Posts

Showing posts from June, 2010

Indie Gems: The Good Girl

Image
'The Good Girl' is a subtle film about an unhappy woman named Justine (Jennifer Aniston) working at a discount store in some nowhere town. She hates her life, and her husband, Phil. (John C. Reilly) When a quite, withdrawn young man named Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal) comes to work with her, she finds herself intrigued and they start an affair. This could be her once chance to change her life for the better, will she take it? This is the kind of movie I wish Jennifer Aniston would do more often. I'm so sick of her rom-coms. She actually showed a lot of talent in this. I like her dramatic side. I liked the flow of this movie, the majority of the scenes took place in the "Retail Rodeo" where they worked. It made the film look low budget, but in the best possible way. John C. Reilly is a tremendous actor in my opinion because we all know he's hilarious, but he's also capable of being so unlikeable and mean. We get to see that side of him in this film. Jake Gyll

Quick Ramblings!

Image
I've been a huge slacker lately on my reviews. After the holiday weekend I'm going to try to update more regularly. In the world of movies, here's what I've been up too lately Quick Reviews: Toy Story 3 Grade: B I thought it was cute. My dad and I went to it on Father's day because he took me to the original when it first came out. (aww) I remember not liking the second film because of the new characters, where as the new ones in this film helped. Good for Pixar. They'll see you at the Oscars, Dreamworks. Splice Grade: C- Splice had a great cast and a cool concept but really just made me go "what the hell?" one too many times. The following trailer is making me even more excited for 'Inception' and the following stills are making me even more excited for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" They're from the trailer, which debuts tomorrow online. Thanks Snitch Seeker.

Random Ramblings: It's Frances McDormand's Birthday!

Image
This is a new column I thought would be fun to write. I originally started writing one a few days ago when it was Nicole Kidman's B-day, then I got lazy and just never finished. Basically what I will do is on my featured actor/director/writer's birthday, I will name my favorite project of theirs, my least favorite, their most bizarre/fun, and their most underrated. I'll also name one film that I haven't seen yet that I probably should, and if you've seen it, tell me how you felt! Let's start with Mrs. Joel Coen, shall we? Happy Birthday, Frances! Favorite Film: Almost Famous There was a lot of things I loved about this movie. The entire cast gave the best performances of their careers in this film and it all came together so nicely. Least Favorite Film: Fargo I understand that I am absolutely in the minority with this one. I hated Fargo. Absolutely hated it. I HATED the phony over enunciated accents. I hated the geography errors. (William H Macy's characte

Indie Gems: Little Miss Sunshine

Image
All through the 2006-2007 Oscar season this film was referred to as "The Little Film that Could." It's a very true statement for this sleeper hit. This film literally came out of nowhere and captured nearly everyone's hearts. "Little Miss Sunshine" follows the slightly dysfunctional Hoover family and their road rip to get young Olive (Abigal Breslin) to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. They all pile into their VW Van. There's Richard, (Greg Kinnear)the business obsessed father. Sheryl (Toni Collette) the caring mother. Crabby Grandpa/coach Edwin (Alan Arkin). Mute brother Dwayne, (Paul Dano) and suicidal uncle Frank. (Steve Carrell) We follow the family as they try to stay sane, and learn lots of lessons on the way. The thing that made this movie so wonderful was that all the characters are rather conflicted, but still manage to be charming. Writer Michael Arndt could've let this story go in a depressing direction, but he didn't. With eve

Review: The A-Team

Image
Fact: Liam Neeson is better than most people. I'm serious, I love this guy. He can do no wrong. Neeson might not be on your list of action stars just yet, but he will be. He's proven he can kick some ass. (Taken) Carry an entire drama. (Schindler's List) Lend his voice to awesome flicks (Chronicles of Narnia, Ponyo) and video games. (Fallout 3) When he tells you to "release the Kracken!" You'd better do it. But he's not the only great thing about 'The A-Team", the rest of the cast; Bradley Cooper, Rampage Jackson and Sharlto Copley all excel at bringing the this once loved 80's TV show characters back to life. I don't remember the original TV show and I've only seen a handful of episodes, so I can't really compare our new heroes to our old. The film follows our four army officials who meet in Iraq and are framed for a crime they didn't commit. After doing some time in prison, they break out and will stop at nothing to clear the

Indie Gems: Little Children

Image
'Little Children' is an intense character study of the suburban life. First we have Sarah, (Kate Winslet) a lonely housewife with a hard to handle child and a husband that prefers to be held up in his office watching porn. She doesn't want to be like the other mothers at the park. She chooses to "observe" them rather than be one of them. Soon, a man they call "The Prom King" enters the park with his child. They are all to afraid to talk to him, so they bet Sarah $5 to get his phone number. When she speaks to Brad (Patrick Wilson) she's intrigued by how easily he opened up to her, not to mention his good looks. This simple meeting starts a love affair between the two. Brad's wife Kathy (Jennifer Connelly) is the sole bread winner in the house, she makes documentaries and thinks their son is absolutely perfect. Her and Brad never quite get the alone time he wants. We also have a side story about Ronnie (Jackie Earl Haley), a recently released sex

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Sneak

This is the exclusive sneak peek that aired during the MTV Movie Awards. I only tuned in to see the clip, and judging by the "highlights" of the show. I'm glad I missed most of it. What makes this clip exciting is that it's got scenes from both part 1 and 2. We still don't know where the film will be split, but it looks great so far! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6NgUhl96CQ&feature=player_embedded

Review: Prince of Persia

Image
I can't complain about staring at a shirtless Jake Gyllenhaal for 2 hours. I didn't want to start my review out like that, but it's true. That was the best part of this film. 'Prince of Persia' is based on the video game of the same name. Like the game, there's lots of jumping around coming from Dastan (Gyllenhaal) in the fight scenes. I appreciated that. It was cool to see. This film is definitely all about the visuals and not so much about the plot. Rouge Prince Dastan joins forces with Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton, who doesn't really act, just talks..and talks...and talks)to fight off evil. It wasn't particularly engaging. It could've used more humor in my opinion. I felt like the film was just going through the motions instead or trying to get the audience's attention. The effects were alright. Not amazing, definitely not horrible. This might not have been the best film for Director Mike Newell to helm. Action isn't really his thing. H