February 2010 Archives

Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese continued to reign atop the box office this weekend as Shutter Island brought in another $22.2 Million for Paramount, while the Bruce Willis/Tracy Morgan alleged comedy Cop Out came in second with $18.5 Million. 

With a strong third place finish, Overture's The Crazies hauled in $16 Million for the weekend.

I know you might think $18.5 Million is a good take for Cop Out, but it's the first guy oriented comedy to be released in months, which should have brought out dudes in droves looking for some laughs, and you'd think Willis and Morgan would bring in more fans.  I hate to say it, but Morgan needs great material to succeed, and Bruce Willis hasn't carried a huge, non-sequel movie since Unbreakable, which came out in 2000.  

No matter how any movie performed this week, it all feels like clearing the palate for next week's certain, no doubt about it, undeniable, bet the house on it blockbuster Alice in Wonderland.  It will be huge.  Right?
 

As many of you know, the movies Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, the upcoming Thor and the upcoming Captain America are designed to lead to all four of those superheroes uniting to become The Avengers.  However, one of our heroes is facing big, Hollywood trouble.

While Robert Downey, Jr and Edward Norton can easily hold up their end of the bargain, casting for Thor and Captain America could fall short.  Now, I believe the producers made a very good choice casting Chris Hemsworth as Thor (he played Captain Kirk's father in the reboot of Star Trek), I am convinced everyone is dropping the ball on Captain America.

Nikki Finke, who almost always gets these things right at Deadline Hollywood, reports the list of contenders leaves a little something to be desired.  In the running - Chace Crawford, John Krasinski, Patrick Fleuger and more.  I'm sorry to say it, but none of those guys strikes me as heroic. 

Part of the problem is the price the producers are willing to pay.  Reportedly, the lead will get $300,000.  Now, that's alot of money for you and me, but for a guy who has to carry a movie that will make somewhere around $100 Million, it's no wonder why they can't attract some bigger names and more muscular dudes.  $300,000 isn't even good pay for being the lead actor in a network TV show, and pales in comparison to what some stars of cable TV shows make.   

My solution?  Cough up $5 - $10 Million and hire someone who will look like a military man who could become Captain America.  Yep, hire Channing Tatum and his Abs of Steel.  He is a known actor.  He has experience in big blockbuster movies.  He has the Abs of Steel Captain America should have.

Who else could play Captain America?

   

It's like Beverly Hills Cop meets Die Hard, except we like those movies.

Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan star as Jimmy and Paul - two longtime detectives who have a bad reputation.  After screwing up a sting operation, the partners are suspended for 30 days without pay, which compels Jimmy to sell a valuable baseball card he loves in order to pay for his daughter's elaborate wedding.

Of course, during the sale, Jimmy is robbed, and he decides to find the criminal, and Paul is along to help, which leads to more trouble than the two ever could have imagined.

Can Jimmy and Paul find the baseball card thieves?

What else will they stumble across in the process?

Cop Out is a failure because director Kevin Smith can't figure out what the movie is supposed to be.  On the one hand, he is trying to make it a parody of buddy cop movies complete with 80's-style music, villains who are outrageously cliché (and often cross the line into stereotype) and a bunch of routine, overdone situations.  However, Smith doesn't take Cop Out far enough to be a parody, so it comes off as a lame comedy.

Everything needs to be more outrageous.  Willis needs to be more stiff, like Jack Webb in Dragnet or Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun.   Morgan is silly and goofy, but he can be even sillier.  No one involved seems committed to the work, so it doesn't hit your funny bone on a consistent basis. 

On the other hand, Smith has Cop Out trying to come off as just a goofy movie, but it's too serious and going for drama at times, as if Smith suddenly wants this to be a straight action movie.  The crime scenes truly are dangerous and nothing to laugh at as people get shot and killed.  Instead of a consistent tone, Smith is all over the place.  He isn't helped by the script. 

Writers Robb Cullen and Mark Cullen provide a jumbled plot and script only enhanced by Willis and Morgan bringing their experience and sense of humor to the proceedings.  Morgan tries everything he possibly can to make us laugh, succeeding about 50% of the time.  Then, Willis shows off his comedic ability with a few good deadpan remarks and an extreme reaction to some of the challenges the two partners face.  Money invested in their salaries was well spent, but couldn't someone work on the script a bit more?

Cop Out was a doomed movie from the start.

 





1 Waffle (Out of 4)

Cop Out is rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, violence and brief sexuality.

You know how much I hate nepotism and would rather mock the rich and the famous than laud them or even give them the faintest of praise.  However, I can't deny the obvious (and it is killing me to my core).  The spawn of Michael Eisner can direct.  He must have made a second deal with the devil.
 
Timothy Olyphant (that guy who looks like a butcher, meaner Ryan Seacrest) stars as David Dutton - the sheriff of a small, rural Iowa farming town where everyone knows your name (which stinks if you are the town drunk or that guy who had an embarrassing moment involving a goat and funnel cake at the last county fair).  Anyway, during the first high school baseball game of the spring, one of the town's residents marches onto the field with a shotgun.  Before you know it, some in this Midwestern town are starting to become comatose, while others are becomingly alarmingly and unexplainably violent.  

Can David find out what is causing this odd behavior?

Can he protect his friends and family?

While The Crazies is not the most amazing horror movie of the decade, director Breck Eisner knows how to set up a scene, build the tension without a great deal of fanfare mucking up your attention, then scare your underpants off.  He picks great moments to get under your skin in minimalist fashion as the audience is focused on a runaway saw, a pitchfork dragging across the ground or the sound of a knife being scraped along the side of a wall. 

Yes, we have some gory moments, but Eisner sparingly delivers them, and, usually, does so in a way that fits into the story rather than being exploitive.  The Crazies is a movie more about the peril than the blood.   

Even Olyphant won me over with his stoic performance.  More than ever, he comes off as a strong leading man with a commanding presence on the screen.  Much like the rest of the movie, Olyphant isn't delivering some Oscar winning performance, but he brings great intensity and gets you rooting for the good guys in a realistic portrayal that makes David an everyman, instead of some sort of superhero.
 
Unfortunately, writers Scott Kosar and Ray Wright (based on the original movie by George Romero) abandon the movie's mystery too soon.  What makes The Crazies so frightening is the sense of isolation the audience feels as all of this takes place in the middle of nowhere, we wonder what might be causing it, and get the feeling no one in the world can possibly save these people because no one can ever realize this small town exists.  However, it becomes more crowded and bigger before it should.  This leads to The Crazies becoming more about the chase and less about the creepy factor.

The Crazies is a great surprise in the middle of the hard, long, cold winter.  







3 Waffles (Out of 4)

You've heard about it.  Feared it.  Maybe made a joke or two about it.  Now, you can see the newest trailer for The Karate Kid starring Jackie Chan and Will Smith's son. 

What do you think? 

Is the remake heresy, or does it look promising? 

Will Ralph Macchio get the cameo he deserves?

Can Jayden Smith sweep the leg?

OK, when you read the letter in question, you might not think it is all that offensive (especially if you read what I write here on this site), but The Academy is taking it very seriously.

Nicolas Chartier, one of the producers of Oscar nominee The Hurt Locker, sent out a blast email to everyone and anyone encouraging them to support his movie instead of, "a $500M film."

Of course, the reference to a $500 Million film is a shot at fellow Best Picture nominee Avatar.

In the past few years, The Academy has tried to crack down on Oscar campaigning in an attempt to maintain civility and focus voters' attention on quality rather than glitz and spin.  In accordance with the rules, Chartier and The Hurt Locker team might have some tickets to the Oscars taken away, which is a big deal.

However, the biggest punishment is the negative publicity this has brought to The Hurt Locker's campaign as we enter the final days of Oscar voting.  It's akin to an October Surprise in presidential politics.  

Will Chartier's actions cost The Hurt Locker support?  If Inglourious Basterds pulls off an upset on March 7 (and Hollywood buzz has been indicating it might), will Chartier be pummeled by his fellow producers?

Fans of George Clooney have heard many stories about his beloved Lake Como villa, but the Oscar nominee has decided to sell it after too many incidents with the Italian paparazzi. 

Over the years, the villa was featured in Ocean's Twelve and hosted many of George's pals, including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.  However, paparazzi have been accused of climbing over a wall surrounding the home, and taking pictures of Clooney's girlfriend and, allegedly, a 13-year old girl who was visiting the villa last summer. 

While Clooney was a very outspoken opponent of the paparazzi in the 1990's, and tried to influence the California legislature to pass some laws to restrict their ability to pursue the rich and  famous, he has limited his crusade in recent years, and seemed to enjoy a measure of privacy in Italy. 

However, the residents of Lake Como shouldn't be worried about losing their most famous resident.  Clooney is trying to purchase a more private place nearby. 

After years of trying to get the famed fictional character to the screen, producers have signed Angelina Jolie to play Kay Scarpetta. 

Scarpetta has been the heroine in 17 novels by Patricia Cornwell, who DC residents might remember as a former staffer for the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia, who was revealed to be part of a love triangle, when FBI agent Eugene Bennett discovered his wife, Margo Bennett, was having an affair with Cornwell in 1996. 

Eugene Bennett was sentenced to 23 years for attempted murder of his wife, and other charges related to abducting her minister and threatening to blow up his church.

I am one of those people who loves to hear and read stories about who might have been cast in famous movies. 

Bill Murray was considered for the first Batman series. 

Tom Selleck famously was supposed to be Indiana Jones, but had contractual problems because he was the star of Magnum P.I. at the time. 

Even Michael J. Fox was not the first Marty McFly (Eric Stoltz was cast and they shot many scenes with him until realizing Fox was the better choice.)

As he makes his way around Hollywood during the Oscar campaign for Avatar, James Cameron has revealed he had two other possibilities to be the lead - Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaal.

I can see Damon taking the role and being believable, but Gyllenhaal???  Jake has a career because of his puppy dog eyes, but you wouldn't get to see those in the computer generated character.  

Would either have been better than Sam Worthington?  Do you even know who Sam Worthington is? 

For many years, Hollywood Stock Exchange (www.hsx.com) has been a fantasy stock market where film fans could "buy" and "sell" stock in movies, stars, directors and more.  However, Cantor Exchange wants to bring it to real life, which has me choking on my Cheerios at this moment.

Originally conceived of by the firm Cantor Fitzgerald, Cantor Exchange is a futures commodity trading market for movies.  Starting April 20, investors would purchase contracts based on the projected domestic box office take of a movie.  If you think Avatar will make $1 Billion, you put your money where your mouth is, and collect if the movie performs better than expected

Do we really want a society where people sit huddled in front of their computer screens waiting to make an investment based on whether or not David Spade will appear in a movie?

Worse yet, do we want to hear Warren Buffet trying to explain why he lost all of his money because Rob Schneider decided not to make Deuce Bigalow 3? 

All of the major movie studios are part of publicly traded companies, so you can invest in their stocks on the New York Stock Exchange if you truly want to be involved financially, so why this? 

Plus, I am curious how trademark and copyright issues will be addressed.  Those of you familiar with sports computer gaming and fantasy sports are aware of a few lawsuits taking place.

Several athletes are suing EA Sports for uncompensated use of their images in various games produced by the company. 

Players associations for the NHL, NBA, MLB and more have been pursuing legal action against Fantasy Sports League sites for use of names, images, information and more without permission. 
  
I'm not a lawyer, but I can imagine one saying something to the effect of, "since Cantor Exchange will be featuring the names of a studio's intellectual property for profit", where's our money! 

Of course, if Cantor Exchange becomes a worldwide phenomenon, I will be auditioning to be the Jim Cramer of Suzie Orman of movie futures trading.    

How many puns about Shakira shaking her hips can I make in one blog posting?

Yes, Shakira was at The White House Monday as she advocated early childhood development policy in her role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. 

After her meeting with staff from the National Security Council, Shakira had a quick drop in with President Obama, proving being Prez is one of the best jobs in the world. 

Any Shakira sightings to share with us?

This is the kind of news that makes their agents, family and studio excited about DiCaprio and Scorsese joining forces yet again. 

After being bumped from last fall to avoid being considered an Oscar hopeful that failed, Shutter Island became a February movie that more than exceeded expectations, and delivered the biggest opening weekend each for Scorsese and DiCaprio. 

Topping the box office with an estimated $40.2 Million, Shutter Island didn't just hold off all challengers, it destroyed them.

Valentine's Day fell a shocking and disastrous 69.5% to bring in $17 Million this weekend, while The Wolfman lost all teeth and claws by falling 68.7% to bring in $9.8 Million.  Those kinds of losses usually are indicative of movies with very bad word of mouth as people tell their friends not to waste their time and money. 

This weekend's performance will be taken as a sign fans still enjoy the Scorsese/DiCaprio team, which is good news, since the two are planning to team up for a Frank Sinatra biopic.  Maybe they can find a role for DeNiro?

Check out the weekend box office results here.

This is the movie where Leonardo DiCaprio proves he is committed to recycling.  After practicing, studying and spending all of that money on lessons to speak with a Southie Boston accent in The Departed, he brings it back for Shutter Island!

Set in 1954, DiCaprio plays Teddy Daniels - a heroic U.S. Marshal and World War II vet assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from an isolated mental institution for the criminally insane.  Of course, isolated means it's on an island out beyond the Boston Harbor, and only accessible by ferry boat. 

Once on the island with his new partner, Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), the two start to wonder what is going on here.  A strange, controlling doctor, Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley), has the staff tiptoeing around him and his strict protocols.  The circumstances of the patient's disappearance don't quite add up, and Teddy seems to be haunted by his past.

Can Teddy and Chuck find out what everyone is hiding in this strange facility?

What is real and what is manufactured?

Can Teddy weed through the deceptions to find the truth?

Don't go into Shutter Island looking for a massive, scary, gory horror movie.  This is a psychological thriller along the lines of Alfred Hitchcock or Rod Serling (or what M. Night Shyamalan aspires to), where director Martin Scorsese brings a great, paranoid tone compelling the audience to put together the pieces of the possible deception, and look for some hidden agenda or secret behind every statement and action.  With this cast, he's successful.  

DiCaprio is one of the best actors in the business today, and he helps create that paranoid tone as he makes Teddy into a man teetering on the edge of sanity.  He brings that trademark DiCaprio intensity to the most important scenes, and keeps the audience guessing about his motivations and mental state, but it's the slow build that impresses me most. 

Along with screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis (based on the novel by Dennis Lehane) and Scorsese, DiCaprio makes the audience worry about Teddy as we learn more about him and his troubled past.  Because we see the strain Teddy is under, it makes the audience wonder if he is going crazy or if Dr. Cawley is orchestrating an elaborate plan to discredit the investigation and hide some dark secret about the institution. 

Most of all, Shutter Island is Scorsese's most visually stimulating movie.  He immerses the audience into a cloudy, dreamlike world with a labyrinth of hallways and staircases, and nightmares that come to life in bleak, but tempting fashion.  Shutter Island is more psychological than horrifying.   However, Shutter Island is not a perfect movie.    

Scorsese is trying to pay homage to those classical psychological movies of the past throughout the film, but, at times, Scorsese and his team are a bit heavy handed, especially with the traditional, but outdated, score which dominates too many scenes.  I can't remember a single line of dialogue that blew me away, the pace is a bit slow, and Shutter Island has some sections towards the end that drag as we get closer to the truth, but Scorsese and the team seem intent on including more visual dazzling instead of getting to the point.  Worst of all, some goofy dialogue emotionally takes us out of the tense movie.

I understand what Scorsese if trying to do as he makes Shutter Island into the type of film that captured movie audiences' imaginations in the 50's.  Unfortunately, it's 2010, so a little bit of a modern touch could help bridge the gap.

3 Waffles (Out of 4)

Shutter Island is rated R for disturbing violent content, language and some nudity.

If you dream of waking up in the arms of the Twilight hunks, your prayers have been answered.

Someone has decided to ignore those laws about using someone's image for commercial purposes and created Edward Cullen and Jacob Black Boyfriend Pillows. 

If you ask me, those images are a bit creepy and might give you nightmares, but it might be exactly what the Bella in you desires, especially since they sold out.

Click on the link before the Cease and Desist letter goes to the creator.   
       

Hollywood's elite gathered for a sumptuous lunch of poached pear gorgonzola, marinated chicken breast and apple tarts as The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences celebrated this year's Oscar nominees. 

Before you start thinking this is an opportunity for George Clooney to play a prank like giving Quentin Tarantino a wet willie, or Sandra Bullock decides to declare a throwdown on Meryl Streep, reverse that train of thought. 

It's an annual tradition full of nominees praising each other, bonding, and getting their photos snapped, while declaring they have no idea what they will wear on the big night.  It's awesome,all of the cool kids were there and I am very jealous. 

While also serving as a press conference to promote the Oscar show, it is one of the only times most of the nominees are in one place, so special photos are taken.  Check out this cool photo of all the nominees in attendance.

As if you are surprised by this one.  The star-filled Valentine's Day became the number one movie at the box office this holiday weekend proving ticket buyers were in the mood for fluff and famous names.

For the Friday - Saturday period, Valentine's Day made an estimated $52 million, with an expected $60 million when you add in Monday's President's Day take.  Does this mean Ashton Kutcher is a bankable star now?

Surprisingly, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief and The Wolfman each pulled in about $31 million and $30 million respectively.    

Will anybody have money leftover to buy tickets to DiCaprio's Shutter Island this weekend?

  

Cakelove's Warren Brown has gotten plenty of attention over the past few years, but it's time for another set of DC bakers to get ready for their close up.

This July, Cupcake Sisters will premiere on TLC and feature Georgetown Cupcake's sister duo, Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis, as they manage the cupcakery.

Filming has already started, so get ready to learn about the sisters' lives, the behind-the-scenes drama of running a business day-to-day and some of the more inventive and creative ways they thrill DC with their cupcake magic. 

The series will run for 6 episodes this summer, but I am getting hungry thinking about it already.  Time to head down to the M Street shop for one of those Red Velvet masterpieces.  

Call it the romantic in me, or label me a sap, but I didn't hate it.  I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it.

Director Garry Marshall and writer Katherine Fugate present several tales of love, heartache and loss one Valentine's Day in Los Angeles.  Of course, they are all kind of intertwined, and figuring out how is part of the fun (unless you figure it out early in the movie, like most people will, then it's just predictable).

Reed (Ashton Kutcher) has proposed to his girlfriend, Morley (Jessica Alba playing the worst named female character in the history of movies), yet, no one can believe she said yes.

Julia (Jennifer Garner) is in love with her new, McDreamy boyfriend, Harrison (Patrick Dempsey), and wants to fly off to San Francisco to surprise him. 

Holden (Bradley Cooper) and Kate (Julia Roberts) strike up a conversation during a long flight home, but can each one get to the one they love? 

Jason (Topher Grace) is madly, head over heels for the lady he has been dating for a couple weeks, Liz (Anne Hathaway), but she seems to be hiding something from him.

Willie (Taylor Lautner) is trying to impress his girlfriend, Felicia (Taylor Swift, who might be the first beautiful young blonde in modern history to fall for a guy named Willie, as far as I know from firsthand knowledge).

And, a whole bunch of other people have love stories to conquer, but there are too many to list here, which highlights one of the problems with Valentine's Day.  It's a movie with too many stories. 

While none of them are hard to follow, none of the plots are very well developed, either.  We only get the bare minimum and superficial aspects of each character and each story, which makes you long for something more in depth.  Marshall and Fugate present the most predictable, safest stories possible, and could have cut out a few of them to make Valentine's Day more substantial. 

Also, Valentine's Day is a movie full of cute fluff instead of passion.   Sure, we root for the young elementary school boy who is trying his hardest to let the girl he is crushing on know about his feelings for her.  Yes, we giggle when some of the characters get together for an anti-Valentine's Day party complete with extreme violence committed against an innocent piñata.  However, we all know love is much more complicated than what we are seeing here on the screen.  Maybe Marshall and Fugate are trying to give us a retreat from reality, but reality is too obvious and more interesting.    

Valentine's Day features so many characters any actor or actress who didn't get a call for this one needs to fire his agent.

1 ½ Waffles (Out of 4)

Valentine's Day is rated PG-13 for some sexual material and brief partial nudity.

The people behind Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief are trying to follow the Harry Potter formula to make some box office magic (even bringing in the director of the first 2 Harry Potter movies), but this film is not even as exciting as a rabbit being pulled out of a hat.

Logan Lerman stars as Percy Jackson - a young teen Jonas Brother look-alike who is about to learn a secret that will rock his world.  It turns out he is not just some geeky, out of place kid who loves the water a little too much.  Percy is the son of Greek god Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), and Dad's brother, Zeus (Sean Bean), has accused Percy of stealing his lightning, which breaks a pact between the brothers not to steal each other's powers.

Of course, Poseidon declares his son's innocence, and we know Percy is not a dirty, dastardly thief, but Zeus is threatening to destroy the planet if his lightning is not returned.

Will Percy be able to handle the truth about his parentage, or will he demand Maury Povich perform a DNA test?

Can he find out who did steal Zeus lightning?

Is Zeus's lightning a metaphor for something a little more risqué and I am not getting it?

At times, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief feels like some sort of educational trick.  Sure, let's fool the kids into learning about Greek mythology by cloaking it in the guise of a hip movie with fight scenes, special effects and beautiful young people to get their attention.  Then, it becomes so lifeless and unoriginal, it's possible the only lesson you will learn about this movie is the cineplex's refund policy (or lack of one).

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, while winning the award for longest movie title, is a film that only goes through the motions.  It's yet another movie with a Romeo and Juliet story.  It's yet another movie with some new gadgets to wow the kids.  It's yet another movie with a wisecracking sidekick.  It's yet another movie with a group of older actors on the popularity decline who show up hoping this role will introduce them to a new generation of movie fans (and a few more hefty paychecks). 

Most of all, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief might get your 5-year old's attention, but it's not for younger kids.  I even question if it is for those under 13-years old as Percy runs into the Aphrodite girls, who, in a scene that comes straight out of a beer commercial or an episode of Real World, frolic in the hot tub and beckon the young boy to join them. 

Then, in another scene, Percy and his pals end up, for lack of a better term, high off a substance that is more potent than LSD and Heroin combined.  Plus, as if you haven't already tried to dissuade your child from seeing this movie, some very scary monsters attack our heroes with the intention of eating them for dinner. 

This is the stuff nightmares and uncomfortable questions are made of.

1 ½ Waffles (Out of 4)

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief is rated PG for action violence and peril, some scary images and suggestive material, and mild language.

I hate Roman Polanski as a human being, but he is a remarkable filmmaker.  Check out the trailer for The Ghost Writer. 

Ewan McGregor plays a writer who gets the gig of a lifetime when he is hired to ghostwrite the memoirs of a former Prime Minister, played by Pierce Brosnan.  Of course, scandal erupts, and McGregor fears for his life. 

Are you interested in seeing the movie, or will your opinion of Polanski cause you to stay away?
 

Or, they just want you to buy tickets to their movie. 

Either way, you can get some candy and movie goodies if you are in the right place at the right time on Friday.

To promote the release of Valentine's Day this weekend (playing in a theater near you), a big giant, charming, romantic, Valentine's Day Heart will be visiting American University, GWU, Georgetown University, Dupont Circle, Chinatown, Farragut Square and The Mall. 

Sadly, the heart will not be accompanied by stars Anne Hathaway, Julia Roberts, Taylor Swift, Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx, or Jennifer Garner, but it's very hard to put the moves on a Hollywood star while your mouth is full of candy (trust me on that one), so consider yourself saved from embarrassment. 

Of course, if we keep getting snow, the heart may have to ride a dog sled down Connecticut Avenue.  Any chance a famous group of 8 reindeer would be willing to give up some vacation time to help cupid? 

Here's a rough schedule where you can find the Valentine's Day Heart:

9:15 - 9:55 AM: American University - main campus Quad and Mary Graydon Center.

10:50 -11:10 AM: Georgetown University's main quad.

11:35 AM -12 PM: On George Washington University's campus walking around the student
center and other nearby buildings.

12:20 - 1:00 PM: Walk around Dupont Circle (eating lunch at the fountain because a heart has to replenish its energy).

1:00 - 1:25 PM: Walk down Connecticut Ave from Dupont Circle to 18 and I Street NW.

1:50 - 2:30 PM: Walking around the Verizon Center.

2:30 - 3:00 PM: Walking from Verizon Center to the National Mall.

3:00 - 3:30 PM: Walk around the Capitol and the National Mall.

4:30 - 5:30 PM: Walk from Lafayette Park to Farragut North. The heart will be in Farragut
Square for rush hour.

Here's another spoiler warning, so stop if you don't want to hear the worst kept secret about Ghostbusters 3.

If you are like me, the idea of a Ghostbusters 3 brings great hope and great worry.  The original Ghostbusters was one of the best comedies ever made.  It was one of the first movies I saw in the movie theater and the memory of the giant Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man stomping on New York City is beyond iconic to me.  

Ghostbusters 2 is one of the worst sequels ever made.

All of the ideas floating around for Ghostbusters 3 have only compounded the worries.  We have heard our original gang of Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson would appear early in the movie, only to hand off the franchise to a trio of smoking hot babes.  We have heard a new generation of Ghostbusters would be recruited from the comedy nerds who dominate Hollywood.  However, the best idea I have heard has (MAYBE) been confirmed by Bill Murray.

During the Avatar press junkets, Sigourney Weaver stated it, but I believe it now.  Bill Murray says he will be a ghost in Ghostbusters 3.  AWESOME!

For a sequel of this magnitude, Ivan Reitman, Murray, Ackroyd, et al needed to come up with a shocking and compelling idea to justify the effort.  The idea of Bill Murray being chased by the ghostbusters and causing absolute havoc along the way is full of promise.  Consider me excited!!!!

OMG!!!!!!!!  If you stepped out to go to the bathroom or grab some chicken wings during the Super Bowl, you may have missed the most dumbfounding TV moment I have witnessed in YEARS.

Yes, Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey both showed up with David Letterman in a promo spot for Late Night with David Letterman, which you can see by clicking on this link.

To produce the spot, Oprah tweeted that all three went to a set at The Ed Sullivan Theater where Letterman and crew do The Late Show each night.

Of course, this leaves us with many questions.

Why on earth did Letterman want to be in the same room with Leno?

Why did Leno want to be in the same room with Letterman?

Did NBC know Leno was going to appear in a promo for Letterman's show, which COMPETES with The Tonight Show, which Leno will now be hosting, again?

Was this Oprah's idea?  Dave's?  Jay's?

I cannot remember any time in my life when two sworn enemies and competitors of Jay and Dave's stature did something like this, and I am dying to find out why. 

And, thanks to Bill Carter at The New York Times, we know how it all came together.

 

I didn't think it was possible last week, but Channing Tatum and his Abs of Steel proved to be too much for Avatar at the box office this weekend with Dear John ringing up ticket sales to the tune of $32.4 Million.

After 7 weeks on top, Avatar falls to number 2 with $23.6 Million (bringing its worldwide total to $2.1 BILLION, so don't feel too bad for these guys), while Dear John becomes the largest ever opening for Screen Gems, and the largest ever Super Bowl weekend opening (surpassing Hannah Montana). 

John Travolta and Lionsgate's From Paris With Love stumbled in with a 3rd place finish at $8.1 million. 

I guess you should never bet against the ladies-friendly film when the boys are preparing for the Super Bowl party.  

Check out the weekly estimates by clicking here.

What does this mean?  Well, I will go out on a limb here and float the theory that Channing Tatum is hot right now after G.I.Joe and Dear John did well financially, and they're still looking for someone to play Captain America in next year's release of The First Avenger: Captain America (SPOILER ALERT for those who want to click on that link), 

Will Channing Tatum and his Abs of Steel become Captain America?  Can he act along side Robert Downey, Jr. and Ed Norton when they make The Avengers?

Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen learned a very valuable lesson today.  Apparently, he lives in a gated community out in California, so he felt it was safe to leave his SUV in the garage, with the door open, and the keys in the ignition.  It was stolen, and you can see the results here. 

I really hope this story doesn't get worse.  With Charlie Sheen, you never know what else we might learn about all of this.

From Paris With Love is a movie that shows you better have good writing if you want to be a traditional action thriller. Otherwise, just blow stuff up with a vengeance and let people enjoy the ride.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as Reece - the personal aide to the U.S. Ambassador to France. As you can imagine, this gives him a great deal of access to the upper echelons of power (as well as invitations to fancy parties with tasty appetizers), which comes in handy as he moonlights for a mysterious organization where Reece is some sort of spy in training. To get promoted to special ops, Reece needs to prove himself on his biggest assignment yet.

Charlie Wax (John "You Can Tell My Character is Crazy Because I Am Bald" Travolta) is a new operative arriving in Paris for a big, top secret assignment, and, as I mentioned earlier, Charlie is CRAZY! Now, Reece has to drive him around.

Are these guys good spies, or bad spies?

Will they live another day?

From Paris With Love is one of those movies that shouldn't take itself so seriously. In the beginning, director Pierre Morel and writer Adi Hasak make From Paris With Love a camptastic, over the top, insane movie relying on Travolta's nuttiness to keep the audience interested. Much like Drag Me To Hell or Shoot 'Em Up, we know this is not a great film, but it's funny.

Early on, From Paris With Love is more of a video game than taught thriller as Wax and Reece go to a location, shoot everything in sight, blow stuff up and cause so much damage the insurance company will raise the rates by 200%. Then, they move on to the next location to do it all again. Not much thought is put into what their assignment is supposed to be or judging the morality of what they do, but Travolta gets to toss in a few funny one-liners, along with some moronic dialogue, and Rhys Meyers does well as the uptight, less experience dude who is horrified at what's going on around him.

Unfortunately, Morel and Hasak try to get serious in the second half of the film, and From Paris With Love goes from acceptably goofy to downright ridiculous, flat and meaningless. When it's campy, at least the movie is something. However, when it takes this serious turn and tries to become a traditional thriller with all sorts of twists and turns where nothing is at it appears, the movie becomes flaccid. We couldn't care less what happens or who gets hurt.

From Paris With Love suffers when Morel and Hasak start to play it safe.

1 1/2 Waffles (Out of 4)







From Paris With Love is rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, drug content, pervasive language and brief sexuality.

Dear John is a movie that shows you how shallow people have become in 2010. This isn't a movie about a man and woman falling in passionate, life-changing, mesmerizing and everlasting love. It's a movie about a great set of abs falling in lust with a great pair of ... legs.

Set in 2001, Channing Tatum and his Abs of Steel star as John Tyree - a special forces soldier visiting his father (Richard Jenkins) in South Carolina. While hanging out at the beach, John shows off his skills by rescuing a purse dropped into the ocean by Savannah (Amanda Seyfried). Because he has Abs of Steel and she looks good in a bikini and mini-skirt, the two fall in lust/love.

However, she's going back to school and he's heading off on assignment, so the two promise to write letters to each other as much as they can until his return in about a year.

When the terrorist attacks happen on September 11, and John's assignment is extended indefinitely, will the two be able to maintain their long distance love affair?

Will either of them meet a new love?

Will absence make the heart grow fonder?

Channing Tatum and his Abs of Steel only serve as the heartthrob because he has Abs of Steel that look good when he is shirtless and walking along the beach. He doesn't sound smart or romantic when he speaks, and the man has no apparent charm or twinkle in his eyes that can melt a woman's heart. He can only melt their panties.

Director Lasse Hallstrom and writer Jamie Linden (based on the book by Nicholas Sparks) deliver a film with no magic, no romance, no excitement, no feeling, no emotion, and no soul. This is not a love affair that springs from something real that captures the audience's imagination and heart. It doesn't evolve as the two get to know more about each other because the characters are so thinly written, there isn't much to learn about them. The only reason we can imagine the two of them are in a relationship is because both are attractive people on the outside, even if they appear blank and empty on the inside.

I'm not sure how true to the book the movie is, but Linden takes Dear John in all of the wrong directions. Linden doesn't make the letters back and forth between John and Savannah compelling or poignant in any way, which adds to the feeling that these two are far from this generation's Romeo and Juliet (maybe they are more like this generation's Joanie and Chachi). Then, Dear John becomes all about everything but the romance. Linden, probably realizing the romance is fizzling beyond salvation, starts to make Dear John about the only interesting figure in the movie - John's father.

Jenkins is great as the father who obviously is struggling with some sort of difficulties, and shows more talent in one scene than Tatum and Seyfried do in the entire movie, but this is supposed to be a romance. His storyline just adds to the feeling this movie is going on and on and on with no end in sight.

Dear John is one of those movies people enjoy because they go in hoping for a moving, romantic experience and their heads are too afraid to let down their hearts. It's a form of denial only Dr. Phil could explain to us.

1/2 Waffle (Out of 4)







Dear John is rated PG-13 for some sensuality and violence.

Here we go again!  Snowmageddon is upon us, and, after raiding the grocery store for every roll of toilet paper and loaf of bread you can carry (along with a life saving supply of Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby), you will need something to do in between shoveling sessions.

It's a perfect weekend to watch some movies, but who wants to watch Dr. Zhivago, The Empire Strikes Back, The Day After Tomorrow or some other movie featuring piles and piles of snow that still look puny next to that mountain of white stuff at the end of your complex's parking lot?

Let some DVDs take you away from the cold for a few hours.

Gone With The Wind - It's a classic some people consider to be one of the greatest movies ever made, but who has 4 hours to sit down and watch the whole thing?!?!?!  You do this weekend.  That big fire scene will probably warm you up as well.

Adventureland - A college kid who thought he was heading to New York for grad school, Jesse Eisenberg (that kid from Zombieland), finds himself stuck working at the local, rundown amusement park for the summer.  However, that doesn't sound so bad as he gets to know Kristen Stewart.  Funny, poignant and full of awesome 80's alternative tunes (The Replacements rock!!!!!)

Blue Hawaii - It's Hawaii, Elvis Presley, surfing, girls in bikinis and a cheesy love story!  What's not to love?  Plus, you will feel like you are hosting a Luau in your living room, and that's a party I want to be invited to. 

Little Miss Sunshine - It has sunshine right in the title!  While your family would usually be much more normal when compared to these people, dysfunction could be slipping into your world late Sunday morning as cabin fever strikes.  Little Miss Sunshine will teach you what signs of nuttiness to look for, and how to cope with them.  As an added bonus, they are driving from New Mexico to California, so all of the roads are plowed and you don't have to worry about a spot of black ice.

Point Break - They're skydiving, surfing bank robbers lead by Patrick Swayze, and Keanu Reeves needs to infiltrate their gang.  Whoa!  Directed by Kathryn Bigelow (2010 Oscar nominee for The Hurt Locker), Point Break is full of action, buff dudes and classic campy moments.

Superbad - Remember what it was like to be in high school and the biggest problem you faced was trying to impress the ladies?  Instead of worrying about the roof caving in from too much snow, or the pipes bursting from the cold, sit down and watch Michael Cera and Jonah Hill have the craziest night two high school kids have ever experienced.  Bonus points if you can tell us which state issued McLovin's illegal ID.   

What are some other great DVDs for a snowy weekend? 

We covered the acting categories, so it's time to talk about the biggest Oscar showdown in years.  Who will win?  The little independent movie that could, or the massive worldwide blockbuster with smurf-tastic special effects?

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

James Cameron (Avatar)

Jason Reitman (Up In The Air)

Lee Daniels (Precious)

Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)

And the winner will be ... Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker.

The writers on Gossip Girl could not come up with a juicier storyline.  In one corner, we have James Cameron - the self proclaimed King of the World who dominated the Oscars and the box office with his last movie (Titanic) and conquered Hollywood as he unveiled the most daring, expensive and technologically advanced film in years, which has become the biggest moneymaker EVER. 

In the other corner, we have his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow - a director who has had some success with the classic Patrick Swayze/Keanu Reeves film, Point Break, but no one will ever call her Queen of the World. 

While Avatar continues to make enough money to purchase some exotic private island in the Bahamas, The Hurt Locker has barely played anywhere in America, most people have never heard of it, and it's a movie that courts controversy because it's set in the middle of the war in Iraq.  Without attention from critics' groups and other awards ceremonies in the last few months, The Hurt Locker would have disappeared and barely made a dent when it was released on DVD. 

However, Bigelow is the frontrunner for Best Director.  She has been awarded the Director's Guild Award for Best Director, and the winner of this award has won the Oscar for Best Director 55 out of 61 times.  Why?  Like with the Screen Actors Guild, many members of the Directors Guild also vote in the Oscars.  Plus, Bigelow would be the first woman to ever win Best Director. 

David slays Goliath.  The ex-wife beats the ex-husband.  A woman wins for the first time. 

Hollywood can't resist a story like that.    

Best Animated Feature

Up

Coraline

The Princess and the Frog

The Secret of Kells

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

And the winner will be ... Up.

What the heck is The Secret of Kells?  Where did this come from?  Has anyone reading this piece actually seen the movie or heard of it? 

Aside from that, Up wins because it is a very good movie.  Pixar has walked away with this award 4 of the 8 times it has been given (including the last 2 in a row) and you have to know Oscar voters are in love with Up, since it was the only animated feature to be nominated for Best Picture this year, and only the second animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture (yes, according to Oscar rules, Avatar qualifies for the Best Animated Feature category, which would make it the third animated film in history to be nominated for Best Picture, but the studio didn't seek out an Animated Feature nomination, so this stat could end up with some sort of asterisk put next to it). 

 

Best Documentary

Food, Inc.

Burma VJ

The Cove

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Which Way Home

And the winner will be ... The Cove.

This could be one of the hardest categories to predict.  Some Academy members will vote for a movie because it compels them to support a cause.  Others will vote for the movie that tells a story in the most emotional and intriguing way possible.  This year, I think The Cove covers both of those.

Best Picture

A Serious Man

An Education

Avatar

The Blind Side

District 9

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Precious

Up In The Air

Up

And the winner will be ... The Hurt Locker.

The folks at the Academy wanted films you actually have seen to be nominated for Best Picture, which should lead to better ratings for the Oscars show, so they expanded the pool to 10 total nominees, and it worked. 

It's hard to think The Blind Side or District 9 would have been one of the top 5, but, now, they have a chance to win the whole thing.  However, they won't.

Right now, it looks like a battle between Avatar and The Hurt Locker, just like it is a battle between James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow in the Best Director category. 

Here's why I think The Hurt Locker wins.  First of all, the film with the most nominations wins Best Picture about 70% of the time.  With Avatar and The Hurt Locker both holding 9 nominations, one of them has a good chance at winning the big prize.

Second, 60 times out of 81, the winner of Best Director directed the winner of Best Picture.  Since I think Bigelow is taking Best Director, logic leads me to think The Hurt Locker wins Best Picture.

Third, it's an analysis of which voting bloc can be counted on.  My friend Jim Judy at Screenit.com made a very telling observation.  With 10 nominees, the support for films is spread thinner.  The winner doesn't need 50% of the vote.  The winner could have as little as 11% of the vote if every nominee gets about the same number of votes.

Independent movies like The Hurt Locker tend to draw a very supportive, vocal and loyal following, which should not waiver as the next month slowly passes.  Avatar might be the talk of the town for how much money it has earned so far, but something else will be #1 at the box office in a few weeks.     

Just keep in mind, all of those stats I just threw at you could be null and void in 2010.  This category is the one where we can see the biggest surprise because it has been many years since The Academy nominated 10 films in the Best Picture category, so we don't have anything to compare the 2010 race to. 

The Oscar nominations have been made, so now the guessing, campaigning, and whispering begins!  However, this year's Oscar race will be a bit different than in years past.

Due to a scheduling quirk, we have almost nothing happening between the day of the nominations and the actual ceremony on March 7.  In past years, the Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild, Golden Globes, critics awards and more have occurred during the final balloting for the Oscars, but, this year, all were conducted before the nominations were announced. 

This means the Hollywood studios and their high priced campaign machines could have more impact than in recent years.  The publicity teams orchestrate a complex combination of advertising, public statements, behind the scenes chatter and schmoozing between nominees and voters to capture the bald golden guy, and this year will give them more chances to influence the electorate. 

Even with all of that taken into consideration, this year's frontrunners have become very apparent, so it's time to make my first round of Oscar predictions.    

Sure, I will wimp out and revise these predictions if one of our nominees does something outrageous (I'm looking at you Quentin Tarantino), but don't count on it.

Check back on Thursday for Part 2, where I'll predict Best Director, Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary and Best Picture!  Will James Cameron be King of the World, again?

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)

George Clooney (Up In The Air)

Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

Morgan Freeman (Invictus)

Colin Firth (A Single Man)

And the winner will be ... Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart.  

After a long, distinguished and revered career in Hollywood, Jeff Bridges gets his due from the Academy voters in 2010.  He has been nominated 5 times without a win, but Bridges has been parading through Hollywood like a humble king during this year's awards season. 

Most importantly, he won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor, which is significant, since many SAG voters also vote for the Academy Awards.  It's akin to being a presidential candidate who wins the New Hampshire primary or Iowa caucuses.  Voters have spoken and given you credibility.  

Call it a Lifetime Achievement Award if you will, but Bridges has support from the acting community and many people think he deserves one of these after being passed over a few times (which can influence voters), so he's walking away with an Oscar on March 7. 

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)

Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia)

Carey Mulligan (An Education)

Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)

Helen Mirren (The Last Station)

And the winner will be ... Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side. 

Sandra Bullock wins unless she is caught driving drunk down Ventura Highway, wearing a George W. Bush costume, while singing Milli Vanilli songs to a kidnapped and crying Dakota Fanning.  Even then, it only reduces her chances to 50-50.  

When the campaign season started, I figured Bullock had a decent chance at getting a nomination, but she has rallied throughout the last few months to emerge from possible nominee to frontrunner.  

She has won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress, tied with Meryl Streep for the same award at the Critics Choice Awards, and has lots of goodwill built up in Hollywood to propel her to a victory. 

People want to see her win because she's still America's Sweetheart no matter how many bombs like All About Steve or Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood she might make.    

Sure, Meryl Streep holds the record among actors with 16 Oscar nominations, but she hasn't won since 1983 (and only won twice out of fifteen previous nominations, the only person who strikes out more is me at the club on a Saturday night).

 

Best Supporting Actress

Mo'Nique (Precious)

Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air)

Vera Farmiga (Up In The Air)

Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)

Penelope Cruz (Nine)

And the winner will be ... Mo'Nique for Precious.

What can you say?  Mo'Nique was magnificent in ways many didn't know she could be, and has won every award out there because of it.  You can't deny obvious genius when it occurs right before your eyes. 

Penelope can sit back and relax because she has won before. 

Gyllenhaal should be thankful she got an invitation to the party as she rode Jeff Bridges's coattails to a nomination.  

Kendrick is in the Twilight movies, and has a Tony Award nomination to go with the Oscar nomination, so that will get her plenty of work in the next few years. 

I only cry for Farmiga.  For every role in a movie like The Departed, Up In The Air and Nothing But The Truth, she gets stuck in a howler like Orphan or Joshua. 

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)

Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)

Matt Damon (Invictus)

Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)

And the winner will be ... Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds.

I am starting to sound like a broken record, but, like Mo'Nique, Waltz has won EVERYTHING.  He came out of European television and theaters to shock and amaze audiences as the cold, nasty, oddly charming and chillingly intelligent Nazi villain when everyone who went to see Inglourious Basterds was looking forward to seeing Brad Pitt, but walked away talking about him.