Stuck on you

Stuck on You.
I liked it. Didn't love it. It was cute, and sweet, and got really kind of predictable. The acting was good, the special effects were great with out looking overdone, and it starts off great. However there are certain things that happen that just make it all that much more unbelievable. In the end there is really just not much to say about this film. For the most part it is exactly what you think it will be. I give this film a B-.

IMDB page
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338466/?ref_=sr_1

Oscar night

Harder and harder to write to the void however recently I have had a few requests from people to read this so thought I'd start up again. What better time to start, but the day after the Oscar's. So below I am putting a small list of my likes and dislikes of the program, and nominees. I would love to get some input, questions, comments, complaints and just a general whatever.

Likes

Seth MacFarlane. I just thought he did an over all great job. He teased the film industry in a fun, yet very real way. Seth also made fun of himself, and others while not giving those uncomfortable silences. Of the hosts in the past decade I would place him in the top 3, Ellen Degeneres, and Jon Stewart being my other favourites.

The hanging out with friends, each one of us having ballots doing a guessing game of who is going to when. The cheers when our picks win, the groans when our picks loose and the "Oh my gosh I can't believe you got that right". You know you all did each one of those weather or not you really verbalized each one.

Dislikes

The discrepancy on time. Commercials and website both said it starts at 4pm PST yet it actually started at 5:30. Truly this really can't be that difficult to list the time correctly.

Patty Andrews not being in the Memoriam. I understand that there is a lot of people that pass through out the year and they are under a time constraint. However this was a woman who entertained both US forces but Allied forces as well. Patty had a huge influence on music in movies, and modern day music. This is a woman who deserved to be there.

Lastly how does the movie that wins film of the year not have a director that is even nominated? Ben Affleck should have been nominated.


Now on a completely different note in two days I will be posting my first review on here in years.
Is there anything that anyone would like me to try to see before then (please keep in mind this will have to be rental because I do not have the money to go to the theater right now) to review? I'll be on the look out for comments and if there are requests I will do my best to see them in a timely manner.

If grammar and or look is off please excuse I'm a little rusty on this.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Starting off having to say sorry for not posting Friday. No internet access = no signing in for post. Not that I didn't think of you all I just couldn't say anything.

That said on to business.

To be honest when I first heard about the making of this film I was not happy. I love all the Alice in Wonderland's I grew up with. From the Disney animated to the, 1949, and 1985, even a few I haven't mentioned. But I also thought this was a story that has been told quite enough and if we feel the need to relive it we can watch one of those. In short I was wrong. True we do have the same characters, and we do go to the same place but this is a grown up Alice, with grown up problems in the real world. There is many things from the original story still in here but with more sense to a non-sensible world. In many ways the story is the same yet completely different. If you have seen the film I'm sure you already know what I'm talking about and if you haven't you aren't going to truly understand that unless you see the film.
Acting, well what can you really say with this cast other then they were all amazing, however with this cast that shouldn't really be all that surprising. I will say I'm still waiting for the day that Helena Bonham Carter really gets some credit from general public and not just filmies like me, and critics. She is truly one of the most unappreciated actresses in modern times.
This is yet another film I'm giving an A to. I can't really give it an A+ though because when I was done watching this film it didn't really stay with me like Inception or Black Swan did. I really liked this film and I would say see it if you get a chance to see it take it.

Official Site
http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/aliceinwonderland/

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014759/

Genre's (should we get so specific?)

I pose the question should we get so specific, be more specific, or maybe loosen the ties a little. The reason I ask this is because I have one friend that refuses to see anything that is called action adventure, but when taken to her first Jackie Chan movie she loved it and didn't understand why she hadn't seen any others. I have another friend that wont see anything deemed as romantic comedy, but when told the movie Miss Conception was a British comedy he was ready to see it.
While it is nice to know what kind of movie I'm walking in to because I just may not be in the mood for a horror or something I think it might be nice to loosen the ties a bit on what we call things. Do we really need the names of rom-com, dramady, and to put everything in to categories. I personally would like a little surprise while watching a movie as well.
What does everyone else think?

Oscar Picks

I have picks in every category I'm going to put either a T next to a name for "Think it will win" or a W next to the name for "Want to win". There are even a few where that will be the same.

Best Picture
Black Swan W
The Kings Speech T

Best Actor
Colin Firth T&W

Best supporting Actor
John Hawkes W
Geoffery Rush T

Best Actress
Annette Bening W
Natalle Portman T

Best supporting Actress
Helena Bonham Carter T&W

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky W
Tom Hooper T

Best Documentary Feature
Exit Through the Gift Shop T
Gasland W

Best Documentary Short
Killing in the Name T&W

Best Foreign Language Film
Biutiful T&W

Best Original Screenplay
Inception W
The Kings Speech T

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Social Network T
Winter's Bone W

Best Cinematography
Inception T&W

Best Makeup
Wolfman T&W

Best Art Direction
Inception T&W

Best Animated Short Film
Day&Night T&W

Best Animated Feature Film
Toy Story 3

Best Live Action short Film
The Crush T&W

Best Visual Effects
Inception T&W

Best Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland W
The King's Speech T

Best Film Editing
127 Hours T&W

Best Sound Mixing
Inception W
The King's Speech T

Best Sound Editing
Inception W
The King's Speech T

Best Original Score
127 Hours T
Inception W

Best Original Song
127 Hours for the song "If I Rise" T
Toy Story 3 for the song "We Belong Together" W

Some of my guesses are based on other awards shows, some are by watching as many of the films as I could, and some are based on the things I've read.

So What did everyone else guess?

Winters Bone

This is a film I've seen having the genre list as noir, mystery, thriller, and drama. Personally I really see the drama but don't get the rest. In noir you have the femme fatale, and the entire movie all be it very interesting story will be very bleak. In this there are moments of happiness and no femme fatale. While there is a bit of mystery as to where the father that the main character (Ree) is searching for there is not really a mysterious side to it. Thriller I don't get at all, it's not a film that keeps you on the edge of your seat, nail biting, and you don't feel that constant need to see what is going to happen next. From the sounds of that you would almost think I didn't like the film, not so. The dialog is short, to the point, and in some ways is a character of it's own. The acting is extremely well done, nothing looks out of place, and for as sad and depressing as a lot of it is you still feel a sense of hope all through out it.
I should really give a short description of this storyline, to make it clear this is not a film to see when you are depressed.
Ree is a 17 year old girl who is taking care of her two younger siblings, and her mentally ill mother. When she finds out her drug-dealing crank-cooking father put up the house and their land as bail she needs to find him to not loose the family home for him not showing up to court. Mean while the uncle, aunt, grandfather and other various members of her family are so against her looking for her father they do become violent.
The family dynamic in this film is truly important as many members of the family fear many other members of the family yet they believe in protecting their "kin".
In short this is a very good film but not one to see when you are feeling even a little down. I give this film an A.

I do feel the need to say one last thing about this film. If you watch this on DVD check out the special features. You end up finding out a lot of the cast is actually people from about the town, and scenery wasn't things built for this film or brought in from L.A.

Official site
http://www.wintersbonemovie.com/

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1399683/

Gasland

This is a documentary about the evils of mining natural gas and what it does to the people around it. I personally find it very difficult to review documentaries as really the only thing that really should be done is to report on it not give opinion, when that is really what a review is in many ways.
So taking opinion out of this I do think it is an important film to see. Not only do we get the information about what is happening to the water of the people around the mining but we see how that affects everyone. I never would have thought about how a river in Georgia could have anything to do with what I have coming out of the faucet here in California. When shown a map of all the rivers, and streams really connect in the end. Now I'm not saying all the water over there ends up over here, no what I am saying is just a simple it is all connected, just like we as people are all connected in some way or another. It is important to know how, and why people are being hurt, so that we may be able to stop it from happening anymore, and avoid it for our friends and family.

I give this film an A.

Official site
http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1558250/

The Kids Are All Right

Short review here since there is really not much to say. This is just a really good film that has to do with life. I know some people might want to put this in the drama category, or the comedy category, I've even heard the dramady category get mentioned every now and again about this film. I think the dramady might be the closest because that is really the best way to describe life. This movie is really just all the relationships we have in our lives, the love relationships, the parent child relationship, and best friend relationship.
I don't think I should really need to mention how wonderful the acting is in this as it does star some greats like Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, and Mark Ruffalo. I the acting done Josh Hutcherson, and Mia Wasikowska was really well done. I had never seen Wasikowska in Alice in Wonderland, and had never seen Hutcherson however after seeing their performances in this I went and looked them up in IMDB and have found a few movies to add to my Netflix queue.
I will say there are a few sex scenes in this and some small amount of drug use, this may not be the film to see for your next family film night, it would however be a great date night and talk about it after movie.
I give this film an A.

Official site
http://filminfocus.com/the_kids_are_all_right

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0842926/

Getting on a schedule

So if you have been watching the page you may have noticed I am running on a kind of schedule. Most of the time I'll be posting late Tuesdays and Fridays. However right now because the Oscars are coming up I'll be posting a few extra ones.
Happy reading all.

The Social Network

Ask anyone what this movie is about and they will say Facebook, and while on the surface that may be true there is much more going on here. In many ways this seemed more like a Shakespeare storyline set to the internet and college. Here we have a very smart guy that is just not socially adept that feels wronged by his girlfriend and wants to do something to get noticed by the popular people. It is really a story we have seen hundreds of times before. The only change here is there is some truth (and there is some discussion about how much) to the story. Along with a smart guy trying to get noticed you have the betrayal of a friend, the greedy guy that takes all he can, and the innocent yet angry.
I'm sure over the past 4 months since this film came out you have heard about the acting jobs from Jessie Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Justin Timberlake. Let me reasure you it is all well deserved, the surprise for me was actor Armie Hammer as the Winklevoss twins. Not only did he play both characters but he did it amazingly. At no point of the film did I think "hey that's the guy from Gossip Girl". So often you get actors that while they understand they are in the supporting role they seem to want to take over the scene. While he may not have the long list of films that some do I think we will start seeing more of him very soon.
Now I can't really talk about this movie without mentioning David Fincher, and Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin is a long time favourite of mine with his quick signature dialog, and fleshed out characters. Amazing is the only way I can describe what he writes and the way he writes it. Fincher also a favourite of mine, bringing everything little thing in. The are times in the film your not just watching but you are there.
In the end while there are a few small continuity errors they weren't really enough to take away from the film for me. This is an engaging, interesting film and I give it an A.

official site
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thesocialnetwork/

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/

The Town

Normally I'm not a person that is really in to the bank robbery movies, but after hearing people rave about this film for the better part of a year and seeing all the nominations it got I thought maybe I should check it out. The only thing I can say is shame on everyone that puts this in the category of bank robbery movies. Now I'm not going to say that this doesn't have a lot to do with robbing banks, however I think film is far more about relationships and what they truly mean in our lives. This film is about how the people in our lives affect us and how what we do affects them. The relationships that often go deeper than love. How many of us have friends that are more like siblings and we say we would die for, yet if the time were to come would we really, the things we hide from our significant others, and the things we hide from our selves. While someone that takes things at face value could watch this film and see a movie about 4 guys robbing banks, and armored trucks, if you are someone that will really take the time to watch this film and take in all into consideration you will find a true love for the story.
The acting in this film was over all really well done. Ben Affleck did a truly wonderful job in both acting and directing, still I would say really needs to work on checking the continuity. There are several times the trees on the street keep going from being green to full golden brown colours of fall. There was also at least 3 times I saw New Jersey licence plates on the police cars when this whole film is suppose to be placed in a suburb of Boston and in Boston. Biggest problem for me was really the accent being there then not being there for Jeremy Renner's character. While Renner's acting was truly fantastic the way he kept dropping the thick Southie accent was really obvious.
Last but not least the language. So I had heard from many people that there was a lot of swearing in this movie. They were right. There is several conversations that uses F*#K! about every other word. Most of the time that would kind of bother me as it often shows a lack of imagination, however in this film it is fitting. The 4 main guys in this film are suppose to be rather uneducated, and thugs. The language itself is practically a character. To the people that complained about the language all I can say is get over it, many real people talk that way and this is suppose to be realistic.
Now for my grade. I have a problem with the errors, I truly want to give this an A but just can't justify that. Every time I saw an error it pulled me right out of the film for a few seconds and those seconds add up. I give this film a B.

Still I will say this is really a film worth seeing. If you get a chance please do.

Official site
http://thetownmovie.warnerbros.com/dvd/

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0840361/

Inception

If this review were a letter to a person in stead of being a blog/article, it would be a thank you letter to Christopher Nolan. Every film he has done is mesmerising, thought provoking, and yet comes from something simple. The idea of going in to another persons dream isn't new. We have seen it in movies before with sci-fi movies like Dreamscape, and the horror movies of Nightmare on Elm St movies. Still taking this idea and turning it into something really new. Not only is this an action film, but it is a film about moving on in life when needed, always willing to let yourself dream big, and not giving up. It is odd that I should see two movies so close together that would blur the line of reality, and dream world so much, however in this film you do often get a moment to realize when that is going to happen. I'm sure by now you have noticed that I still haven't said much about the overall storyline. Well other than saying this is an action film you really need to figure out what this movie was for you. I guess at the basis you can say plant an idea and see where it goes.
Lets talk for a moment about the acting shall we. Personally I felt all of the acting in this was stellar. This all-star cast did not disappoint, and even surprised me a little. While I have always been a fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I don't think this level of action was required of him until this. I can't imagine at this point how great the acting is by the men nominated for Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor but it makes me want to see them all that much more if they somehow did a better job. I can truly say that I loved every bit of acting in this film, and that includes the very important extras. So often people are put in the back round and just told to be, here they are a true part of the story.
This review is kind of all over the place and I do know that, I that is large in part because the film itself it all over the place. However the film does come to a point just as this review does, so here goes. I give this film and A+.

I will add however this is not a film to see when you can't give it your full attention. Don't drink anything before you have to watch this so you end up having to take a bathroom break, don't eat, don't cuddle while watching it, nothing don't do anything other then have your eyes on the screen because if you don't you will miss something. Also if I had the chance I would have gone out with a friend afterward to talk about this one.
Thank you again Mr. Nolan for this wonderful work of art.

Official site
http://inceptionmovie.warnerbros.com/dvd/

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/

Hellboy

I saw this last night completely going in thinking I was going to hate it and ended up loving it. I think the only comic book films I have liked more was the Michael Keaton Batman's and the Spiderman (the first one). It has something to offer on just about every emotional level. If you get a chance to see this please do and let me know what you thought. It is much more then a comic book film. The acting in this is really well done, and although it has one liners in it they are good funny one liners unlike many that are just stupid. The special effects in this were also very good. Not overdone but just enough. I give this film an A.

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167190/

Beauty & the Briefcase

This review will be really short because this is just one of those simple movies. Beauty & the Briefcase is a cute, simple, predictable movie that while it has a good message does not have a lot of substance to it. Hillary Duff plays an aspiring writer that goes on an under cover mission to find the man of her dreams in a suit. The message of course if people often don't know what they really want until they are about to loose it. None of the acting in this is stellar and you don't really think it will be going in. In the simplest of terms (and most of the time I hate saying this) this is a chick flick. A feel good movie you can watch with a few friends while you are talking because you wont miss too much at the same time.
I give this movie a B-.

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1493842/

Black Swan

Since this film was released I have heard a lot about it and yet not much. I wouldn't say that I can't say what it's about because I don't want to ruin it for anyone (which would be true), but really more because when the film was over I sat there in the theater an extra few minutes trying to figure out what the film was truly about. The lines between reality, dream, and madness are so blurred that you just aren't sure. In that past when I have seen movies like that I didn't like them because it often left you feeling that you had just wasted 2 hours of your life that you will never get back. In this film however the beauty, the intrigue, base storyline had me so interested that I found my self enjoying not knowing what or who was real at the time.
One of the things that I heard the most was that I would have to see this film at least 2 times to understand it, I would have to say to truly understand every part of this film you will have to take some serious time of dissecting each scene, and some reading up on Swan Lake.
I should say there are some scenes that are rather unsettling, it's not so much that they are bloody but it's what is being done to cause the blood. I understand that it is all about that line of reality getting blurred again but seeing someone stabbing them selves in the face was something I really could have done without.
Last but not least I have got to mention the acting in this. I was truly impressed by the acting done by Mila Kunis, most people will recognize her as Jackie Burkhart in That 70's Show. This character is a complete departure of Jackie. In this film she is playing someone that you think is nice, then you think is back stabbing, then you just don't know. As far as the acting from everyone else was also very impressed, just not as blown away because I've seen Natalie Portman, Barara Hershey, and Vincent Cassel in film that required fantastic acting and have not been disappointed. With Mila Kunis the only thing I had really seen was her playing Jackie which was a role that didn't really require stellar acting.
Now I am going to say something that I haven't found my self saying in years.
I think this might be the best film I've seen in a year maybe two. I'm still in the process of trying to see all the Oscar nominees so it might get knocked down a little but for right now this one is it for me.
I give this film an A+.

Official site
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/blackswan/

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/

Saw

A truly gory and disgusting movie with a message. This is a horror movie that had a lot of the typical blood and guts which don't really get to me, what did however get to me in this film was a character that searched in a toilet full of excrement for a clue as to who is imprisoning him, or why. Still I have to say I did like the over all message of take pleasure in your life, because you don't know when it might end.
The acting in this film was quite good while I never truly felt bad for any of the people being hurt because as you find out there are all there for a reason.
I give this movie a B.

Personal note to the person that asked me to see this I will see the sequels to this but after I watch the Oscar nominees.

Fan club page
http://www.officialsaw.com/

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387564/

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

I wish I hadn't waited so long to see this film. From the start all the way through you are laughing at one thing or another. While on the surface this looks like a typical big guy picking on the little guy film with a lot of physical comedy thrown in, and it is. However it also has back round storyline of not giving up in life or the, general difficult situations, and love. Vince Vaughn does a great job at playing the good guy but still kind of a loser, while Ben Stiller seems to be playing a slightly (and I do mean slightly) smarter and meaner version of his character Derek Zoolander in the film Zoolander. The brightest star of the film for me was however not one of the main characters but one of the smallest supporting characters. Pepper Brooks played by Jason Bateman was so off the wall that I found my self waiting for his next line. There are few movies in the past few years that have made me laugh this much and had this much heart. If you are in the need of a really good laugh and enjoy physical comedy this is a great film for you.
I give this film an A.

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364725/

I'm taking requests

I'm sure you have more then likely noticed my most recent reviews haven't been of new films. As things are right now I can't really afford to go to the theater as much as I may like, I do still however have Netflix. If there is a movie that you would like my opinion on please let me know. The movie I currently have is Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. After that the first one on my list is Saw because of a request of a friend.

So out there let me know if you think I should see something or want to hear my opinion on something.

Darkness

Gotta say this is not a film I was thrilled with. This has to do with a father with a mental problem that started when he was a child, a house the may or may not of caused it, and supposedly scary things that can only come out when it is dark. The scary things (not really all that scary), and the fathers problems happen mostly at the house but there is a small episode he has outside as well. The acting by Anna Paquin, and Lena Olin were the only bright spots in this film and that is the only reason it gets as high of a grade from me. What can I say like my scary movies to be scary. I give this film a B-.

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0273517/

8: The Mormon Proposition

As Documentaries this is wonderfully done. No matter what side of the fence you sit on with this issue it is good to get all the information you can. While this film is heavily sided with the no on prop 8 people (just in case there is anyone reading this prop 8 was on the rights of marriage equality in the 2008 elections) that is to no fault of the film makers. They did try to interview the Mormon church, and the parents of a suicide victim. I honestly hope that whether you are pro or con this issue you at least see this movie to get a view point as to why many people feel the way they do.

I give this film an A.

Official site
http://www.mormonproposition.com/

IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1484522/