The Oscars: Final thoughts

Hollywood's big night is here! It's time I give my final thoughts on the biggest categories before we find out who the winners are.

BEST PICTURE
Overall, I found this year's Best Picture Nominees to be weaker than last years. Last year I truly loved 7 of the 10 nominees and really liked the other 3. I couldn't choose which one was my favorite, because each was as good as the next. This year I have an easier time choosing. The Artist really stands out amongst the nominees. It is this year's frontrunner and deserves to be.

BEST DIRECTOR
Even though he's up against some heavy hitters, I think this is Michel Hazanavicious's to lose. It was his vision that brought The Artist to life.

BEST ACTOR
Will it be Jean Dujardin or George Clooney? My vote goes for Dujardin. I will agree that The Descendants was one of Clooney's best performances ever, but Dujardin is really what made The Artist for me. Without his charisma, the film would not have been the same. If he doesn't win, I would like to see it go to Brad Pitt. He was excellent in Moneyball and is worthy of some recognition.

BEST ACTRESS
Another race with only 2 contenders, Viola Davis and Meryl Streep. I haven't seen The Iron Lady, so I really can't judge this race properly. I think Viola Davis will get it because everyone seems to get stuck on the idea that Streep gets nominated for everything. They seem to forget that even though she's always nominated, she's only won twice. This will never happen, but I would like to see Rooney Mara take the prize. She really owned the role of Lizbeth Salander in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer is the predetermined winner here. I have not seen Beginners yet, so again, I can't really judge. Of the three performances that I have seen, I would say that Nick Nolte in Warrior was the most deserving. Sure, Jonah Hill did a good job in Moneyball, but I'm not going to give him an award for playing against type. Max Von Sydow gave a good performance in Extremely Loud, but his purpose in the film was a little questionable. I think that something must have gotten lost in the translation from the book.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Another race that has already been decided with Octavia Spencer coming out on top. She was excellent in The Help. How could she not be considering she was Kathyrn Stockett's inspiration for the character in the book? Even though Jessica Chastain is going to lose out to her The Help co-star, I think she is definitely someone to keep an eye on in the future. Last year, she appeared in 6 different movies and each performance was completely different. A winning performance is definitely in her future.

So that's it! Just a few more hours until show time. And I just want to end this blog with saying that I'm glad that Billy Crystal is hosting again. He definitely knows how to do it right. I was disappointed when they originally picked Eddie Murphy. I am not a fan. Here's hoping that the show opens with something as memorable as this.

A look back at the other nominees...

After sharing my thoughts of the Best Picture Nominees as I saw them, it wouldn't be right if I didn't mention the ones that I had seen before this blog was conceived.

Moneyball

While I don't really like sports, I'm a sucker for sports movies. I always love an underdog story. Moneyball manages to take something that should be incredibly boring, baseball statistics, and makes it into an engaging movie. It has a smart script that is really sold by Brad Pitt's charisma. And the movie does the impossible, it makes me almost like Jonah Hill.

The Help

Last summer, I listened to my first non-biographical audio book and it was Kathryn Stockett's The Help. I really enjoyed it and had a hard time putting my headphones down. I think the movie really did the book justice without changing too much. The cast is fantastic with too many wonderful actresses for me to list here. While this may not be new subject matter, it is really carried by a number of award worthy performances. The balance humor and drama help make this a sincere and entertaining film.

The Final Nominee...

Today I finally saw the last of the Best Picture Nominees with a few days to spare before the big show.

Midnight in Paris

Woody Allen sends us on a trip to the Twilight Zone with the story of a writer who finds himself transported back to the 1920's each night as he wonders the streets Paris. Here we are treated to a who's who of writers, artists and musicians from Paris's "Golden Age". I thought this was an enchanting film with a great cast of characters. I'm not always a fan of Owen Wilson, but I enjoyed his performance here. Marion Cotillard is fabulous as always. After watching the last few nominees, it was a nice change of pace to watch something light hearted.



 
So that's it! I've now seen all of the Best Picture nominees. There were a few other movies that I would have liked to have seen for the acting performances (My Week With Marilyn and The Iron Lady), but those will have to wait. 

Eight down, one more to go...

The Tree of Life

Last night I finally watched the copy of The Tree of Life that has been sitting on my entertainment center for over 2 weeks now. I kept putting it off, waiting until I'd be in the right mindset to watch it. Then I realized that there is probably no such thing as being in the right mindset for a movie like this, so I put it on.

What does one even say about a movie like this. There are those that think this movie is a masterpiece, a grand accomplishment of film making. Others find it to be pretentious nonsense, worst movie ever made. I can recognize this film for it's artistic accomplishments. It has gorgeous cinematography and excellent acting performances by Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain. This impressionistic narrative surly is ambitious.

With that being said, I did not enjoy this film. I had a difficult time finding a connection with what was going on. I kept flashing back to all of the art films that I had to endure in my college art history classes. While I love the art of film making, I prefer when art is used to enhance a film, rather than when film is used to enhance art. Like all pieces of art, it is not going to reach everyone. Without that connection, one is just left sitting in the dark wondering 'Why am I still watching this?'

So is this movie a masterpiece? Possibly, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it.



I'm in the final stretch. One week left until the Oscars and only one more Best Picture Nominee to see.

AMC Best Picture Showcase

AMC Best Picture Showcase

I just want to give a shout out to AMC Theaters for providing a great Oscars experience. For the sixth year in a row, they are runnning a marathon of all the Best Picture Nominees before the Oscars. With the expanded number of nominees, you have the option of viewing all of the movies over 2 days.

Saturday February 18
War Horse
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
The Descendants

Saturday February 25
Hugo
The Help
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Artist
Midnight in Paris

If you are really bold, some locations are showing all 9 nominees in a 24 hour marathon on Saturday, February 25.

I've never been able to attend the showcase because I have to work on Saturdays, but I've always appreciated the opportunity that AMC provides to movie goers. It's a great chance to see the best films of the year on the big screen. Watch the movies back to back and see how they really stand up to each other.

Two more down

This past week, I finally had a chance to see the last of the Best Picture nominees that I needed to see in theaters. Oddly enough, both stories center around a boy hoping that mysterious a key would reveal a message from his deceased father.

Hugo

I will start off by saying that this movie is visually stunning. I have only bothered to see a few films in 3D and for the most part I've been disappointed. Avatar was an exceptional use of the technology, but everything else was just a waste of money. The only reason that I saw Hugo in 3D was because that was all that was still playing. And I have to say, it was not a waste of money. Scorsese's use of the technology truly lives up to what Avatar showed us was possible. I was fully immersed in this world and it's wonderful aesthetic.

The trailer for this film is pretty unappealing. Just trying to watch it again now, I couldn't get all the way through it. It's no wonder that it wasn't really successful at the box office. I don't blame them for not knowing how to sell this movie because even after seeing it, I would have no idea how to do it either. It is a film that starts in one place and then ends completely somewhere else. It is the story of an orphan that lives in a train station, who is in search of a key that he believes will deliver him a message from his deceased father. Somehow his journey ends up being a nostalgic love letter to the history of film. This movie is disguised as a kids movie, but I hardly see the story being appealing to children. The film is pretty dialog heavy and I don't know any kids that are really interested in the the early pioneers of French cinema. That being said, I am not a kid. I enjoyed the film, although I wasn't as enamoured with it as many were. Even though it unexpectedly ends up being about silent films, I found the plot progression to be pretty predictable. But even though the story lacked a little, it was a visual feast and I ate it up.


Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

This movie was probably the biggest 'huh' of the Oscar nominees. Overall, it is pretty poorly reviewed and criticized for being exploitative and emotionally manipulative. The 9/11 fictional film centers around a boy, Oskar, who believes a key will reveal a secret message from his father who died in the World Trade Center. I felt that this story could have been told if the father had died in a number of different ways and wasn't just a victim of 9/11. It's really just an observation, not a criticism. I can see why some people might see it as exploitative, but even though it wasn't necessary for the story, I think it was told tastefully. There were parts of the story that were lacking. It's a bit contrived. I wish that we got more out of the people that Oskar meets on his journey. I wonder if they were perhaps given more attention in the novel. Originally, the trailer for the film made me more interested in reading the book than seeing the movie. I intended to read before ever seeing the film, but since it is a Best Picture nominee, I had to see it sooner rather than later. Now that I've seen the film, I think I've mostly lost interest in the book. I wouldn't say that this was a bad movie, but it is just okay at best. It has some nice acting performances, but I think there were a lot of other movies that were far more deserving on a nomination over this one.


Seven down, two to go. I've had Tree of Life sitting on my entertainment center for over a week now, waiting for me to be in a proper mood to see it. I may have to watch Midnight in Paris on demand because Blockbuster's poor availability probably won't have it by Feb 26. I'm bummed right now because it was only $.99 on Amazon last week and now it's up to $3.99.

The Walking Dead Returns

I am more than ready for the return of AMC's The Walking Dead tomorrow night. My Sunday nights have not been the same without it. Although the first half of the second season has been very slow paced, I still have faith in the show. I love the mix of horror and human drama. I will be interested to see how the show continues without Frank Darabont.

Anyone who has not watched the show can catch up tonight. Starting at 8pm, AMC is airing all of season 1. Tomorrow, starting at 1:30pm they will run all of the season 2 episodes up to the premiere of the newest episode at 9pm.

If I didn't have to work tonight and tomorrow, I would definitely be watching them all again.

Blockbuster vs. Netflix

I feel like I've been trapped in a love triangle between Blockbuster and Netflix for the past 5 years. They both offer similar services, but with some differences. Neither service is perfect, which has prevented me from fully committing to one or the other. I always had some loyalty to Blockbuster, being a former employee. I used them for years before I even considered switching. Sure, there were some things about them that weren't perfect, but I looked past them. How could I ever get mad at someone who provides me with movies? And then one day, everything changed. I finally had resolved some internet connectivity issues that had prevented me from getting internet access on my TV, opening me to a world of new possibilities. Now all of the sudden, Netflix and their instant streaming service was looking too good to resist. I took the plunge and was prepared to never look back.

At first, Netflix looked like it was too good to be true. They were offering me unlimited streaming of movies. So maybe they weren't all the best titles, but I never had a lack of anything to watch. I didn't need them to have all of the newest movies streaming because that's what their movies in the mail service is for. Everything was covered. Unfortunately, good things can't last forever. My first problem came when I started to notice that they weren't getting all new releases right away. A lot of films weren't being made available until 30 days after their street date. That was truly frustrating for me. Sometimes, I can be rather impatient when it comes to movies I want to see, especially if it something I really wanted to see in the theater and couldn't make it happen. Then Blockbuster added video games to their service. I had tried out Gamefly for a brief period, but I don't play enough to make it worth the monthly fees. Being able to get an occasional game instead of a movie from my queue was pretty enticing. Since Blockbuster was still getting new releases on street date and now offered games, I considered switching back to them. But they still didn't have streaming and that was a deal breaker. I did briefly consider using both services, but it wasn't worth the extra $6 a month it would have cost me.

Of course that brings us to last summer when it happened. Netflix announced their infamous 60% price increase. The prices for Instant and DVDs in the mail were now being separated. I wasn't happy with the price change, but it didn't really anger me as it did many of their customers. As a person that watches a lot of movies, I feel like I get a lot of value out of their services. Did I want to pay more? No, but I was willing to. Many of their customers felt the need to choose between one service and the other. For me, there was no way to choose. There were so many things in my Instant queue that I still wanted to watch and I needed to be able to see new releases. And that's when I realized that with the extra $2 that I was already paying to upgrade my DVDs to Blu-Ray, there was no longer a cost difference if I kept Instant and switched back to Blockbuster for my movies-by-mail. So that's what I did. And I made the switch before the whole Qwikster debacle. When that was announced, it made my decision seem all the more right.

After switching back to to Blockbuster, things were great at first. But then I started to remember the things that were lacking with their service. Speed. Normally, I would get my movies as fast as I did with Netflix. They would send them out one day, I'd get them the next. I'd mail it back and the next day my next movie would ship. Then suddenly things would slow down. Sometimes it would take an extra day or two for them to ship something out. It has always felt like if you are renting 'too much' they intentionally slow down your service. I can't say for certain that this is true, but I can say that I never felt like this was happening with Netflix. Accuracy. Most of the time, they will send you the next movie that is available in your queue. But every so often, they will randomly send something that is ranked #20 or higher in your queue. In fact, the last two movies that they sent me were ranked higher than 20 in my queue. But to be fair, the majority of the movies currently in my top 20 are not currently available. But there are about 5 things that say they are available ahead of the last two movies they sent out. This brings me to my last complaint. Availability. It takes forever for new releases to become available. The first 17 movies in my queue currently are new and recent releases. If you can't time your next rental to ship out on the day they are released, you will be in for a long wait. Most of the time, I don't mind if I can't get a new movie right away. There is always something else to rent and if there is something that I really want to see, I can always do an in-store exchange, which is a pretty handy part of the service. But there is a point where things just become ridiculous. Fast Five has been in my queue since it came out in October. It has said that it is available for a few weeks now, but they keep sending me movies ranked lower instead. I am beginning to wonder if sending lower ranked movies is another tactic to slow down your renting. If they send you something that isn't at the top of your list, you may be less inclined to watch it right away.

One thing positive thing that I can say about Blockbuster is that their customer service is pretty good. I recently had done an in-store exchange and I returned the movie on a Thursday morning. They didn't send out my next movie until Monday! I thought part of the point of doing in-store exchanges was that you wouldn't have to wait for your movie to ship back before they send the next one. They were very easy to contact. When I stopped my DVD plan from Netflix, they stopped sending me Blu-Rays for my last couple of rentals. Since they charge you extra for that and I had already paid for it, I was kinda annoyed. I wanted to send them an email, but there is no way to email them. All they have on their website is a phone number and it really wasn't worth my time to call them. But with Blockbuster, they have and email address, phone number and live chat available. I sent them a complaint about the service and they sent me a free store rental coupon.

Despite it's short comings, I had every intentions of sticking with Blockbuster. But in this past week, everything has changed. I found out that my two remaining local Blockbuster stores are closing. Aside from the fact that my free rental coupon is now useless, I will no longer be able to do in-store exchanges. Without in-store exchanges, their rental availability just isn't good enough. What good is it that they have movies on release date if it can take up to 5 months for them to be available? Netflix's 30 day wait doesn't seem so bad anymore. So there really is no question anymore. I will be switching back to Netflix as soon as my current billing period is up.

Submitted for your approval...

I just loaded up my DVD player with the first five discs of the first season of The Twilight Zone. I picked up the Complete Definitive Collection a while back and have not yet had the chance to dive in. While the viewing of this show is usually reserved for New Year's Eve marathons (and an occasional July 4th marathon), it's time to give this show the full attention that it deserves. I'm ready for Rod Serling to take me on a journey to the fifth dimension. No other show can compare to its twists and turns and just downright fantastic story telling. I'm excited to not only re-watch my favorites, but to discover the many episodes that I have never seen before.

It's better than a glass of instant smile.

A horse is a horse, of course, of course....

War Horse

...unless that horse is Joey, the 'miraculous' war horse. I had some reservations about seeing this movie and it definitely fell under the category of 'something I'll probably rent someday'. Of course, with it's Oscar nomination, it got moved to the 'need to see now' list. I could never quite put my finger on where this movie was losing it's appeal to me, but the best I can say is that the story of a boy and horse looked emotionally manipulative and perhaps a little cheesy. The beginning felt a little longer than it should have been and could have been from any 'a boy and his [insert animal here]' story. There was a goose that I'm pretty sure must have gotten lost from the set of a Disney movie. Once the story got going, it definitely improved. I think telling a story of World War I from a horse's eyes provides an interesting perspective. There were a few moments that made the animal lover in me cringe. I probably would have been happier to have kept my ignorance of the ways horses were treated in WWI. If nothing else, Spielberg knows how to film war scenes. This time he managed to depict the horror of war, but kept the blood and gore to a minimum. The scenes in No Man's Land really stood out. The story itself was pretty predictable. I will admit that I did get a little misty eyed towards the end. The cinematography was beautiful. I do think my initial reservations were pretty accurate, but overall, I would say that I did enjoy the movie. It wasn't great, but entertaining enough.

I believe in the God of Carnage

Carnage

I managed to catch this film during the one week that it was playing at a theater remotely in my area. I initially had really high expectations for this movie, but they were brought down a while ago by mixed reviews. With all of the talent and great source material, one would think that this would be an Oscar contender. Unfortunately, it does fall short of greatness, but I hardly think it's deserving of it's placement on Entertainment Weekly's Worst Movies of 2011 list.

Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly, along with Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz play the parents of two children who get in a fight resulting in one child losing some teeth. What starts out as a civil discussion ends up spiraling out of control. The film ranges from being humorous to uncomfortable. Sure, maybe it is rather unrealistic that these characters can't seem to leave this apartment, but I rather enjoyed the tension and claustrophobia it created. You can tell that the actors enjoyed playing these roles and I have to say that I enjoyed watching them. It isn't perfect and didn't live up to my original expectations, but, overall it is not a bad way to spend 80 minutes.

Best Picture Nominee: The Descendants

The Descendants

So my journey has begun to see all of the Best Picture Nominees before the Oscars next month.This is a film that I was going to see last week with or with out a nomination. George Clooney gives a great performance as a man trying to reconnect with his daughters after an accident puts his wife into a coma. Shailene Woodley really impressed me. Hopefully she will get some more good material to work with and will get away from that awful show she's on as soon as her contract is up. She's proven that she deserves better. Overall, the movie just felt like an honest depiction of family tragedy with enough humor to keep the story from being overly depressing.




That's 4 down, 5 more to go. Blockbuster has shipped Tree of Life, so I will be watching that one in the next few days. This morning, I have been debating whether or not to hit the theater before going to work tonight. Based on the number of showtimes, I would say that both Hugo and War Horse will probably gone by the end of the week. I've made the mistake in the past, thinking that I would have more opportunities, only for the movies to be yanked out of theaters. Last year, I ended up seeing 127 Hours in a hotel room on the morning of the Oscars. This year, I don't want to cut it this close. Unfortunately, I'm just not in the mood to go to the movies this morning. I'm off on Thursday, so I just may have to make it a double-feature.

And the nominees are......

The nominees are in for this year's 84th Academy Awards. Here are the nominees for the major categories.

Best Picture

The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo 
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris 
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life 

Best Actor
Demián Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Actress
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor 
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Best Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Jim Rash & Nat Faxon, The Descendants
John Logan, Hugo
George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon, The Ides of March
Aaron Sorkin & Steven Zaillian, Moneyball
Peter Straughan & Bridget O’Connor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy


Looks like I have a lot of movies to see. Every year, I make it my mission to see all of the Best Picture nominees. I am not always successful at this. Sometimes a movie just never plays in my area. Last year had a great selection of nominees. By the time they were announced, I had already seen 8 out of 10. And the 2 that I hadn't seen were already on my must see list, just waiting for me to have the time. I really loved all of those films and felt that they were all deserving of recognition.

This time I really have my work cut out for me. I've only seen 3 of the 9 nominees. I wasn't really expecting there to be this many nominees based on the new rules which meant there could be anywhere between 5 - 10 films. And since there are so many nominees, I'm a little disappointed that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo isn't among them. I also think Fincher is deserving of a nod as well. So what have I seen? The Artist, The Help and Moneyball. The Descendants has been on my must see list for a while and I am hoping to get to it this Friday. I was almost going to see Tree of Life in theaters and then decided that it was the sort of movie I would rather see at home. The film is so polarizing, I decided it's better not to be trapped in a theater seat for such a long time. The last Malick film I saw, The New World bored me to tears, so I played it safe. It's been in my Blockbuster queue for a long time, so it's time I move it to the top of the list. And it seems I also have to downgrade my viewing from Blu-Ray to DVD. The Blu-Ray hasn't been available since it came out and now I have a time limit. The other nominee that I haven't seen yet that is available on DVD now is Midnight in Paris. This one was also in my queue already and is also getting moved to the top. I'm not a fan of Woody Allen, but I will watch anything for Marion Cotillard.

So that leaves 3 more films that need to be seen in theaters. I know there is a lot of love out there for Hugo, it is the most nominated film this year with 11 nods (1 more than The Artist). The trailers never really got my attention and this is a movie that I would probably just rent someday. I will make an effort to see it in theaters before it disappears. Who knows, I may love it. It is a Scorsese film after all. To be honest, I was hoping that War Horse wasn't going to be nominated. I know it was losing some steam as a Best Picture contender. It's not that I have anything against it. I was just in no rush to see it. I do love Spielberg's films, but this one and Tin Tin just aren't as appealing as his other work.  I'm already looking forward to his future work with Lincoln and Robopocalypse. I'm actually far more interested in the War Horse stage show. The use of puppetry looks really fantastic. I guess one plus of catching it in the theaters is that the cinematography is probably best served by the big screen. Last and perhaps least is Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. I think this is the most surprising nominee considering it is pretty poorly reviewed. When I first saw the trailer, it actually made me want to read the book more than watch the film. I think this spot was more deserved by The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.


Just a couple of notes on the acting nominations. I'm glad to see that Rooney Mara is getting recognized for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo although Tilda Swinton is a casualty of this decision. While I still haven't been able to see We Need to Talk About Kevin, I'm pretty confident that her performance was more than deserving. This year's break out performances belong to Jessica Chastain and Michael Fassbender. Both managed to give memorable performances in several different films. Unfortunately only Chastain is getting the deserved recognition, which is a shame. And then there is Ryan Gosling. Was he just too good in too many movies this year? Drive, The Ides of March and Crazy, Stupid, Love...I guess we'll have to chalk it up to him competing against himself.


The Oscars will air on February 26th on ABC. Click here for a complete list of nominees.

Happy National Pie Day!

I would like to thank Twitter for once again alerting me to a holiday that would have otherwise passed by. So, in honor of National Pie Day, I would like to suggest a method of celebrating that won't go straight to your hips. Indulge in some pie-related pop culture.

Pushing Daisies

Oh how I long for the days when I got to follow the weekly adventures of Ned, my favorite pie maker. This show was filled with so much magic and whimsy. I still blame the writers' strike for this loss and for the limited number of episodes. How much longer must we wait for the graphic novel to come out?


Waitress

 If ever there was a movie that needed a cookbook tie-in, it is this one. There were so many fantastical types of pies in this movie, I left the theater starving. Anyone care for a slice of Marshmallow Mermaid Pie? How about some I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie? Keri Russell stole my heart as a pie-making genius. And of course, who could forget the pie song, although I wish I could find a version with Keri Russell singing it.

Family Guy - Season 8 Episode 1 - Road to the Mulitverse

Stewie: I want to hear more music about pie! 

And so do I! This was a great episode that found Brian and Stewie travelling to different universes that featured a variety of different animation styles. In this segment, it's pure Disney. And of course, there is a song about pie.

UPDATE

Jenna pointed out how I completely forgot Sweeney Todd! Of course it should be included. But I will point out that American Pie was left off intentionally.

Sweeney Todd

  
How could I forget the Demon Barber of Fleet Street? I'm not a huge fan of musicals, but I cannot resist this tale of revenge and pie. Who better to adapt this play than Tim Burton? When I saw it in the theater, some people walked once they found out what the secret ingredient was. I wonder if they would have walked out on Soylent Green too? Or perhaps they just couldn't stomach this story Christmas Day?

Music: Most Anticipated Albums of 2012

I don't buy new music as often as I'd like to. I usually have to go out of my way to find something new to listen to since I don't really listen to the radio. There are a few albums coming out this year that I am looking forward to...at least I think they are coming, none have release dates yet.

Glen Hansard 

It took the movie Once for me to discover this extraordinary talent. Soon after, his band, The Frames has become my favorite band. And of course I also love his other band, The Swell Season. He spent a lot of 2011 trying out new material on his solo tour, which included a stint opening up for Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. In December, it was reported that Glen was in NYC recording his first solo album. Anything Glen puts out will always be on the top of my most anticipated lists. I'm hoping the album will include the song below, "Moving On". I heard it live once, before the last Swell Season came out, and have been anxiously awaiting a studio recording of it ever since.

Also, Glen played a song at some of his shows last year that he says was inspired by the book series The Hunger Games. I've got my fingers crossed that it will end up on the soundtrack for the upcoming movie.

Once - Original Cast Recording


Speaking of the Once, the movie has been adapted for the stage. I was fortunate enough to see the show in its off-Broadway run last month and will be seeing it again in April when it gets moved to Broadway. I had my doubts about the show initially and went in with an open mind. The movie and the music are so close to my heart, how would I feel about seeing other people sing the songs I've heard a thousand times? It fully surpassed my expectations and I loved it. They really gave the story a new life. I'm glad that they are making a soundtrack for the stage show. It's hard to say how much I will really want to listen to it when I could just listen to the movie soundtrack. At the very least, it will be nice to have when I want a reminder of the magic of the stage show.

Milo Greene

I first heard Milo Greene when I saw them open for The Civil Wars last fall. Normally, we get to concerts early enough to see the opening act so that we can a good view for the show. Unfortunately we showed up pretty late for this show and only saw the very end of Milo Greene's set. Well, what we did see left a lasting impression. I found out that they didn't have an album yet, but they did have a 3 song EP for sale. They are in the studio recording now and I can't wait to hear some new songs.

Mumford & Sons

It took a while for me to pick up their last album. I kept hearing about them and thinking that I would like them, but then never got around to checking them out. When I finally did, I was hooked. Their bluegrass/folk styling and harmonies are infectious. I'm really looking forward to some new material and hopefully will get to see them live one day.

 

+Live+

I am definitely a 90's girl and my favorite band from the 90's is Live. Their albums from pre-2000's will remain classics that I will never get tired of hearing. They are coming back with a new lead singer and ready to launch a new website. It's hard to imagine the band without their former lead-singer Ed Kowalczyk, who has moved on to do his own solo work. The last few albums with Ed have been pretty disappointing, so maybe a new singer is what is needed to breath new life into the band. I remain optimistic. As long as they make good music, I'm in. These boys proved in 2010 that they still have good music in them with their collaboration with Candlebox's Kevin Martin and Sean Hennesy. Together they formed The Gracious Few and made what was by far, my favorite album of 2010. While the new lead-singer has not been revealed yet, you can hear him sing "All Over You" on their facebook page here.

Now Playing

Even though I managed to pack in 4 trips to the theater so far this year, there are still a number of movies out now that I hope to catch before the end of their theatrical runs.

Carnage

This was my most anticipated movie of the end of 2011. A dark comedy adaptation of an award winning play starring some of my favorite actors has win written all over it. I've been obsessed with Christoph Waltz ever since Inglourious Basterds and I will see anything with Kate Winslet or Jodi Foster. Unfortunately the reviews haven't been very positive. It also ended up on one of Entertainment Weekly's "Worst Movie of the Year" lists. I'm not one to let bad reviews deter me if it's something I really want to see. But with that said, the last time I ignored their advice, I saw Seven Pounds, a movie that angered me because it was so bad. Hopefully this will not be a repeat experience.


The Descendants

Aside from just looking like a good movie, I've really been most curious about the raves for Shailene Woodley's performance. When I first heard that she was getting Oscar buzz, I couldn't believe it. I've seen The Secret Life of an American Teenager and it is one of the worst acted shows I've ever seen. But maybe this just shows that the horribly ridiculous, unbelievable dialogue is responsible.


We Need to Talk About Kevin

The trailer for this movie is so chilling. Has Buddy Holly ever sounded so sinister before? I read the book in anticipation of seeing the film and it has made me all the more impatient. Unfortunately it isn't going to be playing in my area as of now. I hope it gets a wider release, otherwise I'll be waiting for the Blu-ray.


We Bought a Zoo

Maybe it's my general love of zoos, but this movie just looks a like a good movie. 


My Week with Marilyn

I've never been much a fan of Marilyn Monroe. After reading an interview with Michelle Williams about what it took to become the icon, I am definitely interested in seeing the performance.




Young Adult

Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody working together again? I'm there. Or at least I would be there if it was still playing in my area.

Catching Up With 2012

The holidays were very busy for me, so I wasn't able to see any of the movies that I wanted to. I haven't seen anything in the theater since I saw Muppets the day before Thanksgiving. So for the last week I've been playing catch up. So here's a recap of the movies I've seen in the theater so far in 2012.

 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Going to the movies on Christmas has been a tradition for the past few years. This was supposed to be the Christmas movie this year, as the first one was a few years ago. Unfortunately, pure exhaustion from the holiday season resulted in this one getting delayed. While this sequel wasn't as good as the first one, I still found it to be an enjoyable way to spend 2 hours. Robert Downey Jr. does not fail to entertain.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
For years, I have seen this book on the shelves as I browsed through my local Borders (R.I.P.). I picked it up a number of times to determine if it might be something I might want to read. Every time I would end up putting it down before I could finish reading the synopsis. I'm not sure what was turning me off of it because the story is one that I would enjoy. Perhaps it is the writing style. Despite my aversion to the book, I've had the Swedish film version in my Netflix queue for a long time, although never got around to watching it. I've read a lot of people complain about Hollywood "ripping off" perfectly good foreign movies to make Americanized versions. Personally, I think that re-interpreting the story to reach a wider audience it isn't hurting anyone and may draw more attention to the original films.

As soon as I saw the trailer for Fincher's version, I was immediately drawn to it and it jumped to my must see list. I'm a big fan of his work and have not been disappointed. This film grabbed my attention and didn't let it go until it was over. I thought Rooney Mara gave a fantastic performance as this intriguing character, Lizbeth Salander. This will definitely be a release day Blu-Ray purchase for me. It still didn't make me want to read the books, but I will be checking out the Swedish films. I don't want to have to wait years to find out where this story goes.

 

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
The latest movie in the Mission: Impossible series doesn't disappoint. It was a fun ride from start to finish. The scene on the outside of the building was dizzying and I'm sure would have been worth the extra money for the IMAX tickets had I chosen to go that route. I was amused by all of the Apple product placement. Rather than making up technology that doesn't exist, they found ways to use iPhones and iPads as hi-tech secret agent devices. Where can I get those apps? The movie definitely left me in the mood to watch the older films, which I haven't seen in a few years.

 The Artist
Every year I make it my mission to see all of the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars. Even though the nominations haven't been announced yet, this one is pretty much guaranteed to be one of them. This movie is a perfect example of why I try to see all of the nominees. This is the kind of movie that may have been totally off my radar. I hope people go out and see this film. I know the idea of having a silent film in black & white isn't going to appeal to a broad audience, but I was definitely charmed by it. I've never watched a silent movie before, but I was concerned about the potential for boredom. I think Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo were wonderful. Both were able to make me relate to their characters without saying a word. Dujardin's smile is infectious. I don't know if this will be my personal pick for Best Picture this year, but I really enjoyed it and am glad that I got to see it on the big screen.

A New Year, A New Blog

It's 2012 and I've finally decided to join the world of blogging. Here I hope to share my thoughts on all things art and entertainment.  I'm a movie enthusiast, so I won't be surprised when they become the focus of most of my posts.  I'm also an artist and want to use this space as a place to collect and share things that I find inspirational.

Thanks for reading! Have a glass of Instant Smile, it's on me.