Movies I've Seen, Upcoming Films..
EASTER IS COMING
Happy Easter and Happy Passover
~Tonight is episode 2 of the second season of “Game of Thrones” and I hope it measures up to the premiere episode. Mylanta, that was a great episode! I wish I had to strength to hold out and let a few episodes go by so that I can marathon it all at once instead of waiting week to week, but I haven’t the strength to hold out.
So while awaiting tonight’s episode I looked around for gifs.
First World problems? Jon Snow problems
*I finally learned the above character’s name. It’s Osha! I just always thought of her as wild boygirl who runs around with Bran. She looks like Julian Casablancas of the Strokes. She’s a very androgynous looking person which makes me fascinated by her. Osha is played by Natalia Tena.
Who was in Harry Potter as someone
And who cleans up really well
Natalia gave an interview to the official “Game of Thrones” fansite,
WinterisComing”
“and turns out she’s a musician. Her band Molotov Jukebox http://www.molotov-jukebox.co.uk/index.php?/videos/ is actually really good. It’s a combination of sounds, like a mix of Balkan music like Beirut (largely due to the acordion, which Natalia plays) but there’s strings and horns and a bit of ska feel and a strong Latin American influence (I saw that her name was Natalia and automatically assumed she was of Russian descent. Nope, Spanish.) This is definitely my type of sound.
Their video, “I Need It”
~Another show on Sunday is one I don’t actually watch. But let it not be said that I’m not open minded about other shows…especially ones that feature handsome men like this dude.
Hahahaha, Jon Hamm eating a HAM burger. Oh, Esquire, you’re so funny in that New Yorker comic, Mary Worth type of way
Isn’t he hot enough to not have to drink Tapitia?
I prefer Hamm him looking down to earth
With friend Sarah Silverman
Separated at birth?
*To tie in to the premiere of the show, Newsweek went retro with that week’s edition.
mad men cast. I actually have the edition. It’s so odd because it is designed like the 60s so I thought it was a reprint of an issue from that era, but built in with the retro ads were new stories.
TV Guide
*Leading up to the premiere there was talk about the one-sheet for the new season that featured a falling man. People felt that it was too dark, too close a parallel to the people falling from the Twin Towers on 9/11.
The second poster:
Does not offer the same type of adjusting like the first one.
Somebody save him!
*Another person of interest to me is Christina Hendricks. I grew up on Barbies and watching Beach Blanket films and Tex Avery cartoons. I love vixens. And she may not even play one on TV but how can you not get vixen when you look at her body?
She’s the new “face” of Johnny Walker. Who is looking at the scotch?
*Christina recently had hacked photos leaked. All but one featured her topless, no face was shown. Her reps said that the other pictures were hers
Like this one
…except for the topless one. Even the people at that advertising firm on the show can’t sell me that line.
*Elisabeth Moss is trying to up her sexpot game.
Elisabeth in New York Magazine
~No movies out this week that I want to see. I am keeping up my tradition of not watching “Titanic”, I sat through twenty minutes of “Wrath of the Titans” before “Mirror, Mirror” and I wanted the money back for the audience. Know how “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” was bad? Multiply that by three and add “Ghost Rider Two” and you’ll get “Wrath of the Titans”.
On to the movies I’ve seen.
Mirror, Mirror
I’ve been waiting for this one a long time. Though it is a markedly different film than the competing Snow White film, “Snow White and the Huntsmen”, Relativity Media fought to push this out ahead of SwatH as if they were competing for the same audience. Promoted initially as a kids film (though there was no one under 30 in the audience I saw it with), it’s really an all-ages film. It does delve at times into the outlandish silliness of kids films (someone getting turned into a cockroach), but it’s an evenly told charming and fun film that relies more on the Brothers Grimm tale than Disney.
Lily Collins stars as Snow, a girl whose father, the King remarries so that Snow can have a mother. When the father goes missing the stepmother (Julia Roberts) keeps Snow housebound. On her 18th birthday Snow sneaks out of the castle to see the land her family rules. Seeing how improvished the townsfolk are due to her Stepmother’s rule, Snow engineers a plan to take back the kingdom, with help from the bandits/dwarves who have taken her in. But her stepmother has plans of her own, marrying a young Prince (Armie Hammer) in order to have a firmer rule on the land.
Everyone is good in this film. I’ve never seen Lily Collins in anything.
Though her eyebrows fascinate me. I love thick eyebrows. My love for Beau Bridges? His eyebrows.
*Lily celebrated her birthday at the premiere.
With dad Phil at her side
Julia Roberts was good, not that much of a departure for her. Her Queen wasn’t so much evil as just snarky. I really loved the actors who played the dwarves. Other than “Once Upon a Time”, this is the only time I’ve seen something that gave the dwarves their own lives and wants and didn’t just have them be convenient help for Snow. They really did get good actors, not just cast little people because they are little people. And there’s one, Cowboy, who looks like a little version of Christian Kane. Another incredible thing it does it lays it out there that the dwarves didn’t come together because they were friends, but because they were cast out as undesirables. This kind of reality is unheard of in a kids’ film.
Another difference is that there’s actually people of color in this film! In a fairytale!! It’s amazing. Other than two of the dwarves, the PoCs don’t have speaking roles, but at least they are present. That, to me, is almost as important at actually having leads who are of color because it shows an acknowledgment that we live in a diverse society and the media should reflect it. There were Black townspeople and Asian townspeople, it was lovely. Movieline ran an article last week criticizing fairytales for not having PoCs in them and pointed out “Mirror, Mirror” as one, but by Movieline not acknowledging that the film does have some representation (and in a real way, not the “The Last Airbender” kind of way where they populated one section with Iniuit and Asian actors in order to quiet down criticism over the casting of a non-PoC actor as Sokka) takes away that the casting director and film’s director, Tarsem Singh actually did a small part to remedy the lack of representation.
The script isn’t perfect-I thought it was a bit aimless at time, trying to hit too many themes all at once, but one thing that was perfect was the costumes and set decoration. “Mirror, Mirror” was Eiko Ishioka’s last project and it’s wonderful that her splendidly gorgeous touch was applied to this film. The costuming and the set design gives this film its fairy tale quality.
Eiko and Tarsem
And I’ll end this talking about Armie Hammer. He’s just too good to be true. He’s so great in this. Much more of a Prince Charming than Josh Dallas in “Once Upon a Time”
Though there’s no contest, so it’s unfair to compare the two
Hammer has a ridiculous great voice and he’s tall and handsome and he is every Disney Prince wrapped into one body. Watching him made me giddy, but not in a “do me now, big daddy” way but in a bobby soxer staring at pictures of Fabian, Liberace or Rock Hudson on the wall. I’m like Greg Kinnear in “Something’s Gotta Give” and he’s Helen Hunt. I want to draw him. See him undressed. Rub my face against his chest hair. Nothing more.
Armie at the Hollywood premiere
Lily at the overseas premiere
*Gorgeous gown.
What? You want more Armie?
I don’t blame ya
ooh, his armpits!
He's a goof
Even the First Lady approves
He doesn’t have the body of his “The Social Network” costar Josh Pence, but he can’t have it all
~Before the film, the trailer for MIB 3 was shown
MIB:III
Brolin does a really good Tommy Lee Jones. Is James sure Josh is his?
I guess so.
*Will Smith hosted the Kids Choice Awards last week and the First Lady presented Taylor Swift with an award.
A rare fashion misstep for Michelle. Those leather pants look like leather mom jeans.
Jada and her lookalike kids
Will and Willow
Hunger Games
*I think I slept through a good portion of the beginning of the film because when I see adverts or read reviews about it, I’m always shocked by what I’ve seen/read “That happened?” “When that that scene Happen?”
It may be because I slept through a good lot of it (I was asleep before they even reached the grounds where they were to fight) but I felt it was pointless. Even if there is background info that has yet to be revealed because it will be in the follow up films, I still think that “Hunger Games” should be accessible for those who have not read the books or at least have some vital threads from the books in the film because as a standalone I found it wanting.
The film centers on the annual Hunger Games which pits two district children (between the ages of 12 and 18) against other districts with only one survivor. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) steps in to replace her sister who was chosen, and along with fellow district participant Peeta (stubby Josh Hutcherson) they go to the Capitol to train. With the advice and hands-off help from their mentor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), Katniss and Peeta fight to survive.
And then there’s Gale (Liam Hemsworth) who serves no point (at least in this film) other than providing smug face.
I just hate his face! I want to punch him in it.
F
Thor’s younger brother suffers the same thing as James Franco’s younger brother, Dave.
“Dave's knack for douchebaggery troubles him deeply. "Oh man, I've stopped trying to analyze it, because it makes me upset," the 26-year-old says. He bends over, placing his face into his palms, then pops up and presses his hands together in prayer. "Once I was complaining about it to someone, and they said, 'It's because you have an asshole face.' I was like, 'Um, thank you. Thank you very much.' "
I didn’t like that there was not dissenting voice in the film. It was as if I am to believe that everyone in these districts are just accepting that the fact that their children are sent to kill and be killed. I didn’t get the sense that there was anything more to this story than killing. If it’s an allegory for poor people feeling that the only thing to help themselves get a leg up by going to the military and sacrificing themselves for a system that doesn’t have their best interest in mind all the time, I would accept that. If it’s about someone beating a Totalitarian regime at their own game, then find. But to me the film was just about kids killing each other and Katniss buying into the role of what she presented during the game. I could be wrong because, hey I slept a lot in that film.
But I was awake for one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever and the entire audience was sniffling and crying and I let out an embarrassing sob. It was a mess. But it spoke to the strength and presence of Jennifer Lawrence and her scene partner Amandla Stenberg who played Rue. They did so much with a barebones scene.
Jennifer for Interview Magazine
Werk it
The character of Rue is what was behind a “Hunger Games” racewank across the interwebs. Some fans of the book weren’t just dismayed that someone was cast that was different than how the saw the character in their minds. That’s understandable. I read “The Accidental Tourist” and that character in my mind did not look like William Hurt. The real mess came from fans who were outraged that Rue was Black and some fans proceeded to hurl vitrol and racist remarks about the actress.
I was like,
The only good thing to come out if it? Was this gif.
Nearly all of the people who were put on blast deleted their Tumblrs or put their accounts to private, but hopefully they took something from this experience about how they view race. When you have someone saying that a character’s death didn’t make them sad because they were Black, it shows how hate persists. When you treat someone as “the other” to the extent that human compassion doesn’t come into play.
Don’t even get me started….
The film also stars Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley and Lenny Kravitz.
Tucci
Lenny
Wes Bentley
*Lenny was too clothed in this film, so this helps a lot
Lenny at the NAACP Image Awards hanging out with Cicily Tyson
She’s probably getting his digits. Watch out, Lenny. She was married to Miles Davis so she likes musicians.
*I wonder what shade Lenny likes from the Hunger Game cosmetic line.
*The “Dark Shadows” trailer was played before “Hunger Games”.
I never watched the original. All I know of it is that it came on before “Highlander” on the Sci-Fi Channel so I would catch the endings while waiting for “Highlander” to start. But I don’t think the original is this campy, right?
Starring Johnny Depp, Jonny Lee Miller, Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloe Grace Moretz, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley
And Mrs. Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter
My reaction to the trailer
But Johnny isn’t through pissing on your faves. No sirree. He’s starring in “The Lone Ranger” with Armie Hammer.
I don’t even know what to do with this. The racial appropriation alarm is pinging. Some people have decided to fix his headdress.
Safe House
Or as I call it, “Matt Weston and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”.
Riveting film, very action packed. Ryan as Matt Weston, really held his own with Denzel. It’s a shame the film didn’t do as well as it could.
John Carter
This is a movie where I went in expecting it to be bad because I had friends who went to Disney’s D23 last year where they screened the first 20 minutes of “John Carter” and my friends said it was boring. Leading up to the film'’ release the word was out: it was a turkey. But I’m glad I still went to see for myself because I ended up loving the film. The last fifteen or so minutes of the film were completely satisfying and actually pushed me over the edge of merely enjoying the film to loving it.
A lot of press had been written about why it didn’t succeed at the box office. The Vulture did a great background piece
on the project but what people leave out is that Andrew Stanton, the writer/director of the film, made the movie he wanted to make. People jeer and criticize him for not taking the studio’s notes and advice about the cut of the trailers earlier, but I think that’s just sour grapes because Stanton had the fuck you clout with his successes (he wrote like “Finding Nemo”, “Toy Story” 1 through 3” and “Wall-E”) to do whatever he wanted to do. At the end of the day, he gets to say he made a film on his terms. He doesn’t have to think “If I hadn’t taken that scene out or put that scene in, the fans would’ve come.” And seeing that he’s a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs (who created the character of John Carter), I know that he made a film that was in line with that vision.
Not to say that he was blithely ignorant on how the content may present a problem. He changed it from “Princess of Mars” to “John Carter” (dropping the princess because men wouldn’t see it. Dropping the Mars because women, he felt, wouldn’t see it).
And he did end up recutting the trailer. But all in all he presented his vision and those who saw it loved it.
Taylor Kitsch, the film’s star, even gave his support of the film.
“I would do John Carter again tomorrow,” he says forthrightly. “I’m very proud of John Carter. Box office doesn’t validate me as a person, or as an actor.”
Kitsch understands that the sci-fi adventure’s financial failings - while it’s pulled in over $230 million worldwide, Disney still expects to lose $200 million on the film - are clearly “unfortunate,” if for no other reason than it’s a virtual certainty that director Andrew Stanton’s planned two sequels will never see a greenlight. “I’d love to go do John Carter 2,” he says. “I really would. It’s just shitty I don’t get to work with the [John Carter] family. It really was a special thing.”
I like you guy from “Wolverine” with the ridiculous ability that involved throwing cards.
Taylor does James Dean for GQ
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Probably the only really good film CBS Films has put out ever. Definitely the most successful one for them.
“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” is based on a book and adapted for the screen by Simon Beaufoy (“Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day”, “The Full Monty”, “Slumdog Millionaire”) and is directed by Lasse Hallstrom (“Chocalat”, “Cider House Rules”).
After a terrorist attack, the Prime Minister’s press secretary (the droll Kristin Scott Thomas) needs a feel good story to not jeopardize British and Arab relations and to use as a distraction as more soldiers are deployed to Afghanistan. She comes across as story of a Sheik (Amr Waked) who wants to introduce salmon fishing to, you guessed it, the Yemen.
His assistant, Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt) reaches out to the British expert in fisheries, Fred Jones (Emily McGregor) to get the project going. Despite feeling it to be futile, Fred joins the Sheik and Harriet in his mission.
Thoroughly enjoyable. I dare you to not be charmed by Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor. I triple dog dare you. He’s always been a joy to watch and Emily is a new favorite of mine. She, like Ewan, is so authentic and oozes personality.
My small complaint is that the film is too breezy. As charming and loveable as Ewan and Emily are, their onscreen relationship is too measured. It’s not so much a love story as a burgeoning love story. It almost felt unfinished.
Amr Waked is really good, too
And Tom Mison, who is the man in the way of Fred and Harriet’s relationship
~More trailers
The Amazing Spiderman
*I’m not a Spidey fan and I really didn’t like the films, I have no dog in this fight. But you see Andrew’s speech at Comic Con and you can’t help but root for the big head, big haired fella.
* I wonder what color he prefers from the OPI Spiderman line.
Prometheus
Originally to be a prequel to “Aliens”, Damon Lindelof (“Lost”) got his hands on it that idea was shifted. It exists in the same universe, but it is not a prequel.
Why does this film matters? It doesn’t. But American Tom Hardy is in it.
And turns out he has a twin, so there’s three Tom Hardys out there.
Hilarious
*But he may look like Tom, but he only has one dinky tattoo and he will never meet Prince Charles like Tom has.
Or make a delicious cuppa
And would American Tom Hardy stroke his director’s thigh like this? I think not.
What I’m Listening To:
*Song from the second to last ep of “Shameless”. Tired Pony is the side project of bandmembers of Snow Patrol, Belle and Sebastian and REM. The band is supposed to have more of a country sound but this sounds like every Snow Patrol song. This track features Zooey Deschanel on vocals.
Get On the Road by Tired Pony
*This song is from the finale of “Shameless” (I think I only hear music on TV nowadays). It’s a poppy song, very Britpop.
Three Days (On End) by Blood Relative
*These two are from spending time with my niece. She had the courtesy to keep her Justin Bieber to herself.
Get Yourself Back Home by Gym Class Heroes ft. Neon Hitch
Bewitched by Blood on the Dancefloor
*These three are music from and inspired by “The Hunger Games”. The soundtrack is a blue-grassy feel, not as plucky as “O’Brother Where Art Thou”.
Come Away to the Water by Maroon 5
Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift
This one sounds like a Nine Inch Nails song. I love Kid Cudi’s way of delivery.
The Ruler and the Killer by Kid Cudi
*This song closed out “Mirror, Mirror”. The Bollywood-inspired I Believe in Love by Lily Collins
*Just a bit of techno/house courtesy of Deadmau5
Professional Griefers Deadmaus5 ft. Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance
~I leave
I Leave You With
Angie Everhart participated in the Michael Jordan Celebrity Golf event and she too got in on the Tom love
* Ok for all you Tom Welling fans.. I get it! What a babe.. And just as nice as he is
handsome. It was fun golfing with him!
Happy Easter and Happy Passover
~Tonight is episode 2 of the second season of “Game of Thrones” and I hope it measures up to the premiere episode. Mylanta, that was a great episode! I wish I had to strength to hold out and let a few episodes go by so that I can marathon it all at once instead of waiting week to week, but I haven’t the strength to hold out.
So while awaiting tonight’s episode I looked around for gifs.
First World problems? Jon Snow problems
*I finally learned the above character’s name. It’s Osha! I just always thought of her as wild boygirl who runs around with Bran. She looks like Julian Casablancas of the Strokes. She’s a very androgynous looking person which makes me fascinated by her. Osha is played by Natalia Tena.
Who was in Harry Potter as someone
And who cleans up really well
Natalia gave an interview to the official “Game of Thrones” fansite,
WinterisComing”
“and turns out she’s a musician. Her band Molotov Jukebox http://www.molotov-jukebox.co.uk/index.php?/videos/ is actually really good. It’s a combination of sounds, like a mix of Balkan music like Beirut (largely due to the acordion, which Natalia plays) but there’s strings and horns and a bit of ska feel and a strong Latin American influence (I saw that her name was Natalia and automatically assumed she was of Russian descent. Nope, Spanish.) This is definitely my type of sound.
Their video, “I Need It”
Click to view~Another show on Sunday is one I don’t actually watch. But let it not be said that I’m not open minded about other shows…especially ones that feature handsome men like this dude.
Hahahaha, Jon Hamm eating a HAM burger. Oh, Esquire, you’re so funny in that New Yorker comic, Mary Worth type of way
Isn’t he hot enough to not have to drink Tapitia?
I prefer Hamm him looking down to earth
With friend Sarah Silverman
Separated at birth?
*To tie in to the premiere of the show, Newsweek went retro with that week’s edition.
mad men cast. I actually have the edition. It’s so odd because it is designed like the 60s so I thought it was a reprint of an issue from that era, but built in with the retro ads were new stories.
TV Guide
*Leading up to the premiere there was talk about the one-sheet for the new season that featured a falling man. People felt that it was too dark, too close a parallel to the people falling from the Twin Towers on 9/11.
The second poster:
Does not offer the same type of adjusting like the first one.
Somebody save him!
*Another person of interest to me is Christina Hendricks. I grew up on Barbies and watching Beach Blanket films and Tex Avery cartoons. I love vixens. And she may not even play one on TV but how can you not get vixen when you look at her body?
She’s the new “face” of Johnny Walker. Who is looking at the scotch?
*Christina recently had hacked photos leaked. All but one featured her topless, no face was shown. Her reps said that the other pictures were hers
Like this one
…except for the topless one. Even the people at that advertising firm on the show can’t sell me that line.
*Elisabeth Moss is trying to up her sexpot game.
Elisabeth in New York Magazine
~No movies out this week that I want to see. I am keeping up my tradition of not watching “Titanic”, I sat through twenty minutes of “Wrath of the Titans” before “Mirror, Mirror” and I wanted the money back for the audience. Know how “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” was bad? Multiply that by three and add “Ghost Rider Two” and you’ll get “Wrath of the Titans”.
On to the movies I’ve seen.
Mirror, Mirror
I’ve been waiting for this one a long time. Though it is a markedly different film than the competing Snow White film, “Snow White and the Huntsmen”, Relativity Media fought to push this out ahead of SwatH as if they were competing for the same audience. Promoted initially as a kids film (though there was no one under 30 in the audience I saw it with), it’s really an all-ages film. It does delve at times into the outlandish silliness of kids films (someone getting turned into a cockroach), but it’s an evenly told charming and fun film that relies more on the Brothers Grimm tale than Disney.
Lily Collins stars as Snow, a girl whose father, the King remarries so that Snow can have a mother. When the father goes missing the stepmother (Julia Roberts) keeps Snow housebound. On her 18th birthday Snow sneaks out of the castle to see the land her family rules. Seeing how improvished the townsfolk are due to her Stepmother’s rule, Snow engineers a plan to take back the kingdom, with help from the bandits/dwarves who have taken her in. But her stepmother has plans of her own, marrying a young Prince (Armie Hammer) in order to have a firmer rule on the land.
Everyone is good in this film. I’ve never seen Lily Collins in anything.
Though her eyebrows fascinate me. I love thick eyebrows. My love for Beau Bridges? His eyebrows.
*Lily celebrated her birthday at the premiere.
With dad Phil at her side
Julia Roberts was good, not that much of a departure for her. Her Queen wasn’t so much evil as just snarky. I really loved the actors who played the dwarves. Other than “Once Upon a Time”, this is the only time I’ve seen something that gave the dwarves their own lives and wants and didn’t just have them be convenient help for Snow. They really did get good actors, not just cast little people because they are little people. And there’s one, Cowboy, who looks like a little version of Christian Kane. Another incredible thing it does it lays it out there that the dwarves didn’t come together because they were friends, but because they were cast out as undesirables. This kind of reality is unheard of in a kids’ film.
Another difference is that there’s actually people of color in this film! In a fairytale!! It’s amazing. Other than two of the dwarves, the PoCs don’t have speaking roles, but at least they are present. That, to me, is almost as important at actually having leads who are of color because it shows an acknowledgment that we live in a diverse society and the media should reflect it. There were Black townspeople and Asian townspeople, it was lovely. Movieline ran an article last week criticizing fairytales for not having PoCs in them and pointed out “Mirror, Mirror” as one, but by Movieline not acknowledging that the film does have some representation (and in a real way, not the “The Last Airbender” kind of way where they populated one section with Iniuit and Asian actors in order to quiet down criticism over the casting of a non-PoC actor as Sokka) takes away that the casting director and film’s director, Tarsem Singh actually did a small part to remedy the lack of representation.
The script isn’t perfect-I thought it was a bit aimless at time, trying to hit too many themes all at once, but one thing that was perfect was the costumes and set decoration. “Mirror, Mirror” was Eiko Ishioka’s last project and it’s wonderful that her splendidly gorgeous touch was applied to this film. The costuming and the set design gives this film its fairy tale quality.
Eiko and Tarsem
And I’ll end this talking about Armie Hammer. He’s just too good to be true. He’s so great in this. Much more of a Prince Charming than Josh Dallas in “Once Upon a Time”
Though there’s no contest, so it’s unfair to compare the two
Hammer has a ridiculous great voice and he’s tall and handsome and he is every Disney Prince wrapped into one body. Watching him made me giddy, but not in a “do me now, big daddy” way but in a bobby soxer staring at pictures of Fabian, Liberace or Rock Hudson on the wall. I’m like Greg Kinnear in “Something’s Gotta Give” and he’s Helen Hunt. I want to draw him. See him undressed. Rub my face against his chest hair. Nothing more.
Armie at the Hollywood premiere
Lily at the overseas premiere
*Gorgeous gown.
What? You want more Armie?
I don’t blame ya
ooh, his armpits!
He's a goof
Even the First Lady approves
He doesn’t have the body of his “The Social Network” costar Josh Pence, but he can’t have it all
~Before the film, the trailer for MIB 3 was shown
MIB:III
Brolin does a really good Tommy Lee Jones. Is James sure Josh is his?
I guess so.
*Will Smith hosted the Kids Choice Awards last week and the First Lady presented Taylor Swift with an award.
A rare fashion misstep for Michelle. Those leather pants look like leather mom jeans.
Jada and her lookalike kids
Will and Willow
Hunger Games
*I think I slept through a good portion of the beginning of the film because when I see adverts or read reviews about it, I’m always shocked by what I’ve seen/read “That happened?” “When that that scene Happen?”
It may be because I slept through a good lot of it (I was asleep before they even reached the grounds where they were to fight) but I felt it was pointless. Even if there is background info that has yet to be revealed because it will be in the follow up films, I still think that “Hunger Games” should be accessible for those who have not read the books or at least have some vital threads from the books in the film because as a standalone I found it wanting.
The film centers on the annual Hunger Games which pits two district children (between the ages of 12 and 18) against other districts with only one survivor. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) steps in to replace her sister who was chosen, and along with fellow district participant Peeta (stubby Josh Hutcherson) they go to the Capitol to train. With the advice and hands-off help from their mentor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), Katniss and Peeta fight to survive.
And then there’s Gale (Liam Hemsworth) who serves no point (at least in this film) other than providing smug face.
I just hate his face! I want to punch him in it.
F
Thor’s younger brother suffers the same thing as James Franco’s younger brother, Dave.
“Dave's knack for douchebaggery troubles him deeply. "Oh man, I've stopped trying to analyze it, because it makes me upset," the 26-year-old says. He bends over, placing his face into his palms, then pops up and presses his hands together in prayer. "Once I was complaining about it to someone, and they said, 'It's because you have an asshole face.' I was like, 'Um, thank you. Thank you very much.' "
I didn’t like that there was not dissenting voice in the film. It was as if I am to believe that everyone in these districts are just accepting that the fact that their children are sent to kill and be killed. I didn’t get the sense that there was anything more to this story than killing. If it’s an allegory for poor people feeling that the only thing to help themselves get a leg up by going to the military and sacrificing themselves for a system that doesn’t have their best interest in mind all the time, I would accept that. If it’s about someone beating a Totalitarian regime at their own game, then find. But to me the film was just about kids killing each other and Katniss buying into the role of what she presented during the game. I could be wrong because, hey I slept a lot in that film.
But I was awake for one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever and the entire audience was sniffling and crying and I let out an embarrassing sob. It was a mess. But it spoke to the strength and presence of Jennifer Lawrence and her scene partner Amandla Stenberg who played Rue. They did so much with a barebones scene.
Jennifer for Interview Magazine
Werk it
The character of Rue is what was behind a “Hunger Games” racewank across the interwebs. Some fans of the book weren’t just dismayed that someone was cast that was different than how the saw the character in their minds. That’s understandable. I read “The Accidental Tourist” and that character in my mind did not look like William Hurt. The real mess came from fans who were outraged that Rue was Black and some fans proceeded to hurl vitrol and racist remarks about the actress.
I was like,
The only good thing to come out if it? Was this gif.
Nearly all of the people who were put on blast deleted their Tumblrs or put their accounts to private, but hopefully they took something from this experience about how they view race. When you have someone saying that a character’s death didn’t make them sad because they were Black, it shows how hate persists. When you treat someone as “the other” to the extent that human compassion doesn’t come into play.
Don’t even get me started….
The film also stars Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley and Lenny Kravitz.
Tucci
Lenny
Wes Bentley
*Lenny was too clothed in this film, so this helps a lot
Lenny at the NAACP Image Awards hanging out with Cicily Tyson
She’s probably getting his digits. Watch out, Lenny. She was married to Miles Davis so she likes musicians.
*I wonder what shade Lenny likes from the Hunger Game cosmetic line.
*The “Dark Shadows” trailer was played before “Hunger Games”.
I never watched the original. All I know of it is that it came on before “Highlander” on the Sci-Fi Channel so I would catch the endings while waiting for “Highlander” to start. But I don’t think the original is this campy, right?
Starring Johnny Depp, Jonny Lee Miller, Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloe Grace Moretz, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley
And Mrs. Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter
My reaction to the trailer
But Johnny isn’t through pissing on your faves. No sirree. He’s starring in “The Lone Ranger” with Armie Hammer.
I don’t even know what to do with this. The racial appropriation alarm is pinging. Some people have decided to fix his headdress.
Safe House
Or as I call it, “Matt Weston and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”.
Riveting film, very action packed. Ryan as Matt Weston, really held his own with Denzel. It’s a shame the film didn’t do as well as it could.
John Carter
This is a movie where I went in expecting it to be bad because I had friends who went to Disney’s D23 last year where they screened the first 20 minutes of “John Carter” and my friends said it was boring. Leading up to the film'’ release the word was out: it was a turkey. But I’m glad I still went to see for myself because I ended up loving the film. The last fifteen or so minutes of the film were completely satisfying and actually pushed me over the edge of merely enjoying the film to loving it.
A lot of press had been written about why it didn’t succeed at the box office. The Vulture did a great background piece
on the project but what people leave out is that Andrew Stanton, the writer/director of the film, made the movie he wanted to make. People jeer and criticize him for not taking the studio’s notes and advice about the cut of the trailers earlier, but I think that’s just sour grapes because Stanton had the fuck you clout with his successes (he wrote like “Finding Nemo”, “Toy Story” 1 through 3” and “Wall-E”) to do whatever he wanted to do. At the end of the day, he gets to say he made a film on his terms. He doesn’t have to think “If I hadn’t taken that scene out or put that scene in, the fans would’ve come.” And seeing that he’s a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs (who created the character of John Carter), I know that he made a film that was in line with that vision.
Not to say that he was blithely ignorant on how the content may present a problem. He changed it from “Princess of Mars” to “John Carter” (dropping the princess because men wouldn’t see it. Dropping the Mars because women, he felt, wouldn’t see it).
And he did end up recutting the trailer. But all in all he presented his vision and those who saw it loved it.
Taylor Kitsch, the film’s star, even gave his support of the film.
“I would do John Carter again tomorrow,” he says forthrightly. “I’m very proud of John Carter. Box office doesn’t validate me as a person, or as an actor.”
Kitsch understands that the sci-fi adventure’s financial failings - while it’s pulled in over $230 million worldwide, Disney still expects to lose $200 million on the film - are clearly “unfortunate,” if for no other reason than it’s a virtual certainty that director Andrew Stanton’s planned two sequels will never see a greenlight. “I’d love to go do John Carter 2,” he says. “I really would. It’s just shitty I don’t get to work with the [John Carter] family. It really was a special thing.”
I like you guy from “Wolverine” with the ridiculous ability that involved throwing cards.
Taylor does James Dean for GQ
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Probably the only really good film CBS Films has put out ever. Definitely the most successful one for them.
“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” is based on a book and adapted for the screen by Simon Beaufoy (“Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day”, “The Full Monty”, “Slumdog Millionaire”) and is directed by Lasse Hallstrom (“Chocalat”, “Cider House Rules”).
After a terrorist attack, the Prime Minister’s press secretary (the droll Kristin Scott Thomas) needs a feel good story to not jeopardize British and Arab relations and to use as a distraction as more soldiers are deployed to Afghanistan. She comes across as story of a Sheik (Amr Waked) who wants to introduce salmon fishing to, you guessed it, the Yemen.
His assistant, Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt) reaches out to the British expert in fisheries, Fred Jones (Emily McGregor) to get the project going. Despite feeling it to be futile, Fred joins the Sheik and Harriet in his mission.
Thoroughly enjoyable. I dare you to not be charmed by Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor. I triple dog dare you. He’s always been a joy to watch and Emily is a new favorite of mine. She, like Ewan, is so authentic and oozes personality.
My small complaint is that the film is too breezy. As charming and loveable as Ewan and Emily are, their onscreen relationship is too measured. It’s not so much a love story as a burgeoning love story. It almost felt unfinished.
Amr Waked is really good, too
And Tom Mison, who is the man in the way of Fred and Harriet’s relationship
~More trailers
The Amazing Spiderman
*I’m not a Spidey fan and I really didn’t like the films, I have no dog in this fight. But you see Andrew’s speech at Comic Con and you can’t help but root for the big head, big haired fella.
* I wonder what color he prefers from the OPI Spiderman line.
Prometheus
Originally to be a prequel to “Aliens”, Damon Lindelof (“Lost”) got his hands on it that idea was shifted. It exists in the same universe, but it is not a prequel.
Why does this film matters? It doesn’t. But American Tom Hardy is in it.
And turns out he has a twin, so there’s three Tom Hardys out there.
Hilarious
*But he may look like Tom, but he only has one dinky tattoo and he will never meet Prince Charles like Tom has.
Or make a delicious cuppa
And would American Tom Hardy stroke his director’s thigh like this? I think not.
What I’m Listening To:
*Song from the second to last ep of “Shameless”. Tired Pony is the side project of bandmembers of Snow Patrol, Belle and Sebastian and REM. The band is supposed to have more of a country sound but this sounds like every Snow Patrol song. This track features Zooey Deschanel on vocals.
Get On the Road by Tired Pony
*This song is from the finale of “Shameless” (I think I only hear music on TV nowadays). It’s a poppy song, very Britpop.
Three Days (On End) by Blood Relative
*These two are from spending time with my niece. She had the courtesy to keep her Justin Bieber to herself.
Get Yourself Back Home by Gym Class Heroes ft. Neon Hitch
Bewitched by Blood on the Dancefloor
*These three are music from and inspired by “The Hunger Games”. The soundtrack is a blue-grassy feel, not as plucky as “O’Brother Where Art Thou”.
Come Away to the Water by Maroon 5
Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift
This one sounds like a Nine Inch Nails song. I love Kid Cudi’s way of delivery.
The Ruler and the Killer by Kid Cudi
*This song closed out “Mirror, Mirror”. The Bollywood-inspired I Believe in Love by Lily Collins
*Just a bit of techno/house courtesy of Deadmau5
Professional Griefers Deadmaus5 ft. Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance
~I leave
I Leave You With
Angie Everhart participated in the Michael Jordan Celebrity Golf event and she too got in on the Tom love
* Ok for all you Tom Welling fans.. I get it! What a babe.. And just as nice as he is
handsome. It was fun golfing with him!
