The Oscars

I really liked this year's Oscars. The opening montage was great. I especially liked Anne Hathaway and James Franco's opening skit that featured them in all the nominated movies. The Black Swan parody was great and it was really funny when Morgan Freeman and Alec Baldwin showed up in the skit.

I was really happy when Melissa Leo won for Best Supporting Actress. I was hoping that she would win. Jacki Weaver winning would have been cool, too. I liked Melissa Leo's speech and was really surprised she wasn't played off the stage by the orchestra or censored during her speech.

I knew that Toy Story 3 would win Best Animated Picture and I was happy that it won. I was really happy when Aaron Sorkin won Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network, but I was surprised that David Seidler won Best Original Screenplay for The King's Speech. I really liked that movie, but I wanted Inception or The Kids Are All Right to win.

I thought it was awesome when Christian Bale won for Best Supporting Actor. I really liked his speech. I was really happy and surprised when Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won Best Original Score for The Social Network.

I liked that the nominees for Best Original Song were performed this year. I was kind of disappointed when Randy Newman won for "We Belong Together" because I liked that song the least out of all of them. I would have picked "If I Rise" by Dido and A.R. Rahman to win.

I wasn't surprised at all when Colin Firth won Best Actor for The King's Speech. I thought he was really great in that movie, although I thought he should have won last year for A Single Man. I thought it would have been really cool if Jesse Eisenberg won Best Actor, but I knew it would be Colin Firth. I also knew Natalie Portman was going to win Best Actress for Black Swan. My sister saw Black Swan and said she was amazing in it. I think it would have been hard to pick Best Actress this year. I really liked Annette Benning in The Kids Are All Right. I haven't seen Rabbit Hole, Blue Valentine, or Winter's Bone yet, but I've read that Nicole Kidman, Michelle Williams, and Jennifer Lawrence were all great.

I was very surprised when Tom Hooper won Best Director for The King's Speech. I thought it definitely should have been David Fincher for The Social Network. I also wanted The Social Network to win Best Picture, but I was fine with The King's Speech winning. I really liked this year's Oscars and thought Anne Hathaway and James Franco did a great job hosting :)

Movie Review-The Fighter

Title-"The Fighter"

Rating-R

Director-David O. Russell

Actors-Mark Wahlberg, Melissa Leo, Christian Bale, Amy Adams

Genre-Biography/Drama

Year-2010

 

 

 

"The Fighter" is a great movie and another one of my favorites of 2010. It is based on the true story of Mickey Ward, an amateur boxer from Lowell, Massachusettes who eventually goes pro. Most of the movie focuses on Mickey (Mark Wahlberg)'s complicated relationship with his family, including his mother and manager, Alice (Melissa Leo), and his older half-brother and trainer, Dicky (Christian Bale). Mickey loves his family, but they seem to be holding him back, especially Dicky, who was once a great boxer, but became addicted to crack. When Mickey starts dating a bartender named Charlene (Amy Adams), it causes more tension between Mickey and his family. This movie has a very compelling story. It also has amazing acting by the entire cast, especially by Christian Bale, who gives one of the most unforgettable performances I've ever seen, and by Mark Wahlberg, who gives a great understated performance. I really recommend watching "The Fighter" when it comes out on DVD.

Movie Review-Toy Story 3

Title-"Toy Story 3"

Rating-G

Director-Lee Unkrich

Voice Actors-Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty

Genre-Animated/Comedy/Adventure

Year-2010

"Toy Story 3" is a wonderful movie and one of my favorites of 2010. This time, Andy is getting ready to go to college, and his old toys, including Woody (voice of Tom Hanks), Buzz (voice of Tim Allen), and Jessie (voice of Joan Cusack), are worried about what will happen to them. When the toys are accidently donated to a day-care center, they meet a friendly toy bear named Lotso (Ned Beatty). Unfortunately, they discover that life at the day-care center is not what they expected, and the toys make a plan to escape. This movie has a good balance of funny and emotional scenes, and definitely deserves its nomination for Best Picture in this year's Oscars. I really recommend watching "Toy Story 3".

Movie Review-The Kids Are All Right

Title-"The Kids Are All Right"

Rating-R

Director-Lisa Cholodenko

Actors-Annette Benning, Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson, Mark Ruffalo

Genre-Comedy/Drama

Year-2010
 
 

"The Kids Are All Right" is an awesome movie and one of my favorites of the year. It is about a lesbian couple, Nic (Annette Benning) and Jules (Julianne Moore), who are surprised to find out that their teenage children Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson) want to contact their biological father. Joni and Laser meet their biological father, a man named Paul (Mark Ruffalo), and decide to introduce him to their mothers. As the family spends more time with Paul, Nic starts to feel left out, which causes problems in the family. I don't want to give too much away about the story. I loved this movie. I thought the characters and dialogue were realistic, and I felt like I was watching a real family, which doesn't happen often in movies about families. Everyone in the cast, especially Annette Benning and Julianne Moore, was wonderful. "The Kids Are All Right" is one of the best movies of 2010 and I really recommend watching it.

Movie Review-Inception

Title-"Inception"

Rating- PG-13

Director-Christopher Nolan

Actors-Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Ellen Page

Genre-Thriller/Sci-Fi/Action

Year-2010

 

"Inception" is a great movie with amazing special effects. It is about a man named Dom (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is the leader of a team of thieves (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy) who are able to steal ideas from people while they sleep. Although the team has become very rich for performing "extractions", Dom has not seen his family in years and wants to stop. One day, a businessman named Saito (Ken Watanabe) hires the team to plant an idea in a competitor's head, instead of stealing an idea. Because planting an idea, or "inception", is more difficult and dangerous for Dom's team than "extraction", Dom decides to hire a new member, a talented college student named Ariadne (Ellen Page). This movie has one of the most original stories I've ever seen, as well as mind-blowing special effects. I think it might be even more enjoyable watching it a second time. "Inception" is one of the best movies of 2010 and I really recommend watching it.

My Favorite Simpsons Guest Voices

The Simpsons is my all-time favorite TV show and it has featured a lot of great guest stars. Here are my favorites:

• Phil Hartman as Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure
• Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob
• Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony
• Albert Brooks as Jacques in the episode "Life On The Fast Lane"
• Penny Marshall as Ms. Botz (aka "The Babysitter Bandit") in the episode "Some Enchanted Evening"
• Dustin Hoffman as Mr. Bergstrom in the episode "Lisa's Substitute"
• Beverly D'Angelo as Lurleen Lumpkin in the episode "Colonel Homer"
• Jon Lovitz as Llewellyn Sinclair in the episode "A Streetcar Named Marge"

Part 2 coming soon...

Valentine's Day Movies

Since Valentine's Day is coming up soon, I thought I would make a list of great movies with a romantic theme:

• When Harry Met Sally (1989)
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
• High Fidelity (2000)
• Chasing Amy (1997)
• Moonstruck (1987)
• The Brothers McMullen (1995)
• Say Anything (1989)
• True Romance (1993)
• (500) Days Of Summer (2009)
• Annie Hall (1977)
• Romeo & Juliet (either the 1968 or 1996 version)
• West Side Story (1961)
• Moulin Rouge (2001)
• Titanic (1997)
• French Kiss (1995)
• The Other Sister (1999)
• Love, Actually (2003)
• Brokeback Mountain (2005)
• All Over The Guy (2001)
• The Notebook (2004)
• Amelie (2001)
• Benny And Joon (1993)
• Before Sunrise (1995)
• The Princess Bride (1987)
• The Wedding Singer (1998)
• 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
• The Holiday (2006)
• WALL-E (2008)

Movies & Books

Hi. I thought I would do an entry about movies I've seen lately or books I'm reading.

The last movies I've seen lately on DVD are White Heat and Before Sunrise. If you haven't seen them, White Heat is a crime movie from 1949 starring James Cagney, and Before Sunrise is a romance with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy from 1995. I thought that both of these movies were very good, but not great, although both had some great scenes in them. I think that the ending to White Heat would have been perfect if the very last line in the movie had been cut out. I won't spoil the endings in case anyone hasn't seen them. I'm probably going to watch Before Sunset, the sequel to Before Sunrise, sometime soon. I've heard that it's supposed to be even better than Before Sunrise.

Yesterday, I went out of town and saw The Fighter in theatres. It was a great movie with very good performances by Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams, a great performance by Melissa Leo, and an amazing one by Christian Bale. He completely blew me away in that movie and needs to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

I also bought some new movies: Animal Kingdom, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Pianist, and Empire Of The Sun. I'm really looking forward to seeing them for the first time.

I finished reading a book called The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer a few days ago and it was really good. Before that, I read Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern, and I really liked it. I started reading a new book today called In The Province Of Saints by Thomas O'Malley and it's interesting so far.