the edge of a dozen movie dash

Here's what I like to call "The Dozen Movie Dash"... a quick review on 12 movies I've seen recently, some new, some old...

MALEFICENT (2014)... If you love the original film, you may have an issue with this retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story. Well, not if you love it, I mean, if you are a loyalist to the original animated film... because this takes that film, flips it over like an Etch-a-Sketch, shakes it, and redraws a new tale... and this tale is very polarizing, as most people either love it or hate it. I don't know that I loved it, but I liked it very much.

Those cheekbones are a little weird... but overall, she's fantastic in this role.

We see Maleficent as a young fairy, meeting Stefan for the first time, forging a friendship and growing up together... and we see the heartbreak Maleficent had when Stefan forgot all about her, in order to chase his dream of being a human king. As the original story goes, a daughter is born (by a queen we see for a few minutes, and then hear that later, she's sick), is cursed by Maleficent, and is put into the care of three bumbling fairies named something, another and whatever (not the Fauna, Flora and Meriweather we all know and loved). The story does take a turn somewhere towards the end, though you might predict the "True Love Kiss" aspect of it, especially if you've seen "Frozen", and ends in a big battle scene, complete with the requisite dragon and everything.

The star of this film, though, is Angelina Jolie... she is completely mesmerizing. I'm one of about four guys in the entire world of 7 billion people who doesn't find Jolie all that attractive (she looked her best when she looked all mussed in "Gone in Sixty Seconds"), but in this film, I was just captivated. When she's onscreen, you can't look away, as they put her perfectly sculpted face and ruby red lips front and center each time. Even the cuteness of Elle Fanning as Aurora can't take anything away from AJ... and I'm okay with it. "Maleficent" is Angelina's movie, as I cannot think of anybody who could have done this film as well as she did.

Love it, like, dislike or hate it, this isn't a movie you'll forget, especially Angelina in the title. role. Rated PG for fantasy violence.

EDGE OF TOMORROW (2014)... There are three things that I learned about this film. First, Tom Cruise still has it. He's excellent in this, he plays cowardice (early in the film) wonderfully, and we know he can be the hero (the rest of the film) from all the other movies he's been in. Second, despite what you hear, this isn't "Groundhog Independence Day", though I could see how one might think it. The whole plot centers the planet Earth, in the midst of an alien invasion, and a solider named Cage (Cruise) who ends up replaying the same day over and over... when he dies in battle, and in the beginning, it's very quickly, he wakes up again the day before, in the same spot. Only every time he starts over, he has learned a little more. Unlike "Groundhog Day", you learn in "Edge" of exactly why he is coming back again and again. And the story itself isn't entirely living the same 24 hours over and over again... the plot expands, and it's very well written, comical at just the right time, and a great popcorn movie to be enjoyed.

Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise facing off in their battle gear.  As long as
Tom stays away from "Oblivion 2", we're okay.

Oh, the third thing I learned? Emily Blunt is beautiful. Well, I already knew this, but she's great in this. PG-13 for language and science fiction violence.

MILLION DOLLAR ARM (2014)... In this typical Disney sports film of overcoming the odds, Jon Hamm is JB, a sports agent who has seemingly lost the account that will save his agency. Things look grim, things look bleak, things look downright impossible... and yet, one night, while randomly watching Indian cricket with his friend and business partner Aash, he gets the stroke of inspiration he needs... hold a talent competition in India to find the next, great Major League Baseball pitcher. Off he goes, and first it doesn't work out, then it starts to, and then there are trials and tribulations and toss in Alan Arkin being crotchety as usual, then Bill Paxton in a low key coaching role and the gorgeous Lake Bell for eye candy, plus a few unknowns from Bollywood... and you have this movie.

I liked it okay enough, but I won't remember it in six months. PG for language and drinking and such.

AMERICAN HUSTLE (2013)... I loved this film. I thought it was great, it was inventive, it was funny, and it was so, so well written. The all star cast includes Christian Bale, Amy Adams (whom I'm in love with), Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner, who has gotten no love in the last awards season for his part even though his hair alone was amazing... of course, the movie itself got no Oscar love either, nominated for 10 or 11 awards, and won absolutely Zero of them.  The director is David O. Russell, who did The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook... and yeah, those movies contain a many of the aforementioned cast.

Lots of cursing, as you'd expect from a Rated R film to contain... now, the story is a con movie. Who's conning who, who's telling the truth, who is lying, and so on. I figured it about 2/3rd of the way through, but that didn't lesson the enjoyment of the film at all. If you liked The Fighter or Silver Linings Playbook (both are superior films), you should enjoy this--the performances, which are marvelous, outdo the story itself.

PAIN & GAIN (2013)... I'll watch anything with The Rock, and am a big fan of Mark Wahlberg as well, so this had potential. Set in the mid-90s, Daniel Lugo (Wahlberg) recruits his friends Paul (The Rock) and Adrian (Anthony Mackie) to help kidnap a millionaire (Tony Shalhoub) because they all feel like they deserve more, and "they are doers". Full of random comedy, yet wanting to be a crime story too, it sorta works. A little long for my tastes, and its hard to believe the characters are as stupid as they are--of course, it was based on a true story. One of the funniest parts sees one The Rock actually grilling hands that have been cut off from dead bodies... to remove the fingerprints. Suddenly the scene freezes, and the words "THIS IS STILL A TRUE STORY" are shown on the screen... and I laughed heartily. Rated R for lots of language, some random boobage, and lots of violence.

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (2014)... Following the success of 300, which was a great movie, this is not only a prequel, but its a sequel... and a... concurrentqual? The storyline of Rise of an Empire begins before the events of "300", during the events of "300" and continues after the ending of "300", with many callbacks to the "300" characters, notably Leonidis (Gerard Butler). His widow, played by Lena Hedley, plays a big part in this one, as well as former Bond Girl, Eva Green. Honestly, I couldn't decide if I found Eva Green attractive, or if I was terrified of her. Not as good as "300", but not as bad as you think it would be. Rated R for language and boobs. And violence.

 

You'll find yourself singing that "Everything is Awesome" song a whole
lot after you see it.  It's addicting, as it should be.

THE LEGO MOVIE (2014)... Everything is awesome! Everything is awesome when you see this film... Everything is cool when you are watching this film, everything is awesome! This movie is great... I mean, just great. Its fun, its original, its funny, its filled with hidden jokes, the cast is perfect (Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Will Arnett, so many more), and the ending scene has a great twist that I did even see coming... I know a few people who don't like this movie, and I just don't get how you can't at least find this movie mildly amusing. Its great. Rated PG.

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (2013)... This film is excellent. I mean, just excellent in so many ways. The cast is brilliant--Tom Hanks shines as Captain Phillips, while newcomer Barkhad Abdi is the lead Somali pirate, Muse, is both creepy and menacing and sympathetic and pitiful all at the same time. It took a slightly different direction than I expected about halfway through, though the movie is all the better for it... based on a true story, this movie is thrilling and pretty much non-stop all the way through. Rated PG-13 for violence.

THE INTERNSHIP (2013)... Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn play two dudes who need some direction in their lives, and they end up applying for an internship at Google... there is this summerlong program where people compete in teams, with the winning team landing jobs at the Google empire. Of course, Owen and Vince get placed on a team of misfits (like Dodgeball... or The Watch... ), and though I won't spoil it for you, you can guess where this leads... especially when you toss in Pretty Girl that Seems Unattainable But You Know Will Be Attained and Arrogant Dude That Always Gets His Way Until This Movie, Where He Will Get His Come-Uppance characters. Typical, predictable, yet Owen and Vince are charming enough to make is sorta funny. We enjoyed it, but we also like those guys alot, which might have helped. Rated PG-13

Here is the DIVX cover.  It's all bad.

FIRESTORM (1998)... After the success of Christian Slater and John Travolta in the military plane "Broken Arrow" (a film that is awful awesome awful awesome), someone said, "Hey... Howie Long did pretty good as Travolta's sidekick. Let's give him a movie!" Then someone else said, "Hey! Let's put fire in it!" and then someone else said, "Oh, fire in the wilderness!" and then some big suit down at the end pounded the table with a closed fist, saying, "Dang it! That's it! We make Howie a fire fighter in the woods! By jove, we've got it!" And so they made it. And the results are pretty stinkin' awful. I mean, its bad. Rated R for language and violence.

ENOUGH SAID (2013)... Out of all the great performers we've lost in the last year--Dennis Farina, Larry Hagman, Philip Seymour Hoffman--one of the biggies was James Gandolfini. He was such a versatile actor, and in this romantic comedy-drama, he shows even more range. A divorced father ends up meeting a divorced mother, played perfectly by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and somehow they hit it off. Things get complicated when they end up knowing the same people, and try to make a relationship work, even though neither have dated for a long time. The movie is sweet, and funny, and bittersweet all at the same time. It never tries to bill the characters off as sexy or hot or perfect, or even likable, though they are very likable. The movie just shows them as real people, which is what makes this movie so fun and real. I loved this film, and at the very least, you have to appreciate the performances by both Julia and the late, great Gandolfini. Rated PG-13 for language and sexy stuff.

MONUMENTS MEN (2014)... With a cast like George Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, that guy from The Artist, and more, how can this movie not be the best movie like, ever. The premise is that in World War II, there were a group of soldiers commissioned to track down and save priceless works of art, those paintings and sculptures and more that Hitler had seized and stolen, to open his own self-aggrandizing museum in Germany. This is based on a real story, from a real book that I read earlier this year.

And like the book, this movie just didn't do it for me. It felt like a series of vignettes that were only slightly connected to each other. It ran long, parts were just uninteresting, and though the book itself tells you of the hundreds, maybe thousands of men who were a part of this Monuments Men team, the movie doesn't even refer to anyone else but the immediate team. Just eh. Disappointing more than anything, because the cast itself almost promises you a better film, and it breaks that promise.

And a bonus...
NEVER SLEEP AGAIN (2013)... On The Deucecast, we do an Assigned Films segment, where we assign each of the other two co-hosts a film to watch and be prepared to discuss them on the next episode. Sometime we get funny, and give movies to each other that we know they will hate, just for laughs, and other times we hand off movies that we genuinely think the other person will like. And then, for fun, sometimes you get handed a 3 hour and 58 minute documentary about "The Nightmare on Elm Street" films. So, over the course of the last week or so, I watched it via Netflix, in bits and pieces, when I could.

And I loved this movie. Every second of it. Now, I'm not a huge Nightmare on Elm Street fan... I liked the original, I thought the third one was pretty good, and the seventh, "New Nightmare", in which all the actors actually play themselves, suddenly terrorized by Freddy Krueger, who has escaped imagination and entered the real world, was just cool.

Though the 238 minute running time is itself a nightmare, it's really an extremely easy watch--it's broken up into 15 and 20 minute segments, each concentrating on a different film in the series. Starting with the first, then the second ("Freddy's Revenge"), then then third ("The Dream Warriors"), then fourth ("Dream Masters), fifth ("The Dream Child"), then the sixth ("Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare"), then the finale ("Wes Craven's New Nightmare") and ending with the encore ("Freddy vs Jason").  Somewhere in the middle, the film even has a segment devoted to the short lived late 80s TV series. 

Along the way, you get great interviews with the actors in each movie, some of them with characters that die in the first few minutes, others that live through multiple films, and of course, lots of Robert Englund (who plays Freddy), Wes Craven (the creator of the series) and Robert Shaye (the former CEO of New Line Cinema, who released the films).

For anyone is even a passing fan of the Elm Street series, this movie is worth a watch, even if you only catch it segment by segment. It goes by much quicker than you think, it's entertaining and it's full of behind the scenes tidbits on how to make scary movies on practically no budget whatsoever.


So there ya go... twelve thirteen movies for your enjoyment... choose wisely.

the 2014 oscars running diary

Okay... so first things first. BLOGGER SUCKS. I'm working on a way to switch to WordPress, but that isn't going to do me any good right now...

And that means that the formatting here will be all kinds of jacked up, to' up from the flo' up. Lots of random spacing, so please just be patient. I'll fix it as I can.

And as usual, I'm putting the latest update on the bottom.

So, without further Ado.... The Academy Awards, 2014...

730... Its America's Favorite Lesbian, Ellen DeGeneres! 

732p... The Lovely Steph Leann laughed heartily at Ellen's old joke about June Squibb... I'm waiting to laugh. I'm hoping it comes soon.

733p... Calling out a Liza Minnelli impersonator... it was the real Liza. Now THAT is funny.

735p... Amy Adams sighting. Sigh. Heart beating fast.

735p... Oh hush. When Colin Firth comes on screen, The Lovely Steph restraints herself from licking the screen.

736p... Even with a Beiber haircut, Jennifer Lawrence looks good...

737p... Half the women I know wishes their hair could be as silky smooth as Jared Leto

739p... Ellen's monologue. Amusing, but safe. 

740p... Anne Hathaway out to do the Best Supporting Actor Award!  I wonder if she's thinking, "I'm being judged on my horrible Oscar hosting duties with Jimmy Franco, after everyone just saw Ellen kill it..."  I picked Jared Leto as the winner here, though how much would I love to see Bradley Cooper get this. 

742p... When a cross dressing dude sings "I'm pretty" while putting on makeup, I immediately think of Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs

742p... Jared Leto, Oscar Winner, Supporting Actor. I'm 1-0 for the night.

745p... Is it just me, or are they giving Jared Leto like, forever to speak? Is it because he's discussing transgender AIDS?

746p... Ellen just did a selfie live on stage. I went to follow her on Twitter, and it shut down on me...

747p... Jim Carrey, who has never been nominated (he deserved it for The Truman Show) says, "It must be tiring to be a nominee..." Hilarious.   Honestly, I'm not sure if he'll ever win an Oscar, unless he has a once-in-a-lifetime performance... like, Matthew McConaughey...

He introduces animated Heroes, with "Heroes" being the theme tonight... Mr Incredible was first, as he should be.

750p... I just saw Dax Shepard. How did Dax Shepard get into the Oscar seating? As a seat filler?  (later I remembered that he's married to Kristen Bell... so that's how he gets there...)

750p... Pharrell is up to perform "Happy" from Despicable Me 2, a song nominated for Best Song.

751p.... The Lovely Steph Leann: What kind of hat is THAT? 

754p... I think Meryl shimmied better than Amy Adams, but I'm in love with the latter, so she wins anyway.

755p... This tweet from @RickyBrigante: So how long before there's a Pixar Theory that Pharrell is Andy's dad and gave him the hat?

757p... From the "Everyone predicted this pair" department, its Samuel L Jackson and Naomi Watts! 

Why Ellen didn't introduce him as Laurence Fishburne, I'll never know.  Unless he was too ticked off about it still... maybe she should have just said, "Its the BMF"

The award is Costume Design... I picked American Hustle. The Oscar goes to? The Great Gatsby. I'm 1-1 so far.

8p... Now, Makeup and Hairstyling... I picked Dallas Buyers Club... The Oscar goes to? Dallas Buyers Club. At 2-1, I felt like that was a lock.

802p... That British narrator saying "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" somehow gives it 0.02% more legitimacy...

802p... Harrison Ford, Hollywood's real life version of Grumpy Cat, is out to introduce American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club and The Wolf of Wall Street as the first three of nine Best Picture nominees.

805p... That sound you hear is all the women in the country swooning. Channing Tatum just took the stage.

807p... Judy Greer in an OJ commercial? What? What the what? I freakin' love Judy Greer... one of my favorite actresses... how did she end up in an OJ commercial?

810p... Ellen is getting funnier as this night goes on...

811p.... Kim Novak, for the 30 and up group, is in the "she's still alive?" category... fpr the younger set, its a "Who is Kim Novak and why does she look all freaky weird?" category.

812... Kim is out with Matthew McConaughey to announce Best Animated Short... which didn't go to Get a Horse, the Mickey Mouse short that I naturally picked. It went to Mr Hublot, whatever that is. I'm 2-2 for the night.
814p... I'm mildly amused at the French guy's hands shaking while giving his speech... thats how you know he's legit and actually honored and surprised.

814p... Best Animated Feature Film! It goes to Frozen... Kim Novak tried to make it suspenseful, but I think we all knew this. At 3-2, its time to go on a run!!

816p... Ellen makes more jokes, and brings out Sally Field, who is out to intro a montage of "everyday heroes"

819p... In this montage, I've already seen like, 7 movies in my #Dave100, and another 4 or 5 in my #TheDave500...

820p... JoGo Levitt and Emma Watson! Hermione is an Oscar Presenter! Out to give Best Visual Effects, of which I picked Gravity, of which it wins! 4-2... I picked Gravity to take many of these technical awards

823p... Every girl that was 14 five years ago is now swooning with Zac Efron on stage... he's introducing, and stumbling all over his words, the theme from "Her".  Talk about "That Awkward Moment"...

828p... I just saw The Muppets in one commercial, followed by Tina Fey in another. I'm so blessed to be me.

830p... Ellen sits with a guitar, coming back from break, then introduce Jason Sudeikis and Kate Hudson... that looks like a bit that got cancelled at the last minute

830p... Live Action Short Film. I picked "Helium". And the Oscar goes to "Helium"!!! 5-2... I'm rolling now, baby.

832p... The winner just thanked "My fella nomineeth..."

833p... Best Documentary, short subject... I went with Prison Terminal... and the Oscar goes to... The Lady in #6. Boo. Back to 5-3.

835p... John Stamos sighting!

835p... Ellen back in the audience. Walking around, talking to various celebrities. Ellen offers to order pizza, and all the celebs raise their hand for some. Then she intros Bradley Cooper...

836p... I remember when Bradley Cooper was that guy from Wet Hot American Summer... he's out to introduce Documentary Feature. The Oscar goes to 20 Feet from Stardom, and I picked it just right... 6-3 for the night.

839p... Darlene Love, from 20 Feet from Stardom just threw down on The Sparrow... a gospel tune... Bill Murray was the first up for a Standing O... Boom. 

840p... Kevin Spacey out now for a previous ceremony jibber jabber.

842p... Why aren't we watching an entire Steve Martin tribute? Instead of just this clip show of tributes to him and Angela Lansbury and others...

847p... The Lovely Steph Leann is mad with me that I won't pause the show for her to give little Campbell Isaiah a bath. The Oscars wait for no one!

848p... Viola Davis and Ewan McGregor out for Best Film Ain't From 'Merica... I chose Italy's "The Great Beauty"... the clip looks like a winner to me. 

849p... And the Oscar goes to? "The Great Beauty", like I... uh, I uh... knew it would. Either way, 7-3 so far!

851p... Tyler Perry comes out to introduce another Best Picture nominee, "Nebraska", then "Her" and finally "Gravity".

853p... Shouldn't Tyler Perry come out as Madea and introduce Dallas Buyers Club?

854p... Ellen comes out in her best BeeGees outfit, and introduces Brad Pitt, who introduces U2, singing a song from a Mandela movie...

...sidebar... I might be the only one in the world to say this... but I don't think Mandela was that great of a dude... he favored socialism, he disliked America and he wasn't that nice of a guy. Just sayin'. Back to the Oscars...

858p.... @hlpatterson just tweeted:       

I haven't seen the movie Gravity but I saw Space Camp in 1986, so I get the main idea

HAHAHAHHAHHAHHA

901p... Also... I don't think U2 is as great as they are made out to be..

902p... Ellen back in the audience. She does a selfie with herself and Liza Minnelli, makes a L'pata/Pizza joke, then goes to Meryl to take another selfie, asking for a retweet record on Twitter. She then invites Julia Roberts, Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Angelina and others to join in the pic... I'm Retweeting that right now.

904p... Michael B. Jordan and Kristen Bell come out to intro the pre-ceremony Techie awards. They sound like they are actually interested, but we know they aren't.

905p... Ellen brings out Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron... Charlize's dress looks like the devil, but she still looks amazing. Here's the Oscar for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing... I picked Gravity on both...

907p... Charlize pronounces "Smaug" as "Smowg". Makes me laugh. Gravity wins one of the two... I'm at 8-3 now.

910p... Gravity wins again, to put me at 9-3. I don't think I've gotten more than 13 right in like, four years... I'm rollin...

911p... Christoph Waltz, two time Oscar winner, to give out Supporting Actress Award. I picked Jennifer Lawrence to win, though Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years a Slave is the front runner...

914p... And the Oscar goes to... Lupita. First time nominee, first time winner, and she gets a standing ovation from the crowd and hug from Liza Minnelli. 

918p... That was a great Oscar speech, Lupita. Not kidding.

921p... And the pizza arrives! Ellen brings Pizza Boy into the audience, and starts handing out slices... Brad Pitt starts handing out paper plates, and Ellen says, "Kerry Washington is pregnant! She needs some food!"  (we find out later that this pizza guy was real, the shop is real, and he got paid for delivering pizza...)

923p... The President of the Academy comes out to talk about whatever it is they talk about, as I don't really listen. Except they are building a spaceship as a movie museum.

926p... AMY ADAMS AMY ADAMS AMY ADAMS AMY ADAMS AMY ADAMS

926p... Amy Adams (whom I'm in love with) is with Bill Murray for Cinematography... I picked Gravity. Bill gives a huge nod to Harold Ramis too...

927p... And the Oscar goes to... Gravity. I'm at 10-4!

929p... Gabourey Sidibe and Anna Kendrick (swoon) are out for Film Editing... I chose American Hustle on this one... and Gravity gets this one too... dang it. 10-5. I think this is where the wheels come off.

932p... Whoopi, Oscar winner for #TheDave500 film "Ghost", is out to discuss "The Wizard of Oz"... so that's why Liza has been so prevalent...

933p... The Lovely Steph Leann: Whoopi... oh, she looks terrible.

934p... P!nk out to sing a salute to The Wizard of Oz... what.

942p... Ellen comes out dressed as Glinda the Good Witch... hahaha... and now she brings out Jennifer Garner and Benedict Cumberbatch

943p... Jenny and Benny are here to present Production Design... I picked American Hustle. And the winner is The Great Gatsby. I fall to 10-6...

946p... Chris Evans is out here to tell us more Hero tales... Harry Potter... The Searchers... Men in Black... Lord of the Rings.. Star Trek... Jaws.... love this.

953p... "Multiple Oscar Nominee" (re: can't win it) Glenn Close comes out, to give us the In Memoriam

957p... In Memoriam was rough this year... Harold Ramis... Philip Seymour Hoffman... Sid Caesar... Paul Walker... Hal Needham... man.

10p... Bette Midler singing "Wind Beneath My Wings". Why didn't they just let her sing this while showing the pics? 

1001p... Are Bette Midler's eyes dilated? Is that why she can't open them?

1004p... Ellen, all in black now, back in bragging about crashing Twitter, in the BEST SELFIE EVER. That was a fantastic segment...

1004p... Goldie Hawn is out now to present the final three Best Pic noms... "Philomena", "12 Years a Slave" and "Captain Phillips".

1005p... I was just about to say "Goldie looks nice", when The Lovely Steph Leann says, "She looks really horrible..."

1008p... Two time Oscar nom John Travolta is out now to present the song "Let It Go", sung by Idina Menzel. Who did John Travolta just say?  Adele Dazim???

1012p... Jamie Foxx and Jessica Biel out now, ready to give out the music awards... apparently the teleprompter is giving a little trouble to the presenters. Jamie being funny by scatting Chariots of Fire. Best Score award, I picked Gravity... the Oscar goes to Gravity... finally, get another win for myself tonight, now at 11-6...

1016p... If Let It Go doesn't win this, it will be a huge upset... not to many times has U2 winning been an upset... The Oscar goes to "Let It Go" from Frozen. As it should. 12-6.

1019p... By the way, Idina Menzel and Three Six Mafia have Best Song Oscars. U2 has zero. Just a note.

1023p... Ellen has Pharrell's hat and is asking for donations for the pizza guy... El Oh El.

1023p... Robert DeNiro and Penelope Cruz come out together to give Oscars for writing... Best Adapted Screenplay... I actually picked Wolf of Wall Street. I'm a dolt.

1024p... And the Oscar goes to... 12 Years a Slave. 12-7. 

1026p... For Original Screenplay... I picked Her. It should win, anyway... the winner is HER!!! Finally, hit 13 wins, 7 losses so far...

1028p... Its the only one HER will win... but I'll take it. Spike Jonze deserves this one for a wonderful, original film. 

1031p... By the way Adele Dazim already has a twitter account. Just saying.

1032p... Angelina Jolie and a true icon, Sidney Poitier out to present. He's the man. And deserved the standing ovation he just got.

1032p... The Oscar for Best Director is here... I went with Alfonso Cuaron, which is the probative favorite. The Oscar goes to... Cuaron for Gravity. 14-7, I am guaranteed to finish over .500, which is nice.

1036p... My wife just informs me that she has met Sidney Poitier and has his autograph. What? 

1038p... Ellen trying to wrap up comically... by the time the show is over, they'll have to do the In Memoriam over to show June Squibb and Bruce Dern.

1041p... Ellen in the audience talking to Matthew McConaughey about weight loss... and then, Daniel Day-Lewis.

1041p... Best Actress nominees... of course, I want Amy Adams, whom I'm in love with, to win. However, I think Cate Blanchett will get it, so I picked her. 

1044p... And the Oscar goes to... Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine. In her speech she gives mad props to everyone, especially Amy Adams, whom I'm in love with.

1046p... Cate can go from hideous to gorgeous from movie to movie. That's quite a feat.

1048p... Ellen brings out Jennifer Lawrence to give Best Actor... though I picked Chiwetel Ejiofor to win... looks like Dave Wooderson will get the Oscar

1051p... And the Oscar goes to... Matthew McConaughey. Did I just write that?

1055p... Ellen now ends the show with introducing Will Smith, who will presumably give out Best Picture

1056p... And 12 Years a Slave wins the Oscar for Best Picture.

1058p... So, I wrap up at 16-8 for the year. Sigh. Better year, but one away from winning my Oscar pool... my record all time was like, 20-4 or something, but I haven't seen that in a long, long time. Boo.

So there you are... Ellen, I want you back as Oscar host. The Selfie stole the show... great show...



This is the greatest selfie in the history of Selfiedom.  The black dude on
the right side is Lupita's little brother, Junior... and Kevin Spacey's face in
the very back is my absolute favorite of all time. 

(4374 words written for #20KWords for March... 15,626 to go)


movies of 2013... the best part one

Finally... the best movies I was able to see in 2013. Now you'll notice this is a Part 1... because there are actually 20 movies to talk about. Tomorrow, you'll get Part 2, which are all 2013 movies, and I'll list the best of them that I saw from January 1st to December 31st, 2013...

Today, however, is the Top Ten Movies from 2012 and before that I watch in 2013. Y'all feel me flow? Dig? Cool.

10... The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (1966)... As part of our movie series, we were assigned to watch this classic spaghetti western, part of the "Dollars Trilogy" (no, that's not Campbell, Lorelei and Naomi, my three kids, two of which I don't have)... this goes along with "A Fistful of Dollars" and "For a Few Dollars More", which all star Clint Eastwood as The Man with No Name. This particular tale is all the usual Western standards... robbery, gold, betrayal, hangings, horses, ponchos... but its Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Lee Von Cleif that sets this apart... that, and the all too familiar score that you would know in a second.

9... Les Miserables (2012)... When I heard they were doing a movie version (again) of Les Miserables, I didn't think of the Liam Neeson film, I thought of two other films... Chicago, that did the musical adaptation right... and Mamma Mia!, which was a big, fat mess... so all I could do was hope for the best. For the most part, I wasn't disappointed. Hugh Jackman is a fantastic Jean Valjean, and Anna Hathaway defines Fantine (when she finished singing "I Dreamed A Dream", I looked at The Lovely Steph Leann and said, "She just won an Oscar"--and I was right). Amanda Seyfried is just fine as Cosette, though I do not love her singing voice, and I think Sacha Baron Cohen is incredibly miscast as Thenardier... though that might be because I'm loyal and beholden to the Highlights CD that I've been listening to for 20 years...

Russell Crowe? I don't think he was nearly as bad as everyone made it out to be, and I applaud his bravery for even doing the singing part... but he was not a strong point. However, I did love this version overall.

8... This is 40 (2012)... Let's see... Paul Rudd is one of my favorite two or three actors out there. I have a thing for Lesley Mann. Judd Apatow is a solid director. Put them altogether, and we have the perfect movie? No... not perfect. But good. I've seen it twice, and it got much, much better the second time I watch it.

7... West of Memphis (2012)... I'm a big fan of crime drama true story books and documentaries, and this one was unbelievable. The story goes that in the early 90s, three little boys were murdered and mutilated by a creek in the town of West Memphis, Arkansas. The police, in a hurry to find someone to pin this on, found their guys... three teenagers, led by Damien Echols, who had the audacity to listen to metal music, draw pictures that church goers didn't like, and wear lots and lots of black. On the strength of what seems like a forced confession of one of the three, all three teens were arrested, tried in a ridiculous trial and sentenced to life, with Damien getting the death penalty.

Over the years, more and more evidence that showed their innocence came out, as well as proof of shoddy and biased police work, until it was almost obvious that the teens didn't have anything to do with the crimes--and what's more, investigators all but ignored glaring evidence and signs that pointed to one or two other suspects.

All of this was chronicled in the three part documentary series of Paradise Lost Trilogy, which is an amazing viewing in itself--but this one takes all three of those, and puts them together into one 2 hour and 20 minute package. I highly recommend you see this, and make your own conclusions.

6... Room 237 (2012)... For fans of "The Shining" by Stephen King, you will have probably seen "The Shining" film, directed by Stanley Kubrick. King himself in years since says he hated Kubrick's vision of the story (in recent years, King has reiterated this point)... but Kubrick's vision is amazing. And creepy. And terrifying. And so, so odd. Hence, the documentary "Room 237", named for a hotel room in the story that holds strange, unspeakable things. The doc centers on conspiracy theories, everything from Kubrick's nod to the Holocaust by using a German typewriter, to the odd way he's laid out the hotel scenes... in one shot, the main character Jack is talking with the hotel manager in the office, where out of a window you can see trees and sky... in another shot, Danny is riding his tricycle down the hall, passing that same office, and based on his path, the office is obviously in the middle of the hotel with no window. That kind of stuff. Its almost a car-wreck type fascination that draws you to this, you sit and watch and think "These people have way too much time on their hands" and then remember you've been watching for an hour. It's awesome.

5... The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)... What a sweet, cute little movie. Based on the novel by Stephen Chbosky, who also directed, its a coming of age high school tale of a loner named Charlie, a new freshman, who really only connects with his favorite teacher, played by Paul Rudd, who is excellent in this small role. He is somehow befriended by two seniors, Sam (Emma Watson) and her stepbrother Patrick (Ezra Miller), and throughout the school year, their friendship grows, especially as Charlie develops real feelings for Sam--and this is to the chagrin of Mary Elizabeth (a growed up Mae Whitman) who is possessive of Charlie after one accidental kiss.

There is also a small subplot involving Charlie's aunt, played by one of my favorites, Melanie Lynskey, that provides a turn that I didn't see coming at all until just before its revealed, but it provides real heart and even heartbreak to the story. Its a beautiful movie, and well done, especially by Emma Watson, who is continuing to prove that she is, in fact, no longer Hermione Granger.

4... Pitch Perfect (2012)... Another one of my favorites, Anna Kendrick, leads this pack of up and coming Hollywood stars and starlets, as her Beca is trying to fit in to Barden University, all the while chasing her own dream of being a music producer. She tries out for the a capella female group The Barden Bellas, once the darlings of the university, now on the bottom rung due to one of its lead singers vomiting on stage at the previous year's competition.

This film is fun, its light, never preachy, and really, surprisingly, not gay. As in, it doesn't take a gay guy and hit you over the head like some films do, preaching tolerance. Instead, the cast is brilliant, with Rebel Wilson as the hilariously named "Fat Amy", the unknown Hana Mae Lee as a very quietly talking Lilly who can beatbox, and Brittany Snow, as the co-leader of the Bellas. And a cameo by the likes of Donald Faison and Tom Lennon as part of a "we were cool then, trying to be cool now" group that graduated college years ago, but is still hanging around.

3... 12 Angry Men (1957)... Keep in mind, this list is titled "Best" but its my favorites of the year. If I were truly declaring "Best films Ever", this would probably be in the Top Ten, as this film is nearly perfect, flawless. Henry Fonda plays Juror #8 who is the only one who says "not guilty" in a trial of what looks like a slam-dunk case. A teenager from a slum is accused of stabbing his father, and Juror 8 just simply wants to talk about it. The other 11 jurors range from a guy with baseball tickets burning a hole in his pocket (Juror 7) to a rational stockbroker only interested in facts (Juror 4) to an extreme racist (Juror 10) who is ready to fry the defendant because of his color.

Every character is important, and some you love and some you despise, Juror 10 being one of them, and some you just want to smack, like Juror 3, who refuses to believe this kid might be innocent.

This.Is.Such.A.Good.Movie. It goes beyond "yeah, great movie" to "this is a good, good film". See it.

2... Django Unchained (2012)... Set in the pre-Civil War era, this Tarantino film follows a slave named Django (pronounced "jango", as the "D" is silent) who is purchased by a bounty hunter named Dr. Schultz (Christoph Waltz, who won an Oscar for this role) In exchange for the assistance in finding a couple of fugitives that Django knows of, Schultz agrees to help Django rescue his wife, Broomhilda, who was taken away and sold to another owner.

Its a sweeping, epic-type film that takes you from one scenario to the other as Schultz and Django first work together, and then develop a friendship, as they end up at a ruthless slavemaster's plantation--played to the hilt by Leonardo DiCaprio--who enjoys the sport of "mandingo fighting", that is, pitting one slave against another to the death.

While Leo is deplorable, likewise is his servant, Stephen, also played deliciously by Samuel L. Jackson. You learn to hate them both, and quickly.

This movie is not for the faint of heart, like most of all of Quentin Tarantino's movies are, but as a movie fan, I ate this movie up. Its a hard R, with soooo much violence, almost to the point of comical, and lots and lots of language, including a pervasive use of the N-Word. This isn't one I'll watch over and over, for the reasons I just named, but its still a winner to me.

And my favorite film that I watched in 2013 that wasn't actually a 2013 release?

1... Silver Linings Playbook (2012)... There are certain movies going into them that you know you will like... "American Hustle" was one. "Up in the Air" was another. "Frozen" is a third example. And this one, "Silver Linings Playbook". I am so in love with this movie that it might actually be the best film I saw overall last year, no matter the release date.

Pat (Bradley Cooper) has just been released from psychiatric care following treatment for bipolar disorder. He's now living with his mother and his gambling addicted father (Jacki Weaver and Robert DeNiro, respectively, both in amazing roles) and is trying hard to get his life on track and reconcile with his wife Nikki--who has a restraining order against him due to the violent episode that got him committed to begin with (its explained throughout the film).

Sometime later, while having dinner with his friend Ronnie and Ronnie's family, he meets Ronnie's sister in law Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence, in an Oscar winning performance), a widow who just lost her job.

The connection is there due to shared issues, neurosis and just an odd pair of lives. She convinces him to dance with her at an upcoming dance competition, while she agrees to help Pat get back together with his ex-wife, Nikki.

The movie is just wonderful, in all aspects, and one that I could--and have--watch over and over... I love the characters in this film, I love the appearance of Chris Tucker as Pat's hospital friend, and everything just flows.

So that's that Top Ten... how about the actual movies that I saw in 2013 that came out in 2013?


(20,118 words written in January... #20KWordsInJanuary accomplished)