The hills are alive . . .

October 27, 2010

“Doe, a deer. A female Deer”

Image from TheDailyMail.co.uk

Last night I had the opportunity to see * drumroll please* The Sound of Music for the FIRST time. Ever in life. The lovely ladies @KittyBradshaw, @Divasanddorks & @OsoChic and I settled in for an Anniversary showing @ the IMAX Theater on 34th street with free popcorn *yay*  ( FYI: Me & D&D popped our Sound of Music cherries together! ) We saw people dressed as Nuns and people were singing along (it was like Karaoke) and reciting the lines before they came out the mouths, and I loved every minute of it!

I can see why this movie is one of the most popular musicals of all time, the songs are simplistically divine.   I knew songs that I didn’t know I knew from the movie.I didn’t know “My favorite things” was in this movie and I just absolutely LOVED the good night song. Little Gretl, so cute! And Leisl’s blue eyes were intoxicating!

Can I tell you what I loved most about this movie? The underlying political tones surrounding Austria in the late 1930s. You guys do know that I am a big Holocaust geek and I just wasn’t prepared for this sullen second half (which is based on the true story of  the Von Trapp family singers, although further research shows they didn’t actually escape through the hills). I happened to Google it today and read up on the infamous family HERE .  The father, Captain von Trapp actually had Italian citizenship as well and they family took a train to Italy. Eventually they landed in the US where they eventually relocated to  Vermont, and opened a lodge (that’s still open).

Have you seen the movie? I think that anyone can enjoy it, I mean, I’m definitely not the intended audience from 1965 and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Eclipse, #TeamJacob

July 1, 2010

Even though I know how the story ends, I swear I’m Team Jacob. Even though he’s childish and tempermental and volatile. I <3  Jakeypoo! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE how ‘IN LOVE’ Bella and Edward are, but they are so mushy its disgusting.

Eclipse was suuuccchhh a better movie than New Moon. But then again, New Moon was a horrible book- filled with Bella’s brooding and crying. That’s the great problem the creators of the movies have to deal with. I say that because these books are a bunch of teenage angst, so to take that and make it a motion picture that people swoon over is awesome talent. But New Moon was too heavy on special effects to make up for the weak story line.

Eclipse had a story line + some action so it just HAD to be a better movie- right? I mean, I’m not a die-hard Twilight fanatic, but here are a list of my pros and cons for the flick:

My cons::
One thing I didn’t enjoy was the way they ‘disposed’ of the vampires. Really though- they were hard concrete?? It was like breaking dishes.. Not cool.

Jacob always had a dramtic entrance. I mean, seriously? Does he need a surprising head turn for each entrance? For EVERY one of his scenes? And someone give this boy a shirt. This is kiddie porn.

Hate bella’s engagement ring.

The fight scenes are over so quick

Pros:

I loovvee how creepy Jasper is. He is amusing

Loved her graduation speech.
 Can’t remember if that was in the book..

I don’t rememeber Jane having that role in this movie .. I might have to reread the book.. But I don’t remember her being in the clearing or even watching the newborns wreck havoc. #whoknows

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Cleo Reviews: Alice in Wonderland 2010

March 8, 2010

In case your new to this, you should know I have been looking forward to Alice in Wonderland for quite some time. Way back hen, in NVvember of 2008, i first came across the images on Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and began patiently waiting.. Then I came across these real scans .. and was in LOVE still. I watched every preview and eagerly anticipated my Imax 3D experience.

So this weekend I did it. I sat there in front of a row of 8-year olds and watched Tim Burton bring it. And I think it was brought! Some reviewers online said that it wasn’t good. I disagree. I think I had extremely high hopes for this movie, being the ultimate J.Depp and T.Burton fan. I know that because it was a Disney movie it couldn’t be as creepy as I’d like it, but it was good.

Storyline: We all know that Alice falls down a rabbit hole into Wonderland where she battle the Red Queen .. The story doesn’t change, except that in this adaption, Alice has been to Wonderland before. She’s 19 and not 6. Alice was my least favorite character. She was so … insolent. She looked great though. I totally adored the dresses they styled her in. This was my favorite:

alice in wonderland red dress uhm umbridge wardbrobe costume movie

Besides the fashion, She was just so blah. She didn’t add anything extra to Alice. The other actors carried this movie.

I loved Helena Bonham Carter in her role as Red Queen. I don’t understand why she had such a huge head. I do wish they would have elaborated on that. Johnny Depp was creepy. I don’t know how I want to describe his character. He definitely was ‘Mad’. His make up was flawless! And the Dance (you have to watch the movie to see this) was like WTF. I think that that was odd. I loved Professor Snapes Caterpillar. He was creepy. His voice is so creepy. Snape is a win in my book. Anne  Hathaway’s White Queen was good. Her role was small, but well played. Her gliding everywhere kind of irked me. I kept thinking, ‘Why is this B!tch gliding all over the place?” LOL. OH, and the Jabowokee? I thought he was really out of place for this movie. His ugliness was just soo .. un Wonderland. HE should have been more colorful and more of a slickster fighter. IDK .. I’m sure he’ll make a cool action figure though.

All in all this film was entertaining to watch. Not Tim Burton’s or Johnny Depp’s best. But good nonetheless. Now that I’ve seen the movie, I’m going to read the book, because apparently some critics out there are upset about this adaptation. I want to see what all the fuss is about.

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Cleo Reviews: The Wolfman

February 22, 2010

WolfMan!!


“Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright.”

It sounds like it should be scary, right? That’s what I thought too about the move The Wolfman. All the previews made it look devilishly creepy and exciting. So, you can imagine that I was very excited to be creeped out at the movies last night. I should have known something would be amiss when the lady in front of me gave us a stank face when we said we were going to see Wolfman. It was that face like Nina gave Carrie in the bathroom.. Yeah, that bad.

I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone, but I will say that while not a movie that kept me on my toes, it was gory. Blood gushing, guts on the floor goryness that some people enjoy. And that is what you need with a movie set in the last 1800s, blood and gore to spice it up.  I would definitely recommend waiting for the DVD or the HBO premiere of this movie. While entertaining its not worth the steep 10.50 movie price.  But now I’m curious to see the 1941 version. I have this thing where I need to see the original and the remake. I have a lot of originals to catch up on.

Benecio Del Toro is a great actor. He played anguished so well. Anthony Hopkins can never NOT be creepy. It’s just in  his blood. Emily Blunt was someone I never paid much attention to, and I probably still won’t, but she was good.

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Back-up Plan?? More like a rerun!

December 21, 2009

J Lo’s latest movie is like a combination of Object of My Affection and Baby Mama. Been there, done that. Will I watch it, sure. Will I pay for it? NOT! I do have a guilty pleasure of watching movies like this on weekends or when I’m bored. You can kinda watch them without really watching them. I can turn on the tube and then play the Sims 3 or do other work and still feel like I know whats going on. They aren’t that hard to follo: boy meets girl. something happens to stop the love. Boy and girl fix problem and live happily ever after. Or realize that they love each other despite the drama and live Happily Ever After …

What do you think?

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Cleo Reviews: Law Abiding Citizen

October 19, 2009

law Abiding citizen

*** Possible Spoilers**

Man seeking revenge for the death of his family. Not a new concept, but it can always be redone. Clyde is a “normal” guy who’s wife and daughter are slaughtered in front of him. He attempts to let the justice system do its job, but is disappointed that the man who did it gets cut a break for snitching on his accomplice. Clyde is NOT happy with that, in fact he’s straight up pissed! Flash forward 10 years and he enacts his revenge, or his plot to fix the system.

Clyde is up against Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx). Rice is a good guy, but he’s typical DA material, more concerned with his conviction rate than actually doing justice. And that’s the plot in a nutshell. Clyde wants justice, not deals!!! And you better get it right, or you’re TOAST!

Ok, so just who is the Law Abiding Citizen in this movie? From the previews you think it’s going to be Gerard Butler being LAC but being devious at it, but as you continue to watch the movie you think Jamie Foxx is the LAC. So really, just who is it? I think the movie makers want us to be confused. They want to make you question, do your root for the “bad guy” or the guy who is just doing his job?

This movie was suspenseful, slightly gory (hello, his blood GUSHED out of his neck, and her brains were on the floor), and above all well written. Except the end, I do have some gripes about the ending because it could have been much better. I mean, Brooke McQueen (Leslie Bibb for those who don’t know) could have been so much better! Not that she was bad, but her talent could have been used in better ways, like she should have been trying to smash Nick. Then I’d believe her character, after all no one works hard and gets to the top these days!

Go See it, but not after you just ate.

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Cleo Reviews: The Informant

September 23, 2009

Matt Damon Informant

Matt Damon starred as Mark Whitacre in Steven Soderbergh’s newest. I kept seeing the previews and thought this would be a funny movie, how can it not be with a quote like, “Call me 0014, because I’m twice as smart as 007.” The movie was pleasantly funny.  The funniest parts to me are the Matt Damon voice overs. He goes off on random tangents about things like cheap ties.

Whitacre is a middle America exec of a corn company who has their product in everything in the early 90s. (High Fructose Corn Syrup anyone?) Marc doesn’t like how his company does business so he gets in cahoots with the FBI to bring them down. His ultimate goal is to be the “hero” and put the company back on track.

The funny part is that the FBI doesn’t seek out Whitacre, Whitaker goes to them. He starts this big elaborate investigation into the company and then begins to feel weird about it.  He tries to back out, but being that this is the FBI you just can’t. The movie follows Whitacre on this journe and eventually unfolds that Whitacre is involved in some shady things himself, but I won’t tell what.

My biggest problem with the movie, and this may be due to Soderbergh, is that it felt like I was watching Matt Damon’s character from the Ocean’s movies go on an extended undercover coup. In case you don’t know Sodergergh directs the Ocean’s series, so maybe that is why.

The guy who hosts E! TV’s The Soup was really good in this movie. And the wife, Ginger Whitacre, I know I’ve seen here before. But when I IMDB’ed her (real name Melanie Lynskey) I couldn’t place her in any of those things. Even though I saw Away We Go, I couldn’t place her character. She was also in a movie called Itty Bitty Titty Commitee!

All in all, I say go check this out on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It’s a good laugh when you need it.

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Summer Movie List!

May 8, 2009

Inglourious Basterds Movie Poster

I love summer and not only for the warm weather and super tans I usually get. I love summer block buster movies. The biggest budget action films almost always come out in the summer months. In honor of the opening of summer season, I’d like to list the movies I’m looking forward to this summer, besides Wolverine. Ready??

1. Star Trek:  I’ve never been a Trekkie, but I love Zoe Saldana so I want to see her in action. Speaking of action, this movie looks packed with it. And YES I am only going to this movie to see her & the action. I can care less about Star Trek (please don’t kill me Trekkies!!)

2. Transformers: OMG loved the first one. Me & my former roommate probably watched this movie once a week while we lived together. Shia LeBeouf really did a good job in the role of Sam Witwicky. And I heard there is more time dedicated to actual Transformers in this one. 40 new mechanical delights to witness.

3. My Sister’s Keeper: While this isn’t an action packed movie I’m still looking forward to it. Its based on a Jodi Picoult novel, and while I’ve only read one of her books, 19 Minutes, I think if I read more of her I’d love her a lot. I thoroughly enjoyed 19 Minutes. I recommended it to all my friends because I felt the story was just that engaging.  Anyway, the previews for this look so good, even with Cameron Diaz. I’m prepared to be the sap that I know am.

4. Harry Potter & the  Half Blood Prince: Need I say more than Harry Potter? These movies are starting to get really dark & delightful. I’ve started reading the books, and those are good too. I will probably be finished all of them by the time this movie comes out, so I can be on my toes with anxiousness to see how they bring it to life.

5. Inglourious Basterds: Quinten Tarantino + Brad  Pitt + WW2. This movies been in the works for sometime and its finally here!! The Basterds are Americans who travel to Nazi occupied France to brutually kill Nazis.. and who can blame them? I’m looking forward to all the wonderful Quentin Tarantino violence. And dammit Brad Pitt is just one helluva an actor-that’s something you can’t deny him.

What movies are ou looking forward to this summer? Not sure what’s available then go to IMDB and check it out!!

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X-Men Origin’s: Wolverine

May 5, 2009

OK, so I was going to do a review on this movie (or maybe just on Hugh Jackman’s hot sexy nakedness, but then I read Jess’s 10 reasons why you need to see this and after reading her’s I don’t feel there is much more I can add. I believe that it is a good writers job to know when they can add to the discussion and when are they just being pointless banter. So NOT to bore you guys anymore.. here you have it:

Jess’s 10 reasons to see X-Men Origin’s Wolverine

  1. Wolverine is all angry and sexy in his clothes that just barely fit,yet at any second you’re waiting for them to just completely rip off *yes Wolverine Hugh Jackman is my white boy crush*
  2. Hello?! Mutant fighting!!!  Especially Sabretooth he’s a total badass actually lemme make it specific, when they run up in the Nigerian diamond house and you see what everybody can do :-)
  3. They don’t hold back, there were a few times, no lie, that I covered my eyes…those mutants are bananas man…and that William Stryker?! Such great acting!

Read the rest HERE

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Obsessed: Cleo’s Review

April 28, 2009

****Warning:   MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS!!! ****

Everyone went to see this movie to see how bad Beyonce’s acting would be, and any one who tells you differently is absolutely lying. Ok, maybe not everyone, because there were plenty of Beyonce stans in there going crazy, but definitely the majority.  I would have simply waited for the bootleg DVD copy, but my friend is one of the latter so we had to go — on opening night at that. I wasn’t really happy with that, but I can say, I was pleasantly surprised with how mediocre her acting was. She wasn’t good, but she wasn’t overly horrible either. So that says a lot.

Plot: Truth be told, the plot wasn’t anything we haven’t seen before. Crazy woman sees unattainable (married) man and sets her sights on him. Of course, the girl needs very little leading on to know that she wants him. She fabricates a whole relationship in her head. Man doesn’t tell his wife, which makes the situation that much harder when the shit hits the fan. Its definitely a “Fatal Attraction.” And if I read one more comment about this movie being racist I’m going to die! Get over it, whats so wrong with showing a happy black couple? Why do black couples always have to be problem ridden? And yes, its very feasible to show a woman (who happens to be white) trying to get a man who is married. UGH get over it! ON with the review..

Now, I love me some Idris Elba, but I don’t feel like he was at his best in this role. He wasn’t strong when I wanted him to be strong. He yelled at the most inopportune moments.  For the rest of the night I would randomly yell, “Bitch Breathe” because it was funny. He just didn’t know how to handle the sly temp. (Ali Larter). I will say that him & Beyonce had seemingly good on screen chemistry,although it was hard to believe Beyonce when she was being sex kittenish with him. The good thing was about him was that he went topless 2 times. I love a sexy, topless chocolate man.

Ali Larter needs to start eating again. She looked so much thinner than she did back in her Final Destination day. But she did the role of crazy very well. She knew who to ask the right questions to, and how to prey on peoples weaknesses, like the young babysitter.  She was by far the most convincing character.

Bey. I’d say the worst thing about this film was the bad weave. Why? OF all the lace-fronts available did you find the one that looked like that? It reminded of the Beyonce weaves from the Survivor days.  Her country accent was very strong at times.  Or maybe it was her diction. It’s nothing that a GREAT acting coach can’t help you with. “You touched my chaild!!!” She did play the insecure role very well. She feared her husband would frolic around with yet another assistant since that’s how she came to be his wife.  Idris had to spend time telling her that she was the only one for him. Funniest part was when the heckler behind me said, “I wonder if that’s what Jay is telling her now.” Instant laughs all over the theater.

The big ta-da was the fighting scene. And dammit this just took too long to get to. There was all this buildup and tension rising for a 3 minute fight scene. Where the hell did she learn to kick like that? Its hard to shed the image that we all have of Beyonce to see her doing this part believably.  In order for me to believe this fighting Queen Bey would need to disappear off the face of the earth for about two years, and then come back doing a role like this.

And I was so ecstatic that there had been no Beyonce songs in this movie! That is  until the very end when Smash Into you came on. But I guess she wasn’t going to go ALL movie without it.  An that’s something you can do when you executive produce a movie. It was still longer than I expected to go without a song.

Overall, this is one of those good bad movies. The kind that makes you laugh when its not supposed to. I hope it doesn’t get a Razzie, because after all it did open at #1 in the box office with $28.5 million in sales! It’s not an F because I laughed but its definitely not an A.. it gets a C+, no Oscar nominations for this one!

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Random Ramblings

January 28, 2009

What better way to talk about random things than with a Far Side comic strip…

Random Ramblings..

1. I commute now to work since I recently moved.  I noticed a few things, besides the fact that most people cannot drive.

-yellow cars almost always drive fast.  If ever you are in a rush-get behind a yellow car (not to be confused with a taxi)
-People do NOT know how to merge.  Merging creates the absolute worse traffic congestions. I avoid routes with heavy mergers because I hate sitting in traffic and I don’t like to let people in front of me.
-living farther away I am actually more punctual for work than I am when I lived ten minutes away.  Go figure.
-I’m overly aware of rises and drops in gas prices.  AND I now try to make sure I pay cash for gas since it is normal now to charge two different prices for cash and card, which  think is highway robbery.  WHO THE FUCK CARRIES CASH!! WTF!! I miss my old EXXon I used to go to, it was same price.
-Is EZpass really that easy? I mean kinda, yes when you’re going through those like big 7 lane EZpass sections, but other times, I debate about it. I mean yes, only have to slow to 15 mph is better than a complete stop, but why can’t I zoom though at like 45? That would be even more convenient.  I’m just saying! But it is great to know that when I’m down to my last 2 dollars, I don’t have to save $1 for my toll.

I thought of a lot more while I was driving home from work today, but for some reason now I can’t think.  FREAK! I will update this as I get the new ideas..

2. Things I found wrong with the Notorious Movie.
-This “biopic” had no point. Yes, we are telling the story of Christopher Wallace, but from who’s view.  Was it how his mother saw him? How his friends saw him? I felt that this lack of vision really hurt the (barely there) plot line.
-Anti-Climatic.. yes, I knew everything about him.  I knew he sold drugs, I knew he got “discovered” by Puff and that him and Pac were cool.  The point of a biopic/biography/whatever you want to call it is to let people know something they didn’t know about the character.  Give them the hidden details that they secretly are dying to know. Although in this paparazzi age nothing is a secret.
3.  They movie neglected to have any real relationships developed. He met Kim, fucked her. If him and Puff were BOOYYYZZZZ like Puffy portrays that wasn’t shown in the movie.  Him & Faiths relationship wasn’t even developed.  This made for loopholes. I mean, one minute him & faith were fighting the next she had a baby. WTF!! I’m glad this movie didn’t get my duckets!
-Derek Luke is better than this.  Seriously.  WTF man.  I love you!! Why are you playing Puffy? seriously??? All the other acting was cool… And Angela Basset.  why?  Ur getting ER money now!!! And was this really a passion project? Lemme know girl!

3. Why the hell is winter in full force? It is colder than Alaska’s uncle out there.  Damn global climate change.  Naturally here on the East coast we have cold winters, but this one has been brutal. I’m deeply saddened.

4. the other day I was driving and I saw PeptoBismo pink stretch Hummer… I mean seriously.. did you really need to put an obnoxious car in such an obnoxious color? Why must you torment my eyes.

5. I signed up for a class this semester.  And yay, I’m excited but I reallized I have an undergraduate mentality in a grad School world.  I need to get reacclimated and adjusted quick before I realize I wasted my money! I am excited for learning and using my brain, but not for having to read so much in 3 days.

6. The economy is NOT an excuse for everything. “Officer I was speeding, but you  know.. blame the economy.”

7. speaking of tickets, I got a ticket in the mail after New Years, at my old apartment.  The ticket says the offense occured on 10/3, but was dated 12/29.  And mailed to me on January 6th. What kind of blasphemy is this shit? How do I dispute something that happned 32 years ago? Being that they lost my ticket for so long, I’m losing theirs. which probably isn’t the best idea, but I’m satisfied that its a great retaliatory act.

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Review: My Bloody Valentine

January 22, 2009

So, with all the movies I want to see I ended up at the movies on Saturday seeing my bloody valentine because my friend saw everything else.  MBV is a 3-D Slasher film, however we weren’t able to see it in 3-d we had to settle for regular.  If a movie is released in 3d all theaters should have to honor that.  But I digress.. Here is my review, I will try not to spoil it for everyone… too much..

The only person I recognized fully in this was the guy Kerr Smith, who was on Dawson’s Creek and he was on Charmed, so he stood out.  All the others had faces that looked familiar, but I couldn’t place. Although the main character was definitely sexy, his voice was yummy! LOL! Lots of gore in this movie, from the very beginning.  This is where they give the initial action that leads to the course of events 10 years later.  They definitely should have developed this more, spent maybe another 15 minutes on it or something.  There are some loopholes here. Why did Harry Warren go biserk? What led to the initial Valentine’s Day Massacre? What Harry Warden did was insane! I was gripping my seat like ” Oh no he DIDN”T!” But I’d still like to know why, that loophole bothers me.  But Slasher movies come with  many loopholes, they are not known for seriously strong plots.  Oh, did I mentions this was a remake, I didn’t know that until I IMDB’ed it, which lets you know of course that as with The Day the Earth Stood Still I did not see the original.  Ok. So basically something tragic happens and fast forward ten years later something else tragic happens which is what the movie is about.

This film is Rated R… guess what, there is some full frontal nudity… I was SHOCKED.  I was not expecting that, hell I hadn’t even heard of this movie until it was suggested. Homegirl fights the killer -NUDE! Why do all killers have to have a one piece uniform/mask-think Michael Myers in his button up or zip up thing… and think Jason in his overalls… why do they follow this formula.  I mean, in this movie I guess it works because you aren’t sure who the killer is, but Jason & Mike have been killed like 42 thousand times… what gives?

OK, back to the review without giving too much up… Basically this film follows most of the standard slasher film rules-confused girl over who the killer is, lots of gore, twist at the end.  But it works.. and it works well.  I did not meet one person who saw it this weekend who said it was bad.  Must be the 3d! Check it out and tell me what you thought of it..

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Review: The Day the Earth Stood Still & Keanu Reeve’s acting

December 15, 2008

They don’t make movie posters like they used to, lol!

I went this Friday, opening night, to see Keanu Reeves star in The Day the Earth Stood Still and I can say that overall it was a decent movie. I didn’t see the original so I have nothing to compare it to, except my movie criteria as a 20 something. To sum up the movie:  there was some OK acting, some good special affects, a sub par plot, and Keanu Reeves. Keanu Reeves as Klaatu was remarkably unbelievable. The concept of Klaatu that I believe he was meant to portray was an alien who was sent to Earth to judge us. Klaatu needed to make the decision of whether humans deserved to be saved or was the earth better off without us. This character should have started off detached at first, but eventually recognize the duality of the human race which leads to the outcome. (I’m trying not to spoil too much here.) However, Keanu was just blah. There is one scene where he is speaking to a fellow alien who came to earth for the same task- he highlights the internal struggle of what it is to be of this world but not of this world. He speaks of the downfalls of the human race but the says he loves them, and he doesn’t want to leave. He captured the essence of what Klaatu needed. The best special affect: GORT. Super big, super strong.. super right..

Keanu was devoid of any depth and emotion in this role. I mean, I know it is probably hard to play a distant character but his lines weren’t even delivered well and delivery is everything. This is why you get paid millions of dollars each film right? To show us how much better at this you are than someone else. Keanu is forever stuck in the role of playing the person who doesn’t really have much of an idea of what is going on very well. He plays dumb all too well.

I think my favorite Keanu Reeves film would have to be A Scanner Darkly, probably because it was animated and I didn’t have to feel like I was watching one man be stupid all over the screen. I did enjoy watching  Speed every now and then, but that was because I loved Sandra Bullock. Watching them together in the LakeHouse was pure torture. I feel asleep on it-twice. I mean seriously, its hard for him to transition his stony face shots into a romance movie, which is all about dialog and drawing the viewer in. A romance movie is crap if I don’t feel for the characters. I need to feel their unrequited love so I can cry at the end. He cannot do that, therefore he isn’t one of the best cinematic actors of our time. And his voice.. it reeks of Can-a-duh!!!

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Johnny Depp is the new Madd Hatter

November 18, 2008

These pictures have been circling the internet for the past few days. They are of Johnny Depp (one of my all-time favorite actors) as the Madd Hatter in the Tim Burton rendition of Alice in Wonderland. Honestly, I can’t say that this doesn’t look like a combination of Sweeney Todd mixed with Willy Wonka. I mean, thats why we all love Johnny, he can do weird crazy characters with the best of them. He can do heavy transformations, but does it ever become redundant? I think he’s going to make one helluva Mad Hatter, but I don’t want to feel like I’m watching Sweeney Todd or Edward Scissorhands struggle with his inner Willy Wonka if you know what I mean . . . even though he’ll look hot in his “I’m Johnny Depp and slightly creepy hot” kinda way.

I bet Helena Bonham Carter is going to be in this movie, I need to IMDB this with the quickness. I love IMDB its one of my favorite search engines, the only goto for TV and Movie information. AH HA! I used my other tab to check IMDB and she is in the movie, she’s the Red Queen! I also learned of other note-worthy casting choices: Anne Hathaway is the White Queen. Some person I don’t know named Mia Wasikowska is Alice and Professor Snape from Harry Potter, Alan Rickman to others, is cast as Caterpillar. I think I got a little excited to see Severus Snape as Caterpillar…

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My Movie Review

August 26, 2008

Disclaimer: This is solely my opinion and I don’t represent any one elses views or have any facts to back up my opinion…

So this weekend I went to see Jack Bauer, I mean Keifer Sutherland in the movie Mirrors.  And I have to say that over the past few years I have lost faith in scary movies.  So many have been . . . whack for lack of a better word.  I can’t pretend that there haven’t some jewels:

  • The Saw series
  • The Hills Have Eyes
  • The Ring (only the first one)

But so many have been remakes of past movies or of popular Asian movies.  I mean, movies in general have just lacked any sparkle of creativity.  in the past 5 years there have been more remakes than original screenplays and more movies from comic books, cartoons and TV shows than successful blockbuster films, but yet actors are steadily making more and more money.

Anyway, I went on Saturday night to watch Mirrors, which I suspected was a remake of an Asian film and after some research yesterday found out it was, and it was good. The story features a down on his luck cop who takes a night job at an old department store. He begins to realize there is something fishy with the mirrors, and sets out to find out what is up before his family is destroyed or he is killed like others before him. Now, I enjoyed this movie but I still had several questions that I don’t want to ask in fear of giving too much away, but I am going to ask some.  I wonder were the “mirrors” selective in who they chose to harass? And there are some questions I have about the ending, I mean how did he get there if  . . . .?? And Is he dead or alive? I know they left it open to have room for a sequel, but dammit I need my questions answered. And I mean seriously, an abandoned burned-down department store in the middle of NYC is straight unrealistic. First off, Macy’s Herald Square would have put them out of business and secondly new yorkers aren’t much for Saks has the luxury game on lock. And why were they not rebuilding, if someone admits to arson the insurance would cover the damages. I’m jus saying-logistically I saw error in that. And then why hire patrolmen to protect burned merchandise?? Not well thought out or they cut those scenes.

As far as the acting-Keifer Sutherland is Jack Bauer in everything that he does. He would need to take a role like Nathan Lane in the birdcage for me to not see the Jack Baueresque-ness of him. Paula Patton as his wife wasn’t horrible, but in typical horror movie fashion she was wishy washy. Long periods of doubt followed by belief when she needed it. The son, he didn’t say much but he didn’t need to. There is always that one child who bonds with the alien/demon/creature and helps it- that’s him. And the daughter, I knew who she was from the CW show “the game.” She plays the biracial daughter of two main character and alas here she is also playing a biracial daughter.I guess she’s a good actor for a kid.  I find it hard to be harsh to child actors…

Overall, I don’t regret spending the cash or the time to see this movie. It had me jumpy.  Had the appropriate number of gory scenes to satisfy that blood craving you need with a horror film and the effects weren’t horrible.  As long as they don’t go shuffling around the cast I guess I might.

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