Jan 29 2008

Cloverfield

Category: 2008,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 8:39 pm

Cloverfield

Directed: Bryan Burk
Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller

A monster is terrorizing New York City and a few people with camcorders record the entire thing.

We saw this at Cinetopia, where we braved the Columbia River and crossed over into Vancouver, WA. Every screen is digital and the living room theaters have waiters to take your order for fancy food to be brought to you. We had some dinner and wine with our movie. During the trailers, but even before the movie started, Jer proclaimed that we needed to see all future movies in the theater. It was quite impressive.

As for the movie, it starts out as a classified video document that the U.S. Army has found and keeping it as evidence of what happened. It begins with a going away party for a guy who just got a new job in Japan. There is some turmoil between the girl he is leaving behind and some other stuff. A friend of the guy is filming goodbye testimonials from all his friends at the party while also trying to hit on a girl he has a crush on. Between trying to identify and enjoying the party music in the background and the very natural party atmosphere, I completely forgot about the monster coming until it did.

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Jan 27 2008

TV: Week of Jan 27

Category: TV,Upcoming — velveetahead @ 8:21 pm

Lost is back! They were holding off until now so they could show the entire season in one fell swoop. Then the writer strike’s happened. We only get a few episodes of this season, but after last season’s finale, they should be good ones!

Recommended Shows

Lost
Channel: ABC
Time: 8/7c
Premieres: Thu, Jan 31
Starring: Daniel Dae Kim, Elizabeth Mitchell, Emilie de Ravin, Evengeline Lilly, Henry Ian Cusick, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Matthew Fox, Michael Emerson, Naveen Andrews, Terry O’Quinn, Yunjin Kim
Trailer

Synopsis: The Others try to ambush the Oceanic crash survivors to kidnap the pregnant women, but Juliet has warned them so they attack the Others first. Charlie goes into the underwater Looking Glass station to flip the switch that is jamming the radio transmission so Jack can call the nearby ship from Naomi’s satellite phone. One of the Others tries to stop Charlie, but he manages to flip the switch before dying. Also, just before dying, he gets Desmond’s girlfriend Penny broadcasting to them and saying she didn’t send the boat like Naomi had claimed. He gets that message to Desmond just before dying. Locke shoots Naomi saying he doesn’t want to leave the island and takes off after Jack calls for help, but who are the people that are coming to help? Then there is the flash-forward that shows Jack and Kate off the island, but Jack saying it was mistake that they ever left. What happened? Who knows!

My Take: Even though some episodes lagged a bit, I always had faith in the show and I was pleasantly surprised at the season finale last year. I can’t wait for more! Now that the producers know when the show will end, I think there will be a lot more focus in each episode.

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Jan 25 2008

Movies Opening Jan 25

Category: 2008,Movies,Opening — velveetahead @ 5:39 pm

Marci and I had a conversation where she was describing the Untraceable trailer to me. Once I realized what movie she was talking about, I commented how I couldn’t believe it was such a stupid looking movie and she responded, “I want to see it!” Marci is hilarious.

Nationwide Releases

How She Move
Directed: Ian Igbal Rashid
Starring: Rutina Wesley, Tre Armstrong, Brennan Gademans
Trailer

Synopsis: A girl has to go back to public school from private where some of the kids in her neighborhood think she’s too good for them. She gets into a step-dancing group to fit in.

My Take: The dancing looks pretty cool, but the story looks pretty predictable.

RT Score: 71%
RT Consensus: Energetic and gritty.

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Jan 25 2008

Running with Scissors

Category: 2006,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 12:59 am

Based on the memoir of Augusten Burroughs about how his bipolar mother gave him up for adoption to his shrink, and how he spent his teen years with a weird-ass shrink family.

How a young boy could grow up with such a smothering and then abandoning mother, dumped off at her shrink’s house who was this side of crazy, and turn out normal is amazing. While watching, there is a lot of craziness that Augusten witnesses from his mother who makes everything about her, including having him staying home from grade school to listen to her poetry performance that she is practicing for when she is famous. She starts to go to therapy since she is stuck creatively. She wants to be published in the New Yorker, but gets rejection letter after rejection letter. She blames everything on her husband who ignores her and drinks. Her therapist worships her, but her husband does not. She claims her husband is trying to kill her.

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Jan 24 2008

TAR: Yippee!

Category: Amazing Race,Recaps,TV — velveetahead @ 8:53 pm

Amazing Race
The Final Push

Phil checks teams out at the former pit stop of the Chiang Kai-Shek Plaza in Taipei, Taiwan where they find that they need to fly to their final destination city of Anchorage, Alaska, more than 4000 miles away. After landing, they need to go to 6th Avenue Outfitters, which is an outdoor adventure store. There they have to pick up some supplies they will need in later tasks and their next clue.

The order and times that the teams left the pit stop:

  • 9:47 am – Ron & Christina
  • 10:30 am – TK & Rachel
  • 10:37 am – Nick & Don

Ron & Christina said the three remaining teams are strong and smart, but they are stronger and smarter. They know how it is at the bottom so they want to keep their spot in first place. TK & Rachel talk about staying calm is the best strategy. They just need to focus on one task at a time. Rachel has always wanted to go to Alaska. Nick is very proud of his grandfather and how far he has pushed himself. Nick has always wanted to go to Alaska and expects some hunting and fishing tasks. Don said growing up he hunted and fished a lot, so they determine he’ll be in charge.

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Jan 24 2008

Little Children

Category: 2006,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 12:07 am

Little Children

Directed: Todd Field
Starring: Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Gregg Edelman, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earle Haley

Parents in their early thirties who have become trapped by their suburban lives, one stay-at-home mom and another stay-at-home dad start an affair.

The little children in the title are really the adults who don’t want to grow up and face reality, even though they are well into adulthood. Sarah is a stay-at-home mom who really doesn’t even want a child and is unsure of why she is staying at home to take care of her instead of getting a nanny since her husband can afford it. Brad is a stay-at-home dad who is supposed to be studying for the bar exam that he has already failed two times while his wife supports him, but they are barely making ends meet. Neither one of them is really happy with their lives, but don’t have any momentum to make any changes. They are just going through the motions until they meet each other. Continue reading “Little Children”

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Jan 23 2008

The Good Shepherd

Category: 2006,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 12:16 am

The Good Shepherd

Directed: Robert De Niro
Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, John Turturro, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon

Fictional account of how the CIA was born through the eyes of a man, showing how it affected his family and friends.

I blame Robert De Niro. There were some interesting plot points in the movie, yet the way they were presented and dragged out was so incredibly slow, it made the entire movie boring when it didn’t need to be. It had potential, but so much was held back in the presentation that I have to think it was the director’s fault.

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Jan 22 2008

Sweeney Todd

Category: 2007,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 12:51 am

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Directed: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman

Based on Stephen Sondheim’s musical, a man seeks bloody revenge after being sent away to prison for a crime he didn’t commit so a rich guy could take his wife and daughter.

While I knew it was a musical, there was a lot more singing than I expected. After a while, I was surprised when there was actual talking compared to singing. One problem I have with musicals is sometimes I have no idea what they are saying. When they sing, I miss words. I blame it on my hearing problem where I read lips to make up for my lack of complete hearing. When someone sings though, lip reading doesn’t work so well. I did get the gist of each song, but I know there were some things that I missed.

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Jan 21 2008

Breaking Bad

Category: Shows,TV — velveetahead @ 11:16 pm

Breaking Bad
Channel: AMC
Airs: Sunday @10pm
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, RJ Mite, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt
Trailer

Synopsis: A former chemistry teacher finds out he has a terminal illness. This wakes him up and he decides to use his background to make and sell crystal meth in order to provide for his family when he is gone.

This show is so wrong, yet so funny. You laugh at Walt, who is such a sad sack going through his teaching job, followed by his car wash job, in order to make money for his family. You know it isn’t enough when his wife asks him about spending almost $16 at Staples on the Mastercard they don’t use. That’s some tough times. He also has a son with cerebral palsy and another child on the way. Then he finds out he has his terminal illness. He has a lot of deal with, but does he tell anyone that he’s dying? Nope! He’s more concerned with the mustard stain on the doctor’s white doctor coat. It does give him the courage to quit his car wash job and stand up for his son when some jerks are making fun of him. Continue reading “Breaking Bad”

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Jan 21 2008

Sarah Connor Chronicles

Category: Shows,TV — velveetahead @ 11:04 pm

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Channel: NBC
Time: 8/7c
Airs: Monday @9pm
Trailer

Synopsis: Takes place after Terminator 2: Judgment Day ended with Sarah Connor and her son, John, fugitives from the law and the terminators are still after them.

High production values and nice special effects with the terminators dominate a good portion of the pilot episode. There was also tons of battling and fighting. Robots were constantly chasing after John and his mother Sarah in the first episode. I wondered if that was what the series was going to be like since it would become tiresome quickly. Luckily, everything changed towards the end of the first episode where they time traveled to 2007 from 1999. Continue reading “Sarah Connor Chronicles”

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