Starring:
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight 2008)
Christopher Plummer (The New World 2005, Priest 2010)
Andrew Garfield (Lions for Lambs 2007, I'm Here 2010)
Lily Cole (Rage 2009, There Be Dragons 2010)
Johnny Depp (Public Enemies 2009, Alice in Wonderland 2010)
Colin Farrell (The New World 2005, The Way Back 2010)
Jude Law (Rage 2009, Repo Men 2010)
Verne Troyer (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me 1999, War of the Dragon 2010)
Tom Waits (Domino 2005, The Book of Eli 2010)
Beautifully weird, deranged, and TOTALLY original.
What if you made a deal with the devil, and you had the ability to transport people into yours/their imagination where they chose between selling their soul to the devil or not without knowing it?!?! What kind of movie would that be?
And I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy to see Heath back in action. My heart truly broke with his passing. It hurt, so seeing him again in a film really made me happy.
If you miss Heath, you MUST see this.
Regardless of my love for Heath, though, I must say there were plot holes just I just couldn't ignore. It took away from the film slightly, but I still loved this movie. It was great acting on the parts of all the characters--ALL OF THEM. The whole cast listed above did fantastic, and Andrew Garfield and Lily Cole made a great first impression on me. They are very talented.
Factoid: Heath had only finished filming two thirds of his role when he passed. The remainder of his important role had to played by others once the decision to finish the film was made. The condition was that the three men who played Heath's character had to be his friends--hence, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, and Johnny Depp were chosen.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Lovely Bones (January 15, 2009) PG-13
Starring:
Saoirse Ronan (City of Ember 2008, The Way Back 2010)
Mark Wahlberg (Max Payne 2008, The Fighter 2010)
Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada 2006, Easy A 2010)
Rachel Weisz (The Fountain 2006, The Whistleblower 2010)
Susan Sarandon (Elizabethtown 2005, Peacock 2010)
Rose McIver ("Maddigan's Quest" 2006, "Power Rangers: R.P.M." 2009)
It's rare to see a film with such a polar contrast between beauty and hideousness. Only Peter Jackson could pull it off so perfectly.
The acting was great all around, but of course the performance that stood out most was Stanley Tucci's rendition of a sick murderer. I've never seen Tucci in such a horrific role before, and he did it so well.
I honestly thought I was prepared for what The Lovely Bones had to offer, but even after seeing every trailer/commercial for this film 100 times I still was blown away, surprised, and impressed throughout the film.
I loved it, and think it's something everyone should see (in theaters).
Factoid: Rose McIver plays Saoirse Ronan's younger sister, even though in real life McIver is 22 and Ronan is 15.
Saoirse Ronan (City of Ember 2008, The Way Back 2010)
Mark Wahlberg (Max Payne 2008, The Fighter 2010)
Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada 2006, Easy A 2010)
Rachel Weisz (The Fountain 2006, The Whistleblower 2010)
Susan Sarandon (Elizabethtown 2005, Peacock 2010)
Rose McIver ("Maddigan's Quest" 2006, "Power Rangers: R.P.M." 2009)
It's rare to see a film with such a polar contrast between beauty and hideousness. Only Peter Jackson could pull it off so perfectly.
The acting was great all around, but of course the performance that stood out most was Stanley Tucci's rendition of a sick murderer. I've never seen Tucci in such a horrific role before, and he did it so well.
I honestly thought I was prepared for what The Lovely Bones had to offer, but even after seeing every trailer/commercial for this film 100 times I still was blown away, surprised, and impressed throughout the film.
I loved it, and think it's something everyone should see (in theaters).
Factoid: Rose McIver plays Saoirse Ronan's younger sister, even though in real life McIver is 22 and Ronan is 15.
The Book of Eli (January 15, 2010) R
Starring:
Denzel Washington (Man on Fire 2004, Unstoppable 2010)
Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight 2008, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II 2011)
Mila Kunis (Max Payne 2008, Black Swan 2010)
Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone 2008, Thor 2011)
Jennifer Beals (Runaway Jury 2003, "Lie to Me" 2009)
Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2005, Ivan the Fool 2012)
If not for the incredible acting on the parts of the entire cast, The Book of Eli would have not been worth watching.
Truly, Eli is not your typical hero, and Carnegie (Oldman) isn't your typical villian. Both are obsessed with this book, and both will kill anyone to keep/get it.
What the movie failed to do was elaborate on the post-apocolyptic world the characters live in. It was pretty bad, but it all seemed a little too Mad Max-ish for me. I didn't see much there I hadn't seen before.
What stood out most in the film (besides the numerous, distracting product-placements?) was how beautiful Mila Kunis was. Everyone in the film had cracked lips, dirty faces, ratty clothes, and had a generally post-apocolyptic look to them. Ms. Kunis, however, seemed to have hired a professional make-up artist... did she pay her with canteens of water?
The film started cool, though somewhat irrelevantly, and ended on a corny, overly dramatic note. I liked it, but I was very disappointed. Worst part is I'll bet the film-makers think they're clever.
Factoid: The distance from New York City to Los Angeles is ~2,800 miles. Walking around 10 miles a day it would take less than a year to get from the east coast to the west coast. In the film, Eli claims to have been heading west for the last 30 years... That's enough time to have walked the circumference of Earth (25,000 miles) roughly four or five times. How many times did Eli cross the same spot?
Denzel Washington (Man on Fire 2004, Unstoppable 2010)
Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight 2008, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II 2011)
Mila Kunis (Max Payne 2008, Black Swan 2010)
Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone 2008, Thor 2011)
Jennifer Beals (Runaway Jury 2003, "Lie to Me" 2009)
Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2005, Ivan the Fool 2012)
If not for the incredible acting on the parts of the entire cast, The Book of Eli would have not been worth watching.
Truly, Eli is not your typical hero, and Carnegie (Oldman) isn't your typical villian. Both are obsessed with this book, and both will kill anyone to keep/get it.
What the movie failed to do was elaborate on the post-apocolyptic world the characters live in. It was pretty bad, but it all seemed a little too Mad Max-ish for me. I didn't see much there I hadn't seen before.
What stood out most in the film (besides the numerous, distracting product-placements?) was how beautiful Mila Kunis was. Everyone in the film had cracked lips, dirty faces, ratty clothes, and had a generally post-apocolyptic look to them. Ms. Kunis, however, seemed to have hired a professional make-up artist... did she pay her with canteens of water?
The film started cool, though somewhat irrelevantly, and ended on a corny, overly dramatic note. I liked it, but I was very disappointed. Worst part is I'll bet the film-makers think they're clever.
Factoid: The distance from New York City to Los Angeles is ~2,800 miles. Walking around 10 miles a day it would take less than a year to get from the east coast to the west coast. In the film, Eli claims to have been heading west for the last 30 years... That's enough time to have walked the circumference of Earth (25,000 miles) roughly four or five times. How many times did Eli cross the same spot?
Monday, January 11, 2010
Adam (August 7, 2009) PG-13
Starring:
Hugh Dancy (King Arthur 2004, Down and Dirty Pictures 2010)
Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later 2007, Get Him to the Greek 2010)
Peter Gallagher (The Man Who Knew Too Little 2007, Burlesque 2010)
A beautiful, real, heart-felt, artistic film about a subject most people don't even know exists: aspergers syndrome.
You'd have to Google aspergers syndrome to understand why a movie about it would be interesting. It really is. I loved this movie.
It's a movie about love, overcoming difficulty, and humanity.
It's an Indie film so, yeah, it's actually good.
Factoid: Hugh Dancy didn't know much at all about aspergers syndrome when he accepted his starring role in Adam.
Hugh Dancy (King Arthur 2004, Down and Dirty Pictures 2010)
Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later 2007, Get Him to the Greek 2010)
Peter Gallagher (The Man Who Knew Too Little 2007, Burlesque 2010)
A beautiful, real, heart-felt, artistic film about a subject most people don't even know exists: aspergers syndrome.
You'd have to Google aspergers syndrome to understand why a movie about it would be interesting. It really is. I loved this movie.
It's a movie about love, overcoming difficulty, and humanity.
It's an Indie film so, yeah, it's actually good.
Factoid: Hugh Dancy didn't know much at all about aspergers syndrome when he accepted his starring role in Adam.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Daybreakers (January 8, 2010) R
Starring:
Ethan Hawke (Training Day 2001, "Moby Dick" 2010)
Willem Dafoe (Spiderman 2002, John Carter of Mars 2012)
Sam Neill (Jurassic Park 1993, Ice 2010)
Isabel Lucas (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2009, Red Dawn 2010)
Claudia Karvan (Footy Legends 2006, "Spirited" 2010)
2010 has started on a very strong note: Daybreakers. A bloody, gorey, hardcore, intense, suspenseful, vampiric note.
This film depicts the unhappy ending so many other vampire movies have fought to avoid. What if the vampires won? What if there were billions of vampires populating earth and only a few million humans? How would it change things? How would priorities change? What would America's new moral battles be over? How much blood can one fight scene contain?
Daybreakers is about as realistic (and bloody) as a vampire movie can be... almost.
I wasn't impressed with a few things. Like how this film made leaps and bounds to be a "realistic" vampire movie, and yet the vamps had no reflection... hasn't Hollywood abandoned that old wive's tale/myth. And I thought Buffy held the patent on vampires bursting into flames upon receipt of a stake to the heart...
Corniness aside, Daybreakers is a film for theaters. The volume needs to be loud, the room has to be dark, and no TV has room for all that blood.
Did I mention it's bloody?
Factoid: Daybreakers was filmed in summer 2007.
Also, director Michael Spierig believes that overpopulation is "ultimately what's going to kill us" (http://www.shockya.com/).
Ethan Hawke (Training Day 2001, "Moby Dick" 2010)
Willem Dafoe (Spiderman 2002, John Carter of Mars 2012)
Sam Neill (Jurassic Park 1993, Ice 2010)
Isabel Lucas (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2009, Red Dawn 2010)
Claudia Karvan (Footy Legends 2006, "Spirited" 2010)
2010 has started on a very strong note: Daybreakers. A bloody, gorey, hardcore, intense, suspenseful, vampiric note.
This film depicts the unhappy ending so many other vampire movies have fought to avoid. What if the vampires won? What if there were billions of vampires populating earth and only a few million humans? How would it change things? How would priorities change? What would America's new moral battles be over? How much blood can one fight scene contain?
Daybreakers is about as realistic (and bloody) as a vampire movie can be... almost.
I wasn't impressed with a few things. Like how this film made leaps and bounds to be a "realistic" vampire movie, and yet the vamps had no reflection... hasn't Hollywood abandoned that old wive's tale/myth. And I thought Buffy held the patent on vampires bursting into flames upon receipt of a stake to the heart...
Corniness aside, Daybreakers is a film for theaters. The volume needs to be loud, the room has to be dark, and no TV has room for all that blood.
Did I mention it's bloody?
Factoid: Daybreakers was filmed in summer 2007.
Also, director Michael Spierig believes that overpopulation is "ultimately what's going to kill us" (http://www.shockya.com/).
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Nine (December 25, 2009) PG-13
Starring:
Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown 1989, The Last of the Mohicans 1992, The Crucible 1996, Gangs of New York 2002, There Will Be Blood 2007)
Marion Cotillard (A Good Year 2006, Public Enemies 2009, Inception 2010)
Penelope Cruz (Captain Corelli's Mandolin 2001, Sex and the City 2 2010)
Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge 2001, Rabbit Hole 2010)
Judi Dench (Casino Royale 2006, Untitled 23rd Bond Film 2011)
Kate Hudson (Four Feathers 2002, The Killer Inside Me 2010)
Stacy Ferguson (Planet Terror 2007, Marmaduke 2010)
Sophia Loren (La ciociara 1960, Matrimonio all'italiana 1964)
Being the enormous Daniel Day-Lewis fan that I am, I really looked forward to seeing Nine in theaters. This is the first Day-Lewis film I've had the pleasure of seeing in theaters, and I loved it.
The songs were original, relevant, strong, and beautifully delivered. I especially enjoyed Fergie's performance.
Even Judi Dench had a fantastic solo that put her in a different light than I'm used to seeing her in...
Maybe the only performance I wasn't impressed with was Kate Hudson's. She looked and acted like Brittany Spears (the Brittany Spears of 2008 not 2001...), if Brit was an entertainment news reporter...
Factoid: Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Contillard, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, and Sophia Loren have all won Oscars.
Sophia Loren has received over 68 rewards and/or nominations, including an Oscar win, an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement, and 4 Golden Globe wins.
Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown 1989, The Last of the Mohicans 1992, The Crucible 1996, Gangs of New York 2002, There Will Be Blood 2007)
Marion Cotillard (A Good Year 2006, Public Enemies 2009, Inception 2010)
Penelope Cruz (Captain Corelli's Mandolin 2001, Sex and the City 2 2010)
Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge 2001, Rabbit Hole 2010)
Judi Dench (Casino Royale 2006, Untitled 23rd Bond Film 2011)
Kate Hudson (Four Feathers 2002, The Killer Inside Me 2010)
Stacy Ferguson (Planet Terror 2007, Marmaduke 2010)
Sophia Loren (La ciociara 1960, Matrimonio all'italiana 1964)
Being the enormous Daniel Day-Lewis fan that I am, I really looked forward to seeing Nine in theaters. This is the first Day-Lewis film I've had the pleasure of seeing in theaters, and I loved it.
The songs were original, relevant, strong, and beautifully delivered. I especially enjoyed Fergie's performance.
Even Judi Dench had a fantastic solo that put her in a different light than I'm used to seeing her in...
Maybe the only performance I wasn't impressed with was Kate Hudson's. She looked and acted like Brittany Spears (the Brittany Spears of 2008 not 2001...), if Brit was an entertainment news reporter...
Factoid: Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Contillard, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, and Sophia Loren have all won Oscars.
Sophia Loren has received over 68 rewards and/or nominations, including an Oscar win, an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement, and 4 Golden Globe wins.
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