I love this guy

Just watch them all right now.

Preferably while drinking a giant glass of wine.

Delightful and Dumb!

This weekend I saw two movies:
and


I'll let you guess which was delightful and which was dumb.

I'll give you a hint: I really love singing and dancing puppets and am highly annoyed by bad acting.

Look Alive...It's Day 5

Day 5 of Bikram Hot Yoga Challenge. I'm feeling great!

In other news, today I remembered a movie that scared the mess out of me as a child. IT (based upon the Stephen King book). I need to remember to not think of this movie ever ever again because it caused me serious trauma which resulted in my never closing my eyes in the shower, never stepping on a shower drain, never walking near a sewer, and never making eye contact with a clown. Still. Seriously. I'm scared right now.

I shall sweat out my fears.

The Town: T-T-Totally Awesome

I might not have mentioned this previously, but The Town rocks! I loved this movie and I totally love Ben Affleck, now, too. The Town has all the makings of a great (fun-great) film:

Hot Awesome Smart Chick:
Hot Dumb Scorned Drug Addict Chick:

Hot Bad Guy Who Manages to Steal Your Heart (consequently nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor):

Hot Don Draper Goes FBI Dude:

And, of course, Hot Ben Affleck Bad Guy Goes Good Guy (keep it in your pants, ladies):


We probably aren't dealing with cinematic glory here, but this film is quite entertaining and makes for for hell of a diversion. Now, get thee to your Netflix Queue or the nearest Red Box!

Now you're speaking my language

This year's best picture nominees...as LEGOs. I love it!
Can you guess what is what?












The Social Network, Winter's Bone, The Kids Are Alright, 127 Hours, The King's Speech, The Fighter, True Grit, Inception, Black Swan, Toy Story 3

Josh Radnor, I think I love you.

At first I thought you were just some second string sitcom actor, doing a slightly funny job on a slightly funny show. The straight man to Neil Patrick Harris' hilarity, you seemed like any ol' New York actor to me. See, here you just look, well, kinda boring.

Then, I found out you played The Graduate and I gained a new respect for you. Slowly, you and How I Met Your Mother won me over. You got funnier and funnier, and your talent began to show. Episode after episode, I found myself chuckling at your "normal guy playing the dating game" routine. After all, somebody has to be the straight man. And as with any show, once it gets a little momentum, even the straight man becomes funny. See Friends.



Now I find out you've written, directed, and starred in your very own film! Not only did you do this, but your film looks quite good and it did very well at Sundance. I am extremely stoked to see it*. The the trailer can be viewed here. A bunch of people just trying to figure out life and how to be happy- I love movies like this!

Just look at you... Directing.

I think I'm in love. Platonic imaginary artist love, of course.



*That is to say IF I ever see it. As the movie release gods have not been too kind to us here. Withholding Blue Valentine from me... so wrong.

Must see...

Dear people who decide to not release movies where I am until a long time from now or what feels to be an extremely long time, but could just be another week or so,

Please release Blue Valentine in North Carolina. I need to see it. I need to see the degeneration of Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams' on screen marriage. I need to see the debatable NC-17 worthy sex scenes. I need to see a film with hipsters acting their asses off.

Please.

Sincerely yours,

Me

A Compelling Story

For me to deem a film a "good one", it has to do one simple thing:
make me feel something. Usually this is done through great actors telling a compelling story. 127 Hours is the perfect example of this being done, and being done oh-so-well.
127 Hours is the true story of outdoorsy guy, Aron Ralston, getting trapped in a canyon by a giant boulder. As he was climbing, he slipped, fell, and a boulder came after him, bracing it's fall with his arm. For the next 127 hours, or 105 minutes in movie world, he is stuck. Eventually, he must break his own arm and saw through it using his dull multi-tool to escape. Only to be faced with an 8 hour hike/climb before he is spotted by a family who gives him food and water.
One can only imagine what it must be like to go through this, and being put in this position, where you must imagine what this like, is one of the most poignant aspects of the film.



James Franco is amazing, and should be recognized, a lot. Like, in all ways that actors can be recognized. He was so real and subtle. And after reading the article by Ralston himself, in this months Outdoor magazine, I am convinced!



James Franco and Aron Ralston



So, pretty much... Go see it. I know it might be hard. There's a lot of "great" films coming out this month (Black Swan, Blue Valentine, The Fighter, The Tourist). But, as far as getting back something from a film, this one delivers. It will make you feel something.

yes!

I couldn't be happier than next year Disney will release a Winnie the Pooh movie that will rival its roots. It's won't be in 3-D or CGI animated-PIXAR- blobbity blob freak out mode. It will be simple Pooh- exactly how A.A. Milne would have had it.

And, by the way, if you haven't read the original book, Winne the Pooh- do it!

Inception Karma?

So, after I openly gave Inception a mediocre review, I had a little Inception moment of my own. I was running in an area in which I don't usually run. I got to a park that I remember from a dream that I have had 2 or 3 times before. It was the craziest thing! I had this distinct feeling that I had been there before, but in a dream. I actually had been to the park before, but my memory of the park was from the dream. In my dream, I go to this park with freinds from high school...there might be a dog there...we're trying t find someone or get away from someone...we walk around... wait under a picnic shelter... try to go to someone's house up a gravel driveway.

I saw the gravel driveway on my run!!!!

Next time, I'm going up the gravel driveway to see what I find.

Will I have the dream again?

This got me thinking about the whole dream/subconscious thing. Why do I have this dream? Why am I remembering it? Is it a dream or is it my memory from real life that is shrouded in some way.

You guys got me thinking. A movie should do that, right? Sorry Chris Nolan, I may be willing to rethink my review. Unless...Was it Leo who traveled into my dreams to plant the idea that I liked his movie? Or maybe just a major case of deja vu?

Dream within a dream within a dream within a what?

As much as I like to watch people swim through the air, buildings crumble and Leonardo DiCaprio have a confused look on his face while he yells at people, I was not impressed. Honestly, I thought the whole thing was quite silly. Actually, scratch that. I do like the idea of the exploration of dreams and the subconscious, but couldn't that have been delved into minus all the brief cases, guns and hokey special effects. Come on, people...

Redeeming Qualities- hot british man (Tom Hardy), Ellen Page being not Juno, and me entertaining the idea that maybe I look a little, just a little, like Marion Cotillard?

must...see...

Can. Not. Wait.

Freak out!

Oh man...

So, last night we watched The Road (Thank you, Netflix). It seriously freaked me out. I had read the book several years ago, and it seriously freaked me out then. I don't know why I went back for more!

The Road is a novel by Cormac McCarthy (some might remember him from No Country for Old Men...also seriously disturbing). It's set like, now, but after something catastrophic has happened to destroy civilization (nuclear war, perhaps?). The man (Viggo Mortenson) and his son (unknown little boy actor) are traveling on foot to the coast in hopes of finding something hopeful. They have a panoply of disturbing experiences on the road including a run in with people who have resorted to cannibalism!

Considering my recent obsession with apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic events, I was severely rocked by this film. Old man Robert Duvall even alluded to the warnings and signs posited via the Mayan calendar. 2012 maybe???

See it. Or better yet, read it.