Movies, TV, and More - Tree18's Blog

Movies, TV, and More - Tree18's Blog - Victoria Advocate http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18 As movies continue to be rolling out, I will be giving my thoughts on movies, the year and television, and probably some sports related items from time to time. As movies continue to be rolling out, I will be giving my thoughts on movies, the year and television, and probably some sports related items from time to time. en-us The Complete Top 10 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6698 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6698 I posted a temporary top 5 earlier, here is my top 10 1. Juno 2. The Lookout 3. No Country for Old Men 4. There Will be Blood 5. The Assisination of Jesse James 6. Hairspray 7. Away from Her 8. Michael Clayton 9. 3:10 to Yuma 10. In the Valley of Elah New Movies http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6697 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6697 Now there are a few 2007 movies I have recently had the pleasure of seeing 4 star movies The Assisination of Jesse James by the Coward... No Country for Old Men There Will be Blood 3.5 stars Atonement Gone Baby Gone La Vie en Rose 3 star Into the Wild   Now lets look at 2008 movies so far, we all know that the first couple of months of the year is weak, but I will admit that some good movies have hit so far and some promising trailers have shown. Definitely, maybe-**1/2 Cloverfield-*** Fool's Gold-** Jumper-* Rambo-**1/2 27 Dresses-** One Missed Call-** Untraceable-*** The Eye-*1/2 In the Name of the King-*1/2 Coming up this weekend: Charlie Bartlett and Vantage Point   Oscar wishes and predictions http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6696 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6696 Okay, now that the advocate contest is over, it is time to post predictions and wishes for Oscar evening tomorrow...which by the way is a religious holiday for those of us who catch over 100 movies in theaters each year. Best Picture This is a race between 2 movies and two movies only. No Country for Old Men is the odds on favorite. It has the critics awards, the momentum. It's main competition is There Will Be Blood. While an incredible movie, Blood's heavy handed nature will probably limit it to just the Best Actor prize. I will say there is a slight chance that Country and Blood will split the vote and the more pop Michael Clayton could easily sneak in. Best Director I think Julian Schnabel is a definate spoiler and PT Anderson is definatly deserving, but this year it has to go to the Coen Brothers. So many good years, so deserving. Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men will win Best Actor George Clooney was good in Michael Clayton and Tommy Lee Jones had a heartbreaking performance in the great movie In the Valley of Elah. The hands down favorite is Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood. Best Actress I love Ellen Page for Juno...a month ago it was a walk away with Julie Christie for Away from Her. Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose has picked up a lot of steam. It is not widely seen in the United States and she has not won near as much as Julie Christie. I think Julie Christie will win in a deserving and incredible performance Best Supporting Actor Hal Holbrook could get the lifetime achievement award in the form of Supporting Actor for the seldom seen Into the Wild. I believe Javier Bardem will win for the more deserving and creepy performance in No Country for Old Men. Best Supporting Actress Always the tough category to predict. Right now it is a 4 way race. You have Amy Ryan in a crazy great performance in Gone Baby Gone. Ruby Dee has a great performance, though short, in American Gangster. Cate Blanchett was great in I'm Not There. Then you have Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton. So which one? The coin flip and my gut says Tilda Swinton. My wish is my mind that says the academy likes to award the new face with this award says Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone Best Original Screenplay This should be Juno, will be Juno. The only competition is Michael Clayton and Ratatouille Animated Film Ratatouille Adapted Screenplay Interesting award. I think it will be part of a No Country for Old Men sweep PS I Love You and Juno http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6252 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6252 Two new movies to add to my list of viewed. PS I Love You is an okay movie. Keeps your attention, a little cliched, well performed for the most part, and even not fully predictible, though tries to hard to pull at the heart strings (a la Patch Adams). Overall at ** performance. Juno is the best movie of 2007. It has a level of humor that I have not seen in a while, even with Jason Reitman's previous directorial effort (Thank You for Smoking). Page, Garner, Bateman, etc deserve to be nominated for their performances. The mixture of comedy and even the drama works. Easy **** So what do you think? Juno http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6169 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6169 The one piece of good news this week, despite a movie that will make at least the fifth time the plot has been rehashed in the last few years in One Missed Call, the critical fave Juno will be arriving in Victoria.....GO SEE IT!!!!! The Best of 2007 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6168 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6168 With the strike looming I doubt I will see another movie year like this. While the strike has definatly hampered the television industry, the movie industry has chugged forward. While it being a global industry will keep movies coming to theaters, I expect some delayed affects if this strike continues. So what have been the best movies so far? Well I have not gotten to see some key movies due to Victoria and Cinemark being very slow in getting some movies and Cinemark not getting some big movies like No Country for Old Men and Sweeney Todd (Note: Cinemark, dont advertise what you are not going to bring into town). Lets hope come oscar time we will see some of these make their appearance My top 5 so far, subject to change, especially this weekend. 1. The Lookout 2. Hairspray 3. Away from Her 4. Michael Clayton 5. 3:10 to Yuma I will complete an actual top 10 list later, I am seeing Juno this weekend since SUPRISE Victoria is getting it...now where is Atonement? Best TV New SHowL Chuck by a mile Existing Show: Friday Night Lights Best episode: Lost season finale or Chuck after Christmas episode Worst: Sopranos finale New Years http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6167 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/6167 New Years is alway fun. My usual routine, well get up late....usually around noon. Tune in to the television and check out and see what football, the great New Years tradition has to offer. While New Years Eve is usually time for everyone to go out and party, I have usually taken the time off. Why on such a great party day would I do this? I rather not join the great lines of drunks out on the road or be the sober person playing frogger with upcoming traffic. There are 364 other days (365 on leap years) to go out to my favorite places and enjoy some of my favorite brew, so I can focus on some more later. So what is up for my New Years Resolutions that I intend on keeping, but as with the best of intentions, they are bound to fall? 1) Lose weight, the all time fav and well intended one. If only fried food did not taste so great 2) Watch more movies. I used to average 2 a weekend, and now I am slacking and this was with an amazing 2007. While i hope to actually get a life, movies are a great escape. 3) Be more competitive in fantasy sports. Since I am not a professional ballplayer I will take that up with the other great amazing past time, fantasy sports. 4) Professional and personal advancement. Self explanitory. NCAA craziness http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/5170 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/5170 Well, two weeks in a row that NCAA football has provided one shocker after another. While the biggest shock happened this weekend with Stanford winning over USC, it did not provide quite as many losses as the previous week. I will say that the media and coaches will not drop USC out of the polls, probably not even out of the top 10. Being in LA gives a certain bias to the polls, Michigan lost to a better Appalachian State (2 time division I-AA defending champions who expect to win all the time) and dropped from 5 to out of the polls. USC losed to a Stanford team that is usually even small colleges whipping boys and will probably drop only a few spots. Call it double standards. Can't wait to see where S. Florida winds up. In the Valley of Elah and Mr. Woodcock http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/5163 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/5163 In this blog, I guess I can start out with Mr. Woodcock. From the trailers that I saw of the movie, I was not expecting a whole lot. It seemed that it was just going to have a bunch of slapstick pranks and it was another Billy Bob Thornton attempt to be funny, anybody remember a little movie from last year? Anyways, here Seann William Scott and Billy Bob Thornton decide to suprised me. The chemistry between the two actors is great as a former student and soon to be son-in-law famous self help book writer (Scott) and Thornton who plays a gym teacher who seems to get some type of quiet satisfaction torturing his student. The strange thing about this film is that it really should not work, but it some how does. The comedic timing is great and even the obvious I can see it coming from a thousand miles gags work in the movie. Of course there is the obvious formula of son trying to break up ma and her new beau and thus embarrasses himself and his mom, but that can be forgiven. Suprisingly, Susan Sarandon, who is usually stunning and great, is out of sorts in this movie. She is the obvious weak link in the movie. If you are wanting a good laugh, see Mr. Woodcock Rating: *** Now if you are wanting deep emotional drama, see In the Valley of Elah. This movie recently has been touted as one of the best movies of the year. While it is not the best, it certainly is a great movie. Tommy Lee Jones play a former Army Criminal Investigator named Hank Deerfield who still is very much "military". Hank wakes up early in the morning, makes his bed, and conducts his business. He is awakened one morning by a phone call that his son has gone missing. He drives to Fort Rudd to do his own investigation. I am not going to go through all of the details in that I do not want to give away all of the twist and turns the movie goes through. I will say that the movie is a lesson on how to have characters that change and grow throughout the movie. Instead of just having square characters that have to obviously be changes, you have characters that change in huge ways, but it happens quietly. A hint, watch how Hank gets up every morning. Tommy Lee Jones is being touted as an oscar front-runner. I can see that. He will probably get a double nomination for this and then supporting for the upcoming No Place for Old Men. Some say these are his two best since Cobb, I say watch the overlooked The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada in which he was amazing. Charlize Theron is also one that should be touted for at least a nomination. She was strong in a supporting type role. I hope they go for supporting rather than lead. Sarandon was okay, but in more of a cameo role. The only fault of this movie is that it gets overly preachy. I know war is hell, but don't beat me over the head with it. It was a four star movie until the last 5 minutes. In the Valley of Elah-***1/2 BTW, we really need a movie theater to replace Cinemark. While sitting in In the Valley of Elah, which is a quiet movie, I could hear the movie next door very very well. Soundproof anyone? More on my dislikes on how our theater is run later. The Year so far http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/5160 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Tree18/5160 So far this has been the best year for movies in a long long time. Maybe since 1994. I already have more 4 star movies than last year. Here is a list of what I have seen, feel free to comment: The Brave One-**1/2 Bridge to Terabithia-**1/2 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix-*** Knocked Up-**** 3:10 to Yuma-**** 1408-** Alpha Dog-* Becuase I Said So-** The Bourne Ultimatum-*** Music and Lyrics-** No Reservations-*** Ocean's 13-** Fracture-***1/2 Freedom Writers-** Grindhouse-*** Hairspray-**** Shooter-**1/2 Sicko-* The Simpsons Movie-*** Stardust-**1/2 Superbad-** Zodiac-**** Waitress-*** Becoming Jane-*** Breach-***1/2 Live Free or Die Hard-**1/2 The Lookout-**** The Nanny Diaries-** Pirates of the Caribbean:At World's End-* Premonition-** Rocket Science-*** Shrek the Third-**1/2 Evan Almighty-* Catch and Release-** I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry-* Eastern Promises-***1/2 Spiderman 3-** Rush Hour 3-zero Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer-* Transformers-*** Wild Hogs-** Norbit-zero License to Wed-*