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Showing posts from August, 2014

Guilty Pleasures Blogathon

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The lovely ladies over at Flick Chicks are hosting a new blogathon ! They ask us to name some of our favorite guilty pleasures. Here are the rules: 1 - You can choose and discuss as many or as few movies as you like. We both did a Top 10, but you can just choose 1 movie if you like. Just tell us a bit about the movie and why you like it so much. 2 - Please create a new post for our Blogathon, rather than linking an old post you may have already done. 3 - Please include our Blogathon Banner anywhere in your post 4 - The deadline for entries is Sunday, 31st August, so there's plenty of time! I used to post Guilty Pleasure reviews occasionally, but it's been over a year since I've done one. I decided to post a top 5 here, even though I'm sure I have many more. 1) Drop Dead Gorgeous This 1999 comedy features some awfully over the top Minnesota accents, Kirsten Dunst and a blonde Amy Adams. It's one of my favorite chick flicks, yet most people

Indie Gems: Summer in February

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"I've made a huge mistake" There's a point in this film where our lead, Florence (Emily Browning) has a total Arrested Development moment and realizes that she's just made an awful decision. I legitimately felt bad for her. Florence is an aspiring artist who goes to live with her brother, Joey (Max Deacon) in Cornwall. I don't know a lot about British arts, but apparently this was the place to be in the early 1900's. She meets two men. There's Gilbert Evans (Dan Stevens) the man in charge of the prestigious Lamorna Esate. He's kind, gentle, and has an obvious crush on Florence. Then there's AJ Munnings (Dominic Cooper) a brilliant artist on the verge of being famous. Florence is drawn to him, even thought he is the 1900's version of a DudeBro.  Admittedly, love triangles aren't really my thing, but Emily Browning is, so that's why I watched this one. I was pleasantly surprised. The movie was shot beautifully. They re

FTS Presents: Quentin Augustino

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The lovely bloggers over at French Toast Sunday are spotlighting director Quentin Tarantino this month! He's easily one of my favorite directors. I've decided to rank the films of his I've seen. (Jackie Brown and My Best Friend's Birthday are the only two films of his I've missed.) This was A LOT harder than I thought it would be, especially with my top three. I'm sure someone could ask me to do this again in a few months, and I'd rank them differently. I'm almost positive I've talked about this on my blog before and had picked a different favorite. It's hard when you love a director this much! Honorable Mention: Sin City He was only a "guest director" in this film, so I didn't put it on my list, but I love this movie and I thought the scene he DID direct (Dwight and Jackie Boy's head in the car) was brilliant. 7) Kill Bill vol 2 I went back and forth between this and Death Proof as my least favorite. I ultimate

Review: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

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Anything can happen in Sin City Following the formula of the first film. A Dame to Kill Fo r shows four different stories all out of chronological order. Nancy (Jessica Alba) is still trying to cope after Hartigan's (Bruce Willis) suicide. She's turned into a hard drinker, and is hell bent on killing Senator Roark. (Powers Boothe) Marv (Mickey Rourke) is still beating people's asses whenever he feels like it. Dwight (Josh Brolin) is pulled back into trouble when a mysterious former lover Ava Lorde (Eva Green) reappears in his life. Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a hot gambler that challenges Senator Roark and pays the price. I said going in that I wasn't going to be one of those people who said "they waited too long" to make this sequel. My interest in Sin City never waned. The first film is still among my favorite movies of all time. But the reality is they DID wait too long. Clive Owen had a scheduling conflict, so he couldn't cameo as Dwig

2014 Emmy Winners + my thoughts

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After last year's Emmys made their theme about death, this year's was way funnier. Seth Meyers hosted, and I thought he was wonderful. There were a ton of great jokes and segments. Weird Al performed an awkward melody of some of the nominated show's theme songs. The only funny one was Game of Thrones when he told GRRM to "write them faster, write them faster" and proceeded to have someone hand him a type writer in the audience. There was also a touching tribute to Robin Williams. There were a few surprises with the winners too. The Normal Heart got shut out in the acting categories, and Sherlock won instead. Breaking Bad went out big just like it should've. Here's a list of the winners in bold, my thoughts as always follow in green. Best Drama Series “Breaking Bad”   “Downton Abbey” “Game of Thrones” “House of Cards” “Mad Men” “True Detective” I pretty much jumped for joy when this was announced. Breaking Bad deserved to go out on top. I bet H

1984-a-thon: Twist and Shout

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Forgotten Filmz had a wonderful idea at the beginning of the summer to host a blogathon centered around the year 1984, his favorite year of movie making. I can't argue, a lot of great things came from 1984. Of course by the time my lazy ass got around to checking her email, all my favorite films were taken, so I had to do a little searching. I landed on a Danish film called Twist and Shout. (Tro, håb og kærlighed) I've loved every film I've seen out of Denmark, so these seemed right up my alley. I had an interesting viewing experience ahead of me. The film follows two teens, Bjorn (Adam Tonsberg) and Eric (Lars Simonsen) as they come of age and fall in love in the 1960's. Of course, nothing is that simple. The women they chase coudn't be more complicated, and they've already had some rough life experiences. What I didn't realize when I picked this film out of obscurity was that it was actually a sequel to another film called Zappa that was rele

Rambling TV: True Blood series finale recap.

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True to the end? Well..not so much. I'm glad this show is finally over, and this finale, despite offering a happy ending was cheesy and disappointing. Click those gifs to be redirected to their makers. So Eric and Pam decide now, only now, do they want to kill the Yakuza, they set Sarah free (but not before feeding her some of Pam's blood so she can always locate her) and then they kill them all in about 2 minutes. Eric even flew to Sookie's to off the ones on his way to her house before she even knew they were there. Later, Sarah asks Pam to turn her into a Vampire, which Pam laughs at, and drinks her for immunity. So that showdown we thought we were going to get at her house? Nonexistent. We just got Bill telling Sookie that he loves her, he knows she wants a family and kids and he cannot give that to her. He wants her to use her fairy light to kill him and rid herself of being Fae. Because Bill Compton is SO FUCKING IMPORTANT that Sookie CANNOT function properly

2014 Blind Spot Series: 12 Angry Men

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What I knew going in: That this film spends the majority of the time in one room. I had a really strange experience while watching this film. There was the fact that I couldn't take my eyes off my computer screen while I was watching this. (It's on Netflix Instant right now) but at one point in the film, it starts raining, and I felt like I could actually smell it. Apparently it's possible to get TOO into a movie. Has that ever happened to anyone else? 12 Angry Men follows a jury as they deliberate over a murder charge. A young man from a troubled home as killed his father, and everyone except Juror #8 (Henry Fonda) thinks he's guilty. Now they must go over the facts and debate on whether or not that is the case. Like I said, this film was fascinating. I imagine it's hard to make a feature length film in one location and have it work every step of the way. I've seen films like this before, but none as good as this one. I can see why so many people speak

2014 Emmys: Who will win, who should win.

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It's Emmy weekend! Here are my predictions. Normally, I find the Emmys to be fairly easy to predict, but last year they had so many surprises that I don't even know what to expect this year. I'm probably going to be wrong. I didn't include all of the categories in this post. Just acting ones. Outstanding Drama Series "Breaking Bad" "Downton Abbey" "Game of Thrones" "House of Cards" "Mad Men" "True Detective" Who will and should win: Breaking Bad. This game changing series deserves to go out on top, and I think it will do just that. Outstanding Comedy Series "The Big Bang Theory" "Louie" "Modern Family" "Orange is the New Black" "Silicon Valley" "Veep" Who will win: Modern Family. Unless Emmy voters decide to change and give it to OTTNB. Who should win: Veep. It's the funniest show on TV right now, IMO. Outstanding Miniserie

DVD Review: The People vs George Lucas

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Star Wars fans are a passionate bunch. I love Star Wars. I was born in 1987, so obviously I missed those films when they were originally released. I only had The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi on VHS, so when the Star Wars films were re-released in theaters in 1997, that's when I finally got to see A New Hope, and really started to fall in love with them. I remember being excited for A Phantom Menace when it came out. The theater was so packed I didn't even get to sit with my dad. I had to sit with a bunch of randoms. My initial reaction to that film, aside from Jar Jar and "Yipee!" being awful was that it wasn't so bad. Then I met up with my dad in the back of the theater. He fucking HATED it. And so my weird relationship with Lucas' films began.. This entire doc is about Fanboys/girls and their relationships with George Lucas. Most of which are pissed. Star Wars was their favorite, and they're not pleased with George Lucas essentia

Review: What If

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Men and women cannot be friends. According to rom coms that is. Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe) is a Brit transplant living in Toronto who's finally just getting back into the social scene after a nasty breakup. His obnoxious roommate, Allan (Adam Driver) introduces him to his cousin, Chantry (Zoe Kazan) at a party, and they hit it off. The only problem is, she has a boyfriend. She proposes friendship, but can they really just be friends when Wallace as feelings for her? Rom coms are NOT my thing. In fact, the only reason I went to see this was because I'm a fan of Radcliffe and Kazan. Had any other actor I was impartial to been in this, I never would've went. I didn't hate it, but I did get annoyed with the rom com cliches that it checked off. 1) Boys cannot be friends with girls. Check 2) Friendzone boy is painfully awkward. Check 3) Boyfriend is a douchebag. Check 4) Friendzone flies cross country to win back girl. Check 5) Girl has a slutty friend/

Rambling TV: True Blood recap

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Robb Stark is gorgeous and yes I'm aware this has nothing to do with True Blood. There's only one episode left! One more and True Blood will be completed for good, and judging by the previews, I'm probably going to hate it. Tonight's episode felt like it spent most of its time fucking around, but they did manage to have a few heartfelt moments, and one hilarious one.  We'll start in Fangtasia. Jess and Sookie are pissed about Bill's decision, but he refuses to back down from it. Sookie slaps him a few times and Jess demands to be released. After Bill leaves, Sookie holds on to Eric and cries, and Pam actually gives Jessica a hug to comfort her for being released. Then tells her she's paying for her shirt if she bleeds on it. Later, Eric visits Bill again to try to talk him out of this (ugh) Bill tells Eric that he needs to do this FOR Sookie. That's she's drawn to vampire's darkness the same way they are drawn to her light. Bill sa

Indie Gems: Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

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It's a victimless crime. Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) has been embezzling money from his employer to cover his drug habit. When an upcoming audit is going to expose all that, he convinces his also hard up for cash younger brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke) to help him rob their parent's jewelry store. They will use fake guns, do this when neither of their parents are working, and insurance will cover them. It's a win all around. Hank decides to act first without Andy's consent, and things go horribly wrong. It's taken me a long time to finally see this movie in one sitting, and I don't know why because it was so fascinating. Admittedly now after Hoffman's death, watching him play a drug addict is really hard. That thought pulled me out of the film a few times.  Hoffman and Hawke give great performances, along with Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney in supporting roles. The film has a quick pace and never drags. Grade: A Memorable Quote: "I

Rambling TV: True Blood recap + thoughts on Jonah From Tonga

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So I'm super late with this recap. I was out of town for work over the weekend, and didn't get to watch this until last night. I'm torn about the dumb fuckery in this episode. Some things I found really sweet, others were so fucking stupid I can't even believe True Blood wasted 8 episodes getting to that conclusion.  Oh wait, yes I can. Eric drinks from Sarah's blood to cure himself from Hep V. He was about to just kill her, when Pam threatened to kill herself if he does. That gif above is when she's watching him get cured. That's also the face I'm going to make when Eric and Sookie finally have sex again. They're informed by Mr. Gus that he doesn't want to distribute 'New Blood' as a total cure. He wants it to be something vamps need to take over and over so he can make more money. Pam and Eric are fine with this because it's more money for them too, but there's one little problem. Bill. Earlier Bill and Sookie  are