Bridesmaids

Directed by: Paul Feig

2011

Rated R

Date Viewed: Saturday May 21, 2011

There is no way to pick a quote from this movie. Every single one of them has that "had to be there" feel to it. If you do see this movie then let me know how you feel about "It's coming out like lava!!!!"... Anyways, this movie is about Annie who is asked to be Maid of Honor in her childhood best friend Lillian's wedding. Annie is broke and single and is trying to keep up with the other bridesmaids, one of which is extremely wealthy. There's some rivalry between the wealthy bridesmaid and Annie over who is Lillian's real best friend and it's all pretty hilarious. This is a really funny movie. Kristin Wiig is fabulous and I just love her often dry delivery. The supporting cast is really funny as well. My favorite character was Megan who is the bride's future sister in law and who provides quite a few laughs. There is a bit of raunch so if that's not your thing, you're warned. From speech rivalry to food poisoning during dress fittings to destroying a big cookie, this movie is definitely a barrel of laughs. A-

No Strings Attached

"I'm warning you, if you come any closer I'm not letting you go."

Directed by Ivan Reitman

2011

Date Viewed: May 16, 2011

So the premise of this movie is a little gross... Adam and Emma try to have a purely physical relationship but don't have any interest in falling in love or having a real relationship. Eventhough I don't really agree with relationships like that, I did really enjoy this movie. It's cute and funny and even romantic at times. I'm usually not a huge Ashton Kutcher fan, but he was adorable in this movie as Adam who ends up falling for Emma and tries to get her to want more from their relationship the same way that he does. Natalie Portman as Emma is also fantastic. I didn't know that she could be funny! The supporting cast is really great too and includes Kevin Kline as Adam's estranged father, and Olivia Thirlby as Emma's sister. B

Unstoppable

Directed by Tony Scott

2010

Unstoppable is about a train, that because of stupidity, got away. Conveniently, this train that was so carelessly left running while the conductor hopped out for a second was carrying a bunch of cars filled with a toxic substance that would explode on impact. A lot of the movie is about them yelling at each other and trying to figure out how to stop the train and the other part focuses on two conductors on a train, an old guy and a young guy, who are snippy toward each other until they are forced to come together and help stop the runaway train...

This movie is soooo Tony Scott, the coloring, the camera work, the use of slow-mo, and the random police car that is driving so fast the it just all of a sudden flips over.... However, this movie was way better than I thought it'd be. I think it's one of the better Tony Scott films of late. C+

Sons Of Anarchy Season 1 and 2

" A true outlaw finds the balance between the passion in his heart and the reason in his mind. The outcome is the balance of might and right."

Viewed March 2011

I have to admit that I was very skeptical of this show and refused to watch it for a long time. I had heard that it was really good, but come on, a show about a motorcycle gang? Not for me. My siblings eventually became obssessed with it which was really weird, and my brother ended up putting it on my ipod over Christmas break (he always loads my pod full of movies and tv shows for me, so I'm kind of at his mercy). After I had watched everything else that was on my ipod I reluctantly started in on Sons. I wasn't sold after the first episode. In fact, I had a hard time even paying attention cause I bored and still overly skeptical. I texted my younger brother and asked if it was really worth it and he assured me it was. So I watched another episode. Then another. Then another until finally I was really hooked. This is not a show about a bunch of long haired, tattooed, Harley loving thugs who drive around on their motorcycles all day and cause trouble.... Except it sort of is... But it's even better. The Club is involved in many legal and illegal business ventures and the ATF is on to them. The first season deals mainly with the ATF trying to bring them down, and the second season mainly deals with another "business" man coming into town and trying to take over all the illegal activities in Charming. There are brawls and gun battles and plenty of motorcycle riding, but there's also some romance and some hard issues as well (I even got all choked up in one episode!). Sons of Anarchy has a butt load of really great under rated actors as well including Kim Coates, Ron Perlman and Tommy Flanagan (just to name a few). I now definitely love this show and the second season was even better than the first, so I hope that it continues to get better and better! Oh, and when did Katy Segal become super hot!? A

The Hunger Games (book)

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

Written by Suzanne Collins

I've decided to start writing about books as well... I've read 7 books since January since I have way too much down time at work.... So here it goes...

The Hunger Games takes place in the dystopian country of Panem. Panem is split into districts (there were 13, now only 12) that each serve the Capitol. The Capitol is rich and it's people are extravagant. District 2 is a little less so. Each district is poorer and more impoverished than the one before it. Every district is basically enslaved and provides the Capitol with a natural resource. Before this book begins, District 13 staged an uprising and rallied the districts to revolt against the Capitol. They failed and the Capitol retaliated by first destroying District 13 and then creating The Hunger Games to remind them of their disobedience and how powerless they are against the Capitol. The hunger Games is a fight to the death that takes plae every year and is televised throughout the country. One boy and one girl
(called tributes) from each district between the ages of 12 and 18 are randomly chosen to participate. The last one standing at the end of the Games is the victor.

Katniss Everdeen is the main character. She is 16 years old, lives in District 12 and takes care of her frail mother and her younger sister Prim. During The Reaping (the ceremony where the tributes are chosen) Prim's name is pulled and Katniss rushes in to take her place in the Games. Katniss is brought to the Capitol along with Peeta (the boy tribute) and Haymitch (District 12's only past victor who serves as a mentor) for training and then the Games. Katniss must survive many horrors and must kill or be killed in order to survive.

I loved this book, actually I loved this entire series. I think this is my favorite young adult series. I might get beat up for saying this, but I loved The Hunger Games more than Harry Potter. This book is super intense, so definitely not for those who don't like suspense. Katniss is sometimes a frustrating character, and a little dense as well. She has a fiery temer and over reacts/over analyzes frequently. She makes up for it by being a really strong female character though. There were a few plot points that I had figured out, but Katniss took longer to realize, but I also remembered that Katniss was 16 and not 27, so maybe that was ok. What I liked the most was the attention to details. For example in the arena Katniss is searching for water and gets dehydrated and her lips get dry and her tongue swells and she gets a headache and sluggish. Its details like that that make the whole story seem more real. It's also told from Katniss' perspective so you really seem to feel what she's feeling. This is definitely a must read. A

My Oscar Predictions

I haven’t seen very many of the movies that are up for Oscars, and I haven’t been getting Entertainment Weekly this year either… So here are my Oscar predictions based on basically nothing except Digg headlines. Last year I guessed every Oscar except for 1.. We’ll see how I do this year. I’m putting them in the order that they’re in on the Oscars website.


Actor
Javier Bardem in Biutiful
Jeff Bridges in True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Colin Firth in The King’s Speech
James Franco in 127 Hours



And the Oscar will go to: Colin Firth in The King’s Speech. He’s been getting an enormous amount of buzz for his performance especially since he has to pull off a stutter…



I’ll be annoyed if it goes to: Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network. He plays the same exact character in every single movie. This one is no different.





Supporting Actor
Christian Bale in The Fighter
John Hawkes in Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner in The Town
Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right
Geoffery Rush in The King’s Speech



And The Oscar will go to: Christian Bale in The Fighter. Christian Bale was amazing to watch as Dicky, a druggie washed up boxer.



I’ll be annoyed if it goes to: Jeremy Renner in The Town. The Town was an excellent movie, but I don’t really feel like Jeremy Renner deserves to be up there. I didn’t really feel like he was outstanding in any way.



Actress
Annette Bening in The Kids are All Right
Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman in Black Swan
Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine



And the Oscar will go to: either Annette Bening in The Kids are All Right of Natalie Portman in Black Swan just based on various buzz that I’ve heard. I’m leaning more toward Natalie…I haven’t seen any of the movies in this category.



Supporting Actress
Amy Adams in The Fighter
Helena Bnham Carter in The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit
Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom



And the Oscar will go to: I haven’t heard much buzz for this category so I’m just going to go ahead and throw out Melissa Leo in The Fighter. She was so great as an overbearing mother/manager. I also really enjoyed watching Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit, however I can totally see her being snubbed since kids usually don’t win…



I’ll be annoyed if it goes to: Amy Adams in The Fighter. I feel like she’s only in here because she isn’t playing her usual cutesy character. She didn’t particularly stand out as being exceptional in this movie.





Animated Feature Film
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3



And the Oscar will go to: How To Train Your Dragon has been getting a lot of buzz and just might breakup Pixar’s monopoly of Oscar wins… However, I won’t be surprised if Toy Story 3 takes it.



Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King’s Speech
True Grit



And the Oscar will go to: I’ve been trying to look up and see exactly what art direction means and I can’t really find anything… So I’m just gonna go out on a limb and take a wild guess that maybe Alice in Wonderland will win… No ideas here…



Cinematography
Black Swan
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
True Grit





And the Oscar will go to: So as I understand it the cinematography is the overall look of the movie. The depth of field, the camera movement, the contrast etc. I really liked how True Grit looked as well as Inception, however I’m thinking Black Swan could take this one, but I haven’t actually seen it… So I’m going to just to say Inception.



Costume Design
Alice In Wonderland
I Am Love
The King’s Speech
The Tempest
True Grit





And the Oscar will go to: The Tempest. I’ve heard that there are some really amazing costumes in this movie.



Directing
The Black Swan- Darren Aronofsky
The Fighter- David O. Russell
The King’s Speech- Tom Hooper
The Social Network- David Fincher
True Grit- Joel and Ethan Coen



And the Oscar will go to: This is a hard one since again, I haven’t seen all of these movies. I’m leaning toward Darren Aronofsky or David Fincher… To bring it down to one I’ll just say David Fincher.



Documentary Feature
Exit Through The Gift Shop- Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
Gasland- Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
Inside Job- Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Restrepo- Tim Hetherington and Sebastion Junger
Waste Land- Lucy Walker and AngusAynsley



The Oscar will go to: I haven’t seen any of the films in this category. I want Waste Land to win because it’s about a community living in a garbage dump in Rio de Janeiro and it sounds so interesting since I visited a community like that in Nicaragua.



Documentary Short Subject
Killing in the Name- Jed Rothstein
Poster Girl- Sara Nesson and Mitchell WW. Block
Strangers No More- Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
Sun Come Up- Jennifer Redfearn and Time Metzger
The Warriors of Quigang- Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon



The Oscar will go to: I never know with the short film categories so I’ll just say Strangers No More…



Film Editing
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network





The Oscar will go to: This is hard because I think that Black Swan might take this one as well, but it could also be 127 Hours’ chance to shine. But since 127 Hours seems like a long shot I’ll again go with Black Swan… I keep forgetting that The King’s Speech has gotten a ton of buzz and that it’s in all these categories too… but since it doesn’t interest me I guess I just don’t ever pick it lol.



Foreign Language Film
Biutiful -Mexico
Dogtooth- Greece
In a Better World- Denmark
Incendies- Canada
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)- Algeria



The Oscar will go to: Biutiful



Makeup
Barney’s Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman



The Oscar will go to: Well the only movie in this category that I’ve even heard of is The Wolfman so I’ll go with that…



Music (Original Score)
How To Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network



The Oscar will go to: I’m totally guessing out of nowhere at this point so I’ll say Inception. I loved the music if I remember right…



Music (Original Song)
Coming Home (from Country Strong)
I See The Light (from Tangled)
If I Rise (from 127 Hours)
We Belong Together (from Toy Story 3)



The Oscar will go to: We Belong Together… It’s Randy Newman!



Best Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone



The Oscar will go to: This one is SO hard for me! I’ve only seen half of these films. I’m going to have to say that The King’s Speech just might take it with all the buzz and all the awards its been getting.



Short Film (animated)
Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let’s Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)



The Oscar will go to: Day & Night just because I thought it was cute and it’s the only one I’ve seen…



Short Film (Live Action)
The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143



The Oscar will go to: God of Love…. Just cause…



Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable



The Oscar will go to: Inception



Sound Mixing
Inception
The King’s Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit



The Oscar will go to: Inception



Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2



The Oscar will go to: Inception… or maybe Alice in Wonderland… But Inception was so amazing!



Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone



The Oscar will go to: The Social Network or True Grit… I can’t decide which…



Writing (Original Screenplay)
Another Year
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech



The Oscar will go to: The King’s Speech



So there you have my very uneducated picks! What are some of your predictions?

The Business of Being Born

Directed by Abby Epstein

2008

This is a documentary about how expensive giving birth is and how much doctors push you to deliver whether its time or not and the rise of the c-section as a way to empty hospital beds. Basically hospitals are evil and home births with a midwife are perfect. I kind of feel like it’s not that cut and dry, but it was still a good documentary. There was plenty of footage of home births, so if you’re squeamish about that kind of thing then do not watch this movie. I, however, thought it was so amazing and beautiful and the idea of letting your body do what it was created do is such a beautiful thing. In some of the water births they had the women actually reach down and pull out their own baby which was such an amazing thing to watch and I can’t imagine how wonderful it must be to experience that. I definitely think that I will have my first child in a hospital, but I do want to have at least one home birth. It seems like such a beautiful experience. B