A Good Year

Russell Crowe has been in a ton of great movies but for some reason I hate him as an actor. I can recognize his talent and I know he spends a great deal of time picking a movie script and making the best film he could possibly make but for some reason I just can’t stand him.

This has nothing to do with the fact that he is reportedly a huge asshole outside of the movie business. I could not care less if he throws his cell phone at people in hotels or if he makes fun of his co-stars. I am just not interested in his personal life. HOWEVER when ever I see his face up on screen I have to either turn off the TV. or change the change the channel.

Anyways back to A Good Year.

The story sounds interesting, rich man with no social life outside of his office has an uncle who dies and leaves him everything including a vineyard where he spent most of his childhood learning about life and about love.

Actually, it doesn’t sound interesting at all.

Here’s the ending.

He chooses the girl and he keeps the vineyard. He decides that money isn’t everything and decides to revolutionize his life.

There I saved you $10.

Harsh Times

Harsh Times was written and directed by David Ayer who also wrote Training Day. I really enjoyed Training Day but at the same time thought it was a little over rated. Giving an Oscar to Denzel Washington was a little much. I had not really heard much about this movie so I decided to do a little bit of research on it. What I found is that this movie was made in 2004 and had been shelved and re cut several times.

2 years later with the success of Christian Bale and Eva Longoria, two of the films stars, they decided to release it and capitalize on their growing popularity.

Whenever I read this about movies it makes me very skeptical. This movie now has to work much harder to win me over because I am going into this movie thinking that this movie was made to be a direct to Dvd release.

I think I may enjoy it though because the action looks interesting and the premise although very similar to Training Day seems like something I could enjoy.

All in all I would say watch this movie this weekend or wait for it to come out on Dvd…

Just watch it.

The Return

All the internet movie critics are jokingly referring to this movie as The Grudge 3.

I have seen The Grudge and thought it was dog crap but mildly scary and I avoided The Grudge 2 so I would be the last person to ask about this movie.

Bottom line it is Sarah Michelle Gellar and there are dead people.

That doesn’t feel very festive.

Avoid this movie.

Stranger than Fiction

I really want to see this movie.

The idea of making a character self aware is great. This by no means is the first movie to make it’s characters aware of the fact that their every thought and movement are being written by a supreme being but I think that by adding Will Ferrell to the mix it adds something extra.

When I first saw Will Ferrell on SNL I thought the was the most annoying piece of untalented shit there ever was. After I heard he had made a couple of movies I was completely enraged that out of his cast on SNL he was going to be the breakout star.

Then I saw A Night At the Roxbury and as lame as that movie was it was funny.

In the past two years he has just been in hit after hit after hit and he has even found time to be in a couple of small independent films working out his acting muscles.

I am going to hate myself for the next sentence but I really will watch anything with Will Ferrell and according to the box office I am not the only one.

True story: The producers of Talladega Nights needed only one sentence to get that movie green light.

“It’s a movie about NASCAR staring Will Ferrell.”.

I really hope Ferrell doesn’t disappoint with this movie because Jim Carrey as talented as he is really sucks in a lot of the movies where he ignores his talents and plays a serious character.

Except for Man on the Moon.

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus

I really like Diane Arbus’ Photographs.

I had been a fan of her work for a very long time even though I had no clue who she was or what her story was.

Her pictures are sad and creepy but at the same time very heartfelt and genuine.

I am interested to see what drove her to take pictures of the unreal and socially less desirables.

Plus Nicole Kidman loves to get naked in her movies and that is always a plus with her.

Some examples of Diane Arbus' work

There haven't been any interesting Dvd releases lately.
So I just picked 5 Dvd’s at random.

Click on any of the links to rent any of these movies from Netflix


Cars

Pixars weakest movie to date. Usually I am very excited about a released from Pixar but this movie didn't catch my attention like the others.
I never saw this movie and I have no intentions in seeing this movie.
None.


Transformers: The Movie (Animated)

I've seen this movie a couple of times and I think I own it on VHS.
I can't really say more other than that.


Pride Fighting Championship Vol. 38

Two over worked and under paid fighters go at it for your viewing pleasure.
The WWE needs to take a page out of UFC's playbook because after watching one UFC event you just can't watch fake wrestling ever again.

I have nothing but respect for these fighters not only because they could kill me with their bare hands but because they display the most discipline out of any athlete’s in any sport.
One minute they are beating an opponents face into the mat and the next minute they are shaking hands with a barely conscious and bloody opponent.

I am not sure what the value in owning this dvd is.
Watching a fight once is more than enough for me.

Sopranos Season 6

There is no better television show on T.V. than the Sopranos. Some people say that the Sopranos has lost it's edge in the recent seasons because the violence has been curtailed. They could not be more wrong.
What you have to remember about the Sopranos is that the show is not about the mob. It's about Tony Soprano and his family and their every day struggles and their interactions with each other.

The fact that Tony Soprano is a mob boss plays a huge role in the show but the character doesn't just end there. Tony Soprano is a well thought out character who has developed even a subconscious as the show progresses. He struggles not only with himself but with the paradox of being a good father and role model to his son as well as maintaining control through the use of violence and force in the work place. The balance the character displays between cold blooded killer and warm loving father makes for great television and James Gandolfini has become a master at his craft.

I am glad the violence has been cut back because that leaves more room for storyline development and well nudity.

Beverly Hills 90210: Complete First Season

Do not lie to yourself, you watched Beverly Hills 90210 and you loved it.
Everyone did, that’s why the show stayed on for so long and made Aaron Spelling a millionaire over and over.

Borat amazingly took the number one spot this past weekend. It opened on 800 screens and averaged over 10 grand per screen. It absolutely killed the competition. In the number two spot The Santa Clause 3 took in a decent amount of money with $20 million.

Now consider this.

Borat made $26 million on 800 screens and The Santa Clause made $20 million on almost 3 thousand screens. Borat cost about $18 million to produce, now add the cost of advertising and the cost of Sacha Baron Cohens dignity and the number adds up to approximately $40 million. Now, the Santa Clause 3 probably had a monstrous budget of close to $60 million without factoring in the cost of selling the movie...

Business wise Borat slaughtered The Santa Clause 3.

Borat killed Christmas and a Tim Allen Franchise.

Good.

I didn't see Borat this weekend because I want to let the hype die down before I watch it. I really don't want to watch this movie in a crowded theater because well I am afraid of germs and people in general.

Actually I just didn't have any time.

The number three spot went to the Dreamworks BOMB Flushed away. Usually the animation department of Dreamworks studios is usually the crutch that keeps that studio going but not this time. Mr. Katzenberg the man who runs the animation division really fucked up in greenlighting this movie. Sure flushed away was produced by the same guys as Wallace and Gromit and that movie made tons of cash but this one is officially a certified BOMB. With only $19million in box office receipts it is $140 million short from turning a profit.

I wonder what it feels like to bet $160 million dollars on clay and then loose?

My guess is not good.

Saw III continued to make its creators even more rich. I can say with a certain degree of certainty that this franchise is here to stay. I am not being facetious when I say that there will be a Saw X.

Seriously.

The Departed just won't go away. It is still in the top 5 and it doesn't look like it is going anywhere. Scorsese Oscar however has left. The academy will shun this movie because it has made Millions.

The Queen rounds out the top 10 with $3 million dollars in business this weekend.

I still can't believe Borat made $26 million on just 800 screens. That is incredible business.

I can see this movie making close to $100 million by the time it is released onto Dvd.

That is just incredible.

Good, I made it through an entire post without quoting Borat. I am proud of myself.

Oh yeah, I was right...No one wants to see Flags of our Fathers.

It only made $4 Million.