magical memories - AIDS Walk at Paramount Pictures

An AIDS Walk fundraiser is held every year in many cities, and Los Angeles is no exception. The course changed after 2001, but previously, the start and end of the course was the Paramount Pictures studio lot in the heart of Hollywood since Paramount was the major sponsor of the Walk. My sister convinced me to do the walk with her one year, which was a huge mistake on my part, because she's actually a runner, and even though she said she'd let me go at my pace, and I was fully planning to just walk the route, she pretty much wanted to run the thing and got impatient at my slow pace, and there was no way in hell I was going to be able to keep up with her. It was not a good day for me. After walking that one year, I started volunteering for an organization that would help at various AIDS fundraising events, including AIDS Walk, so for several years, I helped to set up things or do things along the course during the event - the actual task would vary from year to year.

The most memorable year, though, was actually also the easiest time and most fun I had. Paramount has several entrances onto the lot, and the main entrance was obviously closed to street traffic since that's where all the runners started and ended the course. There was a side entrance on the west side that they decided to use as the one for VIPs and other invited guests to use to get onto the lot. There were some celebrities who had agreed to come to the event to speak to the crowds and cheer on the runners, and it was people like them that needed to drive onto the lot, as well as vendors and other staff working the event itself. Paramount had their own security guard at the entrance, but they needed someone from the staff there as well. There was a list of names of people associated with the event who were cleared to drive onto the lot, but in case a problem arose, they wanted someone who had the ability to contact event staff management. I was someone who had a radio and headset anyway, so they decided to assign the job to me. That really just meant that all day long, I sat in the nice cool guard shack, and I didn't really have much to do. The guard on duty was the one to talk to all the people arriving at the gate, and he was pretty nice, and in between visitors, we chatted about this and that for the couple hours I was there. The Walk is usually held in September, and sometimes, it can be rather warm out, and during prior years, I was out in the heat and sometimes doing manual labor and otherwise working hard during the event. That particular year, I totally got a cush job. I just monitored the conversations coming over my radio so that I knew what was going on and in case anyone was trying to get a hold of me. I think they asked me about specific people a few times, to see if they'd come through the gate yet, and I think there were a couple other people who I had to radio to let them know had arrived. I don't recall any particular problem coming up of someone trying to get through the gate who wasn't on the list.

My favorite part of the whole day was when Robert Downey, Jr. came up to the gate. He was one of the celebrities who was there for the event, and I had been particularly enamoured of him at that point in time. It was after his really bad bouts with drugs, and he was clean and sober then and seemed to be enjoying life again. He drove up in a Jeep-like vehicle, and both the guard and I recognized him so it wasn't like he was asked to present ID. The guard knew that he was on the list of people coming to the event, so he just asked Robert if he knew where he needed to go, and Robert said yes, so the guard opened the gate and Robert drove through. I never said anything, but I smiled at Robert as he drove by, and he smiled back. He had three friends in the car with him, and they all seemed to be happy and enjoying the nice day - it looked like they were just going to enjoy a day at the beach.

It was the easiest job I'd ever been assigned in all my years volunteering for that organization, and then on top of that, I had the added benefit of seeing the various celebrities as they came through the gate. I hadn't really thought about that day in a really long time, but since I've seen Robert Downey, Jr. in so many films over the past year or two, the memory of seeing him that day was triggered, including remembering how cool it was to see him.

"The Soloist" - spoiler movie review

I had mixed feelings about whether to see "The Soloist". On the one hand, I'm not fond of Jamie Foxx, and his presence in a movie, let alone as a lead, would deter me from seeing a film. But I'm also quite fond of Robert Downey, Jr., and what if he's the lead opposite Jamie Foxx? In the end, RDJ's presence, and the trailer for the film won out.

This film was supposed to have been released late last year, but word is that the studio decided to hold it back until this year because the field for Oscar nominations for lead and supporting actor were already quite full. I'm not sure the tactic worked, though, because there was so much press for it initially, and then the movie just disappeared, and unless you went looking for information, you didn't know what happened to the film. And then it reappeared again, and the casual filmgoer might think, "wasn't that out already last year?"

Generally, I liked the film, which is based on a true story, but I don't know what liberties they took with the actual story. I did like that it wasn't a "happy ending" completely in that Nathaniel (Foxx) wasn't cured completely, and he wasn't happily giving concert after concert at the Disney Music Hall. A title card at the end says that he did end up being able to get off the streets and live in a room, which is an accomplishment.

The movie isn't particularly easy to watch, as we see the problems that Nathaniel has growing up, problems for which he didn't receive any help. And Steve (Downey, Jr.) isn't exactly a heroic person - he's just a guy thrown into circumstances who actually does a few nice things.

I liked Catherine Keener in this film as Steve's ex-wife and still-boss. I thought she was terrific in "Hamlet 2" as well, and she's got a slightly larger, less quirky part here.

I thought Robert Downey, Jr. did a really good job in this film, making you connect to Steve. But then, maybe I just really like RDJ.

And while I thought Jamie Foxx actually did a good job in this film, it wasn't the kind of attention-grabber that one might normally expect in a role like that. Maybe that's because I'm not fond of him anyway, so me thinking he did a good job is like everyone else thinking he was magnificent. This is the same type of role that earned Dustin Hoffman an Oscar win for "Rain Man" and that earned Sean Penn an Oscar nomination for "I am Sam", but I'm not sure Foxx's performance rises to that level, and I do think that the shuffling of the release date really hurts him. The studio is going to have to mount a serious campaign later this year to remind people of this film and his performance, and to get people to see it who didn't see it when it was released. The film didn't do very well at the box office.

I do think the film is worth seeing though, if you're inclined to when it's out on DVD.

"Sherlock Holmes" - theatrical trailer

So when we were at the movies the other night, one of the trailers shown before the film was for "Sherlock Holmes", which is being released on December 25 this year. I had been excited when I had read that Robert Downey, Jr. was going to play Sherlock Holmes. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a big fan of his. Robert Downey, Jr., that is, I'm a big fan of his. I'm just ok about Sherlock Holmes. Well, the trailer looks spectacular, and I can't wait to see the film, though I have a feeling I won't actually be watching it on Christmas Day.

"Iron Man" sequel casting news

So "Iron Man" Robert Downey, Jr. knows who he will be fighting with and against in the next movie. This article states that Scarlett Johansson will be playing Black Widow and Mickey Rourke will play Whiplash.

I'm not particularly a fan of Scarlett Johansson - I tend to like her or not like her on an individual basis, depending on the movie and role. It looks like Black Widow will mix it up with Iron Man a bit but will eventually fight on the same side. I'm willing to reserve judgement until I see her.

I don't have a feeling about Mickey Rourke one way or the other, but I can't say that I'm surprised he's playing a villain.

I loved the first movie, so I'm definitely ready for more.

81st Academy Awards nominations

The nominations for the 81st Academy Awards were announced this morning, and the following are the Oscar nominees in the major categories.


Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Gus Van Sant, Milk
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon

Best Actor
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Best Original Screenplay
Frozen River, written by Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky, written by Mike Leigh
In Bruges, written by Martin McDonagh
Milk, written by Dustin Lance Black
Wall-E, screenplay by Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon, original story by Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, screenplay by Eric Roth, screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
Doubt, written by John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, screenplay by Peter Morgan
The Reader, screenplay by David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire, screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Best Animated Feature Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

Best Score
Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
James Newton Howard, Defiance
Danny Elfman, Milk
A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
Thomas Newman, Wall-E

Best Original Song
"Down to Earth", Wall-E, Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman,
Lyric by Peter Gabriel
"Jai Ho", Slumdog Millionaire, Music by A.R. Rahman,
Lyric by Gulzar
"O Saya", Slumdog Millionaire, Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Best Art Direction
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Best Cinematography
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Costume Design
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

Best Film Editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army




The nomination that I'm happiest about is Robert Downey, Jr. as Best Supporting Actor in "Tropic Thunder". He was brilliant in that movie, and I loved the movie in general anyway, but I really didn't think he'd get a nomination for a role like that. Nice to see that they came through!

The non-nomination that I'm most unhappy about is "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" from "Hamlet 2" as Best Original Song. That really was an amazing song, and I would have loved to have seen them perform it on the show. I figured that since "Hamlet 2" got almost no buzz for anything, that would hurt the chances of the song being nominated. You really have to know the movie to know how well that song fits. I was also kind of hoping that "Dracula's Lament" from "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" might be nominated just because it was funny, but that wasn't meant to be either. I am happy that Peter Gabriel was nominated for "Wall-E" though.

Out of the Best Picture nominees, I've only seen one, "Milk". I have zero interest in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", and I don't care about "The Reader". I will probably end up seeing "Frost/Nixon" and "Slumdog Millionaire" in the next month. Those are the only films nominated in categories that I am interested in seeing before the awards are presented.

It's amazing that all four major roles in "Doubt" resulted in nominations for each of the actors. As I'd mentioned in my review, it's definitely a performance piece. I knew Meryl Street would get nominated for "Doubt" rather than "Mamma Mia", so while I'm disappointed, it wasn't surprising. I definitely agree with the nominations of Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married" and Angelina Jolie in "Changeling". Both were stellar performances.

Heath Ledger's Best Supporting Actor nomination in "The Dark Knight" was not unexpected, but it was absolutely well-deserved. I'm a little surprised at the attention being paid to "Milk", with both Sean Penn and Josh Brolin receiving acting nominations (lead and supporting, respectively), but they both did a great job.

I'm pleased that "Wall-E" was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. I didn't expect that. Its nomination for Best Animated Feature Film was definitely expected, but I'm happy that "Bolt" was nominated as well. I'd really like "Wall-E" to win though. So don't care about "Kung Fu Panda".

Nice that Danny Elfman was nominated for Best Original Score for "Milk". In other categories, I'm happy that "Presto" was nominated for Best Animated Short, and I'm really happy that Ben Burtt received two nominations, for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing on "Wall-E".

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" leads the nominations with 13. "Slumdog Millionaire" received 10 nominations, and both "Milk" and "The Dark Knight" received 8 nominations each.

The winners will be announced on Sunday, February 22, 2009.

Stark, Tony Stark

This has been the year of Robert Downey, Jr. for me, since I've seen him in four different films this year (the fifth film I might have seen him in has recently been pushed to next year for release).

It looks like my supply of him is going to be continuing for years to come, as it has been recently announced that he's signed with Marvel to play Tony Stark aka Iron Man in the sequel as well as in the third film of the series, and he will also be playing Stark/Iron Man in "The Avengers", the film that will bring together The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor.

Here's an article about his deal with Marvel.

I've previously mentioned that he's also playing Sherlock Holmes in a new film of the same name.

I also recently purchased "Less Than Zero", a movie where he was supposed to have been terrific, but I think he got too much into the part though. I'm glad to see his stock continuing to rise, and it's hip to be into him now, but I was into Robert Downey, Jr. before and during when it was totally UNcool to be into him! :)

"Iron Man" sequel news

This article has some interesting casting news about the "Iron Man" sequel, which is due out summer of 2010.

In the film released this year, Tony Stark's aka Iron Man's Army buddy was played by Terrence Howard. In the next film, Rhodey is going to be getting a little plastic surgery make-over as the role is being taken over by Don Cheadle.

Obviously, Robert Downey, Jr. is returning, and Gwyneth Paltrow is expected to return as well.

"Tropic Thunder" - spoiler movie review

From the first time I saw the trailer for "Tropic Thunder", I was hooked. The film in total didn't grab me completely - it was Robert Downey, Jr., "the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude". He was the hook that reeled me in. Wait, does that metaphor work? Well, if not, you still get my drift. If not for that character, and if not for Robert Downey, Jr. playing that character, I don't think I would have been interested in seeing the movie. And I would have missed out on the frickin' funniest movie I've seen in a long time. It was irreverent and offensive - and it left me, the husband, the friends we were with, the other people in the theatre, all roaring and applauding with laughter throughout much of the film. This is definitely not a movie for the faint of heart, the easily offended or the prudish, and PLEASE LEAVE YOUR KIDS AT HOME. This is so much incredibly an adult film.

The film is the story of the making of a film about a group of soldiers in the Vietnam War. Thrown together are fading-action-hero-megastar Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), drug-addicted fart-comedy star Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) and uber-acclaimed multiple-Oscar-award-winner Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.) who has taken method acting to the utmost level by having undergone a highly controversial pigmentation surgery so that the Australian actor can play the squad's black leader. The squad has another black member, mega-millionaire energy-drink-hawking rapper-turned-actor Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), who takes some issue with Lazarus' presence. Shooting goes horribly wrong, falling behind by a month only five days into production, plagued with problems from the prima donna cast as well as the ineffective director, Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan). When the foul-mouthed studio head threatens to take Cockburn off the film, Cockburn gets advice from the Vet upon whose book the film is based - Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte) - to make it real: take the actors into the jungles of Vietnam, not the cushy parts where they're filming, and make them survive for real. Cockburn takes up the idea, but one after another, things turn out to be not what they appear, and the actors are forced to step into their roles much more than they ever intended.

Let me tell you how much that synopsis tells you nothing about what to expect from the film. What you should expect from the entire film is what the first 10 minutes of the film sets you up for.

After the advertising and trailers are over, another ad comes on screen, but it's unlike anything you've ever seen. It's an ad for Booty Sweat, an energy drink created by Alpa Chino - you have *got* to read the biography on his site. Following that are "trailers" for three other films - Tugg Speedman's "Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown" (here's the official site of that movie itself), Jeff Portnoy's "Fatties: Fart 2" (here's the official site of that movie itself), and Kirk Lazarus' "Satan's Alley" (here's the official site of that movie itself).

The action movie trailer was preceded by Universal Pictures' logo, the comedy movie trailer was preceded by New Line's logo, and the art house movie trailer was preceded by Fox Searchlight's logo. The tie-in to the studios was perfect given the genre of each film, and it's great that the three studios agreed to let their logos be used. I am particularly happy about Searchlight's inclusion since I've loved a number of their films, and the film depicted in the trailer is definitely right up their alley. I also thought it was great that near the end of the film, during the Oscar awards, you can tell that Tobey Maguire was a nominee for the last film. I got so distracted after seeing and recognizing his picture in the brown hood that I didn't really pay attention to who the other two nominees (other than Tugg Speedman and Jon Voight) were. If you go to the movie links I included above, you may notice that Dreamworks/Paramount is listed as the studio for each of the films, not the ones used in the movie itself. I suspect that while the studios were ok with their names being used in the movie itself, where people would know those were not real movies, they might not have given permission for their studio names to be attached out of context of the film. Each website has a synopsis for each movie as well as links to downloads. The trailer links are empty - not sure if they'll actually put the trailers up later.

I don't even know really what to say about the film, because mostly, I'd just want to recount all the funny parts. That would take forever. And it would be boring, for those who've seen the movie and those who haven't. The film has such a mix of moments, some that are completely outrageous, some that are admittedly a little slow (but then, when you've got so much going on otherwise, it's probably inevitable that you'll have slow parts too), great action sequences, amazing pyro (while the $4 million napalm explosion that wasn't actually caught on film was fairly spectacular, my favorite was the bridge that was blown up towards the end as Speedman was running across it), and then in the middle of all that craziness, there's that rivetting scene when the studio head details how they're just going to let Speedman die, and they'll be remorseful in the press, and they'll wait a respectable amount of time before filing the insurance claim, because in the end, the fading star is really worth more dead than alive at that point, and all Speedman's agent has to do is keep quiet, and he'll be rewarded with a spiffy plane and lots of money. And it wouldn't surprise me a bit if some semblance of that actual conversation has happened in real life somewhere.

This film is also a treasure trove for film buffs, spoofing war movies, stereotypes, conventions of plot and a whole lot more. The highlight for me was Lazarus' dissertation to Speedman about the history of portrayals in films of retarded people, from Peter Sellers in "Being There", to Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man", to Tom Hanks in "Forrest Gump", to Sean Penn in "I Am Sam". Having actually seen all of those movies, it was a dead-on observation.

The acting performances - ensemble at its finest.

I am not a particular fan of Ben Stiller - I can generally pretty much take him or leave him, but I have liked the few of the things he's done that I've actually seen. I liked "The Royal Tenenbaums", and I loved "Dodgeball". I meant to see "Night at the Museum" but haven't gotten around to it yet. I don't think he has any particular stand-out performances in this film, though he is very good throughout, and I think his biggest contributions to the film aren't really as an actor, but rather, as the film's director, co-writer and as a producer as well.

Jack Black is definitely not someone whose films I would normally be seeing. In fact, this is the first film I've seen of his where he's a major character. His credits indicate that he's been in some films that I've seen, but I have no recollection of him in them. He pretty much did in this film what I expect he normally does in his films (based on the trailers of them that I've seen), but he was very funny in this film, particularly in the scene where he's tied to the tree, and he makes Alpa Chino an offer if Chino will untie him. Just too frickin' funny. I credit the writers with the lines themselves, but Black did have a great delivery.

And then there's the man, Robert Downey, Jr. himself, the actor who I apparently am watching in a film every few months this year. My only criticism, if you want to call it that, is that I had a really hard time understanding him some of the time because of how thick he was laying on the accent and almost mumbling his lines at times, though I figure that was completely intentional. Under the makeup and mannerisms and prosthetics, he about disappeared under that character. He was actually hard to recognize as the black soldier. However, the instant he pulled off the wig (and presumably the prosthetic) - there he was. He really was just a joy to watch in this film, especially his interactions with the other characters. I will save my additional gushing over him in general for another time.

Brandon T. Jackson is not a name I'm familiar with, but he was terrific in this film. He has an especially good monologue in a diatribe against Lazarus' portrayal of a black man. He was also hysterical in the scene when he reveals his secret longing for "Lance".

Steve Coogan wasn't in this movie nearly as much as I thought he'd be. It was nice that the trailer didn't tell you that he would be blown to smithereens early into the film. I did enjoy seeing him, though my anticipation of seeing the film "Hamlet 2", which Coogan stars in, made me laugh a bit more in this film. When they've first been stranded in the jungle, Cockburn likens himself to Jesus Christ since he has the only walkie talkie that will call the helicopter ("God") to come pick them up. Well, in "Hamlet 2", Coogan's character writes a musical that includes the song "Rock Me Sexy Jesus".

Nick Nolte is not someone I've seen much of lately. The thing I remember him most in is a movie called "The Deep", which I loved. However, in recent years, he's probably better known for his real-life antics, including his infamous mug shot when he was arrested. This film plays off that image to a great extent, with Nolte playing the grizzled Vet, but it's an absolute riot when it's revealed that he made up the whole story.

Matthew McConaughey does a terrific job in the role of Rick Peck, Speedman's agent and long-time friend, who is so obsessed with the fact that the contractually-guaranteed TiVo has not in fact been provided to Speedman in the middle of the jungles of Vietnam. I still want to know how Peck got out of the jungle, though, after his TiVo saved the day.

Danny McBride is awesome as Cody, the pyro. Hey, how could I not like him?

Bill Hader was very funny as a studio executive. I enjoyed Hader's work in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" too.

And then we get to the biggest secret in the film, a secret that was almost spoiled for me, but which played perfectly in the film. About a week prior, I had read the headline of some story about Tom Cruise being in "Tropic Thunder". I'd not heard that previously, so I figured he was doing some kind of cameo, maybe even as himself since it was a movie about making a movie. I was disappointed that I'd heard about his appearance, but I made it a point of not reading the stories themselves so I wouldn't find out anything more. I was so not expecting anything that when foul-mouthed, every-other-word-is-a-swear-word-and-not-just-the-f-one studio head Les Grossman showed up on screen (I think he showed up a bit earlier in some magazine covers or on the Access Hollywood story, but those went by pretty quickly), it took me a few minutes to realize that *THAT* was Tom Cruise. OH. MY. HECK. I've liked his work on-and-off, but his antics of the past couple years since his relationship with Katie Holmes started have turned him pretty much into a joke and not someone to be taken seriously, certainly not as an actor anymore. Well, this was THE PERFECT role for him to make a statement, and it's a fairly-colorful-words-laden statement as well. Tom Cruise, with a balding wig and fat suit and appliances that make him old and wrinkled beyond his years, not to mention his amazingly inventive ways of degrading people verbally, has a tour-de-force performance in this film. Yes, I know, that's a cliche, but in this case, it's a cliche that also happens to be true. Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller are reportedly friends, and Stiller approached Cruise about doing this role. As far as I'm concerned, Cruise owes Stiller *for life*, he needs to be at Stiller's beck and call, no matter what he wants because Stiller is Cruise's saviour by offering him this role. Cruise easily moves from the profanity-laden diatribes to the scene I mentioned above where he coldly and calculatingly plans how his studio will profit from Speedman's death. And then, there's the dancing. Oh my goodness, the dancing. The scene where he's dancing with the studio exec and Peck in the room is one thing, but his dance that covers the entire closing credits sequence is just indescribably amazing. Yes, all the lines and the dance itself would be scripted and choreographed. But it's in the execution, the movements, the facial expressions (or lack thereof) that make the dances, which is probably funnier for those who might remember Cruise's dance in his underwear from "Risky Business". No, I don't normally gush over Tom Cruise. As a matter of fact, as much as I've liked him in films, I don't think I've *ever* gushed over Tom Cruise. But for this film? I'm gushing! I think he might be the best bet at an Oscar nomination for this film, Best Supporting Actor. And the nomination (and even win) would be well deserved.

The end credits include mention of Jon Voight, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Bateman, Lance Bass and Alicia Silverstone. I recognized Jon Voight sitting in front of Speedman as a fellow nominee, and Jennifer Love Hewitt was sitting next to the other young member of the squad who apparently has a thing for her. I didn't recognize Lance Bass at first since I don't know him too well, but when Chino turned to him, it occurred to me that he was the "Lance" that Chino had previously mentioned, and then I kind of realized that I sort of recognized him, and apparently, Lance Bass is the only gay "Lance" that I know of, so that's how I figured it out. I don't recall seeing Jason Bateman or Alicia Silverstone, but I'm assuming they're in the crowd - maybe Alicia was who was on the other side of Chino that I didn't pay any attention to? I did notice that Tobey Maguire was not formally credited in the end titles for his appearance in the movie trailer, but since he was credited in the trailer himself, I guess there was no need for the repetition.


Just a few things to mention randomly:

I laughed hard at the sequence with the countdown of the number of soldiers who survived the battle, to the number of books that were written, to the number of books that were published, to the number that were offered a movie deal.

During several parts with lots of gore (the guy in the beginning getting shot in the head which then spurts blood endlessly, to the guy being gutted and his insides all falling out and looking like sausage links, to Speedman's hands having been blown off and all that are left are bloody streamers, to the director's severed head after he's blown to pieces), I initially didn't look because I'm into gore, but once each scene got completely ridiculous, then I did look because then, it was just funny. Except for the severed head part. When Speedman was poking at it and licking it, I still couldn't look.

I laughed at the naming of Speedman's "adopted" son as Half-Squat - it made me think of Short Round. He was the cutest thing, and wasn't it awesome that he gave Speedman a twig Oscar? When Speedman came running back over the bridge with Half-Squat on his shoulder, I thought he was just taking him with him, so I completely didn't understand when Speedman flung him over the side of the bridge. A friend later told me that Half-Squat was stabbing Speedman with the twig Oscar. I did think it was funny that they showed that Half-Squat was still ok, and then he sat down and had the cutest pout ever.

Ben Stiller is apparently a fan of "Star Trek", but out of all the classic Trek episodes at his disposal (the film was released by Dreamworks/Paramount after all), he had to pick the one with the Gorn?

I laughed that "Sometimes When We Touch" by Dan Hill was Peck's ringtone for when Speedman called. I *love* that song!

At one point, Chino refers to Lazarus as "Benson". Do people even still know who Benson is anymore?

I loved that the end of the fight sequence was a duplicate of the earlier fake fight sequence, but with twists. "I'm cold," says Freedman. "That's because your feet are in a puddle of water," says Lazarus. And when Lazarus had jumped off the copter yelling "cover me", you could see the physical reaction of the people behind him before you head the line of "cover him with what?" (or whatever the line was). It was just too funny.

OK, so why is a giant panda wandering around Vietnam or Laos or wherever the heck they ended up?

And then we get to "Simple Jack". Yes, there's a group protesting the use of "retard" or some variation thereof in the film. Frankly, I'm figuring if they were going to be offended, there's a whole lot more for them to be offended about than just the use of that word. The retarded title character of the film gets a lot of play in the movie. But hey, you know what? Don't see the movie. I heard some quote about how children shouldn't be taught that sort of thing. Ummm, ok, well, children shouldn't be seeing this movie, so that shouldn't be an issue. And really, there are all kinds of things and people being made fun of in this film. Do they know that Robert Downey, Jr. plays an Australian pretending to be a black guy pretending to be Chinese? I mean, how offensive is that? As a matter of fact, I am so incredibly offended that I'm going to have to see this movie again to keep my offendedness quotient up.


Here's the official website for the movie which has a lot of fun things to play with.

Downey, Jr. gets elementary

I happened across this article today which states that Robert Downey, Jr. will be playing none other than the iconic Sherlock Holmes in a film set to begin shooting in October. There's apparently another Sherlock Holmes movie in the works at a competing studio, this one a comedy starring Sacha Baron Cohen as Holmes and Will Ferrell as Watson. I think I'm going to pass on that one. But Robert as Sherlock - I'm there.

I've already seen Robert Downey, Jr. in three films this year - "Charlie Bartlett", "Iron Man", and "The Incredible Hulk". I can't wait to see him in "Tropic Thunder" in August, but I think I might have to pass on "The Soloist" in October. It depends on what the trailers look like and how much I might like Robert in it, because I'm really not a fan of Jamie Foxx.

"The Incredible Hulk" - movie review (full spoilers)

I'm not a huge comic book fan. I mean, I've been known to read the occasional comic book here and there, but it's not my preferred form of entertainment. I have become acquainted with many comic book characters pretty much through their depictions in television shows and movies. I remember that I watched "The Incredible Hulk" when it was a TV show, and I enjoyed it a lot. Bill Bixby was really good, but when he got mad, he turned into a very green Lou Ferrigno. When the movie version "Hulk" came out a couple years ago, I saw the trailer, and it did nothing for me, so I had no interest in seeing the film, though I think by that time, I'd seen a number of other movie properties based on comic book characters. To me, it's not the source material that matters necessarily - it's how the story is translated on film.

I hadn't even known until very recently that a new Hulk movie was being made. While in the theatre to see something else, the trailer for "The Incredible Hulk" came on, and my first thought was, "They're making that movie again?" And then I saw that Edward Norton (I could swear he used to go by "Edward Norton, Jr." but I can't seem to find a reference to that. IMDB does mention that his father's name is Edward and also refers to his father as Edward Norton, Sr.) was going to be playing Bruce Banner. Well, that's certainly a good pedigree start. I first saw him in "Primal Fear", and while I thought the film itself was just ok, he was incredible in it, and he ended up getting a lot of attention for his performance in that film as well. And then I saw that William Hurt was in the movie as well. Wow, ok, totally adding to the credibility factor there. I love William Hurt and have ever since I saw him in "Body Heat" (incredible movie, btw). The movie footage looked good too, so ok, put the movie on the list of things to see.

Overall, I liked the film. The story was interesting, they gave Bruce Banner a good enemy (a couple of them, actually), and they also gave him a good relationship. The action sequences were awesome as you'd imagine (though for some reason, I kept flashing back to "Cloverfield" during some of the fight sequences in New York), and while there were some imperfections in the CGI when it came to the Hulk, it wasn't bad and generally not distracting enough as a whole.

The performances all around were stellar. Edward Norton does a terrific job in all the different emotions and situations that Bruce Banner finds himself in. It was heartbreaking to watch him as he was secretly trailing Betty at her college, and for a second, he thinks she's seen him, but it turns out that she's greeting her boyfriend, and his expression just crumbles.

Liv Tyler plays love interest Betty, and she does a really good job as well. She has a very powerful scene and a terrific change in disposition when she's in the restaurant chatting with her boyfriend, and she gets a quick glimpse of Bruce coming out of the kitchen, but when she pursues, he's gone (hiding behind a dumpster), and she tearfully begs the restauranteur to tell her the truth. And then she catches up to him in her car as he's walking in the rain, and when he realizes it's her, there's the often-used running-into-other's-arms scene, but damn, that worked so well. I can't have been the only one who swooned at that scene. Later, when they're on her school campus, and the government is after Bruce, she marches over and plants herself in front of one of the tanks and screams for them to stop and come talk to her. Her poignant yell of "Daddy" really got to me - ok, so I didn't know that the general (William Hurt) was her father.

William Hurt (not to be confused with Jeff Bridges or Jeff Daniels or Bill Pullman) was also terrific in the movie. Tim Roth was a spectacular nemesis in the film. He isn't someone I know, though he's apparently quite well known. I looked up his credits, and it turns out I have seen him before in this movie - really bizarre movie, btw. And, I did see him in "Planet of the Apes", but of course, I wouldn't have recognized him from that. I did get ripped out of the movie once - when it was revealed that Betty's new boyfriend was played by Ty Burrell. I had seen him previously in a sitcom called "Out of Practice" as well as the recently-cancelled Kelsey Grammer/Patricia Heaton sitcom "Back To You", where he played an ambitious but somewhat bumbling and put-upon news reporter. He did have a great scene, though, in his response to the general, who was trying to get him to reveal where Betty and Bruce might have run away to. Stan Lee has an awesome part in this film, much more screen time and story relevance, I think, than with his usual cameo appearances. And of course, there was Robert Downey, Jr., who I recognized just from his silhouette in the doorway, before he even said a word. Yeah, OK, so I knew he was going to be in the movie, but still! Loved his little appearance. I also loved that they put in nods to the television show. As Bruce is in Brazil (I think), he's flipping through television channels, and one of the things that comes across the TV screen is a clip of Bill Bixby from "The Courtship of Eddie's Father". Later, Bruce Banner has to get past a building security guard, who is played by Lou Ferrigno, by bribing him with pizza. Ferrigno is also credited as the voice of Hulk. And I didn't notice it, but the husband did - in one segment (I can't remember which), they used the theme song from the original television show as the musical overlay.

The major thing that I didn't care for in the film was the opening. I hadn't known that they weren't going to really include the circumstances under which Bruce Banner (BTW, why is he Bruce Banner here whereas he was David Bruce Banner in the TV show, and then in "Hulk", the lead character was Bruce Banner, but there are also characters credited as "Young David Banner" and "Teenage Bruce Banner"? No wonder he has an alternate personality - he has two names that he goes by at various times!) became the Incredible Hulk, and that by the time the film starts, he's already on the run with this monster bubbling inside that he can't control. The backstory is told in distorted clips of scenes and flashes of newspaper headlines. You get a vague idea of what happened, but it goes by so fast and is almost done in a dream-like state (probably kind of what Bruce would have remembered) that you don't really get a good idea of everything that happened. Also, this all takes place during the opening credits, so if you actually read opening credits, like me, you're trying to read the credits and look at the action on screen at the same time, and there's not really enough time for both. It's almost as if they assumed everyone knew the backstory, so this was just a bone to throw, but if you don't know the backstory, I'm not sure the prior events are clear. And even if you know the general backstory, I think it's important to know how this particular story played out because it gives history to the interactions among Bruce, Betty and the general later. At one point, I saw a flash of something that had Nick Fury's name on it. I only know his name because of "Iron Man", but I have no idea what it said about Nick Fury. I talked to someone who IS a comic book fan who saw this movie, and he missed that part completely. I expect we'll get this when it comes out on DVD, so at that point, I can go through the opening slowly to see everything, but that shouldn't be what's required.

I liked the stuff with Mr. Blue/Samuel Sterns. He was kind of a freaky character, but a lot of fun, though you know he had to be a little off his rocker when he's threatened by this guy ("Why do you have to keep hitting people?" - yeah, I know, that's not the exact quote, but I can't find it, even though I love the line.) and still voluntarily agrees to make him even stronger, thinking he could convince him to do what he wants, when he was witness to Hulk being subdued only by Betty's coaxing. (BTW, I kind of like the King Kong/Beauty and the Beast aspect of Bruce and Betty's relationship. Heck, Hulk saved Betty's life when she could have died because of her own father's actions.) But they had that scene where some of the super-serum was dripped onto his head with an open wound, and his head gets all wonky with bubbling and motion and stuff, and then they never mentioned it again. I'm told that's a set-up for when he becomes a villain, though I don't know who he is the nemesis for.

I loved the inclusion of the love scene between Bruce and Betty. Their longing for each other has been very evident, and finally, when they have a moment of quiet alone, and Betty shows her affection and compassion for Bruce by touching his face and hugging him, you can see that Bruce is overwhelmed by being alone all this time and finally having human contact, with a woman he's loved no less, so it's natural for the two to start making love. But, Bruce has a pulse indicator watch to help him know when he has to calm himself down to stave off the monster inside, and as things get hot and heavy, the watch's alarm goes off. Bruce has to explain to Betty what it's for and why he has to stop, and it's really funny as the watch's alarm is an obvious aural indicator of Bruce's disposition, which is even funnier when the alarm finally stops at the end of Bruce's explanation.

I was also laughing when Bruce Banner was trying to speak and ends up butchering Portuguese - apparently, he's pretty cranky when he gets hungry!

It was nice to see that the magic pants were back. I always thought it was weird that when Banner turned into Hulk, his shirts were shredded beyond recognition, but his pants just got shorter. Yeah, I get that they can't have Hulk wandering around butt-naked, but it was still weird. They at least tried to address the situation in this case in that the pants were at least torn in places, and he is shown trying to buy pants in a larger size and with elasticity ("mas stretchy"), but Edward Norton to Hulk is a much bigger size difference than Bill Bixby to Lou Ferrigno. When you see Betty with Hulk on the mountainside near the cave, you can see the size comparison, and for those to be the same pants, Bruce would have had to be wearing pants that were drawn up over his head.

I noticed that in the trailer, there's a scene with Bruce and Betty's new boyfriend where Bruce is hinting at the monster inside him. I don't remember that being in the movie, so I'm wondering if it's a scene that was shot that ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor. If so, I hope they include that in the DVD.

OK, and the whole big stink raised about the general and his cigars? Can I just say that even knowing about the stink, I totally wasn't paying attention to what he might have had hanging from his mouth? I was much too involved in the story otherwise.


I'm including this quote from the Variety review by Todd McCarthy just because I find it really funny. :)

"Bruce Banner hides out anonymously in a Brazilian favela while desperately trying to decontaminate his blood, eliminating the cells that can make him, if sufficiently incensed, turn into a raging, bemuscled, 9-foot screamer with disagreeably antisocial habits."

As I said, in general, I liked the movie, moreso as I wrote this review and remembered all that I liked about it. I didn't like it quite as much as "Iron Man", but it was still a really good movie. Hmmm, maybe it's time for a double-feature to see both again.


Oh, and yeah, I have no idea why I happened to include so many outside links in this review.

"Iron Man" - movie review with spoilers at the end (and minor notes on Indy IV trailer and in-theatre "Wall-E" display)

Iron Man is not one of the comics stories that I've familiar with, but the trailer looked interesting, and I really like Robert Downey, Jr., so with a busy schedule this weekend, we ended up going to a morning screening, unusual for us. Considering how crowded the theatre was for this 10:45 screening, predictions for big box office for this film seem to be coming true. It's being reported that Friday's take was $32.5 million (with Variety putting that number at $33.4 million), which puts the film on track for a stellar opening weekend.

OK, slight detour here - inside the theatre lobby was a display for "Wall-E". I thought it was so cute!




Here's a close-up of the bench next to Wall-E.




At the screening we attended, they showed quite a number of trailers in front of the film, making the 2 hour plus movie an even longer theatre experience. Among other trailers, they unsurprisingly showed trailers for comic book-inspired films "The Incredible Hulk" and "The Dark Knight". Since "Iron Man" is being released by Paramount Pictures, it also wasn't surprising that the last trailer to be shown was a longer trailer for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". It really does look like they've captured the spirit of the series. Karen Allen looks like she hasn't aged at all, and while I'm not necessarily fond of Kate Blanchett, she actually looked good in the clips they showed. Here's a link to the new trailer.

OK, onto the movie at hand.


Overall, I thought it was a pretty terrific movie, and if it wasn't for the multitude of films coming out in the next few weeks, I'd probably be interested in seeing the film again. As you'd expect, the action sequences were amazing, with lots of things spectacularly blowing up and lots of fire everywhere. But one thing I've noticed about comic book-inspired movies in recent years is that there's much more emphasis on acting than previously. The movie wasn't good just because of the good action - the acting was pretty stellar all around. Since Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan were cast in starring roles in "X-Men", it seems like many of the subsequent superhero movies have been cast with name actors in the lead with a history of turning in good performances in more "serious" roles. I think that has elevated the stature and quality of these kinds of movies, so they're not simply live-action versions of comic book stories but bona fide good and even great movies in their own right.

"Iron Man" is about Tony Stark, head of a successful weapons-building company who is shown first hand the destruction caused by the things that have made his fortune. An attack of conscience leads him to build a suit with amazing abilities that allow him to turn the tide of the destruction being done with his weapons, but not everyone is happy about his change of heart.

I thought Robert Downey, Jr. did an amazing job as Tony Stark. He captured both the carefree days early in the film as well as all the developments in his character as the film progressed. Unlike Superman and Spiderman and the Hulk and the X-Men, he does not have superhero powers himself, but rather more like Batman, he is able to build devices that give him the ability to do extraordinary things. Even though Iron Man is based more in reality than most other superheroes, Tony Stark does come up with some fairly incredible things, and Downey, Jr. sells it completely believably. He plays the harder beats not as you might expect in a run-of-the-mill action flick but more from what you'd expect from a "serious drama". I've always liked him as an actor, and I'm glad to see that his star seems to be rising again. This is the second film I've seen him in this year, with two more coming up in the next few months.

Gwyneth Paltrow was terrific as Stark's personal assistant Pepper Potts. Paltrow and Downey, Jr. had very good chemistry, and it was fun to watch them play opposite each other. Paltrow is obviously a very beautiful woman, but they did manage to "plain her down" for the most part with her hairstyle, costuming and mannerisms.

Terrence Howard was also terrific as Stark's long-time friend. Howard looks very familiar to me, but in looking over his credits, I can't pick out anything that I specifically remember him from. The only thing I can come up with is that while I didn't see "Hustle and Flow", I do remember there was quite a bit of press when he was nominated for an Oscar for his role in that film.

I haven't seen Jeff Bridges in quite some time, so I was a bit surprised at how different he looked compared to the last time I saw him. He was good as usual in this film.

Leslie Bibb plays a Vanity Fair reporter who has a sexy scene in the film. I found that fairly distracting because I knew her as a detective on "Crossing Jordan", so I was used to her being totally conservative and professional rather than a fairly typical blonde bombshell.

And yes, Stan Lee makes his standard cameo.

Oh, and a quick mention that the end titles are fabulous - you should definitely stay and WATCH ALL OF THE END TITLES UNTIL THEY'RE FINISHED.

One bad effect of the film is that because I've seen the trailer a number of times, and the song "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath is used in the trailer, I've had that one riff from the song running through my head continuously today.


OK, so now that I've made all my general comments, here's the part where there be spoilers galore. You've been forewarned.






































OK, so, presumably, anyone still reading has already seen the film. Wasn't that an awesome film? Seriously!

I loved the back-and-forth between Tony and Pepper. It was sad but also sweet that each was all that the other had. I loved the scene where Pepper had to pull the copper wire from Tony's innards, and the scene at the charity function when Tony sees Pepper in that fab dress and then they dance and then go up to the roof and they come *thisclose* to kissing was just really funny. Of course, it's funnier later when we find out that Tony just left her up there. I liked that they never actually showed a romantic relationship between the two, and it was sweet that they used formalities when speaking to each other.

And for once, I actually was not surprised at a particular plot point. When Pepper asked Tony if he was going to keep the original heart mechanism and he said no, I knew she was going to end up keeping it and that it would play a pivotal part later in the film. Do I win a prize for not being blindsided by that development?

However, I did not catch on that Jeff Bridges would end up being the bad guy. He got a little cartoony in the end when he was in what looked to me like a Super Battle Droid outfit, but that's kind of to be expected at that point. He was great leading all up to that. I had figured out that he would be the one to step out of the car when there was the meeting with Raza, but I had not expected that he was the one who had ordered the hit on Tony in the first place. I did think it was funny in the end titles that there's a credit for a photo shot of Jeff Bridges for "Tucker". They must have used one of the photos done for that movie to create one of the magazine covers we saw about the history of Stark Industries.

And speaking of the end titles - how cool was it that they got Samuel Jackson to do 2 lines of dialogue as Nick Fury? (I have no idea who Nick Fury is, btw. I know the name of that character because I looked it up.) It was funny because when Tony walked into the apartment and Fury started talking, and I realized it was Jackson, my first thought was, oh, oh, you've been trying to hide from him, and he's found you now, and he's going to punish you for all the unauthorized jumping around you've been doing. Ummm, oops, wrong movie! ;) I take it this means they're planning a sequel?

Oh, and the guy who played the doctor who saved Tony's life? He was awesome. It was so sad when he died.

I loved all the humor that was in the film, especially when Tony was doing the first tests of levitating. "If you douse me one more time when I'm not actually on fire, I'm going to donate you to a school." OK, I don't know the exact line, but I was laughing so hard at that, made worse when he *was* doused again after accidentally crashing through his roof and onto one of his spiffy cars. It was also funny when he was arguing with it while he was doing welding or something. "No, just don't move. Oh, am I in your way?" Too funny.

I did have one question though - I get that they were in a cave, and the doctor could only do what he could to keep Tony alive by keeping the shrapnel from entering his heart. But once Tony got rescued and was back in the States, wasn't there a way for the doctors to get the shrapnel out so that he didn't have to keep wearing that device? Yeah, I know, that would have destroyed a plot point that was needed for later, but it didn't make sense to me that he just lived with it.

And after Tony was rescued and was back in the States and was in the car, refusing to go to the hospital, it was funny that he wanted a cheeseburger, but of all the great cheeseburgers he could have had, they just went to Burger King? Why did he pick that? (The husband's answer was, "Because Burger King paid them.") I was wondering if there was a promotion where Burger King was giving out Iron Man toys with kids' meals, but when we drove past one today, the husband said he didn't see any signs on the windows saying such.

Oh, and I wasn't thrilled with Tony actually announcing he was Iron Man at the end. Seemed like an odd ending to me. Well, ok, ending before the later ending.

So, yeah, a few minor quibbles, but overall, loved the movie!

upcoming movies

Since I've been spending quite a bit of time at the movies lately, that also means I've been seeing lots of trailers. When we're not seeing a lot of movies, I miss seeing all the stuff that's coming up, although sometimes that can be a blessing as well. I can't tell you how tired I got of seeing numerous trailers for "The Eye" and "The Ruins".

But with the summer movie season about to kick in, there are quite a number of movies coming up in the next multiple months that I'm interested in seeing. Here's a rundown of them.

I first saw the theatre standee for "Made of Honor", which is being released May 2, and it didn't do anything for me, but as I've been seeing the trailers, it looks funny. Yeah, it looks to be pretty predictable with standard romantic comedy overtones, but I like the physical comedy I've seen in the previews. Here's the link to the trailer.

When I first saw the trailer for "Iron Man", which is being released May 2, I was very surprised to see Robert Downey, Jr. in the lead role. I guess everyone is doing these kinds of films nowadays. It looks like it'll be interesting, though. Here's the link to the trailer.

I remember watching and loving "Speed Racer" as a child, and even though I really can't tell you much about what I watched (other than that whenever I've been stuck at a train crossing, I've always wished I had his car so that I could jump over everything and be on my way), I'm interested in seeing the live-action feature film version, which is being released May 9. I'm not crazy about the Matrix-like funky special effects, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Here's the link to the trailer.

I enjoyed "The Chronicles of Narnia", so I'm interested in seeing "Prince Caspian", which is being released May 16. I've never read the books and haven't yet decided whether I want to attempt them. I've got too much stuff in the queue as it is, so it's not like I'm looking for things to read, but it's something I might consider in the future. I might have to watch the first film again to orient myself before seeing this one. Here's the link to the trailer.

You would pretty much have to be living under a rock to not know that the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series is being released May 22. I'll be spending the majority of May trying really hard to avoid spoilers, especially once the film premieres at Cannes. I'm looking forward to seeing the film - the trailer looks great, I'm excited that Marion (Karen Allen) is back, and I'm interested in seeing how Shia LeBeouf does in the film. Here's the link to the trailer.

I hadn't heard until recently that they were making yet another version of "The Incredible Hulk", which is being released June 13. The last version didn't interest me enough to actually see it, especially with the horrid special effects, so I was pretty ho-hum about this version - until I saw the trailer. It looks pretty good, and I find it interesting that Edward Norton is playing Bruce Banner. With the cast also including Liv Tyler, William Hurt and Robert Downey, Jr., I'm looking forward to seeing how this version pans out. Here's the link to the trailer.

I've already talked about being excited to see "Wall-E", which is being released June 27. We're planning on getting tickets for opening night at the El Capitan as soon as they go on sale. (You don't really need me to link to the trailers, do you?)

It'll be a two-movie weekend since I'm also interested in seeing "Wanted", which is also being released June 27. I'm not a particular fan of Angelina Jolie, but the trailer looks awesome, and Morgan Freeman is in it, so how could you go wrong? Here's the link to the trailer.

I recently saw the trailer for "Hellboy II", which is being released July 11, and it looks kind of interesting. I've never seen the first film, and watching this trailer made me think about a city full of the inhabitants of Tatooine's cantina. The husband wants to see the film, and he's recommending that I watch the first film so that I can understand this one better. Here's the link to the trailer.

The second installment of the new Batman series, "The Dark Knight", is being released July 18. I was looking forward to seeing the film anyway as I love this particular incarnation of the story (I was not a fan of Batman being played by Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer or George Clooney though admittedly, I didn't see the last couple movies in the series.), but it'll be sad to see Heath Ledger's last role, in which he supposedly does an amazing job. Here's the link to the trailer.

The movie I'm most excited to see, "Mamma Mia", is also being released July 18. It's going to be a bit of a schizophrenic weekend at the movies. (You don't need me to link to this trailer either, do you?)

I had heard nothing about "Tropic Thunder", which is being released August 15, and as I watched the trailer, it wasn't really the kind of movie I'd normally be interested in - except for one element. The apparently-very-busy Robert Downey, Jr. is in this film, playing a critically-acclaimed Australian actor who undergoes a controversial medical procedure so that he can play an African-American character in the movie-within-a-movie. The trailer footage of him looks incredible, so I think I'm going to have to see this movie just for him alone. Here's the link to the trailer.

Another movie that I'd known nothing about is "Hamlet 2", which is being released August 22. But we saw the trailer recently, and we were laughing so hard that it's one of the movies I'm looking forward to seeing the most. It's just completely irreverent, and the show-within-the-movie just looks outrageous. Here's the link to the trailer.

I'd heard that they were doing a remake of "The Women", which is being released October 10. I'd seen the original film as well as read the original play and enjoyed them both. The casting of this new version is pretty interesting, so I'm interested to see how it comes out. There's apparently no trailer available yet.

"Charlie Bartlett" - movie review

I love Hollywood blockbusters and big event movies and special effects and star actors and directors. But I also love small gems of pictures. This is definitely one of them. I think the last time I thought a picture was absolutely perfect was when I saw "Glory". After seeing this movie, I walked out of the theatre with absolutely nothing that I thought was wrong with it.

Charlie Bartlett is a child of privilege who nonetheless has been expelled from numerous private schools, so he lands in a public school. Like every other kid in high school, he has a hard time fitting in at first, until he inadvertently finds a niche - as informal counselor to the other lost kids in the school. His popularity rises, and he starts to gain the recognition and acceptance that he's always longed for, but a near-tragedy almost puts that to an end. He finds that as much as he enjoys helping others, there are some more personal matters that he needs to attend to.

I heard about this movie when I was listening to Ralph Garman's movie beat on KROQ. He gave a short description of the movie, and it sounded pretty quirky and kind of interesting. It was an absolutely amazing movie, but in a quiet kind of way. The story had beats that have been done before, but it wasn't the beats themselves that were good - it was the execution of the beats. And even though the gist of the story is about high school angst, I think the film serves to remind us what our high school years might have been like in trying to fit it and finding a place for yourself, but it also translates well into other aspects of life, whether it's work or any kind of social situation.

Anton Yelchin is spectacular as the lead character. He has an air of sincerity about him so that even in somewhat odd circumstances, you completely believe everything he's doing and saying. There are a couple of scenes where he really has to let go, with different emotions, and he's terrific. I'm not really familiar with him from his previous work, but he was in an episode of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent", so I probably saw him in that. He's about to get much more exposure, though, as he will be playing Pavel Chekov in the next "Star Trek" movie, appropriate enough as he was born in Russia.



Robert Downey Jr. plays the principal of the high school Charlie attends, and my first thought was how odd it was that he's progressed to the point of playing a principal. But he doesn't play your standard-fare stuffy principal. He does a good job in the movie, and he has a spectacular scene when Principal Gardner and Charlie are on the deck above Gardner's pool.

Kat Dennings plays Susan, a girl who befriends Charlie, and for some reason, she catches your attention the first time she appears onscreen, just as she's having the same effect on Charlie. She's also very good in this film, giving Susan a lot of depth.




Tyler Hilton plays Murphey, the resident school bully. I first became aware of Tyler Hilton because I was listening to Mark and Brian, who have a syndicated radio show broadcast out of Los Angeles. At 16, he was a musician who had called into their show, and they were so impressed by him that they had him perform at one of their events, and he gained recognition from there. He did work on his music more, and then he started acting. Some may know him from the series "One Tree Hill". I didn't particularly follow him, but I thought he was good playing Elvis Presley in "Walk the Line". He is absolutely wonderful in this film. He plays a range that's pretty impressive, and based on his performance in this film, I can see his acting career continue to blossom.




I don't know how much publicity is being done for this film. I hadn't heard about it prior to Ralph mentioning it, but I hope more people find out about it. It's definitely something I'd recommend heartily. My only concern having to do with the film is that it was released two days before this year's Academy Awards. I can definitely see this film being a contender next year, but the Academy members are going to have to be reminded of this film come nomination time.