September 2011 Archives

I know you might not think you are ready for a comedy about cancer, but this is more than just another comedy. 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Adam - a fastidious, hardworking radio producer in Seattle who suddenly is diagnosed with cancer. 

He's a young man, but, as he finds out, Adam only has a 50/50 chance of beating this particular form of the disease. Facing the loss of someone they care about, his best friend, Kyle (Seth Rogen), family and therapist, Katherine (Anna Kendrick), are ready to help him get through the rough patches.

Will Adam make it?

To paraphrase and steal a memorable line from Brad Pitt in Moneyball, "There's bad movies.  Then, there's 20 feet of crap under those.  Then, there's What's Your Number?". 

Anna Faris stars as Ally Darling (that name alone should scare you into the theater playing Moneyball) - a bubbly blond whose life is falling apart.  In addition to dealing with some personal problems at work and with her latest ex-boyfriend, Ally's sister, Daisy Darling (Ari Gaynor), is getting married, which makes the older Ally start to wonder where her Prince Charming might be.

As Ally starts to reflect, she realizes she has slept with 19 guys, and, well, that makes her feel a bit icky, so, with the help of her hunky, Casanova-of-Casual-Sex neighbor, Colin (Chris "Still Sporting Those Muscles from Captain America" Evans), our harlot of a heroine decides to hunt down her previous paramours in the hope that one of them might be Mr. Right.

Will Ally find the right guy by looking back at those other dudes?

How long until Ally and Colin start knocking boots and making him #20? (You know I am right.  As soon as you saw the commercials or read the summary above, you knew this was some silly romantic comedy where the two of them would be getting together at some point.  Plus, each one REALLY likes sex.)

Based on the true story, Gerard Butler stars as Sam Childers - an ex-con, biker gang member, thief and drug dealer whose life is spiraling out of control (that phrase, "spiraling out of control" seems to apply to so many characters in movies).  Finally pushed to the breaking point, Sam is convinced to find God and change his wayward behavior. 

Along with help from his ex-stripper wife, Lynn (Michelle Monaghan), he becomes extremely active in his faith, and quickly decides to serve as a missionary traveling to Uganda, but is moved by the plight of children in nearby Sudan.  Curious, he heads into the middle of the fighting, and Sam realizes he can't just do a little and fly back to his good life in the United States.  He decides to build an orphanage for refugee children, which puts him in the crosshairs of a civil war.

Can Sam help these war torn lives?

Has he gone too far when he joins up with the rebel forces?

10 years later, are you ready for a movie that features 9/11 in the story?

That's a big question, especially after films United 93 and World Trade Center tried to tell these stories, and were not successful at the box office, even though both were good movies.  I even famously went on a rant about how Robert Pattinson's Remember Me didn't need to feature a 9/11 theme. 

Now, Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, two of the most beloved actors in the game, are going there. 

And, they are going there on Christmas Day. 

So, do you think this will be a good movie?  Bad idea?  Excited to see it?
 

Fall is the time for Oscar contenders, but, this year, it also is time for the Oscars host!

Tower Heist is full of plenty of big name stars, but the biggest has to be Eddie Murphy.  Directed by Brett Ratner, who will be producing the 2012 Oscars and pushed hard for Murphy to be the show's host, the movie could be one that strikes a special chord in these times, if the writing rings true, instead of falling into cliche or an unbelievable ending.

Check out the trailer below. 

Is this the beginning of the Eddie Murphy Comeback?
 

There is so much testosterone in this movie, women walk into the theater looking like Taylor Swift, but they walk out looking like Chaz Bono.

Supposedly based on a true story (which is in dispute), Jason Statham stars as Danny - a big time assassin for hire who walked away from the game, but they pulled him back in!  His best pal and mentor, Hunter (Robert De Niro), has been kidnapped by the Sheikh of Oman, who wants revenge for the murder of his sons at the hands of British secret service agents. 

Now, Danny has to eliminate those retired agents while obtaining their confessions to gain Hunter's freedom.  However, (yes, this is getting complicated) a secret cadre of former British agents, led by Spike (Clive Owen), isn't about to let those comrades be taken out by anybody.

Will Danny be successful?

Is there something more going on here?

Will Danny figure it out?

Only Aaron Sorkin could take a nonfiction book about the intricacies of Major League Baseball and statistics and turn it into a crowd pleasing paean starring Brad Pitt.  Any chance he wants to take a look at my book?  And, can I get George Clooney to play me in the movie (even though I better resemble Daniel Baldwin)?  

Somewhat based on the true story (you have to wonder how true when one of the main players in this history refuses to let his name to be used), Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane - a former baseball phenom who has gone on to become the general manager of the Oakland A's.  Without the money big teams like the Yankees and the Red Sox have at their disposal, Beane has built a team that came within a game of beating the mighty, World Series winning, legendary  Yankees in the playoffs (is it obvious I am from New York?).  However, his top players have been lured away by big contracts in the offseason, so he has to rebuild with even less money.

Desperate and realizing the team can't compete the same, traditional way, Beane becomes interested in the theories of Peter Brand (Jonah Hill playing the fictional version of Paul DePodesta) - a knowledgeable, insightful, shy, stats geek who believes you have to look at players and their stats in a different way to assess their value and how they can help the team (known as sabermetrics).  With a staff of old time scouts, and a manager, Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who doesn't buy into all of this new fangled thinking, Beane and Brand have a great deal to prove, or they will lose their jobs.

Will the Oakland A's be able to compete and make the playoffs again?

Have Billy and Peter changed baseball forever?

In the interest of full disclosure and maintaining my journalistic integrity (stop laughing), I must reveal Warner Brothers (the studio behind Dolphin Tale) served me, and the entire crowd at the movie when I saw it, the most DELICIOUS cookies I have ever eaten!  It didn't effect this review, but it did put me in a good mood.  Well played Warner Brothers.  Well played.  

"Inspired" by the true story, Nathan Gamble stars as Sawyer - a young boy in Clearwater, FL who has to attend summer school because he is more interested in focusing on his projects and insular word instead of applying his abilities and intelligence to school work.  It is a horrible development in a series of horrible developments as the kid also has watched his beloved cousin, Kyle (Austin Stowell), go off to the Middle East after joining the military to pay for his Olympic swim team training (Which is just ridiculous.  A championship swimmer can get a FAT scholarship to a big time swim school like Stanford or UCLA, but I digress).  

While riding his bike to school one day, Sawyer comes across a fisherman who has found a young, injured dolphin.  The kid does what he can to help, aides with the rescue, and later wanders over to the marine life sanctuary where he finds the dolphin, Winter (played by Winter herself), is facing a battle with life or death that turns for the worse when Dr. Clay Haskett (Harry Connick, Jr.) discovers her tail is too injured and the way she is swimming will cause major medical problems.

When Winter's tail is amputated for her own good, how will this fighting dolphin survive?

On October 16, 1968, two men changed the Olympics forever, and made a contribution to the Civil Rights movement that can't be measured. 

After winning the gold medal in the Men's 200 Meter dash, Tommie Smith was joined by bronze medalist John Carlos on the podium where they made one, silent, powerful gesture that rocked the world.   

This salute defined Dr. John Carlos, and you can learn more about his life and the events surrounding the historic moment when he and author David Zirin host a screening of Not Just a Game: Politics, Power & American Sports, then take questions from the audience about the movie, Dr. Carlos's life and the book they co-authored, The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment that Changed the World .

The free event takes place at George Mason University's Johnson Center Cinema on October 3, 2011 at 6 PM, where you can purchase a copy of The John Carlos Story and get it signed by the authors.

If you are sitting around waiting in anticipation to find out more about Taylor Lautner's new movie, Abduction, I am sorry to disappoint you. I won't have a review this week.

Believe it or not, Lionsgate didn't want me to see Abduction with Taylor Lautner. I guess that's because I am not a 12-year old girl who discovers all sorts of new, strange, confusing and exhilarating feelings when I see him without his shirt on.  You'll have to get those reviews on Twitter when the movie opens Friday.













  

If I made this movie, I wouldn't be worried about Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour protesting the portrayal of the state and its fine citizens.  I would be worried about him hunting me down and getting revenge!

James Marsden and Kate Bosworth star as David and Amy Sumner - a Hollywood screenwriter and a TV actress who head back to her Mississippi hometown to rebuild the family farm, while he works on a screenplay.  Of course, the locals aren't all that high on this Jaguar driving writer with money to burn, especially Amy's old boyfriend, Charlie (Alexander Skarsgard), who has been hired with his buddies to work on the barn roof.

As Charlie seems to be intent on rekindling the old passions with Amy, and the rest of his crew tries to assert a bit of male dominance over David with good-natured teasing that is starting to go too far, the tensions between all are putting them on the path to a confrontation that will be as ugly as anything you have ever seen before. 

When it comes time to stand up and defend his wife and house, will David be ready?

Who will snap first?

Ryan Gosling stars as a mysterious stunt driver who makes extra money at night as a getaway specialist.  Give him 5 minutes, and he will make sure you don't get caught by the cops while hightailing it away from the crime scene.  After that, he doesn't know your name, doesn't want to see you and doesn't care what happens.  However, his life is about to get more complicated that he ever wanted.

Suddenly, our driver has feelings for the next door neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan).  His business partner, Shannon (Bryan Cranston), wants to make a go of it as a driving team in legitimate races, and the job he never should have taken puts the driver in harm's way in a predicament he never could have imagined.  

How will he get out of this jam?

Can he?

I think I had the same reaction when I realized Sarah Jessica Parker scored the starring role in this movie.

Parker stars as Kate Reddy - a hardworking investment fund manager and mother of two who always burns the candle at both ends.  Between constant business travel, bake sales, doctor appointments and more, Kate is at her wits' end.  Of course, it is about to get worse.

Kate's latest proposal has caught the attention of the company's bigwig, Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan), and this could be the biggest break of her career.  With all of the extra work, her hubby's (Greg Kinnear) new project demanding more of his time at work and a daughter (Emma Rayne Lyle) who wants to spend more time with Mommy, Kate might have met her match.

Can Kate continue to be SuperWoman?

She's beautiful, a great actress, and, now, a great director.   Commence jealousy of Vera Farmiga.

In Higher Ground, Farmiga stars as Corinne - a young lady from a troubled home, who finds love and tragedy at a very early age.  After a shocking accident, her husband, Ethan (Joshua Leonard), turns to God, while Corinne comes along on her own search for faith. 

While most movies dealing with the issues of faith and religion often find themselves corralled into the Religious or Christian genres only targeted to those audiences, Farmiga attempts to bring that discussion into the mainstream, if you can find the movie playing near you.

Just hours ago, we learned Scarlett Johansson was the latest victim of a hacking ring that stole sexy photos of Hollywood starlets, including Vanessa Hudgens and Blake Lively, off their phones and laptops.  Now, Mila Kunis has become the newest victim.

According to TMZ.com, Kunis had photos of Justin Timberlake taken off of her phone, including a photo of JT wearing some pink panties on his head, and one where he laid seductively on a bed as bare chested as Taylor Lautner in a Twilight movie.

Additionally, Mila was in a photo featuring her in a bath tub (from the head up), and an unidentified male was seen in another more explicit photo making it clear he was a male.  All of these photos are starting to appear on the web as we speak.  

I know we all are tempted to have a giggle about this (and the idea of JT with pink panties on his head is one that had me laughing), but we can't forget the act of breaking into someone's phone, stealing the photos and posting them on the Internet is illegal, and the FBI is chasing these hackers. 

Who is next?

As we wrote about back in June when naked pics of the lovely Miss Blake Lively were plastered all over the Internet, Scarlett Johansson was named as a possible victim of a hacking ring that stole compromising photos of Hollywood starlets off their phones and computers to be shared with the world. 

Today, Johansson was confirmed as a victim when those naked photos of her were found on various web sites all over the world.

Who is behind this? 

What is their goal?

Those are questions the FBI is looking into.  Vanessa Hudgens appeared to be the first victim when more photos of her showed up on the web this Spring. 

Then, Lively was the next victim in June, even though her reps claim it is not her in those photos, which prompted the hackers to release even more photos.  Even MMA fighter Tito "husband of porn star Jenna Jameson" Ortiz had a photo of him taken from his phone and posted to his Twitter account. 

Amazingly, it might not have been that hard to pull off the heists.  It is believed the hackers simply exploited easy to guess passwords, or found the answers to security questions needed to re-set passwords, then changed the passwords to gain access to the photographic booty. 

Who will be next?

That sound you hear is every Twilight fan screaming in ecstasy as they see the new trailer for Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1.

There will be a marriage.

There will be a pregnancy.

There will be angry werewolves.

There will be some vampire sex!

And Taylor Lautner keeps his shirt on the entire time. 

Check out the trailer below, and try not to scream so loud your neighbors are worried about you.

Everybody remain calm!  Don't panic!  All is well!

It's only Hollywood stars walking the streets of DC as Josh Lucas comes to town to film his new TV show, The Firm.

This week, the mid-season replacement show based on the Tom Cruise movie will be shooting around the National Archives, Newseum and the State Department, according to the DC Office Motion Picture and Television Development. 

If Mayor Vincent Gray has his way, you will have the chance to see even more Hollywood wonder on the streets of DC.  Throughout the summer, Mayor Gray has been wooing television and film productions to bring their stories, sets and money to the District.  Between a trip to Hollywood earlier in the summer and visits to the sets of the TV shows Covert Affairs and The Firm, Gray is putting the full court press on producers to see DC as a viable place to make Hollywood magic.

However, this is not for glamor or publicity photos with Hollywood stars (of course, I still do expect some of those to show up in Gray's campaign materials next time around).  Film and TV production can be very healthy for the local economy.  For example, a study of the impact of video and film production in Maryland in 2008 showed it was responsible for over 11,000 jobs, income of over $268 million and related business sales and activity of over $1.3 billion.  You bet DC would like to get a piece of that pie.   

After seeing this movie, you will feel the need to bathe in hand sanitizer for a week and will look cross-eyed at every person who coughs within a 10-foot radius of your position.  If I was a cruel person, I would invite Howie Mandel to the Hollywood premiere just to see the germaphobe go crazy.

Gwyneth Paltrow stars as Beth - a corporate executive on business travel to Hong Kong, who picks up some strange virus that quickly spreads to everyone she comes into contact with.  As the virus becomes a full blown pandemic killing so many people a mass panic has begun, Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) is sent to Beth's Minneapolis home to figure out how to treat people, including Beth's husband, Mitch (Matt Damon), Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) is sent to Hong Kong to figure out where this virus came from, Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) is in charge of finding a cure and a meddlesome blogger, Alan (Jude Law), stirs up public sentiment against the government. 

Who will live and who will die?

Can a cure be found before civilization as we know it ends?

Is this organic, or did someone start a biological terrorist attack on humanity?

Believe me when I tell you a movie featuring a plot with an alcoholic father seeking redemption for his past evils, a Marine with a mysterious history, a guy fighting to save his house and pay his daughter's medical bills, two brothers secretly on a collision course in a winner-take-all tournament and more would even have the writers at All My Children guffawing and saying, "PUH-lease!"  (somewhere Susan Lucci is rolling her eyes and commenting how this is unrealistic). 

However, for all of the melodramatic twists and turns designed to manipulate every emotion in your heart and soul, Warrior is pretty good.

Tom Hardy stars as Tommy - a troubled former Marine who has returned home with a new cause.  With no hope, no prospects and no real skills, Tommy has decided to do the one thing he knows how.  He is going to fight.

That is not a prank headline.  It is the real deal.

According to Deadline Hollywood, after years of speculation and development, Warner Brothers has teamed Mel Gibson with writer Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct, Showgirls) to work on the story of Jewish hero Judah Maccabee who joined with his father and brothers to lead a revolt against Greek and Syrian armies.  These struggles and victories to ensure Jews could worship freely are remembered during Hanukkah.

I know you automatically will think this is some sort of lame, calculated attempt by Gibson to apologize for his statements about Jews and what some feel is an anti-Semetic theme to The Passion of the Christ, but this project has been rumored and discussed since The Passion of the Christ became a hit.

After The Passion of the Christ, I was shocked Gibson moved forward with Apocalypto instead of the Maccabee story.  It is a perfect tale for Gibson, given his direction of Braveheart as well as the other movies mentioned earlier. 

However, are you interested in seeing Gibson direct and produce this movie?

Does he have the right to do so, or should he pick another director to helm it?
 

At about 3 PM this afternoon, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences formally announced Eddie Murphy will be hosting the Oscars telecast on February 26. 

This is fantastic news.

When it was announced Brett Ratner would be one of the producers of the Oscars in 2012, I thought the Academy had lost it. 

The director/producer had shown all of the gravitas of a character on Entourage, and his movies, while successful, never screamed out to be given one of the bald, golden guys (Let's just say Clooney and Eastwood never have to worry that Ratner might wrestle a project from them). 

However, Ratner has come up with an idea that will revive interest in the ceremony, resurrect the career of a beloved comedian, and make the show watchable.  Ratner wants Eddie Murphy to host the Oscars. 

BRILLIANT!