Movies that I am way excited for

This year has been pretty good with movies, but there are some even better ones coming up that I can not wait for. Namely:

9
For any of you who have seen the visually stunning trailer probably share my excitement. Produced by on of my faves, Tim Burton, and featuring voice acting from actors like Elijah Wood, Crispin Glover, and Christopher Plummer, this is going to be a pretty amazing movie.

Taking place in a post-apocalyptic earth, robots with numbers for name try to ensure their own continuity.

Looks pretty exciting!

Fame
A remake of the well-known 80s musical, this movie looks to behold dazzle, dancing, singing, and amazing performing from the cast.

This film is about students at a performing arts school in New York City. Each student suffers through strenuous training and practice in order to become the best they can and to achieve fame.

Nine
Woah! Wait?! There are two movies titled 9??? No, this one is called Nine, as in N-I-N-E. Not 9... Just thought I'd point that out because every time I mention Nine people respond with, "The really rad-looking cartoon?"

No.

This is the "really rad-looking" musical.

Based off the winner of Best Musical in 1982, directed by Rob Marshall, and with a cast including Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, and even Furgie, this is bound to be the best musical-film since Sweeney Todd.

The Lovely Bones
The director of the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson, steps up to direct the new fantasy/murder mystery/suspense/thriller film version of the touching book, The Lovely Bones.

The story mainly consists of a 14 year old girl who gets raped and murdered on her way home from school one day. After she enters heaven she watches her family down on earth as they grieve her lost and her murderer continues to murder.

The cast includes Susan Sarandon, Mark Wahlberg, and Rachel Wiesz.

Sherlock Holmes
Not knowing much about this film at the moment, I am still way excited to see this one.

Robert Downey, Jr. plays the detective with Jude Law as his sarcastic sidekick, Watson.

Looks pretty cool!

501 Must See Movies

501 Must See Movies, a book with reviews of selected films, would probably be better titled "50 Must See Movies and 451 that You Might Enjoy". Maybe that just did not ring quite right to the publicist.

The reason I think the book is flawed is because a lot of the films within are most definitely not "must sees". For example: The Little Shop of Horrors, the adaptation to the famous Off-Broadway musical, is fun, energetic, has good music, good actors, good sets, and good effects. But it lacked in plot. Not a must see.

Also, I was incredibly upset that I couldn't find A Beautiful Mind in there anywhere. Now that is a must see!

Overall, the book is fun to leaf through and reminisce on the movies you watched as a child, growing up, and still enjoy now.

However, don not live by this book. You will miss out on a ton of amazing movies if you do.

My rating:
[3/5]

New Movie Review: The Time Traveler's Wife

I just saw the new movie, The Time Traveler's Wife.

It was an interesting movie, to say the least, about a man with a gene that causes him to travel through time. The problem? He can't control when and where he goes.

Eric Bana played the part of Henry (the time traveler) well, but at moments he almost seemed lazy in the role. During the entire movie he kept well in character, he just didn't push it to the limits.

Playing opposite him, Rachel McAdams, was very real in the role of Claire Abshire. She was able to bring her emotions through her character with much talent. Every thought seemed clear to me as her character developed. Very well done performance.

Overall the supporting cast was good. Nothing special to report on anyone in particular.

The film itself was enjoyable, but lacking.

There was not many special aspects about this film that would set it apart from any other film. It was enjoyable, I enjoyed it. It just was not anything special. I could not really feel for any of the characters or situations, and there were many little scenes that were filler.

If you just want to see a movie for the heck of seeing a movie, this is good for you. However, if you want to see something that will move you, try someplace else.

My rating:
[2.5/5]

My Second Blog! Hooray!

Okay, to get my blog rolling I'm gonna start off with listing my top 10 favorite performances in a movie by a certain actor.

Kathy Bates, Annie Wilkes Misery.
What can I say? Even if you are not a fan of horror I would have to tell you to see this movie simply for Bates' eerily real performance as the psychotic nurse, Annie Wilkes. She plays the character to the life and it is most satisfying to witness.

Meryl Streep, Sister Aloysius Doubt.
Having read the play Doubt I must say I was somewhat worried that the movie would have to add a lot of filler in order to reach longer than the 45 minutes that the play was. But with Meryl Streep in the role of Sister Aloysius there was never a dull moment to the film. Streep's dry humor mixed with her very serious charcter blends wonderfully and the film was great because of it (along with many other contributing factors).

Nicole Kidman, Grace Stewart The Others.
Nicole Kidman's performance in this film is miraculous, to say the least. Kidman plays Grace so well, that you feel for the character at many points in the film and by the end of the movie, she absolutely captivates you. Period.

Jack Nicholson, The Joker Batman (1989).
Nicholson struts in this role better than any actor ever has or ever will. He plays The Joker with such crazy insanity that no one could ever parallel. Jack Nicholson is, and will forever be, The Joker.

Miranda Richardson, Lady Van Tassel Sleepy Hollow.
I love her in this role. She is so convincingly mysterious that you can't help but to fall in to her spell. This was her best role. Towards the climax as Ichabod, Katrina, and the young Masbeth run into the windmill she says "watch your head" which actually was not in the script. All improv. Perfect!

Helena Bonham Carter, Mrs. Lovett Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Carter was perfect in the role of Mrs. Lovett. She played her so well, that you could see her every move was a character choice, rather than a Helena choice. My favorite moment in the entire film is when she is saying to Todd that they could have a life of there own, and how it wouldn't be like it used to be for him, but they could get by. And then the annoying sailor boy bursts throught the door and ruins the perfect moment in the movie!

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Velma Kelley Chicago.
Ms. Jones absolutely steals the show as the hardened, provocative Velma Kelley. Her acting in this movie is so good, that it actually cures my depression when I'm depressed. She just plays the character with such percision it makes me happy.

Martin Landau, Bela Lugosi Ed Wood.
He is most definitely the best part of Ed Wood. While the movie was terrific, it just wouldn't have been the same without Mr. Landau. He was so dead on with his character, that I believed he was Bela Lugosi. Also, his constant bashes on Boris Karloff were a nice, comical touch.

Claire Danes, Juliet Capulet Romeo + Juliet.
Ms. Danes played Juliet with such simple innocence and naivity. It was perfect. Her grace as she just wondered what was in a name was the highlight of the film for me.

And the final performance on my list...

Anthony Perkins, Norman Bates Psycho.
This is one of the best roles ever performed. EVER. Mr. Perkins is Norman Bates and little Mr. Vince Vaughn can eat that for breakfast until he scourges himself for ruining the role. Mr. Perkins created. Perkins' Bates was fantastic! He was creepy and towards the beginning of the film I even felt bad for him. Now he haunts me...