Saturday 14 November 2009

'Leap Year' - Trailer

Or how there is no point seeing the movie after watching this.


Oh Amy....challenge yourself. Goode looks hot though.

She loved Oscar

Way back on the 8th of March I asked who should have won the 1994 Lead Actress Oscar.
You voted in the 10's and I can safely say it is time to move onto another poll.

In 5th place with 2% of the vote was Susan Sarandons slight performance as Reggie Love in 'The Clients

In 4th place we have the eventual Oscar winner, Jessica Lange in 'Blue sky' with 7%

In 3rd place the most famous shoplifter ever, Winona Ryder with 12% of the votes

In close, but no cigar 2nd place we have the wonderful Jodie Foster for wild woman performance in 'Nell' with 33%.

And in first place, we have a woman who should be acting so much more than she is.

Miranda Richardson in 'Tom & Viv' with 45%.
The film told the true-life story of the relationship between T. S. Eliot and his first wife,Vivienne Haigh-Wood.

They were married in 1915 after a very brief courtship and separated in 1933 though they never divorced.

1994 was the last time Miranda was invited to the Academy awards as a nominee.

Now she mainly focuses on television with a pilot filmed called 'Rubicon' in which she played a New York socialite who finds herself drawn into the central intrigue of a think tank, after the death of her husband.

Nothing is heard of this show yet, but she also is filming three films for release next year. 'We Want Sex' with Sally Hawkins, Rosamund Pike, and Bob Hoskins. 'Telepathy' with Sam Neill and a little film about a teenage wizard....Harry something.


The next poll will centre on that age old battle of the Supporting Actresses.

The year was 1994 and five woman wanted gold. One from Suffolk, England, one from Boston, U.S.A., one from London, England another from Kansas, U.S.A., and finally a girl from California.


Who should have won the big prize?

Rosemary Harris – Tom & Viv as Rose Haigh-Wood
Helen Mirren – The Madness of King George as Queen Charlotte
Uma Thurman – Pulp Fiction as Mia Wallace
Jennifer Tilly – Bullets Over Broadway as Olive Neal
Dianne Wiest – Bullets Over Broadway as Helen Sinclair

Mini Review - '2012'

The special effects were really good.

Grade - F

Thursday 12 November 2009

Look at the pretty


.....and Vincent Cassel

Darren Aronofsky directs a thriller that hones in on the relationship between a veteran ballet dancer and a rival who may or may not be real.

Natalie Portman plays the dancer in question, Mila Kunis is the rival, Winona Ryder plays the previous lead dancer of the company. Barbra Hershey plays Portmans mummy, and Cassel is the suspicious theater director.

Colour me intrigued.

Wednesday 11 November 2009

'Wolfman' posters

Totally yesterdays news, but still these are bloody great designs.
People constantly say that movie making is an art form, yet so few poster campaigns adhere to that.
It is very rare when a poster design gets you excited.


X-Men - The Ladies

So after posting my little post about the X-Men 3 film, and then going off in a Storm tangent, I have been thinking about the ladies of X-Men and how when thinking of a spin off movie for the franchise, they never go to the women. Am I the only one who would love to see these ladies in action?

Rogue

Not the Anne Paquin version, but the version where she is a kick ass girl who can control her powers.
Not only can she drain people of thier power/life, she can also use it to heal herelf, and also take on other mutants characteristics for days, sometimes weeks on end. This could cause her to be temporarily unstoppable.
As long as she used her powers for good - does she go to the dark side?



Jubilee

She has not made the films yet, but since I am all for ethnic diversity, why could we not have a Chinese American mutant?
SHe is able to generate blinding and explosive energy "fireworks" that can do a lot of damage.
When she first comes into the X-Men she is very close with Wolverine, they have a father daughter relationship until she leaves for L.A. to pursue an acting career. Unfortunately she is cast in nothing but stereotypical Asian roles.
I totally smell an indie action/comedy.



Shadow Cat

Or Kitty Pride as she is better known. Well she can walk through solid objects. Kitty also shares a sort of mental or empathic connection with Lockheed (her pet dragon); both she and the alien dragon can 'sense' each other's presence at times.
Besides her mutant powers, Kitty is a genius in the field of applied technology and computer science. Shadowcat is highly talented in the design and use of computer hardware.
I sense a high tension weapons thriller, with cute dragon side-kick.



Lady Deathstrike

Yuriko Oyama deserved a bigger part, and why not her own film.
Like Wolverine she was virtually indestructible, so why killed off so easily?
Perhaps bring her back as the ultimate villain for Wolverine. People seem to think because she is a women he can defeat her.
She has many interesting stories (romance with Wolverine, turned into a cyborg, working with terrorists)
Give her a star billing.



Scarlet Witch

She has the ability to alter probability; making the highly improbable more likely possible.
I smell a Vegas trip!
In the Ultimate X-Men comics she is the daughter of Magneto and the sister of Quicksilver.
Such a family to be apart of, especially since she goes to Xavier to be part of the 'good'.
Perhaps an 'In the Bedroom' style film with super powers!



Phoenix/Jean Gray

I mean she is the most powerful mutant ever, yet Wolverine can kill her?
What gives.
She need a film that centres on her and her internal struggle with keeping Phoenix at bay.
And epic all out disaster movie where she completely destroys mankind to save the world.
A sort of ecological story with mass murder.



Mystique

Need I really say anything or go into why she needs her own film



'Clash of the Titans' trailer


Last one reporting on this I know. That is what happens when you are asleep after making the bf watch 'Cloverfield' only to realise just how much I hated Hud (the camera guy) and wish they would edit most of his voice over out. What a douche bag.

Anyway, back to the trailer

They totally rocked out in ye times of yor.
Special effects should always be a wow factor, but they need to blend seamlessly into the story. Take 'Lord of the Rings' for example. Amazing special effects, but they enhanced the story.
Not sure how this is going to work, for as it is, it is very very "Look! Giant scorpions, Look! Medusa snake thingy".

We shall see. No doubt it will make a million.



Is it me, or does the whole 'Titans will Clash' tag line sound so 'American Gladiators'?
Follow the link for Glorious Quicktime!

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Links are all Precious

I was trying not to post movie related news on Tuesdays. This day was completely reserved for music appreciation.
However since the remaining six days of the week are dedicated to movies, there will always be some bleed over.

Also it has been a while since I linked to any stories that have caught my eye and made me want to share (there have been plenty, but I get lazy typing out the target= crap to set my links up.

Anyway here are some things that I have found very note worthy:

To start with a music post, go over to Arjan Writes and check out this gorgeous track by Gadsdens.

My New Plaid Pants has a look at some of the concept art for Singers version of X=Men 3.
If only he had not bothered with that forgettable 'Superman Returns' thing (any excuse to get into Brandons' pants) and gone and treated the Dark Phoenix story with the respect it so clearly deserved.
Perhaps he can be convinced to revisit it.
All these X-Men movies being made revolving around specific characters (mainly men) is getting out of hand.
Although if they were to do a Storm film, and make her as amazing as she is in the comics, I would not complain.
Since Storm was a Kenyan princess any casting choices would have to stay true.

As I completely loved ‘Precious’ I of course am going to point out any new/reviews/tid bits. AICN have been VERY lazy when it comes to reporting on the movie. I guess because it doesn’t really fit the fan boy category. However Capone wrote a wonderful review of the film.
You know how reading a review can help you relive the film? Not good when reading at work and getting a bit emotionally wobbly.

The Film Experience takes a look at one of my favourite performances, even though at the time I was not a huge fan, it has grown on me over the years, and despite who she was, or could have been up against for Oscar, I do not begrudge her win.

'Disgrace' the film that had a tiny little buzz for John Malkovich's performance gets a typically insightful review by José over at Movie Kick Ass

Well it looks like 2010 will be another Clint Eastwoodlate release Oscar contender year. Jesus Clint! Can you just release films in October/November please? It is getting so ridiculous and just screams "I WANT ANOTHER OSCAR". It is all so boring.

The Top Ten Reasons to Make Gay Marriage Illegal via Modern Fabulosity. Hysterical.

Empire reviews the 'Alice in Wonderland' poster. Am I the only one who is not overly sold on the look of the film?

And finally, back to music - sort of. Sometime a magazine cover just needs to be framed. MUST GET MY HANDS ON THIS

I Feel It In My Bones

Ever since I heard ‘Where Does the Good Go?’ on ‘Greys Anatomy’ (when I watched it in its first season) I have been a fan of Tegan and Sara.
Their last album, ‘The Con’ was genius and I have their latest, which I need to give a proper listen to.
This is something that is a definite problem right now.
Bought too much music, not enough time to listen to it.


When Tiesto recruited Sarah MacLachlan to sing on ‘Silence’ a match made in dance heaven was born. Although he tends to spread himself a little thin, and at oe point risked sounding the same of every record, he has stepped up with his latest album.

Who would have though the indie rock outfit and a trance DJ would be another match in musical heaven.

Give Tiesto featuring Tegan and Sarah – ‘I Feel It In My Bones’ a listen RIGHT NOW!!

Miike Snow


Swedish singer/songwriter Andrew Wyatt and a producing team of Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg (also know as Bloodshy & Avant - of Madonna fame) joined forces in 2007 under the name Miike Snow.
The self titled debut album has been played a quadrillion times by me this weekend. Try as I might to get sick of them, I just cannot.

Please go and seek them out and buy their album.

Give these songs a listen. And I mean really listen to them. Turn the music up, don't do anything else and listen (and dance if you want).
When you are done, listen again. Sometimes it takes a few listens to fall in love.

The first single 'Animal' is a catchy slice of pop/rock/electro that gets under your skin and forces you to hit repeat 10 times in a row. The perfect morning wake up song!



Next up we have 'Black & Blue' which was the second single. Sounding familiar yet totally different, this has all the makings of a dance floor stomper (or in my case a living room stomper)



And finally For something more mellow I will give you 'San Soleil'. This conjures up feelings of sorrow mixed with love and warms. It sounds like an icicle slowly melting on a sunny winters day, with a hit of Christmas.



Do yourself a favour. Give these guys a serious listen and buy their album.
I won't tell you a third time...................maybe forth.

Monday 9 November 2009

Hello there....


..Toni.......Just wanted you to know that I miss you. xoxox

Mini Review - '(500) Days of Summer'

I thoroughly enjoyed this.
I really do not know what else to say aside from it was so good to see such a refreshing take on the romantic comedy. I heard that it side stepped the usual rom-com trappings, but had no idea just how new it would all feel.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was brilliant as Tom, making us hope for a lot more leading man roles in his future.
Zooey Deschanel was also wonderful in the smaller role of Summer. Every time you feel you should hate her it evaporates because she just feels so real and lived in. She is who she is, and the audience kind of accepts that by the end.

The only major flaw was I could not really relate to either character too much, but that is small change when watching this spritz of febreeze on a genre which was getting stagnant.

However, at the end of the film my boy friend turned to me and said "I hated that". I guess it can't win them all.

Grade - B+

Jedward


I do not have TV. Anything I watch I watch on the net. I decided not to get TV after living without it for 3 months and not missing it one bit.
So imagine my surprise to see all of my friends updating their facebook status's with out rage over Simon Cowells' decision on X-Factor.
What was happening?

I decided to investigate and have a look to see just how terrible these two twins, John and Edward, were.
I mean EVERYONE in the UK is bitching about them.

So onto You Tube I go and I see this.

I have no words.
It is awful.
It is horrendous.
It is twincest.
It is kind of fab in that way of watching 8 year olds really try to perform on stage at a talent show. You know what I mean?

The lack of talent is overwhelming.
Can't sing or dance and not particularly good looking.
Why?
How?

I am glad I could not embed as I really did not want to pollute my blog. I seriously had to close my eyes and stick my fingers in my ears while going "La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la".
I was honestly embarrassed to have seen it.
You know when Pheobe sees Monica and Chandler going at it in 'Friends' and screams "My Eyes! My Eyes!" I can finally relate.

Yet still I kind of hope they stick around. Just so I can once again look away at their awfulness.

Quote of the morning



From Lionsgate President of Distribution David Spitz of the successful weekend for 'Precious' - $100,00 per screen on only 18 screens making $1,8000,000 and coming in 11th over all (a record).
"We are hearing stories from that people didn't want to leave the auditorium because they wanted to decompress,"
If they were anything like me, then needed a few minutes to compose themselves. Also found a great interview with leading lady Gabby.