Mickey Rourke is a strong candidate for Best Actor at the Oscars. He is deserving, perfect in this memorable role. (Thank God the original actor chosen — Nicolas Cage — stepped away from the project for Rourke.)
Marisa Tomei I’ve never liked. But she’s excellent in this film.
Both actors are completely believable in a study of the psychology of getting old. And coming to terms with the end of your career.
Buffy might have been a fad. But the new TV series True Blood seems to be a hit. (I saw episode #1. It was OK.)
And the staggering success of the Twilight novel series by Stephenie Meyer makes me believe this is a real “craze”. There’s almost a blood lust for these books.
Twilight is a series of four vampire-based fantasy/romance novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. It follows the adventures of Isabella “Bella” Swan, a teenager who moves to Forks, Washington, and finds her life turned upside-down when she falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen. …
The Twilight series is popular among young adults, having sold 20 million copies in the United States and over 5 million further copies worldwide.
The film scores an overall approval rating of 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not good.
Actually, I thought it was quite good. Well cast. But some of the changes made to the book were unnecessary. Better would have been to stay more true to the details of the original.
I’m planning to read Book 2 in the series next. Leave a comment if you have an opinion on the vampire craze.
From Danny Boyle, director of Trainspotting …, comes the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”
Actually, I don’t think the trailer does the film justice.
The movie does remind me of Trainspotting, Boyle using “edgy, upfront” music.
The cinematography is mostly fantastic capturing the chaos, horror, laughter and vibrancy of modern Bombay effectively. In many ways it reminds me of my favourite book, Shantaram. (The film adaptation starring Johnny Depp has been delayed, by the way.)
Bottom line, you should rent Slumdog Millionaire.
It’s an entertaining and heartwarming love story on one level. And a complex film aficionado’s triumph on another.
He’s always been my favourite critic. Likely I will enjoy all of these though I’ve seen only two to date.
Ballast
The Band’s Visit
Che
Chop Shop
seen it … The Dark Knight
Doubt
The Fall
Frost/Nixon
Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
seen it … Iron Man
Milk
Rachel Getting Married
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Shotgun Stories
Slumdog Millionaire
Synecdoche, New York
W.
Wall-E
Every year I name a winner of my Special Jury Prize, so named in honor of the “alternative first prize” given by juries at many festivals. This year (roll of the drums) the honored film is:
“My Winnipeg” Guy Maddin’s latest dispatch from inside his imagination is a “history” of his home town, which becomes a mixture of the very slightly plausible, the convincing but unlikely, the fantastical, the fevered, the absurd, the preposterous, and the nostalgic.
Most people thought OJ Simpson was guilty first time around.
Perhaps prison will be a safe haven from his regular idiotic life. Celebrity does tend to ruin a person.
I understood why many in the Afro-American community celebrated OJ’s first release. Black celebrities like Hurricane Rubin Carter had been unfairly treated in the past. Carter was released after being wrongfully imprisoned for almost 20 years, the judge saying his original trial was “based on racism rather than reason and concealment rather than disclosure.”
The best free and legal site for movies and TV shows is Hulu.com, a joint venture of NBC Universal and Fox (News Corp). Yes, the same companies hounding people for illegal file sharing.
They are trying Hulu as one way to move to the digital future.
In the USA, Hulu works very well. But outside the States, you need something on your computer that cloaks your actual location. I use Hotspot Shield.
It works perfectly.
Hulu.com has a small but growing play list. (Including the Daily Show.)
Crichton died unexpectedly Tuesday “after a courageous and private battle against cancer,” the release said. …
Crichton, a medical doctor, was attracted to cautionary science tales.
“Jurassic Park” — perhaps his best-known work — concerned capturing the DNA of dinosaurs and bringing them to life on a modern island, where they soon run amok; “The Andromeda Strain,” his first major fiction success, involves an alien microorganism that’s studied in a special military compound after causing death in a nearby community.
Crichton also invited controversy with some of his scientific views. He was an avowed skeptic of global climate change, giving lectures warning against “consensus science.”
…
Though most of Crichton’s books were major best-sellers involving science, he could ruffle feathers when he took on social issues. “Rising Sun” (1992) came out during a time when Americans feared Japanese ascendance, particularly when it came to technology. “Disclosure” (1994) was about a sexual harassment case. ..
Crichton was married five times and had one child.
I read most of his books and admired his craft. He was a doom and gloom pessimist, though, always finding the global catastrophe in every new technology.
It’s hard to choose a favourite book or movie.
Perhaps Westworld had more effect on me than any other.
It follows co-writer Justin Theroux as a fictional documentarian named Jan Jürgen documenting the behind-the-scenes the filming of the Ben Stiller Vietnam war spoof Tropic Thunder.
Hallö iTunes.
Movies are available either for rental or purchase.
Stiller had intended to keep Cruise’s role in the film as a fat, balding movie mogul a surprise. The film studio has refused to release pictures of Cruise’s character as he appears in the movie. Images of Tom Cruise with a bald headpiece and in a fat suit appeared on Inside Edition, in November 2007, and also appeared on the Internet.
Attorneys for Tom Cruise threatened a lawsuit if photos showing Cruise bald, bearded and wearing a fat suit were published. A representative for Cruise stated: “Mr. Cruise’s appearance was supposed to be a surprise for his fans worldwide. Paparazzi have ruined what should have been a fun discovery for moviegoers.” Photo agency INF responded with a statement: “While these pictures were taken without breaking any criminal or civil laws, we’ve decided to pull them from circulation effective immediately.” MTV News reported that, “…reps are reportedly having the image of a fat, balding Cruise pulled from the Internet as quickly as sites can put it up.”
Rick McCharles 