The 2010 Gorsline Awards

Welcome all to the 2010 edition of the Gorsline Awards, where I pick my favorites across all of pop culture. All the awards are solely based on my own opinion and are only based on what I have seen. So, if you disagree, that's fine, feel free to comment. I love to talk about all of this stuff or else I wouldn't be doing this.

MUSIC

I'll be honest, music isn't really my thing. I enjoy music but I'm not a big follower. For me the highlight of the year was listening to the entire Beatles library, my favorite album was Revolver. I also listen to new music and below are the three songs I enjoyed most this year:

"Animal" by Neon Trees
"F$%@ You" by Cee-Lo
"Magic" by B.o.B. and Rivers Cuomo

COMICS

Unfortunately this is a slowly dying medium, fewer people read comics every year even though the characters and stories are huge on the silver screen no one wants to make the leap to the printed page. The industry needs to convert to digital and they need to do it yesterday. Fortunately, the industry has not suffered creatively.

Favorite Superhero Comic

From Marvel: Ultimate Spider-Man - For a line that appeared to be dead, Brian Bendis has re-energized this title to make it one of my favorite reads every month.

From DC: The Flash - I was incredibly surprised at how much I enjoy this book since prior to this year the Flash was one of my least favorite characters, but I love the ride Geoff Johns has been taking us on.

From the Other Guys: Invincible - True this is the only Independent "Super-Hero" comic that I read but it is a terrific read.

Favorite Non-Superhero Comic

This is easy. "Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour." I know a lot of people were not thrilled with the ending to this epic story, but I loved it and thought it was perfect. The series proved that comics are still a reliable medium for telling stories full of emotion and humour.

VIDEO GAMES

This year I have started a GameFly subscription and I have loved it. It's let me play games that I normally wouldn't get the chance to play and this year I got to play several of the big releases of the year and my favorite was Mass Effect 2. It has great gameplay and a terrific story. If you have a system that you can play it on, grab it and play it before Mass Effect 3 comes out next year.

TELEVISION

Favorite Comidic Performance by a Female

Amy Poehler as Leslie Knoppe on Parks and Recreation

Favorite Comedic Performance by a Male

Danny Pudi as Abed on Community

Favorite Sitcom

Parks and Recreation - A great show not watched by enough people. It mirrors the Office because the first season wasn't very strong but this past season was comedy gold. I hope it stays around for a long time.

Best Dramatic Performance by a Female

Elizabeth Moss as Peggy on Mad Men

Best Dramatic Performance by a Male

John Hamm as Donald Draper on Mad Men

Best Drama

Mad Men - I love this show. There is no show that rewards its audience by paying attention to the subtleties put into every performance than Mad Men. It is TV perfection

Special Mention - Lost. It is one of my favorite shows of all time and it finally came to an end this year. It may not have been what everyone wanted, but it brought closure to the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 and that is what I really wanted.

Best New Show

The Walking Dead - To be honest so far this TV season has been crap. The Walking Dead isn't perfect and needs some work if it is going to have some legs. But right now it is a really fun ride.

MOVIES

Favorite Female Performance of the Year

Natalie Portman in "Black Swan"

Favorite Male Performance of the Year

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "Inception"

Favorite Movie

"Inception" - It's not a Pixar movie! My favorite movies over the last two years have been Pixar movies. But this year Christopher Nolan's epic picture has taken hold of my mind and won't let go. It is easily my favorite film of the year.

Golden Globe Award Nominations

Last week the Golden Globe nominations were announced. For those that don't know the Golden Globes are given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. A mysterious group that is apparently impossible to get into and no one really knows who is and who isn't in it. The Golden Globes are often considered a precursor to the Oscars and are a much more laid back event. The reason for this is simple. Alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol. Below are the nominations, my thoughts on the nominations and who I think will win for those categories I feel I can comment on.

FILM

BEST PICTURE, DRAMA
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

I've seen all but two of these movies, Inception, Black Swan and The Social Network are all stellar movies and the remaining two look great. I would bet on The Social Network taking home the prize because it is so topical, though I would give it to Inception.

BEST PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist

All I have to say is wow. What a sorry bunch of films. Except for The Kids Are All Right all of these films where panned by critics. None of them interested me enough to make it out to the theater to see them. From what I understand, The Kids Are All Right has this one in the bag.

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David O. Russell, The Fighter

From what I've seen I say that this doesn't go to the Social Network and is a toss up between Nolan for Inception and Aronofsky for Black Swan.

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

Except for Jesse Eisenberg, I haven't seen anyone in this category. He was good, but nothing special. This appears to be Colin Firth's year though.

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Halle Berry, Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Again, I'm not sure I can comment on this as I have only seen Natalie Portman, but if she does win she definitely deserves it.

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp, The Tourist
Paul Giamatti, Barney's Version
Jake Gyllenhaal, Love and Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway, Love and Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone, Easy A

I can't comment on this, but count on Bening winning the awards she has earned many times over in the past.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Michael Douglas, Wall Street 2
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

BEST SCREENPLAY
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David Seidler, The King's Speech
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Inception was a terrific idea, but it will be hard to compete with the sharp witty dialogue that Aaron Sorkin created with The Social Network.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Despicable Me
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Tangled
Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3, Toy Story 3, Toy Story 3. It's Pixar. It would be insane to bet on anyone else.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Biutiful
The Concert
The Edge
I Am Love
In A Better World

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat, The King's Speech
Danny Elfman, Alice in Wonderland
A.R. Rahman, 127 Hours
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network
Hans Zimmer, Inception

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Bound to You," Burlesque
"Coming Home," Country Strong
"I See the Light," Tangled
"There's A Place For Us," Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader
"You Haven't Seen The Last of Me," Burlesque


TELEVISION


BEST TV SERIES, DRAMA
Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
The Walking Dead

I am thrilled that both Mad Men and The Walking Dead were nominated. However, I am a little disappointed that Breaking Bad wasn't included. I'm also disappointed that Lost didn't get a little bit of love (it was still in contention). My guess is that either The Walking Dead or Boardwalk Empire take the award. The Globes love to honor the newbies and those are the hottest new shows of the season.

BEST TV SERIES, COMEDY
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
The Big C
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie

Ugh, the only reason 30 Rock was nominated was because this season focuses on a character attempting to win a Golden Globe. Since the HFPA loves themselves, it was nominated. I've tried watching The Big Bang Theory and I just don't find it funny, I actually find it a little offensive to the geek kind. Glee is okay and it still has that new show smell. I find it to be a crime that neither Community nor Parks and Recreation are nominated. However, both of them would have lost to the brilliant Modern Family. I would be surprised if Modern Family didn't win.

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House

My favorites are here so no complaints. I would bet on Bryan Cranston or Steve Buscemi.

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Julianne Marguiles, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs
Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

The only one I can comment on is Elisabeth Moss. If she wins she will have easily earned it.

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matthew Morrison, Glee
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

What a disappointing line up. I don't even want to talk about this.

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY
Toni Collette, United States of Tara
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Lea Michele, Glee

See my comment for Best Actor Comedy and apply it here. Lea Michele and Tina Fey do not belong here.

BEST MINI-SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Carlos
The Pacific
Pillars of the Earth
Temple Grandin
You Don't Know Jack

BEST ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Idris Elba, Luther
Ian MacShane, Pillars of the Earth
Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack
Dennis Quaid, The Special Relationship
Edgar Ramirez, Carlos

BEST ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Hayley Atwell, Pillars of the Earth
Claire Danes, Temle Grandin
Judi Dench, Return to Cranford
Romola Garai, Emma
Jennier Love Hewitt, The Client List

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Scott Caan, Hawaii Five-O
Chris Colfer, Glee
Chris Noth, The Good Wife
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
David Strathairn, Temple Grandin

While I don't think he necessarily deserves it. It's will be the trendy choice to pick Chris Colfer.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Hope Davis, The Special Relationship
Jane Lynch, Glee
Kelly McDonald, Boardwalk Empire
Julia Stiles, Dexter
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

The Golden Globes are January 16th at 8p.m. I'll be watching and I'll be back here with my analysis.

Black Swan - Movie Review

It's December, which means that the Oscar movie season has officially begun. Most major studios wait until now to release their Oscar contending movies to a nationwide audience. The reason for this is simple, the fresher a movie is, the easier it will be to get votes for it. Released this weekend to national theaters was the film, "Black Swan."

The film focuses on a young ballet dancer who has been chosen to play the Swan Queen in a new production of "Swan Lake." If your like me, there is a good chance that you don't know the story of "Swan Lake." Fortunately, the movie takes a minute to explain the plot to those of us unfamiliar with the world of ballet. The Swan Queen must play the innocent white swan and the dark and sinister black swan. The dancer chosen to play the Swan Queen, portrayed by Natalie Portman, is portrayed as having perfect technique and is a great white swan, but cannot properly portray the black swan and has to get in touch with her inner bad girl.

Sounds like a simple enough premise with the opportunity for some great character development. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. The movie is a dark and raw journey about a dancer who has some serious mental health problems. The journey that she undertakes is incredibly unnerving and uncomfortable. At the end of the film I left not sure about what I just saw, but knowing that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The film was shot in a grainy shaky style, which the director, Darren Aronofsky, exploited to it's fullest extent to keep the audience guessing about what was happening. The film is full of little clues that give you an idea as to what might be happening and at the same time it put me on the edge of my seat for most of the movie. Not being a fan of ballet, I was releaved that the dance scenes where filled with enough dynamic shots and the sequences did not take away anything from the movie, a difficult task to accomplish.

Being a film that focuses on the journey of one character means that the actor playing the part has to be committed to it and able to pull off the part. And Natlie Portman pulls it off brilliantly. First portraying someone that has hard time being able to let go and be the black swan, and then finally taking that turn and becoming the black swan. She pulls it off perfectly. It is also nice to see Mila Kunis have a chance at portraying a role with some meat to it. I've always felt that she had more in her than she had been allowed to show and it was nice to be proven right.

"Black Swan" is not your typical character drama, it is a psychological thriller that will have you thinking about what you just watched. I left the theater feeling like I was on a roller coaster that hadn't reached a full stop before I got off. Once my mind was able to catch up, I realized that I had loved the ride I was just on. It gets 5 out of 5 stars.

You Can't Take it With You - The Oscar Project Part XI

Finally, the Oscar Project continues. I realize I have been away for a while but I am determined to continue this mission no matter what. This week you can look forward to my take on the Golden Globe nominations, my review of "Black Swan" and my year end pop culture awards. But first the Oscar project continues with the Frank Capra classic "You Can't Take it With You."

The plot focuses on two families. One that is centered on being wealthy and another that centers around being happy. Since the movie is a comedy, when the two families come together, hilarity ensues. In the film, the Kirby family head, Anthony, played by Edward Arnold, is attempting to purchase the house of the Sycamore family so that he can have a monopoly over an entire city block. The Sycamore family is made up of anyone who wants to live there and wants to be a free spirit. The only one that would be considered "normal" is the daughter Alice, played by Jean Arthur, who falls in love with the son of Anthony, Tony Kirby, played by James Stewart. Over the course of the movie several misunderstandings occur between the two families and by the end the Kirby's have learned that it's more important to be happy with what you do then to be rich.

The film represents Frank Capra's third Oscar for Best Director in a period of 5 years. This is hardly a surprise as Capra was a master at telling stories that make people realize that they can be happy without a lot of money. A theme that would be very popular during the great depression. He is a terrific director and this movie shows it. He crafts shots in such a way so that just by looking at the screen, without any characters, the audience knows the type of family that they are dealing with.

It also helps that the movie is full of powerhouse actors that are all capable of handling a wide range of emotions. Jean Arthur and Jimmy Stewart portray a young couple in love perfectly and then when Stewart has to let go and be a free spirit he takes it to another level perfectly. Later in the film the two have to portray even more emotion when they are split apart. While this story occurs we also get the insanity of the Sycamore family, led by Lionel Barrymore who plays one of the sweetest old grandfathers ever and is a comic genius.

Overall this is a great feel good movie, and while it doesn't really have anything to do with Christmas, if you are looking for a feel good movie and you are tired of "It's a Wonderful Life" you can't go wrong here. It gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Life of Emile Zola - The Oscar Project Part X

The 1937 movie "The Life of Emile Zola" was the 10th movie to win the best picture Oscar. The film, as the title suggests, is a partial biography of Emile Zola. It focuses on his life from when he started as a writer, to his case against the French government and finally his death. It is a story about fighting for what is right, regardless of the price that you may pay. The story focuses heavily on the case between Emile and the French military. While this case brings the most drama to the movie it would have been nice to see some of Zola's hardships before he became an author. This just isn't focused on enough in the movie.

From an acting stand point, the movie is no slouch. All of the actors put in a great performance, with Paul Muni as Emile Zola leading the pack. With much of the movie surrounding his trial, it was really a courtroom drama, something that I typically enjoy. While it isn't as gripping as the dramas of today, it was still a fun watch due to the acting performances.

Overall, there wasn't much to analyze in this movie. It was a good story and put together well but at the end the, movie didn't really stay with me. For this reason it gets 3 out of 5 stars.

With this being the 10th movie I thought now would be a good time to rank the movies based on what I thought about them. So here is my list of the first 10 in the reverse order that I enjoyed them.

10. The Broadway Melody of 1929
9. The Great Ziegfeld
8. Wings
7. The Life of Emile Zola
6. Grand Hotel
5. Cimmaron
4. Cavalcade
3. It Happened One Night
2. All Quiet on the Western Front
1. Mutiny on the Bounty

The Social Network - Movie Review

Finally, the long summer is over! Movie lovers can return to the theater. We can see drama, sharp dialogue and character development. Fall is here and with it comes the Oscar season. The year has had a few gems so far, but the next three months will bring the movies we will be talking about next January when the Oscar nominations are announced. The first movie of this season is "The Social Network."

The movie tells the story of the creation and development of Facebook. The movie is actually based on the book "The Accidental Billionaires." The story is told via two depositions that are occuring during the same time period and focusing on who invented Facebook. The story is incredibly interesting, most likely because the movie covers a very current topic. The only issue with the story is that it feels unfinished. This is because the saga of Facebook is unfinished, the site is still changing and constantly makes headlines with privacy issues.

The script was written by Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing,"SportsNight") and it shows. Anyone familiar with anything he has written can expect the same thing here. Fortunately, his writing has yet to show signs of aging is still sharp and crisp. I am sure that after additional viewing I will be quoting this film as often as possible. The cast is more than capable of handling Sorkin's script. Jessie Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield (the next Spiderman) and Justin Timberlake all play their roles to perfection. Eisenberg shows some amazing talent here. He reminds me of Michael Cera but with depth and the ability to play more then one type of character.

The movie was directed by David Fincher ("Seven", "Fight Club"). However he really didn't have much to work with. The direction was solid but there was nothing really spectacular about it. Looking back at it, I can't think of any standout scene or sequence. However, there was no scene that felt awkward or out of place, an achievement on its own.

Overall it's a great movie, it's only real flaw is that the story ends up being light on any real drama. The movie is incredibly well made and for that reason it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Great Ziegfeld - The Oscar Project Part IX

Released in 1936, "The Great Ziegfeld" tells a fictionalized version of the life of Florenz Ziegfeld. A person I have some familiarity with due to my background in the community theater. In fact I've even played the voice of Ziegfeld in "The Will Rogers Follies." The movie stars William Powell and features music by Walter Donaldson and Irvin Berlin. This adds some authenticity to the movie music as Berlin's music was part of the original Ziegfeld Follies.

The film itself was large in scope and short on actual substance, like many of Ziegfeld's most famous productions. The movie consisted of Ziegfeld being down and out, just to bounce back bigger and more successful then ever. After the third time this happens the movie becomes too predictable. However, since it is about the life of Ziegfeld there is not much that the script writers could do about that.

This leaves the main appeal of the movie to be in the singing and dancing numbers. Fortunately, these are much better then those found in "The Broadway Melody." The numbers made me feel as though I was watching numbers that could be truly labeled as Ziegfeldian. Since the rest of the movie had a sub par plot and no acting that really stood out, the singing and dancing was the only noteworthy part of the movie.

While the singing and dancing was great, it is dated. If you enjoy watching the pageantry of the theater of old than this movie has something for you. If not this probably isn't worth your time. It gets 2 out of 5 stars.

Just Say No to the 3rd Dimension

America was built on progress. We invent, we discover, we innovate. Our economy is based on new ideas being brought forward and we as a country, embracing it. This process creates new jobs, changes our quality of life and gives us a new way of thinking. Unfortunately, this process is not always perfect. In several instances the changes don't work and they are rejected. Nowhere is this more true then in technology and more specifically entertainment technology. There are landfills filled with abandoned technology like betamax, zip discs and mini discs. Technology that may have made our lives easier that we as a society have rejected.

With each of these failed technologies there was a push to incorporate them into our lives. Over the past year the entertainment industry has been trying to push one of these down our throats. That technology is 3D films and television. Before I continue, let me stress that 3D has it's place. It can enhance film or television, but we are not ready for it and it is being abused.

Every time I go to the theater now to see the latest big budget feature I have to prepare myself to wear a pair of plastic uncomfortable glasses over the glasses I normally have to wear. I also have to bring extra money for me and my date since the movie theater charges extra so that I can wear these glasses. Glasses, which I am asked not to keep, but to recycle into a box so that they can be cleaned so that someone else can pay money to wear them. Technology is being developed that will allow us to watch 3D without the glasses, is it necessary for us to watch movies in 3D now when we could wait and demand that we have 3D when 3D is ready?

This isn't the only area were we are being forced to accept 3D as the norm though. Over the past year, television manufacturers have been pushing us to buy 3D televisions, when many of us have just recently upgraded to a new flat screen HDTV. These 3D TV's are currently a waste of money. There are a handful of channels that offer 3D part of the time and as for those movies we watched in the theater do you know how many of those are available in 3D? Two. That's it. And the big 3D movie, "Avatar," you can't even buy it in 3D yet. And when it does come out in 3D the only way you will be able to get it is if you have a Panasonic 3D television. But wait there's more. Those plastic glasses from the movie theaters that we use don't work with 3D televisions, instead you need $100 dollar a pair glasses for your entire family to enjoy the 3D experience. These glasses are not even standardized yet, meaning that if you have two different brands of televisions, the glasses from one television won't work on the other television.

I wish I could say that technology was the only problem, but it isn't. The actual 3D content is also a problem. Except for cartoons and "Avatar" all of the other 3D films released this year have been shot using a 2D camera and then converted to 3D after. This technique is just a scam to get an extra couple of bucks from all the people going to see the movie so that their box office is a little higher. And this practice is increasing over the next year, the Harry Potter films, Green Lantern, Captain America and Thor will all come out in the next year, all were filmed in 2D and all will be converted to 3D. In addition to this, earlier this week George Lucas announced that he will be converting the Star Wars films into 3D. These films weren't meant to be in 3D. But now George is going to milk his cash cow for a little more money.

I'm not anti-3D, I'm very excited about the new 3D Nintendo DS that will be released next year, a 3D system that doesn't require glasses. I just don't think that the movie industry and the television industry is ready to support the move to 3D. There is something that we can do to show them this. Don't buy into it. When you go see a movie that was not shot in 3D, go see it in 2D. Don't buy the 3D television until it's ready and standardized. We as consumers have the ability to control this. Vote with your dollars and say no to the 3rd dimension.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

The first decade of the 20th century will be remembered in movie cinema as the rise of the comic book movie. Big budgets, explosions and special effects drove these movies into the theater were they currently seem to be parked and have no intention of leaving. These movies tend to leave little to the imagination and just rely on the costumes to drive the movies with some slick dialogue. Fortunately, these movies have opened the door for other franchises to be revived and for geek movies to rise and be a dominant force in cinema. It also opened the door for non-superhero comics to get a chance at being made into a movie. Thanks to this we were able to get the movie masterpiece of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."

The movie is based off of the comic series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I've read the comic series and I love it. The book delves into the attitudes of the so-called "slacker" generation and how they deal with relationships. At first this would seem to be a total turn off for any decent comic nerd, but the author peppers in battles, video game references and plenty of humor to create a wonderful experience. The movie is able to capture the essence of the comic series, which should be the aim of every comic movie. The story focuses on the relationship between Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers. Through the story Scott must deal with Ramona's emotional baggage as well as his own. The story has them deal with this by having the characters actually fight their past romances, and it keeps these fights entertaining by having them be portrayed as if they were from a video game. Added to the movie is a ton of smart and witty comedy that gives you plenty to laugh at while the story moves along.

Casting in this movie did a fantastic job. Michael Cera plays the lead and through most of the movie he is playing his typical Michael Cera character, which works for this role. However, he does have to show a little more emotion than normally is required of him and he pulled it off very well. Mary Elizabeth Winstead also did a great job of portraying Ramona as someone you can understand why Scott falls for her, but also realize that she has problems. That is just the tip of the iceberg in this cast. The supporting characters steal the show with Brandon Routh, Chris Evans, Kieran Culkin, Jason Schwartzman and Ellen Wong leading the way. Each of these actors bring the funny to this film and it's great when any of them are on screen.

The director for this movie had to do a lot of work. Fortunately "Shaun of the Dead" director Edgar Wright was able to take the helm and steer this movie in the right direction. Instead of trying to make this movie work in the "real" world, he embraced the goofiness of the comic. That's the only way this movie works, trying to explain everything would have created a ton of needless exposition. By committing to the world of the comic and not surrendering any of that world, the movie worked. Why? Because they captured the essence of a great comic book.

This movie won't be a huge success. After two weeks in the theaters it's only made about 15 million dollars. I do however see this having a long life after the theaters. It will be a movie that I will pop in the DVD when I feel like watching a movie on a Saturday afternoon. It will be on TBS or Comedy Central constantly and I will turn it on every time. I really enjoyed this movie and that is why it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - New Movie Review

The first decade of the 20th century will be remembered in movie cinema as the rise of the comic book movie. Big budgets, explosions and special effects drove these movies into the theater were they currently seem to be parked and have no intention of leaving. These movies tend to leave little to the imagination and just rely on the costumes to drive the movies with some slick dialogue. Fortunately, these movies have opened the door for other franchises to be revived and for geek movies to rise and be a dominant force in cinema. It also opened the door for non-superhero comics to get a chance at being made into a movie. Thanks to this we were able to get the movie masterpiece of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."

The movie is based off of the comic series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I've read the comic series and I love it. The book delves into the attitudes of the so-called "slacker" generation and how they deal with relationships. At first this would seem to be a total turn off for any decent comic nerd, but the author peppers in battles, video game references and plenty of humor to create a wonderful experience. The movie is able to capture the essence of the comic series, which should be the aim of every comic movie. The story focuses on the relationship between Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers. Through the story Scott must deal with Ramona's emotional baggage as well as his own. The story has them deal with this by having the characters actually fight their past romances, and it keeps these fights entertaining by having them be portrayed as if they were from a video game. Added to the movie is a ton of smart and witty comedy that gives you plenty to laugh at while the story moves along.

Casting in this movie did a fantastic job. Michael Cera plays the lead and through most of the movie he is playing his typical Michael Cera character, which works for this role. However, he does have to show a little more emotion than normally is required of him and he pulled it off very well. Mary Elizabeth Winstead also did a great job of portraying Ramona as someone you can understand why Scott falls for her, but also realize that she has problems. That is just the tip of the iceberg in this cast. The supporting characters steal the show with Brandon Routh, Chris Evans, Kieran Culkin, Jason Schwartzman and Ellen Wong leading the way. Each of these actors bring the funny to this film and it's great when any of them are on screen.

The director for this movie had to do a lot of work. Fortunately "Shaun of the Dead" director Edgar Wright was able to take the helm and steer this movie in the right direction. Instead of trying to make this movie work in the "real" world, he embraced the goofiness of the comic. That's the only way this movie works, trying to explain everything would have created a ton of needless exposition. By committing to the world of the comic and not surrendering any of that world, the movie worked. Why? Because they captured the essence of a great comic book.

This movie won't be a huge success. After two weeks in the theaters it's only made about 15 million dollars. I do however see this having a long life after the theaters. It will be a movie that I will pop in the DVD when I feel like watching a movie on a Saturday afternoon. It will be on TBS or Comedy Central constantly and I will turn it on every time. I really enjoyed this movie and that is why it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Mutiny on the Bounty - The Oscar Project Part VIII

Finally the Oscar Project continues!! Part VIII focuses on the 1935 film "Mutiny on the Bounty." It stars Clark Gable as Mr. Christian and Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh. It was directed by Frank Lloyd. Starting this film my only previous exposure to the story was thanks to "The Simpson" spoof done a few years back. The spoof didn't really give away much of the plot since the title takes care of that.

While looking into the history of this movie I learned the fascinating story about which this movie is based. The events depicted in the movie took place near the end of the 18th century. From what I read many of the differences between the movie and the real life events are trivial. The story follows that the H.M.S. Bounty was to travel to Tahiti to transplant Bread Fruit plants to the West Indies. After the ship left Tahiti, the ship crew committed mutiny and overtook it. Captain Bligh and those loyal to him that could fit on the launch boat were set a drift and they miraculously were able to make it to a friendly shore. In the meantime Christian and the mutineers sailed back to Tahiti and then to the island of Pitcairn to hide from a returning British ship. The movie focuses on this being a turning point for the way that sailors were treated by their captain at sea. It was interesting to later learn that several descendants from the voyage of the Bounty are still alive and living on the islands of Tahiti and Pitcairn.

Enough about the history lets take a look at the movie. The scripting of this movie was excellent. It did a very good job of showing why the men needed to commit mutiny and turned Bligh into the villain that he needed to be. Once the mutiny took place it then gave Bligh several chances to show why he was made a captain of a ship and gave him a few redeeming qualities instead of leaving him a villain. I like that this movie included this depth of character. Though a bit more closure on his character would have been welcome. The small bits of humor sprinkled throughout the movie gave welcome relief to how cruel the treatment of the men was portrayed.

Fortunately for the scriptwriter he had some incredible talent reading the lines. Leading the cast was Clark Gable playing the lead mutineer. By placing Gable in the role, he was able to use his ability for reason to show why the crew did not mutiny earlier and allowed the audience to be okay with the mutiny once it happened. He was upstaged I felt however by the performance of Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh. The character could have easily been one note and only portrayed as a villain. However Laughton adds layers. He portrays the wickedness of the character perfectly, but also captures the pride that the character has, his loyalty to the navy and his great skill in being a captain. By the end of the film there is even some sympathy for the character, but the wickedness was portrayed so well that the sympathy that is generated does not take away from the story.

The movie, with it's simple plot, feels like some of the blockbusters of today. While as it is filmed it may not win an Oscar, it feels like one of the tent pole blockbusters that a studio would plan their summer around, and one of the good ones too. If you want to check out an old classic movie but usually aren't into the more "artsy" stories this is for you. I really enjoyed this movie and it gets a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Inception - New Movie Review

When it comes to movies, this year has sucked. Particularly the summer blockbuster season. Until now the only good movie that has been released was Toy Story 3, and if it wasn't for the last 10 minutes of that film I probably would have walked away disappointed. That fortunately changed with the release of Inception. I feel as though I would do the film a disservice if I did not go into plot elements that would spoil the movie. If you were looking for my recommendation on this film let me say that this film isn't for everyone. If you enjoyed films like Memento and Fight Club, you will enjoy this movie. If you don't like thinking during a movie don't go. This movie gets a high recommendation from me and is my favorite movie of the year so far, so go see it and then come back here to read my thoughts.

I want to jump into the meat of the story, but let's start with the acting in this fine film. Leonardo DiCaprio continues to prove he is one of the finest actors of this generation. He is near the point where if he is in a movie I will automatically think about going to see it. Not necessarily for his acting style, but because he is smart about the projects he works on. In this movie he perfectly played the man on the edge. But he is supported by a strong supporting cast. There wasn't a single person that felt as if they were forced in, everyone had their part and played it to perfection. Joseph Gordon Levitt takes another step in what I hope will be his ascent into a high profile acting career. Ellen Page still has work to do to separate herself from Juno, but since I love that character so much it's not an issue yet. Marion Colltiard plays a great creepy femme fatale and everyone else works well together with these four.

However, the acting is nothing compared to the beautiful direction that Christopher Nolan puts on screen. The changing of the world and manipulation of the dream scape was done just perfectly. The zero gravity sequences and the rotating hallways looked fantastic. I've learned since seeing them that it was all done with wires and an actual rotating hallway, not computers and green screens. It helped make these scenes seem so real. The action was easy to follow and didn't overpower the main story but complimented it. The only directing misstep I found was that the van falling for as long as it did. It became a little too much by the end. I realize that this was done in slow motion due to the rules of the world they set up, but by the time it crashed, it became almost comical. Fewer shots of the van or perhaps having it crash a little later in the movie could have helped.

The main draw for me though was the story. The story portrayed an original idea, something that we haven't had in a summer movie for a long time. The idea of going into someones dreams to steal an idea is cool, but then they add the layers. Dreams within dreams, rules for changing the dream world and rules for waking up. All of these things work so well together. A good choice that they made in the movie was to not focus on how they do it, just that they do it and here are the rules. I love this mechanic of not explaining what doesn't need to be explained. When people starting offering reasons for why things work, you get Midichlorians, and no one wants Midichlorians. We also get a great plot that deals with the concept of inception, planting an idea in someones mind. The entire movie felt like a great heist movie, just with a different end goal. I love heist movies, so seeing this new twist on a classic movie style was fantastic.

None of this will be the first thought on your mind as you leave the theater though. It will be focused on the ending. Once the screen goes black you will believe one of two things, the top fell or it kept spinning. Some probably will find this as a cop out, but I appreciate it for what it is. A way of having the movie live on in discussions and work it's way into your mind. Nolan has in fact worked Inception on all of us that have seen the movie by planting the idea in our heads that the entire film may have been a dream. If the top had fallen then the movie is discussed and then forgotten. If the top does not fall, and shows no sign of falling, then we all think it is a dream and we discuss clues that Nolan gave us throughout the movie. But, by putting in that small wobble, Nolan didn't give us an answer and let us debate. It also robbed people like me of saying, "I knew it the whole time." See, throughout the movie I expected a twist so I looked for clues and found many. Never seeing the children faces, the signs within the city not making sense, the nameless villains, the fact that the children did not seem to age, the fact that it was not his original totem, clues like this would have left we with a sense of accomplishment since I caught them during the movie. But, thanks to that little wobble, I am caught in an endless debate over what I think was going to happen.

At the beginning of the film Leo's character says, "What's the most resilient parasite? An idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules." This movie is just like an idea, it's gnawing at my mind and will stay there for a long, long time. For this reason, and many others, it gets 5 out of 5 stars.

Dinner For Schmucks - Advanced Review

While I love a great drama or an emotional comedy that will tug at your heart strings, every once and a while a straight up comedy is needed just for some laughs. This week I was fortunate enough to catch an advanced screening of "Dinner for Schmucks", the new comedy featuring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd. I've liked this duo in their previous team-ups, "Anchorman" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin", so I was hopeful for a movie full of laughs.

Plenty of laughs were found indeed. The movie is full of funny characters that bring a lot of funny to the movie. Most of the sequences hit right on target with the only exception being the return of the crazy girlfriend Darla. Her character was one dimensional and just not funny. Fortunately, she is only in two scenes and is gone quickly. The other characters are hilarious with Steve Carell leading the way. He has made a career out of playing the idiot with the heart and if you find him funny in that type of role you will find him funny in that movie. He doesn't get all the laughs however, a Russell Brand-esque artist and an IRS auditor played by Zack Galifinakis bring in fresh jokes just when Carell's character gets stale. There are others but none bring the funny like these three. The only character problem (besides Darla) is in Paul Rudd's character. He plays the straight man in this movie, which he can play perfectly fine, but knowing what he is capable of it is disappointing to not see him and Carell go head to head in the funny department.

This issue with Rudd playing a boring straight man brings down the plot of the movie because it is his character that the movie is centered around. The actions that he makes drive the movie and it is hard to really buy Paul Rudd as a jerk in this movie. Since I couldn't see him as being self centered, the emotional beats just didn't have any effect. This means that there is no reason to watch this movie based on the plot and it must survive based on the jokes. Many of which I found very funny with each scene being funnier than the last. The funniest of which has yet to be shown or even hinted at in any of the trailers. Hopefully that stays the same.

In summary, the movie isn't about the plot it's about the jokes, which there are plenty of. Fortunately, the commercials currently out are a fair representation for the type of jokes in this movie, so if you have laughed at the commercials you will find this movie funny. It gets a solid 3 out of 5 stars.

Movie Review - Toy Story 3

The summer movie season, up until now, has been a complete and utter disappointment. Movies that were supposed to bring in big bucks at the box office have failed to do so, and the reason isn't the economy, it's that Hollywood has put out a lot of garbage. However, every summer has at least one guaranteed bright spot in the latest offering from Pixar. In the past two years Pixar has released 2 movies that currently reside in my top 10 movies of all time (a list which is always subject to change.) Part of the reason that I love these two movies ("Up" and "Wall-E") was due to how fresh they felt. So, I was hesitant when I heard that Pixar was heading back to the well and making "Toy Story 3." Don't get me wrong, I love the first two movies, but they don't hold a candle to their most recent offerings.

For me, "Toy Story 3" is really two separate films. The first 80 minutes and then the last 10. The first part of "Toy Story 3" truly felt like we were returning to a world we were familiar with and even covered a similar journey to what we had in the second movie, but this time everyone was learning the lesson that Woody had already learned about being there for Andy. Since we're not learning anything knew there, we only have the journey to look at. Fortunately, they do a terrific job of this. The new additions of Big Baby, Ken and Lotso fit in well with our old favorites. The jokes are sharp, the action crisp and the joy plentiful. However, by the end, when the toys are getting back into the box for the attic, I was starting to feel empty. I went on a journey with these characters but I didn't go anywhere new. They would just be stored in the attic where Pixar can pull them out and dust them off when they wanted to get a large haul at the box office. Then the last 10 minutes happened and changed everything.

When I was younger I played with my toys, exactly like Andy played with his. I used my imagination and came up with long, complicated stories that played out from the sanctuary of my bedroom with my toys as the starring characters. So saying that I can sympathize with Andy when it comes to saying goodbye to those friends is an understatement. Add this feeling to the journey I had already taken with the Toy Story characters and the feeling displayed by the toys of just wanting to be played with having been established throughout the movie and the entire end sequence had me balling in my chair and on the way out of the theater.

This movie proved beyond a doubt that you can always count on Pixar to give you something magical at the theater. The movie gets 4 and 1/2 out of 5 stars.

The Oscar Project Part VII - It Happened One Night

Released in 1934, "It Happened One Night" is the seventh winner of the Best Picture Oscar. It is also the first romantic comedy to win the coveted prize. It is most notable for being the first of only three films to win the big five awards. That means it won Best Writing, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Picture. The film starred Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, and directed by Frank Capra. So to say expectations were high would be an understatement.

The actual plot and script of the film just does not hold up to today's standards for a romantic comedy. There were moments that were great but a lot of the film felt as though it was just wandering aimlessly. The romantic comedies of today need more plot, more characters and more laughs. However, being one of the very first romantic comedies, it does a pretty good job of keeping an audience entertained.

Most romantic comedies live and die by the chemistry of the two leads, and this movie is no different. But due to the era when the film was made, the chemistry had to be seen but limited. Fortunately, the acting in this film was amazing. There is a reason why these two are considered legendary actors and this movie is a great example of everything that they are capable of.

The last piece I want to talk about is the directing. Upon first glance there doesn't seem to be much to it. There are no epic battle scenes or even great scenic shots. But, Capra was able to use his actors and use the script to show a chemistry that back then could not be shown the way it is shown now. Looking at it in this light, you can see how truly amazing the directing is.

While the movie does show its age, it was still a very good movie and gets 4 out of 5 stars.

The Oscar Project Part VI - Cavalcade

"Cavalcade" was released in 1933 and was the 6th film to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

This is the only other movie (in addition to "Wings") that is currently not available on DVD. Fortunately I was able to track down a digital copy to watch it. Why these two movies are not on DVD I don't know, but hopefully they will be released soon.

The movie follows a family from the beginning of the 20th century to 1933, focusing on how the family is changed and affected by the events that happened during these years. The story starts with New Year's Eve 1899 and jumps right into the second Boer War. The movie captures the departure of the men to the war well, with the different reactions from the women they are leaving behind done very well. Some of it was over dramtic, but this was the style at the time. Once the men come back we see how they have changed and how these changes effect their family dynamic. This is followed quickly by the death of the Queen of England. The story jumps ahead several years and we see the children develop further and see how the war has affected the men over a long period of time. The story moves on and covers the sinking of the Titanic. This was the only part of the story that I felt was handled poorly. It features a young couple talking about how happy they are and that they would be happy even if they ended up dying tonight. It is at this point that they move and we see they are on the Titanic, there is also no reaction to their death, we instead skip ahead to World War I. Again we see a new generation of men go off to war and they do a fantastic job of how war changes a man through his relationship with a young girl. The movie ends on New Years Eve of 1933 with an awkward toast that is given directly to the camera that tells the audience to remember the past and look forward to the future.

The directing in this movie was handled well for most of it. The sets felt authentic and the shots were well done. The addition of musical numbers throughout the movie felt forced and seemed to only be there to attract more movie goers with song and dance. The scenes used to depict World War I were handled very well. They used a montage of scenes overlapped on top of each other. I thought this showed the deadliness of the war without having to focus on any actual events or battles. I found the acting in the movie to be decent and appropriate for the movie. There was nothing that really stood out, but there was nothing that really ruined the movie either.

Overall this was a decent movie, but had nothing spectacular. It gets 3.5 out of 5 stars.

New Movie Review - Iron Man 2

And the movie summer of 2010 has begun, the first entry is Iron Man 2. As most will have already seen it before reading this I will go heavy into spoilers so if you haven't seen it, crawl out from under your rock go see it , then read this review.

I find it hard to truly approach this movie from a review stand point. I really enjoyed the first film and the biggest part of that enjoyment was the surprise. I didn't have any expectations and I hadn't given the plot any thought. Not so for this movie, thanks to the trailers and my knowledge of comics I had a guess for what this movie would contain and I was completely correct. This took away my anticipation for what would happen next making my enjoyment of the movie solely reliant on the performance of the actors and the action sequences.

For the action sequences, I feel that they went 2 for 3. The sequence at Monte Carlo was great, it felt like Iron Man was in danger and Whiplash was great. The final fight scene was also pretty good and had some real good moments and got me excited. The only one that fell flat was the first fight between Iron Man and War Machine. I just wanted it to end. There was no danger in it and it telegraphed how the final fight would end, which I wish would have been more inventive then going with the "Ghostbusters" ending of them crossing the beams.

The characters from this movie transferred over well from the first movie, but are beginning to suffer from becoming one note characters. Robert Downey Jr., while terrific, is making Tony Stark a little too eccentric. Gwenyth Paltrow made Pepper Potts too flustered and everyone else seemed to have an endless list of jokes to tell. That being said, I did enjoy the performances from all the actors, but in the next film I need to see a little drama. My favorite performance came from Micky Rourke, because he had a balance between drama and comedy. Everyone else seemed to think their main job was making jokes. Again this works here, but if the next movie continues this pattern I will probably be upset.

Now lets get to the actual plot. The plots for the previous movie and this one really aren't that cerebral. They are simple so I shouldn't really be let down that I wasn't surprised. For those unfamiliar with the comics, the movie combines elements of a story line called "Armor Wars" which involved Justin Hammer trying to build Iron Man suits and "Demon in a Bottle" which focuses on Stark's drinking problem. While I wish they could have made that dark turn into his drinking problem, I realize that this would be opposite to the tone and feeling that the movie series has built up. However, I do feel that they could have delved a little deeper into the topic. The only really bad turn I found was with the use of the Black Widow. I know why she was there, anyone with eyes knows why she is in this movie. That being said her character added little to the movie. Her character did not need to be there. Everything that she did could have been explained in a different way or performed by someone else. Except for some obvious assets, her character added nothing to the movie. For those that missed it, there was a scene after the credits. In it, we got a glimpse of the hammer of Thor, which is the next Marvel movie that will come out next year. While I am excited for this movie, the hammer did look a little plastic.

The movie took most of the elements that I loved about the first movie and tried to add a few new elements. Some of these worked and some didn't. Bottom line is if you liked the first movie, you will most likely like this one. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Advanced Movie Review - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Earlier this week I had the chance to catch an early viewing of "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time." With the movie not opening for a couple of weeks I will leave this review as spoiler free as possible. I have played this video game and its sequel so I am reviewing it from that perspective. If you have not played the game then your experience may be different and I would guess make for a better movie.

Coming into the movie I was expecting a fun popcorn movie at best I was hoping for something akin to "The Mummy." However, with it being based off of a video game, I was still apprehensive. However after watching it I can say it was one of the best movies based off of a video game that I have ever seen. To be fair though it doesn't have much competition.

While the detailed plot of the movie does not follow the video game story line, the general plot of the movie does. The added plot details are done well and overall I have no problems with the plot decisions that they make. Each point on the journey makes sense and the enemies that the heroes must face are able to capture the creepiness of the video enemies and have them make sense in the movie world. There was one moment at the beginning of the movie that made me worry a little that they were trying to make the movie feel like a video game, but this only happened once.

The acting is decent. The weakest here was the Princess. Gylenhal puts in a decent enough performance, but the weak performance from the actress playing his opposite, hurts his performance. The rest of the cast is rounded off by Ben Kinsley and Alfred Molina, both of whom put in great performances.

The action sequences also shine in the movie and brings back memories of the video game. They were very enjoyable and will most likely be the star of this movie.

I won't go into anything else since I don't want to spoil the movie, if you've played the video game then this movie won't disappoint you. And if you enjoyed "The Mummy Returns," you will enjoy this movie as well. For me the movie gets 3 out of 5 stars

The Oscar Project Part V - Grand Hotel

The fifth movie to win the award for Best Picture was "Grand Hotel." The movie is considered to have, for the time it was filmed, an all star cast, featuring Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford and many others. The movie is based off of a novel that was first adapted into a successful Broadway play.

The plot of the movie follows several different guests of the Grand Hotel with all of their stories interweaving with each other. It was interesting to see a technique that I typically associate with modern films. While most of this worked, there were a few connections that just didn't make sense. Particularly at the end of the movie with Kringelein and Flaemmchen. It didn't make a lot of sense for these two to end up traveling together and it felt forced. The interactions of the Doctor with Kringelein also felt forced as it appeared that these characters would not have anything to do with each other. The doctor character himself seemed to be there to only deliver the closing line of the movie. A great line but there were other people that could have given this line and this character did not have to be forced into the movie.

Acting in the movie for most was top notch. The only character I didn't really enjoy was Kringelein. He seemed to be brought in for what we now consider comedy relief. However, in this movie it wasn't perfected. I found the character annoying and was played as a whiny drunk. In the movie the character tells us he will be dying soon, but I feel no sympathy for him throughout the movie. In fact by the end I was waiting for him to die so that I wouldn't have to put up with him anymore. Unfortunately, he lives. But Greta Garbo, John Barrymore and Joan Crawford all put in magnificent performances.

This was also the first movie in my journey that I noticed some great technical aspects. There are a few scenes where the shots are filmed with a moving camera that gives us a full view of the desk at the front of the hotel. These shots injected some energy into the film and really brought me into the movie.

Overall I thought it was a decent movie with a few flaws. It get 3.5 out of 5 stars. The next film is "Cavalcade."

Classic Movie Review - The Natural

Over the weekend I had the chance to watch a classic baseball movie, "The Natural." This Robert Redford classic is known as being one of the best baseball movies ever and is full of more classic moments than I can count.

The biggest part of the movie that stands out is the acting. Robert Redford plays a timeless character in Roy Hobbs. He really captures the characters love of the game and his regret in how he has spent his life. Kim Basinger as Memo Paris creates what may be the most complicated character in the movie as the girl that brings bad luck. By the end of the movie I felt as if she was a tragic character, but the movie does not really effectively capture this. Wilford Brimley as Pop was just another classic portrayal by this character actor. The rest of this cast rounds out the movie nicely with solid performances by everyone.

Direction wise the film does little wrong. Their are so many classic moments it is hard to pick out just one to highlight. But it is not these moments that bring this movie to life, but the smaller moments, that tied this movie together. Though I would be remiss if I didn't mention the final at bat with the stadium lights exploding. That scene was beautiful and there is a reason that it is constantly referenced in cinema.

What doesn't hold up well today is the plot. The movie really focuses on one ball player, while most baseball movies today focus on several players. This focus on a single player took away from the importance of the team doing well and made me only care about Roy doing well. Second the movie is told without a real narrative voice. It is up to the audience to figure things out for themselves, however there is a little to much room for interpretation for a movie like this.

So overall, great acting, great directing and an okay plot. It gets 4 out of 5 stars.

Oscar Project Interlude - You Don't Know Jack

As I continue working my way through the Oscar movies, I of course will have the opportunity to watch many other non-winning Oscar Films and new films as they come out. This past Thursday I had the opportunity to go to the Detroit premiere of "You Don't Know Jack," the new biopic about Jack Kevorkian. I was a teenager when the doctor was in full operation so my memory of how everything occurred is not great, but it is something that I do remember. I will say that sitting in a theatre with Dr. Kevorkian, Jeffery Fieger and several other players in the story while we all watched it play out on screen was an interesting way to watch the movie.

The most memorable part of this movie was the performance made by Al Pacino. In most movies Pacino is playing Pacino. While that still gives him great range as an actor, it is something he will always be saddled with. Not a bad thing but it makes it difficult to accept him playing someone that is real. In this portrayal however he is completely immersed in the role. The accent, the look, the mannerisms, all of it fits perfectly into the character of Jack Kevorkian. The rest of the cast performs incredibly well, but it is Pacino that owns this movie and no one rises above him.

The story is told very well and remains compelling even though I knew how it ends. The movie is about Kevorkian and sticks to his side of the Assisted Suicide issue. It does treat the anti-assisted suicide party as enemies, but since it is about Kevorkian it doesn't matter. The movie mixes in actual footage from reporting, trials and announcements seamlessly into the plot and handles all of the patients of Kevorkian very well. In between the drama the movie is kept light and funny. Kevorkian becomes a very sympathetic and likable character.

The movie premiers tonight on HBO, but could have performed very well on the big screen. If you get the chance to see it do so. It gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Oscar Project Part IV - Cimarron

Released in 1931, "Cimarron" won the fourth best picture Oscar. Being produced and released in the middle of the great depression, I expected to see a small scale movie that relied more on character than anything else. I was wrong. "Cimarron" turned out to be a large scale blockbuster of a movie. It featured gun fights, politics and even courtroom drama.

The movie tells the tale of the settlement of Oklahoma after the release of the land by the government. It centers around a man named Yancy Cravat, who starts a newspaper, runs a church, fights in the Spanish-American War and runs for Governor. At first it felt like a western retelling of "Citizen Kane", another RKO production. However, it had a lot of messages that I would not expect from a movie from this time period.

The movie itself shows the downside to the exploration that men would do during this time period. Men would leave their family behind to go exploring and search for that new opportunity. In the movie we see two different women affected by men leaving them. One of them is not able to follow any options and is forced to become a whore. The other is eventually elected to congress. This message of women empowerment was surprising and was not something I was expecting from a movie labeled as a western.

The movie doesn't just stop with empowering women. It also made statements about the treatment of Native Americans. Besides being a second message that this movie was trying to make, it came as a surprise since the movie starts with many racial slurs against Native Americans that wouldn't be acceptable by today's standards.

However the movie makes a smart move by centering the movie around Yancy Cravat, who comes across as one of the action heroes of today that everyone would love. He did the right thing and was a real man's man. By having this be the center of the movie they could make the statements they wanted to make and still have a movie that would be accepted by the audience.

Overall the movie was a pleasant surprise and I give it 4 out of 5 stars. Next on the list, "Grand Hotel."

The Oscar Project Part III - All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front was released in 1930 and was the third film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The film focuses on a group of Germans fighting during the first World War. The story begins with a group of young men being convinced by their teacher while in school to enlist for the army. I felt that this scene really helped capture the nationalism that was one of the predominant causes of the Great War. The movie leads into boot camp, where the boys quickly learn that their ideas of the military are wrong and that their previous relationships that they had with people they knew outside the military have changed.

The story continues with the group joining the war and fighting. Through the movie the characters face many of the ugly parts of war. Friends die suddenly, they must fight for food, and they must deal with their friends being taken to the infirmary only to have them die. Eventually the main character of the film, Paul, must take care of the enemy before himself having to go into the hospital. Afterwards, Paul returns home, on leave, where he discovers that he has changed and is no longer the same person. He expresses this in a great scene where the teacher that convinced him to join the military is attempting to convince more young men to join. The film ends with two more lessons for Paul, the loss of the man that taught him to deal with the war and then his own death, which shows that war never stops.

The movie is most known for being a movie that truly shows the atrocities of war. And it is a well deserved reputation. To this day I have not seen a movie that has better depicted how awful war can be. The only issue that I had with this movie is with the depictions of the characters. The film is told from the perspective of the German army, however all of the characters feel American, they have American accents and resemble American caricatures. This is most likely an issue due to the still relatively new technology of sound. Or it may be that I have built up a prejudice to how characters must be portrayed. However, after just a few minutes into the movie it is no longer an issue, I was just drawn into the movie.

This movie is considered one of the best war epics of all time and it still stands up today. The movie gets 4 out of 5 stars.

The Oscar Project Part II - The Broadway Melody

In 1930 the winner for Best Production at the Academy Awards was "The Broadway Melody." It was the first musical and the first "talkie" to win the award. The movie is about a love triangle between two sisters trying to make it on Broadway and a Broadway singer. It all takes place during the production of a Broadway review to accommodate the many songs and dance numbers that take place throughout the film. The original movie featured a technicolor sequence that has since been lost, the remaining version of the film is all black and white. In fact it appears that the film the DVD was created off of was not in the best condition. It felt like I was watching an old movie on a reel to reel projector, instead of on my flat screen TV.

The film itself is full of enough melodrama to choke a donkey. The movie is considered one of the weakest winners in the history of the awards. However, the time period it was awarded in is also considered the weakest in American cinema up until that point due to the change from silent movies to movies with sound. Still, just because the movie has sound does not mean that everyone has to act so dramatically. The plot is weak and the acting matches is.

I happen to love Broadway and the theatre so I do know a little about Broadway productions and singing. The singing was weak and the larger productions weren't solid enough to be shown on the big screen and I doubt would have cut it on Broadway. The songs featured in the movie do not hold up. Most of them have been forgotten and would not be recognized by anyone under the age of 50.

The film taught me a valuable lesson, that not all of the Oscar winners will be fun to watch. This film gets 1.5 out of 5 stars. The project is still on, up next is "All Quiet on the Western Front."

The Oscar Project Part I - Wings

I love movies. They entertain, inform, make you think and bring about a great time. Movies have been around for a century now and there are thousands of movies available that most of us will never see. For movies there is one benchmark that was set in May of 1929. The Academy Awards. One reward in particular is given to the best picture of the previous year. This is the movie that the people that make movies say is their best work. My goal is to watch all 82 of these movies in the order that they were released. After each one I plan to write my thoughts on the movie, thinking about how it stands up today and how it compared to the previous winners.

In May of 1929 the award for Most Outstanding Production was given to the 1927 movie “Wings.” The first Academy Awards honored movies from both 1927 and 1928. A second award was given out titled Most Artistic Quality of Production that went to a movie called “Sunrise.” The academy however refers to “Wings” as the winner of the equivalent award to Best Picture.

Watching “Wings” was a bit of a challenge. First, it is not available on DVD in the United States. Fortunately, someone has posted it on YouTube. I wouldn’t normally recommend watching any movie this way, but if you want to watch “Wings” this is one of the only ways to watch it. If you really want to watch a DVD, the only current release was a Korean release but it does have an English translation. Second, it is a silent movie, a 141 minute silent movie. I’ve never watched a full length silent movie before and I’ve never watched one that wasn’t a comedy. It was difficult to watch but I was glad that I did.

“Wings” is about two men from the same small town that become pilots during World War I. The movie features a growing friendship that involves mistaken love and tragedy. One of the most amazing parts of the movie was the aerial battles. To put on these aerial battles in 1927 just baffles my mind. Going into the movie I expected something light, with a happy ending for everyone. I was wrong. The movie is filled with death and really demonstrates some of the ferocious fighting that was part of World War I. It’s interesting to think of how often World War I is ignored in media today, mostly due to how much easier it is to label enemies in World War II.

The movie was good for it’s time. However, due to the fact it is a silent movie, it loses a lot of impact that it could have if it was not one. With few laughs in the movie and having to read lips more often then I thought would be necessary, it was difficult to watch the entire movie. Only those that really want to watch it should attempt it. An interesting note is that this was one of the first movies to feature a male on male kiss and the first widely distributed movie to feature female nudity, which lasts approximately a tenth of a second. I didn’t think that I would see anything like that during these early movies and it has made me rethink what the film industry was like in the early days of the Academy Awards.

Overall, I think the movie is well directed with terrific cinematography, a well developed plot and great acting. In total it gets 3.5 out of 5 stars. The next movie on the list is “The Broadway Melody.”