Hollywood

V for Vendetta trailer. Natalie Portman in a movie from the makers of The Matrix. The trailer got me really excited about this movie!

The highlight of her evening was when Halle Berry approached her and commented that she loved the dress and had to know how and where she got it. Our shopper happily proclaimed to the Oscar-winner and Bond girl, that she bought it at our store. Ms. Berry surprised asked “Really?” in disbelief. Our shopper confirmed and Ms. Berry said she would make it a point to come by the store.

Ice-T, Shaquille O’Neal, Ja Rule, Bobby Brown, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Jay Z, Ray J, Vin Diesel, Mystikal, Fred Durst, Dr. Dre, Bobby Brown, Xzibit, Irv Gotti, and Usher are just a few of the bold-faced names that get the Superhead treatment throughout her drug-induced and alcohol soaked haze. It’s an explosive bombshell that blows the bed sheets off of the hip-hop community.

Good god, if I had to pay to see this, I’d ask for a refund. Hell, I saw it for free and I still want a refund. Okay, so an alien race capable of shielding technology, burying giant machines undetected for hundreds or thousands of years and crossing light years of space succumbs to a drop of water? I mean really. They spent all that time studying us and they overlooked the biological enviroment? The best part of the movie I think was when Tom Cruise killed someone who was scared for his life to keep him quite to keep the aliens from hearing them in the basement, but alas, the aliens found them anyways. So what, he’s a murderer for nothing? Awesome. I’m such a bad critic.

“The Island”’s success can also be credited to its two main leads - Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. They are no Brad and Angelina, but there is plenty of chemistry between the two leads (kissing and love making scenes, though short, are fairly explosive). Although Scarlett is not asked to do much acting, except run around and look pretty, she somehow manages t0 convey a certain amount of levity to the movie’s tone as opposed to being a cursory “to be rescued” bimbo. Ewan, that sly dog - I think I may be falling in love with that man.

A defining moment in Uwe Boll’s career. And by career i mean a string of terrible movies that seems likely to continue. Not even a Tara Reid boob job could save this one.

Sandra Bullock was back as Gracie Hart. She was on track of her FBI duties when her new found fame made things went horribly wrong in her undercover jobs. As if that was not frustrating enough, she found herself being dumped through the phone! When her career was under jeopardy, she had no choice but to take up her new post as the face of the FBI.

I will say this about Million Dollar Baby (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$29.95) – it’s not as maudlin or overwrought as Mystic River. Still, all of the heavy hallmarks of a Clint Eastwood film are there in this flick that’s disturbingly similar to the last entry in the Karate Kid series, as Hilary Swank again finds herself being tutored in an arcane martial art by a grizzled old man, with boxing replacing Karate this go ‘round. The 2-disc set features a roundtable with James Lipton (featuring Swank, Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman), a look at the parallels between the film and real life boxer Lucia Rijker, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and the theatrical trailer. A 3-disc edition featuring the soundtrack is also available ($39.98 SRP).

Closer first. It left me sad, but I like sad things so that didn’t detract from its goodness. It’s a rather complex movie; I don’t mean necessarily in terms of plot, as it wasn’t hard to follow, but a lot happens between the four characters and — to me — a lot is left unanswered. For example, why does Natalie Portman change her hair so much? But seriously, in the end I wasn’t sure who had lied about what, and whether it really mattered. I think it’s worth watching.

Also, I went and saw Wedding Crashers earlier. My god, funniest movie I’ve ever seen. The plot was really planned out, and everything was really done well. Thankfully, the movie has made it’s money back, which I think is awesome for the people involved in this movie. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn just did an amazing job. However, Rachel McAdams may be the most lovely woman in Hollywood now. A few months ago, I made a proclamation that Natalie Portman was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on (besides my mother), but Rachel McAdams has taken that spot.

I asked her for what movie, and she said, “Good Girl“. I had to go look at it on the shelf to confirm that I had actually seen this movie, since she didn’t know what it was or who was in it. Yup. Jennifer Aniston. I shamefully had seen it. Couldn’t tell you what it was about, but I knew it wasn’t worth seeing again. I guess that night was another one of my “light-little substance” movie requirements too!

Then this evening we went to see the Island, featuring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johannsen. A photogenic pair, to be certain. I won’t spoil the film but it’s a damned good morality play. There wasn’t much swearing, and there wasn’t nearly the amount of violence you’d expect from Michael Bay. There were some very unrealistic bits in the film though. First, the idea that Los Angeles, even one hundred years from now, could ever have streets THAT empty is just too fantastic to believe. And TRAINS? In LOS ANGELES? HA! You might as well try to convince me that magical elves made from wheat grass and old memories live on the moon in a special palace made from the tears of hungry kittens, and that once a year they come to Earth and harvest the souls of people who saw-and liked-Ishtar. Otherwise it was a lot of fun.

I would like to see Catwoman, but no one will watch it with me. Halle Berry in skintight pleather isn’t enough to keep a couple of guys entertained for a couple of hours while we all laugh our heads off at the luricrousity (I can say it, I can spell it, I can use it in a sentence, it’s a word, okay?) of it all?

It’s become apparent that Natalie Portman, a once-promising young starlet with both beauty and some measure of poise and self-possession, has gone completely over to the Dark Side. I am referring not only to her lewd behavior in Mike Nichols’ Closer, or to her weird John Kerry T-shirts, but to the sort of political hysteria both George Lucas and now the Wachowski brothers have enabled her to mouth.

but i do remember where i was last summer. sometimes i remember specific scenes of different european cities, as scenes from films. which becomes especially strange when im watching venice or rome in The Talented Mister Ripley. i got chills repeatedly as matt damon strolled across the feet of the spanish steps in rome to meet gwynnie.

I’m fully aware of how bad a movie this is, but it’s still fun to watch on certain occasions and is basically a who’s who of Hollywood stars before they were big(or huge) in Affleck, Sam Rockwell, French Stewart, John Rhys-Davies, Matthew McConaughey, Brendan Fraser, Leah Remini and even Matt Damon.

Most importantly, we did watch Ray, courtesy of Netflix. That was a winner. Such great music, and Jamie Foxx deserves all of the Academy Awards. All of them. Even best cinematographer and best supporting actress.

Now thinking about quotes, I'm reminded of one of those stupid lines that should never made it into movies. A couple of weeks ago, I was watching X-men and near the final battle scene, Storm asked Toad, "Do you know what happens to toads when struck by lightning...? The same thing that happens to everything else." I had to listen to it again to realize that was the punchline to the question. I think if this was a post on it's own, it would fall under the absolutely pathetic category, but since it is not the opening topic, I will refrain for now. Who knows, but I have a feeling that line gave Halle Berry the role of catwoman.

My personal favorite part is where the two clones are fighting and the military guys come in to kill the clone, and both Ewan McGregor's point at the other one and say "Shoot him, he's the clone!"

The clincher came with a line delivered with suitable aplomb by the beautifully beastly Owen (of Natalie Portman's character): "She has the moronic beauty of youth, but she's sly."

2003 Decide to try short hair again, thinking that I will look like Halle Berry. Forget to take into account the facts that Halle Berry is a lot prettier than I am, and has completely different hair. I look like crap.

Way-clever: In a special promotion to celebrate it’s 10th Anniversary, Amazon.com has enlisted various celebs to hand deliver orders of “their products” to customers. Jason Alexander made a stop in Brentwood toting Sienfeld DVDs and Jeff Bridges delivered The Big Lebowski in Santa Barbara. Other celebs scheduled to participate include Michael J. Fox and Chris Noth. Excuse me while I go order every movie Brad Pitt is in.

Here’s his website–if you think a combination of Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom (or a young Antonio Banderas) would be cute, you should look.

I've never seen the original "Apocalypse Now", but I recently watched the extended "Redux" edition, which was stunning. It is one of the more unrealistic war movies, but at the same time one of the best films ever made. The psychological epic will certainly leave most viewers pondering many issues long after the credits roll. Francis Ford Coppola is one of the finest directors ever, and he is helped here by a stellar cast, including Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, and a brief appearance by Harrison Ford.

After watching Hilary Swank’s Oscar winning performance in Million Dollar Baby, i knew i had to watch her breakthrough role in 1999’s seminal Boys Don’t Cry. Boys Don’t Cry is a film that Roger Ebert proclaimed as “One of The Best Films of the Year“, and coming from Ebert, argurably one of the best film critics around, i knew that it was exactly the kind of arthouse film that i liked. I was hoping for something that would be as good as 2003’s Monster starring Charlize Theron, a film that similarly banks on the outstanding performance of its lead actress. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite what i had expected, but still an intense journey nevertheless.

Aside from Depp’s remaining star power, the bigger question this movie raises is whether or not Hollywood has any remaining ability to think up new movie ideas. Between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Dukes of Hazzard, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Herbie: Fully Loaded, War of the Worlds, Bewitched, The Longest Yard, The Honeymooners, and Bad News Bears, the fresh ideas this summer are few and far between. Now, some of these deserve to be remade, but there is less quality control going on here than in Tara Reid’s bedroom.

Spike Lee is a brilliant director but She Hate Me just didn’t work for me. It wasn’t bad, but it seemed like it was just thrown together. The cast was good. The concept was good -- if you decide which of the threads to follow -- but it just didn’t come together in the end. It seemed more like one of those movies you’d see Jamie Foxx in before he was in Collateral, Any Given Sunday and Ray.

However, like Harrison Ford before him, the variations on the same character have worn out. In WOTW, he is simply Tom Cruise the generic action movie male lead. The start of the movie establishes his macho with a few seconds of crane driving with a joystick, a few seconds of male banter, and then fewer seconds of muscle car driving. After which he switches to a few minutes of caring but useless father role. And then the movie starts.

Most will remember Tom Irwin from his role as Angela’s Dad on My So-Called Life. This guy is awesome. I see him every now and again in meaty guest star roles as a distraught dad or husband; which he is rightfully cast in because he completely embodies these characters and seems to rise above the regular cast which is an impressive feat. My So-Called Life was a great show, blah blah, but in past years I’ve watched it a few times and found myself completely sucked in by his performance above all the others. Why isn’t this guy getting cast opposite Russell Crowe or Denzel Washington, who could both benefit by working with such a serious and talented actor? It’s so frustrating when talent like this gets overlooked. And with that, congrats to you too, Tom Irwin.

The production of the show makes American Idol look like an episode of ‘Captain Kangaroo.’ Brooke Burke maintains a professional flow as the host, and the house band seems flawless.

Last night on Queer Eye they worked on a nudist! Not an attractive nudist, and his friends were all pretty scary too. The reactions from the 5 boys were hilarious! Carson went nude, he didn’t care, but Thom was horrified, it was soooo funny! The episode ended with a nudist party and wow, it was so disturbing because, again, the wrong people are the ones who insist on being nudie. The most alarming part was when the dancing started. IT was just wrong, WRONG!! Thom commented “You know, whatever people are into is fine, as long as they’re not hurting anyone… but…I’m a little hurt!”

All the nudity prompted an encounter with Brendan Fraser, circa George of the Jungle physique, in the buff. Oh thank you goddesses of dreamland!

And some other famous blonde friend of hers. We must have been in England because the other girl (I think it was Tara Reid or Lindsey Lohan) was driving from the “passenger’s side” of the car. I was sitting next to Paris in the back and the driver sat in front of me. Paris kept handing me her phone for some reason and I remember taking pictures of all this. I kept thinking how funny it was that I was going around town with these party girls and holding their phones. At some point, the driver reached under the chair and taped something to my leg. I reached down and felt what I assumed to be a small bag of marijuana. I was certain that law enforcement officials were going to appear out from somewhere at any moment and start arresting us.

George Clooney and Brendan Fraser were considered for the part of Reed Richards.

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck recently married on the private island resort of Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos Islands. In its past Parrot Cay was frequented by pirates, but is now a high-end luxury resort that makes the perfect location for a private wedding.

Yes, scientists are now using pictures of Halle Berry to better understand how human memory works. It seems our brain cells recognize her, even, unfortunately, in her Catwoman outfit.

I saw War of the Worlds last week, despite my reluctance to feed the box office reputation of that insane dimbulb, Tom Cruise. It really wasn't bad: great monsters, good, solid tension throughout, and many nice nods to the 1953 version. Cruise was completely overshadowed by the Tripods, to the movie's benefit.

And it’s obvious that Fraser and Bullock are there to represent the perspective of a pampered upper class white family touched by crime, but their perspective is used in a vary limited fashion and really adds almost nothing to the story. I’ve always found Fraser to be a very good actor when he plays serious. One needs only to check out Gods and Monsters to see the man CAN act as well as be the handsome leading man. But he’s barely there in this movie and Bullock just comes off as a whiny bitch. The way their plotline is resolved doesn’t really have much meaning at all in my mind in the larger context of the film.

Think Tom Cruise's recent public meltdowns are hurting his career or Scientology? Guess again.

"War of the Worlds" raked in $21.2 million its opening night, which is on a par with blockbusters "X-Men" and "The Incredibles." Cruise is getting blockbuster numbers for Scientology, too. First-time visitors to Scientology centers have more than doubled since this time last year, the church reports.

I ended up seeing Crash last night. There were plenty of actors in it, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Encino Man, Sandra Bullock, Ryan Phillippe, Ludacris, Keith David (the guy who both does the UPS “What can Brown do for you?” voiceovers and participated in one of the most gut wrenching movie scenes of all time at the end of Requiem for a Dream)…

Threre really isn’t much of a story in this film. Essentially, Tom Cruise is Vincent: a hired killer that forcibly uses unlucky taxi driver Max (Jamie Foxx) to take him on a killing spree around Los Angeles. That is about it. The interest comes from the relationship between Vincent and Maxx, and how they react when thrown into unexpected situations.

In 2000, Cyclops, Storm, Rogue, Professor Xavier, Magneto, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Sabretooth, Mystique, and Toad made their way to neighborhood theaters. The X-men proved to be a big hit at the box office, and helped to reignite Halle Berry’s career. The film also gave an outlet to Patrick Stewart who was facing the end of his stint as Captain Jean-Luc Picard for Star Trek. The X-men united with their former foes in 2003 to battle William Stryker and Deathstrike in a sequel that brought the additions of Nightcrawler, Iceman, Pyro and Kitty Pryde. When the third chapter of the X-men series unfolds in 2006 the public can expect to see Beast portrayed by Kelsey Grammar, Juggernaut to be played by Vinnie Jones and for Jean Grey to rise from the ashes to become the Phoenix. Sadly, it appears we will have to wait for a fourth X-men movie before we can experience the Raging Cajun on screen, seeing as Gambit is not part of the announced cast for X-men 3.

Some notables that I believe are in the tournament.(I say I believe because they have not released names or chip counts yet.) James Wood, Jennifer Tilly, and Shannon Elizabeth(Yes the chick from American Pie).

Seriously, folks. I should have followed my initial instinct that that show was lamer than lame and stayed the heck away. But no, I got pulled in. And let me tell you, it wasn’t “scrappy” Kelly that captivated me or her so-called Cinderella story either. It was the good dancers who I enjoyed watching, such as Rachel Hunter and her partner (can’t recall his name) and John and Charlotte. These couples were taking the competition pretty seriously and were quite a bit of fun to watch, particularly John and Charlotte.

But Jolie is wrong for the role. Pitt is engaging, despite the lack of clever dialogue to help him. But Jolie is only tough, which is the wrong essence for absurdist comedy. The joke is supposed to be that no one would expect the Smiths to be paid assassins. With Jolie, it’s not that much of a stretch. It’s more of a stretch to picture her hustling for laughs. “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” could never have been good, but it definitely called for an actress with a lighter touch, someone such as Robin Wright Penn, or Carla Gugino — or Jennifer Aniston.

We did watch both Troy and Helen of Troy. Two very different sides to the same story. Troy (the Brad Pitt one) is more centred around Achilles (no surprise, thats Pitt) and his "doom", where as Helen of Troy (the TV movie) is very much centred around Helen, and how she is also doomed from birth - Achilles is basically a thug. Both are worth a look.

all of my straight friends here admitted they would sleep with angelina jolie, so i was right - people will, but they won't admit it. someone else said jen aniston, but the only one i would is angelina. it's an exception. the guy yesterday said he would sleep with a male celebrity, and everybody was like, "ok, that's weird." it is - it's different - aHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

First, yes I LOATHE Tom Cruise and scientology is the funniest, dumbest crock of shit I've ever read (He and John Travolta have now paid enough to become Operating Thetans Level 8 - presumably they can now manipulate matter with their minds). I was boycotting the movie actually because I didn't want my money going to Scientology (I have also boycotted the new Beck for the same reason, but this is for another post). But alas, Leslie dragged me along. And I have to say, Spielberg made up for the presence of Tom Cruise!! The fact that it all came down to evolution was very satisfying (The whole point was that humans only exist because they have died millions of times allowing a few who are resistant to the bacteria to reproduce).

Just watched Troy on HBO tonight. I’d seen it before, but it’s just so damn good I had to see it again. Besides, who can resist Brad Pitt? It’s one of those great movies with massive war scenes and plenty of up-close action with swords and spears.

So, I’m supposed to be at Live 8 Philly right now. I was all set, all hyped up about it. I have two sisters who are all into music and stuff. One has to work and the other blows me off to go boating. I tried my sister-in-law but she is working too. I tried my best friend from highschool who I am always looking for an excuse to hang out with. She is heading down to the beach for the weekend. I tried my other friends. They are all too scared of the crowds or, like Sharon who is not afraid of anything, are out of town. I even tried co-workers and no one voluntarily hangs out with co-workers. See how desperate I am? No one can or wants to go. They think it’s going to be too crazy. I think that I’m going to miss Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Destiny’s Child, Brad Pitt, Natalie Portman, Will Smith, Sarah McLachlan, Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews Band, Maroon 5, Rob Thomas, Linkin Park, Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West, Toby Keith, Def Leppard, Jars of Clay, Keith Urban, Josh Groban, and P Diddy. My husband told me that as long as I could find someone willing to go with me that he will watch the kids so I can go. When I couldn’t find someone to go with me he told me to just go by myself. He was even going to buy me tickets on the Amtrak that would let me off right at the concert venue. He’s so sweet.

The script is muddled and basically plain bad. The supporting cast is non-existant and largely forgettable. The directing is passable. Everything hinges on the chemistry of the leads Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. And they don’t disappoint by giving the audience sizzling chemistry. In all, its a fun rolicking ride. I felt that the ending was too abrupt, but still as a summer blockbuster, it successfully manages to entertain us all.

I saw the movie “Guess Who?” tonight at the Roxy in Santa Rosa with Katie. We only saw it because there is nothing else out worthy of $9.25. It started off pretty horribly, but became more palatable as it went on. I think Bernie Mac can be pretty funny. I detest Ashton Kutcher, but he was not bad in this movie. “Guess Who?” is a remake of 1967’s “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?”. In the original version, a white girl brings home a black guy to her lily white parents. In this 2005 version, a black girl brings home Ashton Kutcher to Bernie Mac and the fam. Bernie Mac is funny in this and it’s a good movie all around if you’re not expecting much.

We got back about an hour ago from Jesse’s graduation, which I’ll write about in a minute. Mm, maybe. It might take more thought and sentiment than I’m up to at the moment (see above paragraph) so I might have to do it later. Scott wants to see War of the Worlds tonight, but he was so tired he decided to catch a tiny little nap before we had to leave. Problem is, the theater’s about 40 minutes away, and when I thought to check the clock it was 3:30p, half an hour before the last matinee. I don’t have the heart to wake him. Maybe he’ll rise bright-eyed at 6p and we can go at 7p. I don’t really care; I’m not in much of a movie mood. I rarely am anymore. Movies used to be so much better than they are now. I get so bored and twitchy, and last weekend that stupid Bewitched just about did me in. Now that we have the big screen at home, and the killer sound system my stereo-obsessed hubs set up, why would I want to be anywhere else? I can take pee breaks, and wear my jammies, and laugh really really loud, and make snide remarks, and put my feet on the seats, and stand up and stretch, and keep my cell phone on, and the food is cheaper. Besides, as far as War of the Worlds goes, it’s going to be mostly of the action genre, which tends to make my eyes blur and hurts my head. Also, I am definitely off Tom Cruise for good, and he was never one of my favorites before, by any stretch.

Matt Damon has publicly expressed interest in reprising his role as lead character Jason Bourne, but no deal is expected before Gilroy’s script is completed. Not surprisingly, no director has been tapped to helm the project at this time. (”Identity” was helmed by Doug Liman, while Paul Greengrass directed last year’s “Supremacy.”)

After the pub, we went along to the cinema to watch Batman Begins. I indulged my Revels habit for the first time in ages, which was nice, and had my phone on vibrate so my dad could text me the result of the Murray/Nalbandian match. Gotta admit I was quite gutted at the result, but a good effort nonetheless. Anyway. The film had pretty naff trailers with the exception of a proper full on long trailer for Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. Woohoo! However, as Alison said to me, it’s still difficult to tell if it will turn out to be any good at all. I have faith in Tim Burton as a weird, dark director and Johnny Depp’s ability to act like a total nutcase, so I have faith that it will turn out well. I’ll let you all know what I think in a month.