Rambling Film

I've been following Zack Snyder's 'Sucker Punch' ever since Emily Browning was confirmed as the lead. Early on, he described the film as "Alice in Wonderland with Chainsaws" so I knew it was going to be something different. Now that the trailer is out, It's something I never expected at all. I love it. It looks different and fun. Plus with great actresses like Browning, Abbie Cornish and Jena Malone. How can you really fail? The only one I'm not sold on is Vanessa Hudgens. But hey, she was in 'Thirteen'. That was a fantastic film, maybe she'll surprise here too. Sucker Punch hits theaters in 2011. Trailer is via Film School Rejects

When bad advertising happens to a good film. I read tons of reviews on this when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. I got the impression that it was a drama, with some well placed comedic parts. You wouldn't know that just by the previews. This film is being advertised like it's Step Brothers 2.0. It was so off that I rolled my eyes at what I thought was going to be another Jonah Hill performance where he plays the same character every time. Luckily for me, I was wrong. Cyrus follows John (John C. Reilly) a divorcee of 7 years that hasn't quite gotten back into the dating game. His ex wife, Jamie (Catherine Keener) is still in his life. She's his best friend and she's about to get re-married. She forces John to go to a party with her where he meets Molly. (Marisa Tomei) They immediately hit it off and eventually John finds out that Molly's needy 22 year old son Cyrus (Jonah Hill) still lives with here, and doesn't like the new intrusion. This is whe...

It's Anna Paquin's birthday today too, but I know Van Sant's filmography better, so he's who I'm going with. Happy Birthday to the King of the looooooooooooooooooooooooong takes. Favorite Film: Milk Van Sant is one of those directors I just love. I'll see anything directed by this guy, even though some of his films are duds. Milk is my favorite because of it's phenomenal cast. Oscar Winner Sean Penn (whether you like him or hate him) was perfect as Harvey Milk. The supporting cast of James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Joseph Cross and Alison Pill were the icing on the cake. I also loved the music in the film. It fit so well. It told a great story. Least Favorite: Psycho This was a toss up between this and Elephant. (FYI Aussie film 2:37 is better, everyone always compares the two.) A masterpiece like Psycho didn't need a shot for shot remake. Even the decent cast couldn't save this mess. Most Bizarre/Random/Fun: Paranoid Park A word that I n...

You know the drill, if not please see the "Birthday Posts" bulletin at the top of the page. Happy Birthday Robin Williams! Whether you like him or hate him, there's no doubt that this man is good at making people laugh, and making people cry. Sometimes in the same movie. Favorite Film: Good Will Hunting . This was a flick that was just good all around. The entire cast did a great job. Williams was the veteran and not only did he make himself look great, he made the rest of the cast (Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, etc.) look great as well. That's a true performer, one that can help himself and help other. I appreciate that. My 5 year old self likes Aladdin the best. Worst Film: Jack This film was supposed to be touching and ended up depressing. Williams played a boy with an (exaggerated) condition that made him look older. It missed every chance to be charming and felt a lot longer than it's 113 minute run time. It's strange to think this was directe...

Christopher Nolan knows how to make a good film. He may be one of the best directors of all time. I think he is, and this movie is just another reason to believe it. Before going in, just know that Nolan didn't let Hans Zimmer see the film before he scored it. It's amazing how fitting the music is. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is skilled in Extraction: A work of manipulating a dream. He goes into your subconscious and steals your ideas. Cobb is a very troubled man, so when powerful Saito (Ken Wantanabe) offers Cobb a job he can't refuse, he jumps at the idea. The job is called Inception, instead of stealing an idea, they will go into the subject's mind and plant one. The subject is Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy) a soon to be owner of a rival company of Saito's. Cobb, along with his team, Arthur, (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) his point man that helps him navigate. Newly recruited Ariadne, (Ellen Page) an architect that's going to build the world of the dream. Eames, (T...

Continuing on with my Alan Rickman kick, I picked up 'Nobel Son'. A 2006 indie heist film about a man named Barkley (Bryan Greenburg) who lives with his parents and is trying to finish his thesis paper on cannibalism. During all of this we find out his arrogant father Eli (Rickman) has just won the Nobel Peace Prize. Eli misses his flight to Stockholm with his parents and winds up kidnapped by Thaddius, (Shawn Hatosy) who is demanding 2 million dollars in ransom. This also happens to be the prize money for winning the Nobel prize, so Eli refuses. There's a lot of recognizable names in this cast. Mary Steenburgen, Bill Pullman, Ted Danson, Danny DeVito and Eliza Dushku to name a few. What could've been a well crafted heist film turns into a mess with all the "twists" director Randall Miller throws at you. We are supposed to be rooting for Barkley and despise Eli. The way this film plays out you end up doing just the opposite. Eli was my favorite character. (Ric...

Adrian Brody has moved on from having sex with aliens to trying to kill them. Way to use that Oscar, buddy! I went into this film with horrible expectations. Every review I read ripped it, the synopsis I read made me think this movie was going to have the same plot as 'The Condemned'. I'm happy to say that I enjoyed this one almost as much (if not more) than the first. The film revolves around a group soldiers, criminals and mercenaries that are dropped off on a tropical planet only to figure out that they are being hunted by strange alien creatures. They try to band together to survive, but with their different lifestyles, we know this is going to get ugly. What I loved most about this film was that it actually felt like a 80's horror flick. It's ridiculously gory, has quick camera movements and cheese ball dialogue. The entire cast looks quite hilarious on paper. Adrian Brody (great as our tough, dark, leading man) Alice Braga (I Am Legend) Danny Trejo, (Machete!)...

This isn't a complete list of nominees, just the bigger ones. For a full list, I'd recommend http://www.emmys.com/nominations 10 Things I liked 1) Jim Parsons gets his 2nd consecutive nom for 'The Big Bang Theory'. He's the best part of the show and deserves the nomination, hell I'd even go as far to say he deserves the win. Sorry Alec Baldwin, you're good..but Parsons is fantastic 2)True Blood gets a Best Drama Series nomination. Vampire stories have a really bad rap nowadays. 'True Blood' is the exception. I'm disappointed there's no love for the cast, but to see it being acknowledged in the drama car was a nice surprise. 3)South Park gets it's 10 nomination for best Animated Series. You see what happens when you poke fun at Mohammad? You get rewarded. South Park is the best adult cartoon out there, even though creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker may shun the Emmys, they still deserve all the praise they can get. 4)Conan O'Brien...

You can have your cake and eat it too. That's what this film is trying to tell us. It has every chance to be a cliche, melodramatic mess (sick kid, broken families, dark secrets) but surprisingly doesn't go in that direction. Beagle (Aaron Sanford) has just lost his mother. He's a shy 20 something that has been caring for her in her later years. His father (Bruce Dern) couldn't bare to do it. Through his father he meets Georgia (Kristen Stewart) a terminally ill teenager who has Friedreich's Ataxia. She's just looking for love before it's too late. We watch these two form a relationship, and we also see the strained relationships of their family members. (including Melissa Leo as Georgia's mother) There's credit due to Kristen Stewart. It's nice to see her play a teen that for once isn't "angsty". She did a good job with Georgia, she was sweet. While there was still some signature crabbiness in her performance, it was good. Stewart ...