30 posts tagged “films”

Late night for me. Let's just say that I have had two cups of coffee so I am awake for the foreseeable future...

DVDs

• Caprica - BSG prequel that is sitting on the coffee table waiting on Alex being in the right mood to watch it. I am thinking it might be a good fit for the 4th of July long weekend. I mean we ain't going to be watching the fireworks
  
• Star Trek: TNG - Someone wont let me watch Deep Space Nine until we have re-watched all of TNG. Half way through season 5 and it is dragging somewhat
  

• Virtuality - Ronald D. Moore did a pilot for Fox, and they have repackaged it as a tv movie. That probably means it is now a failed pilot but as ever the optimist I am hopeful for a resurrection, especially after seeing the 12 min preview and webisodes
  
• Stargate Universe - the trailer makes it look edgier than Atlantis or SG-1, and it has Robert Carlyle in it so nuff said
  
• Torchwood - The 'Children of Earth' mini-series airs in July and it feels a little bit like Midwitch Cuckoos (though spooky children always give off that vibe to be)
• Doctor Who - Finally getting the Christmas special that was aired AGES ago in the UK. It also looks like BBC America has wrangled the Doctor from Sci-Fi Channel
• Warehouse 13 - Cute but worth a watch given that there isn't that much on at the moment
  

• Star Trek - So you've seen it once just keep watching it because it really is that good!
  
• Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince - Not strictly sci-fi but wizards are hardly mainstream
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - same as above but this time with robots in disguise
• The Time Traveler's Wife - Not another Sarah Connor Terminator spin-off I promise. The book is excellent, but the time travel is rather more a literary plot device than an actually exploration into time travel
  

Oh I do wish it was to stay in bed today, and rest my weary bones but alas I have just decided to skip yoga tonight. Having walked over 18 miles in Philly this weekend I think that I can safely skip one yoga class (even if I did have a bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast). So instead of yoga I will vegetate on the sofa (with a slice of carrot cake) and watch my latest Netflix rental - Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I will be clock watching until 5:30pm.  

• Kate Winslet looking sleek in battleship grey, dropping family anecdotes so that we know she is "one of us"
  
• HD TV highlights everyone's wrinkled eyes (real looking), this makes it easy to spot the botox ones
  
• Love Amy Adams red dress and necklace (might be the only flash of color this evening)
  
• SJP and husband are making a statement: they are very much together, are both fans of blond highlights and SJP is giving Posh a run for her cleavage (that comment can via my mum)
  
• Royalty have arrived - Brad and Ange. They are not really stopping to answer questions just allowing the reporters to bask in their Hollywood humble glow
  
• Tim Gunn has hunted out the dullest person to interview  - Valentino. WTF, Gunn. I want to see ladies (or men) in fancy frocks not the person who designed them. Valentino get back behind the curtain
  
• Is it hubristic for the entire cast of Slumdog to turn up to the Oscars? Dev Patel is an absolute sweetie. He can't believe he is at the Oscars (neither can Danny Boyle). Thank the gods that Obama is now in charge otherwise the papers would have been full of Slumdog cast turned away at border
  
• Mickey Rourke is doing a poor job standing in for Cher slash Bjork. Fancy white suit accessorized with tasteful photos of his recently departed dog
  
• Am so old I have no idea what High School Musical is. Perhaps a better dressed version of Grease - right?
• Woo hoo Robert Downey Jr (love him to pieces) and his gorgeous, normal looking wife. They should just give all the Oscars to RD Jr for being the most awesome actor. Even when stoned he was able to out act everyone else
  
• Viola Davis best dress so far. Gold halter neck with bling bling accents
  
• Aaarrggghhh Miley Cyrus. Aaarrgggghhh. Nemisis of Asian people. Aaarrggghhh. (Mel Gibson was ostracized to Malibu after his xenophobic rant but little Miss I-Was-Only-Making-A-Funny-Face is apparently very much still en vogue...)
  
• Meryl Streep and daughter in matching shades of sludge
  
• Penelope Cruz in vintage something with tasteful bling but no color
  
• ABC would like remind us all that the Oscar is all about serious acting and to do that they give a quick tip of the hat to Richard Jenkins and Frank Langella, representing character actors everywhere
• Jack Black kinda spaced out. Not on the red carpet but propping up the bar but his wife (g/f?) is wearing a lovely red frock
  
• Had enough of the grey colored frocks. Was there a memo? I know there is a recession but if you are going to wear a four or five figure dress the least you can do for us plebs is to pick one in a cheerful color. All the mainstream actress have opted for sludge and it is only the wild cards and spouses bring spicy hues
  

I should be reading about dining options in the Athenian agora but some how listing films that have piqued my interest
is more fun. Plus, January is something of a cinematic wasteland (unless you are into horror or dodgy comedies) which forces you to look ahead.  As far as I can see the only gem this month is Underworld: Rise of the Lycan, and after the disappointing suck-fest that was Underworld: Evolution I am really surprised at myself for acutally wanting to risk my sanity with another installment of Underworld. All those Lycan ads during BSG's webisodes brainwashed me into giving it another go, that and Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy, and no Wiseman.

Excited About
Duplicity - Such good chemistry between Owen and Roberts, and it reminds me of a good natured twisty-turny Carry Grant movie
Watchmen - If the legal wranglings are ever resolved
The International - More Clive Owen. Woo hoo!
Star Trek - Not too sure about re-booting a perfectly good franchise, however this chick can't get enough trek
Terminator: Salvation - Perfectly happy to have parallel worlds with different John Connors going about doing their respective things

Cute
He's Just Not That Into You - Nice ensemble cast but still the risk that it might make me want to tear my nails out
Confessions of a Shopaholic - Since we the people no longer have any money to shop we must watch others indulge in a retail habit, and live through them
The Proposal - The irony is that Ryan Reynolds is Canadian!

Juries Still Out (but I will probably crumble)
Push - Flashy Hong Kong action rip-off. Will it be another Jumpers? Is it worth the risk?
Fast & Furious - Vin Diesel and Paul Walker have not fared too well on their own so are forced to reunite (think Roberts and Gere in Runaway Bride but with more burning rubber)
State of Play - The BBC TV series was stellar, and I fear the good bits will have been watered down

In the good old days I use to be able to read books by the yard and see every movie that tickled my fancy. These days I am left with catching up with missed films when I fly.  Luckily for me I've had quite a few flights over the last few months, and seen many movies that I ummed and ahhed over earlier in the year. Quite a few of them turned out to be duds (so glad that I didn't waste a precious trip to the flicks on them) but a couple of them were really good, and worth discounted DVD purchase.

Fell WELL below par

• Forgetting Sarah Marshall - As much as I appreciate Russell Brand I could not make it through this steaming turd. I tried fast forwarding just to bits with Brand in it but even they had me clawing my eyes out.  
  
• Smart People - This one can go down as one of the most depressing films I have seen since Little Children. The characters are drab, the plot is pedestrian and in the end I gave up. Life is too short for this film.
  

• 21 - Poor student who is good at maths falls in with a bunch of academic gamblers who weekend in Vegas. It ends badly but he now as a great "life story" for his application to med school.
  
• Made of Honor - Imagine My Best Friend's Wedding were they switch the sexes, loose Rupert Everett, and in his place they inject a high fat Scottish filling that tastes so bad that Kevin McKidd has been asked to leave his kilt at the door. 
  

• In Bruges - A kooky black comedy about two gangsters holed up in Bruges whilst they await their instructions. Colin Farrell is spot on, and back in my good books after the travesty that was Alexander.
  
• The Incredible Hulk - Given that I had seen the Hulk you can totally appreciate why I skipped out on Ed Norton's reinterpretation of the not-so-jolly green giant but it was actually a good film. I think that the stronger plot, and the  scaled back CGI effects really helped. Oh that and Norton is smokin'.
  
• Miss Petigrew Lives of a Day - A delightful comedy of errors set on the eve of World War 2.
  
• Enchanted - I was.
  

• Watch Hannah Montana to see what all the fuss is
• Get Lost in purgatory
• Read the Didius Falco series
• Read the books written by the bloggers whose blogs I read
• Catch-up on my British box sets: Lewis, Life on Mars, and Ashes to Ashes
• Reduce my TBR  pile
• Go to Babbo and have the pasta tasting menu
• Do a lot of yoga
• Play a lot of tennis
• Go to the theatre: Boeing Boeing, Reasons to be Pretty (the new Neil LaBute) and The Bacchae (with Alan Cumming as Dionysus)
• Watch two seasons of Rome as prep for taking a class on Augustus in the fall (such a hard life)
• Shred a years worth of junk mail
• Enjoy kicking back every Friday for another summer at the movies
• Use iTunes rentals as a way of watching all the films I've missed in the last 6 months (e.g. Juno, Atonement, Golden Compass, etc)
• Give In Plain Sight a whirl 

On Friday night I frog marched Alex to the movies as I was in need of an action movie, and Street Kings fit the bill. Yes, we could have seen Stop Loss or Smart People but sometimes (or on a fairly regular occurrence with me) you need a movie where stuff gets blown up by Keanu.  Street Kings is not going to win any awards, the story is fairly obvious but it is a nice piece of escapism. Two things struck me whilst watching it, firstly the plot is lifted from Othello and secondly Street Kings is a Hong Kong police action film. Once I allowed those two pieces of information to wash over me the film became slightly less ludicrous. 

Othello may not appear to be an obvious match to a film about rouge policemen, but bare with me as I try to explain. Othello is about power and distortion of reality. In brief, Iago is the chief manipulator, and poisons Othello against his wife Desdemona.  Iago is able to distort the reality of all around him, he has Othello on a leash and it all ends badly. Very badly with a high body count.  Now, Street Kings has a gang of policemen who operate above the law. The ring leader is Captain Wander (Forest Whitaker) who uses Detective Ludow (Keanu Reeves) as "the sharp end of the spear" to promote his own political ambitions.  Ludow thinks he is fighting on the side of the righteous, that Wander and his team are fighting the good fight to clean up the streets not to fill their pockets. Wander is Iago, he has Ludow's head so full of lies that he doesn't know right from wrong, and who he should trust. This of course makes Ludow Othello (Keanu as Othello - I know!) and his Desdemona is his ex-partner Detective Washington.  Wander convinces Ludow that Washington has squealed to Internal Affairs (that top copper is of course played my Hugh Laurie with his own hair line for once) about Ludlow and his card is marked. In an attempt to get to the bottom of Washington's betrayal he teams up with Detective Diskant (aka Cassio), and falls into very murky territory.  

Entertainment Weekly gave Street Kings a C which I think is a little harsh. I'd rate it a B. To remark that Keanu is wooden is missing the point. We all know that Keanue is pretty face with a limited ability when it comes to the craft.  This innocence worked in the Matrix trilogy and I think it works here as well. Ludow truly does not see that he is being played by all sides: the corrupt cops and internal affairs.

Watching the Sarah Connor Chronicles made me hanker Terminator and T2. Alex scoffed over my wanting to watch the 80s classic. He tried to tell me that the original movie was a B movie, but after tonight I think we are both refreshed of the franchise and impressed with how well it stands up. Yes, it is dated with its cliche ridden scenes set in the mean streets of LA and ladies with big hair but it has a really strong narrative. There isn't that much dialogue (but it doesn't really need it), the tension builds up well and it has a crack pace. One of my favourite gems is the voice mail message in Sarah's apartment. It goes something like, "... tricked you this is the machine, but machines need love..". Not only is it a prophecy to the rise of the machines, but also a nod to the Terminator being able to mimic others, and trick them.  Another thing I like is that you don't really know that Arnie is a machine until the point where he starts to fall apart, a nice twist for those who have lived a very sheltered life and don't know the wonder of the Terminator.

The over theme that I take away is that the story is about the emancipation of Sarah and should be up there with Thelma and Louise as a feminist work. In one day Sarah is basically freed from her gender defined life style and forced to become a mother and soldier.  It is such a good movie that it is worth dusting off and watching from time to time. Looking forward to T2 tomorrow night.

Well I am back in land of the living, fighting fit and ready for the week ahead, but before I get there there's the little matter of the Oscars.  It would appear that my interest in Oscar is continuing to diminish. This year I managed to fill out my Oscar sweep stake picks based on only having seen one of the nominated films - Michael Clayton.  Let's just say I hope that everyone nominated for that film wins!

I am not sure how much of the Oscars I'll stay up for but here are my thoughts:

• Bless ABC have wheeled out Regis (the original Ryan Seacrest)  for the occasion
• Took Regis 0.005 to make the Cary Grant/George Clooney comparison
• Everyone is "Thrilled, just thrilled"
• Wow the lesser spotted Miley "Achey Breaky" Cyrus. Being way out of Ms Cyrus' demographics I have never seen her before just read about the Hannah Montana phenomena. She appears to be a regular girl, doesn't have two heads or anything
  
• Mickey Rooney. Now he was exhumed, and is to old for HD
• Jennifer Garner would like to reassure the world that she is just like us
• Helen Mirren is looking good as ever in her sexy red frock!
  
• Oh no, Daniel Day Lewis two gold hoop earrings? Are you Captain Jack? Are you a chav? ARE YOU?
  
• DDL confesses to not watching the movies he's in. Funnily enough I don't watch the films he's in either
• Regis found someone older than himself to talk about the good old days, and he keeps pointing out the difference between a movie and a LIVE SHOW
• Okay starting now for real. Jon Stewart please be good and make staying up worth while.
  
• Is Jon Stewart wearing tinted lip gloss?
• When Jack Nicholson dies I believe he is going to be stuffed, and glued to his front row seat
• Is Jen Garner's dress too tight? Not so flattering a look
  
• And Costume Design goes to... Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Of course the bigger the frocks the more chance of winning
• Cut to flashback - Barabra S.  reminiscing about her win, and then Clooney introducing more clips. I thought the strike was over we don't need to rely on repeats any more
• Jon Stewart has an iPhone because one iPhone gag is now standard in any comedy routine
• And Best Animated Feature goes to... the cooking rat. Yippe my first point of the night
• I don't understand what the deal is with Katherine Hiegel - why is she everywhere? Is she Miely Cyrus??
• And Make-up goes to... Edith Pief! (I think I picked Pirates, ho hum)
• Is it just me or is it a really dull show? I think it needs some gals in mad dresses, everything is far too safe... Where are Cher and Bjork? Diablo Cody looks to cool to be weird.
  
• And Visual Effects goes to... Golden Compass (point for me)
• And Art Direction goes to... Sweeny Todd
• Yet more clip compilations.. aarrggghh just run the show short, everyone on the east coast would like to be in bed before 2am
• Bummed that Tom Wilkinson did not win Best Supporting Actor but Javier at least was a lively winner
• Stewart making fun of all the clips is slightly painful, and I am loosing the will to watch
• I never thought I would say this but the songs are the only thing with a pulse and worth watching
• Owen Wilson is presenting - man that has to be awkward - something foreign that I wont have guessed right
• Okay this is the final award for me to watch - Best Supporting Actress. Please let Tilda Swinton win it, please.
  
• Tilda Swinton looks genuine shocked that she won and gave a lovely speech calling out Clooney and his rubber bat suit.
  
• Maybe I'll stay up a bit more as Miley Cyrus AND Jessica Alba are coming up... naw I am off to bed