Yup, I sat through all 3 1/2 hours of the 82nd Academy Awards last night.  It’s not like I had a whole lot of options to choose from.  Sunday nights are slim pickin’s.  And hey, I like movies. 

I think that this is only the 2nd time in my life that I’ve truly “watched” the Oscars.  Normally I just flip back and forth between them and whatever else might be on.  Or I tune in at the end, when the “real” awards are given out… Best actor/actress, director, and finally.. best motion picture.

Or I simply skip them entirely, and read about it the next day online or in the newspaper.

Not this year!  No siree.. this year I sat through from start to finish.  The good, the bad, and well… the blue.  Even when my fellow viewers were getting tired of watching, I held fast… I’d started watching, and dammit, I was going to finish watching!

I am sooooooo glad that it was not a night of “Avatar!” after “Avatar!” after even MORE “Avatar!” like I had expected.  I’m sure that I’m not the only one.  While it IS a good movie, I still think that better movies had been released last year.  Apparently the Academy agreed.  When it came to two of the biggies (motion picture, director), hugely insane budget Avatar was passed over in favour of independent movie The Hurt Locker.  I’ve seen both movies, and I have to say that The Hurt Locker is well deserving.  Frankly, I was a little afraid that the bone-headed move by one of its producers to email the Academy and ask for their votes might have hurt The Hurt Locker’s  chances at bringing home the hardware.  I am satisfied with the end results, though.  I don’t think that I could handle another Cameron “I’m the King of the World!” acceptance speech.

 At the end of the night, The Hurt Locker had 6 of those shiny little statuettes, while Avatar managed only 3.

As far as other highlights, I didn’t see Crazy Heart, so I can’t really comment on Jeff Bridges’ Best Actor nod, other than to say… It’s The Dude.  The Dude deserves what The Dude deserves.  Just don’t pee on The Dude’s rug.  Not cool, man.  Not cool.

I’m having a real hard time wrapping my brain around Sandra Bullock’s Best Actress win, but in all fairness… I didn’t see The Blind Side either.  And this award is given for a single movie performance, not a lifetime achievement award… So I’ll give Sandra the benefit of the doubt.

The rest was filled with the standard fare.  I’ve deliberately ignored the fact that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin hosted this year’s show.  It’s better this way.

Oh.. and a special mention of Ben Stiller’s presentation of the Best Make-up award, when he came out dressed like a Na’vi alien from Avatar.  I think next year he should host the show… in character!

Sat down to watch Law Abiding Citizen.  If you haven’t seen this yet, let me offer some caution…

If you’re at all squeamish about onscreen violence, think long and hard whether this is a movie that you’re really interested in watching.

I don’t require a movie to be violent for me to enjoy it, but I don’t relish violence strictly for violence’s sake.  Take the Saw series for starters.  I have no use for something like that.  That violence disturbs me, and I can’t watch it.  But for most movies that have blood…  I can deal with it, if I have to.  Particularly if I’m expecting it.

I wasn’t really expecting it from this movie.

Gerard Butler plays a man who has some very legitimate reasons to dislike the justice system.  Jamie Foxx plays a prosecutor intent on moving up the ladder as quickly as he can.   They both have very different views of what constitutes “justice”.

And that’s where things get messy.  Some of the violence is pretty straight-forward.  You can see it coming a mile away, and choose to look away or whatever.  But there is also at least one scene that is so sudden that I was stunned.

This is a movie that I had actually considered seeing in the theatre, and I’m just as glad that I didn’t.  This isn’t a bad movie, but it’s not for everyone.

Finally managed to get to the theatre last night and see James Cameron’s Avatar.  I tend to over-use the phrase “visually stunning” while describing some of the latest movie releases, but this one definitely fits that description.  Even if it wasn’t in 3D, I imagine that it would still be stunning.  There’s no doubt about it…  the bar has been raised.

But what about the movie itself?  I couldn’t help but think that I was watching a modernized version of Pocahontas.  (My sister says Pocahontas AND Ferngully, but I don’t really remember Ferngully, so I’ll just stick with Pocahontas)  I wasn’t really feeling the whole “we’re one with our natural surroundings” vibe, which is a shame because that’s a central theme.

The combat scenes were amazing though, and helped rekindle my interest.  Also, I’m sure that Cameron would be pleased to know that his 3D imagery triggered my dislike of heights, so that gives an idea of how realistic it was at times.

Was is good?  Hell, yes.  Was it great?  Well.. It was “pretty”… I’m glad that I saw it in 3D in the theatre because that’s the greatest visual experience possible.  I suspect a month from now when I think back to whether I liked Avatar, I’ll be remembering it solely for the visual effects, and not much else.

It was good, and I’m glad that I had the chance to see it, but would I rush out to see it again? 

No, probably not.

Lately when I’ve gone to see a movie, I really haven’t reviewed it, so much as just given a quick overview and said “Go see it!”  or “Wait until it comes out on video”.  Well, this one is going to be different… so please.. STOP READING RIGHT NOW IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON GOING TO SEE THIS MOVIE, BECAUSE I *AM* GOING TO RUIN A MAIN PART OF THIS MOVIE IF YOU KEEP READING!

Still reading?

You’ve been warned.

Actually, I’m hoping that someone who has already seen The Book of Eli will read this and chime in.. either tell me that I’m completely out to lunch, or agree with me.  It doesn’t matter which.

Paul and I went to watch The Book of Eli on Thursday night.  We’ve been meaning to go see it, and our schedules finally matched!  So off we went, shelled out the big bucks for the tickets, and even bigger bucks for the crappy popcorn, fountain pop, and a kit-katt bar.

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I had written a few pages and found that I was rambling, so I deleted everything up til that line…  I’ll get right to it…

I completely accept that Eli may have been guided by “The Hand of God”… even when it IS revealed that he’s somehow blind.  His mission is to protect that Bible, and if God gives him the ability to kick some serious ass, then great.  But what I CAN’T figure out is why we don’t see that he’s blind along the way.  Yeah, I realize that would ruin the surprise, but throughout the movie there are times when his sunglasses are off.. do his eyes ever look “grey” or “dead” like they do at the end?  Did he go blind along the way?  No, I don’t think so.  He’s able to read the brail bible, so he’s more than likely blind at the beginning of the journey.  Unless I’m missing something (and I might very well be… if so, please tell me!) it’s almost like he just suddenly becomes blind at the end. Yes, there are instances where he relies on his sense of smell… if he has lost the ability to see, then the other senses would become more aware.  I understand that.  But it’s the eyes that bother me.  They don’t LOOK to be blind during any part of the movie, except conveniently at the end.

And as for Mila Kunis’ character… what was the point of her?  Really.. c’mon now…  Eye candy?  Comic relief?  The story could have progressed quite nicely without her.  If she was necessary to advance the storyline while Eli was still in town, fine… he’s a holier man than most, and refused to take advantage of her…  but that’s it.  I just didn’t see the need for her at all.  And the final scene where she straps on weapons and prepares to walk home like some battle-hardened warrior princess…  Oh please…   It just didn’t fit.

Argh..  I normally don’t care about gaping holes in movie plots… I usually just accept things at face value because it’s entertainment.  I strap myself in for the ride, and I either like it, or I don’t.. based on whatever emotion I feel at the end.  I don’t try to analyze every little thing, and it actually bothers me that this movie didn’t just roll off of me as pure entertainment.

Still.. I liked it.  I just really could have used an explanation of Eli’s “sudden” blindness.  Mila?  Well… I could have gotten over that part…  but the blindness?

I think I’ll have to get this when it comes out on DVD and pay closer attention.

Curious to know if you have any blood pumping through that cold heart of yours?  Go see Extraordinary Measures.  If you walk out of there without feeling anything, then chances are good that you’re beyond hope.

Brendan Fraser is a Dad trying to save two of his young children who have Pompe Disease, a rare genetic disorder.  Harrison Ford is the somewhat eccentric scientist, whose life’s work on the disease appears to hold the most promise… at least in theory.  Together they form an interesting partnership.

I’ll admit, I had never even heard of Pompe Disease until this movie.  Like I’m sure many people did, I went and looked it up shortly afterward.  It’s quite an amazing story.

And you just might learn something about yourself…

“Rumours have swirled for months about a new Ferris Bueller movie”   Really?  This is the first that I’ve read anything about it!

When I first noticed the article, I was pretty excited.  Then I read through it, and realized that Matthew Broderick not only wasn’t going to be in it, but wanted nothing to do with it… other than giving his blessing.  And that made me start to wonder if my initial excitement might have been caused simply because of nostalgia.. which is probably the case.  And then I began to wonder if I really needed an update to the classic original… probably not.

I’ve seen Ferris Bueller’s Day Off too many times to count.  It’s one of my all-time favourite movies.  I never get tired of watching this movie, and it’s hard for me to imagine any spin-off, update or anything else coming close to the original magic that makes this movie a classic.

Sometimes things are best left alone.

The Goods, Live Hard, Sell Hard

I was really looking forward to seeing this movie in the theatre over the summer.  I tried to go see it, but in a blink of an eye, it was gone.

Now I know why.

I really love Jeremy Piven’s character in Entourage, Ari.  In my opinion, he makes the show what it is.  I remember him saying in an interview “If you like Ari, then you’ll like this movie”.  Well…  not exactly.  I fully understood that his character would NOT be Ari, and yes, there IS a resemblance… but it’s the rest of the movie that doesn’t live up to my expectations.  One of the guys at work saw it, and told me that it was horrible.  But he also hates Entourage, so I wasn’t really putting a lot of stock in his opinion.

Maybe I should have.

I dunno.. it’s not that it’s horrible, because it isn’t.  It’s just that the laughs are so few and far between, which is a shame, because the movie is full of actors who are generally quite funny.  You’ll recognize people from The Daily Show and The Office.  It certainly has potential..

It just falls really, REALLY flat…

Had a little bit of time to kill the other day, and figured that maybe we could go see a movie.  It was 3pm.  Not exactly my usual movie-viewing time, and we didn’t have the luxury of waiting around.  If something fit into our schedule, then we’d have to either take it or leave it.  I had hoped that Avatar might available, but it wasn’t.  There was only one movie that was starting at that time, and I couldn’t really place it by the name alone.  Brothers.

It wasn’t until I walked back outside to view the poster that I realized I had seen the movie trailer for this a few times, and that it seemed worth while.

Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal play brothers leading very different lives.  I actually thought that they cast those two quite well.  It wasn’t a stretch to believe that they could be brothers.  Nathalie Portman plays the wife who tries to hold her family together when her husband (Maguire) doesn’t come back from a tour in Afghanistan as planned.  This is sooo not a Padmé Amidala role.  It was quite refreshing to see her acting.

I can remember hearing something about Tobey Maguire having to “decompress” from this role, and I can certainly understand why.  Some not-very-nice things happen to his character, and to be able to pull it off successfully (which I think he did) and then come out of that mental “place” can’t be an easy task.

I don’t think that this is a movie that I necessarily needed to see in the theatre.  It’s not like it required a big screen for visual effects, or anything like that.  But I am glad that I saw it when I did.  It’s not cheery.  It’s probably not going to make you walk out of there laughing.  But it should make you think.  Make you think about what makes a family, what holds two people together, and what people are capable of doing.. the good and the bad..

I wouldn’t rush out to see it before it disappears from the theatre, but keep it in mind when you see it on the shelf of your local movie rental place in a few months.