Tree of Life Branches Out with New Styles of Filmmaking

The Tree of Life (4 1/2 out of 5 stars)Directed and Written by: Terrence MalickStarring: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, Sean Penn, and introducing Hunter McCrackenThe Tree of Life takes the simple premise of its film and makes so much more.  The story follows Jack O'Brien an his relationship with his family in the 1950s in Texas.  We see this story through Jack's eyes as a young child (Hunter McCracken) and as adult (Sean Penn).  As a young child Jack's we the disillusionment Jack faces while he grows up and deals with his demanding father Mr. O'Brien (Brad Pitt).  There are two different messages Jack receives throughout his young life; he is told by his father that he must not be naive, fight, and not let anyone walk all...

Read more »

Jessica Chastain's Career Branches Out

Yesterday I went to my favorite movie theatre in Albany the Spectrum.  I love the Spectrum for a tworeasons 1) Spectrum is the only theatre in Albany that will play foreign films and documentaries or small independent films 2) The have best popcorn with REAL butter.  I saw the film The Tree of Life directed by Terrence Malick (review to come).  One of the stars of the film was someone I had never seen in a film before, and her name is Jessica Chastain.  Not only is Jessica a beautiful woman, but she is also a talented actress on the rise.With having only seen her in one film it may be hard to judge her potential, but her sheer presence in the film Tree of Life, made me want to see her in more.  The film is not completely...

Read more »

Living at Home in Your Late Twenties the Concluding Chapter (I hope): Great Film Endings

My room is packed, and tomorrow I will be moving out of my house and driving with my dad and headed to my new apartment in Boston.  Living at home in your late twenties is interesting.  You learn what you you love and miss about your family, and you also learn how different you become.  My family has not changed, my parents and my sister are all the same (my sister is still young and that may change, more as she gets older).  I think I have changed a lot since I graduated from high school went to college worked full time went back to graduate school, and now will be living on my own in a new city.  I am the eternal adventurer, I think I always wanted to be but this took some risks and time to grow.  Many people asked me what I was going to do on my last day,...

Read more »

Jumping the Shark: Television Shows that Should Not Still be on the Air

Two things to start: First, I know my blog has been all about movies for the first three months, but sometimes a blogger  just has to change gears in order to keep me writing, second I am tired of television shows lasting past their prime!!!  I was driving home and I heard an ad that had the them song The Office (USA version), and thought "That is one show I am giving up on!"  There is a term for television shows that have gone on too long, and that term is "Jumping the Shark."  The term comes from an episode of Happy Days (1974-1984) when the Fonzie actually jumped over a shark with his motorcycle.  I think the phrase is overused by people, and they try and pinpoint the time when shows "jump the shark" but there are...

Read more »

Witches Start to Fly High, as Fangers Start to Cover their Ass: True Blood Edition

So I have been sick in bed this past weekend, and let me tell you, I was BORED OUT OF MY MIND!!!  I watched my friends have fun at NYC or Chicago Pride over face book, and was just laying around watching television.  I was most bored yesterday, but the day Sunday ended with one great thing, the premiere of True Blood.  For those who who have never heard of this show (or have been living under a rock) the shows basic premise follows Sookie Stackhouse and her interactions with mythical creatures like Vampires, shape shifters, and werewolves...Oh my!  The story centers around the town of Bon Temps in Louisiana.The first two seasons of this show were especially strong, and creatively were their best.  As the second season...

Read more »

Living at Home in Your Late Twenties Part Eight: I Want to be a Hoosier!

So while at home in the Dillon house hold we tend to talk about basketball, A LOT!  We used to talk about it more last year and the years before because my sister was a very talented basketball player.  My father also referees women's basketball, so we would talk about that as well.  My sister was the athlete of the family, I played lacrosse for a little while, ran cross country, and did track during high school, but was never an athlete.  I never hated talking about basketball, but its funny to see how much it is still talked about even after my sister has finished playing.There are numerous basketball films out there, but the only one I really enjoy is the film Hoosiers (1986).   Hoosiers  stars Gene Hackman,...

Read more »

Green Lantern Took Away my will to want Another Film and Made Me Fear there would be Another

 Green Lantern (1 1/2 out of 5 stars)Directed by: Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Mask of Zorro, Goldeneye)Written by: Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim, and Michael GoldenbergStarring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Tim Robbins, Mark StrongWhen you have a film with five writers that scares me.  When it comes to writing a film or television episode the fewer writers the better.  I have the motto too many cooks spoil the pot, and I think that this is where Green Lantern went wrong.  This film falls in line more with Daredevil than films like the latest X-Men or The Dark Knight.Now, I am an active comic book fan, but i must admit i do not know much about he back story or history of this character....

Read more »

My Favorite Musicals of All Time

This past Sunday night I went to show tunes at Union in Columbus, Ohio.  I sang, I laughed, and well simply put, I had an awesome time.  I love musicals, they can make you happy, you can sing a long, they can be bad and campy, but I just love them.  It made me think about my favorite musicals of all time.  Here is a list of my favorite movie musicals.1-Moulin Rouge (2001) The movie that made me fall in LOVE with musicals.  I had seen other musicals in my life like Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, but when I watched Moulin Rouge on DVD (none of my friends would see it in the movies with me), I fell in love with musicals.  I thought this film took a unique twist on the musical film, using modern day existing...

Read more »

First Day of Summer: Let's Celebrate-Wet Hot American Summer Style!

While in Columbus I watched one of my favorite funny movies, EVER!  My friend's and I were having a hard time picking a movie to watch, and it came to me as soon as I saw it on Netflix, Wet Hot American Summer (2001).  This was the perfect movie for my friend, we began our bonding over the film Best in Show, so I knew that this movie would be perfect to watch.This is probably one of the most under rated funny films in the last ten years.  I am shocked whenever i bring up this movie how few people have seen it.  The film centers around the last of summer camp at Camp Firewood in 1981, and has one of the funniest casts ever with: David Hyde Pierce, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Janeane Garofalo,...

Read more »

Happy Pride: One Big Gay Musical Extravaganza

So my blog has been neglected the last 5 days because I was in Columbus, Ohio for the LGBT Pride events.  This was a wonderful grad school reunion (one month later) with my friends Steven and Lindy.  The details of the whole weekend are, well, probably too much to share, but we went out to the bars, enjoyed the parade on Saturday, and went to their show tunes night on Sunday.  I actually was awake for 24 hours (I am very tired), but it was worth it!  We did not just party it up, we relaxed and decompressed.  One thing we did get to do was relax and hang out and play with dogs and watch movies.  I think the best part about this weekend was that not only did we have fun going, out but we were to sit back relax...

Read more »

Oscars will have Varying Number of Best Picture Nominees: I say "Make up your Mind ATAS!!!"

Here are the details which I retrieved from Goldderby.com and from Bruce Davis the outgoing academy executive director, and the producers of the 2008 show Bill Condon and Larry Mark. "Bruce Davis, the outgoing academy executive director, explained the change in a statement: "If there are only eight pictures that truly earn that honor in a given year, we shouldn’t feel an obligation to round out the number."Interestingly, eight was the number proposed by Bill Condon and Larry Mark who produced the 2008 Oscars. That was how many that were nominated at the 5th Academy Awards back in 1932; "Grand Hotel" won Best Picture. However, the academy board went with an even 10, which had been the slate of Best Picture nominees from...

Read more »

Nicolas Cage: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

So I have had a little bit bloggers block the last two days, and so I asked my facebook friends to come up with the subject for today's blog.  Only two people responded, and well it was a great suggestion.  My friend and former co-worker Kelsey Stockton stated that I should do a blog on Nicolas Cage: the Good, the bad, and the ugly.  For those of you who don't know Nicolas Cage was actually born Nicolas Coppola; he is in fact the nephew of fame Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola and cousin to Sofia.  Nic Cage changed his name in order to make his own success.  Although in the first major movie he starred in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982),  Nicolas Cage was billed as Nicolas Coppola.  Regardless...

Read more »

I Hate a Sweep! When Films Win it All at the Oscars

So tonight's Tony Awards were fun as usual, and Neil Patrick Harris was a great host.  I did not get to see as many shows that were eligible for this season but I did see The Importance of Being Earnest, Catch Me If you Can, and Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown.  I hope to see The Book of Mormon and The Normal Heart (before it closes).  The Book of Mormon basically had a clean sweep only losing in the Lead Actor in a Musical category, choreography and Featured Actor in a Musical.  This looks like a great show, and I am sure it deserves all the awards it won, but I hate a sweep, and this goes for all award shows!When films sweep it takes away from the anticipation of the nominees.  As Chris Rock presented the...

Read more »

Does Produced by Steven Spielberg Mean Anything Anymore?

After seeing Super 8 last night, I remembered the  the thing the studios highlighted most (you may argue) but that this film in produced by Steven Spielberg, and not that it was directed by J.J. Abrams.  Sure they mentioned Abrams as the director, but the named highlighted most is Spielberg name.  I get the it!  Spielberg is a big name; he has made some of the best films as a director: Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, The Color Purple, Jaws, Catch Me if you Can, and has had had numerous blockbusters: Jurassic Park, E.T.: Extra Terrestrial, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Between these two lists there are films that were both successful and critically acclaimed, and I admire what Spielberg has done to transcend...

Read more »

Super 8 has a Super Start but Falls Short in the End

Super 8 (3 out of 5 stars)Directed and Written by: J.J. AbramsStarring: Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney, and Ron EldardAs I sat back in my seat last night I could feel the nostalgia of the 1980s Spielberg movie.  I feel like the theme with both the films I saw for this week was nostalgia.  Super 8 takes the viewers back on a journey to the late 1970s, through the vantage point of children.  J.J. Abrams the writer and director takes the viewer on a journey to a time when technology was still in the early stages, while kids had walk men and film could be developed in only three days, and there was ability to use your imagination.The film starts with a man changing the numbers at a factory for the amount of numbers they...

Read more »

Movies that Put Life into Perspective: 500 Days of (Summer) Edition

I am a romantic, when I meet someone and feel a connection I become a ball of mush and wear my feelings on my sleeve.  In times like these there are certain things I cling to to help give me perspective, usually I use my friends to help give me guidance in situations like this.  As my regular readers know,  I am home in Albany, NY and there aren't many friends around here for me to talk with.  My friends have been great via phone and face book, but there was something that helped put things into perspective even more today, the film 500 Days of Summer (2009).The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tom) and Zooey Deschanel (Summer) a pair of friends/lovers.  The film takes us on a journey throughout the different days of...

Read more »

Midnight in Paris proves the City of Love Still has Power

Midnight in Paris (4 out of 5 stars)Directed  and Written by: Woody Allen (Annie Hall, Manhattan, Bullets Over Broadway)Starring: Owen Willson, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates)What can I say about Mr. Allen's latest film, but  that this film is a beautifully crafted and witty love letter to Paris.  The opening sequence of this film is a set of images of the city Paris at different times of the day, with different types of weather.  Darius Khondji and Johanne Debas do a great capturing the the beauty of the city of love and set the stage for this tale which not only stars Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, but the scene stealer in this film is the city of Paris.The film follows Gil (Owen Wilson)...

Read more »

Living at Home in Your Late Twenties Part Seven: No Man is an Island

Being back in Albany, New York has been interesting for me.  After a great day on Tuesday, filled with many fun times (mini-golfing, swimming, going to a drive-in and cuddling) it has come to my attention that I don't have any friends left who live in this city.  Most of my other time here has been spent watching 30 Rock, sitting by my pool and relaxing (I am not going to complain.  Moving back home has been a lonely experience, because well it is often difficult to just put yourself out there.Last night,  I watched the film About a Boy (2002) which stars Hugh Grant, Toni Collette, and introduced a young Nicholas Hoult.   The film centers around a man named Will (Grant) and his interactions with an odd single mother,...

Read more »

Jennifer Lawrence is a True Shape Shifter with her Acting Style

After seeing X-Men: First Class, for the third time yesterday at the drive-ins (what wonderful night).  I realized I was not just blown away by Michael Fassbender, but Jennifer Lawrence is another talent on the rise.  In X-Men Lawrence plays the shape shifting mutant Mystique and adds so much more layer to the role than her former portrayer.  In this film Lawrence does more than kick butt, we learn more about her character, and what Raven aka Mystique had to deal with with her blue skin. Lawrence first came onto my radar last year in the film Winter Bone (2010) where Ree a young girl who lives with her family in the Ozark; she has to take care of younger brother and sister because her mother is sick, and her father is a criminal,...

Read more »