Cutest Picture ever

Is this not the cutest boy ever?

What to do now?

So now that the Oscar's are over what is there to do now? I feel as though it was a really good show. Hugh Jackman was surprising good. He was very entertaining and the musical numbers were great.

So here's my question. What movies do you buy or still try and see in theaters?

I would definitely still go see Slumdog Millionaire and I am definitly purchasing it when it comes out on DVD.

I don't know if I would spend the money to see any of the others in theaters. If the Dark Knight is re-released in the IMAX, then its worth the money.

I would rent The Reader, Doubt and if you like history, Frost/Nixon. The Wrestler is not worth the money unless you love wrestling.

Titanic 2 aka Revolutionary Road is pretty good but I would probably rent it if you like Leo and Kate Winslet. She is much better in this then she is in The Reader.

Now that the Oscar season is over I don't know what hobby to take up. I could blog about the NCAA tourney but I would be one of about fifty million. So we'll see where it takes me. I may not blog much anymore for now since I'm getting married on Saturday and have a pretty busy March. Hopefully after that, I'll be able to write some more.

Slumdog

I completely agree with this. What a great film.

Finally, Oscar Night!!!

My predictions and the winners when they are announced are posted below . I probably won't do very well but I'll keep myself honest. The nominees with ??? means that I have no idea about that category and haven't seen more than 2 of the movies in the category.

I really think Angelina Jolie should win Best Actress for Changeling but it won't happen because Kate Winslet is "due." Other than that, I pretty much agree with all of the other major categories.

eh 14 out of 24 isn't too bad...I really blew this one. There is always next year.

Winners in Bold

Award Who Won? Who Will Win?

Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire "Slumdog Millionaire"

Actor in a Leading Role Sean Penn "Milk" Sean Penn "Milk"

Actor in a Supporting Role Heath Ledger "The Dark Knight" Heath Ledger "The Dark Knight"

Actress in a Leading Role Kate Winslet "The Reader" Kate Winslet "The Reader"

Actress in a Supporting Role Penelope Cruz "Vicky Christina Barcelona" Viola Davis "Doubt"

Animated Feature Film Wall-E Wall-E

Art Direction The Curious Case of Benjamin Button "The Dark Knight"

Cinematography Slumdog Millionaire"Slumdog Millionaire"

Costume Design The Duchess"The Duchess"

Directing Danny Boyle "Slumdog Millionaire" Danny Boyle "Slumdog Millionaire"

Documentary Feature Man on a Wire "Man on a Wire"??

Documentary Short Smile Pinki"The Final Inch"???

Film Editing Slumdog Millionaire"Milk"

Foreign Language Film Departures "Waltz with Bashir"???

Makeup The Curious Case of Benjamin Button "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Music (Song) Jai Ho Slumdog Millionaire"Jai Ho" "Slumdog Millionaire"

Music (Score) Slumdog Millionaire "Slumdog Millionaire"

Short Film (Animated) La Maison en petites cubes "Presto"??

Short Film (Live Action) On the Line"The Pig"??

Sound Editing The Dark Knight "Wall-E"

Sound Mixing Slumdog Millionaire "Wall-E"

Visual Effects The Curious Case of Benjamin Button "The Dark Knight"

Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Slumdog Millionaire "Slumdog Millionaire"

Writing (Original Screenplay) Milk "Milk"

Frozen River

Another average to below average movie. The reason I watched it was because of Melissa Leo who plays Ray Eddy a struggling mother trying to provide for her kids. She does this by becoming a smuggler of illegal aliens (the apparent theme for today's movies) across the Canadian border through the Mohawk Indian reservation. The acting was just okay, even by Leo. The American Indian acting was pretty terrible and overall I give the movie a 1.5 out of 5.

The Visitor

I thought this movie was average. I enjoyed the plot and Richard Jenkins who is nominated for Best Actor was good but he doesn't really compare to the others that are nominated. The acting other than Richard Jenkins was not very good I didn't think. It is about a man (Walter Vale) who is a professor in Connecticut and he hates his job and he has to present a paper in NYC. He somehow has a huge house in Connecticut and an apartment in Manhattan on a professors salary which is mind boggling to me and he drives a Volvo station wagon. Anyway, when he arrives at his apartment there are 2 people living there and they say that they were rented the apartment by someone and instead of calling the Police, Vale lets them stay. Vale and the man (Tarek Khalil played by Haaz Sleiman) become good friends. It turns out that the Khalil and his girlfriend (Zainab played by Danai Gurira) are illegal alins. Khalil ends up being arrested and put in a detention center in Queens. The plot twists so that Khalil's mother and Vale become close as they try to get Khalil out of prison. Overall, I give this movie a 2 out of 5.

Changeling

I really enjoyed this movie. The acting and the plot was great. Angelina Jolie was magnificent and I really think was better than both Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet. I know she is not favored to win the Best Actress Oscar but she should. I still need to see Frozen River before I make my final choice but I was glued to the TV throughout this movie. You could really feel her pain and the supporting cast was great as well. I really thought that Amy Ryan (also on The Office) who played the part of a patient in the asylum was excellent. Changeling is the story of a mother (Angelina Jolie) who's son is kidnapped and then returned to her. Only the boy that is returned to her is not her son and she tries to tell the police and anyone who will listen and she is committed to an insane asylum. I give it a 3 out of 5.

Tropic Thunder

So the only reason I saw this was because Robert Downey Jr. was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. There were several laugh out loud parts and Robert Downey Jr. was pretty hilarious. Overall, I probably wouldn't watch it again but it was a good movie to see after you have been writing a thesis all day. It was definitely mindless and I didn't even notice Tom Cruise until the last scene. That's how out of it I am. 1.5 out of 5.

The Wrestler

This movie was the last movie that I had to see in the theater. I think this was a mistake because I saw the trailer for this movie about 10 times. Not including what I saw on TV. I had really high hopes for this movie because the trailer was awesome and it was built up by one of my friends who then warned me after he saw it that I would be disappointed. Well I was. I was looking for an epic movie, one that I would walk out contemplating this movie for days. I've noticed that when I can immediately write a review, it probably is not that great of a movie. I don't think it is best picture worthy and I don't think that Mickey Rourke should win Best Actor. I don't really think there was much of a resolution to this movie. I'm okay with movies ending this way but I needed something else. I needed another scene or an extra scene before the last scene. I would probably see this movie again but it will definitely not be at the top of my Netflix when it comes out. Overall I give this movie a 2 out of 5.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

This movie was nominated last year for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It also won several Golden Globes. It is a beautifully filmed movie in mostly first person. It gives the unique perspective of a man who has locked-in syndrome where he can't move or speak but can only blink his eye. It is based on a true story where a man wrote an entire autobiography with this syndrome. When I did some more research, I found that the man's friends say that most of the movie is false but it is still a great film. I would definitely recommend in my mind it would come very close to winning Best Picture this year. I would probably give it a 4 out of 5. It won't be on the ratings because it was nominated last year.






(Thanks Josh for recommending it)

6 Left

So we have six days left until the Oscars. I still have six more movies that I can see before then.

The Wrestler (Mickey Rourke Best Actor)
The Visitor (Richard Jenkins Best Actor)
Tropic Thundery (Robert Downey Jr. Best Actor)
Changeling (Angelina Jolie Best Actress)
Frozen River (Melissa Leo Best Actress)
The Duchess (Nominated for Art Direction and Costume Design)

The only movie that I can't see is Rachel Getting Married (Anne Hathaway Best Actress). If I'm able to see all of these movies I will have seen all of the movies that are nominated for Best Pictures and Best Actor/Actress and Supporting Actor/Actress. I've really been motivated this year to see as many movies as possible. It's definitly been a great year for movies. Sunday I will write about who I think should win and I may give variations to the four categories in which I saw all of the movies.

Revolutionary Road

I've been wanting to see this movie for a while and I had really high hopes for it. I think this is the reason I was a little down on this movie. All I could think of when I saw Cathy Bates was Titanic 2 because Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio were already in the movie. Its about a couple who seem like perfect married couple on the outside but are far from it. They decide to try and move to Paris to liven up their marriage and so that Leo can find out what he wants to do with his life. I thought that Kate Winslet did a fantastic job and should have been nominated for Best Actress in this movie instead of The Reader. DiCaprio was just boring throughout the movie until he was angry. There is a scene where they are screaming at each other that just keeps you on the edge of your seat but other than that I thought the movie just moved too slow and I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought. Overall I give it a 2.5 out of 5.

Vicky Christina Barcelona

I rented this movie to see Penelope Cruz because shes nominated for Best Supporting Actress this year. I was very impressed. Her character really stood out for me and made the movie. I also thought Javier Bardem was great because of the contrast with him in this movie and in No Country for Old Men which won Best Picture last year. The movie itself was just okay. Scarlett Johansson played the same roll as she plays in every movie which is basically someone promiscuous. The movie is about two girls who take a summer trip to Barcelona and meet a man (Javier Bardem) and they both fall in love with him. Penelope Cruz is Bardem's ex-wife who tries to kill herself so she has to live with Bardem and Johansson's character. Overall I give the movie a 2 out of 5.

The Reader

I went into this movie with low expectations. I had heard that it wasn't "Best Picture worthy" so I thought that this would #5 on the list for me. I left thinking that if it were to win Best Picture I would not be disapointed. I thought it was a great movie. Any movie that could make you compassionate for a Nazi who killed hundreds of Jews has to be good. It starts with a young Michael Berg (David Cross) who has an affair with a woman (Kate Winslet) for a summer. He then goes to law school and is watching a trial of women who killed hundreds of Jews on a death march during WWII. One of the women is Kate Winslet's character and he becomes distraught over whether to help her or not. The story also parallels with the older Michael Berg who is emotionally disconnected with everyone including his daughter and is looking for closure from this affair. Overall I give this movie a 3.5 out of 5 and put it a close second behind Slumdog Millionaire.

The Reader

review coming tomorrow.....I've learned that I need to take a day or two before I give my review.

Physical Comedy

I was talking to someone the other night who said they didn't get "The Office." I just shook my head because it is my favorite show and I don't know how you can't "get it." Then I realized that this person probably only could laugh at chick flicks or slapstick comedy. I came across this video on youtube about Zach Galifanakis

Milk

I remember several years ago seeing "Dead Man Walking" and thinking how good Sean Penn was in that film. Seeing "Milk" tonight really cemented how good of an actor he is. He was really great in this movie. His character was dynamic and the movie was shot beautifully. You really felt as if you were in the 1970s and were right there fighting for gay rights. I had never heard of Harvey Milk or the story and I love this Oscar season for bringing back to life two great stories. When I first left the theatre I thought that this was on par with "Doubt." The more I think about the movie, the more I like. All of the movies nominated for best picture are very different. I still like "Slumdog Millionaire" a lot and I used to think I liked "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" the best but I don't know anymore. I was first going to rate "Milk" a 3 but after thinking about this for over an hour, I will give it a 3.5. I'm going to see "The Wrestler" next to compare Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn. Three more movies to see this season; "The Wrestler," "The Reader," and "Revolutionary Road."