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The Force-Feeding of 3D Movies in Hollywood

2010-03-13T17:10:00.004-05:00

I remember way back when Jaws 3D came out. It was a huge deal to be able to go see a movie in 3D in the theater. I believe I went with my Dad to see it at age 8 in 1983. Sure it was a crappy movie, but the 3D novelty was kinda cool. Since then I experienced 3D at other times in my life with Captain EO at Disney World, the lame 3D Super Bowl XXIII halftime show and other multi-dimensional gimmicks. As the novelty wore off I finally came to realize that 3D is just plain annoying.

We are now seeing a huge push by Hollywood to bring 3D back and make it better than ever. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least 4 or 5 movies that are planning to be released in 3D this year including Clash of the Titans and Toy Story 3. The final two Harry Potter movies and even The Hobbit are being rumored to be under production in 3D. Basically, the 3D freight train is coming down the tracks whether you want to experience it or not. A studio can make a piss-poor movie and release it with the tag line "presented in amazing digital 3d!" and instantly they expect you to stop in your tracks and make plans to see it. And it won't stop with the movie theater. Companies are already lining up to mass produce 3D televisions so you won't need to waste a trip to the movies to use your goofy 3D glasses.

What's surprising here is that I don't believe Hollywood and the entertainment industry really care if we WANT 3D or not. Personally I could do without it. I recently saw Bolt, Cloudy w/ Meatballs and of course Avatar in 3D. The first two were not memorable for being 3D films. Avatar on the other hand is an anomaly, a really GOOD 3D movie that makes the 3D illusion work with the story and therefore immersing the viewer in another world. James Cameron used 3D to enhance a movie rather than just using it for a sideshow/gimmick effect. As far I'm concerned, Cameron can keep on making his 3D movies as the technology is in very good hands with him at the helm.

It's the other 90% of 3D drivel that I'm worried about. Avatar was an exception, but most 3D movies look much worse in 3D. The picture quality is just not as crisp and clean. I find myself fidgeting with my glasses too much during the movie. I'd just prefer a nice 2D representation of the film that doesn't try to push objects into my face for a "wow" factor. We all know WHY these media companies are pushing an outdated technology on us though. To make more money. The primary reason Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland movie made 116 million last weekend is that people were paying outrageous $12-plus 3D ticket prices. You're looking at more of a 70-80 million opening if the movie was released in 2D only. Television companies want you to shelve the new HDTV you bought a few years ago and upgrade to a 3D model. With the re-immersion of 3D, what's old is new again and unfortunately most of consumer America is going to eat it up.

I'm hoping 3D is a fad and we see a fall-off of 3D releases after 2 or 3 years. The only real positive I can see in 3D programming is 3D sporting events. Seeing depth of field in football, baseball and other sports would be phenomenal. That may eventually be the one driving factor that causes me to get a 3D TV. I'll certainly wait at least 4-5 years to do so and I won't be watching any movies in 3D at home (unless it's Avatar 2). I'm interested to hear what other people think about 3D technology. Do you get more excited about seeing a movie if it's going to be released in 3D? Do you suffer from glasses fidgetous syndrome as well?

Random Photo of the Day

2010-03-10T15:51:00.002-05:00

First person (that doesn't have the last name of Rose) who correctly identifies what movie this painting is from gets my respect. This painting has resurfaced in a recent Academy Award winning movie.

Bonus point for supplying the correct name of the painting (NO GOOGLE, cheaters!)

Oscar Predictions - Movie Review: Precious

2010-03-06T21:45:00.003-05:00

My esteemed reader Theresa reminded me that I hadn't posted my Oscar predictions yet. Before I predict the winners of the major awards, let me get to a mini review of Precious which I just saw tonight. Lee Daniels' film tells the story of a large young black woman (Gabourey Sidibe) growing up with a terrifying menace of a mother (Mo'Nique) in Harlem and trying to make something of her life. The movie is very depressing overall and the subject matter of physical and sexual abuse is extremely dark. Daniels does a great job of making it all seem very raw and real and he gets two great performances out of his actresses (and a third from a toned down Mariah Carey).

Sidibe is very good in her first movie role and is able to carry the movie as the lead. Mo'Nique is an absolute revelation. She is a menacing storm of rage and emotion and really gives the viewer chills whenever she's on screen. Hands-down one of the best female performances I've seen in years. And who knew a guest star on Moesha could turn into an Academy Award worthy actress. Precious is not a movie I'd ever want to see again and it did get slow at times, but all in all it is worthy of Best Picture consideration. 3.5 JR's for me and I urge people to see it if only for Mo'Nique's performance.

Unfortunately I only got through 7 of the 10 Best Picture nominees this season (still more than the 5 annual films I'd seen in all of the previous years). I still want to see The Blind Side at some point, but A Serious Man and An Education may never come across my Netflix list. The following categories include the selection that I would make (in BLUE) if I had an Academy vote (and why don't I have one already!?!). The choice I believe will take home the statue is highlighted in GREEN. I'll be heading to Omar's tomorrow night to watch the awards at a mini Oscar Party.

Best Picture

"Avatar"
"The Blind Side"
"District 9"
"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
"A Serious Man"
"Up"
"Up in the Air"

This will be very close between Hurt Locker and Avatar and is really a toss-up right now. I think Avatar's worldwide influence pushes it over the top.

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker

I haven't seen Crazy Heart so I can't judge Bridges here but he has won most of the major awards already so I think he's a near lock for this. Clooney gets my vote based on only seeing two of these performances. (I think Renner is slightly overrated, as is Hurt Locker)

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"

Meryl Streep was so good in Julie & Julia that I didn't find myself caring about any of the scenes without her in them. Sandra Bullock has a real chance of stealing this from Streep.

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon, "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

Waltz was real good in Basterds and is probably the biggest lock of the night (along with the next category).

Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

Probably the best performance in any category this year (see above for the reasons why).

Best Director

James Cameron, "Avatar"
Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"

I think the Academy will end up splitting Hurt Locker and Avatar in the Director and Picture categories. This could go Hurt Locker / Cameron instead. Tarantino kicked so much ass in Basterds, but I would vote for Cameron for making a monumental cinematic achievement.

As for District 9? My only hope for an award win would be in the makeup category. Disagree with my picks above? Let me know about it.

Movie Review: Shutter Island

2010-03-02T08:30:00.005-05:00

Martin Scorsese may be getting better with age. His last two movies (Shutter Island and The Departed) have been amongst his best ever. I'm starting to think that he's getting better as a filmmaker thanks to his partner in crime, Leonardo DiCaprio. Marty and Leo collaborate once again on a thrilling and gripping mind-bender of a mystery in Shutter Island. As some of you may already have read in other reviews, this movie has some major plot twists which I won't reveal in this review.

The setting is rather simple. Two federal US Marshals visit a maximum security psychiatric ward on a remote island off the coast of Massachusetts. Someone has escaped the mental facility and DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo must track down the escapee and solve the mystery of the island. The film is shot wonderfully in dark and depressing tones (the constant bad weather during the stay on the island adds to the overall gloomy effect). Scorsese does a great job of inter-cutting back story through brief flashbacks to fill us in on the narrative provided by Dennis Lehane's novel. An intense score composed of previously released songs played at the perfect time help add to the atmosphere. Amazingly this is not an original score but the arrangement evokes memories of the brilliant in-your-face over-the-top music found in There Will Be Blood.

The acting across the board is outstanding including great supporting performances from Ben Kingsley and Michelle Williams. You really find yourself believing that you are on the island, immersed in the scenery. What takes this movie to that next level is the acting typhoon that is Leo DiCaprio. He completely owns this performance and makes you fascinated with his character from start to finish. Simply put, DiCaprio is the greatest actor of his generation and I hope the Academy remembers this performance a year from now. If Shutter Island was released as originally planned in 2009, he would be in the 5-man race for Best Actor for sure. I hope he decides to try to branch out more and work with other directors, but after the last two Marty/Leo collaborations, I can't really complain too much.

After much thought I will go ahead and give this a perfect 5 out of 5 JR's. This is the best film I've seen since District 9 and is immediately the front-runner for the 2010 Oscar for Best Picture. After knowing the plot twist in full I feel like I need to see the movie again to watch it from a different vantage point. I'd almost like to have another blog post where I can talk about the full plot for those who have seen the movie. If you want to do so, send me an email. I hope this will not be my only 5 JR movie of the year, but the bar has certainly been set high. The Clash of the Titans remake with Sam Worthington is next up on my radar.

We're Number One!

2010-03-01T13:00:00.003-05:00

Ever since 1993 I have bled the color Orange. Having attended every home basketball game in the Carrier Dome for four years and experienced the Final Four in person in 1996, Syracuse Basketball is the number one seed in my personal sports world. The start of this season was ominous as we lost an early exhibition game to LeMoyne (a small local D II school in the upstate NY area). Having lost 1 player to the NBA (Jonny Flynn) and two other starters, I thought we were in for a rebuilding year after that opening loss. Since then we've gone 27-2 and are now the #1 team in the country after a great basketball Saturday.

With the former top three teams all losing, Syracuse was able to leap frog into the top spot for the first time since 1990 (back when I was a Georgetown fan). Standing at #1 heading into the last week of the season, we're basically assured of having a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. I usually pick the Orange to go far out of habit and root for them as underdogs as they proceed through the tourney (when we won it all in 2003 we were a 4 seed). Now being #1 in the nation, we can't play the underdog card. All in all I'd still rather be where we are so we can have the easiest possible road to the Final Four.

This has been an amazing season to watch as our players have really gelled together and our depth is our strongest asset. I can only hope we don't trip up in March and are able to make a deep run. For one thing, this edition of March Madness will be the most anticipated in my lifetime.

American Idol: Handicapping the Men

2010-02-25T08:37:00.003-05:00

Last night's Idol was a little painful to watch. So many bad performances and to be honest I think the talent pool this season is down significantly from last year. Hopefully these contestants will improve but for my money it may end up being Bowersox vs everyone else. I think Crystal is the best talent overall but I'm going to give my own odds on the men regardless.

Andrew Garcia - 4-1

Andrew tried to switch up "Sugar We're Going Down" by Fallout Boy similar to the way he flipped the script on Paula Abdul's Straight Up during Hollywood week. It didn't work out so well (the song is much better played fast) but at least I got to finally understand all the lyrics of the song. Garcia is a talent though and he seems to be pretty popular with the audience. Despite the performance he's still the male front-runner.

Casey James - 5-1

We all know Kara and all the tweenage girls love this guy. He may turn into the Matthew Mcconaughey of this season, but in addition to his looks, the guy can sing. I thought his rendition of Heaven was very good and I can see him making the final four this season.

Tyler Grady - 6-1

I like this guy (despite his freaky Spongebob Squarechin) and he's probably my dark horse favorite of the men. Sure he's stuck in a 70's time warp but he's a great performer and has a good powerful voice. The song choice was a little wrong here as American Woman only added to his hippie stereotype. I'd like to see him try something different but I can totally see him as the front man for Wolfmother or another retro band.

Jermaine Sellers - 9-1

I heard that this guy was already on some BET singing show so I think he may have a leg up on the competition as a performer. He was so-so last night but that was mostly because of his terrible song choice. When Michael Jackson week comes around (and you know it will because the King Of Pop's recent death) again, Jermaine is going to own that show.

Lee Dewyze - 9-1

It was interesting to see most of the judges club this guy's performance last night only to have Simon come to the rescue saying it was the best of the evening. I agreed with Simon (shocker) and did enjoy his Snow Patrol rendition. He has a chance to do well but overall he doesn't seem to have much personality or showmanship. If he improves his stage presence, he could be a real factor. (Plus he's 2nd behind Bowersox for weirdest last name)

Aaron Kelly - 10-1

Totally reminds me of David Archuletta in a way. Very humble, young and sings with a power you wouldn't expect from his short stature. Wasn't wild about the song choice last night but he does have some potential to get far in this contest.

Michael Lynche - 12-1

First of all, I hate Maroon 5. Second of all, I actually hated Michael's performance of "This Love" even more. Using a guitar for a prop (and not really playing it), he just waddled back and forth with a sub-par singing voice. Now I do like his back story of becoming a dad while at Hollywood Week and he seems to be a nice guy, but he just doesn't belong in this competition. He might get far because people like him though (especially his dog Randy).

Joe Munoz - 15 - 1

Joe makes me think back to that weird/terrible Jorge guy from last season. He sings better than Jorge though and could go a little further in this thing. I didn't know the song he was singing but if rocked a little Enrigue Inglesias ("you can ruuuuuuu-AH-hun!"), he might do very well.

Todrick Hall 30 - 1

This dude is a dancer more than a singer and he proved exactly that during his performance. So-so voice but great stage presence. I do like that he took a big risk trying to switch up "Since U Been Gone" but it didn't work out so well. He should be safe this week though.

Alex Lambert 40 - 1

Adam's little brother (not really related) seemed to be nervous last night. His Jason Mraz song (an artist I totally hate by the way) was not that bad but the judges seemed to think he needs to get past his nerves to be any sort of a factor. I don't have high hopes for him. I actually think he's one of the two gone tonight.

Tim Urban 50 - 1

Well I've never heard "Apologize" get butchered as bad as Urban killed it last night. It's a great song and Kris Allen did an awesome cover last season but Timmy was just out of his league attempting those high notes. I actually had to shield my ears a little because it was so god awful. Urban is another ladies magnet and may actually survive the vote based on that. He won't get much further though unless he chooses songs with notes he can hit.

John Park 80 - 1

BOOOOORRRRR-ING. This guy is finished. Completely lifeless, singing a throw-away song I had never heard before. No originality and his singing voice just isn't that impressive. Pretty sure he's going home tonight.

And there you have it. Nate will be glad to know that I won't post about Idol again until the top 12 is established. At that point I will re-jigger my odds and we'll have a better idea of who really has a chance to win this thing. Until then, if you want some quality weekly recaps please go and visit the expert (Stacey) at her blog.

American Idol: Handicapping the Women

2010-02-24T07:05:00.006-05:00

Before I begin my list I want to let people know that I plan to tone down my Idol posts this year. You won't see any song prediction posts anymore. I just don't have the time (or interest really) in doing those types of posts. What I am doing is putting out my own odds for who I think can win this (Simon voice) comp-e-ti-tion. I stayed up late last night and watched the two-hour episode. I must say I am enjoying the Paula/Ellen switch. Ellen actually does give some meaningful feedback and is a little humorous at times. The downside to the judging change is that I now need to watch more of the show and can't just do the ol' Abdul DVR skip anymore.

Here's my list of the 12 women in order of who I think can contend for the title.

Crystal Bowersox - 3-1 (odds to win it all)

Not only does she have the best name in the competition but she is definitely unique. She doesn't fit the mold of the typical Idol contestant. I liked her Alanis performance and she seems to be a genuine artist. Her ability to stand out is going to take her far.

Katie Stevens - 4-1

The fact that she got the money spot on the first night means that the judges already favor her a bit. She has a very smooth and powerful voice and can probably sing a wide range of song types. Her age (17) may hurt her though.

Siobhan Magnus - 5-1

Another unique contestant, albeit one with a TERRIBLE name. I can't stand that spelling of "Chevan" and it annoys me to no end. She is quirky though (as Simon put it) and will stand out as well. Her range is very good and I do agree that she could be the dark horse (even if she doesn't know what that means).

Lilly Scott - 5-1

Lilly is another atypical contestant. Unfortunately she and several other girls do try to sound too much like Adelle or Duffy I don't get why all these women want to have that warbly weird voice tone that makes them sound a little like Megan Joy from last year. She's the best of the Adelle wannabees though and I think she'll try to experiment with changing song structure more than the others.

Janell Wheeler - 7-1

I think Janell is the best looking contestant out there (Tim Tebow would agree as he dated her) and her voice is actually quite good as well. Her song choice last night was not good as she does not have a very powerful voice (certainly not powerful enough to carry a Heart song). Hopefully she sticks around though.

Kathelyn Epperly - 7-1

Another attractive contestant that also carries a strong voice. I agree with Kara that she looked a little frightening last night in her getup. The fact that she's a life-long singer should help her big time.

Didi Benami - 9-1

Didi came off trying to sound too much like Lilly and Kathelyn last night. She does seem to have a good voice for soft ballad type songs but I doubt she can really rock it out. She'll be safe this week and should improve over time.

Michelle Delamor - 10-1

She is probably the most professional singer in the competition right now. Her stage presence is very good but she seems almost too commercial. She tried to mimic Alicia Keys note for note and I seriously doubt she'll be very creative in her song choices.

Paige Miles - 12-1

Going first is never fun but Paige did OK. The song choice was not great but she had fun with it. She'll make it through the first week but needs a lot of work to go far in this contest.

Ashley Rodriguez - 15-1

Starting to think she'll be too much like a mimic (like Michelle) as well. She does have a really good voice though so if she decides to be more adventurous in her song choices these odds could shrink significantly.

Lacey Brown - 50-1

Worst song choice of the night. Landslide (by Fleetwood Mac) has been done and re-done many times (Dixie Chicks, Smashing Pumpkins, etc...). She didn't bring anything new to the song and the brutal criticism of the judges will probably seal her fate. Look for her to leave the show on Thursday. If she does survive, she could turn this around.

Haeley Vaughn - 100-1

I think the judges have already written her off. She has that goofy perma-smile thing going on and her voice is really strange (and not in a good way). She's too young to really be a threat in this competition and look for her to be amongst the two going home this week. (Spelling her name better might help her cause)

That's it. That's the list. Overall I don't think the talent for the women is as good as Simon and the crew hyped it up to be. I'll try to churn out odds for the men after tonight's performances.

Olympics, Tiger, Syracuse

2010-02-19T15:19:00.004-05:00

Lots of happenings these days in the world of sports. First and foremost, the Olympics are currently under way in Vancouver and if you solely watched on NBC you might think they are only occurring in prime time. The geniuses at NBC (same Einsteins who botched the whole Conan/Leno fiasco) have decided that you should only follow the Olympics at night, despite the fact that most of the events occur during the day.

This type of tape-delay programming could fly in previous Olympics when the world was not immersed in the Facebooking and Twitterdom of society. With so much real-time exposure to news in 2010, it makes absolutely no sense to air flagship events like Downhill Skiing and Snowboard Cross hours after they take place. I understand that NBC can get a larger audience at night and that's all well and good. Why not air the events twice, live during the day and a recap at night. Even when the events do air at night they are cut down and condensed. We only saw 5 or 6 runs of the Men's Downhill for example. The 500 M Speed Skating final (the 100 yard dash of the winter games) was delayed for an hour due to ice issues so instead of NBC showing the event live as planned, they instead pushed it back to late night (after the local news) and showed a feel-good profile of polar bears during the live event. I was able to watch the event online through a bootleg stream from the BBC, but most everyone else never saw the event.

Other networks like CTV in Canada and the BBC are showing these events live. Aren't we supposed to be the pioneers of television broadcasting? NBC has really turned into a dilapidated shell of a television network. I'm wondering if Fox would have done a better job of covering these Olympics. On a positive note, the official Vancouver Olympic website does an excellent job of providing real-time scoring updates and comprehensive Olympic coverage. Us American Olympic aficionados are forced to watch live scoring and statistics rather than live video. At least Vancouver2010.com makes the experience somewhat pleasant.

On to Tiger Woods and his well-orchestrated 13-minute apology that he gave today in Florida. He seemed pretty robotic up there to me and somewhat sincere but all-in-all I don't really care about his private life. I just want to see him teeing it up in a few months at Augusta. Tiger claims that he "may" come back and play golf in 2010 but he was very vague in discussing his golfing future. If he misses the Masters I will be disappointed. His transgressions are his own business and affect his family directly. His absence from the Masters and other majors in 2010 affects my enjoyment of those events and that is the only real personal connection I have with the Tiger Woods saga. No matter what you think of him as a person, he is still the greatest golfer of all-time and intriguing to watch.

Finally in keeping with the sports theme of this post, I had the pleasure of attending the Syracuse / Georgetown basketball game last night at Verizon Center. The Orange are playing out of their mind this season and have a realistic chance at holding down a #1 season in the NCAA Tournament next month. It's been a wild ride and I had high hopes going into the game last night. Watching with some of my Syraucse buddies (and my brother), the Cuse charged to a 23-point lead at one time only to have the Hoyas storm back to trail by only 1 point late in the game. Syracuse managed to survive in the end and won by four points (they ended up leading the entire game). We all went to the Greene Turtle to celebrate with other Orange fans. At 25-2, this is the best team I've ever seen at Syracuse. I'm hoping these close games will help us develop some resolve come tournament time.

Out of the Freeze

2010-02-12T07:34:00.005-05:00

And on the 5th day they went back to work and school. I feel like I've been on an early Spring Break, all be it one where I am stuck at home the whole time. Thanks to unprecedented snow totals over the last week and terrible neighborhood plowing efforts, today is the 2nd day I've been at work since February 4th. When the storm of the millennium was forecasted for last Friday into Saturday (AKA the Alex Rose birthday storm) and I decided to stay home, little did I know that I wouldn't be back to work until Tuesday, followed by an additional two days at home.

Now I'm not saying that I don't like to spend time with my family, it's just that getting work done is not very easy with two energetic boys running back and forth between the living room and kitchen 3 to 4 hours a day. Thankfully we managed to get Josh more interested in Wii Fit Plus so he could expend some of his energy in a more constructive manner. By now, you've probably seen countless pictures of people's snow accumulation at home. I'm throwing my own few shots into the mix which you can check out at the end of this post. Bottom line is that I feel like I'm 14 years younger and back living on South Campus up in Syracuse. This is sort of appropriate considering the Orange basketball team is off to their best start in school history (24-1, ranked #2 in the nation). As a snow lover myself, I'd never thought it would actually get to the point where I'd like to see a break from snow for now.

So finally, today the kids are going back to school (DC schools have been closed since February 5th and even though they are closed today, Josh and Alex's school is thankfully open). Josh can't wait to get back to school while I'm sure Alex won't enjoy the return. I don't know if the kids will ever get 5 consecutive days off from school again in this area. It's too bad for Josh because I know he'd appreciate the time off more when he's older and isn't as enthusiastic about being at school. I know when I was 7-10 years old that I really enjoyed the rare snow days that came our way.

For those of you who forgot (and believe me, this event is not getting enough pub), the Winter Olympics commence tonight in Vancouver with the opening ceremonies. I am running the Olympic office pool at work and am looking forward to watching some of the games on NBC, especially the Men's Downhill tomorrow night (watch out for Bode Miller). I may be in the minority on this, but I love me some Olympics (Summer or Winter).

Pretty sure we won't be grilling anytime soon.

Our deck during Snowmageddon. Looks like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was murdered here.

The Super Bowl is Back On Top

2010-02-08T17:16:00.005-05:00

It took a matchup of two number one seeds that dominated the landscape of the NFL throughout the season, but after 27 years we finally have a new #1 most watched TV show of all-time. The season finale of M*A*S*H in 1983 had been #1 with a total of 105.97 million viewers. Last night's game nudged ahead of that figure with 106.64 million to take the top spot. Viewership of the Super Bowl had been rising at a steady pace over the last 4 years, but this year's jump is the most significant in over a decade. You can attribute a lot of the increase in viewers to the Saints underdog story that captured the interest of non-football fans. It's good to see the Super Bowl back on top of the ratings list (even if there are far more people in the country that would be able to watch TV vs how many there were in 1983).

As for the game itself, I thoroughly enjoyed it as I was one of the few people in the country who thought the Saints would win the game. I wished I put a little more money on it, but winning my playoff fantasy football league (thanks to fielding a team of mostly Saints) was enough of a reward. Drew Brees played a great game, but if I had a vote I would have given the MVP trophy to coach Sean Payton for that great onside kick call to start the 2nd half.

Unfortunately, the commercials during the game mostly stunk and there was no sight of Nannerpuss this year as Dennys resorted to trotting out some un-funny chickens instead.

Oscar, All is Forgiven

2010-02-02T20:50:00.004-05:00

Earlier last year I berated the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for increasing the nominations for Best Picture from 5 to 10. After today's reveal of the 2010 nominations, I actually think the switch was worthwhile after all. The main reason for my approval is that District 9 is a Best Picture nominee. In my blog review of D9, I stated that I would stop watching the Oscars if the Academy did not nominate Neill Blomkamp's masterpiece. Thankfully I don't have to follow through on my threat. In addition to Best Picture, D9 is also up for Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing and Visual Effects (a little independent film by James Cameron will make winning this one impossible).

Unfortunately, Sharlto Copely was not nominated for Best Actor (also snubbed was Moon's Sam Rockwell). Another bit of personal good news is that I've already seen 6 of the 10 nominated movies. Each year I make a point of it to take in all 5 (now 10) Best Picture nominees. With four left to go in just over a month, it doesn't seem as daunting a task as I thought it would be when the nominee switch was announced. All I know is that Precious will be the last of the nominees I watch. (Still need to see The Blind Side, A Serious Man and An Education). Of the movies I have seen that are nominated, I have to say that The Hurt Locker is the worst of the bunch. I know that's everyone's underdog favorite to steal gold from Avatar, but I just didn't think it did anything revolutionary that HBO's Generation Kill hadn't already done.

For the full official list of this year's nominees, clicky here. I'll post my picks for the winners in a month.

Damn Nelson Mandela, you smell so good!

2010-01-26T10:17:00.005-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Thought I would throw out a choice offering from the wonderful people at Fail Blog. I gots to get me one of these air fresheners!

Bonus update photo of me and the boys at Alex's first basketball game on Sunday. The kids had fun (in between fighting each other for popcorn and ice cream). Alex even tried to get on Dance Cam towards the end of the game. Too bad the Wizards suck these days as they lost again to the Clippers. Thanks to Nate for the tickets!

Movie Review: Moon

2010-01-21T08:30:00.005-05:00

Moon, an indie sci-fi film by Duncan Jones (David Bowie's spawn) is an excellent space drama set in the not too distant future. Without giving too much away (and there are major plot points that could spoil this movie for you), I'll just state the plot overview. Sam (played by Sam Rockwell) is an employee of the LUNAR corporation and is stationed on the Moon to operate mining equipment that harvests energy from moon rocks. The whole movie focuses on Sam's three-year experience on the Moon and effectively explorers the internal loneliness of someone isolated in space. Sam's only real companionship during this time is in the form of a robot named GERTY (supremely voiced by Kevin Spacey).

The whole atmosphere of the film reminds me of 2001: A Space Odyssey as well as Alien. Jones creates a very realistic glimpse into the future of space travel and does it seamlessly on an astonishing budget of only 5 million. The subtle and slightly creepy score by Clint Mansell is superb. The same soft tones are heard throughout the movie and really add to the overall eeriness of the setting. The word "eerie" is the proper way to describe this movie. I believe I have a soft spot for these types of films that make it seem that something is not quite right. It's not really a scary feeling you get from watching but rather a sense of slight uneasiness. I felt the same way when watching other sci fi classics like Alien, Event Horizon and Sunshine.

The interaction between GERTY and Sam is excellent and Rockwell himself gives an incredible performance. He, along with Sharlto Copely of District 9, will not be nominated for an Oscar. I have no idea how the Academy can overlook these two performances. Perhaps the Oscars need to expand the Best Actor nomination list from 5 to 10 as well.

I can't really explain exactly why Rockwell's performance is so good without revealing too much of the plot. In fact, the LESS you know about Moon before you see it, the better. Trust me and go rent this movie immediately. You will not be disappointed. My only real beef with this movie was the ending. It seemed too abrupt and left several unanswered questions. Moon gets a near-perfect 4.5 out of 5 JR's and enters the Top 5 of my favorite films of 2009 (updated below). Duncan Jones immediately joins Neill Blomkamp as the flag bearers for the future of science fiction film-making.

#1 District 9

#2 Inglourious Basterds

#3 Star Trek

#4 Moon

#5 The Hangover

#6 Avatar

#7 Up In The Air

#8 Adventureland

#9 I Love You Man

#10 Up

Cereal Review: Wheaties Fuel

2010-01-20T07:37:00.004-05:00

Time for my first ever cereal review on this blog. As I was shopping at BJs last night I came across a new cereal offering from Wheaties. As you all well know by now, as soon as I see new packaging I immediately scoop up the product and put it in my cart. I was able to resist the temptation of Chocolate Cheerios but could not stop myself from purchasing Wheaties Fuel.

I've never been a big fan of Wheaties. The bran flakes taste too bland for me to actually seriously consider consuming it on a regular basis. When I got home last night I had a bowl of Fuel and was very pleased with my decision to give it a try. With Peyton Manning looking at me from the box with a pissed-off "this cereal will kick you in the ass" glare, I sampled the puffed rice, oats, granola and flakes that make up Wheaties Fuel. The cereal tastes good, slightly sweet and very crunchy. I guess one would compare it to Kashi but I found it to be more flavorful and satisfying (and probably not nearly as good for you).

The box claims that this formulation of nutrition that Fuel provides will give you the energy boost you need to start your day. I ate mine at night but did manage to stay awake for two hours of 24 after dozing off during the premiere on Sunday night. I'll have to test it out in the morning over the weekend to see if it really does provide an extra boost. If you want a change in your cereal routine, give Wheaties Fuel a try. I can see myself becoming a regular consumer of this brand.

On the Fringe of Mirroring The X-Files

2010-01-15T07:32:00.006-05:00

Fringe on FOX is midway through a solid second season. I don't think we've seen the growth in the overall story arc that I would have liked to have seen by this point in season two, but it still remains one of the best shows on TV. Last night's episode about deformed people in a small NY town that could magically change appearance was very good. As in most episodes, the three leads Olivia, Peter and Walter (played by Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble respectively) carry the story and work very well together as a team.

My biggest criticism of the show right now is that it is becoming more and more like a carbon copy of The X-Files. Now this doesn't bother me too much because The X-Files is my favorite TV show of all-time and why not get more of a good thing? My problem is that I thought Fringe had the potential to be BETTER than The X-Files. The whole ongoing plot involving alternate dimensions, the Observers and Massive Dynamic is what makes this show unique and compelling. Last night I kept feeling that I was watching Mulder and Scully investigate a strange town as they've done several times before on The X-Files. I feel that we've had too many recent standalone episodes that feel too much like the spooky mystery-of-the-week episodes that The X-Files patented.

These standalone eps are well done and entertaining, but I find myself wanting to know more about Nina Myers, William Bell and the overall conspiracy surrounding the earlier works of Walter Bishop. I'm hoping that the writers have been taking it easy over the holidays and are just giving us a break from the meat and potatoes of Fringe. I would love to see season three contain less standalone episodes and focus more on the overall story arc. What makes Lost such a good show is that we don't really see any standalone episodes. Each episodes furthers the global plot and presents answers (sometimes) and questions that the audience craves.

I am so intrigued by the main themes of Fringe that the small episodes that take tangents like last night seem to take away a bit from the overall enjoyment of the show for me. Fringe started off so well this season with Olivia waking from her coma and we had a recent revealing Observer-centric episode. These gems are too few and far between that I'm concerned J.J. Abrams' sci-fi masterpiece will never amount to more than an X-Files clone. Hopefully once Abrams wrings his hands clean of Lost after this final season, he can concentrate more on steering Fringe to a new level that realizes the full potential of the show.

Geographical Taste in Movies

2010-01-12T20:47:00.004-05:00

I came across a very cool Flash application last week that was developed by the New York Times. The app displays Netflix rental data on a heat map to show regional preferences in movie rentals from 2009 data. My first reaction was: Wait, the NY Times is actually developing innovative rich internet applications? Once I took time to mess around with the settings I became impressed with the level of effort put forth by a newspaper website.

You can browse 10 different regions across the country and highlight different zip codes to see what the top movie rentals are in a specific zone. What immediately becomes apparent when looking at the DC map is the regional split in movie taste based on the breakdown of race in the Metro area. While popular movies like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button were rented frequently across the entire area, other movies like Obsessed (with Beyonce) and the Tyler Perry family of movies that target more of an African American audience show rental surges in Prince Georges County and areas of southeast DC. These movies show nearly no rental usage in Northern Virginia or Montgomery County. Alternatively, The Reader (a so-so Oscar nominated film from 2008 with Kate Winslet) was rented primarily in Northern Virginia and the northwest suburbs of Maryland but not in PG County. It's interesting to see how rental preferences can differ greatly in such a small regional sample.

This is a good example of clever developers putting publicly available API feeds to good use. It would be nice to see Netflix adopt this type of geographic rental representation on their own site. Go ahead and play around with the Netflix map yourself at the NY Times site.

Know Your States

2010-01-08T21:15:00.002-05:00

Alex seems to be the quintessential patriotic child. He loves the ol' Stars n' Stripes (get ready for an American Flag themed birthday party in February!?!) and was obsessed with flags in his early 2's. And now he has developed a major interest in the learning the states that make up the USA. He started reading a 50-states book with tabs you can lift up to see the states and now he's obsessed with a magnetic states map he got for Christmas. He can't read but he seems to now know a little more than half of all the states from memory. The video below is evidence enough. I even think he's learned more states than Josh has at this point.

I suppose once he learns all 50 it'll be time for him to learn capitals, or maybe we get him a globe.

The Air Up There

2010-01-04T20:15:00.002-05:00

Today marked the official opening of the new tallest building in the world. The Burj Khalifa stands at an astonishing 2,717 feet tall and completely shatters the previous height record of 1,671 feet (Taipei 101). The building took nearly 6 years to build and is financed with $1.5 billion of the dumb-rich oil money that the big wigs in Dubai possess.

I've always been an admirer of tall buildings and have been to the top of the CN Tower, Empire State Building and Eiffel Tower. I even got a slight rush out of making it to the top of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Every few years it seemed that one country would try to one-up another by building a structure that just barely topped the previous record. Well the bold Dubai businessmen who planned the Burj weren't messing around and wanted to set a record that wouldn't be beaten so easily. This new mega tower is just over 600 feet away from DOUBLING the second tallest building in the world. The pictures posted on sites such as http://www.burjdubaiskyscraper.com/ are simply astonishing to look at.

It's hard to believe that a structure this tall could be engineered properly to withstand wind and other elements. The YouTube video below (in HD) is a first hand look at the top of the tower. The view looking down is completely ridiculous to see. It looks like the whole thing is some CGI creation. Needless to say, I'd love to go visit Dubai sometime (I used to think nothing in that area of the world was worth visiting) and experience the Burj Khalifa in person.

Here's another video of a brave individual sitting at the very top of the tower

The Best Directors in Hollywood

2010-01-03T20:32:00.005-05:00

Continuing my movie-themed posts of late I thought I would finally put down a list I've been mulling for some time now. Most people consider such film directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Wells and Stanley Kubrick to be amongst the best of all time. Since I was born in 1975 I don't have much perspective on the late great directors of the past (although I love several of Hitchcock's films). I'm basing my list of the 11 greatest directors working in Hollywood today on my personal movie-watching experience. I'm skewing the list based on movies I've seen that were released in my lifetime (most of which fall within the last 25 years). I consider the following 11 filmmakers to be the most talented men (sorry, no women made the list) behind the camera. If I was producing a film (as-if) I would start my search for a director based on the following auteurs.

#11 - Neill Blomkamp (District 9) -

I had to add an 11th slot in this list to give props to this young director.

It may be audacious to put someone who has one film under his belt on this list, but District 9 is a game changer and if I could buy stock in Blomkamp right now I would. At 30 years old he has a bright future ahead of him in Hollywood. I recently saw some of the behind-the-scenes footage on the D9 Bluray and Blomkamp seems to understand what it takes to be a successful big-time director in this business.

#10 - M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs) - Night used to be in Blomkamp's position 10 years ago. He had burst onto the scene with The Sixth Sense and I became a huge fan after thoroughly enjoying Unbreakable on the big screen. After Signs, Shyamalan cemented himself in the top spot for me in terms of my favorite directors in Hollywood. Many people hated The Village, but once again I was very impressed by the cinematography and story that Night put forth. Then came back-to-back disasters in Lady in the Water and The Happening. Two terrible films (The Happening may be the worst movie of the last decade) that completely made me lose respect for Shyamalan. I don't know what happened here. Night is still only 39 and has time to right the ship (starting with The Last Airbender in 2010). I'm hoping that somehow he can return to the Night of the early 2000's.

#9 - Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento, Insomnia) - Another 39-year-old, Nolan has only directed five major films thus-far. It just so happens that one of them is The Dark Knight, probably the best comic book movie ever made. Before directing Heath Ledger's amazing performance, Nolan had already gained my respect with the brilliant Memento as well as solid films in Batman Begins and Insomnia. I still need to see his fifth film, The Prestige, and I am already looking forward to his Leo DiCaprio 2010 thriller titled Inception. Nolan does a great job of choosing his films wisely and taking time to ensure he shoots quality finished products.

#8 - Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Magnolia, Boogie Nights) - Anderson (PTA) is yet ANOTHER 39-year-old (1970 is shaping up to be the year of the director) who like Nolan picks and chooses his films carefully. He only directed two major motion pictures in the 2000's with Punch Drunk Love (a very underrated Adam Sandler movie) and There Will Be Blood. I thought TWBB deserved Best Picture in 2007 but I was already a huge fan of PTA before then. His breakthrough hit Boogie Nights was excellent and put him on the map in 1997. He followed that up with my second favorite Anderson film in Magnolia. If you haven't seen Magnolia, give it a rent today. Tom Cruise is awesome in that movie and PTA does a great job of weaving together a variety of great performances from an all-star cast.

#7 - Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino, Unforgiven) - We all knew Clint could act from his Dirty Harry / Western days but I don't think many film aficionados knew Eastwood would turn into such a good director. He broke through as a filmmaker in 1992 with a Best Picture and Best Director award for Unforgiven. After that he churned out a string of mediocre movies but returned to win double Oscar gold again in 2004 with Million Dollar Baby. The performance he got out of Hillary Swank in that film was extraordinary. 2008's Gran Torino shows that Eastwood still has what it takes as he continues to make great movies at age 80. Most people settle for a lifetime achievement award at this age but it looks like Clint wants to go to his grave making motion pictures.

#6 - James Cameron (Aliens, Titanic, Avatar) - If you want to make a throw a gigantic budget at a movie, you best get on the phone and get Jim Cameron to direct it. Cameron's track record at producing epic films with multi millions of dollars is unprecedented. He may soon hold the #1 and #2 spots all-time in worldwide box office grosses with Titanic and Avatar. Both films actually live up to the hype (Titanic more so than Avatar) they were faced with during production. Cameron makes this spot on the list for me as he also directed Aliens (my 2nd favorite movie of all-time). Don't forget about Terminator, Terminator 2, The Abyss and True Lies. Quite a resume. Cameron is a film legend and will get his lifetime achievement award sometime in the next few decades.

#5 - Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong, The Lovely Bones) - OK, let's forget that King Kong kinda sucked, that I haven't seen Lovely Bones and that he hasn't really directed many other quality films. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy is the greatest cinematic achievement in history. For that alone he makes the top five of this list. To come out of nowhere and write, produce and direct three back-to-back-to-back JRR Tolkien movies and to have them released and adored by both fans and critics alike is tremendous. Those three films look and sound so good that I don't really see anyone putting together a trilogy that can match the quality that Jackson and his WETA staff produced. He also gets a boost over Cameron for producing and financing District 9. Hopefully Guillermo Del Toro (would be #12 on this list) can collaborate well with Jackson in directing the upcoming Hobbit movies.

#4 - David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Seven, Fight Club) - I thought Fight Club was pretty good but not the amazing cult classic people make it out to be. Fight Club is not why Fincher makes the upper half of this list. His track record for making unique and interesting films sets him apart from his contemporaries. His first major film was Alien 3, a film I hated so much when I saw it in theaters (as it followed my favorite movie at the time in Aliens). It seemed so amateur and rushed that I wrote off Fincher as a flash in the pan. He more than redeemed himself with Se7en (the dark Brad Pitt / Morgan Freeman / Kevin Spacey thriller) in 1995 and The Game in 1997. The Game (Michael Douglas and Sean Penn) would make my list of the most underrated films of all-time (oh boy another list blog post idea). Jodie Foster's Panic Room was a well-done thriller in 2002 but Fincher's masterpiece turned out to be Benjamin Button in 2008. He worked the plot of that movie so well in building emotion throughout the film. One word you can never use to describe a David Fincher film is "boring."

#3 - Quentin Tarantino - (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds) - You can't really call Tarantino a young director anymore as he's in the upper-end of his forties. You could still call QT a cinematic genius though as a result of his excellent resume of films. Tarantino really might be the best screenwriter in motion picture history. His dialogue in his films is so unique and real that the visuals and effects become secondary. The over-the-top violence and eclectic soundtracks add to his unique style of filmmaking. Pulp Fiction is his masterpiece, but Kill Bill (1 and 2), Reservoir Dogs and the recent Inglourious Basterds are all amazing movies in their own right. For nearly 20 years, Tarantino has been a staple of offbeat and effective filmmaking in Hollywood.

#2 - Martin Scorsese - (Goodfellas, The Departed, Gangs of New York) - I really do need to go back and watch Raging Bull and Taxi Driver again but if you judge Scorsese on his body of work after the 1980's you still have an amazing resume on your hands. Goodfellas is one of the best movies ever made and should have won Best Picture over Dances With Wolves in 1991. Scorsese earned several Oscar nods since then with Casino, Gangs of NY and The Aviator but finally broke through in 2006 with The Departed. The Departed is right up there with Goodfellas as my favorite Scorsese film. Like Eastwood, Martin Scorsese seems to be improving with age. I only wish he would try to work without Leo DiCaprio for a few films. With Shutter Island coming in early 2010, Scorsese will have worked with DiCaprio in four straight movies. While the pairing of the two talents is a good one, I think Martin could use a little more variety to stretch his skills a bit.

#1 - Steven Spielberg - (Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, E.T.) - This is a no-contest. Without a doubt Spielberg is the best director working in Hollywood today. From Jaws in 1975 to Munich in 2005, Spielberg has been the master filmmaker of my generation. We're going to forget all about the Crystal Skull Indiana Jones debacle. I'm convinced that George Lucas had Spielberg doped up on some sort of hallucinogens during the filming of that huge steaming turd of a movie. His old movies (can't believe I'm calling them old now) like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters and E.T. still hold up now after repeated viewings. After making amazing technological leaps with Jurassic Park, he made the best WWII movie in cinematic history with Saving Private Ryan. Still going strong at age 63 he produced a string of well-made films in the 2000's with AI (I was one of the few who loved this movie), Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal and War of the Worlds (great classic science fiction). I only hope that he keeps going as long as Clint Eastwood has. Extra bonus points for sticking with John Williams, the best composer in film history. In my mind, Steven Spielberg is the greatest movie director of ALL-TIME and I don't think I will see a more innovative and groundbreaking director in my lifetime.

Whew... congratulations if you made it through this list. I assume that you must really enjoy movies as well (probably not as much as I do). As Spielberg and the directors I grew up admiring inch closer to retirement, I'm hopeful that the young blood in Blomkamp, PTA, Nolan along with other recent newcomers like Zach Snyder (300) and Jason Reitman (Up In The Air, Juno) will fill the void.

Did I miss anyone on this list? Are there some who don't deserve to be here? Let the debate begin.

Netflix, You've Won Me Back

2009-12-30T09:48:00.005-05:00

As I posted earlier in the year, I used to be a Netflix subscriber. I was on-board from day one and enjoyed the early days of getting DVD's through the mail. After my kids were born I had to scale back and became a Redbox devotee. Well after receiving a Bluray player from my Mom for Christmas complete with Netflix streaming built-in, I decided to give my old friend one more chance.

So far, so great as I am very happy with my decision to return. I wanted to sign up again to take advantage of Bluray rentals, but in all honesty, the online streaming is what is winning me over. My Samsung player comes integrated with a Netflix button that allows me to view all of the titles I have in my online queue. Netflix now offers both a DVD (Bluray) queue for mail delivery and a Watch Instantly queue. Netflix has an online streaming catalog of thousands of titles from new releases to TV shows. I spent some time up in Jersey over the break downloading a few documentaries I had wanted to see and watched them instantly on my laptop. The buffering time is minimal (a minute for a movie to start-up depending on your connection) and it's easy to fast forward and rewind.

Even better than watching instant movies on my laptop is launching them through the Netflix player on my Samsung Bluray machine. The quality is VERY good and the interface is pretty slick. You can even rate your movie with the player's remote when you're done. A very cool feature is watching TV series on DVD. Rather than waiting for disc 2 of 4 of a television season to arrive in the mail, you can select one of all the episodes of the season instantly. I was able to catch up on some episodes of Man Vs Food that I hadn't watched before.

Unfortunately, not every TV series is available to stream (you CAN get most series through the DVD queue though). I seriously need to start watching The Wire sometime and online streaming would be the best way to do so. Netflix is really pushing their online capabilities and is facing a battle with some of the major studios to keep bringing new content to subscribers. I was considering going with Blockbuster as a rental option (the Samsung player also has Blockbuster Online built-in) but while Blockbuster offers a cheaper monthly rate ($8.99 for Bluray rentals instaed of $10.99 for Netflix), the Blockbuster online On Demand service is a pay-per-view model with movies costing $1.99 each to stream online. Netflix gives me their ENTIRE catalog for FREE (bundled with my base monthly charge of $10.99). Blockbuster really can't compete with this service.

Add the amazing streaming capabilities of Netflix to the lightning quick next-day Bluray disc processing through the mail and you have a perfect situation for someone who is just getting into the realm of Bluray. It's good to see my old friend Netflix again and it's great to see that the company seems to be better than ever.

Winter Break is Over for the Rose Boys

2009-12-29T16:44:00.004-05:00

We survived the 4 hour plus jaunt home from Jersey to Springfield yesterday (the highlight being the 20 straight minutes that Alex and Rebecca spent screaming and crying at the end of the trip). We all had a great Christmas up North and it was good to get away for a while. Now that we're trying to get used to normal life (IE. not lounging around the Gecik house all day), the kids need to go back to school (daycare for Alex). Despite Josh's random fever and slight sickness (which Motrin helped quell), the two got in my car this morning for the return to normalcy.

I fully expected Alex to have a major meltdown in returning to school for the first time in 12 days. He normally puts up a minor fight in being dropped off at school (it's been getting better and better though). When I was about to leave him today I could see him getting ready to start bawling as usual, but to the rescue came his classmate Sam W. (Alex has three Sams in his class so he's known as Sam W.) Sam ran up to Alex screaming "ALLLLEEEXX!!!" and gave him a big bear hug. Alex immediately started to smile and went off with Sam to do the arts and crafts activity that the other kids were doing. Alex's teacher Ms. Minnie said to me "well that's one way to keep from from crying in the morning." I agreed and hurriedly left the classroom, as we passed the room from the other side, Josh and I peeked in and saw Alex having fun without any morning tears.

It's good to see that Alex is making friends at his new school and hopefully he can eventually get into a cry-free routine in the morning. Josh was excited to go to school but a little disappointed to see that only two other kids (both girls) would be in school this week as the Kindergarten roster is severely cut for the holidays. Needless to say, both girls adore Josh and he'll be the big man at Kindergarten this abbreviated week.

The Best Films of 2009 / Review: Up In The Air

2009-12-26T20:36:00.005-05:00

I'd like to preface this year's list of my favorite films of 2009 by stating that I barely saw more than 10 movies altogether. Junk like Paranormal Activity and Bruno did not make the list, but my #10 movie was not very memorable for me at all. I do think it was a down year for movies overall but I just didn't have as much time (I'll call this the Becca factor) as in previous years to watch movies. Now that I have a Bluray player from my Mom, I plan on starting up the old Netflix queue again and will try to cut back on TV shows I follow to get in more movies watched in 2010. (I know I badmouthed Netflix a few months ago, but with the temptation of Bluray, I can't settle for low-def DVDs from Redbox anymore)

Without further ado, here is my personal 10-best for this year in reverse order as usual. This list may change (and I may end up revising my post) after I see some of the Oscar contenders over the next few months. These are all movies I have personally seen. Those of you who see holes in this list, keep in mind there are several critical faves that I haven't seen yet.

#10 - State Of Play - This flew under the radar all year and Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck weren't enough to drive the box office gross for this political thriller. It's a shame more people didn't see it as all who were involved gave great performances (including Rachel McAdams and Helen Mirren). The entire movie is set in DC so it was even more appealing for me. I thought Affleck's performance may be the career rejuvenating role he needed. We'll see.

#9 - Up - Pixar's yearly offering once again makes my top 10 but just barely. Up is not "up" to par compared with the preceding Pixar classics like Wall-E, Ratatouille and Cars. The visuals are phenomenal but the great story of the first act unravels into a ludicrous and wacky chase movie in the second half. Still better than all other animated movies this year.

#8 - I Love You Man - My bromance with Paul Rudd continues in this above average comedy. Jason Siegel and Rudd play off each other well as they develop their own bromance on-screen. I feel as if I have to go see every movie Paul Rudd is in just on principle.

#7 - Adventureland - My financial advisor hates this film but I thought it was one of the freshest and most realistic takes on the 1980's I've ever seen. From the spot-on soundtrack to the hairstyles and clothing, this is the 80's I remember. The acting is great all around and the story is both touching and humorous throughout. Read my review if you want to know more and please add this to your Netflix queue immediately.

#6 - Up In The Air - I just saw this movie earlier today so I'll post my full review in this spot on the list.

Jason Reitman does a fantastic job of depicting the modern road warrior in the monotonous world of air travel. George Clooney is a solid lock to win Best Actor with his performance as Ryan Bingham, a frequent flier who works for a corporation that send out their workforce to fire employees for other companies. Both Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick play off of Clooney in supporting roles as his love interest and co-worker respectively.

The interplay of all the characters throughout the film is very engaging and Reitman worked in some witty dialogue into a smart screenplay. All the pieces come together to form one of the year's best movies that seems to fall apart slightly at the end. While I do like that the ending is a bit ambiguous, the main plot twist towards the end is a gut shot that the audience never gets a chance to recover from.

Many critics are putting Up In The Air at the top of their year-end lists but I just don't think it's THAT good of a film. It's on-par with Reitman's last effort (Juno) and he does have a real shot at winning Best Director this year, thrusting the young director towards the top of the list of great filmmakers working today.

As for Best Picture, it's still the odds-on favorite right now but similar to Slumdog Millionaire last year, I think there are other more deserving films that are being overlooked. All in all, I give Up In The Air 4 out of 5 JRs. This is THE role that Clooney was born to play. Anyone who has experienced the grind of work travel will appreciate this even more.

#5 - Avatar - The more time that passes since I saw this movie, the more I think I may have underrated it. I really need to see this again in 3D sometime (and not at Midnight) to fully appreciate the technical and artistic achievement. This movie earns this spot on the list primarily because of the visual spectacle it is. EVERYONE needs to see Avatar in the theaters and in 3D. If you miss it and attempt to rent it on Bluray or *gasp* DVD (I'm already a snob), you're not experiencing James Cameron's full vision. I hope the Academy nominates this movie for Best Picture.

#4 - The Hangover - Hands down the funniest film of 2009. The sleeper comedic hit took audiences by storm and I managed to finally see it on video a few weeks ago. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis play off each other so well that you really believe the predicament they put themselves in during their Vegas romp. It's not surprising that a sequel has already been green lit. This is right up there with Oceans Eleven as the quintessential Las Vegas movie.

#3 - Star Trek - The master entertainer of the past decade managed to make an aging franchise fun and hip again. The reboot of Star Trek surpassed all expectations and is by-far my favorite Star Trek film overall. The casting of Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock may be the best Hollywood production decision of the millennium (take a minute and think about this statement and try to find an argument against it). The entire crew seems to be having fun throughout the movie and the pacing and action is good enough to make Star Trek THE action film of the year, completely trumping overblown disasters like Transformers 2.

#2 - Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino gives us the best dialogue of the year in this atypical WWII movie. Over-the-top violence combined with numerous funny exchanges help pepper the well-written script that sets into motion a series of events centered on the Basterds and their Jew-killing goals. Brad Pitt in the lead role is hilarious and the rest of the talented cast pitch in with solid performances (led by Best Supporting Actor front-runner Christoph Waltz). Any Tarantino fan (or just a fan of witty dialogue) should rent this immediately.

#1 - District 9 - The only 5-JR film of 2009 (only Benjamin Button in 2008 has also received a 5 rating) is a refreshing NEW concept in Science Fiction. The story of a group of refugee aliens living in Johannesburg, South Africa and infiltrated by a government organization is gripping from start to finish. Weta Digital and their technical wizards help make CGI characters seem real and allow them to be integral pieces of the plot. The documentary style look of the film adds to the realism and lifts Neil Blomkamp's masterpiece to the upper echelon of Sci Fi classics. I've begged and pleaded on this blog for you to see this movie. There's nothing more I can do. By a wide margin, this is the Best Picture of 2009 (and holding strong at #97 all-time at IMDB). A film I fear the Academy will completely ignore.

DVD Review: Inglourious Basterds

2009-12-23T08:17:00.005-05:00

Only Quentin Tarantino could take such a grizzly topic as the extermination of Jews in Nazi-occupied France during WWII and turn it into one of the funniest films of the year with a feel-good ending. Inglourious Basterds follows a group of American soldiers (the titular Basterds) led by Lt. Aldo Raine (played with a Tennessee drawl by the underrated Brad Pitt) who storm through the Third Reich, killing as many Nazis as possible. Pitt's character demands that his men get him 100 Nazi scalps each. The scalping process and other bursts of violence are classic Tarantino. If you've seen any of his earlier films (especially Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction), you'll know what to expect in the violence department.

What Tarantino adds to his trademark gore and over-the-top violence is a good dose of humor throughout. Christoph Waltz (portraying the main Nazi rival officer), Eli Roth (the director of Hostel and Cabin Fever) and Diane Kruger chip in to keep the film as light as a WWII movie could be. The film clocks in at just over 2.5 hours but the length gives Tarantino a chance to fully flesh out his scenes and utilize his talent for writing witty and engaging dialogue. The key scenes of the movie are played out in long takes that allow the main characters to interact and set up the scenes' climaxes well. In classic Tarantino style, the narrative is split throughout as the story passes between different moments in time and inter-connects amongst the key players of the film. The timeline allows Tarantino to explore a central story from multiple angles and the screenplay is extremely well written from top to bottom.

Tarantino gets some great performances out of his actors. Pitt is hilarious all the way through and turns in a funnier performance than Burn After Reading (especially nailing the scene near the end where he needs to go undercover as an Italian filmmaker). Weitz comes out of nowhere as a sharp adversary to the Basterds. His clever manner of interrogation and sleuthing as a Nazi officer dominates the scenes he's in.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The opening half hour or so is very slow and I do think QT could have made a few cuts to get this thing closer to two hours. That being said, this is one of the best films of the year and earns 4.5 out of 5 JRs. Weitz will deservedly be nominated for Best Supporting Actor and I wouldn't mind seeing Tarantino earn another directing nod. This is probably his best work overall since Pulp Fiction. It's good to see a young director stay relevant and consistent through his career unlike what we've seen happen to a certain Sixth Sense director. The story in Basterds is far more engaging than what I just saw in Avatar. Perhaps James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino could collaborate on a 3D sci-fi adventure that might possibly become the greatest film ever made.

Review: Avatar

2009-12-18T21:06:00.008-05:00

Halfway through James Cameron's 300 million dollar opus Avatar, two of the major questions I had coming into the film were answered for me.

1. This film was going to indeed be a groundbreaking achievement

2. The story was not doing it for me and I was not feeling very attached at all to the main characters.

There was a lot of hype put into the buildup for this one. I am a huge James Cameron fan (Aliens is my 2nd favorite movie of all-time) and I'd put him on my top 5 list of film directors living today (look for my full top 10 list over the holidays). The first trailer threw me for a loop. I didn't expect the aliens in the movie to look like tall blue fawns with tails. Something about it all didn't seem right. Then I saw the second full trailer a month later. The full spectacle of that trailer left me wanting more and I no longer was affected by the blue creatures (the alien race called the Na'vi in the film). Then the early reviews came and the majority of them were VERY positive. I decided to see the movie as soon as possible, viewing it at 12:01 AM this morning with my friends Jono and Omar.

Overall I'd have to say the midnight screening and the theater experience was worth it. Avatar is an epic film that needs to be seen on the big screen and ONLY in 3D. The sheer depth and detail in the CGI and 3D visuals is literally mind-blowing. My brain and optical nerves hurt a bit on the drive home after the end credits. Cameron sucks you into the crazy world he has imagined and immerses your senses making you feel as if you really are on Pandora (the fictional planet the film takes place on). The characters are really secondary to the spectacle of the alien world. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana (who now stars in two of the best movies of 2009 - Star Trek being the other) and Sigourney Weaver are all game and give respectable performances but as a viewer, you simply find yourself gazing at the visual body of work put forth by the gods of cinema at Weta Digital. In my review of District 9 (the front runner for the JR Best Picture award of 2009), I mentioned how Weta has completely raised the bar in the visual effects department for all movies. With Avatar they set that bar even higher and manage to make a 3D-phobe (I'm not a big fan of the gimmick) actually enjoy and appreciate 3D technology. Weta makes a fictional planet come to life with a translucent gamma of color and imagery. The 3D is done very subtly too and does not fall victim to the tried and true technique of throwing objects out from the screen at the viewer for the shear shock value of doing so.

Is the film too long? Yes (I had slight moments of nodding off a bit around 2 AM despite downing a 5 Hour Energy). Have elements of the script been borrowed from other films? Sure. Are there cheesy moments throughout the "love story?" You bet. But all of that shouldn't detract from the technical achievement here. I recommend this to everyone who enjoys going to the movies in the theater.

This movie must be seen in 3D and the hook that the industry is going to love (until 3D TVs are mass produced) is that you HAVE to go out to your local theater to experience this type of movie in an optimal environment. Simply waiting for the DVD or Bluray will not cut it. This is not a perfect film and thus I have to give it 4 out of 5 JRs. Star Trek did not have the same whiz-bang effects but did have a very solid and engaging plot that puts it a notch above Avatar.

The mass amount of money that Cameron put into this film is actually justified in my book. He really did take movie making to a whole new level. Hopefully with the right screenplay he (or another capable director) can build upon this technical foundation that Weta Digital has provided and produce some awe inspiring motion pictures in the future. The sky really is the limit now in cinema and even though Avatar has some major flaws, James Cameron has done his job in changing the game once again.

One Year Anniversary

2009-12-18T09:14:00.005-05:00

NOTE: I saw Avatar last night. Look for a full review post later tonight.

It was a cold day in Mclean, VA exactly one year ago today when I started this blog. Looking back on my early weeks of posting I would post 2-3 posts a day in a flurry of activity. Since Rebecca was born and my job became more demanding, things have slowed down considerably. I still very much enjoy having this avenue to be able to write on a regular basis and keep a running journal of my life in the process. 248 posts in and I still enjoy firing up a new one.

I know I have some loyal readers but I feel my overall reader base has shrunk over the past year. I suppose this is chiefly because my blog is too broad in subject matter. I don't focus on a specific them like some others blogs I follow.

A year into the blog, I'd like to ask my readers what they'd like to see more/less of from Blog! There it is...? I'm not saying I'll actually change to meet their requests but I am interested in hearing whether people are still following as closely as they used to in the beginning.

For those interested, here is a link back to my first post (which covers snow in Vegas, ahead of the snowstorm we're about to have in NOVA a year later).