva she some how got made out to be years ago.

Because of the theater I had to see this movie at I had no choice but to pay full price even though it was an afternoon movie. While it wasn't a real waste of money I would have prefered to pay matinee price to see it.

Just My Luck

This movie is what it is, nothing more nothing less and that's why it works. It was very funny and I loved every minute of it. And yes I am a huge Lindsay Lohan fan so even if it did suck it would be worth it for me. Seriously though as romantic comedies go it was a fun twist the whole luck thing and that's why it was so fun. Romantic comedies with a whimsical twist really appeal to me. I liked how it wasn't really guy meets girl loses girl and spends the rest of the movie finding away to get her back or girl meets guy loses guy and spends the rest of the movie finding away to get her back. Sure the luck thing was a bit over the top with how lucky she was and then how lucky he was when he "stole" her luck but it was still fun. And that's really the point of romantic comedies they are just fun and playful if you don't like that aspect of movies then don't go.

Lindsay was great as always. I don't care what anyone says girl has talent and perfect comic timing. This movie also showed how good she is at physical comedy. The supporting case was good as well. Her love interest Chris Pine was much better than I expected him to be. The only problem with him was really in the pubplicity of the movie. Romantic comedies really need a semi-big to big name star in both leads. So while he was good the movie would have been better served with someone more note worthy in the male lead.


Spoiler Alert:


Just a few notes about some of the funner plot moments. One of my favorite things about the move was the full proof way of telling if she had kissed the right man to get her luck back scratching lotto tickets. Anyone who didn't get a kick out of her running up to every guy who possibly stole her luck, kissing him, and then scratching a ticket to see if she won anything has a problem.

The scene when she was tryin to do laundry was halarious. Even though you've seen that moment in a bunch of movies and you always know what's coming it was still great. I loved when she was swinging that broom thing at the washer as if that was going to save her.

And the end of the movie when she could have gone to meet her old boss and basically get her life back but went to the concert instead knowing what a disaster it would turn into if she didn't give away her luck again was really nice. I honestly thought that she would go to her thing and then when she found out how bad the concert went that she would use her luck to help get the band another chance. I really liked the ending where she sacrificed her life for him better it showed great character growth.


I paid full price for the movie and it was well worth it to me. I think if you truly like romantic comedies it would be worth that price other wise it's probably only a good matinee movie.

Ghost Whisperer

We have arrived at that time of year known as May sweeps. A great time of year for the stunt casting and cliffhangers we are left with. But on the downside that also means we are heading to that not so fun time of year, four months of repeats.

This past Friday I had my first two May season finales with Ghost Whisperer. Please note that this will not be like my movie reviews where spoilers are put in red as I will be discussing pivitol parts of the plot through out, so if for some reason you haven't watched this finale yet don't read if you don't want things ruined for you.

The finale was two parts. The first part having aired the week before and it was unbelievably intense. I knew most of what was going to happen in the first half of the finale and yet it was unbelievably powerful. It was like getting slowly punched in the gut. I knew the plane crash was coming and yet they found away that even knowing what was going on it was still just nerve racking. I even figured out right away why the plane was going to crash but I just couldn't believe how they built up to it. And all the credit in the world to Jennifer Love Hewitt for her masterful performance. You felt her desire to stop what was coming and you were just sitting there wanting there to be something she could do to stop what was coming. And when she couldn't your heart broke for her. And the ending to the first part just took my breath away.

The one thing I hadn't heard about in the first part was that her friend and business partner Andrea's (Aisha Tyler) brother might be on the plane. That whole subplot was heartbreaking. That was a major gut check. I didn't think the second half could live up to the first half and I was not prepared for or in anyway anticipating what was to transpire in second half.

Melinda trying to convince the souls of the crash victims to cross-over was a great storyline. Can't wait to learn more about the guy in the hat next season and what exactly he is up to and why. Especially if the end of the episode has anything to do with next season.

You spend the whole episode on the edge of your seat wonder and desperately hoping that Andrea's brother was not on that plane. You just know it will devestate her beyond all believe and you just want to scream at them to give you your answer all the while knowing they won't tell you until the very end. And that exactly what they did. And you got a huge moment of relief when you realized he was alive because Andrea could see him only to ten seconds later be hit with the most heartbreaking moment of any show of the entire season, Andrea was killed in the crash. As the plane went down she was driving to her brothers apartment and must have gotten knocked off the road by the force of the disrupted air around the plane. I don't know exactly what happened or how all I know is Andrea was dead and Melinda was to saddened by it to tell her friend the truth. What a moving moment when Melinda told her "I didn't want to let you go."

I don't know what Melinda is going to do next season without Anrea. I don't know what the audience is going to do without Andrea she was generally the comic relief of the show. Hopefully she'll decide not to cross-over and help Melinda with getting rid of the man in the hat. I'm really wondering if there will be some sort of major battle between that man and Melinda for Andrea's soul.

Seriously I didn't think anything could be as heart stoping as last season when Kate took a bullet between the eyes on NCIS but this was right up there with that. Other shows are going to have a tough time living up this finale.

And of all the new shows I've watched this season Ghost Whisperer is hands down the BEST NEW SHOW OF THE SEASON.

Stick It!

First off lets just face it Stick It! is the best title of the year. As a movie it's good right up until the end. I love Bring It On and the fact that this movie was written by the same person, Jessica Bendinger, really added to my wanting to see it. I would have seen it even if that wasn't the case because I have been a fan of the sport of gymnastics for years. Sadly though while a perfectly good writer I don't believe she was at all the right person to direct it. It was clear pretty early on that she didn't have the talent to direct the gymnastics routines. Also where it seemed she had a great grasp of cheerleading, by comparison she seemed to have very little grasp of gymnastics. We'll get to that in a minute.

The cast was pretty good. Jeff Bridges was fun as the coach Burt Vickerman. Although it seemed like the script and even the directing was afraid to make him a real coach. I'm not saying he needed to be a dictator but I think he could have had a little more edge to him. Missy Peregrym as the lead character Haley Graham was really good. I know her from a show on The WB three years ago called Black Sash and I knew then that given the chance this girl could really be something. They had me scared for awhile that she wasn't going to get a big emotional moment. I was very happy when she did and she did not disappoint. The supporting cast of gymnasts were good and they brought the comedy that they needed to bring.

The movie was enjoyable although not as strong or clever as Bring It On right up to the end that is. The ending was pretty lame and really pissed me off. Some of the dialogue in the end segment showed how much Jessica didn't know about the sport. I really tried to be open to the movie and not pick at the stuff that wasn't right but, once they went with such a bad ending I wasn't playing nice anymore. Not only was the ending an insult to the sport, it was an insult to the audience and the movie. How is that possible you ask. It simply was the wrong ending. While the ending was moderately amusing the reason it's so bad is that it was the ending to an entirely different movie. The ending was not the one the belonged with the movie they had made to that point.


Spoilers Alert:


Okay so lets point out one of the most obvious things that was wrong with the gymnastics part of this movie. In the first event that they go to they show the team event which if fine problem is no matter what apparatus they are on there is no music in the background. So unbelievably wrong. Except for event finals all apparatus are being used at the sametime this means that very rarely will a person go through a routine without someone's floor music playing in the background.

In event finals of nationals not only are the vault judges on the wrong side of the vault they are on the floor and too far down. Judges are always up on the podium. The first girls vault that starts the bad ending score was so stupid. First off I've never heard of the no undergarmet rule but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it probably does. However, it would only be a tenth of a point, and while the girl wouldn't have gotten a 10 even without that rule her score wouldn't have been a 9.5. The reason this pissed me off so much is it clearly goes back to Athens when all hell broke lose with the judging particularly in event finals (and really with the men). The problem is at this point the movie became and unfair indictment of the sport and it's scoring. And the reason that's a problem is that there is an overseeing judge who is suppose to have the spine to check the judges marks and make sure they aren't abusing the rules.

Also lets just point out that the dialogue says there is 4 judges per apparatus. This is wrong. Last I checked under the old scoring system there are 6 judges per apparatus with the high and low ones being thrown out and the remaining scores being averaged.

Here's why the ending really made me mad. At no point did they set up the movie to be about the fact that the judging can be unfair. Nope not at all was it ever indicated that the reason Haley left the sport was judging. Infact in the scene when Haley breaks down as she is leaving yet another competition she tells Burt that she walked out on worlds and gymnastics because it tore her family apart. More to the point her coach and mother started having an affair and that tore her family apart.

Then thanks to Burt she decides to give the sport one more chance. She even makes a point of telling him that she won't do cookie cutter routines. That she wants to push the envelope. Well if you push the envelope in gymnastics, contrary to the movies belief, you are rewarded as long as you do it clean. This is where you know the director wasn't up to the task. If you are going to go through the trouble of having your lead make that kind of point to the coach you need to show those routines. Only then when they get to event finals and someone gets screwed on a score the movie suddenly becomes something different. The end of the movie should have been about her trying to redeem herself and finding a love for the sport again. Really it wouldn't have been so infuriating if the movie had been set up for the ending it had. But, the movie they made deserved a different ending.

Basically the ending seemed to be designed to aid the directors in ability to direct the movie. Even routines that were shown were bad and simple. When Haley was shown doing her floor routine you saw her doing more dancing than gymnastics. Trust me there are plenty of gymnasts out there that could have been brought in to do the gymnastics.

Also there is a moment in the movie when Burt is arguing with a judge about a bar score. The judge tells him that she isn't going to reward the athlete for being dangerous and encourage other people to do dangerous routines. What a crock. This moment alone showed Jessica's lack of comprehension of the sport. Every four years the code of points is changed making is so both men and women have to do harder and more dangerous routines just to have a competitive start value.

And don't even get me started on how ashamed Tim Daggett should be of some of the dialogue he agreed to say.



For me because of Jeff and Missy and the movie it was until the last 20-30 minutes it was totally worth full price. However, most people probably shouldn't pay more than matinee price.

The Sentinel

I'm a couple weeks behind.

Two weeks ago I saw The Sentinel. It was a decent movie. Good for the type of movie it was. All the performances were good and the storylines were pretty well laid out. Honestly I probably would have waited until video to see this movie if it weren't for Eva Longoria. She gave a nice performance, nothing special or spectacular, but the role didn't call for anything great or powerful. To her credit she did exactly what the role required. Anything more would have been to much and would have resulted in a performance that was bad. By staying right where the character needed her to she showed that she can do what is needed in any role.

Kiefer was Kiefer. He pushed a little close to too much at times but he never crossed that line. However, even though I don't watch 24 I do wonder if he's just begging to be type cast. Him and Michael did have some good scenes together. I was really worried that they might not play off each other well but that did and that helped the movie a lot.

The plot of the movie was interesting and set up pretty well but there were a few things that didn't make since. Which is usually the case with a lot of these types of movies. Luckily it didn't hurt the overall movie. It was pretty obvious who the bad guy was. There were a couple options but I pretty much had it figured out about halfway through.


Spoiler Alert:

Okay this isn't a huge spoiler but it does apply to the tension between Kiefer and Michael's characters so on the off chance someone can't figure out what that might be without seeing the movie I figured I'd put this in the red section.

There was one completely useless scene in the movie. After one of the Secrect Service guys is killed Michael finds out that he suspected someone having an affair with a collegues wife. Turns out that Kiefer thinks Michael had an affair with his wife and Michael thinks that's what the dead guy was talking about with his wife. So there is this like 30-45 second scene with Michael and Kiefer's wife arguing. Only problem is you don't know that at the time and you spend a huge chunk of time after that wondering whose wife that was for sure and if that scene is going to play into anything later. The scene is a waste of time and only good for confusing the audience. I know it is a really brief scene but it is those kinds of scenes that can make or break a movie at times.


I saw this movie at a matinee and that is the most I would pay for it. It's just not suspensful enough to warrant paying full price.

Stay Alive

I'm not really sure if I would have seen this movie if it weren't for a couple members of the cast that those being Sophia Bush, Jimmi Simpson, and Samaire Armstrong. And considering how much I do not like Milo Ventimiglia I was looking forward to seeing him getting killed. I thought he was a bad actor before his like 5 minutes in this movie and let me tell you he is even worse than I thought he was. Luckily for me (and anyone else seeing the movie) his character is killed early on so you don't have to endure his presence for very long.

The movie is actually pretty good and the rest of the cast worked very well together. And none of them phoned it in. Unfortunately it isn't very scary but that is compensated for by the fact that it has a rather good story. Sadly for the box office numbers of the movie they didn't play up that story in the previews. Had they done that it might have had some better numbers, at least in the first week. Because lets face it even if you manage to pack 'em in, in the first week if the movie isn't scary nobodies seeing it again or telling their friends to see it.

While the directing wasn't bad I do think choices made in that area are what really hurt the scare factor of the movie. Barely any of the movie takes place at night and most of the killings take place in bright day light. There is no room for big scares in bright light. That is not entirely the directors fault since the producers would have had to sign off on that decision. So in the end it's behind the scenes decisions that really hurt the movie.


Spoilers Ahead:


To base it on Countess Elizabeth Bathory was really quite ingenious. While true it's one that not a lot of people are familiar with and has every element needed to make for a great horror film. However, doing it as a ghost story wasn't the best way to go. I get what they were going for, trying to bring in elements of The Ring but with a video game rather than movie. Problem is that this never really builds up to the killings. All the killings happen way to fast and because there is no real build up they aren't scary.

When Phineas (Jimmi Simpson) gets killed while standing on the side of the road in bright daylight it's just like boom he's dead. He's not being stalked or anything he's just run down and killed by a ghost horse and buggy.

They give away the part about everyone being killed the way they die in the game way to soon. Of course they give that away in the preview so it doesn't really matter when they give it away in the movie you already know. Huge story flaw. That angle of the story is further flawed by the fact that the ghost activates the game so it can kill people. I don't like that aspect of the story. Better angle for the story as a ghost story would be that you have to finish the game to survive and the ghost is trying to stop you from finishing the game.

I would have prefered to see the story have a real flesh and blood killer. Either the person who designed the game or just so whacko hacker guy/girl who lurks around watching people play the game and kills them in the manner they died in the game. That would also make the part where the game unpauses itself more plausable. Another reason I don't like the ghost story angle most of the time is that it leaves no way for the hero to escape suspicion. In this case Hutch (Jon Foster) has managed to become a suspect and some what piss off the leads detectives. One of those detectives ends up dead. Yeah, Hutch ends up getting rid of the ghost but it's really not over there. I know it's just a movie and all but it's a still a story and it needs the potential for a good out come for the hero.

Serious issue with the characters in the story was the moments in which they became complete idiots. October (Sophia Bush) is about to be killed in a house that's under construction. They can't get the door open and then try to the window open. There is a brick sitting on the scafolding behind them and the just keep pounding on the window with their hands trying to get it open. It's not that hard people, break the glass. Then later Hutch is trying to get into the plantation house where is the set for the game so he can save Abigail (Samaire Armstrong) and he can't get break through the door. The couple hundred year old wood door that has several glass pains in it. Again he doesn't break the glass he waits for Swink (Frankie Muniz) to unlock the door in the video game. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Not long after that it turns out that while he didn't think to break the glass earlier Swing does know that glass breaks when he throws a rock through the window of their van so he can get back to playing the game to try and keep Hutch and Abigail alive.



I did pay full price to see this one and I really don't feel that I over paid. I enjoyed the movie and for me it was worth the money and the time to see. However, most people probably wouldn't feel that way and it's probably better as a rental.

Inside Man

So Inside Man had a lot of potential. The story was pretty good, and most of it was there, and the acting was right where it should be considering the cast. Unfortunately it was let down by the fact that it was to long and slow in several places. While not your normal hiest movie it still needing to keep tension and suspence up but it didn't. There was a lot of stuff that could have been trimmed if not cut completely to keep the pace better.

As for the cast, top notch like I said. Unfortunately the one person that the pacing issues hurt the most was Denzel. His character never came off with the since of urgency he truly needed. It was an interesting story in that all three main characters had so close to seperate storylines. Yes, they were intertwined with the robbery but because of the construction of the overall story they were very seperate. I at times found myself kind of wanting seperate movies for each character. Especially Jodie's character. I would love to see a movie about how she got into whatever business it is she is in exactly and what she's done over the years to get so many favors from such high powered people. At the sametime that construction of the story served to hurt it as well bringing up questions that would have aided in the story I felt.


Spoilers Coming Up:


My biggest question brought about by the story was exactly how did Clive Owens's character know about the secrect Christopher Plummer's character was hiding and how did he know the evidence was in that safe deposit box? If that question had been answered the story would have been 50 times stronger than it was.

When Clive told Jodie all about Christopher's World War II crimes I thought that was a nice scene. It was intersting how at first they showed the audience that he only took those documents out of the safe deposit box but that in the end he had taken all the jewels with the exception of the one that could bring Christopher's character down.

Very ingenious how he plotted to get away with it. I thought I had it figured out but I didn't. I did however, know that they never killed anyone. It was way to obvious for some reason that they killing they made sure the cops saw was totally fake.

It's very interesting that in the end you had Clive robbing a bank and yet the real bad guy in the situation was Christopher's character. Normally I'd be like no the robber can't get away with it but really I was hoping he would get away with it and that Christopher's character better get his. Luckily while you never saw him get his for sure you knew by the way it ended that he would be.

I didn't really care for all the talk and stuff about Denzel's characters girlfriend and her wanting to get married. I know it was designed to give the character more layers and depth but it really just didn't work for the story. Since their relationship had no real baring on the overall story it took away from the rest of his character. At the very end the whole she wants to get married thing came into play only because it gave Clive away to say I told you I'd get away with it by dropping a diamond in Denzel's pocket when he bumped into him. That still would have worked without the girlfriend angle, in my opinion. I just wanted more out of Denzel's character but they never gave him anything to really bite into. Denzel being Denzel did everything he could do with what he was given. Which means it's a good thing the got Denzel or it would have fallen flat because even when he doesn't have the best stuff to work with Denzel can keep you locked in to the story.

There is no other actress who could have played Jodie's part. Everyone else would have gone just a bit over the top with it. With it be the way they walked, the attitude they had, or the way they spoke it would have been over done. One of Jodie's greatest strengths is to know exactly how far to go with a character. I always think the hardest character to create are the small ones like that, that start in one place and stay there. That character never grows or changes she's just what she is from her first moment on screen to her last. It's not easy to be a character as underlying bad as that one without playing off the story or other people. The character seems good on the service but you know the things she does aren't not the nicest and that makes her bad. Even in the end when she confronts Christopher she sticks it to him a bit but is perfectly happy to let him get away with whatever war crimes he committed. That folks is not a nice character yet you can't completely hate her because Jodie takes her right to that line. You hate the things she does but you don't hate her.



Despite those pacing problems the over all story and the cast made it worth the full price I paid to see it.

V for Vendetta

Over all this was a good movie. It could have been a bit tighter in places for pacing purposes but even those slower spots weren't bad. The story was really good. I was a little surprised that it seemed as though Natalie Portman wasn't quite as on her game in some places as she usually is. There were a couple places were I felt she could have done better, that doesn't usually happen with her. The dialouge for the character V seemed to be a bit wordy at times. Which wouldn't be a huge problem if you could understand him. There was a lot of places where his delivery was to fast and it ended up being really garbeled and thus hard to follow.

The overall message of the film was good and a bit scary. Scary because you know that we are sitting way to close to the edge of becoming the society in the movie right now.



Spoiler Alert:


The film opens with one of the primary reasons a society like that most never come to pass. Way to much abuse of power by those charged with up holding the law. Mainly police. That group of cops (although that isn't what they are called in the movie) that were about to gang rape Evey (Natalie Portman) when V saved her. The fact that the police are about to commit a horrid crime and yet V is the one made to be the villian by the nations leaders is to frightening a thought for words. Yes that is immediately followed by V blowing up a building but it is made clear that he's in trouble for saving her as well as blowing up the building.

There was almost to much back story for one movie to hold. Some of that stuff seemed a bit rushed and did cause for more dialogue to explain it. Again not a totally bad thing but different for something a little higher on the action and all the dialogue does slow the pacing.

The part when Evey is imprisoned was probably one of the most interesting parts of the film. Here she was a character that was so scared of V that she escaped while helping him in his mission to dispense of those who helped make him what he was yet she could not be broken into telling anything about him or his whereabouts. Very intersting character development. And made even more intriguing by the reveal that all that tourture was at the hands of V. A moment that is as uncaring and vicious as it is caring and strengthening. It's odd I know. But he did it to break her and make her free. He freed her of her fear so that she could live a free life and that is exactly what she ended up doing. And in the end it is her who is charged with making the decision to carry out V's mission or not.

In the end she does carry out his mission. I believe she does it because she finally understands that while blowing up Parliment is a rather violent act it is what the act will forever symbolize that is important and out weighs the violence of the act.

That being said, lets just hope that no nation anywhere is ever pushed to the extremes of having to blow up the seat of it's government to regain it's true freedom.


I did infact pay full price for this movie and it ended up being totally worth it.

Ultraviolet

This really isn't a movie I would normally see. However, since the previews seemed to indicate there might be some good sword fights and the fact that I do enjoy Milla Jovovich's career path I decided to catch a matinee. Luckily I wasn't expecting much from it because it while it wasn't a complete disappointment it didn't exceed my expectations either. Talk about way to much digital. That opening escape sequence was like watching a video game. I'm pretty sure the only thing that was real in it was Milla and the motorcycle she was on. Some people might like that kind of stuff but I don't.

As for the story. It had so much potential but unfortunately they didn't develop it enough for the length of the movie. They could have put more into it so it was a little more interesting and not so transparent in places. It's really funny how this one had potential but they didn't put enough into the story where as with Aeon Flux they had to much story for the length of the film they made so it didn't get to play out enough. Somewhere in the middle lies a really good movie. Maybe someday we'll get to see it. Especially since there's a lot of similarities in the two stories.


Spoilers Coming Up:


The one thing they did do right in this movie was to give Violet a good back story. Her character was the most developed and layered character of the movie. Which does make since considering she's the heroine, it's her movie. But that's where it could have been so much better. If they had put a little more time into the bad guy and had him in the story more it would have been a lot better.

They got way to into the ultimate warriro thing with Violet. There were a lot of times when she would make her sword appear and then you would see anything you'd just hear this noise and the next thing you know she's wiped out like 20 bad guys. I lay some of the blame on how much time and money they put into the special effects in the movie. I don't think they had a lot of money left to pay for all the time it would take to orhastrate those fight sequences. Major bummer for the movie as a whole because when they did have those fight sequences they were really good.

I did like the final fight sequence between Violet and Daxus. That was cool how they did it in the dark with their swords being on fire. Probably one of the most original things I've seen in awhile when it comes to fight sequences.

Going in I didn't know that Violet and those like her had been infected with some sort of super vampirism. Considering the future time the movie was set in I let the fact that nothing about them aside from their teeth and enhanced strength was remotely vampire. However, it may have been a better story and movie if they had played a bit more towards the traditional vampire aspects.

As for the big twist ending. It wasn't a twist at all. I knew from the very beginning that Daxus had at some point been infected with the virus. Basically they picked the wrong twist to go with. The twist they shold have used was that instead of the boy Six being a clone of Daxus it should have turned out that he was actually the child they had forced Violet to terminate years earlier when she got the virus. A little more time in story development and that would have been a way better twist.



I went to a matinee of this and it really wasn't worth that. The discount theater would have been a better price to see it at.

When A Stranger Calls

I never saw the original When A Stranger Calls but anyone whose up on their urban legends knows how this story goes. Even without them giving it away in the previews. It actually turned out to be a pretty good movie. It was fun and a little suspenseful. One of those movies though where you need to let yourself get lost in it and not try to figure anything out. I'm really good at letting myself get lost in scary movies so overall the movie really worked for me. One big bonus it had was a good strong herione. And a smart one too. I really can't stand a stupid herione this days nor a whimpy one.

They did a really good job with the build up in the movie which helped. I don't know who (if anyone) this movie was offered to before they went with Camilla Belle but who ever turned this down was stupid. Some of you might be asking why I would say that? Well I shall tell you. Simply put this whole movie lives and dies on Camilla's shoulders. Anything you feel while watching it depends on her performance. Yes the situation lends itself to some of the tension but the true emotion comes from Camilla. If she lets down for a single second the movie is done, the tension is lost, and the audience is lost with it. And that is where she excels in this movie. Never for a second do you not believe in her fear of the person whose calling her even when he isn't saying anything. Her decision to take this role could turn out to be the smartest of her career. You see not only does she have to make you believe in that fear but she has to get to that fear alone. She really has no one to play off of. She has to slowly raise her level of fear for over an hour and a lot of that is done through body language and facial expressions. It's really a rather remarkable performance for that reason alone. And that is why any up and comer who turned this down may have hurt themselves. It was a great opportunity to show just what you are capable off and Camilla took that opportunity and ran with it.

I actually went to see this at the discount theater so I only paid $3 for it but I would not have been disappointed had I paid full price. And I think it will be a great movie on video as well. Probably should pass on watching it alone in a big house though.

And the Oscar goes to...

The night went pretty much as planned. It was fun when Three 6 Mafia won for It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp. And I know there's people out there who didn't see Hustle & Flow who only know the song from the way it was performed on the show and are wondering how the hell that happened. Well simply the song is so much better than how they performed it. In the movie it is performed by Terrance Howard. It's much better with just his voice and then the background vocals of Taraji P. Henson. Three 6 Mafia over did it a bit and there were just to many voices. But it really is a good movie song and it's technically a writing award not a performing award.

As the night went on and there were no surprises I was getting more and more scared about the Best Actress category. When they got to it I was totally freaked that they were going to go the wrong way with it and then I couldn't have been happier when they said Reese Witherspoon. I don't know if I've ever been so excited by someone winning an Oscar. It's so well deserved and earned.

When Reese won that was the moment I knew Crash was winning Best Picture. I don't know exactly why but I just knew there had to be an upset somewhere and I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be Best Director. And as far as I'm concerned it may have been an upset with the odds makers but the right movie won.

Overall the show seemed really slow and there were way to many montages. No one watches the show to see montages. We watch the show to see who wins and what they will say when they win. Stop restricting the time they have to accept their award so much and stop with the stupid crap that makes for the need for such short acceptance time.

As for the fashions of the night. I love Charlize Theron and that dress would have been really nice if it didn't have that big huge bow on it. And what the heck was Naomi Watts thinking with that thing that looked like it had been through the shreader and the glued back together? Salma Hayek blue number was great. I also like Keira Knightley's dress it was a smart choice for someone wanting to look good be not take to big a risk and get slammed.

And speaking of Keira how great was she on the red carpet? I love that she was just an excited 20 year old out there. She didn't try to act all sophisticated and like it was no big deal. She was totally in the moment and I found that to be really refreshing.

Oscar Update

A quick revision of my opinions on the Oscar nominees. I watched Junebug this weekend and I now move Amy Adams from the bottom of the list since I hadn't seen her performance to number two on my list of Supporting Actress nominees. It was a nice performance the best part of the entire movie and the only likable character in the movie. I wouldn't be surprised or disappoint if she pulled and upset and stole this award from Rachel Weiz.

Freedomland

This turned out to be a pretty decent movie. It was bit of a different story than I was expecting it to be based on the previews. That was a good thing though, it means they didn't give to much away in the preview.

The story was pretty tight so it kept moving nicely. The acting was good, which is to be expected with the cast. The interaction between Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore was the key to this whole movie and it was perfect.


Spoilers Ahead!


In the final act of the movie when everything comes together there were two great scenes. One was when Edie Falco's character was trying to get the truth out of Julianne's character. The way she used her own story and desire to basically lul her into breaking was amazing and genius. And the delivery of that had to be perfect to pull it off and it was, from both actresses. I was holding out hope that they were wrong about Julianne's charcater and she held out for awhile against that but she eventually cracked.

And then the scene when she confessed what had really happened. Wow, that was a powerful scene. Julianne nailed that. (There is only one other actress I think could have pulled that off as well.) It was not an easy scene, not just because of the subject but, because she has to do it just right so while you hate her and want to smack her one minute you also feel a tiny bit of sympathy for her. Playing that line between sanity and madness is one of the trickiest things to do and only a handful of people can do it properly.



I went to a matinee showing but it would have been worth full price.

Oscar Nomintations

With Oscar night fast approaching I figured I better get this post up. I will list the nominees in the order I rank them with the best being first. Any nominees I have not seen will come last and be noted that I haven't seen them.

Best Original Screenplay
Crash - This is by far one of the best screenplays in years. It should win hands down

Match Point - The overall movie wasn't very good but it did have some great dialogue that had really good flow, which says a lot considering how slow the movie was.

Good Night, and Good Luck - What the hell is this doing in the original category. At least 30% of David Straathairn's dialogue is direct copy of Edward R. Murrow's actual reports so how the hell can you say that it didn't come from material previously published or produced?

The Squid and the Whale - Haven't seen.

Syriana - Haven't seen but again what is it doing in this category? I thought it was based on or inspired by a book.

Best Screenplay Adapted
Brokeback Mountain - Really nice writing. The writing actually gave all the primary actors a chance to shine, even if some of them didn't take the opportunity.

Capote - The only reason I don't give the edge to this one is some of the supporting characters, and a couple of scenes that I really didn't feel necessary to the overall movie.

The Constant Gardener - This movie could have had a bigger impact with some better dialogue. It's visuals weren't to my liking and the story was let down even more by the writing.

A History of Violence - Simply put, no way should this even be nominated. If they would put some of those "original" screenplays in the category they belong in this crap wouldn't happen and other worthy stuff would get nominated.

Munich - Haven't seen.

Best Supporting Actress
Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener - This is a rather hard to devine performance. It's one of those ones where you can't pin point what makes it so good, you just know that it is. To tell you the truth when I saw the movie I really didn't think it would have the staying power to get nominated. I'm glad I was wrong.

Frances McDormand -North Country - Now this is a fine performance. She doesn't have ton of screentime but she makes the most of what she has. I wasn't moved by Charlize's performance but I was moved by Frances. I wouldn't be surprised if she pulled an upset.

Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain - Hell no, she does not deserve this nomination. Do not even get me started on how Anne deserved the supporting actress nomination for this movie more than Michelle did. I read that Michelle said she was just going to enjoy this because it won't happen again. That's right honey because it shouldn't have even happened now.

Catherine Keener - Capote- Seriously what movie were the voters watching when they marked her name on their ballots? There was nothing there she did nothing. I just can't believe they actually threw away two nominations in this category that could have gone to serveral more deserving people.

Amy Adams - Junebug- Haven't seen.

Best Supporting Actor
Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain- It's so annoying how much attention Heath gets and how little Jake gets. Jake's performance was so much better and he was the heart of the story in my opinion. They got it right last week at the BAFTA's lets hope they get it right at the Oscars and stop giving this award to all the wrong people.

Matt Dillion - Crash- At least someone got recognized for their acting in this movie. It is a really large cast and it is an ensemble but, what's important here that it gets attention. Seriously, if there is one movie from last year that you have to see it's Crash.

Paul Giamtti- Cinderella Man- He wasn't good in Sideways (a horrid movie by the way) and he wasn't that great in this. I really don't think he deserved this nomination.

William Hurt- A History of Violence- This is just out of control. The man was in one freaking scene in the whole movie, and he was so over the top I wanted to throw something at the screen.

George Clooney - Syriana- Havent' seen.

Best Actress
Reese Witherspoon -Walk The Line- Hands down the best performance of the year. Reese came through in a big way showing the nay sayers what her true fans have known for years, she is the real deal and is far more than a perky, funny blonde.

Keira Knightly - Pride & Prejudice - What a fabulous performance. I've know since I saw her in Bend It Like Beckham that she had this in her but I had no idea that it would happen so soon or that it would happen in a comedy. I thought she would have to get a real powerhouse performance in a drama to get to this point. There were dramatic moments and that probably put her over the top here. Very well earned.

Judi Dench - Mrs. Henderson Presents - Excellent performance. I was ready to argue that if they wanted to give her another nomination they should have given her a supporting on for Pride and Prejudice but I was wrong this is highly deserved. She did a nice job of mixing the comedy with drama and especially making the drama seem funny.

Felicity Huffman - Transamerica - She did do a nice job and the nomination is not all together unwarranted. But, if she pulls an upset it will be the biggest disaster since, well I don't know when but it will be bad. This is not the performance people want you to think it is and it doesn't deserve to win.

Charlize Theron - North Country - This was not the nomination I thought I would be saying should have gone to someone else but it is. This movie just didn't come together the way it should have and while her performance was good it did not transcend the movie like say Diane Lane did in Unfaithful.

Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix - Walk The Line - Just remarkable the transformation he made. It is completely unexceptable to think he won't win and he did his own singing. This performance had everything it takes to be the big winner.

Terrance Howard -Hustle & Flow - Terrance had an amazing year and this was the icing on the cake. The movie was good and his performance was fantastic. That wasn't an easy character to make you root for but he managed to make you do just that.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Capote- Good performance, it just needed a little something more. I'm afraid he's going to win and I really don't think he should.

Heather Ledger- Brokeback Mountain- It was nice but it wasn't as moving as people want it to be. And yes some cowboys grow up to be like that where they barely open their mouths when they speak and he got that down the problem is it's a movie and I really need to be able to understand what he is saying. That's really where he lost me a couple of the smaller moments in the film I don't know what he said and I'd really like to know what he said, but I can't rewind the movie in theaters.

David Straithairn- Good Night, and Good Luck- So boring and just not at all what a nomination worty performance should be, in my book.

Best Director
Paul Haggis- Crash- It was well constructed from the script all the way through to the credits. I think Paul did a remarkable job. Especially considering how many actors, stories, and locations he had to work with.

Ang Lee -Brokeback Mountain- He's probably going to win and that's fine. I probably wouldn't vote for him.

Bennet Miller -Capote- Okay nomination. There were somethings that could have made the movie a little better but those weren't things that killed the movie so he did a good job.

George Clooney- Good Night, and Good Luck- Hell no, this was completely unwarranted.

Steven Speilberg -Munich- Haven't seen.

Best Picture
Crash- Hands down just the best movie of the year. Totally deserves this nomination and it would be fantastic if it could pull off the upset.

Brokeback Mountain- Good movie, deserves the nomination and attention, and if it wins it's just as good as Crash winning.

Capote- Good movie just not good enough to deserve winning.

Good Night, and Good Luck- Totally should not be nominated. The fact that this is nominated and Walk The Line isn't is just insane.

Munich - Haven't seen.

Good Night, and Good Luck

What the hell is this movie doing getting all these big time nominations for any award? It is not that good. Over the last few years there has been this disturbing trend amoungst all people who give out awards and that is to give all kinds of attention to boring "slice of life" movies. In the previous two years this was made evident by all the kudows for boring crap like Lost In Translation (the only thing worthy in that was in fact Scarlett Johanson) and Sideways. This year the trend took a slight turn in that the boring movie in question is actually a bit of a biopic.

The interesting thing here is that Good Night, and Good Luck tried to do the samething as Capote, which was to reveal a person through a very pivitol time in their life/career. However, where Capote worked so marvelously, Good Night, and Good Luck crashed and burned. There's just so much missing to keep it from being the movie it could have been. While I totally admire the people involved in for taking the risk of making this particular politically charged movie at this moment in time, they should have worked harder to make a more engaging story.

I'll discuss the unwarranted Oscar nominations in another post.


I will discuss a few things that some might considers spoilers so skip it if you don't want to know:


The stuff with Patricia Clarkson and Robert Downey Jr's characters was completely unnecessary. It's like it was there soley to emphasise the era in which the story took place and that was clear enough with out the whole thing of them being married but, hiding it because the company didn't allow it's employees to be married to each other. The part at the end when there were going to be lay-offs and the guy basically asked one of them to quit and save someone elses job was a waist of time and again not necessary.

The subplot with the character of Don Hollenbeck was also a bit of a distraction. While fine that guy killed himself and it happened at that time it didn't play out well. There were a couple reasons for this one it didn't really seem to impact the main players in the story enough to need so much screen time. And two since a lot of his issues came out of some newspaper guy named O'Brien it only caused more questions. It seemed like this O'Brien guy was out to get Hollenbeck for some reason but that reason was never disclosed and that became a distraction to the overall story.

The number onething that keeps this movie from being what it wanted to be is that there is no direct interaction between Murrow and McCarthy. Clearly that isn't something they could have just made up and thrown in the movie but, it is what is truly missing from the movie. When the hero and the villian don't come face to face in a movie it just doesn't work.



This was a movie that had all the right intentions but didn't come together right. The story itself would have been better served if they had just done it has a documentary. I saw it at a matinee and it definitely wasn't worth more than that. And really I'd recommend waiting for video if you really want to see it.

Imagine Me & You

Most people probably haven't heard of this movie. You probably need to be very in touch with not only the indie movie world, but with those movies that come from other countries and the ones that have a lgbt angle to them. This is a fabulous little romantic comedy from London focusing on the relationship between a bride and the woman her mother hires as the weddings flourist. I did see some previews for this on tv and it looked cute but what hooked me was Piper Perabo. Most people probably know her from Coyote Ugly. Hell that's where I first saw her and I've tried to see all of her stuff since then.

Imagine Me & You though peaked my interest because of another movie Piper had done called Lost & Delirious. She gave a stunning performance as a heartbroken teenage slipping into madness when her girlfriend leaves her. In Imagine Me & You she had the opportunity to play the opposite side of that coin. Not only is it a lighter movie in spirit but here she gets to play the confused one and she did it every bit as well as she has done anything else to date. People don't really see her as a lead and I know they don't see her as a romantic lead but this is not the only romantic comedy she's done and let me tell you the girl is a romantic lead, dramatic or comedic she can old her own.

The movie has an excellent story that is very well written. Some great onliners. I'm still laughing about some of them. The other actors were tops as well. Lena Heady playing the love interest nailed it. She had to play that character just right or she would come off badly and throw the whole story out of whack. (I'm also wondering how much work she's going to get offered that Keira Knightly turns down. Holy crap if you watched the movie with your eyes closed you'd swear that was Keira.) Anythony Stewart Head was a laugh riot as Rachel's (Piper) father. All those years of playing a proper Englishman on Buffy The Vampire Slayer it was great to see him really let loose in this.

While I did see this at a matinee the theater I saw it at only has matinee pricing for the first showing of the day so I paid full price. It was well worth it. If you like romantic comedies and lesbian storylines don't offend you check it out.

Mrs. Henderson Presents

This movie was not one that was on my list of movies to see until Judi Dench pulled in her Oscar nomination. I had seen some previews and it just wasn't anything I was rushing out to see in theaters. But, I am so glad she got that nomination and I went to see it. It is and excellent movie. Well written, execellently acting, good directing, everything was top notch. Which means yes Judi Dench absolutely deserved her nomination.

I'm sure people have heard that it's about a woman who wants to have nudity in her theater in London in the early part of the 20th century. Which it is but it's not the kind of nudity you would expect. It's actually quite remarkable what they did back then. It would be quite interesting to see a small theater company do something like it today.

Do to where I had to see this movie and needing to see another movie the same day I did see this at a matinee. I would have gladly paid full price to see it and would totally see it again. I highly recommend it.

Capote

Last weekend I went to see the multi-Oscar nominated Capote. Of all the things that I need to see because of nominations this is the one I wanted to see before all the awards started rolling in. It is an excellent film. Instead of doing your normal long drawn out bio-pic they focus on what is the most significant portion of his life. I really like how his working on In Cold Blood was not only the focus of the film but the events that lead to the book became an interesting sub-plot of the moive and also probably is the most interesting film adaption of the events to date.

Going in I knew it was about his life while he was writing In Cold Blood (a book which I have not read). However, I was not aware of how much time was spent on the killers. Not having read the book and being only vaguely aquainted with the subject matter of it I did not realize he himself had spent so much time with the killers. More precisely one of the killers Perry Smith. The film could have come off as nothing more than a glimpse into a man writing what is viewed as one of the greatest and most significant works of American literature ever. Yet somehow they managed to make it a deep character study of not only Capote but of Smith as well. I believe that to be the greatest achievement of the film.

As for all it's nominations. At first, even after seeing it, I wasn't sure about the best picture nomination but this is one of those movies that it takes a little while to feel the full impact of. And it's best picture nomination is warranted and it wouldn't be out of the question for it to win. The best adapted screenplay nomination very appropriate. I hope it wins. Best Actor is well earned by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. However, while I agree with him winning the Golden Globe for actor in a motion picture drama, I'm really not sure why he won over Joaquin Phoenix at the SAG awards. It was a good performance but it wasn't as powerful as Joaquin's performance. I know people won't agree and yes I know that they are vastly different. Joaquin's performance is very outward and overt while Phillip's is subtle and inward. But, to me there was just something lacking. The nomination for best director is a good one. The one that makes absolutely no since what so ever is the nomination for Cathrine Keener. I can think of at least three people more deserving of this nomination. And it is nominations like this that make people think there really are no good parts for women. If anyone deserved a supporting nomination for this movie it was Clifton Collins Jr. for his portrayal of Perry Smith.

I went to a matinee showing and I would have gladly paid to see it at night for full price.

Annapolis

So much potential and no development of that potential. That doesn't mean it was a bad movie it just wasn't nearly as good as it could have been. At times it seemed like it wanted all the subplots to be as central as the main plot. This is a problem that has surfaced in a lot of movies of late and it kills the main plot in most cases. On the upside it the acting was pretty good. Tyrese Gibson was as good as always. Jordan Brewster was as good as she could be with what she was given. She was in a lot of scenes but they didn't give her a lot of dialogue, which is a shame. There's more than just good looks in that package. James Franco was good for once. While it's not going to make me a big fan yet it was the first time I actually thought he might have some talent.


Spoilers coming up:


Well there was the primary story between Jake (James Franco) and Cole (Tyrese Gibson) which was your standard instructor picks one guy. And no one around them is sure if it's because he wants to drum the guy out or toughen him up. But there are a lot of areas where they let the story down. Like when everyone goes home for break at Christmas and Jake thinks about not going back. It doesn't seem to fit because while he has struggled it hasn't been anything that bad and considering how he's spent his whole life wanting to go to the Naval Academy it's odd that he would give up so easily.

Of course he does go back and eventually things lead to him wanting to prove himself by fighting Cole in a boxing tournament. Problem is he isn't in Cole's weight class so Jake's roomate helps him find ways to gain weight while Jake helps his roommate "Twins" (the name given to him by a superior officer) get through the obstacle course. These are the two cadets that Cole would be happy to see go as would some of their fellow cadets. Jake barely makes it to the weight he needs to hit to be in the same class as Cole. While "Twins" doesn't make it through the obstacle course. Now this was clearly done because the writer was wanting to go against the norm of these movies which would be "Twins" making it and not getting kicked out. Which I really didn't like at that moment in the movie and I came to like it even less shortly there after. "Twins" then tries to kill himself and Jake attacks Cole. (This still isn't where the problem comes in.) Cole also wants his shot at Jake so he makes sure the disiplinary hearing is moved until after the fight. A fight that Cole ends up winning by decision. And thus the problem with this main storyline. If Cole wins that's fine because Jake put up a good fight and by the end everyone was cheering for him. But Cole needed to have it stuck to him at some point, either "Twins" completes the course in the required time and stays in or Jake beats him in the ring. He should never have come out on top with both parts of the story. It's not like Jake really needed any extra incentive to get in that ring with Cole.

Yes, the writer and director did a good job of staying away from the cliches of these movies but those cliches are there for a reason. That reason is it makes for a better more satisfiying movie.


Due to all my movie veiwing this weekend I also saw this one at a matinee and while, for me, there are things that would make it worth paying more for, I wouldn't recommend paying more than that to anyone else.