Mini Review 4-Pack!

Guess what guys? Today you get an extra special treat, which is that I am going to review in short a few movies. It'll be fun!

The Help - The narrative is very clunky, but the spot-on performances from every single member of the cast and the visually appealing aesthetic more than make up for it, and I'll be darned if I wasn't a teary mess by the end. Emma Stone is great, but this is Viola Davis's movie and she runs away with it, giving a performance of sensitivity and gravitas. However, best in show goes to Sissy Spacek, who somehow manages to turn the word "napkins" into one of the funniest moments in the movie. (7)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Cliche time - I admired this movie more than I enjoyed it. Considering this could have been a total joyride made for money's sake only, it was surprisingly artistic and intelligent. It tackles themes like animal testing and human evil in ways that are, while not always subtle, usually successful - not an easy task. Plus, the CGI was UN BE LIEVABLE. Bonus points for the cinematography. (7)

30 Minutes or Less - In short, the movie is as enjoyable and funny as it could have hoped to be but it's nothing really special - and for 83 minutes, it somehow seems to drag. Aziz Ansari and Jesse Eisenberg make a really great tag team though, with Ansari being wildly hysterical and Eisenberg providing a unsurprisingly powerful amount of real acting in a role that could have come off as hysterical and incoherent. (6)

Crazy, Stupid, Love - This one was tough for me. I think that I'm confusing how much I wanted to like this movie with how much I actually did. That being said though, despite being imperfect and falling prey to some minor cliches, it's definitely one of the best big-studio romantic comedies in a LONG time, thanks almost completely to the remarkably talented cast, none of whom can really be singled out because they were all just so good. I will say though, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling were simply superb, and the amount of chemistry they exuded was irresistible. (7 - but a super high seven. Like, almost an 8. I'd have to see it again.)

And just for fun (and because I love lists), my top 10 performances from this quartet, in no order:

• Viola Davis, The Help
• Sissy Spacek, The Help
• Octavia Spencer, The Help
• Jessica Chastain, The Help (um, range much? this was completely different from Tree of Life)
• Jesse Eisenberg, 30 Minutes or Less
• Aziz Ansari, 30 Minutes or Less
• John Lithgow, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
• Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love
• Marisa Tomei, Crazy Stupid Love
• Liza Lapira, Crazy Stupid Love

So, which of these movies or performances was your favorite? As always, your opinions, be they affirmative or negative, are always welcome below

A Quick List of Anticipated Movies

I'll be honest with you all - I've been a bad moviegoer this year. I've seen not more than ten films, and I've missed out on a lot of movies I've wanted to see. Plus, besides The Tree of Life, I've not been floored by any of the year's output (though almost everything has been pleasantly and surprisingly enjoyable).

However, there are quite a few upcoming releases that I just can't wait to get my hands on - so without further ado, a quick look at my top ten most anticipated releases for the rest of 2011.

10. Shame - This would be higher based on the Fassbender/Mulligan factor (both actors I love) if there was just a bit more information about it. For now though, I'm content with my curiosity.

9. A Dangerous Method - Cronenberg is a fascinating director, and with Fassbender as one of the leads, this is a must see. Also, after Keira Knightley's surprisingly powerful work last year in "Never Let Me Go", I'm looking forward to see what she can do with what looks like strong material.

8. Crazy, Stupid, Love - The cast is impeccable. Julianne Moore and Emma Stone? Ryan Gosling AND Marisa Tomei? It's coming out this weekend so thankfully the wait isn't that long!

7. The Artist - It looks so quirky and interesting - the silent film aspect is intriguing and I look forward to something so different and unique.

6. The Skin That I Inhabit - It seems like Almodovar has been trying to make something frightening for the past few years, what with "Volver" and "Broken Embraces" having dark elements. Thus, this all out horror film is extremely exciting - plus, remember what happened last year when an auteur made a shameless horror movie? Brilliance, that's what.

5. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - I love the book, and though I was underwhelmed by the original, the trailer looks like Fincher's going to blow us all away. I can guarantee that I'll be midnight screening this one.

4. We Need to Talk About Kevin - I read the source material, which was unbelievably dark and disturbing, and it's a perfect role for Tilda. Honestly, Tilda's one of those actresses who I would watch reading the phonebook.

3. Contagion - OH MY GOD THIS CAST. I love every single member of this cast and the trailer looks frightening and thrilling.

2. The Future - I've not seen Miranda July's debut feature, but I'm a big fan of her writing (if you haven't read her short story collection, "No One Belongs Here More Than You", you absolutely should), and the trailer showed a lot of promise.

1. Melancholia - Um, did you guys see the trailer? There is absolutely nothing about this that I don't want, right now.

"Crazy, Stupid, Love" Trailer

The awesomeness of the cast kept causing me to flip out. Julianne, Emma, Ryan, Marisa and Steve? Really, it's perfect - especially since all the couples look like they'll have amazing chemistry (Emma and Ryan! That's so cute!) it looks like the humor might fall into the trashy/cheap laughs category, but I have a feeling that the amazing actors will make it all work. I mean, you really can't go wrong with these people. To guarantee the amazingness, the trailer features Grizzly Bear music, so, I mean, there you go.

Your thoughts? Amazing cast with a ton of potential, or trashy-derivative summer comedy? Sound off below!

"Magnolia" Recasting!

Hey everyone, so, Andrew from Encore Entertainment is hosting another installment of his great series LAMB Recasting at the Large Association of Movie Blogs.

This time, he requested that we all try to recast the massively-cast "Magnolia", which was certainly no easy feat, especially that Julianne Moore role. I mean, nobody could possibly do it better than Julianne.

Anyway, I and three others tried our hands at it and now it's your turn to vote so I encourage you all to go over yonder and vote for your favorite re-imagining of the cast. Click here to do so!

Happy voting!

Oscar Nomination Day Laughs and Tears

DUDE DID YOU HEAR THE OSCAR NOMINATIONS WERE ANNOUNCED TODAY!!! OMG

Anyway, needless to say, like everyone else this year's slate of nominees gave me some things that made me really happy and also some things that made me not so happy. Though, honestly, more of the former than the latter. So, here's what I thought of the noms.

Things That Made Me Smile

• JACKI WEAVER. Sure, it came at Mila Kunis's expense (or was that Hailee Steinfeld's fault) but since Weaver was kind of iffy it made me so happy to hear her name being called. I can't wait to see her on Oscar night.
• JOHN HAWKES. What a very pleasant surprise! Jennifer Lawrence is fantastic but it's Dale Dickey and Hawkes that really shine in "Winter's Bone" so I'm glad to see at least one of them getting recognized.
• "How to Train Your Dragon" and "The Social Network" in Best Score. In fact, that whole Best Score category is pretty good. The music branch didn't screw it up too badly, did they! But those two are particularly deserving (more thoughts on this category later).
  
  
  What would "How To Train Your Dragon" have been without it's stellar John Powell score?
  
  
• "Dogtooth" in Best Foreign Film. HELLLLL YESSSSS.
• The Christopher Nolan snub. I know I'm going to get a lot of hate for that, and honestly I do feel sorry for the guy, but he was the weakest link in that category and though Id've preferred the spoiler to be Debra Granik or Luca Gaudagnino or someone like that the Coen Bros. are totally deserving.
• "Exit Through the Gift Shop" in Best Documentary. So, the Documentary branch has proven that they don't just care about relevant subject matter, and that they just award really good documentary filmmaking! Yea!
• "I Am Love" in Best Costumes. I think it speaks for itself, but the Costume Branch always seems to throw a bone to movie bloggers (remember "Bright Star" last year? heh)
  
  
Ooooh so pretty!


• Michelle Williams bringing the otherwise sadly ignored "Blue Valentine" to at least one nod. I wish it had been Ryan Gosling but I'm super happy for her since the performance was wonderful and she totally deserves it.
• The fact that I predicted 10 out of 10 in Best Picture. I mean, not that it was that hard, but still.

Things That Made Me Frown

• The lack of "Scott Pilgrim" in the visual effects category. I don't want to call it a snub because maybe it was never that realistic to begin with but it's a real pity.
• Andrew Garfield's snub. I suppose this is John Hawkes's fault and I'm happy for him but Garfield gives a fantastic performance and it's depressingly ironic how he was shafted, just like Eduardo in the movie.
• The Best Song category. I didn't really have any favorites going in but that group is really weak. I think this category becomes increasingly irrelevant as the years go along...
• Julianne Moore's "snub". The more I think of it, the sadder it is. In my opinion, Moore's performance is superior to Annette's and she is just as overdue as Bening, if not more so. It's odd how out of the two performances, it was Bening's and not Moore's that took off. I think Bening is totally deserving but I wish they'd gone for two leading lady noms from the same movie this year.
  
  
It's okay Julianne. You'll get your Oscar soon.


• Mila Kunis won't be an Oscar nominee. I'm totally okay with her not getting nominated (duh, Jacki Weaver), but the idea of her being an Oscar nominee was so awesome to me. Plus, what clip would they have used for her? HA!

So there you have it. All in all, it's a pretty satisfying group of nominees and I can't wait for the big night. Comment below on your reactions to the big announcement! :)

A few thoughts on films I haven't yet reviewed

For some reason or another, there are a few movies from the year so far that I haven't quite been able to write a full fledged review about. So, here are just a few ramblings on said films. Enjoy!

Alice in Wonderland

It's soured in my mind since I saw it months ago. It had some interesting visual moments, but the 3D ruined it. Mia Wasikowska was a bit boring, but Helena Bonham-Carter kicks butt and steals the movie! (5/10)

Greenberg

I really like Noah Baumbach. "The Squid and the Whale" is one of my favorite movies (I wonder what that says about me...?). So, needless to say, I very much enjoyed this one. Many people have said that it's trying too hard to be "indie", and at times it definitely comes across that way, but ultimately it's really effective and charming. Greta Gerwig was stellar, Rhys Ifans was very, very good, and Ben Stiller was surprisingly fantastic. Anyway, quite good. (8/10)

The Kids Are All Right

This movie affected me on such an emotional level. It was so wonderfully genuine and though it's a bit quiet throughout, when it's over I realized how deeply I was touched by it. The ending is pitch perfect. Obviously, Julianne Moore and Annette Bening were BRILLIANCE. Just wonderful, and wonderful chemistry. Mark Ruffalo is as good as everybody says. Not exactly perfect, but it's very genuine. And a GREAT soundtrack. (8/10)

The Runaways

Okay, I really liked this one. I'm a big fan of musically-related movies, and I love the music of The Runaways, and the music/music culture aspect was handled perfectly. HOORAY FOR K-STEW! I'm not going to say she was brilliant or anything, but she was really good. And as you guys know, I care about her. Haha! On the other hand, Dakota...hm...not completely convinced. She was a little one note in my opinion. The supporting cast (and I'm not just talking about Michael Shannon, but also the rest of the Runaways) was quite fabulous as well. Stylish and fun, though nothing particularly deep or important. (7/10)

Well there you have it. Have you guys seen these films, and what did you think? As always, comments below! :)

A Hidden Gem: The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio

I don't really need to say much about Julianne Moore. We all know how amazing she is, right? Anyway, Ms. Moore has sort of made a career of playing the "wife who has to deal with a lot of crap", as evidenced by her marvelous performances in "Far From Heaven" and "The Hours". But there's one performance of hers that is almost never mentioned, in a film that is almost completely overlooked. That film is "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio".



The film tells the true story of Evelyn Ryan, a woman who supported her ten children by winning jingle-writing contests in the 1950's. Her husband, played quite well by Woody Harrelson, is an alcoholic who abuses her and keeps secrets, and she has to keep it all together.

However, though the film sounds like a depressing and conventional biopic, it is far from it. It uses sequences of fantasy to lighten the mood and the tone of the film works perfectly, keeping it form falling into the cliche biopic traps that so many films fall into.

Plus, JULIANNE MOORE, people! This is actually the first film I ever saw with her (brief pause for sentiments) and it began my love for her. She's absolutely wonderful (as usual) and is probably the main reason this film succeeds as well as it does.

Woody Harrelson is also quite fantastic as the alcholic husband. He portrays him with sensitivity, making us feel as conflicted as Evelyn does. There's also a lovely supporting turn by Laura Dern, which is always amazing.

It's really too sad that Julianne was all but ignored in the awards season for this movie, but she truly is wonderful, as is the entire film. I kind of don't want to embed the trailer because it makes it look like a cheesey Hallmark movie, but it really isn't. It is instead, a lovely little gem with a heart of gold that tells the true story of a remarkable woman.

So...comment below! Have you seen "Prize Winner"? Do you think it's really just a glorified Hallmark Channel Original? Was Julianne robbed of an Oscar nomination???

"The Kids Are All Right" Trailer

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know everyone and their grandmothers have seen this trailer already, but I'm posting it anyway! Simply because...it looks awesome. And I cannot WAIT for it to come out!!!

Moore and Bening...eeeeee!!!