Jan 21 2008

Bridge to Terabithia

Category: 2007,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 12:32 am

Bridge to Terabithia

Directed: Gabor Csupo
Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Anna ophia Robb

Based on the novel about two kids who find a magical kingdom and have adventures.

I never read the book and never even heard of it before the movie came out, so I can only review it from what I experienced while watching the movie. There is a pre-teen boy who feels like an outsider at home with his three other sisters and an outsider at school where the prominent bully is an eighth grade girl. A new girl shows up to school who looks like the cousin of Punky Brewster. She is a free spirit and the two oddballs bond.

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Jan 20 2008

TV: Week of Jan 20

Category: TV,Upcoming — velveetahead @ 9:37 pm

Spike is going to be on Torchwood! It is hard to tell from the trailer, but it seems like James Marsters might have a British accent in it, which is so much better than his natural American accent.

Recommended Shows

Torchwood
Channel: BBCA
Time: 9 E/P
Premieres: Saturday, Jan 26
Starring: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, James Marsters, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori, Gareth David-Lloyd
Trailer

Synopsis: Captain Jack Harkness runs the Torchwood group in Cardiff, England where they deal with aliens who try to do bad things on Earth. In the last season, Jack disappeared and the group has been trying to cope without him. He comes back, but a former Time Agent buddy of Jack shows up (James Marsters) to cause some trouble.

My Take: Fun X-Files-type show with a Doctor Who twist. I’m very excited about James Marsters joining the cast as a guest star.

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Jan 18 2008

Movies Opening Jan 18

Category: 2008,Movies,Opening — velveetahead @ 3:31 pm

I was all excited about Cloverfield finally coming out this week, but then found out there is an Ewan McGregor movie this week! Yeah!

Nationwide Releases


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

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

My Take: I wanted to see it since I saw the first trailer months ago and J.J. Abrams’ name came up in the credits. I believe it is the monster from Lost that escaped the island and found New York.

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Jan 17 2008

TAR: Happy Birthday Jen!

Category: Amazing Race,Recaps,TV — velveetahead @ 11:33 pm

Amazing Race
Sorry, Guys, I’m Not Happy to See You

Phil checks teams out at the former pit stop of the Tempozan Park in Osaka, Japan where they have to find the building with a hole in it and search the floating garden for their next clue. The hole building is the Umeda Sky Building. I thought the clue was difficult, but since everyone seemed to get in their taxi with the name of the building, it must have been on the clue. I think they should have made them figure out which building had a hole in it. The floating garden is an observatory on the roof.

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

  • 7:02 am – Ron & Christina
  • 7:15 am – Nate & Jen
  • 7:21 am – Nick & Don
  • 10:18 am – TK & Rachel

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Jan 14 2008

The Holiday

Category: 2006,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 2:43 am

The Holiday

Directed: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Jack Black

Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet are alone at Christmas so they participate in a house exchange where Kate goes to Los Angeles and Cameron goes to London.

Harmless, predictable fluff with pretty people (not counting Jack Black). Cameron Diaz ends up in a tiny little house in the middle of nowhere outside of London but her house does come with Jude Law, so good deal for her! It is Kate Winslet’s brother in the movie. Poor Kate Winslet ends up with Jack Black. I mean, one gets Jude Law and the other gets Jack Black? Not fair!

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Jan 14 2008

Freedomland

Category: 2006,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 12:44 am

Freedomland

Directed: Joe Roth
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore

A woman says that she was carjacked with her little boy in the backseat, which turns into major race issues due to the neighborhood it takes place.

Freedomland is an orphanage or state-run facility of some sort where unwanted children ended up. I can’t recall exactly because it is only in about 10 minutes of the movie and has nothing to do with the movie. This is the sort of sense that this movie makes—none. If this would have happened at the beginning of the film, I might have been given an idea of how stupid it was going to be, but it was about 3/4 of the way through it. When the search party for the missing boy finally makes its way there, hoping that he’ll be there, even though there is no reason for him to hide in this abandoned building, I hoped there would be some connection or they would find him there. Instead, it was just a distraction to what was really going on.

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Jan 13 2008

Reno 911!: Miami

Category: 2007,Movies,Reviews — velveetahead @ 6:33 pm

Reno 911!: Miami

Directed: Robert Ben Garant
Starring: Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant

The Reno cops head to Miami for a police convention.

The movie was very much like the show where some jokes are funny and others fall flat. What the movie seemed to have more of than the show, besides the ability to have nudity and cussing, was some bits went on for too long. Something that could have been a giggle for a few seconds before moving on, just kept going on and on in the movie. I think that’s where the editing bits to fit a 22-minute format actually helps lose the filler material. Some of it made it into the movie.

I think this would have worked better as a a multi-episode arc on the series where they went to Miami for the police convention and just stretched out some bits for two or three episodes. That would have saved us from seeing the filler material and it would have also saved us from seeing Dep. Williams’ butt so much as well as Lt. Dangle’s everything else. Jer had to shield his eyes quite a bit from those scenes.

Added bonus: Paul Rudd as the big bad guy. I love him!

Rating: B-

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Jan 13 2008

TV: Week of Jan 13

Category: TV,Upcoming — velveetahead @ 5:31 pm

Recommended Shows

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Channel: NBC
Time: 8/7c
Premieres: Sunday, Jan 13, (regular night Mon 9/8c)
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.

My Take: Critics have been excited about this show for quite a while. It has been getting good buzz about being a decent, thrilling sci fi show. Even though when I first heard they were making this show, I went “ehhhh”, the more I see and hear about it, makes me want to check it out.

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Jan 12 2008

Cashmere Mafia

Category: Shows,TV — velveetahead @ 4:57 pm

Cashmere Mafia
Channel: ABC
Time: 10/9c
Airs: Wednesday @10pm
Trailer

Synopsis: One of two similar shows from Sex and the City people. This one comes from producer Darren Star about four career-driven, intelligent women that deal with their marriages, kids, work and everything else in their lives by discussing it together.

This isn’t the most horrible show in the world, and it has some potential, but it has some outdated ideas and story lines that I have already seen years ago on other shows, including Sex and the City. I would think if it was someone else, they could possibly get away from stealing ideas from that show, but Darren Star was the producer so it is pretty tacky to have a story line about a supposed straight girl thinking she might be lesbian and just giving it a shot. It was so much funnier with Samantha in Sex and the City. Also, that show didn’t have the cringe-inducing “Natural Woman” playing when the lady kisses the other woman for the first time. Ick for bad, cheesy music choices!

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Jan 11 2008

Movies Opening Jan 11

Category: 2008,Movies,Opening — velveetahead @ 12:46 pm

A few movies that were limited releases before, have gone wide this weekend: The Orphanage, The Kite Runner and The Bucket List.

Nationwide Releases

First Sunday
Directed: David E. Talbert
Starring: Ice Cube, Katt Williams, Tracy Morgan
Trailer

Synopsis: Two friends desperate for money, decide to rob a church in order pay off a girlfriend’s business lease, except when they open the safe, someone has already stolen the church’s money.

My Take: Trying too hard for the jokes and I only chuckled once during the trailer at the very last one. Mostly just makes me want to watch 30 Rock where Tracy Morgan would actually be funny.

RT Score: 17%
RT Consensus: First Sunday may have its heart in the right place, but its funny bone is dislocated.

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