updated! IRON MAN 2 POSTER!!!

IRON MAN 2 POSTER!!!

The Best Kept Secrets of 2009

One of my favorite things about living in NY is that i get to see some smaller scale film in theatres or atleast hear of films that i usually wouldn't know about if i lived in North Carolina. So I decided to put a list of some films that i think people should check out that have gone under the radar...so check out these little gems if ya can!

1. Two Lovers*

2. Hunger*

3. Goodbye, Solo*

4. In The Loop

5. Mary and Max*

6. Hump Day

7. Surveillance

8. The Cove

9. World's Greatest Dad*

10. Paper Heart

11. Big Fan

12. The Damned United *

* So Far in my top twenty of the year

MUPPETS

Muppets AND QUEEN!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!

This will make your day!

Movies of the Week!

Movies You Should Check Out

Classic Of The Week: The Fallen Idol

Foreign Film Of The Week: I Vitelloni

Unheard Film Of The Week: The Believer

Movie you should go see in theatres right now: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Movie that came out today on DVD to check out: Star Trek, Up, Funny People

TRAILERS

Greenburg!

A Single Man

Salt

Reviews:Fantastic Mr. Fox, Broken Embraces, and Bad Lieutenant

Fantastic Mr. Fox - Wes Anderson first foray into animated films results in his best film since The Royal Tenenbaums. This strange, wonderful little film is hilarious and is filled with heart. The use of stop motion animation seems to be a perfect fit for the strange worlds Wes Anderson creates for his characters. The voice cast of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman are terrific. Unlike, Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things are, Fantastic Mr. Fox is something both adults and kids will enjoy. The movie wraps up to quickly in the end for it to be one of the best movies of the year but that's not with this film is going for. It is simply a fun time at the movie theatre. I love Wes Anderson movies and while i liked the last two (Darjeeling Limited and Life Aquatic) some thing seemed missing from those films. Fantastic Mr. Fox reminded me why i love his movies.

Grade - B+

GO See This!

Broken Embraces - Almodovar's latest film is a entertaining little film that proves that even if Almodovar isn't trying, he can make a solid Almodovar movie. The film is stylish and arresting, with powerful performances (Penelope Cruz is Breathtaking in this movie) and a compelling, if at times contrived, story. The film is much better than it should be and it never is boring but the film lacks that powerful punch most Almodovar movies have. However, fans of Almodovar will enjoy this but it will not be at the top of their list of favorites from the Spanish film maker.

Grade - B-

Bad Lieutenant - Herzog and Cage = One fucked up time at the movie theatre! This movie is one hell of a strange, crazy, fun ride at the movie theatre. A film that knows it's over the top that it doesn't just celebrates it's corniness, it brags and boast all over the screen. The film is hilarious and is a comedy but it is uses the disguise of a tough cop drama to get all the humor out of the situations that will either have your mouth open or laughing. A lot of people hate Nic Cage but when the man is on, he is fucking ON! Cage is chewing scenery and having a fucking good time in one of his best performances in years!

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is one of the year's funniest movies, a truly bizarre and wacky series of over the top moments that lead to one of the craziest movies in a long time.

Grade - b+

Almodovar, Herzog, and Chan-Wook

In just three days, I got to see new film from Almodovar, Herzog and Chan Wook. Broken Embraces, Bad Lt., and Thrist....reviews will come soon but it was awesome to see three completely different films from master directors.

White Ribbon Trailer and Article

I saw this film at the New York Film Festival last month and i was blown away. It really is a master work from director Michael Hanke. Here is the trailer. check it out.

White Ribbon

and here is a great write up from the NY Times about the movie...

NY TIMES

Quick Review: Men Who Stare At Goats

Clooney, Bridges, McGregor, and Spacey all are having a blast with this very loose satire. The film is goofy and should never be taken seriously but a film like this needs to be very tight in it's storytelling and it's not. It just floats by the whole time with occasionally funny bits that in the end are pretty forgettable. I really wanted to like this movie but it just never really worked. However, I can see this movie maybe needing a second viewing but after the first one, i was not impressed.

Grade - C+

Reviews: Precious

Precious

Starring: Gabourey Sidibe, Monique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey

Directed by Lee Daniels

Runtime: 100 Mins

I really did not want to like this film at all. I usually don't like films like this and the cast is filled with people i usually can't stand (Monique!). Plus, this film was getting so much hype and i was afraid it was being built up way to much. That being said, I think it was a good movie. The film can be powerful, raw, brutally honest at moments. Also, the performances are fantastic, the movie doesn't get to sentimental and director Lee Daniels isn't afraid to put brutal events on screen.

However, The film never really finds it's general tone. One moment its a heavy melodrama then a neo-realistic film the next, with eruptions of comedy throughout. Lee Daniels had a lot to tell and i think he had a hard time trying to balance everything, and because of this, it didn't allow me to really be effected by the story. It reminded me of Monster's Ball, a very good film that was just emotionally exhausting.

Every performance in this movies is fantastic. Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe is unbelievable and really carries this film on her shoulders. The picture belongs, however, to the (Gulp) Mo'Nique, who transforms an one-note monster mom into a complex portrait of a psychologically damaged woman. Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, and Lenny Kravitz also give very strong performances.

The movie filled with strong performances and brutal storytellingHowever, while it is effective, the film never settles in to make a great film.

Grade - B

Best Of 2005

Ok so it's been a long time since i posted the best of list...so here is the Best of 2005

1. Goodnight and Good Luck

2. Munich

3. Old Boy

4. Sin City

5. Squid and The Whale

6. Brokeback Mountain

7. Cache

8. Match Point

9. Batman Begins

10. Crash

11. 40 Year Old Virgin

12. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

13. Broken Flowers

14. Grizzly Man

15. Walk The Line

16. History of Violence

17. Wedding Crashers

18. Murderball

19. The Weatherman

20. Jarhead

Honorable Mentions

King Kong, Syriana, Hustle and Flow

Quick Review: Paranormal Activity

Ok, so i wasn't going to see this in theatres but I had 2 hrs to kill and didn't want to think at all...so i decided to go see this and i got exactly what i wanted. For a movie made for 11,000 dollars and just using old fashioned movie tricks, the movie is able to get enough enough scares to make this def. worth checking out if you want a fun, horror movie. The movie has def. been built up a little too much but during the film i was pretty creeped out, so i say job well done.

B

Movies of the Week!

Movies You Should Check Out

Classic Of The Week: The Sting

Foreign Film Of The Week: Bicycle Thieves

Unheard Film Of The Week: Shattered Glass ;) krista

Horror Film Of The Week: The Descent

Movie you should go see in theatres right now: Zombieland

Movie that came out today on DVD to check out: Not Sure...you tell me!

TRAILERS

How To Train Your Dragon

Prince Of Persia

Quick Reviews: Antichrist and An Education

An Education: Sometimes it's worth to check out a movie for a performance and this film is one of those movies. Carey Mulligan is phenomenal in this fairly enjoyable film. She will and should be nominated for best performance. She is captivating in a role that could of easily been annoying. People are comparing her to Audrey Hepburn, which is a very strong statement, but she earns it with this performance. The rest of the cast is strong including Peter Sarsgaard (doing a decent British accent), Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour. The movie itself isn't as strong as the story kinda lulls and tries to be more dramatic than it really is. However, it is a nice little date film and a movie that should be seen just for the performance alone.

PS - My girlfriend liked it more than i did, so this might be more of a female-type film.

AntiChrist - It's beautifully shot and acted but that's about it for this art-house "Saw" film. Lars Von Trier tries to create this bizarre, gruesome provocative film but the film just ponders and is so thin on plot that it just becomes pointless. I would miss this one unless you are a Von Trier film...which i am not. However, the performances are very strong.