tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62979042012-01-13T17:31:29.889-05:00These are the movie-related posts from my full blog, so you don't have to wade through the other topics to locate my film-related comments. See FAQ for my spoiler philosophy.Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1081100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1125580340141267392005-09-01T09:10:00.000-04:002005-09-01T09:12:20.146-04:00

I'm abandoning the duplicate movie-related posts over here. Too much work, not enough time. Check over at the main blog, Rogue Slayer Law Student Movie Fan, for movie, tv, and other entertaining entries.

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1114621471439015342005-04-27T13:04:00.000-04:002005-04-27T13:04:31.443-04:00

We saw The Interpreter this weekend, starring Nicole Kidman as a United Nations interpreter who overhears what appears to be a discussion on the floor of the General Assembly of an assassination plot against the embattled and corrupt head of an African nation, and Sean Penn as a Secret Service agent in the Foreign Dignitary Protection team, who is assigned to investigate her claims. The potential

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1111872528503894532005-03-26T16:28:00.000-05:002005-03-26T16:28:48.506-05:00

What's it all about, Alfie? The theme song from the original comes in a bit during the opening credits, but that's about all that's about. This remake stars Jude Law as the carefree love em and leave em Brit in New York, who along the way manages to leave quite a wake in his path. His various casualties and other acquaintances include Marissa Tomei (love her), Susan Sarandon (turned out to be a

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1111870965086760302005-03-26T16:02:00.000-05:002005-03-26T16:02:45.090-05:00

It took us three tries, but we made it through Shall We Dance. We should know better than to try to start a movie on a weeknight after I get home from class. But we finished it off this morning. I think part of the trouble also was that this movie takes a while to get going. Richard Gere is a wills & estates attorney, with two kids, married to upscale department store executive Susan Sarandon,

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1111609171194772012005-03-23T15:19:00.000-05:002005-03-23T15:19:31.196-05:00

We watched this one last weekend. Eh, so-so.Napoleon Dynamite is the favorite target of the bullies and cool kids in his small town Idaho high school, sometime in the 80s. He has a couple of friends who are equally as outcast, and the three of them try to mumble and defensive come-back their way through their troubles at home and school. Napoleon lives with his grandmother, who is temporarily

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1111436055259037382005-03-21T15:14:00.000-05:002005-03-21T15:14:15.260-05:00

MTV reports (link via Ms. Musings) that Joss Whedon has signed on formally to write and direct a big screen version of Wonder Woman.The possibility of this project has been bounced around for years, including periodic speculation about who would make the best Wonder Woman.Let the casting speculation recommence!!!

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1111352944849501232005-03-20T16:08:00.000-05:002005-03-20T16:11:02.606-05:00

Four thumbs up! Two from me, two from The girl. This is a chick flick that guys can enjoy as well. It's a basic romantic comedy, but it follows two main couples, plus the viewpoint is mostly from the male perspective on romance and dating (and how they either screw it up or are misunderstood and thereby blocked from succeeding, depending on your perspective). But it's not just straight guys who

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1111237699198937782005-03-19T08:08:00.000-05:002005-03-19T11:59:50.786-05:00

We started watching this DVD last weekend, but we started it rather late and The Girl couldn't stay awake. My school schedule being what it is, we couldn't sit down together to finish it until last night.I liked it. I'm glad we didn't pay current movie theater prices to see it, though. It's fun comic book fluff, and the CGI action was a little goofy. Remember the scenes of Huntress running and

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1110117361125054892005-03-06T08:53:00.000-05:002005-03-06T08:56:01.133-05:00

Now that Oscar season is over (for a while), The Girl and I have gotten back to watching less known, quirky films. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're really bad.Last night we hit a winner: Eulogy. This 2004 movie stars, well, tons o'people, and is just hysterical. Zooey Deschanel stars and narrates as Katie, the favorite grandaughter of Edmund (Rip Torn), whose recent death brings this

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1109943199816308402005-03-04T08:33:00.000-05:002005-03-04T08:33:19.820-05:00

I've been reading this morning about an Italian film that opened in limited US cities this week: Best of Youth. It's received glowing reviews (mostly) so far, earning an 89% on the Rotten Tomatometer. That puts it in the same rating range as many of this year's Oscar nominees and winners. So what, you might ask?This is a six-hour, subtitled film that follows two brothers over the passage of 40

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1109687089787410482005-03-01T09:24:00.000-05:002005-03-01T09:24:49.793-05:00

Once again our Oscar Party was a great success, and it appeared that fun was had by all. This year's party had the added feature of When Bloggers Meet, as a few of the guests have read each other's blogs, but had not yet met face to face. Bloggers present were me, The Creeping Unknown, Not a Freak, and Soxfan.As evidence that blogging makes you smarter, TCU and Soxfan tied for the most correct

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1109526253913128212005-02-27T12:44:00.000-05:002005-03-01T14:27:50.913-05:00

UPDATE (3/1/05, 8:34 am): Now that I've recovered from my very late night Sunday night, I've put an asterisk next to my correct picks. Only 9 10 correct for me this year, while I had 16 last year. Full list of 2005 winners here.**********************************Okay, it's time to put it out there. Here are my picks for the 77th Academy Awards:*Picture: Million Dollar BabyDirector: Martin

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1109526126397598852005-02-27T12:41:00.001-05:002005-02-27T12:42:06.396-05:00

The Girl and I have watched the last nominated films we're going to be able to squeeze in, and now it's time to prepare The Castle for tonight's event of the year, Oscar Night!We braved the wild parking safari that is a trip to the West Newton Cinema, to see Vera Drake. I dropped The Girl off to procure the tickets, and about 30 minutes later I walked into the theater to join her. We ended up

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1109118204951476502005-02-22T19:23:00.000-05:002005-02-22T19:23:24.953-05:00

This evening's Oscar blog entry reveals additional performers who will be providing their renditions of the Best Song nominees: Santana, and Antonio Banderas. Since the performers for the other songs had already been announced, it seems likely that they'll be performing jointly on "Al Otro Lado Del Río" - THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES.

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1108478191991489882005-02-15T09:35:00.000-05:002005-03-01T15:02:07.503-05:00

In last night's Oscar blog post, Gil Cates revealed the performers for the various Best Song nominees. Hope y'all dig Beyonce. The nominees are:"Accidentally In Love" - SHREK 2 - To be performed by Counting Crows, who are also the songwriters and film performers."Al Otro Lado Del Rio" - THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES - Performer yet to be named. Film performance was by Jorge Drexler."Believe" - THE POLAR

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1108426389813260462005-02-14T19:12:00.000-05:002005-02-14T19:13:09.816-05:00

The Girl and I had our Valentine's Day yesterday, since I'll be in class until 9:40 tonight, and won't be home until about 10:40, which is well after she'll have gone to bed. We spent the day doing things we don't often get to do together during the school year - like making fabulous omelettes for breakfast, protein shopping (i.e. meat & fish) at Whole Foods Market, and produce shopping at

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1108426328056832752005-02-14T19:11:00.000-05:002005-02-14T19:12:22.250-05:00

I've been reading Gil Cates' Oscar blog, which is really more of a daily PR hype, but occasionally does provide something new and interesting from behind the scenes. I found it interesting that one of the purposes of the Nominees' Luncheon is to remind everyone of their acceptance speech time limit, and to suggest stylistic approaches that have worked in the past.Friday's post (2/11) brought news

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1107539517409522902005-02-04T13:51:00.000-05:002005-02-08T11:10:38.336-05:00

Gil Cates, producer of the Academy Awards ceremony (this will be his 12th), will be launching a behind-the-scenes blog covering the ongoing preparations for Oscar night. The blog, which will be linked to from Oscar.com, is set to launch on Monday (2/7). I'll update this post Monday with a direct link to the blog. Cates sounds like a cool kind of guy. The 70-year-old has 6 kids, 5 grandkids, and

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1106855176949208712005-01-27T14:45:00.000-05:002005-01-27T14:46:16.950-05:00

The Girl and I watched this on DVD, the first of our Oscar-nominated DVDs that are lined up on our Netflix queue. Newcomer Catalina Sandino Moreno has been nominated for Best Actress for her starring role as Maria, a 17-year-old Columbian who has been thrust into the role of primary supporter of her mother, sister and sister's toddler. Having quit her job as a thorn remover at a rose plantation,

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1106662808604370562005-01-25T09:19:00.000-05:002005-01-25T09:20:08.603-05:00

I watched the Oscar Noms with a friend in the office kitchen. How exciting!!! And the nominees are: BEST PICTURE THE AVIATOR FINDING NEVERLAND MILLION DOLLAR BABY RAY SIDEWAYS ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE Annette Bening - BEING JULIA Catalina Sandino Moreno - MARIA FULL OF GRACE Imelda Staunton - VERA DRAKE Hilary Swank - MILLION DOLLAR BABY Kate Winslet - ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1106321233894382272005-01-21T10:27:00.000-05:002005-01-21T15:46:38.053-05:00

We finally got to see this much praised film this past weekend, at its early release at the Lowes Boston Common (the most comfy and well-appointed theater in Boston). I haven't gotten around to writing about it until now, mostly because I couldn't come up with words that would appropriately convey the utter fabulosity of Million Dollar Baby and all those involved in the project. Hilary Swank and

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1105708053617157892005-01-14T08:07:00.000-05:002005-01-14T08:07:33.616-05:00

Don't forget - the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will be holding the 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, which will be broadcast on NBC from 8-11 pm EST. I've managed to see many more nominated films since they were announced in December, but alas some haven't yet had their wide releases. At least I'm confident I'll have seen the major award films by the time Sunday, February 27th

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1105454054697054812005-01-11T09:34:00.000-05:002005-01-11T09:34:14.696-05:00

The Broadcast Film Critics Association yesterday announced the winners of their Critics' Choice Awards for 2004. Best Picture: Sideways Best Actor: Jamie Foxx - Ray Best Actress: Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Haden Church - Sideways Best Supporting Actress: Virginia Madsen - Sideways Best Acting Ensemble: Sideways Best Director: Martin Scorsese - The Aviator

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1104503981138917812004-12-31T09:39:00.000-05:002004-12-31T09:50:57.073-05:00

We had two Lowe's movie passes left, and they were set to expire today. The catch: not valid during the first 10 days of a film's release. So sadly I had to pay 7 bucks for a MATINEE showing of Phantom the other day, and The Girl and I ended up using the passes to see Closer last night. There were other movies we wanted to see instead, but this was playing at the right time, at the right theater,

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1104437641666514492004-12-30T15:13:00.000-05:002004-12-30T15:34:39.793-05:00

This film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Weber's successful theater production is spectacular, beautiful, lush, grand, full of beautiful people, sights and sounds. And sometimes it even works. Sadly, at other times it's just too much. Of everything. There's a fine line between really cool execution of a really cool concept and just showing off all your neat toys, and unfortunately director Joel

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1104343426254987442004-12-29T13:03:00.000-05:002004-12-29T13:10:48.883-05:00

This look into the life and complicated relationship of Cole Porter and his wife, Linda Lee Porter, takes place in the form of Cole sitting in an empty theater with the "director" Gabe and looking back through his life. De-Lovely overall is a fabulous movie, but I found the first 15-30 minutes a little shallow and the characters difficult to care about. Once the Porters move from Venice to New

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1104346044496940622004-12-29T11:15:00.000-05:002004-12-29T13:47:24.496-05:00

Actor Jerry Orbach, most recently of Law and Order but with a prodigious body of work on television, film and the theater, died last night in New York City. He had been receiving treatment for prostate cancer. You may also remember him as the father-doctor in Dirty Dancing (the clear winner in the "Which 80's dance movie rules?" poll - see left sidebar) and as the fabulous voice of Lumiere in

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1104262176589540212004-12-28T14:29:00.000-05:002004-12-28T14:29:36.590-05:00

In addition to today's news (to me, at least) about the awesome soundtrack CD for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, I just also discovered that the DVD is going to be released on January 25!!! Psych!!!!! The Guyfriend and I went to Barnes & Noble at lunchtime, as he was in search of the 2005 Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendar for his office, so I took the opportunity to check out the

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1104262137542860092004-12-28T14:28:00.000-05:002004-12-28T14:28:57.543-05:00

Award winning author, film maker and human rights activist Susan Sontag died this morning at the age of 71 in NYC, where she resided with photographer Annie Leibovitz. Her passing was announced Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. You can learn more about Sontag at her website. In 2001 the book Women was published, a joint project of Sontag and Leibovitz.

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1104262087619067932004-12-28T14:27:00.000-05:002004-12-28T14:28:07.620-05:00

SciFi.com has posted up a review of the recently released film soundtrack CD for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. They give it an A, and even classify it as good car driving music - not a classification generally assigned to sci-fi soundtracks. Then again, SciFi.com's audience is assuredly skewed toward sci-fi geeks, and speaking as one myself, I admit that I do have a number of sci-fi

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1104175078882162072004-12-27T14:17:00.000-05:002004-12-27T14:17:58.883-05:00

One of the trailers we saw before The Aviator was for Sin City, a film of which up to that point I had not been aware. It looks intriguing - not like Sky Captain, mind you, but intriguing nonetheless. Like Sky Captain, this one has the live actors filmed on digital cameras in front of green screen, and the backgrounds will all be digitally inserted later. It also resembles Sky Captain in the

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1104171008099880572004-12-27T13:09:00.000-05:002004-12-27T13:10:08.100-05:00

Lots of names and lots of fun in this movie about a mayoral race between former US president Monroe Cole (Gene Hackman) who moves into his Maine vacation home after losing his Maryland house in a bitter divorce, and Handy Harrison (Ray Romano), the local plumber and hardware store owner. Adding to the competition is Cole's interest in Handy's long-term girlfriend Sally (Maura Tierney - yay!), the

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1104166515906700332004-12-27T11:54:00.000-05:002004-12-27T11:55:15.906-05:00

It's occurred to me that I tend to post about movies I like, and not so much on movies that didn't really do much for me. So as a public service, I now make note of my thoughts on one of the new DVDs marketed to lesbians, Mango Kiss. Dreck. Don't bother. Full of stereotypes and completely self-centered characters without much in the way of redeeming value, this one falls into the usual traps of

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1104162676364687752004-12-27T10:51:00.000-05:002004-12-27T11:07:40.110-05:00

The Girl and I stopped at the movie theater in Woburn on our way home Christmas night, and saw The Aviator. We were not alone in our Christmas night movie-going, as the theater was packed for the 8:00 pm showing of this three hour film. Leonardo DiCaprio stars and excels in this Martin Scorcese project about Howard Hughes, from the filming of his ground breaking, Oscar nominated 1930 film Hell's

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1103831060777195752004-12-23T14:44:00.000-05:002004-12-23T14:44:20.776-05:00

The Girl and I caught a late showing of Ray this past weekend. It was good, but a little long. A friend of mine saw it before we did and warned that "If he had been on heroin for ten more years, we'd still be in the theater." Ray follows the most tumultuous years of Ray Charles' career, from when he first set out to make a living on the road as a musician, through his growth and success as a

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1103051728581478982004-12-14T14:15:00.000-05:002004-12-14T14:15:28.580-05:00

Sci-Fi Weekly cites a Production Weekly article which announced that a Babylon 5 feature film will start shooting in Great Britain this coming April. J. Michael Straczynski wrote the script for The Memory of Shadows, which will be directed by Steve Beck. Not much was revealed about the characters or storyline, and the only named character from the previous B5 projects is Galen, the technomage,

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1103030506394519342004-12-14T08:21:00.000-05:002004-12-14T10:41:59.773-05:00

A truly wonderful movie. Full of wonder, awe, joy, grief, failure, triumph, regret, hope, and above all, imagination. Johnny Depp is full of quiet understated joy and energy as J.M. Barrie, the Scottish playwright who created Peter Pan. Kate Winslett is Sylvia, the widowed mother of four sons, who through a chance meeting in the park one afternoon finds herself and her children experiencing life

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1102969828640142302004-12-13T15:30:00.000-05:002004-12-14T09:17:23.606-05:00

The New York Film Critics Circle today at about 2 pm announced the winners of their 2004 awards: Best Picture: SidewaysBest Actress: Imelda Staunton, Vera DrakeBest Actor: Paul Giamatti, SidewaysBest Supporting Actress: Virginia Masden, SidewaysBest Supporting Actor: Clive Owen, CloserBest Director: Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar BabyBest Screenplay: Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor, SidewaysBest

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1102951928485054612004-12-13T10:31:00.000-05:002004-12-14T08:20:27.823-05:00

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association today announced their nominees for the 2005 Golden Globe Awards. The awards will be presented on Sunday, January 16 at 8 pm on NBC. The motion picture nominees are as follows: Best Motion Picture: Drama The AviatorCloserFinding NeverlandHotel RwandaKinseyMillion Dollar BabyBest Actress: Drama Scarlett Johansson - A Love Song for Bobby LongNicole Kidman -

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1102428751383133022004-12-07T09:12:00.000-05:002004-12-07T09:12:31.383-05:00

The Girl and I watched Eliza Dushku (aka Faith, the Rogue Slayer) in Wrong Turn on DVD Sunday evening. Didn't really expect much but a thriller so bad that it might be entertaining. I was surprised by much of it. Aside from adherence to the standard scary movie rules making it entirely obvious who would die and in what order, the really over the top bad guys, and the entire implausibility of

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1102428490330075252004-12-07T09:07:00.000-05:002004-12-07T09:08:10.330-05:00

I had a chance yesterday to watch this, which Tivo kindly recorded for me Sunday evening while I was watching Wrong Turn (hey - a girl can't study 24 hours a day, you know). Goofy but very fun, and lots of giggles for geeks like me. Noah Wyle is Flynn Carsen, a perennial student with 22 - count em, 22 - degrees to his name, and working on number 23. His advisor decides that the educational

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1102085418661979752004-12-03T09:49:00.000-05:002004-12-03T09:50:18.660-05:00

For weeks now a group of 25 Greek attorneys have been threatening to seek an injunction against the showing of Oliver Stone's new film Alexander, a biopic about Alexander the Great. While they hadn't actually seen the film, they were concerned about all the rumors that the film portrays Alexander as bisexual, something which has been considered for years to have been likely. Don't get them wrong

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1101997700490756732004-12-02T09:27:00.000-05:002004-12-14T08:19:49.716-05:00

The National Board of Review (composed of "film professionals, educators, students and historians") yesterday announced its 2004 Award Winners. Best Film: Finding Neverland Best Actress: Annette Benning, Being Julia Best Actor: Jamie Foxx, Ray Best Supporting Actress: Laura Linney, Kinsey Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Haden Church, Sideways Best Director: Collateral Best Documentary: Born Into

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1101838485446388922004-11-30T13:14:00.000-05:002004-11-30T13:14:45.446-05:00

Good thing Charmed is a repeat this Sunday. I'll be able to Tivo TNT's original movie The Librarian: Quest for the Spear. Judging by Scifi.com's preview, it sounds like a fun show. Any chance they're dangling it as a potential series? Noah Wyle stars as a perennial student who when forced to find a job lands one at the Metropolitan Public Library, where he works with head librarian Bob Newhart

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1101838318551585932004-11-30T13:11:00.000-05:002004-11-30T13:11:58.553-05:00

Sci-Fi Wire reports that Joss Whedon's film Serenity is now scheduled for release September 30, 2005, after Universal Pictures decided that the original release target of April 2005 was getting a little crowded for their target audience. They haven't updated the official site yet, or even maintained it very well for that matter. It still has the April release date displayed, and the blog hasn't

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1098984396366490052004-10-28T13:25:00.000-04:002004-10-28T13:26:36.366-04:00

Romeo San Vicente reports that George Cukor's 1939 classic "The Women," written by the late journalist, US ambassador and member of Congress Clare Booth Luce is finally going to be remade. The updated project was written by Diane English of Murphy Brown Fame, and she is also scheduled to direct. If all goes well, filming is to begin in February, with an uber-chick flick stellar cast of Meg Ryan,

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1098886108648188482004-10-27T10:08:00.000-04:002004-10-27T10:08:28.646-04:00

Last evening the American Constitution Society presented our second movie night, with Hijacking Catastrophe, a 68-minute documentary along the lines of Fahrenheit 9/11 (which we showed at our first movie night last week). Last week we managed to get 15 people willing to stay at school from 7-10 pm on a playoff night, and this week we had 8 brave souls who made the 7-8:30 commitment on the night

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1097002564452592922004-10-05T14:55:00.000-04:002004-10-05T14:56:04.453-04:00

Darn it all, I keep just missing these self-proclaimed groundbreaking conservative film festivals! First the American Film Renaissance in heart of Texas, now the Liberty Film Festival, in the heart of Hollywood. The tag line on their poster is "Liberating Hollywood. One Film at a Time." The organizers clearly targeted their festival with politics in mind, and couldn't escape the Michael Moore as

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1096915492264557362004-10-04T14:44:00.000-04:002004-10-04T14:44:52.263-04:00

PlanetOut reports that on Sunday, October 3rd at 10 pm, AMC will be broadcasting the September 14 Premiere Magazine "Women In Hollywood" gala luncheon and award ceremony. There will be a couple of repeat broadcasts - the schedule is here. Among the honorees are Angelina Jolie, Patricia Clarkson, Queen Latifah, Liza Chasin, Olivia de Havilland and Anne Hathaway. Before you watch the show, brush

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1096381635585071222004-09-28T10:26:00.000-04:002004-09-28T10:27:15.596-04:00

October's issue of The Advocate has an interview with recently out Heather Matarazzo, of Welcome to the Dollhouse and The Princess Diaries. They have a short excerpt online here.

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1095946810133541572004-09-23T09:39:00.000-04:002004-09-23T10:15:08.520-04:00

Noy Thrupkaew went on down to the American Film Renaissance in Texas this month, to check out the self-proclaimed first film festival for conservatives. He recounts the experience over at The American Prospect, in an article titled Texas Film-School Massacre. His general thoughts on the festival are summed up in this excerpt: A year and a half ago, the two former law students [the founders of the

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1095715575462177432004-09-20T16:50:00.001-04:002004-09-20T17:26:15.463-04:00

Are you feeling left out because you love movies, but feel Hollywood is run by the ultra-liberal left, and Hollywood in turn is taking over the culture of America? Do you have photos of Michael Moore and Barbra Streisand taped to your dart board? Well, despair no more - the American Film Renaissance is coming soon to Dallas, Texas, and they are "Doing Film the Right Way." Yes, it's a film fest

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1095713438504590312004-09-20T16:50:00.000-04:002004-09-20T16:50:38.506-04:00

Reuters reports that top honors at this year's Toronto Film Festival were taken by Hotel Rwanda (People's Choice Award) and Omagh (Discovery Award). Among the actors being chatted up at Toronto as potential Oscar nominees are Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Liam Neeson (Kinsey), Jamie Foxx (Ray - I've seen the trailer, and this one looks great) and Kevin Spacey (Beyond the Sea). No mention was made

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1095515669938759142004-09-18T09:54:00.000-04:002004-09-18T09:54:29.936-04:00

Alfred Hitchcock, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Gene Roddenberry. Buck Rogers, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Captain Proton, Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, Seaquest DSV, Babylon 5, King Kong, Land of the Lost, sci-fi, mystery, action, romance and all other types of B-movies. Kerry Conran extracted the genetic makeup from all these cinematic predecessors and mixed them up, creating a primordial ooze

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1095082328875463952004-09-13T09:31:00.000-04:002004-09-13T10:13:46.353-04:00

Why is it that Ben Affleck is so much better when he's in a Kevin Smith film than when he's working for any other director? I'm not as big an Affleck basher as The Girl is, but he has come off as rather one-dimensional and wooden in some of his efforts. But when he's working for Smith, he wins me over every time. Speaking of Kevin Smith, he wanted this to be the tagline for the Jersey Girl

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1094766475832905372004-09-09T17:47:00.000-04:002004-09-09T17:47:55.833-04:00

Collateral is a movie about indecision, inaction, and what a difference a fare makes. A really well-made movie. Tom Cruise is a fully detached hit man, Jamie Foxx is a temporary cab driver in his 12th year, Jada Pinkett Smith is a US Attorney and Mark Ruffalo is an LA narcotics cop in this introspective action thriller. The camera work is great, the pacing is nicely balanced between quiet

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1094439061184413522004-09-05T22:50:00.000-04:002004-09-05T22:51:01.183-04:00

The Girl is away on a Labor Day Weekend golf trip, and I had a free movie pass, so in honor of the Venice Film Festival and today's screening of Vanity Fair, I decided to take myself out to the show. Not in Venice, but hey. Woburn is nice, too. I figured this isn't one The Girl would want to see, since it's set in the early 1800's and she's not big on the period pieces. It was okay. The filming

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1094345586465224162004-09-04T20:52:00.000-04:002004-09-04T20:53:06.466-04:00

I've mentioned in several of my movie write-ups that a good romantic comedy needs a Big Chase Scene. Sometimes they try but it doesn't work due to timing or some missing element, but when it works it makes the movie. What are some of these elements? Sudden realization followed by impulsive action.Background music that feeds the excitement and will later bring the scene back to you.Long

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1094343950983467622004-09-04T20:25:00.000-04:002004-09-04T20:25:50.983-04:00

The perfect Big Chase Scene that almost was. Alas, The Prince and Me suffers from PBCS - Premature Big Chase Scene. Julia Stiles plays Paige, another hard-working, ambitious young woman eager to make her way to the top in her chosen field. This time she strives to become a physician, but first she must make her way through her undergraduate degree without becoming distracted by boys and marriage.

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1094343897290600722004-09-04T20:24:00.000-04:002004-09-04T20:24:57.290-04:00

Great movie! Nia Vardalos and Toni Collette are Connie and Carla, childhood friends who have been perfecting their cabaret act since grade school. Now adults, they are working at one of the lounges at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in hopes of raising some funds for new costumes, when they witness a mob hit. Terrified, they hit the road in the hopes of disappearing from their pursuers.

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1094131552132511162004-09-02T09:25:00.000-04:002004-09-02T09:25:52.133-04:00

I would love to go to the Venice Film Festival one day. I'd love to go to Venice anytime, but a trip that happens to coincide with the festival would work quite well. The 61st Venice Film Festival opens today, with The Terminal as the opening night featured screening. A complete listing of films in the various competitive and noncompetitive categories, with descriptions of the categories, can be

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1094131494669361182004-09-02T09:24:00.000-04:002004-09-02T09:24:54.670-04:00

The dates are in: mark Sunday, February 27, 2005 on your calendars as reserved for the 77th Annual Academy Awards! The ceremony officially begins at 5 pm PST. Nominations will be announced Tuesday, January 25 at 5:30 a.m. Pacific time. Hopefully the MPAA won't cause the stir they did last year when they announced that only Academy Award voters would be able to receive screeners during

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1093273698239093052004-08-23T11:07:00.000-04:002004-08-23T11:08:18.240-04:00

Another of our weekend Netflix rentals was Welcome to the Dollhouse, Heather Matarazzo's 1995 breakout movie. This film is described as a dark comedy, but the emphasis is definitely more on the dark and less on the comedy. But they're consistent, the comedy is indeed dark as well. Matarazzo plays 7th grader Dawn Wiener, who is the focus of all the middle school taunting, bullying and humilation

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1093190566395808342004-08-22T12:02:00.000-04:002004-08-22T12:02:46.396-04:00

We finally watched this one the other day, and I loved it. I was in a bit of a cranky mood over the evening prior to watching this. Nothing specific, I had simply become a grump. After dinner we popped 13 Going on 30 into the DVD player, and flopped on the couches. About halfway through we decided to pause long enough to dish up some Ben & Jerry's, and it was like I had received an emotional

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1093014839938532872004-08-20T11:13:00.000-04:002004-08-20T11:13:59.936-04:00

A little news piece in today's Advocate mentioned that filming has started in Romania on BloodRayne, with a script by Guinevere Turner. Does anyone else still picture her as Max in Go Fish? Kristanna Loken stars, along with Ben Kingsley, Michelle Rodriguez and Michael Masden. This is based on the computer game of the same name, but is a prequel to it. I'm not a gamer myself, but The Guyfriend

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1092924893463771662004-08-19T10:14:00.000-04:002004-08-19T11:37:06.193-04:00

I've seen lots of trailers lately, and responded to some with "oh, cool," some "eh," and some "no way." These are some that I have no desire to see. Open Water - Vacationing couple is accidentally left in the water when their scuba diving group miscounts patrons and heads back to shore. They are promo-ing this as based on a true story, but it's more like inspired by real events. Most of it takes

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1092863883320687662004-08-18T17:17:00.000-04:002004-08-20T14:58:16.980-04:00

M. Night Shyamalan has once more presented the world with a creepy movie. He doesn't go for horror - just creepiness. That feeling that something is there but you just can't quite make it out, that you see dead people, that something about you is different. The village of the title is Covington, a small village in which families live a borderline idyllic life. Tragedies occur, such as the

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1092657502228913962004-08-16T07:58:00.000-04:002004-08-20T11:33:32.756-04:00

I didn't love it. It seemed like the entire first half of the sequel was spent in trying to remind the audience (at least some of us) of why we loved the first one, but it was like a four-year-old who got a favorable response from some unintentionally entertaining statement or act, and who then proceeds to attempt to relive that moment of glory over and over, to the point that it becomes simply

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1092230706778981022004-08-11T09:24:00.000-04:002004-08-21T04:25:46.716-04:00

AfterEllen.com's Sarah Warn reports that actress Heather Matarazzo, the radio talk show hosting best friend in The Princess Diaries (loved, loved, loved that movie!) came out yesterday in a New York Daily News article. The interview was in anticipation of this week's opening of The Princess Diaries 2 (can't wait to see it, if only for the sight of Julie Andrews staircase surfing!). Matarazzo

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1092164461821903502004-08-10T15:00:00.000-04:002004-08-21T03:36:33.043-04:00

Dear god, we're still in summer blockbuster season, but the Oscar talk has begun. I just came across not one but two articles which discussed Academy Award chances. First was the article in which Quentin Tarantino bemoans the splitting (warning: some spoilers in this linked article) of the two volumes of Kill Bill because he sees it as hurting the project's Oscar chances. But he also points out

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1092162706592084092004-08-10T14:31:00.000-04:002004-08-21T04:17:01.920-04:00

Now that The Graduate has had its stage revival, and repeated references in the various American Pie movies, a sequel of sorts is in the making. Apparently filming had begun on the untitled project starring Jennifer Aniston when production halted after one week. The director and cinematographer are both being replaced, with Rob Reiner stepping into the director's chair and Peter Deming is rumored

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1092157675806448422004-08-10T13:07:00.000-04:002004-08-10T13:07:55.806-04:00

The Empire State Building will be dimming its lights this evening from 9:30 to 9:45 in memory of Fay Wray.

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1092088597243041352004-08-09T17:56:00.000-04:002004-08-21T04:24:57.456-04:00

In the immortal words of Rocky Horror, "Whatever happened to Fay Wray?" Sadly, she passed away in her sleep at home, Sunday, at the age of 96. Best known for her trip up the Empire State Building in the hand of King Kong, Wray also appeared in dozens of other films and tv shows, and was active to the end. Amazon links: Fay Wray films

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-109173016412508462004-08-05T14:22:00.000-04:002004-08-21T04:47:14.386-04:00

Yahoo! News is reporting that Ralph Fiennes is set to play Lord Voldemort in the next Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Filming began June 25, and is currently scheduled for release in November 2005. Amazon links: Ralph Fiennes movies

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1091646489323283722004-08-04T15:07:00.000-04:002004-08-21T04:51:19.293-04:00

Rounding out our weekend movie spree, The Girl and I watched Underworld on DVD on Sunday. It would have been more fun on the huge tv, but it's still in the hospital. The problem was indeed with the high voltage power supply, as had been indicated in my online research. It should be back home in a week or so, at a repair cost of around $200. Sigh. Kate Beckinsale seemed to enjoy her role as a

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1091631837613385012004-08-04T11:03:00.000-04:002004-08-21T04:59:43.700-04:00

Continuing the movie spree of this past weekend, The Girl and I went directly from The Bourne Supremacy back to the ticket counter and in to see The Manchurian Candidate. Four thumbs up (two of mine, two of The Girl's). Neither of us saw the original 1962 version, so I can't make any comparisons. However, last Friday on Fresh Air they featured conversations and interviews around the opening,

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1091461428313403662004-08-02T11:43:00.000-04:002004-08-21T10:32:34.893-04:00

The Girl and I had a bit of a movie binge this weekend, starting off with The Bourne Supremacy. We both enjoyed it, but I found that the camera style tipped me in the direction of motion sickness. A lot of it had a handheld style, with shaking of the camera, shifting focus level, etc. This was especially true in the (many) chase scenes of various types, and it left me a bit queezy. You may

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1091019428330115132004-07-28T08:55:00.000-04:002004-07-28T08:57:08.330-04:00

Ways the DNC and Academy Awards ceremony are similar events: -Events are scheduled and produced for the tv audience. -Many speakers do so in an effort to solidify their reputation and expand their future opportunities. -Speakers are urged not to be blatantly critical of the present administration (by name, anyway). -High security levels. -The audience gets lots of airtime. -Previous winners

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1090593389352010242004-07-23T10:36:00.000-04:002004-08-06T13:12:45.960-04:00

Romeo San Vicente reports in his latest Deep Inside Hollywood column that Jodie Foster (!) has her next starring role lined up, in Flight Plan. Foster plays a woman whose daughter disappears from an airline flight, and it seems that no one remembers seeing her on the plane in the first place. Sounds very much like Frantic, Breakdown, and even The Disappearance, the third season episode of Big

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1090501307223844312004-07-22T09:01:00.000-04:002004-08-06T13:13:46.190-04:00

Jerry Goldsmith passed away from cancer last night at home in Beverly Hills. Movie and sci-fi geeks like me have Goldsmith's work embedded in our souls - he wrote and conducted the soundtracks for scores (pun intended) of movies and tv shows, as well as the Oscar fanfare played at the Academy Awards ceremonies. He was the music of Star Trek (current aberration known as the Enterprise theme song

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1089723167555759092004-07-13T08:52:00.000-04:002004-07-13T08:52:47.556-04:00

E! Online reports that Baz Luhrmann has put his Alexander the Great project on unspecified hold. The Universal Pictures/Dreamworks project was to have starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman, and was to have been released next year. But fear not - Oliver Stone's Alexander is still on schedule for release this coming November. The Warner Bros. project stars Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie (!

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1089291376384011562004-07-08T08:56:00.000-04:002004-08-21T03:09:00.763-04:00

A number of people find their way to this blog each day by searching for pictures or information on Selby Wall, the character played by Christina Ricci in Monster. Stop searching - Selby Wall is not a real person. She is a fictionalized version of Wuornos' lover Tyria Moore. For more information on Tyria Moore, see About.com's Tyria Jolene Moore, which includes a link to a news article that

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1089291338700106362004-07-08T08:55:00.000-04:002004-08-05T18:49:30.546-04:00

I recently read John Grisham's The King of Torts, at about the same time that I saw Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls. The King of Torts follows a public defender who finds himself handed an opportunity to strike it rich in the field of mass torts. He attempts to justify his actions by his good intentions, and is convinced that he will stay above what he sees as the distasteful excess of other mass

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1087475601250966462004-06-17T08:33:00.000-04:002004-08-06T12:53:31.140-04:00

This movie freaking rocks! If you've yet to see Vol. 1, rent it. It's also very good, and is necessary to fully appreciate Vol. 2, but they are two distinct movies. If you've already seen Vol. 1 and liked it, you're probably already planning on seeing Vol. 2. If you saw Vol. 1 and didn't really like it because there was too much graphic violence, bloodshed and gore, or because the constant

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1083245192358162842004-04-29T09:26:00.000-04:002004-04-29T09:30:49.200-04:00

Just as I set out my goals yesterday for the summer, with one of my priorities being to see Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow, I discover today that Paramount has bumped the release date from June 25 to September 17!!! This sucks. If ever a movie screamed "summertime fun," this is the one. Now not only can I not see it early in the summer, but I'll have to work it in after classes start

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1083203665261779182004-04-28T21:54:00.000-04:002004-04-28T21:58:41.060-04:00

Last week as I was walking up the hill from the bus to my office, another MBTA bus drove by and I noticed that it had the ad for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban emblazoned on the side. I momentarily became quite excited, until I realized that with this reaction I had transitioned from geek to dork...

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1083092204774671172004-04-27T14:56:00.000-04:002004-08-06T13:16:25.390-04:00

The National Center for Lesbian Rights awarded Sharon Stone the NCLR Spirit Award this past weekend. NCLR describes the award as follows: The Spirit Award recognizes important contributions by allies of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Ms. Stone has long been active in her support and involvement with organizations that serve the lesbian, gay and HIV/AIDS community. NCLR's

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1079200467804419392004-03-13T12:54:00.000-05:002004-03-13T12:57:40.763-05:00

Ashley Judd plays Jessica Shepard. Jessica has issues. She has anger. She has loss. She has sex. She has drinks. Jessica hides her feelings. Ashley Judd is a great actor. Ashley hides her acting skills. Jessica hits people. A lot. Twisted hits the audience with anvils. A lot. Can you tell I was a little disappointed? Here's a movie with a great plot: Jessica Shepard is a newly

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1078529625328411922004-03-05T18:33:00.000-05:002004-03-05T18:36:47.153-05:00

Close on the heels of Angel's cancellation, Joss Whedon is back in the saddle. Universal Pictures has given the go-ahead for Serenity, the big screen adaptation of Whedon's space western Firefly. He will be writing and directing. The articles say that "most" of the original cast will be returning. I hope by "most" they mean absolutely each and every regular cast member. One of the articles

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1078181605265331202004-03-01T17:53:00.000-05:002004-03-01T17:56:21.280-05:00

It was a well-fought battle for the trophy in our Pick the Winners contest last night. I surged ahead early, with 11 correct picks to my nearest competition, who had 8 and 9. Unfortunately, those who had hitched their stars to Lord of the Rings (thus spake The Hammer) fared best, and it came down to a tie between The Girl and our friend The Hammer (so named because in spite of her slight

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1078076458438277642004-02-29T12:40:00.000-05:002004-03-01T17:45:58.170-05:00

UPDATED: I've put asterisks on the ones I picked correctly. _____________________________ Okay - time to put it out there. Here are my picks for tonight's Academy Awards. When filling out my contest ballot, I'm always torn between voting for who I think should win vs. picking who I think will win. In some categories I give in and vote for who I think the Academy members will pick, but in

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1077920995590388852004-02-27T17:29:00.000-05:002004-02-27T17:32:47.763-05:00

Okay - The clock is ticking toward The Awards! The Girl and I, through tag-team internet searches and phone calls, tracked down a suitable trophy for the victor of our Pick the Winners Contest. I picked it up on my way home from work, and it is now standing on the entertainment center, flanked by the two 75th Academy Awards posters from last year. I had actually brought my gym bag with me this

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1077920944168369652004-02-20T10:35:00.000-05:002004-02-27T17:31:56.343-05:00

Well, the ball is now rolling for our annual Academy Awards Party. The E-vites have been sent, replies are coming in, and the Chinese restaurant has been selected for take-out. Even though we've moved since last year's event, The Girl and I have decided to make the half hour trek to the restaurant in the old neighborhood because hey, you don't mess with perfection. I've scheduled Tivo to

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1076435240072702272004-02-10T12:47:00.000-05:002004-02-10T12:49:48.296-05:00

The Guyfriend and I were out for a lunchtime walk today (the sun is out, it's 45 degrees - ah, nice), and we passed a house which also contains an optometrist's office. I noticed there was a plaque on the mailbox: "Lettercarrier: Please Ring The Bell Twice" I wonder if they deliberately worded this in an attempt to be gender inclusive, to avoid hearing repeated movie references, or both...

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1075741106478307832004-02-02T11:58:00.000-05:002004-02-02T12:00:44.340-05:00

Oof - I'm in depressing movie overload. I've seen a spate of films lately which could all fall into the category of "Consequences of Bad Choices or Inaction." Some of them were more plausible than others, but all were disturbing, depressing, frightening, or some combination thereof. I'll post up more complete reviews later, but let me just sum up what I've viewed in the last week or so:

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1075248757634721082004-01-27T19:12:00.000-05:002004-01-27T19:14:47.483-05:00

The Girl and I had a double date on Sunday afternoon to see Monster before the Golden Globes. I'm glad we did, as by the time Charlize Theron won her Best Actress, Drama award The Girl and I were both firmly in her camp. This is one of those movies that you'll never gush "I loved this movie," as it was so incredibly disturbing. I think it's a great movie, I would recommend it to each and every

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1075216344125705982004-01-27T10:12:00.000-05:002004-01-27T10:14:33.466-05:00

The nominations are posted on Oscar.com. I thought I had a good jump on the films likely to be nominated, but now I see I have my work cut out for me over the next 4.5 weeks! At least I can say that I've already seen all five of the Best Picture nominees: -LOTR: The Return of the King -Lost In Translation -Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World -Mystic River -Seabiscuit The

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1075053368302231692004-01-25T12:55:00.000-05:002004-01-26T13:24:58.530-05:00

Continuing on the Naomi Watts theme, after watching The Ring on DVD on Friday, we went to 21 Grams at the theater on Saturday. This film stars three of the best actors today, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts, in the interwoven story of three individuals and their families, linked together through a tragic event. All the many awards and nominations that 21 Grams is racking up are

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1075043410202994572004-01-25T10:09:00.000-05:002004-01-25T12:17:09.200-05:00

Wow, The Ring is one well-done, scary-ass movie. The premise, which is revealed in the trailers and in the opening minutes of the film, is that watching a particular VCR tape condemns the viewer to death exactly 7 days later. This is one of those thrillers that could have been just another run of the mill cheese-fests, but it absolutely was not. It's also one that could have become very

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6297904.post-1074723518929509432004-01-21T17:18:00.000-05:002004-01-21T17:20:40.326-05:00

American Rhetoric has posted one of my favorite movie speeches of all time. It's from The American President, with Michael Douglas and Annette Benning, written by Aaron Sorkin. This speech comes toward the end of the film, after Michael Douglas' character Andrew Sheperd (the American President of the title) has resisted character debate baiting from Richard Dreyfus' character Senator Bob Rumson

Beth Hendersonnoreply@blogger.com