The Blind Side: Review

The following review explains a lot of what I like about the movie, and thus might contain spoilers, but as it's a true story (or based on one) of a currently living, well-known individual, if you don't already know much of it, you're a little behind anyway.

Insight's Rules for adapting a true story for film:

1. Most viewers know how it turns out - that's not the interesting part, focus on how he or she arrived at the point everyone knows about.

2. If the end point is good, find whatever needed to be overcome to arrive at the good. If the end point is bad, focus on what good was lost to reach the bad. DON'T pretend something is good or bad if it isn't. To relate to audiences it has to be something EVERYONE knows to be good or bad, and not just in relative terms.

3. Very few things in life continue on an all up or all down path. Most stories are filled with ups and downs, make sure those count.

4. If you want people to like your movie and not just respect it, don't end a very sad story with a single moment of happiness, you have to prove to people that watching the whole sad story was worth it to them, and not just the real person who is now happy (I'm looking at you The Pursuit of Happyness).

The best movies based on true stories use these rules, but the stories they adapt for the screen have more than the sum of these parts, usually a main character worth caring about. The best movies have an entire cast you can find a reason to care about. Sandra Bullock's new movie, The Blind Side, is based on a true story of a young black boy, Michael Oher, in Memphis who has fallen through the cracks of his family, his community and the state, but has figured out a way to take care of himself. He's lucky enough to have a friend who helps him get into a private school, where he can barely be bothered with classes or sports. However, he isn't bitter or mean, he's just quiet and accepting of anything that comes his way, both good and bad. When he's spotted walking down the cold street at night, Sandra Bullock's Leigh Anne Touhy, brings him home for a warm place to sleep, without the realization that there are kids who attend her children's school who have nothing and no one to help them. His story is heartbreaking, both to Leigh Anne, and to the people watching it unfold. We watch as the Touhy's are changed by having Michael in their lives, and how his life is changed, even if he's still the same person he always was. It's a pretty funny movie as we watch Michael learn to play football, and Leigh Anne's tough love of the entire world as she struggles to be a good person. Sandra Bullock is terrific as a tough-ass southern woman making things happen. She takes life seriously, but knows that she is lucky to have everything she has, and is happy to have Michael in their lives. It's mostly their story, but her family, Tim McGraw as her husband, and her two kids, play a huge part of making a family that includes Michael. Of course, since Michael ends up playing for the Baltimore Ravens, there's a lot of football in the movie too. That is part of the ups and downs. While everyone assumes a big guy like Michael should be a natural at football, he takes a while to learn the basics, much to everyone's frustration, and amusement. Overall, this is a terrific movie, and obeys all my rules, so you leave feeling wonderful about life, even if you can't forget that it doesn't work out for everyone. 4.5 stars/lambs.

Glee!

"I find it hard to be in the same room with you, especially this one, which looks like where Strawberry Shortcake and Holly Hobby come to hook up." - Kurt (Chris Colfer), Glee

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a little something to enjoy for the holidays.

Review on the fly: Fantastic Mr. Fox

I'm currently waiting in the airport for the next flight, but saw Fantastic Mr. Fox last night during my quick stop in the city so figured I'd post before I forgot it. A friend described Wes Anderson (the director) as much less annoying when he's communicating through animals. I agree. All of the depth and seriousness his previous movies (Rushmore, The Royal Tennebaums) though humorous, were often dragged down by their cerebral efforts. Fantastic Mr. Fox makes that seem ironic and funny. The voices are terrific, particularly George Clooney as Mr. Fox. Basically, Mr. Fox is starting a family and has to give up his life of stealing chickens. However, because he's a wild animal he goes back to it with a huge caper. I liked it a lot. I promise to add more, but they're calling my flight.

10pm that day: Arrived safe and sound in Maine. The rest of Fox involves his caper with the rest of the animals, all equally interesting and funny, particularly Bill Murray as a lawyer Badger who tries to get Mr. Fox to see reason about their ability to escape from the three farmers they're stealing from. It's a huge snarl by the time it reaches the end. It is VERY LOOSELY based on the actual book by Roald Dahl, and loses a lot of its child-like humor thanks to the license taken with the plot. Good movie. 4 of 5 Lambs/Stars

A Christmas Carol 3D: Review

I know I haven't posted a lot lately - not a lot of great movies in my little town. Luckily, Veteran's Day provided a chance to travel to a bigger theater, and they had 3D!!! I know, I'm WAY behind on figuring out this was way better than Captain EO's version of 3D back in the 80's, but I was not expected for how amazing the new version of A Christmas Carol could be. It was more faithful to the original text by Charles Dickens, in that it was scary - the spirits weren't benevolent aides in Scrooge's search for his own soul, but a Dickensian version of "Scared Straight". They had a tinge of the goofiness of Disney's animated version with Mickey Mouse, but mostly the story was strict in its interpretation of the story. Jim Carrey was terrific - I'm not even sure how many different characters he played throughout the movie, but he was joined by Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn, Gary Oldman, and Cary Elwes (hard to see the Princess Bride actors together again). Watching the scenes come to life felt like you were actually looking through a window at it. It made me wonder how the same thing would look in 2D, and it definitely wouldn't be as good - just not as magical as the whole ghosts and spirits visiting demands. There weren't lots of things jumping out of the screen, they just made each scene contain depth and substance in a way 2D just can't. I really liked it. 4.5 of 5 Lambs/stars

November 5: Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

"Remember, Remember the 5th of November, the gun-powder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gun-powder treason should ever be forgot." Those are the opening lines of V for Vendetta, a post-apocalyptic story of how fear can drive a society to relinquish rights for security, and of course, as the saying goes, get neither. However, a vigilante called V appears on November 5th promising that in one year, he will blow up the buildings of Parliament (like Guy Fawkes hoped to do). As the year goes by he also murders several members of the ruling party for reasons that aren't revealed until the end. However, on that first night V crosses paths with Evey (Natalie Portman), a TV producer, and she becomes a somewhat willing participant, embroiled in his struggle to bring down the government. There is a police Inspector Finch (Stephen Rea) who is unraveling V's reasons for the murders and what could be behind his vendetta against the government. Finch discovers that the fear of disease and the need for quarantine and thus the strict regulations and controls by the government were in fact created by the government itself to give itself complete power. Overall, the society rallies together to fight what it begins to understand is not a benevolent governing body, and Guy Fawkes ideas are achieved.

The movie is based on a graphic novel, and thus contains quite a few scenes set up with a comic book in mind - larger than life leaders on huge screens, cartoonish costuming, and extremes in language, dialogue. People are either good or bad, black or white actions, very little middle ground. However, I don't think that's bad. It's an interesting look at what you'd do about terrorists (or vigilantes) in such a restrictive society, and how perhaps it's important to examine why such a society would spawn someone willing to risk everything to take it down. I like this movie a lot, the dialogue is creative, plays on words, examining the meaning of power, etc. The acting, particularly by Hugo Weaving as V is spectacular. He has to get across a complete character while wearing a creepy mask and wig the whole time. It's all in his voice. Natalie Portman does a good job being transformed by V and holding her personal need above the fight for national change. I recommend watching it every November!

PS - This post is part of a general Guy Fawkes Day celebration to be shown on the 5ht over at Matte Havoc. Don't forget to check it out, particularly if you like V for Vendetta.

Two Really Different British Films: Run Fatboy Run and Endgame

I've previously mentioned my theory about one's inability to fully grasp or accurately remember major events in a 20-year span around your birth (obviously you don't remember things before you were born, but people don't feel the need to educate you about them either, it's somehow assumed knowledge). I do remember the day Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1994, and I can recall learning a bit more about him, and the definition of apartheid, but I'm sure I never understood how its end came about. The recent Masterpiece Contemporary piece on PBS was Endgame, with William Hurt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Johnny Lee Miller ("Eli Stone") and Clarke Peters ("The Wire"), depicts the conferences and conversations and covert discussions that helped bring an end to Mandela's imprisonment and eventually a new government. As I understood it, Miller's character, Michael Young, approached Ejiofor's Mbeki (future President Mbeki) on behalf of a mining company to begin discussions of how to begin discussions with others to change the South African government. They recruit Hurt's Professor Will Esterhuyse, an Africaaner who preached social justice. Along with other influential people, they met frequently in England to discuss what was needed from all parties to begin changing their world. It's a pretty good movie, particularly the acting, but as an ignorant American, I was often confused by who was trying to subvert the actions of the others. I do recommend seeing this, both for its historically fascinating part (if you were born in the late '70s, you're allowed ignorance) and the terrific acting. 3.5 of 5 Lambs



If you'd like a British movie that does nothing to educate you, but will make you laugh and reinforce your correct feeling that marathons aren't a good idea. Run, Fatboy, Run, directed by David Schwimmer, stars the amazing Simon Pegg as a immature ne'er-do-well who left Thandie Newton pregnant at the altar. Five years later, Newton has started dating a serious, weathly American marathoner, Hank Azaria, and wants Pegg to help her convince their son that it's a good idea. Pegg, who is actually a great dad, decides to prove to Newton that he can be as good as Azaria and says he'll run a marathon with him in a few weeks. Pegg's gambler cousin bets that Pegg will finish the marathon and becomes his coach, along with his landlord, Mr. Goshdashtidar (Harish Patel - also found on No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency), a really funny Indian man who rides his scooter threatening Pegg with a spatula to run faster. Not a perfectly crafted film, but remarkably funny for a movie that puts its main joke right in the title.
4 of 5 Lambs

Where the Wild Things Are: Review

I really wanted to see this movie, and was trying to figure out what I liked best about it. Then I read several blogs, and several helped condense what I liked about it. For me I liked the voices of the wild things, and how based in reality everything was. They didn't feel the need to explain the imagination of a little boy, they just let you observe. Also, I saw it with a bunch of little kids, and no one was scared, though a few were a little bored after a while. Here are some of my favorite summaries:

From The Cooler:
"I didn’t realized how much I’d come to miss environmental tangibility in movies until I watched Jonze’s film, but 30 minutes in I was painfully aware (again) of how often the physical paradises of old now get paved over by flat CGI parking lots. Jonze’s film isn’t without CGI landscaping – the fort Max designs with the wild things is a digital doozy – but the effects here are minimal and practical. Most of the film’s shooting, under the guidance of cinematographer Lance Acord, was done on location in Australia, marrying actual three-dimensional environments with actual three-dimensional performers – a combination that seems so simple, not to mention natural, but that has managed to become endangered in fantasy films. The results are awe-striking: boulders and cliff faces that evoke the Tunisia-as-Tataouine locales of Star Wars, gnarled forests that evoke The Wizard of Oz, rolling sand dunes that evoke Lawrence of Arabia, and so on. Max, in his furry white pajamas, isn’t the only one who gets dirty whenever there’s a rumpus; the beasts get dusty, too, and that’s significant."


From Reel Fanatic:

"And it certainly helps that the 9-year-old in question was played by Max Records, though the studio fought him on that choice too. As the movie Max, young Mr. Records captures his state of mind perfectly, wanting to be - and often acting like - a savage while at the same time unable to mask the fear and doubt that cloud up his life. As he rampages through the woods with his wild creations, Jonze isn't afraid to let young Max get as sweaty and snotty (enough to match his attitude) as a kid would left to his own devices. My favorite Max moment, however, came early on as you see the perfectly reasonable horror on his face after a teacher tells him the sun is going to die. It's all around certainly the best movie performance by a youngster this year."

My rating: 4 of 5 stars/Lambs for excellent and beautiful storytelling.

The Return of Friday Night Lights!!!

I've been reading about the return of "Friday Night Lights" next Wednesday, Oct. 28th on the DirectTV channel before jumping to NBC in the new year. I can't wait. The third season was a huge return to its amazing form after a sophomore oddness. We saw a lot of the wonderful characters graduate, and big changes come to Dillon, TX. Now, there will be some new cast members, and I'm so excited. Jurnee Smollett is joining the cast. She was terrific in The Great Debaters and in her two-hour episode guest spot on "Grey's Anatomy" ending its 4th season as a brain cancer patient. I can't wait.

Female Characters Good for Halloween

I'm a big fan of Halloween and trick or treating, but I do think it belongs to kids, probably under the age of 10 or 12. There are the obvious costumes like ghosts, witches, pumpkins and clowns (yes, I was all of these at one point), but there are also quite a few from movies that I've been thinking of that are also appropriate for girls rather than trashy options that seem to dominate the stores, but I'm sure there might be others. Here are 5 I'd recommend:

1. Hermione Granger - Excellent role model, magical and has great friends.














2. Mary Poppins - She can fly, sing, has a movie, a book, and a musical. Also, easy to wear a heavy coat and scarf if you're up north.




















3. Dorothy Gale/Wicked Witch - I have no problem with good or bad characters, just as long as they're fun and recognizable.






























4. Belle (or many of the Disney princesses, including the new one, Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog)

























5. Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl - Okay, the guys costumes from Toy Story are a lot more fun, but I think being a cowgirl is still really cool.

Back from Italy

Well, sadly I didn't see George, but did put my toes into Lake Como where he swims, so it's practically like we shook hands (just kidding). Traveling around Italy for 10 days was lovely. Lots of cool and cultural things were seen and experienced. But for my fellow film fans, here's a photo of the site where Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala get married at the end of the second Star Wars movie. It's on Lake Como itself (or at least that's what they told us when we passed by, but it looks right from this clip).

Oh, I also saw several movies on the plane that I'll think about reviewing in a few days.

A brief hiatus

Dear loyal readers (both of you), I will be away for the next two weeks or so, but fear not, all is well, I'm off to explore Italy. I'm particularly hoping to see George Clooney's house when we tour Lake Como! I might have movies to post about on the return, overseas flights always have movies.

And now for something completely different... Lars and the Real Girl

I hadn't expected to love a movie about a synthetic woman and the community who loves her (she gets elected to the school board). Okay, Lars and the Real Girl isn't really about the fake doll, Bianca, but about her "boyfriend", Lars (Ryan Gosling) and his relationship with his family and the community of which he is part. I expected this to be a fairly seedy story of a man who couldn't or wouldn't deal with women and satisfied himself with a fake girl. It's NOTHING like that. In fact, it's very chaste, with a few sidelong glances from disbelieving neighbors curious at the idea, but nothing unseemly. Lars lives in his brother's garage and is painfully shy (possibly autistic), though holds a job and takes care of himself. He can't talk to the girl he likes at church, and orders a perfectly live side (and anatomically correct) doll online. That's where any of the marketing kind of stops and a totally unique movie takes over. Lars acts completely as if Bianca is real. He introduces her to his brother and pregnant sister in law, explaining that they met online, and she can't walk because someone stole her wheelchair at the airport. Because his family, as well as the entire community, loves Lars, they embrace the tale and try to be nice to and inclusive of Bianca and Lars (not easily at first, but it gets stronger). There are a lot of interesting and humorous moments when we see how the community participates in Lars delusion without mocking him or Bianca. It's a way for Lars to deal with his inability to interact with people, and his dislike of physical contact. He does see a doctor (Patricia Clarkson) because Bianca has a "blood disorder", and they talk while Bianca rests after treatment, and Clarkson helps Lars through his problems without ever saying anything to dissuade him of his delusion.
It's just another wonderful movie, by a first-time director, that makes you think about how a community can come together and what it means to be part of one.

New Release: Surrogates

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** If you haven't seen commercials for this, there will be spoilers, however, I'm not revealing anything that isn't obvious from the trailer. **

Bruce Willis' new movie, Surrogates, follows a police detective trying to figure out who and what could have started killing humans, by killing their synthetic surrogates. The future is "peopled" with machines that aren't sentient, but can do everything their human operators are thinking, and relay back all the images they are seeing. So, humans can stay in their home forever, while a better version of themselves, physically, can walk the world. The machines were designed for people with disabilities, so they could more normally experience the world. However, the rest of the world became addicted to never having to wash their hair, or exercise, or get dressed, instead sending their surrogate out in the world to represent them while they operated it from the safety of their home. But someone has made a weapon that will kill a human by destroying their surrogate. Bruce Willis and his partner,Radha Mitchell, investigate leads that bring them to one of the "reservations" of people who refuse to use surrogates, no machines allowed. Lots of complicated ethical questions prevail, but none are developed too deeply, so the movie stays at a light level throughout, though the fight scenes are pretty fun given that machines are doing a lot of the fighting. I think if Bruce Willis' character had been written more like his Die Hard or The Fifth Element characters, this movie would have been more fun along the same lines as those movies. Instead Willis is flat, and none of his dialogue is memorable, which is disappointing given his skill at sarcasm and grouchy cop banter. It's a pretty good movie, and fits well into it's futuristic, sci-fi genre, arguing that to be fully human, you need to experience the world yourself, much like the better Matrix and I, Robot argue convincingly. 3.5 stars/lambs

Random thought...

I'm going to Italy next week and thought today I'd like to watch something that is set in Italy. What does it say about me that the first movie I thought of was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for the scene in Venice??

TV that makes me laugh

"You know there's a question I get asked a lot. Whether I'm accepting an honorary degree or performing a citizens arrest, people ask me, 'Sue, what's your secret?'." - Jane Lynch on Glee

The second thing that made me laugh really hard this week was "Cougar Town". Courtney Cox's new series is not the semi-gross topic I thought it might be. Instead she really doesn't want to be a cougar, but is trying to find a way to be happy, but the different ways she embarrasses herself and her son are just hysterical. She's doing a terrific version of a more mellow "Monica", and it's so much fun. Check it out Wednesdays. In this photo, they're chasing down one of that kids that have been stealing her real estate signs because she's posing with her boobs hanging out. Busy Philips plays her assistant and chose the photo. Hilarity ensues.

Emmys review

I loved the opening number and the presenters were pretty terrific, and they finished on time, but Neil Patrick Harris' shtick about losing his award colored his humor the rest of the night. I liked the breakdown of categories, and the "look-backs" for the years in review in each category.

I didn't see Jon Cryer, Cherry Jones, Michael Emerson or Toni Collette taking their respective categories at all, though they all were terrific. For the rest, it was just my own idiocy not picking Alec Baldwin or Bryan Cranston to repeat their awards. Otherwise, I had a very good night. There were a lot of repeat wins with Amazing Race taking it again, Jeff Probst as the best host, 30 Rock and Mad Men. I was really happy that Kristin Chenowith and Shohreh Aghdashloo both took their awards. Not a particularly surprising night, but still fun to watch. Grey Gardens and Little Dorritt cleaned up too.

Emmy Predictions 2009

I thought I'd put together my predictions for the upcoming Emmy awards just in case people were interested.

Outstanding Comedy Series
Nominees:
"Entourage" (2004)
"Family Guy" (1999)
"The Flight of the Conchords" (2007)
"How I Met Your Mother" (2005) - Should win - this show has grown and yet still stayed so funny, I hope it wins, but it'll probably go to 30 Rock again.
"The Office" (2005)
"30 Rock" (2006) - Will Win
"Weeds" (2005)

Outstanding Drama Series
Nominees:
"Big Love" (2006)
"Breaking Bad" (2008)
"Damages" (2007)
"Dexter" (2006) - Should Win - The 3rd season was wonderful and brought the show up to a totally new level
"House M.D." (2004)
"Lost" (2004)
"Mad Men" (2007) - Will Win - I thought the second season was not as good as it's premiere, but I wouldn't be terribly disappointed when they win.

Outstanding Made for Television Movie
Nominees:
Coco Chanel (2008) (TV)
Grey Gardens (2009) (TV) - Will win and Should Win - It's an amazing series, see it.
Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Prayers for Bobby (2009) (TV)
Taking Chance (2009)

Outstanding Miniseries
Nominees:
"Generation Kill" (2008)
"Little Dorrit" (2008) - Will win (though I don't know anything about either, it already won tons of technical awards!)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Nominees:
Alec Baldwin for "30 Rock" (2006)
Steve Carell for "The Office" (2005)
Jemaine Clement for "The Flight of the Conchords" (2007)
Jim Parsons for "The Big Bang Theory" (2007) - Will win and Should win - He's the funniest guy in this list, and everyone else has been recognized (except Jemaine, but I don't think he's funny)
Tony Shalhoub for "Monk" (2002)
Charlie Sheen for "Two and a Half Men" (2003)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Nominees:
Simon Baker for "The Mentalist" (2008)
Gabriel Byrne for "In Treatment" (2008)
Bryan Cranston for "Breaking Bad" (2008)
Michael C. Hall for "Dexter" (2006) - Should win - see comment above for Dexter!
Jon Hamm for "Mad Men" (2007)
Hugh Laurie for "House M.D." (2004) - Will win

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Nominees:
Kevin Bacon for Taking Chance (2009)
Kenneth Branagh for "Wallander" (2008)
Brendan Gleeson for Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Kevin Kline for "Great Performances: Cyrano de Bergerac (#37.8)" (2009) - I hope he wins, but I have NO idea! This was the only one I saw.
Ian McKellen for "Great Performances: King Lear (#37.11)" (2008)
Kiefer Sutherland for 24: Redemption (2008) (TV)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominees:
Christina Applegate for "Samantha Who?" (2007)
Toni Collette for "United States of Tara" (2009)
Tina Fey for "30 Rock" (2006) - Should Win and Will win - I'm not sure this category has the best set of acting on TV, they just seem to keep nominating the sames set of women. Not sure why I can't get behind these nominees, but I don't really care about this category this year.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus for "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (2006)
Mary-Louise Parker for "Weeds" (2005)
Sarah Silverman for "The Sarah Silverman Program." (2007)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Nominees:
Glenn Close for "Damages" (2007) - Will win - she's pretty amazing, even if this past season wasn't.
Sally Field for "Brothers & Sisters" (2006)
Mariska Hargitay for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999)
Holly Hunter for "Saving Grace" (2007)
Elisabeth Moss for "Mad Men" (2007) - Should Win - she did a terrific job making her character interesting and important every time she was on screen
Kyra Sedgwick for "The Closer" (2005)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Nominees:
Drew Barrymore for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Jessica Lange for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV) - Will win - she was pretty amazing, but I chose Chandra.
Shirley MacLaine for Coco Chanel (2008) (TV)
Sigourney Weaver for Prayers for Bobby (2009) (TV)
Chandra Wilson for Accidental Friendship (2008) (TV) - Should win - this was a throwaway little made for TV movie, but her performance was terrific.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Nominees:
Jon Cryer for "Two and a Half Men" (2003)
Kevin Dillon for "Entourage" (2004)
Neil Patrick Harris for "How I Met Your Mother" (2005) It should be a tie between NPH and Jack McBrayer, but I think it will be NPH.
Jack McBrayer for "30 Rock" (2006)
Tracy Morgan for "30 Rock" (2006)
Rainn Wilson for "The Office" (2005)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Nominees:
Christian Clemenson for "Boston Legal" (2004)
Michael Emerson for "Lost" (2004)
William Hurt for "Damages" (2007)
Aaron Paul for "Breaking Bad" (2008) - Will win - I've heard great things about him, and I don't think any of the others had stand out performances this year.
William Shatner for "Boston Legal" (2004)
John Slattery for "Mad Men" (2007)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Nominees:
Len Cariou for Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Tom Courtenay for "Little Dorrit" (2008)
Ken Howard for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Bob Newhart for The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice (2008) (TV)
Andy Serkis for "Little Dorrit" (2008) - Will win - the series was wonderfully well received so I'm guessing here.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominees:
Kristin Chenoweth for "Pushing Daisies" (2007) - Should win - I just loved Pushing Daisies, mostly because of Kristin
Jane Krakowski for "30 Rock" (2006)
Elizabeth Perkins for "Weeds" (2005)
Amy Poehler for "Saturday Night Live" (1975)
Kristen Wiig for "Saturday Night Live" (1975) - Will win - she's had a terrific year, and created some wonderful characters, and they already honored Justin Timberlake for all of his wonderful work on SNL.
Vanessa Williams for "Ugly Betty" (2006)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Nominees:
Rose Byrne for "Damages" (2007)
Hope Davis for "In Treatment" (2008)
Cherry Jones for "24" (2001)
Sandra Oh for "Grey's Anatomy" (2005)
Dianne Wiest for "In Treatment" (2008)
Chandra Wilson for "Grey's Anatomy" (2005) - Should win and Will win - I think this is her year again, she had wonderful stories and did a terrific job.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Nominees:
Shohreh Aghdashloo for "House of Saddam" (2008) - Should win - I just love her and think she can do no wrong, but I doubt they'll choose something called House of Saddam.
Marcia Gay Harden for The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (2009) (TV) - Will win - she got such amazing reviews for this that I'm guessing she'll win.
Janet McTeer for Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Jeanne Tripplehorn for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Cicely Tyson for Relative Stranger (2009) (TV)

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series
Nominees:
"The Colbert Report" (2005)
"The Daily Show" (1996) - Will win - they're just awesome.
"Late Show with David Letterman" (1993)
"Real Time with Bill Maher" (2003)
"Saturday Night Live" (1975) - Might win - I think if SNL was ever going to win this will be their year.

Outstanding Reality Competition Program
Nominees:
"The Amazing Race" (2001) - Will win - they've never lost so I'm not going to bet against them.
"American Idol: The Search for a Superstar" (2002)
"Dancing with the Stars" (2005/I)
"Project Runway" (2005) - Should win - it's just a fantastic show and had a terrific season.
"Top Chef" (2006)

Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality - Competition Program
Nominees:
Tom Bergeron for "Dancing with the Stars" (2005/I)
Phil Keoghan for "The Amazing Race" (2001)
Heidi Klum for "Project Runway" (2005) - Should win - Heidi was awesome so she should win.
Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio for "Top Chef" (2006)
Jeff Probst for "Survivor" (2000) - Will win - he won last year, so I'm guessing he'll win again.
Ryan Seacrest for "American Idol: The Search for a Superstar" (2002)

Those are my predictions, we'll see how close I get on Sunday night!!

Movies rarely live up to or deserve the hype: Reviews of The Soloist and State of Play

I've been wanting to see The Soloist since I found out Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx would be staring. However, I'd barely noticed the appearance (and disappearance) of State of Play until it was recommended on my Netflix queue. I was sadly disappointed by The Soloist and very pleasantly surprised by State of Play.

The Soloist is based on a true story about LA Times columnist Steve Lopez (Downey), who would write about all kinds of issues, shining light on issues around LA. One day he's looking for a topic for his next column and meets Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Foxx) playing a two-string violin and rambling about his love for Beethoven. He writes a column about Ayers, which starts an uneven, often dangerous friendship. One of Lopez' readers, upon reading about his former excellence as a cellist at Julliard, donates a cello for Ayers. However, Ayers is homeless, and owning something as valuable as a cello on the streets of LA could get him killed, so Lopez arranges for the cello to be kept at the LA homeless center (LAMP). Lopez continues to attempt to restore some of Ayers' talent and sanity by getting him housing, and exposing him to concerts in the city. However, the movies doesn't want to be a story of redemption, and there's no happy ending, or even a very good ending. The director, Joe Wright, also directed Atonement, which I loved, and his style permeates both films. While Atonement's story could benefit from a more artistic style of movie making - long takes of the beach at Dunkirk, swirling floods of the tube station, bombings with music in the background, the snap of the typewriter as music - The Soloist, while a story about a musician, does not. The story is slow, with very little character development. Somehow, it's supposed to be enough that Ayers is schizophrenic and homeless and Lopez is a wry columnist, and thus we know everything we need to know about them. While I LOVE Robert Downey, Jr. he was the only reason I even watched it to the end. 2 lambs/stars
This movie did not live up to the hopeful hype surrounding it.

In contrast, I hadn't heard much hype, good or bad, about State of Play, except that Ben Affleck was in a political thriller and he played a congressman. For the past few years, Affleck's movies haven't always been received very well (though his directorial effort, Gone Baby Gone, is a masterpiece). State of Play really stars Russell Crowe as a Washington Globe reporter, seeking a story about two murders in downtown DC. His old-school reporting style is in conflict with his fellow reporter, Rachel McAdams, online blogging style, but he needs another reporter to help him when he finds the story connects to the recent death of Congressman Collins' (Affleck) aide on a subway platform. Crowe's reporter and Affleck's congressman were college roommates. High political drama ensues with corruption, congressional hearings on private military contractors, affairs, marital intrigue, murder, and high-pressure reporting. Helen Mirren plays Crowe's editor, Robin Wright plays Affleck's put upon wife. It's a great film to see on your comfy couch as it does take a little while to build up the story, but once it gets going, it also helps to have someone to watch with, so you can confirm what you think has been going on, and what the big twist at the end really means. Crowe does a terrific job trying to maintain his integrity getting at the truth without destroying his friend's career, and McAdams does his precocious assistant perfectly. 4 of 5 lambs/stars

We'll miss you!

Patrick Swayze had a career, with ups and downs, and movies and roles that will never be forgotten. Rest in Peace. This is probably my favorite moment from all his movies, but I will confess I almost posted his moment on SNL with Chris Farley dancing for Chippendale's.