Fast and short movies reviews #2.

The Dark Knight
- Quite possibly the best Batman film ever made.
The performances by Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Caine, are some of the best performances I've seen in a long time.
Ledger's Joker was superb. A total package of terrifying to look at, and deranged criminal, this role showed Ledger's acting abilities were really starting to come through, he had grown as an actor since his first big screen American film debut in the comedy 10 Things I Hate About You
(1999). He had taken many roles that were challenging and unexpected, but always gave his all. This role as Joker put him over the top, and it is a terrible loss to the industry and fans around the world, to have lost such a gifted young actor on Jan. 22, 2008.

I have loved the Batman series for quite a long time, seen all the various Batman movies over the years, and these last 2, Batman Begins
and The Dark Knight, are definitely stand out films, dark and violent, the way we always knew Batman really was, not that day-glo crap of the 1990's.
1-5, I give it a 5.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- An animated telling of part of the Star Wars saga, put out by Lucas Films. We are all big Star wars fans, so it was only natural for us to watch this one. The teens really enjoyed the story, the characters, and the animation.
I found myself a bit bored by this, I prefer my Star Wars films to be live action I guess.
1-5, I give it a , the teens give it a 5.

Monster
- Charlize Theron does an amazing job portraying female serial killer Aileen "Lee" Wuornos. Both Theron and Christina Ricci, (plays the part of Lee's lesbian lover turned against her) did incredible jobs in their respective roles.
It is no wonder that Theron won and Oscar for her role. I was in awe of her physical transformation into the serial killer who killed 7 men, mostly truck drivers while she was prostituting, and the second woman executed in Florida since they reinstated the death penalty, and was executed on October 9th, 2002.
1-5, I give it a 5.

Wall-E
- This is a Disney/Pixar animated film, and it's damn good.
The teens and I totally enjoyed the story, the animation, and how the future of mankind (Disney/Pixar's opinion) looks if we continue on in the way we are going polluting and destroying the only planet we have.
1-5, I give it a 5.

Heathers
- Stars Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, in this super dark comedy about high school cliques.
It's a classic, 20 years old now, and still a total laugh riot to watch.
1-5, I give it a 5.

Journey to the Center of the Earth
- This is like the millionth remake of the classic Jules Verne story, and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't great either.
It was meh.
1-5, I give it a 3.

Stuck
- Stars Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea, he as a down on his luck guy, and she as a partying it up nurse looking to get promoted at her job. They cross paths one night while he's walking and she's driving home drunk. They literally crash into each other, and he gets stuck in her windshield.
What happens next is completely crazy, but based on a true story from start to finish.
You're left wondering who the real driver of the car was, and how desperate they really were to not get caught for drunk driving and hitting a man.
1-5, I give it a 5.

In Bruges (2008)

We watch a lot of movies here, all kinds, but some of our favorite genres are of the mobster/hitman/violent and dark humor kind.
Most of these kinds of movies take place in Las Vegas, but the one we watched tonight, took place in Belgium.
In Bruges to be exact.
That's the title of the movie too.

In Bruges stars Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes.
Ken (Gleeson) and Ray (Farrell), are 2 hitmen who have been told to go to Bruges and lay low by their mob boss Harry (Fiennes) after a mishap with their last target, a priest.
When Ray shot the priest, a stray bullet struck and killed a little boy.
Trying to avoid the 2 men from getting caught, he sends them off to Bruges while awaiting any news stories or police investigation into the death of the little boy.

Now you're probably thinking, Kat, how can any of that be darkly humorous? A little boy was killed, and so was a priest!
Well you're right, none of that part of the movie is funny, and Ray does feel tremendous guilt over what he's done, but the dark comedy comes in during the conversations that Ken and Ray have with each other and with other people they meet in Bruges.
Ken loves it there, Ray thinks it's a total shit-hole, but they have drinks at the pub, they see a movie being filmed with a midget (Jordan Prentice) who also becomes Ray's friend, and Ray also finds a love interest in a beautiful blond drug dealer (Clémence Poésy).
There's a bit of drinking, a bit of drugging, a man is struck blind by a blank bullet fired at close range, and just some truly off the wall things are said and done which make it funny.

It also has some very serious and touching moments, the ending is quite dramatic, makes you feel and care for all of the main characters, and gives you some good insight to who each of our main characters are.
Harry (mob boss) had a reason for sending Ken and Ray to Bruges, and it wasn't just to lay low.
Harry feels that no one can kill a child and get away with it, states if he ever killed a child, even by accident as Ray had done, he would shoot himself on the spot without hesitation.
Bruges is like a fairy tale place to him, he wanted to send Ray to a sort of fairy tale place before he died for the killing of the child, a place of happiness before dying.
Bruges is a hell on earth for Ray, a hell which he wants to get out of desperately if he lives through the 2 weeks they have been ordered to stay there, and the end leaves all of them in Bruges facing their lives choices.

This is not an easy movie to watch if violence on screen is not your thing, but I found the film really enjoyable, funny in some parts, teary in others, and it left me feeling that each of our 3 main characters were all in Bruges for more than the initial reason, but to face themselves and to better themselves in some way.

Really fast movie reviews.

I'm still not feeling all that great, so I thought I'd do a quick review of all of the movies we've watched in the last 2 months from our Netflix account.
And when I say quick, I mean like really short reviews, one sentence each.


Sex and the City: The Movie - I really enjoyed this one, didn't think I was going to, but ended up liking it a lot.
Kung Fu Panda
- I LOVED this one. Animated movies are really cool.
War, Inc. - John Cusack flick, very entertaining.

Indiana Jones/Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - I was really disappointed. Not my fave one of all the Indiana movies.

The Happening - Freaking stupid.
Starship Troopers
- Sebastian wanted to see this one.
Iron Man
- Great movie, heavy action, liked it.
Smart People - Never watched it, returned it. 

Saw IV - I enjoyed the gore. 

White Noise - Stupid, hated it.

Street Kings - We liked it. 

Pathology - Kinda stupid.

Evolution
- The teens rented this while I was in the hospital. They like it.
The Breakfast Club - Classic 80's flick.

Martian Child
- Excellent John Cusack movie. Must see IMO.
Harold and Kumar...Guantanamo Bay
- I freaking hate these movies, but the teens liked it.
The Bank Job
- Pretty decent action flick.
The Secret
- Really very interesting movie. You should watch it.
Vantage Point
- Pretty decent action movie.
The Ruins
- Not too bad for a horror movie.
Doomsday
- Stupid.
Definitely, Maybe
- Cute romance story.
Stop-Loss
- Pretty decent war/soldier story.
The Tattooist- Pretty good horror flick, nothing too gorey, but good story.

Street Kings (2008)

The boys and I watched Street Kings this evening, I had heard good things about this movie from several people, so I Netflixed it, and we just got finished watching it.

Still reeling from the death of his wife, Los Angeles detective Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) is devastated when he's named as a suspect in the murder of his partner (Terry Crews). With the help of a young homicide detective (Chris Evans), Ludlow struggles to clear his name. His boss (Forest Whitaker), meanwhile, tries to protect him from a tough Internal Affairs investigator (Hugh Laurie) who's determined to put Ludlow behind bars.

This is an exciting action cop drama with plenty of graphic violence, car chases and shootouts just like you would expect.
It is kind of predictable, but the story makes sense, it's easy to follow, but you have no idea just how many bad and dirty cops there are until the movie really gets going.
This movie has tons of twists and turns, but the cast and acting is top notch.
Whitaker gives an outstanding performance as usual, and Reeves really seems to play well with him in the scenes they share together.
People often say that Reeves acting is emotionless and wooden, but when he's paired up with really great actors, he comes alive.
This is a cop/action flick I highly recommend to people who love cop thrillers and violence.
It was a really great ride, and the ending was a good payoff.

Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince delayed. Bummer.

Source

So the newest Harry Potter movie will not be coming to theaters this November 2008, but instead it now slated for release in July 2009.

In a surprise move, Warner Bros. has moved back the release date of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" from Nov. 11 to July 17, 2009.
"Like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films — changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of," he said. "We agreed the best strategy was to move 'Half-Blood Prince' to July, where it perfectly fills the gap for a major tent pole release for mid-summer."
The studio said it still plans to release the two-movie adaptation of the final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows," as planned, with the first part still on for November 19, 2009.

"Half-Blood," which translates the sixth book to the big screen, is being directed by David Yates. According to the studio, post-production was been completed on time.

This is a total bummer.
The teens and I have always gone to see the new HP movies in the theaters, it's like the only movies we hit the theaters for, and now we will have to wait.
That sucks.
Damn writer's strike.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince trailer is up!

It's looking really good so far, check out the trailer!

Timber Falls (2007)

When Mike (Josh Randall) and his girlfriend, Sheryl (Brianna Brown), go hiking in West Virginia, their idyllic getaway quickly turns into a nightmare they can't seem to wake from. Their choice to follow a less-traveled trail brings them face to face with a homicidal backwoods family with a creepy religious agenda. The next day, when Sheryl vanishes, Mike must comb the woods to find her, enduring a series of horrific events.

That is the basic plot for Timber Falls, directed by Tony Giglio, and starring Josh Randall, Brianna Brown, Nick Searcy, and Beth Broderick.

This movie was so much better than I thought it would be, I just rented it because I love horror/slasher flicks, but it didn't disappoint at all.
It had a pretty intelligent story, pretty decent acting, and it moved at a pretty fast clip.
There wasn't a single moment you could turn away from the screen due to any type of boredom, it really kept you involved and paying close attention.
It has all of the elements that are lacking from other horror movies, and that you wish those other movies had, like the decent story and decent acting.

Our main characters, played by Randall and Brown, are two of the dumbest hikers ever though, they do one stupid thing after another in the beginning of the movie like taking a trail that they know is not patrolled by the park rangers, continuing on that same trail even after meeting up with some backwood rednecks that are far from helpful and nice, and Brown (the girlfriend Sheryl) is especially stupid for going for a morning swim in the lake by herself after the troubles they had just the day before.

The twisted backwood religious family, is absolutely crazy and sadistic, but absolutely totally enjoyable!
Their whole need for kidnapping young couples is because the wife, Ida, cannot carry a child of her own to term, and with the help of her husband and park ranger himself, Clyde, and her deformed by fire brother Deacon, they kidnap and force young healthy couples to have sex and conceive a child for Ida to raise as her own.
If the couple isn't married, Ida marries them in the eyes of the lord, and then forces them by horribly torturous means, to produce a child for her and her husband.
They (Sheryl and Mike) probably would have complied with the forced sex if maybe, just maybe, the religious freaks would have cleaned the blood off of Sheryl, and put her in something a little more enticing like a nicer nightie or some sort of sexy babydolls lingerie.
Blood and a white gown with a big ol' cross on it, isn't exactly sexually appealing.

Mike (Randall) endures the absolute worst of all the injuries and torture in this movie.
When he realizes Sheryl is gone, he goes running through the woods to find her, trips, and ends up with a stick stabbing him deep in his arm.
He removes it and ties a bandanna around it, only to run into the first group of rednecks again, and getting into a knife and gunfight where he's hit hard several times, and cut across one of his legs.
He survives that, only to step in a bear trap just a few minutes later.
He is "rescued" by Ida only to find out just a little later, that she is the captor of his girlfriend Sheryl.
He is whipped by cat o' 9 tails, branded with a branding iron, beaten, stabbed, hit about the head with the butt end of a shotgun, a shovel, fists, and finally a huge knife to the gut.

I don't want to tell you any more, I really think that if you are a fan of slashers and horror films, that this is one you should definitely rent because of how much slashing takes place, and because it's actually a very intelligent horror film.
I was very surprised at just how well the story was done, and I really think that if they had a bigger budget, some better cameras, and some A-list actors in the lead roles, that this movie could have done really great in theaters.
It was only released in 49 theaters nationwide.
I really believe that despite the above, that this is a really good movie, and it even left it open for a part 2, which I would definitely see.

It scored poorly on Rotten Tomatoes for some silly parts, (what horror movie doesn't have a few laughable scenes?) only having 1 "fair" review out of a total of 4 reviews, but ranks highly of the reviewers on Netflix, getting 3.5 stars out of 5.
It gets an "ok" rating and a pretty good review at BoxOffice.com, calling it "a perfectly serviceable scary movie."

On a scale of 1-5 stars, I give it a 4.5.

Pump Up the Volume (1990)

Sebastian and I decided to walk down and get us all some subs for lunch, and the going out of business Boogie Woogie cd, dvd, and video game store, is still open, and now everything is up to 75% off.
So we swung in to check and see if they had any more good deals.
All their used dvds are now another $3.50 off, so movies are super duper cheap.
I found buried amongst some truly horrible titles, the 1990 film Pump up the Volume starring Christian Slater.
Anyone remember this one?

When a book on Lenny Bruce falls into the right young, disaffected, youthful hands, the FCC has its work cut out for it. Christian Slater plays a quiet high school student whose alter ego "Hard Harry" cries injustice and spins punk and rap records from his basement at night for a growing fan base who finds his radio frequency. When the ultra-conservative school administration starts swinging, Hard Harry's fans rally, and Slater gets the girl.

The story line is a little more complicated than that little blurb though.
Slater is a young high school teen, who has moved to a new suburb in Arizona because his dad is the new school commissioner or some big named position, and he hasn't made any friends, and the school really sucks.
The principal has been slowly and systematically expelling students she feels are losers, yet keeping them on the student roster to be able to keep the government funds for "the good of the school."
The student body is disenchanted, and going through the motions just trying to please their parents and the teachers, and be whatever the adults in their lives tell them to be.
When Slater starts up his pirate radio show talking about how it all sucks and to just be who they are, be crazy, do what you want, speak out, and whatever they label you as, so be it, the students start feeling alive again.
After the call in of a young student who wants to commit suicide and then does, the school and police start trying to find out who Hard Harry is, and shut down his radio station.
What happens after that is that the students don't want to calm down, they don't want the radio show to end, and Hard Harry and the students keep fighting back in whatever ways they can.

And unlike most teen movies of the 80's and 90's, there is no prom, there is no wrong side of the tracks love story with a super happy ending and pretty pink dress, this is teen rebellion with all it's angst and problems, from suicide, to coming out of the closet in a defining moment kind of way.
Instead of the usual stereotyping of being a fag, Hard Harry instead tells the young male caller how he finds the bravery of people to be amazing, and with that he signs off for the night leaving his listening fans to ponder the coming out confession and who they are as well.

The movie has it's absolutely silly moments as well, it's truly stupid in some parts, but hey, no movie is without it's flaws.
But Pump Up the Volume is a really decent flick and has an amazing soundtrack.
Liquid Jesus' anthem- Stand, to Chagall Guevera's Tale O' The Twister, and Concrete Blonde, Peter Murphy, The Pixies, Soundgarden and Sonic Youth.
The opening song that is played several times throughout the film, Everybody Knows, is done by both Leonard Cohen and Concrete Blonde in the film, yet Cohen's version is noticeably missing from the soundtrack.
I prefer his version over the latter myself.
His voice is raw and real, and his version is slowed down a bit, allowing you to hear every word, and really get a feel for the meaning behind the lyrics.

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Anyway, it's a good a movie, on a scale of 1-5 stars, I give it a 3.5, and only that low because of some of the silliness.
I really think they could have left that out and had a truly remarkable teen rebellion film on their hands that was unlike every other teen movie past or present.

Creepshow (1982)

We watch a lot of movies here, the teens and I are huge fans of films, and they are so totally my kids.
They love horror movies as much as I do!
Tonight's dinner and a movie fest is a flick from 1982, and was based on the E.C. horror comics of the 1950's, Stephen King's Creepshow.
The screenplay was written by King, and it was directed by George Romero.

There are 5 short films on the disc, Father's Day, The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill, Something to Tide You Over, The Crate, and They're Creeping Up On You.
All of the actors of these short stories are very famous stars, Leslie Nielsen, Hal Holbrook, Ted Danson, Adrienne Barbeau, Ed Harris, E.G. Marshall, and as he always has done, even Stephen King himself makes an appearance in the starring role of Jordy Verill.

All of the stories are good, and even though the movie is 26 years old now, it still holds up pretty well.
For the time, 1982, the special effects were on par with all of Hollywood, they look completely out-dated now, of course, and in some of them like Father's day, totally cheesy, but one of them still scares the crap out of me to this day.

The Crate.
It's the longest one on the disc.
It stars Hal Holbrook as a sort of loser professor at a local college, whose wife is a horribly nasty woman.
"Billie" is played by Adrienne Barbeau, a drunk and offensive old hag, who makes his (Holbrook) life hell.
When a colleague of his finds a really old crate under the stairs at the college with a really hungry creature locked away inside that has eaten two people already, he finally finds a way to get rid of his verbally abusive and hated wife.
He lures her to the college on a made up story of a young co-ed being sexually assaulted by his colleague, telling her she's the only one who can coax the young girl out from under the stairs.
Once she gets down there, he stirs the monster awake, it devours her, and then he dumps the crate off a cliff into the ocean.
He and his colleague think it's all over, no evidence of any foul play, but the monster breaks free of it's crate under the sea in the very last scene.
This is also the bloodiest one of the five, and it's definitely the scariest.

I've seen Creepshow about a dozen or more times over the years, and it still doesn't disappoint as a fun movie.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

Born with an acute sense of smell, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) resorts to dark deeds in creating a perfume that captures the essence of a woman in this 18th-century thriller based on Patrick Suskind's best-selling novel. The disturbing intensity mounts as Baroque-born Grenouille's obsession to create the ultimate scent moves from innovation to murderous aberration. Alan Rickman co-stars along with Dustin Hoffman as a master perfumer.

We watched Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer tonight, and it is absolutely fascinating.
The story is so well done, the narration, the acting, and the period dress, everything about this movie is perfect.
It is rated R for "aberrant behavior involving nudity, violence, sexuality, and disturbing images", and yes, it deserves that rating, but wow, this is just such a great story.
It's disturbing and dark, Jean-Baptiste's obsession with capturing the scent of women as pure essence oils, and what he does to get them, is disturbing yet sensual.
He takes great care of their skin and hair, gentle touches to the skin, it's painful to him.

Each perfume is made up of a top note, a middle note, and a base note.
By adding just one more oil, you completely change the scent of the perfume, and Jean-Baptiste wants nothing more than to capture and save forever, the very essence, the souls, of women.
His obsession leads him to first try to get women to let him cover them in animal fat, wrap them in cloth, and then after a few hours, unwrap them and squeeze the fat into a pot mixed with alcohol to boil it, and have the liquid evaporate and rise to the top of the oil maker, where the essence oil will then drip down into a vial.
But the women think he's just some kind of kinky rapist, they don't understand, so they try to escape and he's left with no choice but to kill them in order to capture their scents.
I will not spoil this for any of you who may be interested in renting it from Netflix or your fave movie rental place, but it has a really great and sad ending, yet the perfect closing for the tale.

This really is a very interesting and captivating movie.
It held both the teens attention through the entire movie, a full 2 hours and 27 minutes, and when it was over, they said how much they liked it, and that I picked a really good one this time.
Haha! I pick a lot of good movies dammit!

I will never stay in a hostel.

I'm taking it easy and resting as much as I can, the new meds are starting to really help take the edge off the pain.
I'm able to sit up without having waves of pain tear through my shoulder and chest, but I'm still taking it easy and not moving too much.
But I got my two new movies in the mail from Netflix today, so that gave me an excuse to lay down and rest for 2 hours.

I rented Frontier(s) and Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer, but I just got done watching Frontier(s).

As riots break out all over Paris after a right-wing government is elected, reluctant thief Yasmina (Karina Testa) recruits a few friends to exploit the bedlam by looting. With the police on their tail, the gang splits up and regroups at a hostel near the Luxembourg border to divide their haul. But the decision proves fateful when the innkeepers turn out to be neo-Nazi freaks who want to make Yasmina the brood mare for a new Aryan master race.

The movie is in French with English subtitles, but it's very easy to follow along.
That is if you are keeping your eyes open, or peeping through your fingers as they cover your face.
Frontier(s) was part of the 8 Films to Die For for 2008, but because of it's extreme gore and graphic imagery, the director was told to cut out a bunch of stuff in order to remain part of the horror fest, or go it alone and be rated NC-17.
The director loved his film, every single scene, so he chose to take the NC-17 rating, and be forced to a very limited theater release on May 9th, and then it went straight to dvd on May 13th, in the same full unrated, uncut, "sadistic glory" it was meant to be seen in.

I just got done watching it, and OMG, it is so graphic, so violent, and if I ever do get to travel to anywhere in Europe, I will never stay in a hostel, and I will definitely get myself some travel health insurance before I go just in case here are sickos at the normal hotels too.
Every single European movie I've seen in the last few years has had it's victims stay in hostels, and they all die horrible deaths save for one person, the sole surviving hero or heroine.

This movie was really good if you are a fan of gore and torture type movies.
If you loved the Hostel series, and enjoyed the graphic violence of High Tension, you'll like Frontier(s).
It's kind of like Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Hostel.
We have a seriously whacked out Neo-Nazi cannibalistic family, looking for a healthy young woman to breed new members of their pure blood family.
When Yasmine and her band of thieves make the terrible mistake of staying at the hostel, things quickly go wrong.
Each person gets picked off one by one in very gruesome ways.
A lot of the stuff is some of what you've seen before, but it's action packed, fast paced, and our heroine gets a bit crazy, as anyone would in this type of situation, and she makes it out alive in some very tough and bloody battles.
I won't tell you much more, but Yasmina is a likable character, you sympathize with her, you want her to survive and get out of there even if the cops she's running from are the only way to escape.
Anyway, it's a decent film, I can totally see why it's rated NC-17, it's really gory and graphic, but very good.

Teeth (2007)

I rented the movie Teeth from Netflix this past week because it's trailer was kinda funny, kinda bizarre, and kinda religious.
I do love movies that throw those kinds of curves in.
As I was watching it and not knowing right away that it took place in Austin, I thought based on some of the locales used, that maybe they were near some Branson cabins or something.
It wasn't until about 30 minutes in that I realized they were in Texas.

Anyway, the movie is about a girl named Dawn who is at first, cursed with vagina dentata of mythology.
Many cultures believed in this, that some women had teeth down there, and it would take a hero to conquer them, breaking the teeth away, and thus making the girl into a woman.
It's the threat of sexual intercourse for men, they enter as proud men but leave diminished.

Dawn has these teeth, and at first, it is the most terrifying thing for her.
She's a young girl saving her virginity for marriage, but lust wins out and she ends up having sex with a boy who claimed he was also saving himself.
The fear of sex for Dawn causes the teeth to come forward and bite her lovers penis off.
He runs off into the woods and eventually dies.
Another young man wants to help her, or claims to really care for her, and during the act she learns he's only with her on a bet, and yup, buh bye penis.
She soon learns the power she has, she can control the teeth, she can freely have sex if she chooses, but if the man is using her, only wants her for the sex, doesn't really care for her, then out come the teeth.

The movie is so not for the squeamish, there are several truly gory moments, men will be clutching onto themselves and turning pale at they very idea of teeth in a vagina.
It was an interesting movie, I enjoyed it anyway. It's not OMG great, but quite humorous.
I loved the part where the pervert gyno was trying to cop a feel of Dawn and her first time in stirrups.
I actually yelled at the tv for him to stop being such a pig or he's going to get more than he's bargained for.
Like losing a few fingers.
Ha!

Reservation Road (2007)

Reservation Road stars Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino.

A powerful human story of anger, revenge and great courage, this film takes you on an intense journey that follows two fathers as their families and lives converge after the events of one fateful night.

The movie starts out introducing us to Ethan (Phoenix) and his wife, (Connelly) and their two kids, after his son performs in a music recital in the park. Then we are introduced to Dwight (Ruffalo) and his son Lucas attending a Red Sox game. As both families make their way home that evening, we flash back and forth between the two families on the screen until they come head to head. Ethan's daughter has to use the restroom so they stop at a gas station, his son gets out of the car to let the fireflies go that he caught earlier. Dwight is speeding, racing to get his son back to his furious ex-wife who called 10 times during the game, and is calling right now. The speed and the ringing cell phone cause Dwight to not pay attention for only a moment, and as he swerves to miss a collision with another car, he strikes and kills Ethan's son. He hesitates, he knows he hit something, but in a moment of panic, he drives off, a hit and run that leaves Ethan's son dead.

The film goes on to show how this accident and death, affects both men.
Ethan is devastated, angry, and wanting justice.
Dwight is afraid, filled with guilt, but terrified of turning himself in for fear of losing all of his custodial rights to his son.

It's a small town, and coincidence after coincidence, the story builds.
Dwight's ex-wife (Sorvino) was the son's music teacher and is now teaching Ethan's daughter piano.
Ethan, eager for justice, fearful the police aren't doing enough, hires a law firm to get private investigators and pursue a civil suit.
The law firm Dwight works at, and Dwight is placed in charge of his case.

As Ethan becomes more and more agitated that the police aren't doing enough to find the hit and run killer, he calls his attorney around the clock.
Ethan only recalls pieces of the accident, his memory is fuzzy, until the night of his daughter's recital a month and a half after the night his son was killed.
Dwight is at the recital too, his son Lucas is in it, and after it's over, he calls to his son which triggers the memory of the accident in Ethan.
The movie is very suspenseful, watching, waiting for either man to make his move.
Hoping Dwight turns himself in, hoping Ethan doesn't destroy his own life for revenge, justice in his mind.

This was an excellent movie, hard to watch in some places because the grief of losing a child is too much to bear, and both Phoenix and Connelly are so honest in their portrayal of grieving parents.
Ruffalo does an amazing job of a man wracked with guilt, you feel incredible pity for him even though you probably shouldn't. You feel as though you understand his reasons for not turning himself in, for not stopping, he suffers incredibly throughout the film wanting to say something but terrified of losing his son forever, a son he loves more than anything, just like Ethan loves his son.
It builds to a very dramatic ending for both men.

I would give it 7 out of 10 stars.

The Lookout (2007)

The Lookout stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun, Brick, Mysterious Skin) as Chris, a young man who had everything ahead of him--until a car accident killed two of his friends and left him with brain damage. Now reduced to being a janitor at a bank, Chris struggles to maintain some semblance of order in his life. When a guy he meets at a bar turns out to be an old classmate, Chris succumbs to his flattery, not suspecting that the guy's intentions are criminal.

It also stars Jeff Daniels, Matthew Goode, Isla Fisher and Carla Gugino.

Chris (Gordon-Levitt) had everything going for him, hockey player adored by the fans, a beautiful girlfriend, great friends, and a loving family, until one night of stupidity.
He, his girlfriend, and 2 friends, were driving down the road, Chris at the wheel, and he wanted to show them how the fireflies light up the night.
He shut off his headlights as he drove down an old farm road, turning them back on too late to notice the large combine broke down on the side of the road.
His 2 friends died, his girlfriend's leg cut off, and he ended up with brain damage.

He has hardly any memories of that night, he can no longer get through the day without writing down what he's supposed to do, no immediate memory of events that just happened.
Everyday, he wakes up
takes a shower
with soap
gets dressed
eats breakfast
goes to the learning center
goes home
eats dinner
goes to work.
His life is a series of lists of what to do next.
Chris lives with Lewis, (Daniels) who is blind, and together they make a pretty good team, they cook, keep their home, and have plans to open a restaurant.

But a guy named Gary Spargo (Goode) meets up with Chris in a bar one night, and makes Chris believe they are friends, helps him get a girl, party, treat him as family, all to get Chris to help him and his friends rob the bank Chris works at.
Being so frustrated with his life, not being able to advance at work beyond janitor due to his brain injury, and having his parents pay his rent, his car insurance, everything for him, because no one thinks he can do it himself, Chris decides to help Gary rob the bank.
On the night it goes down however, Chris has a change of mind and tries to get out of it.

What happens for the rest of the movie is unpredictable, and suspenseful.
Chris uses his notebook to write down all the directions from Gary, 'he who has the money, has the power', what time, who does what, everything he's supposed to do in order, sequencing.
He also uses that notebook to get out of having to help with the robbery, and change his and Lewis' life.

Gordon-Levitt does a great job portraying Chris, Jeff Daniels is terrific as his blind room mate with a great insight into people.
This was just a really well done film, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

One of the things that struck me though, was how much Gordon-Levitt resembles the late Heath Ledger.
Maybe I'll be the only person to ever say that, but take a look at this side-by-side comparison I put together.
You can click for larger.

I am in no way comparing the acting abilities of either man, but if they were to ever make a film about Ledger, here's the perfect actor for the role.

Hard Candy (2006)

Hard Candy is the story of a smart, charming teenage girl, Hayley probably shouldn't be going to a local coffee shop to meet Jeff, a 30-something fashion photographer she met on the Internet. But before she knows it, she's mixing drinks at Jeff's place and stripping for an impromptu photo shoot. It's Jeff's lucky night. But Hayley isn't as innocent as she looks, and the night takes a turn when she begins to impose a hard-hitting investigation on Jeff in an attempt to reveal his possibly scandalous past.

It stars Ellen Page (Juno), Patrick Wilson, and Sandra Oh.

This movie was very controversial when it came out, a young girl meeting a much older man she met on the internet, for what he thinks will be a good time with a 14 year old girl.
Hayley however, is not quite so innocent. Everything she says to Jeff is carefully planned, she knows what to say to him to make him think he's going to be having sex with her at some point during their meet-up.
She has other plans, devious ones.
She psychologically tortures Jeff, ties him up, plans to castrate him, all in an attempt to get him to confess to kidnapping and raping another girl who is now missing.
This is at times, hard to watch, not because of the graphic scenes, but because the script was just lacking in a few places.
Page ends up acting terrified when her character is clearly in control, always had control, and so the mixed emotions she displays, come out all wrong.
The dialog is also very quiet. We had the volume all the way up and missed some of their lines no doubt.

The director also tries to hard too make twists and turns in the story as he goes. Up, down, over here, over there, wait, where were we going with this again?

Overall, the movie was gripping, suspenseful, and timely in this day and age of almost every teen on the planet, having an internet connection and myspace page.
I give it a 7 on a scale of 1-10.

Netflix subscribers get unlimited pc viewing.

http://netflix.com sent out emails to their customers who are subscribed to any plan greater than the 2 at a time for $4.99 deal, to let them know they now have unlimited on line pc viewing.

The pc viewing used to be based on what you paid, so if your plan was $16.99 a month, you had 17 hours of instant watch movie time available to you.
This new plan means you get unlimited hours of movie watching on your computer, and that is so awesome for people like me who can go through my mailed movies very quickly, and then have to wait for my next shipment.

This was done after the news that Apple iTunes movie rentals would start in February.
Steve Jobs says they currently have about 1,000 movie titles for users to buy and download.
iTunes store is a very direct competitor to Amazon Unbox, while iTunes and Netflix Watch It Now play to very different segments of the audience. Apple offers up mostly new releases, available 30 days after the DVD release, and you have to pay up before you can play. There's no subscription fee, though.

Netflix currently has over 6,000 watch it now titles available for instant viewing, and are adding more every day.

Surprisingly, Netflix and Blockbuster stock shares fell after the announcement from Apple.
Blockbuster shares tumbled 14% to $2.79 on volume of over 9 million. The issue's 30-day average volume is about 4.4 million shares. The stock hit a new 52-week low of $2.74 intraday.

Shares of Netflix fell 5.4% to $21.55 on volume of over 4 million. The issue's 30-day average volume is about 1.5 million.
But analysts say it's nothing to worry about as Apples iTunes movies will be more for people on the go, using their ipods to watch movies on their commute, and not watching them at home.

No show but the awards were still given.

Due to the writers strike and not being able to reach an agreement, the Golden Globes were canceled, but the winners were still announced in a press conference.
Here they are:

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Atonement

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Julie Christie – Away From Her

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Cate Blanchett – I'm Not There

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men

Best Animated Feature Film
Ratatouille

Best Foreign Language Film
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (France, United States)

Best Director - Motion Picture
Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
No Country For Old Men

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Atonement
Composed by Dario Marianelli

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
"Guaranteed" – Into The Wild
Music & Lyrics By: Eddie Vedder

Best Television Series - Drama
Mad Men (AMC)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Glenn Close – Damages (FX NETWORK)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama
Jon Hamm – Mad Men (AMC)

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Extras (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
David Duchovny – Californication (SHOWTIME)

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
Longford (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Queen Latifah – Life Support (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jim Broadbent – Longford (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Samantha Morton – Longford (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jeremy Piven – Entourage (HBO)

I have several reviews to get written up.

I've done quite a bit of Netflix renting, and have to get some time to sit down and write up the reviews of the movies we've been watching.

We've watched Pirates of the Caribbean, at World's End, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Simpsons Movie, Rob Zombie's Halloween 2007, Live Free or Die Hard, and Fast Food Nation is sitting ready to be watched tonight.

Yup, that's quite a few movies I have some thoughts on, and I will get to these as quickly as possible.
Not that my opinion really counts for much, I don't promote this blog much at all, it's just like a hobby log of mine to discuss entertainment stuff.
I love music and movies, I'm really starting to get into celeb gossip lately, and we've gotten quite a few new video games I also need to get written up.
You would think with my wicked insomnia last night, (still haven't slept) that I could have pumped a few of these out.
I didn't, but I will, and very soon.

The first 6 minutes of the Dark Knight.

Here is the bank heist scene, the first full 6 minutes of the Dark Knight.
It's a cam recording, taken before the I am Legend viewings at IMAX over the weekend.
Regular theaters were shown the other trailer.
This movie is looking better and better with every new clip I see.

Knocked up (2007)

Knocked Up stars : Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Joanna Kerns, Loudon Wainwright III, Harold Ramis, and Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Jason Siegel, and Martin Starr.

Alison (Heigl) and Ben (Seth Rogan) have a one night stand and she ends up pregnant.
That's the basis of the movie, and what follows are some hilariously funny scenes, and some very serious and emotional ones as well.
Neither Alison or Ben wanted or were prepared for parenthood, but they both stood up to their responsibilities as best as they could.

Ben was so charming and sweet in this movie. The character played by Rogan, was just so sweet and tried his hardest to be there and support Alison throughout the pregnancy despite the fact that he had no job and loved to be lazy, watch porn, and smoke dope.
I really felt like Ben was an awesome guy.
All he wanted was to be there, be a father, and do the best he could.
When he proposed, I felt all mushy inside, I almost teared up. The character was just great.

Alison (Heigl) didn't really "pop" off the screen, but she did ok. It was hard to believe she was pregnant because she didn't get fat anywhere but in the belly. No face, no thighs or ass, just belly.
Real women get big Hollywood, get it right.
But she portrayed Alison pretty well. You could relate to her insecurities over whether or not Ben would truly step up, whether or not she could do this.
I was really happy with the ending of the movie, it was nice to see they stayed together.

This movie was hysterical in places thanks to the awesome supporting cast.
We laughed pretty much the whole way through, it was really funny.
If you missed it in theaters, do yourself a favor and rent or buy it, you won't be disappointed at all.

Opening credit sequence for Sweeny Todd.

Fans of Tim Burton films know that the opening credit sequences for his films are always unique and exciting.
Thanks to Broadway World, you can now watch the opening sequence.
Check this out!

Sex and the city (2008)

Coming this May, the Sex and the City movie will hit theaters.
They trailer has just been released.
Are you excited?

The Girl nex Door (2007)

The Girl Next Door is NOT the one starring Elisha Cuthbert, but a movie based upon the true life events as written by Jack Ketchum in the book of the same name, The Girl Next Door.

Ketchum fictionalizes true life crime stories, and this book and movie are based on the following true story.
"In 1960's Indiana, Sylvia Likens and her little sister moved in with Gertrude Baniszewski while their parents went out of town. Baniszewski, her children, and several neighborhood children tortured and eventually murdered Likens over a period of months. At the trial, the children involved in the crime got off with an insignificant punishment, leading to outbursts of rage among the community and anyone with an ounce of moral fiber. In what must surely rank as one of our justice system's lowest moments, Gertrude herself was eventually released from prison, dying peacefully several years later somewhere in Iowa. This case serves as the loose outline for Ketchum's diabolical novel."

Like several of the reviewers, I had no idea what I was walking into. I had not known about the true life crime it was based upon, only that Netflix has it listed under thriller, says the girls suffer unthinkable abuse at the hands of their Aunt Ruthie and her 3 sons.
I had absolutely no idea what I had rented. I figured creepy story, the girls would be made house cleaning slaves, beaten, maybe eventually murdered.
I was not prepared for the very graphic horror I saw on my screen.
This movie is not for the faint of heart.
I am someone who can watch horror movies 24 hours a day, slashers, Freddy, Jason, all of those big bad meanies, this was so much worse, so much more terror than I was ready for.

Blanche Baker who portrays the evil Aunt Ruth Chandler, no I should say, the sadistic, severely mental Aunt Ruth, portrayed this character so well, I hated her. I wanted to reach through my screen and slap her, kill her myself.
What she put Meg through, the torture, the sexual abuse and mutilation, what she put her 3 sons through convincing them to help her, the other children in the neighborhood who all helped beat, rape, and torture Meg, was just so cruel, the darkest part of human nature I have ever seen in a movie.
I watch a lot of horror films, I've seen characters die in the most horrific ways, but this has left me shaken to the core still 2 hours after finishing watching it.
I sat here with my mouth agape for the entire movie after reading the words on the screen that said this was based on true events, just saying no over and over again.

The prologue of the movie, we see David, a grown man sitting at a table looking at a water color, narrating the beginning of his story.
He says, "When my second wife was 19, she got in between a couple of fighting cats, and one of them went at her--climbed her like a tree, tore gashes out of her thighs and breasts and belly that you can still see today. She got 30 stitches and a fever that lasted for days. My second wife says, 'That's pain.' She doesn't know fucking pain, that woman."
He wasn't minimizing her pain, but indeed, she truly didn't know pain.
What Meg suffered was some of the most graphic, without actually showing us, pain I have ever seen inflicted on a character ever.

I wouldn't recommend this for everyone, no, not everyone will be able to watch this, it is truly a dark film, a sad and frightening story of a woman with mental illness who pushed her illness on her own children and her nieces who she was left to care for.
It is a brutal film, very hard to watch, I covered my mouth, my eyes, I cried out no several times.
But in all of it's horror, all of it's darkness, it was an incredible film. The young actors who starred did incredible jobs, Baker was chilling, and Blythe Auffarth who played Meg, deserves an Oscar for her performance.
Truly an amazing film, but not for everyone.

I know who killed me (2007)

I Know Who Killed Me is probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

It stars Lindsay Lohan, Julia Ormond and Neal McDonough, and a bunch of mostly unknown supporting actors.

Synopsis:

Aubrey Fleming (Lindsay Lohan) was living the small town life, until the day she was abducted by a sadistic killer. After a frantic search, Aubrey turns up alive, but changed. She is missing limbs, but has gained a new personality - that of bad girl Dakota Moss. Her parents and the FBI think she’s suffering from delusions, but if Dakota is just a trick of her mind, why do strange wounds keep appearing on her body? Desperate and alone, Aubrey must now unlock family secrets to unmask a mysterious killer with a deadly obsession.

Seriously, I find it almost impossible to even write this review it was so bad.
There was so much shifting going on between characters, back and forth in time, between them, semi-acid trippy visuals, stigmata references, and really bad acting.

Save your money, don't buy this one, don't even rent it. It's not worth it at all.
Complete and utter fucking trash.

Oh, who did it?
The piano teacher in what has to be the lamest killer plot I've ever seen.
What the fuck was with all the prosthetic legs?

Bad movies rule.

Or maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment.
Arriving in tomorrow's mail from Netflix, are 2 movies that critics and viewers alike have said sucked.
Skinwalkers and Lindsay Lohan's I Know Who Killed Me.

I don't know why I chose these 2, but I'll watch them and report back.
Most movie reviewers don't know which was worse for Lohan's movie, the script or her acting, but I'll attempt to figure it out.
Maybe it will be both.

New Cloverfield trailer. Looking bad ass

Check this out!
What the fuck is that?!

Get More CloverField Trailers at TerrorFeed.com

Ratatouille (2007)

I can't recall the last time I watched a children's movie that was actually good for children.
Until tonight.

We just finished watching Ratatouille, and I do believe that this is one of the best children's movies, heck, one of the best movies, I have seen in a few years.
It has an amazing all-star cast, including Peter O'Toole as the famous food critic Anton Ego, Brad Garrett as Gusteau, and Patton Oswalt as Remy, who is probably most famous for his role as Spence on King of Queens.

Ratatouille is the story of a young rat named Remy who has a natural gift for finding good food. He can smell if it's fresh, he can smell if it's been poisoned by the humans, and his father employs him as the colonies poison checker due to his incredible gift with food.
After the colony had been found and the rats fled, Remy is separated from his family and friends, and finds himself in Paris at the restaurant of the famous chef he admired and wanted to be like.

He ends up helping another young man struggling to find his way, Linguini, who turns out to be the son and rightful owner of the restaurant.
The two of them help each other, Remy helping Linguini keep his job by helping him cook, and Linguini helping Remy to trust humans and fulfill his dream of being a chef.

But this movie is so much more than that.
Right from the start, there are moral and ethical lessons being taught.
Do not steal, do not take credit for something that isn't yours, treat people right, and to follow your heart and your dreams to be whatever you want to be.

I was very impressed with Ratatouille right from the start.
Pixar has once again outdone themselves with their brilliant animation.
When the above scene shown on my tv screen, I oohed and ahhed at the gorgeous view Linguini had of Paris from his very small and poor apartment.
He lived in what amounted to a dumpy cheap apartment, but that view, man, that view was stunning.
To be cramped up in there with that kind of view, would have been worth so much.
But it was the story, the story telling, and the lessons, that were an absolute joy to watch unfold on the screen.
This is the type of children's movie studios should be making.

In our current world condition, wars over everything, political correctness, back stabbing, stealing from large corporations and leaving people with nothing, people taking credit for others works, this movie teaches all the right lessons in a way that children can understand.
It would be great if adults watched it too.
I think people have forgotten that we are in this big old mess together, and we must rely on each other, help one another, and be good people to one another.
It wasn't a heavy handed message at all, but it was there loud and clear.
There were a few moments I gasped at the way each lesson unfolded, and I made a head nod motion toward my tv screen, and said yes, so right.

This is seriously one of the best movies I have seen in years.
I will be adding it to my movie collection even though my sons are grown, it is a must have.
It was beautiful, stunning actually, and left me shaken inside and inspired to keep on going, to keep on striving, because anyone can be who and what they want if they just do it.

Anyone can cook, the motto of the famous French chef Gusteau, and indeed, anyone can be something.

Major movie suckage.

This looks like the worst movie ever.
Wow.
I watched this twice, and I still am amazed this movie even got made.
What movie am I talking about?
Major Movie Star, starring Jessica Simpson.
Watch this and place your bets on how soon this will be on DVD.
I don't even think it will hit theaters, this looks straight to DVD to me!

Hostel Part II (2007)

On Halloween night, we also watched Hostel - Part II.
Synopsis:

Three female college students take a detour from their partying, enticed by a beautiful European woman who promises seclusion, safety and maybe even romance. What they get is a living hell where they are sold to the highest bidder who's fondest wish is to kill them slowly. Hostel 2 also follows 2 American men who, on the flip side of the coin, are willing to pay to join an exclusive club where a life will end at their hands...any way they like. It's a story of human monsters and the almighty dollar as only Eli Roth could tell it.

Hostel Part II stars Bijou Phillips, Lauren German, Heather Matarazzo, Roger Bart, and Richard Burgi.

The Two American men are brothers (Bart and Burgi) and they have paid to join the club of people who outbid each other to be able to kill a person any way they want to.
There was also a woman who outbid several other people, in order to kill one of the girls too.
She ends up taking the life of our first college girl victim, Lorna, played by Matarazzo.
Lorna dies a very slow at first, torturous death.

This leaves Beth (German) and Whitney (Phillips) to be killed.
Burgi picks Whitney and is so excited through the entire movie, right up until it's time to actually do the deed.
He wants to kill, believes it will give him power, that people will just sense he's a dangerous man and never fuck with him again.
Bart gets Beth and through the whole movie, he's squeamish and unsure if this is what he wants to do, the total opposite of his brother.
But when it comes time to actually kill, Burgi can't go through with it after his first cut into Whitney.
He makes a mistake with a hand saw, and refuses to fulfill the contract he signed.
The contract states that if you go in the room, you must kill the person inside it.
Breach of contract means death for you, and Burgi meets his end at the hand of a pack of flesh loving dogs.

Bart who at first seems like he wants to help Beth get free, is actually just playing a game with her, making it seem like help, kindness, and then he turns into the monster he really is, the killer his brother couldn't be.
But Beth gets the upper hand and gets away.

It was a great twist to her character, to the whole movie, to have her be able to go free.
I won't tell you and ruin it in case you want to check it out, but I laughed my ass off when she was able to leave.

A warning to the guys who may want to watch this. You might want to have a few drinks and wear a cup.
There's a scene with a penis and some cutters that will have you clutching your balls and crying for your mommy.

I really enjoyed this one. Slightly less violent and less bloody than the first Hostel, but had a better story, we learned more about our characters and more about the club that that killers want to join.
Scale of 1 to 5, I give Hostel Part II a 4.

Fido (2006)

I rented a couple movies from Netflix for our Halloween in, and so last night and again this morning, we watched Fido.

Synopsis:

Timmy Robinson's best friend in the whole wide world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named Fido. But when FIDO eats the next-door neighbor, Mom and Dad hit the roof, and Timmy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido a part of the family. A boy-and-his-dog movie for grown ups, "FIDO" will rip your heart out.

Fido stars Carrie-Ann Moss, Billy Connolly as Fido, Dylan Baker, Henry Czerny, and K'Sun Ray as Timmy.

Fido is about all the living dead, the zombies, who after the great zombie war in the 1950's, are now either used as pets or servants like mailmen, milkmen, and gardeners, those types of jobs, and controlled through the use of a special collar created by Zombcom.
Some other zombies which could not be used, are in the areas known as the wild. Each town is fenced off from the wild, and basically each other.
People who screw up and set their zombies free by choice or accident, are sometimes punished by being dumped into the wild where the flesh eating zombies run free.

Timmy Robinson and his parents, finally get a servant zombie of their own even though Timmy's father Bill Robinson hates them because during the war, he was just a kid and had to kill his zombified grandfather.
He is still afraid of them.
But they finally get their own zombie and Timmy names him Fido.
During a game of catch, Fido's collar is accidentally shut off by the walker of a neighbor, Mrs. Henderson.
Then he eats her.
Then she becomes a zombie and bites someone else.
Timmy tries to stop it all, but can't, and pretty soon the town has a wild zombie problem again.

This is a hysterically funny movie. It's very dark humor though, not everyone will laugh.
It has a rating of 4 stars on Amazon, and some pretty decent reviews.
This isn't your typical zombie movie though, but if you are a fan of zombie flicks, it's worth checking out.
You can check out the trailer, and then rent it.
It's totally worth it.

The Reaping (2007)

The Reaping is described as follows;

The death of a child in mysterious circumstances; sparks of a series of events that seem to represent biblical plagues, start occurring in of all places a town called *Haven* located deep in the bowels of bible belt country in the bayous of Louisiana. A former Christian missionary turned religious phenomena debunker and her top open minded student turned personnel assistant is sent to investigate.

I really had high hopes for this movie. I thought Katherine (Hillary Swank) would stick to her guns and debunk this too, but as soon as the satanic cult was mentioned, in the last 40 minutes of the movie, I knew all hope was lost for being able to stick to science to explain what was happening in the town.

Katherine is a former missionary and ordained minister, whose husband and daughter were sacrificed by the native people they had been preaching to, because as soon as the missionaries arrived, it didn't rain again. For a whole year.
The native people killed her family and had tried to kill her, in order to please the gods.
Since then, Katherine has lost her faith and now goes around debunking "miracles".

She gets a request to come to the small town of Haven because the river has turned to blood, the fish and frogs are dying, and while she's there, there's a plague of boils and locusts, cattle die and become crazy rabid attack cows.
The townspeople have Katherine believe it's the work of a little 12 year old girl just entering puberty, who is the cause of all the bad happenings, that she's in league with satan.
Katherine tries to explain things through science, runs tests, does everything she can until she sees a symbol for a cult.
She then calls a former priest friend, who just so happens to get burned to death while telling Katherine of the prophecies while speaking to her by phone, and she starts to believe the girl is indeed in league with the devil.

But it was the townspeople who had lied, they were the satanic cult who wanted to kill the girl but couldn't, because the girl was actually an angel sent by god to destroy the cult members.
The last plague is the death of the first borns, and most of the towns people end up dead, and Katherine helps save the girls life because she figures out that the girl is sent from God.
This whole experience changes her, restores her faith.
As she and the girl drive away from town, the girl places her hand on Katherine's belly and tell her she's pregnant with a boy.
Katherine had only thought she dreamed of having sex with the satanic cult leader, he needed to create another child apparently, and chose Katherine as the host mother for the devils new spawn.

This movie is bad. Just bad.
It was a terrible disappointment to see Katherine lose science so quickly in the face of things she normally would have proven false with science.
The dream of having sex, the pregnancy, bah, stupid.
I will say the movie had excellent special affects.
The plague of locusts was visually stunning, but this movie sucked ass.
If I had those little stars to do a scale of 1-5, this movie would get a 1 for special effects, and that's it.
It sucked.

Guess the movie #4, final clue.

You need to name the movie, the year, the male lead, and the song that played a major part in order to get the 4 points.

Annnnd, go!

Carla guessed it correctly and about 30 seconds later, so did Lady Draven.
I guess this final clue was the dead give away!

Sweeny Todd: The Demom Barber of Fleet Street

From director Tim Burton, we have Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall.

Synopsis:

Story about a grisly revenge by Benjamin Barker, a man unjustly imprisoned by a lecherous judge. Barker returns as barber Sweeney Todd and exacts revenge.

Trailer on Yahoo

R for graphic bloody violence

Guess the movie 3 winner!

Carla from My Little Tribe, guessed correctly that it is Six Degrees of Separation, 1993, and it's lead actors were Will Smith and Donald Sutherland.
Congrats Carla! You're earned 4 points!

One of the greatest movie monologues ever, came from this movie.
In this scene below, Will Smith's character, Paul, talks about the book Catcher in the Rye.

Film synopsis:
"In New York, the art dealers John Flanders ('Flan') Kittredge and Louisa ('Ouisa') Kittredge are ready to have a business dinner with their South African friend and client Geoffrey Miller, when a wounded young black man comes to their fancy apartment telling that he had been just robbed in Central Park and asking for help. He introduces himself as Paul, a friend of their son and daughter in Harvard and son of Sidney Poitier, and the couple invites him to stay with them. During they night, they find that Paul is not who he claims to be. When they investigate the life of Paul, they find the hidden truth."

Guess the movie #3, clue #2

Here is the second and final clue for this round.
Can you guess the movie?

We have a winner!

Brian, who is blog-less, guessed correctly on the Guess the movie #1 entry below, and now has 3 points towards winning the monthly prize of $25!

Not only did he guess it correct and give me the year and 1 actor, he had all the movies information, and he quoted the scene;

all wrong.

Stand By Me

Corey Feldman
River Phoenix
Jerry OConnell
Wil Wheaton

1986

"By the time he was eating his sixth pie, Lardass began to imagine that he wasn't eating pies, he pretended he was eating cowflops and rat guts in blueberry-sauce"

one of my top 5

Congrats Brian!
Don't forget to come here and check again in a few days, for Guess the movie #2!

Guess the movie #1?

Can you guess the name of this movie from this screen cap?
I'm going to start a monthly contest here at Twisted, called guess the movie, and only use screen caps.
I will post 10 images per month, and the person who guesses the most correct movies out of the 10 per month, will win a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com, or $25 by Paypal, winners choice.

Each correct guess is worth 1 point, first person to guess correctly, will get the point.
The contest will run from the 26th of the month, to the 26th of the following month, points will be tallied, and the winner will receive their $25 gift certificate or $25 through Paypal, on the 30th of the month.
Let's get this started.

This may be too easy. So what movie is it?
2 bonus points will be added to your total, if you know the year and can name at least one of the starring actors.
One additional screen cap is below. These are the only clues you will get.

*EDIT*
I added a wee bit more to the main screen cap, which I had cut in half. Perhaps this really easy one to me, was made too hard by cutting the picture too much.

Edit #2**
Comments are now closed due to having a winner!

The Story Never Ends �

Stuntman dies filming of The Dark Knight (2008)

Source

09/25/2007-
A special effects technician on the new Batman movie has been killed after a 4x4 truck hit a tree.
The man died when the vehicle, which was carrying a camera platform, crashed on a test run while following a stunt vehicle, which is thought to have been the Batmobile.
Emergency services were called to Longcross, near Chertsey in Surrey, but the man was pronounced dead.

A Warner Bros spokeswoman said no actors were involved, and the accident did not happen on set or while filming was taking place.

She said: "Warner Bros Pictures and the entire cast and crew of The Dark Knight are deeply saddened by this tragedy and their hearts and prayers go out to the family and loved ones of the deceased."
Police and the Health & Safety Executive have launched a joint investigation.

A HSE spokesman confirmed two vehicles had been involved in a "filming production exercise" when the crash happened.

He said: "It appears one vehicle was undertaking some stunt driving and another 4x4 provided the camera platform to film it.
The second vehicle and a camera operator were involved in a collision with a tree."

Breach (2007)

Breach is based on the true story of the 25 year long career, of Agent Robert Hanssen.

It stars Laura Linney, Ryan Phillipe, and Chris Cooper as Hanssen.

FBI agent Robert Hanssen spent over 20 years selling government secrets to the Russians, making him the most egregious traitor in U.S. history. He was an Opus Dei Catholic and a devout churchgoer who was also a sexual deviant, a straitlaced company man so trusted by his employers that they once appointed him to lead an investigation designed to reveal who the spy was--when in fact it was Hanssen himself. And in the end, he was brought down in part by 26-year-old Eric O'Neill, an agent-in-training who worked with him for just two months.

Chris Cooper does an amazing job portraying Agent Hanssen. I have loved him in other roles such as the closeted homosexual father in American Beauty, and Adaptation for which he won a 2003 best supporting Oscar.

Even though this is a true story and we already know how it ends, the film was captivating and intriguing.
To see how good at his job Hanssen was, to know he was in charge of catching the mole, and he was the mole, is startling.
He was a spy selling secrets to the Russians for over 20 years, costing the United States countless secrets. He was a sexual deviant, taping he and his wife having rough sex, and mailing the tapes to others.
He was a devout Catholic and family man, by all accounts he was a perfect husband, father, and grandfather. He was an employee so trusted by his FBI supervisors, they kept promoting him to the top of bigger and better cases, and even the head of the very case for which he was eventually caught.

If you enjoy spy stories, and seeing how catching the biggest traitor in U.S. history, then watch this movie.
It was done exceptionally well.

The Hitcher 2007

The Hitcher, 2007, stars Sean Bean and Neal McDonough, most notable, but the other stars aren't recognizable to me.

This is a remake of the cult classic starring C. Thomas Howell and Rutger Hauer, and frankly, they should have left it alone, as is my feeling with most remakes.

Product Description:

A road trip takes a deadly turn in this terrifying thriller about a young couple (Sophia Bush and Zachary Knighton) tormented by a psychotic hitchhiker (Sean Bean) who forces them to face their fears head-on. The open road becomes a battleground of blood and metal in the race to reveal the chilling truth about this relentless killer. No one knows who he is, what he's after, or how to stop this "truly twisted villain". Watch the madness unfold with intense edge-of-your-seat chase sequences drive this sinister film to a deadly ending you won't soon forget!

No, it's forgettable.
Those edge of your seat chase sequences? Lame.
The hitchhiker forcing them to face their fears? Not quite. He's just a demented fuck with no rhyme or reason to his killing.

He kills everybody he comes in contact with including a police station with 2 heavily armed cops. The movie offers no explanation how he pulled that off.
The way he shoots up all the police cars in the only really big chase scene, was just impossible. It was not believable at all, how a guy with a PISTOL, was able to kill 6 officers in cars, and take out a helicopter police unit.

The ending was lame too.
Our one and only decent cop is killed far too easy, and our stupid, whiny, starring girlfriend, takes the bad guy out with a police rifle after not firing a gun once during the whole movie, she doesn't even like them, but she somehow managed a perfect shot to the kneecap, and then a head shot kill with one hand.
Yeah, like that's believable.

Don't even waste your money or your Netflix seeing this one.

Alien vs Predator - Requiem

Holy shit, this looks bad ass!
So much better than that gay pyramid buried under teh Arctic circle crappy movie they put out.

Death Sentence starring Kevin Bacon.

Death Sentence comes out on August 31st, and is looking to be incredibly bad ass.

Synopsis: Nick Hume (Kevin Bacon) is a mild-mannered executive with a perfect life, until one gruesome night when he witnesses something that changes him forever. Transformed by grief, Hume eventually comes to the disturbing conclusion that no lentgh is too great when it comes to protecting his family.

It stars Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston, John Goodman, Aisha Tyler, Stuart Lafferty, Garret Hedlund, Matt O'Leary, and Leigh Whannell.

You can watch the trailer and clips on the site, it looks really good.
I have always been a fan of Kevin Bacon.
He's starred in over 60 movies including Animal House, Footloose, She's Having a Baby, Tremors, Flatliners, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River and The Woodsman.
His tv credits are just as long with over 70 appearances.
He has had and continues to have, an amazing career as one of the most well known and respected actors in the industry.
He has always, always, been a favorite actor of mine.
Mystic River was outstanding, The Woodsman, was a very controversial film, but what an incredible performance he gave.
He doesn't just play his part, he becomes his character no matter what role it is.

Death Sentence is a film that looks be an emotional roller coaster, digging down into the depths of a man, and just how far that man would go to avenge his son's death, and protect the rest of his family.

Black Snake Moan (2007)

Black Snake Moan stars Samuel L. Jackson as Lazarus, a man who has lost his wife to his own brother. Broken down and bitter, he finds Rae, played by Christina Ricci, on the side of the road near his house, broken down, beat down, and filled with the "itch."

The itch is a sickness, it drives her crazy, sex crazy. She was abused in horrible ways as a child and by men all her life. The pain starts in her head where the memories are, and it works it's way down her body. The only thing that has ever made the pain go away is sex. It releases her from the nightmarish memories that haunt her.

Rae lives with her boyfriend Ronny, played by Justin Timberlake, who wants to be a soldier and heads off for basic.
Ronny suffers severe anxiety attacks, and is eventually sent home.
But while he's away, Rae can't handle it on her own, Ronny used to be able to calm her down so she didn't go crazy with the itch, and go out looking for sex.
Rae used to help Ronny with his panic attacks, they were good for each other.
So while he's gone, Rae goes out and parties, tries to find peace, and what she finds is Ronny's best friend who abuses her and uses her, just like pretty much every other man she's ever known.

Lazarus finds her after this, and first heals her wounds and her nasty bad cough, then he aims to cure her of her evil ways.
He chains her to his heating radiator.
He cannot be moved on this.
He believes God has set Rae in his path for a reason.
Turns out, they were both set in each other's path.

This is the kind of movie you go in thinking it's going to be one kind of movie, and you come out realizing you just saw something else.
You see Lazarus and Rae help heal each other, and then Lazarus with the help of his preacher friend and some good ol' blues, help heal Rae and Ronny's nearly broken relationship.

There is some incredible blues on the soundtrack. I mean just downright soulful blues, the kind that hits your core.

Over all, this is a very decent movie, definitely not recommended for anyone under age 16 in my opinion. It starts with Rae and Ronny having sex, that is the opening scene.
There's bad language, graphic sex and violence, not a kids movie, and not for the faint of heart.

But there is a beautiful message in this film of love, forgiveness, and redemption.
They all help each other find their place of peace, and they all are able to move on with their lives and let the bitterness go.
For Lazarus, that means he lets his hatred of his ex-wife and brother go, and opens up his heart again to find love.
For Ronny and Rae, they belong together, they fix one another when they each need comfort that only the other can bring them.

Deliver us from evil

Tonight, the teens and I watched Deliver Us from Evil.
Film synopsis:
Moving from one parish to another in Northern California during the 1970s, Father Oliver O'Grady quickly won each congregation's trust and respect. Unbeknownst to them, O'Grady was a dangerously active pedophile that Church hierarchy, aware of his predilection, had harbored for over 30 years, allowing him to abuse countless children. Juxtaposing an extended, deeply unsettling interview with O'Grady himself with the tragic stories of his victims, filmmaker Amy Berg bravely exposes the deep corruption of the Catholic Church and the troubled mind of the man they sheltered.
________________

I told the teens going in, if they got bored or uncomfortable, we could shut it off, or they could go play games in the other room.
At first, they were bored at the idea of a documentary, but as soon as Father O' Grady started discussing his crimes against children in such a matter of fact way, they became intrigued by the film.

It was heartbreaking to watch for sure.
We sat riveted to each family tell the story of how they came to know Fr. Oliver, and how they trusted this priest with their lives, their families, and welcomed him into their homes to stay with them.
They all believed he was a good, honest priest, who could be trusted.
As their stories unfolded, it became clear he had abused their trust, the trust of his parish's, and mostly, all of their children.
The most heartbreaking moment is when the mother and father of one of the victims, retold the story of the day they found out their then 5 year old daughter at the time of the molestation, now in her 30's, and how that moment impacted their lives.
The father was so torn up, full of anger, rage and guilt.
He blamed himself for allowing Fr. O' Grady into their home, let him spend the night, and while they slept, he molested their 5 year old daughter.

His molestation wasn't aimed at just boys, but boys and girls alike.
They estimate Fr. Oliver's victims range in the 100's from the 30 years he remained, and was shuffled around, as a Catholic priest.

The documentary doesn't just take aim at O' Grady, but at the entire Catholic church from the diocese in LA where O' Grady was serving under, all the way to the Vatican in Rome.
The families, film maker, and one priest, Fr. Thomas Doyle, all believe that the Catholic church knew O' Grady was a pedophile, molesting children at every parish they moved him to, and covering up his crimes.
The Catholic church has paid out over $1billion dollars in lawyer and settlement fees, in regards to children being molested by their clergy.

There are never been seen before depositions from LA Cardinal Roger Mahoney, and Monsignor Cain, where they discussed the file the Catholic church had kept on O' Grady, and other Catholic priests.
They knew he had been taking advantage of mothers and fathers in order to get to their children, and raping and sodomizing those children since 1973, with the full knowledge of his Catholic superiors.
If a report from a family came in, they hushed them, and then moved O' Grady to a new parish less than 100 miles away from his last victims.

On the official site, you can view the trailer, and a national map of all the states abuse by clergy has been reported in.

The most amazing thing about this documentary, is that Father O' Grady agreed to it. He agreed to be filmed, and confess all of his sins.
It is a look inside the mind of a pedophile priest, his arousal triggers, his tellings of what he did to his victims, and how the Catholic church helped him avoid prosecution for 30 years.

This is an amazing documentary, but agreeably not for everyone. It contains graphic recollections from the victims, and graphic recollection from O' Grady himself.
I would highly recommend people watch it though.
It is not light fare, it's hard to stomach the details, but it makes you incredibly angry at the church for covering it up for so long.
And as the end credits rolled, it gives another reason for anti-Bush supporters to hate him.

President GW Bush, gave Pope Benedict XVI a free pass. He can never be convicted in the United States for the role he played in covering up not only Fr. O' Grady's crimes against children, but all the other Catholic priests the Vatican helped cover up, as well as while he worked as a close associate to the late Pope John Paul II.

The Number 23

The Number 23 is an ok film.
I won't even bother reposting the editorial comment from Amazon, because they slammed it pretty hard.
I found the film interesting. Sure, it could have been done a whole lot better, but it was alright.

Was Carrey a convincing schizophrenic murderer?
Yes and no.
I think people are so used to him being funny, that any role outside of the norm for him is looked at with an eye of total disbelief.
I think people would rather he be funny.
I thought he did ok. Not totally convincing, but believable to a point.

It's an interesting concept though.
Carrey plays Walter Sparrow who becomes obsessed with the number 23 after his wife gives him a book for his birthday.
Unbeknown to the both of them, this is the actual suicide/confessional of Sparrow from 13 years previous when he killed his lover and then attempted to commit suicide.
It was a failed attempt leaving him brain damaged, but his confessional was found by the police with names changed, so police and doctors did not realize it was the actual confession for killing his girlfriend.
A doctor at the mental health institution reads the confessional, and he then becomes obsessed with the number 23, but publishes the book under an assumed name.
Then Walter's wife finds it, gives it to him, he reads it and slowly starts piecing the numbers together until he becomes manically obsessed with the number all over again, and ultimately remembering his nasty deed.

It was an alright film, interesting to watch the numbers add up.

Re-animator

Re-Animator from 1985, is a classic, classic horror movie.
What should have been frightening, turned out to be a major laugh fest.

Stuart Gordon's adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's Herbert West: Re-Animator puts a Night of the Living Dead spin on the classic Frankenstein story. Jeffrey Combs furrows his brow and bugs his eyes as the preternaturally intense Herbert West, a maverick medical student whose gory, gooey experiments cause bloody corpses and body parts to jerk to life. Bruce Abbot is the studious roommate drawn into his extracurricular experiments, which soon involve the dean's daughter (the frequently naked Barbara Crampton) and the college's cadaverous, calculating star professor (David Gale), who literally loses his head over a battle for West's discovery. In this world, that's only a minor setback. Charged with sick gallows humor and a ghoulish gallery of undead beasties, Re-Animator, like Evil Dead II, is one of the most inspired and inventive--and funniest--horror films of the 1980s. Combs, Abbot, and Gale reunite for the almost-as-entertaining sequel Bride of Re-Animator. --Sean Axmaker

The boys and I just finished watching it, I hadn't watched it in about 10 years or so, but it was damn good fun to watch again.
We love gross horror films here, and this one has plenty of gore to keep you gurgling the vomit back from coming out of your mouth.
It has every thing a classic horror film of days gone by should have.
Gratuitous sex, bouncing boobies, blood, gore and a sinister plot.

Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West, is fabulously sinister and twisted just as I recall him from 1985's first viewing of the movie.
I admit to loving him in this role, and even have a sort of geeky crush on the killer and re-animating doctor.
I love his eyebrows and pursed lips.

Second X-Files movie is coming.

Word is out that a second X-Files movie is moving towards production.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The "X-Files" film sequel is heating up.

Co-star David Duchovny indicated Saturday during the Television Critics Association press tour that the film, which has been the subject of speculation for the past few years, is one step closer to becoming a reality.

This is totally cool. X-Files was one of my absolute favorite shows.
I still watch in re-runs, have a few episodes on tape, and the first movie.
Will Gillian Anderson be in it too?
Yeuss!

Duchovny also reiterated past remarks that he and "X-Files" co-star Gillian Anderson "are on board" the follow-up to the 1998 film and the series that ran on Fox from 1993 to 2002.

Duchovny was at TCA promoting his upcoming Showtime comedy series "Californication," which debuts August 13.

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth synopis:

Following a bloody civil war, young Ofelia enters a world of unimaginable cruelty when she moves in with her new stepfather, a tyrannical military officer. Armed with only her imagination, Ofelia discovers a mysterious labyrinth and meets a faun who sets her on a path to saving herself and her ailing mother. But soon, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur, and before Ofelia can turn back, she finds herself at the center of a ferocious battle between good and evil.

The movie is in Spanish with English subtitles, but you get so engrossed in what is going on on the screen, reading and watching blends seamlessly together and makes you totally immersed in the story of Ofelia.

Ofelia and her mother are driven to live with her mother's new husband at his military outpost, and her mother is not doing very well in her pregnancy with her new husband's baby.
Ofelia is terrified of her new stepfather and with good reason, he is a very cruel leader.
There is a rebellion going on and he is determined to stop it by any means necessary.

Ofelia explores the grounds of her new home after she sees a fairy who leads her into the labyrinth, and down some winding stairs where she meets faun who is convinced she is the long lost spirit of the underground king's daughter who had run away many years ago and died.
The faun gives her three tasks to complete before the moon turns full in order to prove she is indeed the long lost princess.

Her tasks are not easy to do for such a small girl, but she does them because life at home is getting increasingly worse with her stepfather capturing and torturing, and eventually killing rebellion soldiers.
Her mother is also getting worse and worse as the time of the child birth draws near.
Ofelia is given a special thing to place under her mother's bed to improve her health and that of the baby boy she carries.

The blood of an innocent must be spilled in order for her to return to her true home in the underground, but will she be able to complete this task?

This is a gloriously beautiful movie.
The effects blend in so well, you start thinking they are real yourself.
This is not a children's fairytale by any means.
It is dark and cruel, there are several very violent scenes of war and torture, so keep this in mind if you have children and you plan to watch it.
I would not recommend it for anyone under age 13, but it is a stunning piece of film and is heavily recommended by myself and my teenage sons whom I was sure would hate it.

They loved this story.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

As his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry approaches, 15-year-old Harry Potter is in full-blown adolescence, complete with regular outbursts of rage, a nearly debilitating crush, and the blooming of a powerful sense of rebellion. It's been yet another infuriating and boring summer with the despicable Dursleys, this time with minimal contact from our hero's non-Muggle friends from school. Harry is feeling especially edgy at the lack of news from the magic world, wondering when the freshly revived evil Lord Voldemort will strike. Returning to Hogwarts will be a relief--or will it?

We just got home from seeing this, myself and my two teenage sons, who have been HP fans since the first book. It was very enjoyable. I have loved the darkness of the last few films. Not to say the first ones with all the bright colors sucked, but I do love how dark they are.

Fans of the books will no doubt watch HP and the OOTP, and say 'oh! so much from the book is missing!'
Yes, a lot of scenes are cut out, but I'm hopeful that the DVD when released, will have some deleted or extended scenes.
Certain scenes have been changed entirely from my recollection of the book, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do, to squeeze a book of that size down to 2 hours and 18 minutes.

There are no surprises in the film, readers already know what's going on and about to happen, but it is done superbly.
I am always amazed at the CGI in the HP films because the stuff looks so real like you could just reach out and touch it.
The 'battle scenes' are full of stunning effects. I love the way they all look, the actors really get into their roles and portray the magic so well, like they are really casting spells.

It was nice to see that the scene between Harry and Severus, where Snape is trying to teach Harry mind control, was not cut out.
It gave Harry that little bit of info on Snape's relationship with James Potter that Harry needed to know.
The memory scenes are beautiful as they have always been, and I love seeing the pictures that come to life when they are looked at.

The theater was mostly empty, I blame that on the official movie posters (above) where the date says July 13, 2007.
I have a feeling there are a lot of people who don't know that opening day was changed to today.
We had some obnoxious tween girls in the row in front of us, all giggling and talking loudly as their HP crushes came on screen, and after the movie when I used the restroom, they just had to be in there talking about which girl character they would want to be so they could be the girlfriends of their fave boy characters.
Tween girls are annoying.
I really hope I wasn't like that at that age.
I wanted to go to the restroom sink and spray them all with water to shut them the hell up, mostly because they talked through the whole movie, but also because they sounded like stupid little fan girls.

Over all, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is an excellent movie.
Gorgeous to look at, great sound and visual effects, and fairly faithful to the book.
Go see it if you are a fan of the books and films, you won't be disappointed.

1-18-08

The official teaser trailer for the yet untitled film by JJ Abrams, is now on line at Apple.
This is the speculated Godzilla or Voltron movie I've previously posted about.
There are some new rumors that it is a ctulhu like monster.
This trailer is so much better quality than the sneaky hidden camera ones taken at theaters when people went to see Transformers.

1-18-08

Ghost Rider 2007

We just got done watching Ghost Rider.
This movie is awesome!

Plot summary and possible spoilers:

Nicolas Cage as motorcyclist Johnny Blaze, who transforms into a skull-faced angel of vengeance to battle the forces of evil. Though perhaps a bit too mature for the role, Cage brings a degree of humor to the outrageous proceedings; he's well matched by the Easy Rider himself Peter Fonda, amusingly cast as Mephistopheles, the demon with whom Blaze strikes a bargain to save his father, and in turn, causes his transformation into Ghost Rider. Wes Bentley is also fine as Blackheart, the rebellious offspring of Mephistopheles, and Blazes' chief opponent in the film. They're joined by a solid supporting cast which includes Donal Logue, Eva Mendes, and Sam Elliott, but their participation and a relentless barrage of CGI effects can't hide the fact that the story itself, though largely faithful to its comic origins, is rife with clichéd characterizations and glum B-movie dialogue. Fans of the venerable title may cry foul over this adaptation (as they did over helmer Mark Steven Johnson's previous comic-to-movie feature, Daredevil), but less stringent viewers may enjoy the fiery visuals and Cage's typically quirky performance. --Paul Gaita

While I agree with Gaita on some points, I think Cage did a fine job in the role.
He is much too old for this role, but he played it well.
Yes the dialogue was rather B movie, but it was an enjoyable film.
It won't win any awards, well maybe for the CGI effects, but it's a good fun movie for everyone.
There's no bad language, no sex, no over the top gore or blood for that matter.

I loved seeing Peter Fonda as Mephistopheles.
When I imagine the horned one, I do not picture him as being played by someone who has always been so "gentle" in my opinion, but Fonda was cool, slick, he fit.

Eva Mendes was bland. I guess that's why in every scene her boobs were popping out of her shirt or dess.
She just didn't show or have any emotions. In a few scenes, her eyes seemed to be wandering off set looking at something, perhaps a director giving hand signals? Who knows, but she was really dull.

Now, Wes Bentley who played Blackheart, did a fine job. He looked evil, sounded evil, kinda sexy.
In American Beauty, Bentley was the oddly calm teen next door, who sold pot and helped transform Lester and Jane into the people they wanted to be.
In Ghost Rider, he is loud and creepy, the CGI effects to his character were very cool.

Over all, the film is very enjoyable, and because it had no bad language or sex or gore, I'd say it's appropriate for a slightly younger crowd as well as adults for a fun night of movie watching.

More info on possible Cloverfield movie.

There are currently two rumors about it now.
One, that it is a new Godzilla because of the noise you can hear and the reporter in the news clip says that reports of a roaring noise can be heard, and two, that it is a Voltron movie.

There are two websites now. One with just a picture on it, 1-18-08.
And then Cloverfieldmovie.com with absolutely nothing on it.

I'll be watching both sites to see what comes of them.

Cloverfield.

Here's what we know.

Cloverfield, which recently unleashed a bizarre kickass trailer in front of Transformers. Here's what we know so far: The film is due out on January 18, 2008, it's produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot (Lost, Alias), Paramount Pictures is distributing, and it's apparently a monster movie shot from the POV of handheld video cameras. After viewing said trailer, our own Scott Weinberg said it looks like "The Blair Witch Project meets the Godzilla remake." Well, now, AICN say they know who's directing Cloverfield (or whatever the hell it's called): Matt Reeves. Who? Well, believe it or not, but Reeves was an executive producer and writer on the TV show Felicity, and he also helped the Mark Wahlberg flick The Yards and Under Siege 2. His only big-screen directing gig to date was on The Pallbearer, which he also co-wrote.

Keep in mind that Cloverfield is not the title of this movie; I believe it's the top secret name they're using right now to hide the real title, if there is one. AICN also claims that Drew Godard (Lost, Alias, Buffy) penned the script, and that the featured monster is something called The Parasite. With all the Lost folks involved, some fans speculated that Cloverfield could be a companion piece of sorts to the show. Personally, I'm in the camp that thinks this is a totally new flick -- I just can't understand all this secrecy. What do they have to hide? Is all this hush hush just a plot to drum up internet buzz for the project, or is there another reason why no one will talk about it? Regardless, I think a monster movie told from the POV of folks running around with video cameras has the potential of being a really fun ride, so long as the damn camera doesn't shake repeatedly and give me a headache. We already know there will be a host of major Star Trek XI announcements later this month at ComicCon, so look for more Cloverfield info to be revealed at that time.

And here's what it looks like.

Micheal Moore wants you to watch Sicko.

I am posting this until someone tells me to take it down.
Right now, I am so very angry at our health care system I could scream.

I know Moore often exaggerates shit, but come the fuck on people, wake up!
We are killing our own citizens with this privatized medical insurance bullshit.
If you can't pay, you die in the US.
In other countries, you just don't pay.
You live.

After battling with my insurance company for 5 years and being denied again and again, I am so fucking angry that somewhere else, they would have just cared for me.
I wouldn't have lost my ability to work at a job. I wouldn't be disabled.
Do you know what that is like? Do you?

I'm sick to my stomach after watching this and I hope you feel sick too.
But don't go to a US hospital, they only care if you can pay.

The Story Never Ends �

Where The Wild Things Are.

Where the wild things are, is scheduled for release on 10/3/2008.
Here's your sneak peak at it.
It's a live action with some cgi as well.
Where the Wild Things Are is the classic children's story by Maurice Sendak.

Click for larger.

Surf's up! Er, maybe not.

I haven't seen the movie Surf's Up, because my kids are not young children, but my friend Kate has two young daughters, and she took her daughter Olivia to see it on June 20th.
This is her review of Surf's Up.
Parents, consider this before you take your little ones to see it.
It's not exactly appropriate language for them.

Olivia and I attended an afternoon movie show while Moira was at a birthday party. We stood in line for Shrek 3 but it sold out right before we could get the tickets. Man, I was so bummed. The only other show that was available was Surfs Up.

So, I grab two tickets, pick up a $4.50 small soda and we rush into the show. Let me tell you that we got the last two seats in the very back row. The theater was mobbed, humid, and smelled faintly of dirty diapers. Not the wet kind, if you know what I mean.

Eww.

Well, the show starts and it's a bit violent and dark. As the movie goes on, I am more and more dismayed at the language that was used through this movie.

There was a penguin says "it tastes like sh...,"
A chicken says "I can feel it in my nuggets,"
Name-calling (loser, cocky, jerk, snowflake, bum, blubber-ball, fish sticks, "dirty trash can full of "poop")and the winning phrase of pecker face. Pecker face!*

I was shocked. Here's the kicker: not only did the character clearly call another character a pecker face, the theater was running the closed captioning so everyone got to read the words "pecker face" as well as hearing it. I'm sitting in the theater with my seven year old, watching this movie. The theater is full of children of all ages, some even as young as four or five.

Lovely. Just lovely.

So all you readers out there looking to take your young children to this movie, I'd have to definitely suggest you stay home and save your money.

*All the other name calling didn't bother me too much. Olivia's heard them before but I still maintain that pecker face was over the top for a childrens movie.

I Am Legend

On December 14, 2007, Will Smith comes back to the screen with another adventure blockbuster movie.
In my opinion of course.

I Am Legend is the story of Robert Neville, a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable... and manmade. Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City... and maybe the world. But he is not alone. He is surrounded by "the Infected" -- victims of the plague who have mutated into carnivorous beings who can only exist in the dark and who will devour or infect anyone or anything in their path. For three years, Neville has spent his days scavenging for food and supplies and faithfully sending out radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. All the while, the Infected lurk in the shadows, watching Neville’s every move, waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind’s last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But his blood is also what The Infected hunt, and Neville knows he is outnumbered and quickly running out of time. Based on the novel by Richard Matheson.

Directed by Francis Lawrence, and put out by Warner Bros. Studios.
The cast stars, Will Smith, Alice Braga, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Willow Smith, Charlie Tahan.

You can get a sneak peek by watching the I Am Legend trailer.

Review of the movie, 1408.

I went to see 1408, the new movie starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson, written by Stephen King, tonight at the Hollywood 20 on Main street in Sarasota.

Possible spoilers below.

The story;
Mike Enslin writes books on the paranormal. He visits so called haunted hotels and then writes his experiences down and rates them on a scale of 1-10 skulls. But only believes what he can see, but tries to keep each location on good standing so they can keep their tourists.

He plans on doing the same thing in the infamous room 1408, of the Dolphin Hotel for his latest project.
He gets the idea to go there when he checks his mail, and receives a postcard that says "Don't stay in room 1408."
That's it.

He calls the hotel to book a room, and they tell him it's not available.
Not Saturday, not next Tuesday, not next month, or next summer.
The manager of the hotel tries to discourage people from staying there and Enslin (Cusack) is no exception.
But Enslin's book manager finds an old law on the New York books, that if a hotel has any room technically available, they have to let a guest stay in it.

When Enslin arrives, the manager, Mr. Owen (Samuel L. Jackson) does everything he can to try and get Enslin to stay in another room. He tries the upgrade to a suite plan, he tries to bribe him with a bottle of really expensive liquor, he tries to tell him about all 56 people who died in that room in the history of the hotel.
Enslin thinks this is a great trick, keep the hype up on the room, it makes the hotel more popular, but Owen says that the hotel tries to keep the stories out of the papers, they don't want the publicity.
Why?
It's not a spirit or poltergeist, it's the room itself.
"It's a fucking evil room" says Owen.

Enslin finally gets the key and goes in, all is going great for awhile, he talks into his hand held recorder describing the room in detail.
Then, the clock radio turns on by itself, playing the Carpenters song, "We've only just begun".
And indeed, we have.

From that moment forward, the room does every thing it can to get Enslin to kill himself.
The room doesn't kill you, it gets you to do it in a variety of ways.
Every person who has died in that room, all ended themselves, or died of natural causes like heart attacks or a stroke, brought on by fear.
One guy even drowned in a bowl of chicken soup.
Enslin starts to snap after awhile, the same thing many of the rooms former guests did, but he keeps getting a grip on himself, and comes back to his senses.
The room is truly evil though, and it plays many heinous tricks on him, one was his young daughter who had died.
The room brings her back to him, he can feel her, hug her, smell her, talk to her.
Then the room takes her away.
It was a sad moment, the only sad moment in the entire movie.
The rest of it will have you jumping out of your seat, screaming, and clutching who ever is seated next to you.
The entire audience was freaking out.
This movie has some of the best "jump" moments I have seen in a long, long time.
Our hero finally finds a way to stay alive, beat the room's 1 hour countdown.
If you somehow manage to make it through the first hour, it makes you do it again.
It's torturous.
It plays on all of your thoughts and fears, it knows you and uses it against you.
I won't say any more, I don't want to ruin it for you.

Cusack, as always, does an awesome job. I think I have loved every character he has ever portrayed. Jackson's role is minimal, he really is just the hotel manager, a creepy one, but he played the role well.
I probably would have taken him up on his offer of the suite upgrade.

Definitely go see this, it's worth the cost of the ticket.

1408

Tonight I'm going to see the movie 1408.
It's opening day, I have tix already bought on Fandango for the 7:45pm showing.
I can't wait!

I love horror movies and thrillers, and I love Stephen King.
You can check out the trailer below, and when I get back, I'll be sure to post a full review on it..

Apocalypto

Mel Gibson's Apocalypto

Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life. As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, the rulers insist the key to prosperity is to build more temples and offer human sacrifices. Jaguar Paw (Youngblood), a young man captured for sacrifice, flees to avoid his fate.

The story is set in the pre-Columbian Maya population: one village is brutally overrun, its residents either slaughtered or abducted, by a ruling tribe that needs slaves and human sacrifices. We focus on the capable warrior Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), although Gibson skillfully sketches a whole population of characters--many of whom don't survive the early reels. Most of the film is set in the dense jungle, but the middle section, in a grand Mayan city, is a dazzling triumph of design, costuming, and sheer decadent terror. The movie itself is a triumph of brutality, as Gibson lets loose his well-established fascination with bodily mortification in a litany of assaults including impalement, evisceration, snakebite, and bee stings. It's a dark, disgusted vision, but Gibson doesn't forget to apply some very canny moviemaking instincts to the violence--including the creation of a tremendous pair of villains (strikingly played by Raoul Trujillo and Rodolfo Palacias). The film is in a Maya dialect, subtitled in English, and shot on digital video (which occasionally betrays itself in some blurry quick pans). Amidst all the mayhem, nothing in the film is more devastating than a final wordless exchange of looks between captured villager Blunted (Jonathan Brewer) and his wife's mother (Maria Isabel Diaz), a superb change in tone from their early relationship. Yes, this is an obsessive, crazed movie, but Gibson knows what he's doing. --Robert Horton

This is actually a very decent movie, it almost didn't need subtitles as through the actors very well done performances, you can clearly understand what each and every scene is about. I barely read any of the dialogue.

The images are beautiful, every thing looks impeccably authentic, the picture above of the Aztec priest looking at the eclipsing sun, looks exactly like that in the film, the colors are gorgeous, the costumes so ornate, and the actors just perfectly fit the decorative and stunning costumes and story line.

The movie is hard to watch in a few places, the brute killing rampage that the Aztecs went on, was horrific.
They slaughtered every one they came in contact with except for the people they wanted to capture as slaves or as sacrifices to their God's.
The impalements, neck slicing and be headings, were so real looking, I had to turn away a few times.
They killed who they wanted, kept alive who they wanted, but left the children alive in every village.
One of the most heartbreaking scenes was when one of the now captive mothers turns back as she is being forced to walk through treacherous waters, to see a small group of children on the shore who could not follow, and the oldest child of the group, a young girl looking no more than 10 years old, screams out to the mother;
"Do not worry, they are my children now, I will care for them all!" as all the children now left in her care from babies to kids just a bit younger than her, cry for their dead parents and the parents who are being carted away.
The mother says a small prayer to the God's to keep them safe from harm, but she knows they are not going to survive, you can see this realization in her eyes, on her face.

The main character is a joy to watch, he speaks volumes without uttering a single Mayan word.
Through a series of terrifying events and close calls, he manages to escape and find his way back to his pregnant wife and young son who are slowly going to be drowned in an underground cave where they hid when the invading Aztecs came.
It's raining and he knows he must get back.
He still has to fight off a group of Aztec warriors who are after him for escaping and killing the only son of the warriors leader.
He manages to kill them all and rescue his wife, but as our story ends, Cortez and his Spaniards are arriving on shore armed with guns.
We all know the story of the Aztec civilization from there.
Jaguar paw and his family go into the forest to start a new life and avoid the new invaders.

It is an excellent movie, but very bloody, lots of gore close up, so it's definitely not for the faint of heart.

More than meets the eye.

This movie is going to be so bad ass.

Link to another trailer.

Is anyone else getting totally psyched for this?
*squeeeeee!*

Alpha Dog

Alpha Dog is based on a true story about the life of Jesse James Hollywood, a drug dealer who became one of the youngest men ever to be on the FBI's most wanted list.

With harrowing intensity, Alpha Dog dramatizes one of the most tragically notorious murders in recent history. Ripped from the headlines, writer-director Nick Cassavetes' flawed but riveting crime drama (a polar opposite to his previous film, the romantic hit The Notebook) is based on the real-life case of Jesse James Hollywood, a drug dealer in California's San Gabriel Valley who, in 2000, became one of the youngest men to appear on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. Names and details have been changed, but the criminal circumstances remain the same: With family links to organized crime, Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) is on the warpath against Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), a sleazebag addict who owes him money. Fate intervenes when Johnny and his stoner pals including Frankie (Justin Timberlake) encounter Jake's 15-year-old half-brother Zack (Anton Yelchin) and hold him as collateral until Jake pays his debts. What begins as a casual, seemingly harmless situation escalates into a crisis of capital crime, as Alpha Dog employs split-screen, docudrama, and mock-documentary interviews to chronicle a tragic tailspin of reckless events and lawless behavior.

I knew the circumstances of the real case, I knew the real life ending, but I kept hoping for a different outcome the whole way through.
The little brother Zack, is a likable kid, just wanting to help his big brother Jake out of a sticky mess, he has no idea what's going to happen to him until the very last minute.
His heart wrenching pleas for his own life, had me teary eyed, I just wanted this to not end in such a tragic way.

This is a really good movie, it's not for everyone though. There is a lot of drug use, violence and sex.
If true crime thrillers and action are your thing, Alpha Dog is a good choice.

I was really surprised by Justin Timberlake's performance.
He did much better than I thought he was going to.
I'm not a huge fan of his music, but I think he did a fine job as an actor.

Remake Barbarella?

From Variety we hear;

Producers Dino and Martha De Laurentiis have completed a rights deal that will allow them to reinvent "Barbarella," and the producers have set "Casino Royale" scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade to pen the script.

The original 1968 Roger Vadim-directed fantasy was produced by De Laurentiis, who wrote the check to secure Purvis and Wade.

"Barbarella is the ultimate science-fiction adventure heroine: smart, strong funny and sexy," De Laurentiis said. "I'm excited to reintroduce Barbarella to a new generation of moviegoers."

In the original film, Jane Fonda played the title character as a kittenish sexpot. That movie comes off as camp and dated by today's standards.

In the remake, the scribes will make Barbarella a free, modern gal who survives in a futuristic world through her intelligence, fighting skills and sexuality.

I don't know how many of you have ever seen the original Barbarella, but this is a classic sci-fi film that in my opinion, shouldn't be remade.
Fonda was perfectly cast in the role.
She was young, smart, funny, and sexy.
The movie made an impression people and in particular, a band named Duran Duran.

The year is 40,000. Peacefully floating around in zero-gravity Barbarella (Jane Fonda) is suddenly interrupted by a call from the President of Earth. A young scientist, Durand Durand, is threatening the ancient universal peace and Barbarella is the chosen one to find him and save the world. During her mission, Barbarella never finds herself in a situation where it isn't possible to lose at least part of her already minimal dressing.

I'll be honest, the only reason I watched this film is because I loved Duran and Duran, and when I heard them say in an interview that this is the movie they got their name from, I rented it.
I was surprised by it. I actually enjoyed this very campy sci-fi film with very bad set design.
But hey, it was made in 1968, it was actually pretty decent for it's time.
But they are talking of a remake, and some names that have been tossed around to play the lead, make me shudder.
Lindsey Lohan? While she does remind me of a young Fonda in this film, I just don't think she has the chops to pull it off.
Another name is Scarlett Johansson. While very pretty and quite sexy, I don't think she has the ability either.
Jessica Biel has also been mentioned. Out of the three, I think she has the best physical appearance. This isn't just a sex kitten role, Barbarella is an action hero, she fights and sleeps he way out of problems. A very physical role.

This movie is simply a cult classic with a huge following. Many bands have been influenced by it, not just Duran Duran, but Kylie Minogue, recreated the infamous zero-gravity strip-tease in her award winning 1994 video for "Put Yourself in My Place".
The British band Jamiroquai also mentions a "baby Barbarella" in their hit 1996 song "Cosmic Girl."
The band Matmos takes its name from the underground fluid creature in the film (as does the lava lamp manufacturer Mathmos).
Rock-funk artist Prince also has a history of referencing and being inspired by the film Barbarella. His song Endorphin Machine from The Gold Experience album clearly relates to the sexual torture machine Durand Durand uses on Barbarella in the movie.

With such a huge cult following and the influence this film has had, it just doesn't need to be remade.
I'm sure it will be though, Hollywood has run out of original ideas and is taking movies of long past, and trying to revamp them to a newer generation.
This is one film that simply needs to be left alone.

Children of Men.

Children of Men stars Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, and Micheal Caine.

In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.

I really liked this one. It's action packed, suspenseful, full of darkness.
It's set in a very bleak and drab future of 2027, where women can no longer get pregnant, and the last youngest human on the planet, was killed at age 18 years, 5 months and so many days, because he refused to sign an autograph.
A young woman is mysteriously able to get pregnant, but because no one has given birth since the year 2009, her life is in danger.
Theo, (Clive Owen) agrees to help her escape by boat, to get to the group known as the Human Project, so they can figure out the mystery of infertility and try to save humanity.
The world in 2027 is war torn, every where has problems. All countries have closed their borders and ship refugees out, or kill them.
Micheal Caine is the only comedic relief in this dark tale, as Theo's pot smoking hippie friend who has contacts to help Theo and the pregnant woman Kee, escape.
Their journey is long and harrowing, finding small helpers along the way who are amazed at the pregnancy.
The hope for all mankind lies within this one woman.

I really wouldn't say this movie is for everyone.
It's more for the sci-fi, end of the world, tin foil hat wearers, who love to look ahead at the what if's.
It's not a great movie, but not a bad one either.
It's a decent way to spend a few hours.

The Pursuit of Happyness

The Pursuit of Happyness.

In 1981, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) was a struggling salesman in little needed medical bone density scanners while his wife (Thandie Newton) toiled in double shifts to support the family including their young son, Christopher (Jaden Smith). In the face of this difficult life, Chris has the desperate inspiration to try for a stockbroker internship where one in twenty has a chance of a lucrative full time career. Even when his wife leaves him because of this choice, Chris clings to this dream with his son even when the odds become more daunting by the day. Together, father and son struggle through homelessness, jail time, tax seizure and the overall punishing despair in a quest that would make Gardner a respected millionaire.

This movie is heartbreaking, and moving, powerful.
I was rooting for Chris Gardner every few minutes. Just when you thought things were going to go right, bam! He got knocked down a few pegs again. But he never gave up.
He just never quit.
This movie had me bawling, so sad, so much struggle, so much love from a father for his son.
He did everything for his son. He slept in bathrooms, didn't eat, got in fights, sold his blood, all to be a father to his son.
When Chris Gardner was a boy, he never knew his father. He vowed that his son would always have his father in his life, that he would be a good role model and provider for his own son.
He is the most awesome father in this movie.
I cried at how hard this man struggled just to be somebody, just to be a great dad, to make a better life for himself and his son.
And he succeeded.
This is based on a true story, some parts were dramatized for Hollywood of course, but it just goes to show you, that with enough determination and courage, anyone, can meet their goals.

Keeping Mum.

Keeping Mum

is the story of Walter Goodfellow (Rowan Atkinson), the vicar for the small English country parish of Little Wallop, has allowed his marriage to Gloria (Kristin Scott Thomas) go stale and he is so detached from his family that he has not taken notice that his 17-year-old daughter Holly is going through a succession of inappropriate relationships with unsuitable boyfriends and his son Petey fears going to school due to being bullied. Out of desperation for affection, Gloria begins to fall for the advances of Lance (Patrick Swayze), the American golf pro that is giving her "private" lessons. The problems upsetting the family start to fade away after Grace Hawkins (Maggie Smith), the new housekeeper, arrives and starts tending to matters as an older, and rather darkly mysterious version of Mary Poppins.

This movie is quite funny, dark and humorous.
Grace Hawkins had been convicted 40 years ago of killing her husband and his mistress. When she is set free, she goes to work for the Goodfellow family who are having a ton of problems in their lives.
Grace takes matters into her own hands to get this family back on track, and the way she does it, is in her own "special way".
Maggie Smith is simply wonderful as Grace. I love her as an actress, her work is always splendid to watch.
There's a family plot twist that is not revealed till near the end, but it explains why Grace is doing all the things she does.
This movie is a good time, full of laughs, interesting characters, not a bad way to spend a few hours.

Keeping Mum

Little Miss Sunshine

I watched Little Miss Sunshine tonight, and it was by far one of the best films I've seen all year.
I love this family!

Olive is a little girl with a dream: winning the Little Miss Sunshine contest. Her family wants her dream to come true, but they are so burdened with their own quirks, neuroses, and problems that they can barely make it through a day without some disaster befalling them. Olive's father Richard is a flop as a motivational speaker, and is barely on speaking terms with her mother. Olive's uncle Frank, a renowned Proust scholar, has attempted suicide following an unsuccessful romance with a male graduate student. Her brother Dwayne, a fanatical follower of Nietzsche, has taken a vow of silence, which allows him to escape somewhat from the family whose very presence torments him. And Olive's grandfather is a ne'er-do-well with a drug habit, but at least he enthusiastically coaches Olive in her contest talent routine. Circumstances conspire to put the entire family on the road together with the goal of getting Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine contest in far off California.

I absolutely loved this movie and every one of it's characters.
The dad, played by Greg Kinnear, annoyed me for most of the movie.
His idea of who a loser is, pissed me off. His comments to his own family on why they are losers, made me want to reach through the screen and kick him in the nuts.
Or better yet, I was hoping the mom played by Toni Collette, would.
Abigail Breslin, who played Olive, was outstanding. I loved her spirit and determination. Her courage. Fantastic performance.
Alan Arkin, who played Grandpa, was a trip with his heroin and sex addictions.*

There was only one part of the movie that had me near tears.
Olive's big brother Dwayne, played by Paul Dano, had taken this vow of silence until he reached his goal of being a pilot, had a moment of saddening realization. After months of not speaking, he broke with such fury and rage, and the ugly truth of what might be.

The ending, Olive's talent in the pageant, had me in laughter and worry. I felt for this little girl, but loved the way her family came through for her.
Awesome.

This is such a great movie, it really is. Add it to your Netflix, pick it up at your fave rental store, or just go ahead and buy it.

One more character note.
I'm probably one of three people on the entire planet, (ok, those who know who he is anyway) who hates Steve Carell. I don't find any of his humor funny, I watch the office for the supporting cast.
His performance in Little Miss Sunshine didn't convert me, but I thoroughly enjoyed what he did with the role.

Little miss sunshine

The Story Never Ends �

28 weeks later.

I am a huge fan of the movie 28 Days Later, it did a really cool reinvention of the zombie type film.

Now we have 28 weeks later and it's looking to be really cool.
Check out the trailer.

May 7, 2007 ERADICATION STERILIZATION RE-POPULATION RE-INFECTION

28 weeks later

Blood Diamond

Blood Diamond

Set against the backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990's Sierra Leone, Blood Diamond is the story of Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) - an ex Mercenary from Zimbabwe - and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) - a Mende fisherman. Both men are African, but their histories as different as any can be, until their fates become joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives. While in prison for smuggling, Archer learns that Solomon - who was taken from his family and forced to work in the diamond fields - has found and hidden the extraordinary rough stone. With the help of Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist whose idealism is tempered by a deepening connection with Archer, the two men embark on a trek through rebel territory, a journey that could save Solomon's family and give Archer the second chance he thought he would never have.

This is an extraordinary film, I can see why it has so many nominations.
Leonardo DiCaprio gives a brilliant performance, could do without the accent though, it just doesn't work with him.
Djimon Hounsou, (Gladiator, In America) gives a top notch performance as always. I love to see him work, he's just outstanding.
As a father searching for his son, to get him back from the rebels who took him and are training hi to be a soldier, my heart ached for him. He played this role so well, you can't help but be touched by his love, his drive, and his courage.
Connelly's role isn't huge, but she does a fine job as usual.

This movie is just too good. It is violent, only mature audiences should watch. The horrors of war are just so graphic, and this movie doesn't shield you from it.
I rate it very highly, a must see.

blood diamond

Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

I'm so excited for this. We absolutely loved 1 & 2, this one is sure to be just as good.
And it has a great cast as usual. Chow Yun-Fat?! Get out!

Pirates of the Caribbean 3

300

We just got back from seeing 300.
This was an amazingly beautiful film.
Stunning graphics. I really was blown away by how gorgeous this film is, and knowing it's from Frank Miller, I expected nothing less than a masterpiece.

Synopsis:
In the ancient Battle of Thermopylae, King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy.

Myself, Mark, Sebastian, their friend Mikey, and his brother Rocky, all went to the theater to watch this.
None of them could get in without an adult, so I was more than happy to go with them.
Mikey and Rocky's parents aren't big on these types of movies, so when they want to see something bloody, they call me to go with them.
The theater was silent while watching, everyone just in awe over this.
This movie was simply outstanding. Great story, great cast, great look and sound.

Caption: Spartan forces discover the remains of villagers whose town was sacked by a Persian scouting party.

Gerard Butler did a really terrific job as King Leonidas. He was a large presence on screen, his voice matching his appearance, large.
This is the king of Sparta.
I've noticed something about actress Lena Headey who played King Leonidas's wife, Queen Gorgo. These types of movies, are her movies. She is perfect for this role. Strong female lead, beautiful, a powerful presence on screen.
It was nice to see David Wenham on screen again in a good strong role playing Dilios, one of Leonidas's soldiers and a man to be trusted to speak to the counsel to have Sparta go to war.

Caption: Rodrigo Santoro as King Xerxes.

If you thought about seeing this but weren't sure, go see it. It is breathtaking to look at, the sights, sounds, and heart of Sparta to fight for their freedom, made for a really great movie.

Oh and ladies, you may be thinking this movie is not for you, and your man is bugging you to go with him to see it. Go with him.
Almost every man in the movie is wearing a pair of leather underwear and nothing else but a cape.
They all have amazing bodies. Washboard abs, that 'V'.
Yum.

300

Borat.

I think I may be the only person on the planet who did not find Borat funny at all.
Seriously.
We watched it last night and I didn't laugh once.
The boys chuckled a few times, I just didn't find any humor what so ever in it.
It was just frigging stupid humor.
I hate stupid humor.

"I'll tell you where our enemies are putting their focus,

they're putting it on the kids. I want to see (our kids) them as radically laying down their lives for the gospel, because we have, excuse me, we have the truth."

I'm watching Jesus Camp right now, a movie I've been waiting to see since I heard about it.
I knew going in to watching this, that I was going to be disturbed, let there be no doubt that this will be a very biased review of this movie.
I was raised Christian, not radical fundamentalist Christian like the kids in this movie, but I too went to summer camp for our church.
We sang songs, had plays or skits, made arts and crafts, learned to swim, learned to canoe, learned how to trust people and make new friends.
Radically different than the summer camp that the kids in this movie are attending.
Radically different.

The Story Never Ends �