James Cameron's AVATAR- A journey of one fan

Whenever I am pressed with the almost impossible question: what is your favorite movie? I always have to trip and scramble over the hundreds of candidates... How am I feeling today? Is it Halloween? Is it summer? On a typical day I will say it is split between three films, pinnacles of many avid film buffs, and movie lovers, Star Wars Ep.V The Empire Strikes Back, Jurassic Park and Aliens. After tonight it became apparent that those films would have to scoot around, and open up a fourth spot for a newcomer, James Cameron's Avatar.

Cameron's Avatar first popped up on my radar about 2 years ago, figuring now to be about half way through it's production. For that period of time, people interested in the picture only had one still frame to be excited about, a picture of Cameron overlooking a tube like structure with green screen in the background. That was all we had up until this summer.

This last summer brought one of the most eagerly anticipated trailers. A countdown started days prior to the release of the Avatar teaser trailer. I waited patiently until the morning of its release. Of course, so did many others, and quicktime.com/trailers...crashed. I waited and waited until finally it was made available and I sat and watched. The teaser was fantastic, filled with extraordinary visuals of Pandora, the planet the film takes place on, the Na'vi, the natural inhabbitants of Pandora and of course the many creatures that roamed its surface. The teaser was fantastic but didn't get me jacked, it was great, but not mindbending. The trailer was released a few months later and to my relieft was miles better then the teaser, an even closer look into a story so underwraps that people were growing concerned....What was this story even about?

Finally, after it was announced that for one day only, fans of the future film would be able to sit in IMAX's around the country and experience 15 minutes of AVATAR in 3D, Myself and a couple of buddies registered and sat for an hour in line waiting for our actual AVATAR teaser. The subsequent scenes put the few doubts in my mind to rest. This 3D blew me away, and that very moment I knew I was watching history unfold. The next Star Wars was on screen. Another benchmark in cinematic history was about to be revealed.

Cut to, last night, dinner time, a large group of us head out to Easton to catch dinner and prepare to sit for a couple of hours to finally see AVATAR, a 12:01 A.M showing. After sitting for almost an hour in the theatre, the lights dimmed, and the thumping of the 20th Century Fox fanfare started to play. The following 2 hours and 45 minutes were filled with explosive actions scenes, a moving story about divided civilizations, vehicles, creatures, a beautiful soundtrack and so much more. AVATAR is a rare film, perfect in almost every way. This is the film you follow up Titanic with. Cameron's hiatus birthed a film that will be pitted against other staples of the industry, from Citizen Cane to the Wizard of Oz, from Star wars to Alien. From Titanic to Dark Knight. The trailers could not do the film justice. Those "ridiculous blue smirfs" that online participants complained about were more real then the actors of last years Academy Award contendors. Never once did I question the reality of the landscapes that the camera ventured through. Never once did I question the preying six legged predators of the forests of Pandora. Never once did I question...the story.

Although Director's have claimed that their motion capture is the next step, only Cameron's Na'Vi have succesfully bridged the gap between real acting and CGI. They look just as real as their human counterparts.

The film is a very emotional ride. Cameron has a unique ability for making us question what we know. He has managed to make a film that makes the viewers hate our own species. We side with the foreign alien speices, a species we have only been aware of for mere hour before we begin to pick sides. Each of his characters are fully flushed out. It is not as easy as saying "that guy is bad, and that guy is good." Cameron reminds us that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, that even the best of people sometimes do wrong, and the bad guy can sometimes prove good.

The score by James Horner is one of the most elegant and beautiful I have heard since Gladiator and of course the Star Wars prequels. This is one of the last films in recent memory where the music took front and center stage, and moved the story in ways that could not be possible without it. Horner's beautifully emotional pieces played as explosions ripped a village apart in silence. I plan on picking up the Score today, a must have for any fan of film music.

During the climactic final fourty minutes or so of the film it hit me...AVATAR is one of "those" films. A film that will inspire small children the way Jurassic Park and Star Wars inspired me. Whether it is to become a concept artist, modler, director, actor, scientist, soldier, so on and so fourth... this is film that makes adults, kids again and makes kids the shapers of tomorrow. I was choked up for the better part of the finale, as I though about what this meant to a new generation of film goers, what this meant to older film goers, and especially what this meant to me. Avatar is a sign of things to come. It took one man's unique vision and a team of talented artists and film makers to bring the magic back to the silver screen. This is what going to the movies is all about.

Avatar ****/****

Fantastic Mr. Fox

This weekend I found myself in the wonderful world of New York City. Craig and I went on an adventure around the city and ended up at the theater. We were planning on seeing Men Who Stare At Goats but we found out that Fantastic Mr. Fox opened that night. Without hesitation we got tickets and were so excited to watch this film so early.

All I can say is...this movie was...FANTASTIC. I was laughing throughout the entire film. The animation was brilliant. It was a true Wes Anderson film. I fell in love with the characters because I felt their laughter, their excitement, their sorrows, and their adventures. I wanted to watch it again after it was over.

The facial expressions were amazing, the soundtrack was beautiful, and the voice actors did a fantastic job (George Clooney, "the great" Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Michael Gambon, Eric Anderson, and Willem Dafoe).

It opens up Thanksgiving. This film deserves to be watched. It also deserves to be nominated for an Academy Award. I have a feeling that this years race for Best Animated Film is going to be amazing (Up, Christmas Carol, Coraline,...so many more).

I wish I had time to write a longer review but it is 3:28am and I need to sleep. I will re-post this weekend.

Righteous Kill

I finally got to watch Righteous Kill. A ground-breaking movie that basically caught the attention of De Niro and Pacino fans because, well, it contains both of them. Yes for a rare moment, both actors starred in the same movie. We had this before if you recall The Godfather Part II, where De Niro plays the younger Vito Corleone, but he never appears in the same scenes as Pacino (who plays the adult role of Michael Corleone in the "present" of the film.) In Heat, a crime thriller, they're both the stars, but are rarely acting in the same scene again.

Now in Righteous Kill, they're together throughout most of the film. I got to say guys, this movie was NOT as good as it should have been. I don't know if it was poor writing, sketchy plot, or just acted in a poor manner, but the movie did not deliver for me.

Al Pacino, the whole time I watched him, I felt like he just didn't care. I felt like he wasn't acting, and he was kinda on a coffee break when motioning through his lines. There wasn't the passion we saw him display in the Godfather, and he didn't even overact as he did in Scarface. In this movie, he just simply, shrugged and said, well we're going to get our money back on this movie for being in it.

De Niro is average, but I don't think the script allowed him to be more than that. De Niro didn't portray someone new to me.

The plot...ehh..it tried to be playful and tricky, but it kinda left a lot of open questions. It wasn't genuine. This movie might have worked much better 20 years ago. It's just too much for it's own good. De Niro and Pacino are old...give them something to portray in that perspective.

"Where The Wild Things Are" Illustration Wildness

A group of students guided by our dear CCAD Film Society, decided to work on a set of poster illustrations for the movie "Where The Wild Things Are". Weekly we will show what they came up with. This week we start with my great friend Graham Erwin. The posters are for sale now for 5 dollars 11X17.

Stealing Aschenbrand The Screenplay?

It appears that all the rumors are true. Luis La Torre is working in a new film, and from what we can tell from the name, it involves our dear Dean of Advertising Richard Aschenbrand. We are working to get an interview with Luis sometime soon next week, so he can tell us more about this new project of his.

2009 New Summer Movies

The objective was to watch 50 new movies from the day after school to the beginning of the new semester. Thanks to David E Merz III's Movie Wednesdays, the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Netflix, Luis La Torre, Youtube, Grant Oaks (Simone, Yoshi, KB, Meg, and Alex), Justine Arreche, the Greyhound, Craig Cusano, and everyone else who helped me reach this goal. I made it to 70 new films and I am continuing a list for the school year.

1.) Apocalypse Now
2.) Monsoon Wedding
3.) The Iron Giant
4.) The Ideal Man
5.) The Motorcycle Diaries
6.) La Via En Rose
7.) Unfaithful
8.) Kung Fu Panda
9.) Vanilla Sky
10.) Up
11.) Mall Cop (I should note that I saw this on the bus ride from Youngstown)
12.) Super Size Me
13.) Bowling for Columbine
14.) Angels In America
15.) Volver
16.) Star Trek
17.) The Prestige
18.) The Birdcage
19.) Airplane
20.) Music of the Heart
21.) Syriana
22.) Stardust
23.) Dead Poet Society
24.) Other Boleyn Girl
25.) Breakfast at Tiffany's
26.) Away We Go
27.) Led Zeppelin Part II
28.) Academy Awards 2007 Short Animated Films
29.) Gone Baby Gone
30.) The Grifters
31.) The Philadelphia Story
32.) The Great Gatsby
33.) Let The Right One In
34.) Bernard & Doris
35.) Married Life
36.) Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb
37.) The Counterfeiters
38.) A Mighty Heart
39.) Amadeus
40.) Persepolis
41.) Sophie Scholl
42.) Lucky # Slevin
43.) Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
44.) (500) Days of Summer
45.) Happy Feet
46.) Treasure Planet
47.) Chicken Little
48.) An Inconvenient Truth
49.) Rocky
50.) Sicko
51.) Vertigo
52.) Desperately Seeking Susan
53.) Thank You For Smoking
54.) Recount
55.) Risky Business
56.) Step Brothers
57.) Big Fish
58.) Blazing Saddles
59.) It Happened One Night
60.) Fried Green Tomatoes
61.) Trainspotting
62.) Public Enemies
63.) Spartacus
64.) Paris Je'Taime
65.) Ray
66.) Julie and Julia
67.) Spirited Away
68.) Surf's Up
69.) G.I. Joe Rise of the Cobra
70.) Next (I only saw the beginning and the end of this film, no one should go through this much pain)

Movie Nights

I have been hosting movie nights here in Columbus at my apartment on Wednesday nights during the summer break. If anyone would like to join us, give me a ring or hit me up on Facebook. 

Kyle! I would like to see you come sometime man!

Transformers Review later today!!!

I cannot wait to review this incredible film! But first I need to get some sleep before work

stay tuned

br()wnie

Shutter Island Trailer

Another Scorsese/ DiCaprio Junction.

The Road

Just Amazing!

Away We Go Clips

New AWAY WE GO clips! from Gordon and the Whale on Vimeo.

Enjoy a few clips from the movie from Sam Mendes

The Tarantino Mixtape

The Tarantino Mixtape from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

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Edited by Eclectic Method and some damn fine editing at that. Go easy if you are watching this at work by the way, the juicy parts are not cut out (which makes it even better).

Full...Metal...Jacket

Wow people. It is the end of April and no one has been posting. I am a little disappointed but I realized that the last time I updated was February so I have no room to talk. We are all busy with school but I felt like posting a review on an older film to lighten everyones mood and help them procrastinate even longer.

I watched Full Metal Jacket this weekend and fell in love. It was brilliant and I love Kubrick. Everyone knows my stance on Clockwork but I love every other Kubrick that I have seen: 2001 Space Odyssey, Eyes Wide Shut, and Full Metal Jacket.
As a viewer you can definitely tell that this was a two part film. The first having to deal with the life of incoming soldiers and how they build as family. The tolls that the army dishes out everyone of them. The disgusting, vulgar things that the captain says to each person. These are people and we train them like animals. We want them to be animals or maybe even a robot. Humans are not humans anymore but instead they are killing machines.
We see the how Pyle, the overweight, slower character is influenced by the people around him. He wants to be like them but everyone else doesn't see him as a person. Joker has to take care of him but in the end all of the soldiers get fed up with him and give him a good beating. Pyle turns the tables when he becomes a great fireman. He can use a gun and he has a great shot. We later see how both the beating and his talent effect the story.
In the second part of the film is the Vietnam war. It is brutal and disgusting. My favorite part is when each marine is getting interviewed and giving their opinions on the war. Joker is a very complicated character. He wears a helmet that says, "Born to Kill" but on his jacket he wears a peace pin. In his interview he said that he came to Vietnam so that he could be the first on his block to have a confirmed kill. But when he is faced with shooting someone he can't do it. This is pushed when Animal Mother looks him in the eye and tells him to kill... I don't want to spoil it for you.
Anyways, the cinematography is brilliant and we all know what is in store for us when we want to watch a Kubrick film.

The Last House on the Left ('09)

Hello film fans,

This weekend I had the fortune to enjoy yet another remake of one of the most influential and controversial horror films ever made. The Last House on the Left is a remake of Wes Craven's 1972 original of the same name.

The plot is actually layered with different information for the audience to take in, different even from the Friday the 13th that marches down the same predictable path as many others. I will review the '72 version here as soon as I have time to do so. From what I understand there are some subtle differences, so I will be able to touch on that later.

The plot follows Mari Collingwood (Sara Paxton) and her parents Emma (Monica Potter) and Doctor Father, John (Tony Goldwyn) on their summer trip to their lake house, set out in the woods....well its the last house on the left, on a very long road out into the middle of no where. The plot parallels into the story of a group of murderers lead by Manson-like Father Krug (Garret Dillahunt). Their paths cross when Mari and friend hanging in town, come across Justin, who ends up being part of the gang. After the two girls face ultimate horror in the woods, Krug and the gang find refuge in a terrible storm in the home of the Collingwoods. The tale takes and epic turn of revenge in the likes of films like Death Sentence and Death Wish. Unfortunately I cannot give away any more without really giving away the rest of the movie.

Some may call this little picture torture porn, I am tired of hearing this. This film is more of a traumatic drama rather then outright horror film. Please don't listen to any one who says...uh it's just like Saw or hostel.... People are unaware that it is a remake and served as a rebellious form of artistic expression made during the Vietnam war. Some of that may be lost on a new generation, but the tension is a plenty, not a lot of 'jump' scares or overall gore. The film features a terribly detailed stabbing and uncomfortably real rape scene that will surely shake up any one, especially the women of the audience.

I will come back and give a final rating after I have seen the original. But as its own film, The Last house on the left is a terrifically terrify tale of evil and revenge and worth the hour and a quarter. Just like Watchmen, this film is not for every one, but if your are a big suspense film buff or love a great horror film...this is your kind of shindig

Take a turn on the last left...

br()wnie
Resident Horror Film Aficionado

Last House on the Left (2009)

Hey Film Lovers!

It is my duty to review every horror film that comes out...and i will do so! No one else in the society has shown much interest in the genre, so i will do my best to bring a review with every major theatrical and DVD horror release

I am about to go see The Last House on the left, the remake of the 1972 Wes Craven masterpiece (which i also just bought on DVD) so expect reviews tonight, as well as one for the '09 remake of Friday the 13th

Thanks every one

br()wnie
Resident Horror Film Aficionado

Watchmen

So I am not the biggest comic fan, and there are probably better people in the society to write this other than me. But no one has yet, and I just saw Watchmen about an hour ago. I recommend, everyone, go see it.

For those who know me, you should know that I rarely, ever give movies 5 stars out of 5. A movie has to impress me very very vividly to gain that kind of recognition in my eyes. And for those who know me, you know my DVD collection is very small and limited to only movies I feel are 5 star movies. I plan on owning WATCHMEN.

I don't want to give away any details for those of you who haven't seen it. But the movie is far from perfect, but also far out in terms of revolutionary direction, special effects, plot, undertone, character development and overall mood and feel. If you don't like blood (I don't really mind it in movies or my own blood, I cringe when I see other people bleed in real life situations) I will warn you. The blood spot on the movie poster is not the slightest bit close to how much you will see in the film. It is pretty graphic..which I like. What can you expect though from the director of 300? (Another movie I felt was revolutionary enough to grasp a 5 star from me)

Watchmen is good, if you appreciate movies with taste, content, and vision. See it, especially in theaters. This is going to be an instant classic. Unfortunately, nothing this good ever goes untouched by idiots who want profit, so we all will see some annoying shit poppin out of Hot Topic very very soon.

I do have a few gripes about the movie..First off...casting the girl who got naked in Harold and Kumar go to white castle, bad move. Second off, there are a couple scenes in the middle that just are pointless and ruin the mood and flow of the movie. Should have been cut. Other than that, I'm open to everyone else's opinion.

The Film Society's Short Film

Hey, everyone.

I hope we still have people who still check this out. I think it is an important tool for us to utilize and communicate through the web. 

Obviously, the reviews are going well. As Luis had said before, we probably should keep them a little shorter, just to get the point across quicker.

We have a tight little group going right now, and we have talked about some of our plans here in the future. Mainly being the short film we are going to attempt to make, we should be on our way to having a script before the next FILM SOCIETY MEETING. Which for those who don't know yet, will be on the 12th of March. Thursday at 8 PM top floor of CRANE. ROOM TBA. 

The main way we will be communicating will be via EMAIL, so if I don't have your email, please get that to me so we can create a list to go by. 

That is all I have for now, more updates coming soon.

Restructuring coming

Title says it all... Stay tuned for the regular reviews, times have been limited but I personally have a couple reviews to write, so they should be up soon

Fanboys
Friday the 13th (2009)
The Unborn

The 81st Academy Awards

"Art will always be our universal language" -Penelope Cruz

Well, ladies and gentlemen this was the most captivating Academy Awards in a while and all I can say is, "Oh, God .... "Oh, God" (please try to do this in your best Kate Winslet voice).

The set was breath-taking, Australians can sing,and no one fell asleep. There were hardly any montages and when they actually did come on screen, they were brilliantly done. It honored the other non-nominated films even if it was only for a few seconds.

The speeches were beautiful and short. The performances were wicked and held that classic style which needs to be brought back. It was very creative as to how the actors and actresses were announced. Thank God I am in a screenplay class because I appreciated what they did to announce the different films . Oh, and Coldplay subliminally took over the show.

The winners
(Every film was brilliant. Every artist puts their heart and soul into their work, so please appreciate everything that was nominated and not nominated)

Sean Penn won best actor for Milk. He is and always will be pure brilliance. He truly becomes every character that he plays.

Heath Ledger won for best supporting actor in the Dark Knight. His family gave a lovely acceptance speech on his behalf and it touched the hearts of many.

Kate Winslet didn't hyperventilate too much when she won for best actress. She greatly deserves it because she is phenomenal but everyone knows that Meryl will always win in my heart.

Penelope Cruz won best supporting actress and was "genius" in Vicky Christina Barcelona.

Pixar has done it again. Wall-E won for best animated film and I stand by the fact that it should have been up for best picture.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button won Art Direction. The colors, set, lighting, etc. were amazing in this film and it is great that it won.

Slumdog Millionaire won for Cinematography.

The Duchess won Costume Design. Is anyone else sick of corsets winning best costume design? They might be hard to make but honestly the one thing you need to show the time period of the nineteen hundred's is a corset. Give us a challenge, please.

Danny Boyle walked away with Best Director. He was so excited! The job is tedious and all of the weight rests on your shoulders. It could have went to any of the directors but only one person can be recognized.

Man on Wire won best Documentary Feature. That man can balance.

Smile Pinki won for best Documentary Short. Can't say that I have seen any of these so congratulations.

Slumdog Millionaire won for Film Editing. One thing I think would make me go crazy, editing a film.

Departures won Best Foreign Language Film. Again have not seen any of these ...woop.

Make-up of course went to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Phenomenal.

Slumdog Millionaire won Best Original Score and Best Original Score. It was something that was finally different. Indian culture is where it's at. Jai Ho!

Short Animated Film went to La Maison en Petits Cubes. "T-ank you Academy." Greatest speech ever. (This was not to be sarcastic, I really liked it.)

Short Animated Live Action went to Spielzeugland (Toyland). The Academy loves those Holocaust films and the director/producer/maybe writer? gave a magnificent speech.

The Dark Knight won Sound Editing. Luis guessed this.

Slumdog won Sound Mixing.

Visual Effects went to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Apparently while making this film the technology wasn't even developed when they started filming or something along the lines of this statement.

Screenplay, Adapted went to Slumdog Millionaire. Insane.

Screenplay, Original went to Milk. Dustin Lance Black's speech was great and he really showed how much this award meant to him.

Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture of the year. It was stunning. It left your heart just uplifted and really let you into the slums of Mumbai. The other films were just as great but I am ecstatic that my favorite film this year won.

The greatest night of a film lover is over but I am just so excited to see what is in store for us next year. I am happy that we got a lot of people to watch it and I think they enjoyed it just as much as I did.

On a side note I learned a couple of things as I watch the Awards: Gracie can guess everything, Ahmend had a beautiful portfolio, Luis is a minority, Bollywood is an actual thing, my really good friend looks like Robert Downey Jr., I can not predict anything and I should never gamble on anything unless Pixar is up for best animated, and you are considered married if you live with someone for seven years.

"Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto"

I'm OUT

I hate watching the Academy Awards
Now days everyone seemed to have an opinion, everyone is a critic, at the same time everyone also wants the easy way out by jumping on the same boat, the winning boat. Now this is not to point fingers at anyone or dismiss anyone in particular as you all would agree all the nominated films were really amazing, so it's upsetting when some pick a film and decide that that’s the Best of the year and that they hate all the others. There is no such a thing as a big upset, all the movies that go nominated are outstanding and have the same chances odd getting the awards, people get upset, because they are so attached to the particular movie that chose to have an opinion, that they forget how amazing the other movies also are.

Apart from having some of the best films this year, very well performances extraordinary direction, the academy awards were very cute and had a very particular look and theme going on for them. Hugh Jackman did a very funny job for not being a comedian hosting. and overall this has being the best academy awards in a while for me. Now this is where my statement comes up to be what it is. I hate choosing, I love enjoying, I hate when we have to come to an agreement which is THE Best Movie, when it should be the celebration of all Films. I hate even worse when people are proud of the film that they pick, they get so attached, they are not that ones that they work in the film, they probably saw it once at teathers, and forget about it when the next oscars come around, the films that they move you are the unforgetable ones, not that ones that everyone is being talking about.

My opinion about Slumdog Millionarie hasn't changed, I trully honestly really liked the movie, however other movies that I thought did a much better job didn't get that much attention, and I don't know if they deserved to be the Best, but what I know is that poeple love the underdogs, people love the other choice, they are tired of the same movies with same actors getting nominated, no matter how good they are. I also have to add, personally I have gotten so much shit for free from the government for being a minority, I have so much more oportunity for being from another race, it's so unfair for the others, and thats how I feel about Slumdog Millionarie. Slumdog was the underdog, minority movie that was so happy that noone couldn't resist.

Opinions on Simone Noronha: I'm sorry Simone I know you are reading this, but I have to be honest with you, I think you went your whole life with people not agreeing with you, that every chance you are right at anything, you have the necessity of rubbing it in everyone's faces, I'm sorry if I'm a little harsh but I felt like you needed to know that.

My Decision on leaving Film Society goes beyond that Academy Awards, its my honest take on deciding what my best use of my time is, I felt that we have spread the loves of film very well this couple of months, and will do my best to keep supporting film from another prospective, my time will go where its need, places like Digital Painting Group, Soccer Club, and The Music Appreciation Group.

If you dont like this you can go FUCK yourself! Peace.

Animation Of the Society

This a Little Something that I pulled up for all the fans out there.

Oscars Party at The Seneca

Dear followers of the Film Society, you are very much invited to join us at the Seneca for the 81st Academy Awards Party, this Sunday at 8pm!

The Taking OF Pelham 1 2 3

Hello every one just a quick update

After seeing the standee at Rave, it caught my attention so I figured I would look the film up, the trailer is up and it features Denzel Washington and John Travolta in a high paced hostage film directed by the incredibly talented Tony Scott. Our hearts go out to the Travolta's recent loss of their teenage son...truly a terrible loss.

Check out the trailer guys

http://www.catchthetrain.com/

br()wnie

Today is big even if you hate football...

Hey guys just a heads up! As some of you may well know..the Super Bowl is happen'n today and even if you could give two shits about it... there are some definite pluses to tuning in, besides the amazing commercials

Its the christmas of movie previews, and even though they are short teasers, these spots run about 30 seconds and will include some of the major upcoming summer blockbusters..yes its almost that time people to put down your emotional blockade, get rid of your intellect and stop thinking about the Oscars for a day...because these babies are nothing but good ol' pop corn flicks

the spots will include

Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen (see now on comingsoon.net http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=52485)
G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra (See now on comingsoon.net http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=52443)
J.J Abram's Star Trek (see now on comingsoon.nethttp://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=52485 )
Fast and the Furious (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=52483 )
Will Farrell's Land of the Lost (see now on comingsoon.net)
Year One
and many others

go a head and check them out at comingsoon.net, that is simply the site I check about every 30 minutes, but I am sure you can find them in multiple places online, if not catch them tomorrow night during the game

cheers everyone

The Jewish James Bond

Edward Zwick directed a few good movies before he created Defiance. The Last Samurai and Blood Diamond both get good grades in my book. This one he uses a fairly new actor to our eyes, Daniel Craig. Of course you can argue Daniel is not that new, but considering he hasn't been known for as long as Tom Cruise and Leo, I'll consider him, new, fresh and only widely known for one role, the newest James Bond.

Now take a few good supporting actors such as Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell and you are headed off with a nice cast. The three actors play three brothers in the film. The film is based off of a "true story", but we all know true stories are never 100% true in Hollywood. Regardless, the basis of the story is pretty good.

There is a problem though, we've seen a ton of movies about the Jewish struggle during the Nazis' bloody regime, so why make another? I would say this was stuck in my head all through out the movie. What makes this film different from the countless others, and how will it measure up against the big one (Schindler's List). It doesn't measure up quite the same. It tells a story just a bit differently than most of the films about that struggle, mostly because the great deal of the film has no Nazis in it.

Pretty much the film is about the band of brothers who survived their villiage being killed off by the Nazis invasion of Poland, and they hide in the woods in order to go undetected. However, the eventually run in and band together with other Polish Jews trying to survive. The group eventually becomes a large one and they create a "camp" for Jews to "live freely".

The dangers of course are being discovered by the Nazis who have guns and tanks and German sheppherds. There is also the danger of Polish non-Jews who are hunting down Jews for a cash reward. This is the overall suspense through out the film along with the dangers of the harsh cold winters, the lack of proper food, and illnesses that can kill without proper aid. It is literally a survival story with a twist. The twist is, that these Jews can fight, and they fight back. Making it very interesting to watch and is pretty much the only reason that this story is such a good one.

So the story is good, the cast is good, but what about the overall execution of the film. I'm going to have to say it was just okay. Emotions never ran wild for me, and the drama during the fighting is just average. To me the highlight of the film isn't even when Daniel Craig kills a Nazi...which yes, he does kill quite a few. I'm not going to say too much more, only that I say go see this movie if you love Daniel Craig, cause he does a great job, but if you are on a budget, I would wait to rent this one on DVD or get it on Netflix.

GRADE: B

My Bloody Valentine 3...um make that 2 and a half D

No, 3D is by no means a new addition to the cinemas, and by no means is it a new fad to increase box office returns...but it did just that.

My Bloody Valentine was released in both a regular 2-D and 3-D release this previous friday with an incredible amount of anticipation from horror fans nation wide, including myself.
On the surface, MBV is a generic slasher with predictable plastered on its forehead, and by no means was setting expectations any higher then that. The film did have one thing going for it, and it was the addition of the 3-D...

.. Oh and does it fail! The third dimension never really jumps out at the audience. Any one who has been to an amusement park in the last 20 years has experience 3-D that is miles ahead of the crap that was sold as 3-D on this mess. I use the example of the muppets show attraction at Disney World or the Honey I shrank the Audience, where the image on the screen actually pertrudes and feels inches from your face. MBV however simply adds a feeling of depth, which i will give them credit for, since at times you do feel like you are a creep hiding in a bush watching the events of the film unfold. You can tell where the film makers intended certain CGI effects to shoot out at the audience, including an "eye ball gag" and thrown pick ax and a bullet in slow-mo, however the image veers off to the right just slightly, and then the audience is sadly reminded that they are in no great danger, and that the promised 3-D effects simply have failed.
Valentine is among a number of other current titles to get a 3-D release, including Bolt and Beowulf, Beowulf being the only other one I have seen in 3-D, with that said I make this statement- this 3-D technology is not working simply put, it just isn't. Any one looking to get their hats blown off, or their jaws dropped will be sadly dissapointed. The effect is simply lost and actually becomes distracting, I found myself hoping for a succesful gag, and realised it was never coming about 2 minutes from the credits.

Were you in a crummy theatre? You might ask... Did you have the glasses on wrong? the answer is no and no. I saw this film on a DLP projection screen and well...there aren't many ways to wear glasses wrong...

Now for the film...

My Bloody Valentine is the remake of the 80's cult classic gore fest, and although we have advanced tenfold in our film making capabilities since then...MBV some how works to set us back about 30 years by serving as little more then a made for TV sci-fi channel mess. Jensen Ackles plays our lead Tom Hanniger, the new owner of the towns life blood, a mine that his father used to own, and of course Tom wants to sell it because he had a run in with the mad pick ax weilding maniac 20 years prior. He tries to rekindle an old flame with little hottie Jamie King, who he used to date...but now is married to his old arch nemesis Axel, who is now the town's sherriff...yeah its that good...think lifetime original movie good. People start getting slashed, including Axel's old girlfriend, who after getting film banging a trucker in a shady old motel runs naked through the parking lot and through the motel owners personal living quarters...and I say quarters because the owner is only quarter sized...shes a little person. Axel starts an investigation that is laughable (allowing the prime suspect...Tom of course...to roam town freely), so laughable I was sure a six year old with a toy CSI kit could have solved about 3 years prior...

This film has more plot holes then solid story...more ridiculous story elements then an episode of desperate housewives... Like i said before, this film simply had one thing going for it, the attempted 3-D. There is no way in hell any one should venture near this film, especially if it isn't in 3-D.

Saving graces of this pile-

5 minutes of fairly hot nudity as Axel's ho lover runs naked through a parking lot...trying to get back a sex tape just made of her...so that no one will see her naked on it.. (you have to love the irony)

Midget Motel owner getting pick axed to the ceiling...

Drunk old guy with a locked and loaded shotty too hammered to use it..


Guess that is about it folks... I am sorry for really even wasting your time but I haven't been felt this screwed since Shamayalanananan's The Happening...yeah its that bad

I will be tackiling the Unborn...and I am going to try and write an article about the current state of Horror films.
Thanks for reading everyone...and have a happy valentine's day

Grade: D-

Reviews coming

Hey guys! Just wanted to do a post and let you guys know i will be updating the blog with 3 new reviews by later tonight or early tomorrow for:

Gran Torino
The Unborn
My Bloody Valentine 3-D

Looking forward to keeping this blog alive, cannot wait to see you guys

br()wnie

Slumdog is an overhype!

This movie is the over rate of this year just as Juno was last year, this kinds of movie just should only receive awards like Best Screenplay. Don’t get me wrong. I truly love this film with the many minimal faults that it had. One of the issues that I had with the films was that characters, they were so flat and no interesting at all. Latika was the girl that was forced into a marriage to a mobster, and she wouldn’t do anything to help herself and waited for Jamal to do it for her. Seriously? Just as any major Hollywood movie. Now that I think about I caught myself praising about that movie for what I made me feel at the theater, but many films touch me with really sad scenes, we just have to go back really think overall how the whole films truly holds together.
In Hollywood, I think you either go left or right, meaning that you either make a movie or you make a film. Slumdog Millionaire was a really good movie, but I feel it didn’t have enough honesty to be a film. Including that sugar over coating of the slums of Mumbai that it felt that it was just begging for awards. For this and Other reasons this movie shouldn’t have gotten the Golden Globe for Best Motion Film. Maybe I’m wrong because I don’t think to high of the Golden Globes either anymore, maybe they deserve each other for over hyping movies that don’t deserve that much attention; and for wanting attention just to sell more tickets at the Box Office.

Clint Eastwood is a racist...with a badass car

But seriously, go see Gran Torino. It will be worth your 9 dollars or whatever outrageous price you are willing to pay these days to see it. I will warn you about a few things though, if you are sensitive, and you are all about being PC (Politically Correct), don't go see it. And if you hate Clint Eastwood, don't go see it. I don't know anyone who hates Clint, but if you do, you shouldn't call yourself a movie lover.

He is a living legend, and has been far before he made Gran Torino. I'm not going to lie, he is not the most lovable character and he is pretty darn mean in the film, but he is GOOD. He is so good, he made everyone else in the film seem horrible. Which is probably the best case I have against this movie. No one can act, except for Clint Eastwood in the film. He is the only big name actor, and there is no one to follow him or even come close to supporting him. I mean yes, there have been films where actors make their mark without being on the front of the movie poster, but this movie has none. Clint couldn't find anyone who came close to being a good actor other than himself. I think the second best performance came from the grandma next door who had no English speaking lines in the entire film. She did pretty good for her role. I think Clint wanted to be as authentic as possible for the other characters in the film and perhaps none of those authentic characters were trained actors to begin with.

But on a better note, if you can look past some of the terrible acting on concentrate on the storyline and Eastwood's performance, you will be pretty amazed by this film. Clint's acting may not even be why this film has such impact on everyone. It might be the fact that the movie is so politically incorrect, that it is refreshing. You will hear more racist terms and slang in this movie than you will here in American History X. Although most of the time it is not in such a malicious manner (as you see in AM X) It is mostly refreshing and quite hilarious. You might find yourself laughing more than you want to because Clint's character is so outrageous. But he grows on you, maybe because he reminds you of your grandpa, old, grumpy, and old school as hel.

Clint did not write the movie, so you can't blame some of the bad lines on him, but the storyline overall was pretty awesome. You will enjoy the ending and the ride that gets you there. You can't help but think that Clint was trying to tell us something with his directing and acting, something more than just the story implies. This is supposed to be his last acting performance, and he solidified that he is, and always will be the most bad ass American actor of all time.

You will laugh, you might cry and you will remember to treat your elders with a little more respect after this one.

The 66th Annual Golden Globes

For those of you CCAD Film Society members who have forgotten about the 65th Golden Globes and how they were held at a press conference because of the Hollywood writer's strike. This year we finally have the award show that we have all been waiting for, without the frequent clip shows and the awkward montages.

It was straight forward and I really enjoyed watching it. Although, there were some unexpected wins, this years Globe winners could be very easily predicted.

I am not a avid watcher of mini-series but, John Adams took almost every award with Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for TV, Best Performance by an actor (Paul Giamatti), Best Performance by an Actress (Laura Linney), and Best Performance by an actor in a supporting role (Tom Wilkinson).

Of course the acclaimed Mad Men won Best Drama for a Television Series and 30 Rock won Best Comedy for a Television Series. Does anybody else think that Tracy Morgan is sometimes annoying?

Congrats to Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey for winning Best Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Comedy. Tina Fey is a genius.

Gabriel Byrne won Best Actor in a Drama Television Series for In Treatment and Anna Paquin won Best Actress for True Blood.

Laura Dern (Recount) won for Best Supporting Actress in a Mini-series or a Motion Picture made for television, I still think that Jurassic Park was her greatest work.

The only montage of the night was for Steven Spielberg who was being honored for his career achievements as director and producer. He received the Cecil B. DeMille award given by director and close friend Martin Scorsese.

Best Foreign Language Film went to Vals Im Bashir which looked beautiful and took around 4 years to make.

Best Animated Film went to my favorite, Wall-E. Pixar is brilliant. The detail and beauty of this film should be up for Best Picture.

Best Original Score in a Motion Picture went to Slumdog Millionaire. When I saw Slumdog I was laughing at the end credits but I did start dancing. The music was different and brought even more culture to the film. On another note, Clint Eastwood really does it all.

For Best Original Song, Bruce Springsteen won for The Wrestler. I have not really listened to this song or have I seen the film, but all I can say is thank God Miley Cyrus didn't win.

Best Screenplay went to Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire. I loved the film and he was up against really well written movies. I think during the announcing of the nominees it sounded like the announcer almost said "Skeemplay" right before Frost/Nixon, which I found humorous.

Danny Boyle won Best Director for Slumdog Millionaire. Like I said I loved the movie and I am glad he won.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role went to Kate WInslet for The Reader. Finally people are giving her credit.

This next one was just a joke. If I was Philip Seymour Hoffman I don't think I would have showed up to the Globes either. The only reason I would go is to honor Heath Ledger. Heath thankfully won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. In my opinion and not everyone agrees with me but he was the best thing that came out of The Dark Knight. I guess I was just disappointed in the other nominations and feel bad for Hoffman and Ledger. (Feel free to bash on this opinion)

Sally Hawkins won Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Comedy) for Happy-Go-Lucky. This is a film I would like to see because I love British humor and she was in awe when she won this award.

I had no idea who would win Best Performance by an Actor (Comedy) but I guess Colin Farrell did an award winning job for his performance in In Bruges.

It was such a toss-up for Best Performance by an Actress (Drama). Every actress was brilliant. Of course I was rooting for Meryl but Kate Winslet walked away with this win. I still have to see Revolutionary Road but even Kate was surprised to have won this award. Does anyone else think that she is in love with Leo? She hugged and kissed him first when she won and confessed her love to him before her husband. Leo didn't have a date with him and has been waiting for her ever since Titanic. Or I can just be making things up in my head, but if anyone else feels this way don't be afraid to speak up.

What a comeback for Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, this role was made for him and I am glad he won Best Performance by an Actor (Drama). I need to see this film but lucky he won this against some other really outstanding performances.

Vicky Christina Barcelona won for Best Motion Picture (musical or comedy). Personally Burn After Reading was my favorite but congrats to Woody Allen.

Slumdog Millionaire won for Best Motion Picture (Drama) and I couldn't be happier. It was a fantastic movie.

(The 81st Annual Academy Award Nominees will be announced Jan. 22nd)

Golden Globes Meeting

Dear Film Society Colleagues, this Sunday as you probably know the Golden Globes are on NBC so the film society is having a meeting online. The meeting will officially start at 8pm, but if you are a fashion follower you might want to get early for the red carpet show at 7pm, all of this is Eastern Time, all of this is on NBC, also since not everyone has IM i decided to use facebook, but you are welcome to talk in others ways. Remember Sunday 11 at 8pm on NBC and Facebook.