Golden Globes afterthoughts

The good:
- Chris Colfer's supporting actor win for Glee! There's no doubt about it that he deserved the win. He's near perfection every single episode. Glee may not be a good show (come on, let's be honest, it's entertaining, but the writing is flawed. And that's an understatement), but Colfer is always great.
- Jim Parsons's Best Actor award for his hilarious role on The Big Bang Theory. The guy shows real commitment every single episode.
- Toy Story 3 Best Animated Feature. Despicable Me and How to Train Your Dragon are great too, though!
- Natalie Portman and Colin Firth. Was there any doubt?
- The Kids Are All Right wins Best Musical or Comedy. I think I would've murdered someone if this didn't win. The others don't even deserve to be nominated.

The bad:
- The Social Network wins Best Motion Picture Drama. Come on, it's not THAT good.
- The Social Network's Best Screenplay win. While I don't like Inception, at least it's original.
- Glee's win for Best Musical or Comedy. Both The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family deliver better quality.

New Scream 4 trailer!

I love the music used in the trailer. Very old school Scream! But other than that, doesn't it look like the trailer spoils a lot?

Review: The Social Network

Some thoughts on The Social Network. I finally saw it and I will start by saying that I think it's a good film. However, I'm not getting all the awards love the film has received. Besides the Jesse Eisenberg praise, though. He was fantastic.

To me, The Social Network just is what it is: a film about Facebook. When the credits rolled, it didn't leave me with any kind of particular feeling. Not the OMG-what-did-I-just-watch-it-was-awesome feeling Kick-Ass left me with. Or the emotional state Toy Story 3 left me in. Or that devastated feeling I had while watching Buried. I can´t imagine TSN is a film that will hold up well in time. When the Facebook craze dies down, will people still be interested in this film? How many people will watch this film over and over in the years to come?

While I digged the film's dialogues, in particular all of Zuckerberg's belittling comments, the film is long and at times, moves too slow. Like I want to see the Winklevoss twins rowing. Yes, very vital part of the film. The film is at its best when the focus is on Zuckerberg and his dying friendship with Saverin (Andrew Garfield).

I mostly enjoyed watching Eisenberg at work. I remember watching him in this TV-series called Get Real as Anne Hathaway and Eric Christian Olsen's little brother about 10 years ago. Eisenberg has become a one-to-watch talent since then with roles in Roger Dodger and Adventureland, but I never expected he might be getting an Oscar nomination soon. Good for him.

Andrew Garfield and Max Minghella are two other talented young actors and it was great seeing them all onscreen. Even Rooney Mara didn't suck as bad as she did in the Elm Street remake. Justin Timberlake however.. well, I think Brian at Dark Horizons put it best when he called his performance artificial. Whenever he talks, it just doesn't sound realistic. Shame.

Overall, it's a good film, but the topic has to interest you. I couldn't even convince boyfriend to watch the film so he could check it on ICheckMovies.com. A 4/5 (and only because 3,5/5 is too low and I don't want to give it a .75 rating).

Minion!

I love Minion!

Review: Buried

Buried is an impressive little film featuring a strong performance by Ryan Reynolds. Why he isn't getting any recognition for his role is beyond me. Reynolds is always a solid actor, and here he proves he can do more than play the funny and charming guy. I refuse to believe that James Franco in 127 Hours really is any better than Ryan here and James is getting love from the people who give out awards. Not that I have seen 127 Hours, but I'm pulling James into this, because I hear he also has to carry lots of screentime all by himself.

Buried is about a truckdriver named Paul Conroy, played with effective desperation by Ryan, who wakes up trapped in a coffin with a lighter and a cellphone. And that's basically it. That's the story. The film works better if you don't know more.

I, of course, want to talk about some other stuff as well, so consider this your SPOILER ALERT.

The great thing about Buried here, is that the only thing we get to see is Ryan trapped in the coffin. There are no outside shots. We don't see his kidnappers. We don't see how Ryan got into the coffin. It's just Ryan, the coffin, the phone and his lighter. And it works. I felt Ryan's desperation and frustration. There's a sequence somewhere in the film where I felt they were stretching it a bit, with the sudden appearance of a snake. It was a bit much, but other than that, the film kept it small and plausible. /END SPOILERS.

It's not a perfect film, but pretty damn great. A 4/5.

2010 Round Up!

Crap! I'm late posting this list. So I'm making this the first official post of 2011. I've seen a lot of films this year, compared to previous years, yet I still managed to miss the big one: The Social Network. I also haven't seen Black Swan yet, damnit!

Movies I've seen (in chronological order):
Valentine's Day, Alice In Wonderland, Kick-Ass, The Crazies, Hot Tub Time Machine, Shutter Island, Cop Out, Clash of the Titans, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, She's Out of My League, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Centurion, Toy Story 3, Vampires Suck, Tooth Fairy, The Expendables, Grown Ups, Piranha 3D, Iron Man 2, Unthinkable, Predators, Machete, A Nightmare on Elm Street, How to Train Your Dragon, Monsters, Despicable Me, Resident Evil: Afterlife, When In Rome, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, The Other Guys, Inception, The A-Team, Shrek Forever After, Red, The Reef, Skyline, Jonah Hex, The Town, Easy A, Dear John, Buried and Saw 3D.

Movies I wanted to see, but didn't get around to seeing (in alphabetical order):
127 Hours, The Back-Up Plan, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Devil, Eat Pray Love, The Experiment, Frozen, Going the Distance, Gulliver's Travels, The Kids Are All Right, The Killer Inside Me, Killers, Knight and Day, Leap Year, Letters to Juliet, Life as We Know It, The Losers, Love & Other Drugs, Repo Men, The Romantics, Shelter, The Social Network, Somewhere and Tucker and Dale vs Evil.

My Five Favorite Films of the Year (notice how I say favorite and not best):
1) Toy Story 3
Unlike last year, I didn't have a clear favorite this year, but looking back at everything I've seen, I have the most fondness for Toy Story 3. It's not a perfect film, but I did enjoy and love it a lot.
2) Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Along with Piranha 3D, my most anticipated movie of 2010. Edgar Wright managed to deliver an energetic, fun and original film, which is quite the accomplishment these days. I'm just sad it hasn't appeared on a lot of critics' best of the year lists.
3) Piranha 3D
What I loved about this film is that it doesn't take itself seriously. It's a fun summer flick with a nice ensemble cast.
4) Kick-Ass
I'm sure this will end up as boyfriend's #1 pick of 2010. Kick-Ass was way more brutal and realistic than I expected it to be. I guess for me, this was the biggest surprise of the year.
5) Machete
It's Danny Trejo kicking ass. 'Nuff said.

My Least Favorite Movies of the Year:
1) Vampires Suck
No, I didn't pay any money to see this flick. It's awful. Why Ken Jeong and Arielle Kebbel are in this, I have no idea. Friedberg and Seltzer, please just stop.
2) The Reef
Yeah, I'll just go watch Open Water again.
3) Clash of the Titans
It just wasn't very good, was it? I'm having a hard time remembering what I disliked about it. I think the CGI bothered me.
4) Monsters
I can totally appreciate and respect what Gareth Edwards did here. I just wasn't feeling it. It didn't keep my interest.
5) A Nightmare on Elm Street
A very unnecessary remake. Visually, it was pretty good, but the rest of it was quite a mess. I had quite a problem with Katie Cassidy, a capable actress, being set up as the lead and then getting Rooney Mara instead. Plus, Robert Englund is Freddy. Period.

Ten Favorite Performances of the Year (in alphabetical order):
1) Channing Tatum (Dear John)
2) Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass)
3) Danny Trejo (Machete)
4) Emma Stone (Easy A)
5) Jay Baruchel (while nothing stands out, he had a solid year with She's Out of My League, The Sorcerer's Apprentice and How to Train Your Dragon)
6) Jerry O'Connell (Piranha 3D)
7) Kieran Culkin (Scott Pilgrim vs the World)
8) Michael Sheen (Unthinkable)
9) Ryan Reynolds (Buried)
10) Whitney Able (Monsters)

Movies I'm Looking Forward to in 2011:
30 Minutes of Less; And Soon the Darkness; Bad Teacher; Battle: Los Angeles; The Cabin in the Woods; Captain America: The First Avenger; Ceremony; The Change-Up; Contagion; Country Strong; Crazy Stupid Love; The Darkest Hour; The Devil's Double; Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules; The Dilemma; Drive; Drive Angry 3D; Dylan Dog: Dead of Night; The Eagle; Every Day; Everything Must Go; The Factory; The Fields; Final Destination 5; Flypaper; Friends with Benefits; Friends with Kids; Fright Night; From Prada to Nada; Goon; The Green Hornet; Green Lantern; Hall Pass; The Hangover: Part Two; Hanna; The Help; Here; I Am Number Four; Jeff Who Lives at Home; The Other Woman; Red State; The Ward.