Saturday night we watched “The Fighter”.
I was definitely looking forward to watching this movie. How can a movie be that bad when Mark Wahlberg is in it? (I still fancy his brother Donnie more though) But honestly, I know almost nothing about boxing, nor do I care about boxing. I found out though that this movie was more about family issues first and boxing second.
“The Fighter” is a true story about Irish Mickey Ward and his boxer-turned-cocaine-addict-brother Dickey, who helps Mickey train before going pro in the 1980’s. Mickey is played by Mark Wahlberg and Dickey is played by Christian Bale. Mickey’s girlfriend Charlene is played by Amy Adams and the boy’s mother Alice is played by Melissa Leo.
This movie has been nominated for Best Picture, Christian Bale is nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and both Amy Adams and Melissa Leo are nominated for Best Actress in a supporting Role.
This film was a story of an Irish family, struggling through life, love, commitment, and boxing. Christian Bale is well deserved for an Oscar nomination as he once again transformed himself into a character for Dickey Ward. Amy Adams and Melissa Leo both are good in my opinion, but what really surprises me is the lack of an Oscar nomination for Mark Wahlberg. He is amazing. I can hardly believe that he would be left out of the Best Actor category. Assholes. I bet it's because he used to model underwear back in the day.
Verdict: B- a great story about the struggle of never giving up.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
"The Kids are All Right" movie review
Friday night I managed to watch the movie “The Kids are All Right”. Chris had absolutely no interest in this movie so after him and Austin went to bed I put it on.
The overall gist of the movie is that it is about a lesbian couple, their two children and the sudden involvement of the sperm donor who fathered the couple’s children via artificial insemination.
Nic is played by Annette Bening and Jules is played by Julieanne Moore. Their two children are the 15 year old Laser played by Josh Hutcherson and 18 year old Joni played by Mia Wasikowska from Tim Burton’s Alice and Wonderland. Mark Ruffalo plays Paul, the biological father of both of the children.
This movie has been nominated for the Oscar Best Picture, as well as Annette Bening is nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.
Neither are deserving of the award. I honestly can’t believe anyone liked this movie.
First of all…I guess it is possible that I am becoming a prude in my old age, but WOW for the amount of sex. And not just the rustling under the cover type sex. The kind of movie that if they showed anymore skin, it would have been considered a porn movie.
That being said, I liked the characters of the film. They were quirky, interesting and believable, but the writing sucked With such great actors, this could have been a meaningful exploration of the relationship issues that same sex parents, their children and their sperm donors face in this age of changing family dynamics. Instead, we get a sex filled movie, where the biological dad ends up losing out on these kids that he has come to genuinely care about, while the mom Jules comes out completely unscathed.
Verdict: F-Don’t waste your time.
The overall gist of the movie is that it is about a lesbian couple, their two children and the sudden involvement of the sperm donor who fathered the couple’s children via artificial insemination.
Nic is played by Annette Bening and Jules is played by Julieanne Moore. Their two children are the 15 year old Laser played by Josh Hutcherson and 18 year old Joni played by Mia Wasikowska from Tim Burton’s Alice and Wonderland. Mark Ruffalo plays Paul, the biological father of both of the children.
This movie has been nominated for the Oscar Best Picture, as well as Annette Bening is nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.
Neither are deserving of the award. I honestly can’t believe anyone liked this movie.
First of all…I guess it is possible that I am becoming a prude in my old age, but WOW for the amount of sex. And not just the rustling under the cover type sex. The kind of movie that if they showed anymore skin, it would have been considered a porn movie.
That being said, I liked the characters of the film. They were quirky, interesting and believable, but the writing sucked With such great actors, this could have been a meaningful exploration of the relationship issues that same sex parents, their children and their sperm donors face in this age of changing family dynamics. Instead, we get a sex filled movie, where the biological dad ends up losing out on these kids that he has come to genuinely care about, while the mom Jules comes out completely unscathed.
Verdict: F-Don’t waste your time.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Best Picture Nominees
My goal is to watch all of the films that are nominated for a best picture Oscar this year.
Usually, the films that get nominated for best picture end up being movies that I completely dislike. They are usually films that I find boring, confusing, or just plain dumb. And I have always been a huge critic of the awards shows because they are blatantly biased against anything that has to do with science fiction. And, I must add that I think it is entirely ridiculous that they nominate ten movies. I mean really?
That being said, I have already seen some of the movies that have been nominated.
~Inception: I ADORED this movie. Definitely one of my top movies ever. That should come as no surprise to anyone. I just cannot sing the praises enough of this movie. It was interesting, thought provoking, completely different from the usual cookie cutter movies that are made today, and awesome special effects that were done without the use of CGI. That being said, I’m quite certain that the Academy will not show Christopher Nolan any love for this movie as they seem to view science fiction as not a real genre. And I am entirely appalled that Nolan was not nominated for best director.
~The Social Network: Honestly I had zero interest in this movie. I could care less about the beginnings of this phenomenon that we call Facebook. However, I LOVE Justin Timberlake. Ah dear Justin, how I wish you would make some music. But instead…he is focusing on acting. Most of the movies he’s made have been not so good. But I still watch them because just seeing him is yum! So I watched The Social Network and I must say I was surprised. Justin did a decent job and the movie itself was semi-interesting. It wasn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but I just don’t get the hoopla and press that has surrounded this movie as the “movie of the year”. It wasn’t anything special.
~Black Swan: I was interested in seeing this movie from the moment I heard about it. Natalie Portman is one of my favorite actor’s. It seems like the only thing people mentioned about this movie was the kiss between Portman and Kunis, continuing the belief that sex sells. Overall I thought this movie was good, though weird. Portman and Kunis acted brilliantly and the imagery was excellent.
~The Fighter: I have not seen this movie yet, but I have it downloaded ready to go. All I know is that it is about Irish brother’s who are boxers. One of the brother’s I believe has a drug problem after suffering a humiliating defeat. I like all things Irish and I like Mark Wahlberg (though I fancy his brother Donny more. NKOTB 4EVER!).
~The King’s Speech: I never knew what this was about until I heard the buzz about it at the Globes. The movie is the story of King George VI of England, his ascention to the throne and the speech therapist who helps him overcome his stuttering. I like the premise of someone overcoming a disability and my studying of deaf and speech problems makes this even more interesting to me. I hope it doesn’t disappoint.
~The Kid’s are All Right: Another movie that I hadn’t heard anything about. I hear the premise is a lesbian couple that has two children that were conceived by artificial insemination and end up bringing in the birth father to their family. Could be good…but also could be boring.
~Toy Story 3: How cool would it be if an animated movie won best picture? I’m sad to say that I haven’t seen this yet, but I have seen all the other Toy Story movies and am familiar with the awesomeness that this franchise is. Hopefully, I can get my son to sit down and watch this one with me.
~True Grit: From IMDB- “Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, a man with "true grit," Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. Against his wishes, she joins him in his trek into the Indian Nations in search of Chaney. They are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who wants Chaney for his own purposes. The unlikely trio find danger and surprises on the journey, and each has his or her "grit" tested”. I’m going to give it a try, but normally I would have no interest in a movie like this.
~Winter’s Bone: Another movie I know nothing of. From IMDB-“With an absent father and a withdrawn and depressed mother, 17 year-old Ree Dolly keeps her family together in a dirt poor rural area. She's taken aback however when the local Sheriff tells her that her father put up their house as collateral for his bail and unless he shows up for his trial in a week's time, they will lose it all. She knows her father is involved in the local drug trade and manufactures crystal meth, but everywhere she goes the message is the same: stay out of it and stop poking your nose in other people's business. She refuses to listen, even after her father's brother, Teardrop, tells her he's probably been killed. She pushes on, putting her own life in danger, for the sake of her family until the truth, or enough of it, is revealed”. Sounds like it could have potential.
~127 Hours: This will probably be the last movie that I watch. If, I watch it at all. I definitely have zero interest in this one. It is the true story of a man who has a boulder fall on his arm trapping him alone in a canyon in Utah. To save himself he chops off his arm or something. Yuck. Not something that I really want to see.
After I hopefully watch them all I will give my opinion as to who should win the Oscar. I’m already betting that Inception will get screwed just because…
Usually, the films that get nominated for best picture end up being movies that I completely dislike. They are usually films that I find boring, confusing, or just plain dumb. And I have always been a huge critic of the awards shows because they are blatantly biased against anything that has to do with science fiction. And, I must add that I think it is entirely ridiculous that they nominate ten movies. I mean really?
That being said, I have already seen some of the movies that have been nominated.
~Inception: I ADORED this movie. Definitely one of my top movies ever. That should come as no surprise to anyone. I just cannot sing the praises enough of this movie. It was interesting, thought provoking, completely different from the usual cookie cutter movies that are made today, and awesome special effects that were done without the use of CGI. That being said, I’m quite certain that the Academy will not show Christopher Nolan any love for this movie as they seem to view science fiction as not a real genre. And I am entirely appalled that Nolan was not nominated for best director.
~The Social Network: Honestly I had zero interest in this movie. I could care less about the beginnings of this phenomenon that we call Facebook. However, I LOVE Justin Timberlake. Ah dear Justin, how I wish you would make some music. But instead…he is focusing on acting. Most of the movies he’s made have been not so good. But I still watch them because just seeing him is yum! So I watched The Social Network and I must say I was surprised. Justin did a decent job and the movie itself was semi-interesting. It wasn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but I just don’t get the hoopla and press that has surrounded this movie as the “movie of the year”. It wasn’t anything special.
~Black Swan: I was interested in seeing this movie from the moment I heard about it. Natalie Portman is one of my favorite actor’s. It seems like the only thing people mentioned about this movie was the kiss between Portman and Kunis, continuing the belief that sex sells. Overall I thought this movie was good, though weird. Portman and Kunis acted brilliantly and the imagery was excellent.
~The Fighter: I have not seen this movie yet, but I have it downloaded ready to go. All I know is that it is about Irish brother’s who are boxers. One of the brother’s I believe has a drug problem after suffering a humiliating defeat. I like all things Irish and I like Mark Wahlberg (though I fancy his brother Donny more. NKOTB 4EVER!).
~The King’s Speech: I never knew what this was about until I heard the buzz about it at the Globes. The movie is the story of King George VI of England, his ascention to the throne and the speech therapist who helps him overcome his stuttering. I like the premise of someone overcoming a disability and my studying of deaf and speech problems makes this even more interesting to me. I hope it doesn’t disappoint.
~The Kid’s are All Right: Another movie that I hadn’t heard anything about. I hear the premise is a lesbian couple that has two children that were conceived by artificial insemination and end up bringing in the birth father to their family. Could be good…but also could be boring.
~Toy Story 3: How cool would it be if an animated movie won best picture? I’m sad to say that I haven’t seen this yet, but I have seen all the other Toy Story movies and am familiar with the awesomeness that this franchise is. Hopefully, I can get my son to sit down and watch this one with me.
~True Grit: From IMDB- “Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, a man with "true grit," Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. Against his wishes, she joins him in his trek into the Indian Nations in search of Chaney. They are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who wants Chaney for his own purposes. The unlikely trio find danger and surprises on the journey, and each has his or her "grit" tested”. I’m going to give it a try, but normally I would have no interest in a movie like this.
~Winter’s Bone: Another movie I know nothing of. From IMDB-“With an absent father and a withdrawn and depressed mother, 17 year-old Ree Dolly keeps her family together in a dirt poor rural area. She's taken aback however when the local Sheriff tells her that her father put up their house as collateral for his bail and unless he shows up for his trial in a week's time, they will lose it all. She knows her father is involved in the local drug trade and manufactures crystal meth, but everywhere she goes the message is the same: stay out of it and stop poking your nose in other people's business. She refuses to listen, even after her father's brother, Teardrop, tells her he's probably been killed. She pushes on, putting her own life in danger, for the sake of her family until the truth, or enough of it, is revealed”. Sounds like it could have potential.
~127 Hours: This will probably be the last movie that I watch. If, I watch it at all. I definitely have zero interest in this one. It is the true story of a man who has a boulder fall on his arm trapping him alone in a canyon in Utah. To save himself he chops off his arm or something. Yuck. Not something that I really want to see.
After I hopefully watch them all I will give my opinion as to who should win the Oscar. I’m already betting that Inception will get screwed just because…
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