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Showing posts from December 13, 2009

The Blind Side

In Sandra Bullock’s first real scene, she was amazing. And it never stopped. I’ve always had a soft spot for her, especially in Miss Congeniality, but she is great in this film. She also looks great as a blonde. I want to pause and note that apparently Tim McGraw is an actor now, but I must have missed that. I’m pretty sure he’s just a singer. But the movie is set in Memphis, so maybe that’s why he got the role? Who knows. Anyway, this film is about a high school age boy named Big Mike who has had a tough life and is basically adopted by Sandra Bullock and her family. I find it strange that Sandra Bullock did a film like this one where she did such an amazing job, but this year she also did The Proposal, which was not so good. Anyway, Big Mike becomes a football player, no surprise there, and eventually is an All-American. The film is based on the true story of Michael Oher, who I would have probably heard of if I knew anything about football. I honestly cannot say enough about Sandra

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

After reading the Harry Potter and Twilight series about a million times, I wanted something new and fun to read. I saw a preview for a movie series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians and couldn’t tell if it looked good or horrible. Recently, I’ve rediscovered how awesome the library is and I’ve been using it a lot lately to read books I would never buy or read more than once. Books are hit and miss sometimes, so I usually make it a point to only buy books that are really good or I will read more than once. As a result, sometimes I miss really good stuff. I put the five Percy Jackson books in my library queue and got them just a week or two ago. I just finished book four and am moving onto the last book soon, possibly when I’m done writing this. Don’t get me wrong, Rick Riordan (the author) is no J.K. Rowling or even Stephenie Meyer, but the books are fun and entertaining and fast to read. Sometimes that’s just what you want. The series centers around a kid (who is 12 in the first

Precious

[Warning: If you don't want to know the detailed plot of the movie, don't read this] When I first heard about this book, and then the movie, I wasn’t really interested. I knew the plotline, but it didn’t sound like something I would like. But like I said before, that’s the beauty of award season: it makes you see movies you wouldn’t be interested in otherwise. Well. This was possibly the most disturbing movie I’ve seen in a long time. And sometimes the word disturbing can be a good thing and sometimes it can be bad. I’m still not sure which one this is. It’s the story of Clarisse Precious Jackson, who, when the film starts, is pregnant at 16 with her second child by her father. She goes to an alternative school and seems to be making progress, but the whole time you see her relationship with her mother go from bad to worse, culminating in a pushing fight, Precious falling down the stairs with a newborn in her arms and her mother throwing a television at her. Crazy. At first the

Julie and Julia

I am in love with Meryl Streep. Always have been, always will be. So when I sat down to watch Julie and Julia, I expected to love it, at least the parts with Meryl Streep. I had tried to read the book the film is based on, but I didn’t make it very far. I’m not sure if it was the writing or the story itself, but I imagine it’s a little bit of both. Anyway. The film was definitely slow starting, and although I think I like Amy Adams, or at least I loved her in Enchanted, she’s not so good in this movie. Maybe the overacting in Enchanted is just the way she acts, because she was definitely overdoing it as Julie Powell. The costuming and makeup department seemed to do their best to make her look homely and unattractive, and although that might be what the author wanted, it made her a lot less likeable. The film is about a writer named Julie Powell writing a blog about cooking her way through a Julia Child cookbook. There are two stories happening at once: One of Julia Child, playing brill

Golden Globes: Television

I will definitely see most of the movies nominated, but I don’t have enough time or energy to watch all of the television I’ve missed that is nominated. Because of this, I am now able to give you my predictions for television. - Best Drama: Big Love, Dexter, House, Mad Men, True Blood: I give it to Big Love because I love that show. Dexter is also good, so that would be awesome. However, I’m pretty sure it goes to Mad Men. - Best Performance by an Actress, Drama: I give this one to Mad Men too, or maybe Kyra Sedwick in The Closer. To be honest, I don’t watch any of the nominated shows in this category, but I watched The Good Wife a few times and really liked it. My personal pick is Julianna Margulies, but anyone really has a shot at this one. - Best Performance by an Actor, Drama: Although I would love Bill Paxton to win this for Big Love, he probably doesn’t have a chance. My second pick is Michael C. Hall who is a complete genius in Dexter, but I’m guess it goes to Mad Men once

Golden Globes

The Golden Globes nominations have been announced and the ceremony is 17 January 2010. Usually I wait until the Oscars to see the nominated movies, but it’s usually the same stuff that gets nominated so I’m giving it a go this year. Thanks to torrents, I’ve been able to download a bunch already. What sucks is a big chunk of the movies don’t come out in theatres until the end of the year, some not until January. Lame. But I’m doing good so far. I’ve already seen The Hangover and District 9 and Coraline but there are a TON I haven’t seen, mostly because they aren’t yet. In my queue to watch at the moment are: - Inglorious Basterds - Precious - 500 Days of Summer - Julie and Julia - Brothers - The Young Victoria - The Blind Side - Duplicity I wasn’t really interested in seeing any of those except Brothers because it looks awesome, but what I think is awesome about awards like the globes and the Oscars is it makes people see movies they wouldn’t otherwise see – it’s why I saw Crash and I’