Movie Street 92

Past Chino Choice Awards - Animanted Feature, Orignal Song, Visuals, Sounds, Editing & Makeup:

2009-02-07T15:28:00.004+08:00

Being that my 5th Annual awarding will be coming soon, I've decided to give all of you an overview of what my taste is kinda like. These are my past winners but first I'll start out with the minor awards, or so called "unimportant" ones.

Best Makeup
2007 - La Vie en Rose
2006 - Pan's Labyrinth
2005 - Memoirs of a Geisha
2004 - A Series of Unfortunate Events

Best Sound Editing
2007 - No Country for Old Men
2006 - Blood Diamond
2005 - Walk the Line
2004 - The Phantom of the Opera

Best Sound Mixing
2007 - Transformers
2006 - Letters from Iwo Jima
2005 - Walk the Line
2004 - Ray

Best Film Editing
2007 - There Will Be Blood
2006 - The Departed
2005 - Crash
2004 - The Aviator

Best Visual Effects
2007 - Transformers
2006 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
2005 - King Kong
2004 - Spider-Man 2

Best Original Song
2007 - That's How You Know from Enchanted
2006 - Listen from Dreamgirls
2005 - Jaime Smiles for Just Friends
2004 - Learn to Be Lonely from The Phantom of the Opera

Best Animated Feature
2007 - Ratatouille
2006 - Cars
2005 - Wallace and Grommitt: Curse of the Were-Rabbit
2004 - The Incredibles

2008 Academy Awards (Predictions)

2009-02-06T13:37:00.008+08:00

As we all know, the 81st Anual Academy Awards are coming this Sunday, and since I won't be there that whole weekend, I've decided to put up my final predictions for the major awards right now. Oscar predictions are almost predictable, but I'm not counting on getting it perfect. Because we all know that the Academy LOVES giving us surprises. So here's my best (and rather safe) predictions.

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

1. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - winnin the Globe, SAG, PGA, DGA and so many other countless awards just proves that "Slumdog" might just be as loved as "American Beauty" was back in 1999 and "The Return of the King" in 2003. This is really the little film that could, and will.
2. THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON - most nominations and beloved cast might just pull the win. Oscar loves epics.
3. MILK - with the political situation right now on Gay rights and the snub of "Brokeback Mountain" back in 2005 could push this Gus van Sant flick to gold.
4. THE READER - it surprised everyone with Kate Winslet's transfer to Best Actress, the Director and Picture nods. The Academy loves this. It probably has the same chances as "Milk".
5. FROST/NIXON - it's a longshot. This is just the Academy's token political film. But it deserves it nomination. The movie was good, despite it being the weakess from the nominees.

BEST DIRECTOR

1. DANNY BOYLE for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - He won the DGA and he's the mastermind of the most beloved movie of the year. Not to mention...he's overdue.
2. GUS VAN SANT for MILK - Really overdue but Danny Boyle's practically a lock.
3. DAVID FINCHER for THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON - Creative and amazing, but the Academy is more into realistic and gritting.
4. STEPHEN DALDRY for THE READER - His nomination was a huge surprise, his 3rd nomination for his 3rd movie is already his award. He's building his name, with all this love he'll surely win an Oscar one day.
5. RON HOWARD for FROST/NIXON - Ummm okay? Filler.

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

1. SEAN PENN for MILK - though this race is really close with fellow nominee Mickey Rourke, critics don't mean anything with the Oscars and Penn's SAG win can give us an idea that they really loved him here. Could he be TWO TIME Oscar winner, Sean Penn?
2. MICKEY ROURKE for THE WRESTLER - his performance is really Best Actor material so don't be surprised if he nabs this. But Penn seems like a more solid choice. But remember, he's this years "big comeback" guy. So, maybe?
3. BRAD PITT for THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON - Father of the Year and Hollywood royalty. And look he matches with his wife! This subtle performance might have a chance because Pitt is a popular guy. I mean, everyone LOVES Brad Pitt, right?!
4. FRANK LANGELLA for FROST/NIXON - The veteran in the group. But his lack of other awards puts him in the right spot. I don't think he'll win.
5. RICHARD JENKINS for THE VISITOR - The indie, critic darling nominee. Sadly they don't usually win. Unless they have a SHIT load of guild support and previous awards...

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

1. KATE WINSET for THE READER - she's a lock. I mean, she was being campaigned for Best Supporting Actress, but she was strong enough to garner a Lead Actress nomination. Kate Winslet is on fire this year. Everyone loves 'em some Kate. But there's a threat...
2. MERYL STREEP for DOUBT - They could choose to snub Kate for the 1000th time and go with the Queen of Hollywood, Meryl Streep. She only won the SAG because Kate's "The Reader" was in Supporting Actress that time. But who knows? Her performance in "Doubt" is really loved. Could this be her 3rd Oscar?
3. ANNE HATHAWAY for RACHEL GETTING MARRIED - The early front runner, though loved, she won't be winning for a couple of years. She needs to learn the value of Oscar first, like Kate Winslet did.
4. MELISSA LEO for FROZEN RIVER - This years Laura Linney. No Oscar for you.
5. ANGELINA JOLIE for CHANGELING - The grieving mother or wife spot. "WHERE IS MY SON!" We've heard it before.

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

1. HEATH LEDGER for THE DARK KNIGHT - He was brilliant and iconic as The Joker. And this is the way the Academy will award "The Dark Knight" after the much controversial Picture, Director and Screenplay snubs. Ledger also died, so he has the sympathy card.
2. MICHAEL SHANNON for REVOLUTIONARY ROAD - If they choose to go with the living, Shannon will win. He doesn't even deserve to be nominated in my opinion, but he was strong enough to catch the Academy's attention in his 10 minutes of screen time, so he most probably will win. And they like people playing loons.
3. ROBERT DOWNEY JR. for TROPIC THUNDER - different and funny. Downey's award is getting nominated.
4. JOSH BROLIN for MILK - Penn was enough. Started out strong, but started to die out.
5. PHILLIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN for DOUBT - filler? Some people question his nomination. I do too.

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1. PENELOPE CRUZ for VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA - I'm sure Penelope Cruz was jumping with joy when Winslet went to Best Actress. For she was the favorite before that. But I'm gonna be honest. With Winslet winning everything before, this is a 5 way race since everyone was shadowed by Winslet at first. But Cruz seems to be the proper choice. Daymm....more screaming Selma Hayek.
2. VIOLA DAVIS for DOUBT - They like those big 5 minute scenes that catches people's attentions.
3. TARAJI P. HENSON for THE CURIOUS CASE OF BEJAMIN BUTTON - The nominee from the HUGE movie. Could she nab it for the lack of Benjamin Button love for the win?
4. AMY ADAMS for DOUBT - Sweet like always. But it seems they're just giving back to her after being terribly snubbed with "Enchanted" last year.
5. MARISSA TOMEI for THE WRESTLER - Already an Oscar winner, but her performance in "The Wrestler" was very, very good. So she has a chance. Just like everyone else.

2008

2009-02-06T13:34:00.001+08:00

Was a brilliant year. One of my favorites of the decade. This is one year that I'm having the hardest times in choosing who the Best and what the Best is. The fact is, it's gonna have to come down to one. And as soon as I see "Milk" and "Rachel Getting Married", I shall present the 5th Annual Chino Choice awards. :)

I'm back!

2009-02-06T13:29:00.000+08:00

I'm back to movie blogging. Sorry. Finally. Can't wait to write. :)

WEEKEND MOVIE - Hello, Dolly! (1969)

2008-08-31T16:23:00.011+08:00

HELLO, DOLLY! (1969)

"It takes a woman to quietly plan to take him and change him to her kind of man and to gently lead him where fortune can find him know that the power was that dainty woman, that fragile woman, that sweetheart, that mistress, that wife."

Director: Gene Kelly
Cast: Barbra Streisand, Walter Mathau, Michael Crawford, Marianne McAndrew, Danny Lockin, E.J. Peaker, Joyce Arnes, Tommy Tune, Judy Knaiz, Louis Armstrong and his Orhestra

"Hello, Dolly!" is one of the last glamorous and huge musicals of the Golden Age of Hollywood, directed by Mr. Musical himself, Gene Kelly. The collaboration between Kelly, Oscar winner Barbra Streisand and the cast and crew of old and new, gave a product of grand scale from the color costumes to the built sets to Ms. Streisand's powerhouse voice, "Hello, Dolly!" is just excellent. It tells the story of Ms. Dolly Levi (Barbra Streisand), a widow who has taken matchmaking as her most "well-known" businesses. But when she uses her own tricks to try to get a arrogant, self-righteous half-a-millionaire named Horace (Walter Mathau), the screen is filled with Dolly's crazy plans and the wonderful sight of movie magic. Michael Crawford's lovestruck performance pre-"Phantom of the Opera" is naive genuis and matches the powerhouse herself. Kelly's direction is amazing and the movie is one of the best eyecandy ever put on the big screen. Extremely cute and bubbly, "Hello, Dolly" will "never go away, again!"

IT TAKES A WOMAN - Barbra Streisand plays the loud-mouthed, perky and conspiring Dolly Levi in one of her best performances on the the screen (she should have gotten an Oscar nomination...boo).

PUT ON YOUR SUNDAY CLOTHES -
"Put on you sunday clothes when you feel down and out! Strut down the street and have your picture took. Just like a dream your spirit seems to turn about. That Sunday shine is a certain sign that you feel as fine as you look!"

27 AND A HALF YEARS OLD LEARNING HOW TO DANCE - Michael Crawford and Barbra Streisand in the beginning of the grand musical number "Dancing". Crawford's character doesn't "know how to dance" when the idea of dancing in a club with Ms. Irene comes up. But that's no problem, Dolly's an expert in teaching 27-and-a-half-years-olds, its one of her businesses!

DANCING -
"Turn around and turn around try floating through the air, can't you be little more aesthetic?"
"Don't you think my dancing has a polish and a flair?"
"I think the word I'd use is athletic!"
"Well my heart is about to burst. My head is about to POP! And now that I'm dancing who cares if I ever stop?!"

MILLION DOLLAR DIVA - The previous year, Barbra Streisand won an Oscar for her first role ever as Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl" (1968). In "Hello, Dolly!", Streisand earns her first million...in her 2nd role only! Imagine a million bucks back in '69.

BEFORE THE PARADE PASSES BY -
"When the whistles blow and the cymbals crash and the sparklers light the sky I'm gonna raise the roof! I'm gonna carry on! Give me an old trombone, give me and old baton before the parade passes by!"

TAP DANCE AROUND THE TWO - Mr. Musical himself, Gene Kelly, directs diva Barbra Streisand and comedian Walter Mathau in one of the biggest movies of the 1960s. Though they played love interests, people didn't know they actually despised each other. One occasion Mathau said to her that her talent was no different than a butterfly's fart.

ARM STRONG ARMSTRONG - One of Louis Armstrong's last "movie gigs" with his Orchestra was in 1969's "Hello, Dolly!". Here, he plays himself and was only on set for one day (the whole sequence took one month of shoot) and did his part in one take.

HELLO, MONEY! - Obtaining the rights to the Broadway show was already millions. Making it was ever MORE MILLIONS. But the movie and the star power of new star Barbra Streisand payed off when the film grossed to be the 5th highest grosser of the year.

THE BIG FINISH TO THE TITLE TUNE -
"We hear the ice tinkle, we see the lights twinkle and you still get glances from us handsome men, soo..."
"Ohh, wow, wow, wow fellas, look at the old girl now fellas!"
"DOLLY WILL NEVER GO AWAY, DOLLY WILL NEVER GO AWAY, DOLLY WILL NEVER GO AWAY..."

"...AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

TOP 5 MALE LEAD PERFORMANCES EVER!

2008-08-25T15:54:00.007+08:00

(Now its time for the men)
Presenting my Top Favorite Male LEAD Performances of All-Time...
These flamboyant men were the perfect leading men to their respective films. From dark, to edgy, to funny these men can do anything and has given us a very brilliant outcome with the performances they came up with. With awe, all the performances are heavily breathtaking and will not only shock but keep you entertained during the duration of the film. (NOTE: None of these performances won an Oscar!)

1. Malcolm McDowell as Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange (1971)
A film that requires a "f'd" up performance can only be given by such a actor. Malcolm McDowell brings to life the fatal Alex DeLarge in the film adaptation of the controversial book. He opens our "gullivars" and we "viddy" such a wonderful performance, "O my brother". In the film, McDowell plays the twisted teen Alex, who enjoys rape, drugs and stealing every night with his three "droogs". But when he names himself LEADER of their gang, the other three want to teach him a lesson and frame him for killing a woman. But in jail, it seems like our Little-Alex would do anything to get out. Even if it requires...finding Bog. One of the biggest crimes the Academy ever did was: NOT NOMINATING HIM...ugh...sometimes they make the biggest mistakes...

"There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova Milkbar sold Milk-Plus, milk-plus vellocent or symthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking."

2. Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
In 1952 it did seem like Marlon Brando was the "cursed" cast member. He, from the four principal actors, was the only one who did not win an Oscar for his destructive role as meddling husband Stanley Kowalski. He brings terror and sub humanness onto the screen and makes every housewife wish that this, as handsome as he is, isn't their husband. In the movie, Brando portrays a savage to his wife Stella (Kim Hunter) and her live-in sister, Blanche DuBios (Vivien Leigh). Stanley's attempts to get rid of Blanche drives to her madness. He goes from tensing her, being cruel to her and even...rape.

"Those types of words have been on your tougue and your sister's togue just way too much around here. What do you think you are? A pair of queens? Now just remember what Huey Long said - that every man's a king - and I'm the king around here, and don't you forget it."

3. Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind (1939)
Playing opposite Vivien Leigh's phenomenal performance as Scarlet O'Hare in the Southern, Civil War epic, Clark Gable plays Rhett Butler, a man in love with a woman that is hard to be in love with. He grazes the screen with charm, wit and a pureness to his role that makes him embody the character perfectly. From every hair, from every wink, from every expression - Gable is a master. Here, he plays Rhett Butler, the only man who can put up with the selfish Southern Belle Scarlet (Vivien Leigh), and the only one with a buck load of money during the war. Rhett explores the world and tries to make his marriage work, but it crumbles down when the death of their daughter and another man gets in the way. Sadly, Gable did not win an Oscar for his remarkable performance.

"Here's a soldier of the South who loves you, Scarlet. Wants to feel your arms around him, wants to carry the memory of you kisses into battle with him. Nevermind about loving me, you're a woman sending a solider to his death with a beautiful memory. Scarlet! Kiss me!"

4. Dustin Hoffman as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels in Tootise (1982)
By this time, Dustin Hoffman was renowned and already an Oscar winner, but he brought to screen one of the most beloved characters when he played Dorothy Michaels in 1982's "Tootsie". In "Tootsie", Hoffman plays a struggling actor in New York who cannot find a job...that would accept him. So he goes to a TV station and discovers they need a woman character for a soap opera. Dressing up, Dorsey gets the role of Emily Kimberly as DOROTHY MICHAELS. Do you follow? Anyways...his popularity across America and the world expands but how long could he keep this running? And how long could he hide it from the woman he loves...his actress co-worker Julie Nichols (Jessica Lange). Hoffman proves he could do more than drama and makes us laugh in "Tootsie", not only a brilliant performance but a memorable one to boot. He recieved yet another Oscar nomination.

"Look, you don't know me from Adam. But I was a better man with you, as a woman...that I ever was with a woman, as a man. You know what I mean? I just gotta learn to do it without the dress. At this point, there might be an advantage to my wearing pants. The hard parts over, you know? We were already...good friends."

5. Leonard Whiting as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (1968)
This performance is disgustingly underrated. Leonard Whiting's portrayal as the young Romeo is not only of-age and proper in looks, but he pulls of such a remarkable performance and THE best performance in a "Shakespearean" movie or play I've seen. He was just a brilliant, young lead. Playing Romeo, he falls in love with Juliet (Olivia Hussey) who belongs to the family his is suppose to hate. Without a doubt, Romeo and Juliet do the best they can to unite the families...even going so far to marry each other. But misfortune happens when Romeo, kills Juliet's cousin for revenge for killing his friend. This is when the tragic lover's face the real truth. Whiting was just too good to be true and pulled a surprise performance. I cannot believe he wasn't even nominated...

"Oh, I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks. Two of the fairest stars in all the heavens, having some buisness, do entreat her eyes to twinkle in their spheres till they return. See how she leans her cheeks upon her hand. Oh, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek."

TOP 5 FEMALE LEAD PERFORMANCES EVER!

2008-08-24T20:13:00.008+08:00

Presenting my Top 5 Favorite Female LEAD Performances of All-Time...
These brilliant actresses made their films something to remember and weren't only incredibly good, but are now film icons that will be remembered for their fantastic work. From hundreds of leading ladies the silver screen had to offer, these are my 5 favorite Lead performances:

1. Vivien Leigh as Scarlet O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939)
In her 1st Oscar winning performance, Vivien Leigh plays the lead character of the 4-hour Best Picture epic "Gone with the Wind". Set during and after the Civil War, Leigh plays Scarlet, a young, ambitious Southern Belle who is tangled by the love of her good friend Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), but is forced to hide it when he is engaged to Melanie Wilkes (Olivia de Havilland). The only one who knows Scarlet's bitter secret is the arrogant Rhett Butler (Rhett Butler) whom she thinks is "coarse and conceited". The film takes us into an epic journey of love, betrayal and Scarlet's survival in the crumbled South land that she loves and cannot let go off.

"As God as my witness, as God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll be hungry again. No, nor will any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat of kill. As God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again!"

2. Whoopi Goldberg as Celie Johnson in The Color Purple (1985)
In her feature film debut, in which she was already nominated for an Oscar, Goldberg adapts Alice Walker's precious character Celie and projects her with brilliance onto the silver screen. Here, Celie is taken from her family in a young age to get married, but becomes only a battered wife who is later turned into a maid. In her years of suffering, Celie makes good friends, like Shug Avery (Margaret Avery). But all she longs for is to be reunited with her dear sister whom she loves the most. The film brings us the inspiring story of a woman and how she gains her independence from the cruel life that was given to her.

"I curse you. Until you do right by me everything you think about is gonna crumble! Until you do right by me, everything you even think about is gonna fail! I'm poor, black, I might evne be ugly, but dear God, I'm here. I'm here."

3. Vivien Leigh as Blance Dubios in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Vivien Liegh's haunting Oscar winning turn as the delusional Blanche Dubios broke the barrier that someone can out shine Marlon Brando in a movie. Liegh's character, Blanche, who has lost everything in her life soon lives with her sister Stella (Kim Hunter) and her impatient, callous husband Stanley (Marlon Brando). Here, the three discover their true colors. And Stella must now watch her sister deteriorate with craziness due to the behavior and unwelcome attitude Stanley was pressuring upon her. But what does Stellas learn from this? That her sister is crazy? Or her husband is?

"He's like an animal. He has an animal's habits. There's even something subhuman about him. Thousands of years have passed him right by, and there he is. Stanley Kowalski, survivor of the Stone Age, bearing the raw meat home from the kill in the jungle."

4. Elizabeth Taylor as Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
The beautiful and sexy Elizabeth Taylor shocked the world when she accepted the controversial and uncanny role of Martha in the racy Broadway-to-Film adaptation of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Taylor strays from her usual romantic roles and gives us a unforgettable Oscar winning performance of the crazy Martha, who, with the help of her husband George (Richard Burton), loves to play emotional mind games with young couples just because her own marriage had gone down the drain. The performance is sick and haunting...dangerously twisted.

"George, my husband...George, who is out somewhere there in the dark, who is good to me - whom I revile, who can keep learning the games we play as quickly as I can change them. Who can make me happy and I do not wish to be happy. Yes, I do wish to be happy."

5. Audrey Hepburn as Holly Gollightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Yes, Marilyn Monroe was the first choice for the role of the gold-digging, selfish, crude BUT beautiful Holly Gollightly in the 1961 Truman Capote adapted film. But Hepburn gives much justice to the role with her astonishing portrayal of a woman in denial. In the film, Holly is focused on finding someone incredibly rich to marry and help her brother Fred out of the army. But when a young, handsome tenant named Paul Barjak (George Peppard) moves downstairs, sparks begin to fly and the drama begins...

"I do not wish to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together. I'm not sure where that is but I know what it is like. It's like Tiffany's. That's right. I'm just CRAZY about Tiffany's."

WEEKEND MOVIE - All That Jazz (1979)

2008-08-14T21:48:00.006+08:00

ALL THAT JAZZ (1979)

"Oh, you give all right; presents, clothes. I just wish you weren't so generous with your cock."

Director: Bob Fosse
Cast: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ann Reinking, Leland Palmer, Cliff Gorman, Ben Vereen, Erzsebet Foldi, Deborah Geffner

Hi guys, I'm writing early because my schedules fully booked this weekend.
Winner of 4 Academy Awards, "All That Jazz" is a splendid, grand and truly "f'd" up biopic of director Bob Fosse. The film takes us into his life, but with an alias as Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider) who is a famous director/choreographer/performer who kills himself and hurts his love ones with the use of drugs, sex and lies. Scheider dazzles us with his "semi-portrayal" of Fosse and the whole film is a masterwork (as "messed" up as it is, you just got to love it). "All That Jazz" is one of the best movies ever made and the musical number brights up the screen...even though most of them are used in a "disturbing"-sense.

JOE'S EVERY MORNING RITUAL -
"It's showtime, folks."

TAKE OFF WITH US (AIROTICA) - Joe shocks the producers of his Broadway show when he turns their happy, family, airplane musical into an erotic piece of work with naked dancers and sexual sights and sounds. What the producers can't see is...its an uncoventional masterpiece.

KATIE DREAM SEQUENCE -
"You better stop! You better change!
You better stop! You better change!
You better stop and change your ways today;
You better stop, stop, stop, change
PLEASE!"

ANN REINKING ALSO DAZZLES - Here we see Ann Reinking in her last costume in the movie's finale. She not only plays Joe's lover, but she shifts costumes constantly whenever she dances and brings grace to the sceen.

BYE, BYE LIFE -
"Bye, bye happiness
Hello lonliness
I THINK I'M GONNA DIE!

Bye, bye my life...goodbye."

WEEKEND MOVIE - Ordinary People (1980)

2008-08-09T19:51:00.007+08:00

ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980)

"Conrad. Let's have a great Christmas. Let's have...a great year. Let's have the best year of our whole lives. We can, you know...this could be the best one ever."

Dirctor: Robert Redford
Cast: Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Timothy Hutton, Judd Hirsch, M. Emmett Walsh, Elizabeth McGovern, Dinah Manoff, Fredric Lehne

This Robert Redford directed Best Picture sets in peaceful suburbia, where a family suffers from the lost of one of its members. Conrad (Timothy Hutton), is a bright young man, who is tied down from his strengths because his mother, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), keeps reminding him of the death of his brother. Calvin (Donald Sutherland), the father, is trapped between the fights and tension of his wife and child. "Ordinary People" brings us into the emotions of a broken family. The cast gives us a fantastic ensemble piece and the 3 leads are all Oscar worthy. Moore's selfish mother and Sutherland's loving father give us good chemistry. But Hutton's performance as Conrad is THE BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR PERFORMANCE OF ALL TIME. I'm serious.

"HAPPY?" FAMILY - Posing for a family picture, we have the selfish Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), the concerned Calvin (Donald Sutherland) and their troubled son Conrad (Timothy Hutton).

SELFISH NEEDS - Beth persuades her husband that this Christmas she wants to go to London and forget about Conrad's depression. She needs it and she wants to get away from the "scenery".

OSCAR WINNERS - Robert Redford won an Oscar for directing the suburban drama "Ordinary People" and the 19-year-old Timothy Hutton won one too for his portrayal as the depressed Conrad.

CONRAD SEES A SHRINK -
"Geez! You're really weird huh, what do you feel huh? Do you jerk off, or jack off, or whatever you call it?"
"What do you think?"
"What do I think? I think you're married to a fat lady and you go home and you fuck the living daylights out of her!"
"Sounds good to me."

WOOF! WOOF! "TRYING" TO COMMUNICATE -
"I made a 74 on a trig quiz."
"Oh really? Gosh I was aqful at trig."
"OH. Really? You took trig?"
"No...wait a minute...ha, did I take trig? Huh...anyway, I bought you two shirts they're on your bed."

WEEKEND MOVIE - West Side Story (1961)

2008-08-01T20:59:00.003+08:00

ATTENTION: Hey guys, this is my new feature "WEEKEND MOVIE". Before the weekend, I shall recomend (or rather "praise") a particular movie that I "feel" or am raving about in the momment. First one this week it is...

WEST SIDE STORY (1961)

"Tonight, tonight; it all began tonight. I saw you and the world went away."

Director: Robert Wise & Jermon Robbins
Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beyemer, Georga Chakaris, Rita Moreno, Russ Tamblyn, Simon Oakland, Ned Glass, William Bramely, Tucker Smith

Set in 1950's New York, "West Side Story" is a musical retelling of William Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet" set to the backdrop of Puerto Rican and Caucasian gang wars and the music of Sodhiem and Bernstien. As I re-watched "West Side Story" again I relived the magic of Tony and Maria and their struggle for their forbidden love. The screen wasn't only "technically" beautiful, but the amazing voices and music set around the film was magnificent and heavenly. The movie doesn't deserve all the bashing it receives. I also realized that Richard Beyemer did a performance to remember. He is too underrated. From his performance of "Something's Coming" to his naive acting when he sings "Maria", he is outstanding. Rita Moreno runs a close second. The direction is fantastic and the film is just so magical. Re-watch it, you won't regret it.

THE JETS OWN THE STREET - Riff (Russ Tamblyn) leads his "Jets" gang in a dance around New York city in the opening of the 1961 Academy Award winner for Best Picture.

TONY AND MARIA SING "TONIGHT" - "Only you, your the only thing I see, forever. In my eyes, in my ears and in everything I do. Nothing else but you EVER." "And there's nothing for my but Maria, every site that I see is Maria."

MARIA IN GRIEF - Natalie Wood in a compelling scene asking God to "Please make it not be true!" when she learns her lover is the one who killed her brother.

NOTHING WILL BREAK THEM APART - "Somehow, someday, we'll find a new way of living. We'll find a way of foriving. Somewhere, somehow..."

BAM! SAD ENDING -
"I-I didn't believe hard enough."
"Loving is enough."
"Not here. They won't lest us be."
"Then we'll run away."
"Yeah, we can."
"Yes."
"We will..."
"[Singing] Hold my hand and we're half way there, hold my hand and I'll take you there. Somehow! Someday! Some-"

"TE ADORO, ANTONE."

I'm sorry. I've been really late in my "reviews".... its annoying.

2008-07-23T19:00:00.002+08:00

But here's what I've got in the list. I'm trying to get it done by the end of the week though:

SEX AND THE CITY: THE MOVIE
THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE
MY BIG LOVE
THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL
WANTED
MAMMA MIA!
THE DARK KNIGHT

So much to do, so little time! :(

Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008, Steven Spielberg)

2008-07-23T18:58:00.000+08:00

* * *

Cast: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia Labeouf, Karen Allen, Ray Winston, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent, Igor Jijikine,
Screenplay: David Koepp
122 minutes / Color

A for effort? Yes. But apart from that, that’s it. As much as I tried to enjoy this newly polished version of the acclaimed “Indiana Jones” series it was hardly as good as everyone think it is. To tell you the truth it is nothing but an excuse to make money. Luckily it wasn’t completely horrible. But some parts were simple unbearable. The humor and the recycled acting and story are what’s more on my bad side.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg bring back Harrison Ford’s lovable adventure character back to the silver screen but its not only his old age that brings the movie to its weakness. The bad storyline is more to blame on this part.

Years after Indiana Jone’s (Harrison Ford) last adventure, he is taken by a communist Russian group, headed by the evil Professor Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), to find the Crystal Skull, which is the key to all the knowledge in the universe.

With a gun to his face, Jones does all he can to find the skull and gives the group a head-start. When he escapes from his hands, he goes back home where he is working as a Professor in a local college.

When Jones means punk, Mutt Williams (Shia Labeouf), who mother was abducted by the same group, they face dangers and an adventure to not only beat the communist but get Mutt’s mother back from the lethal group.

When they actually do save her from the Russians, Indy learns that Mutt’s mother is actually an old love of his, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), but despite their arguments, they must work together to beat the Russians and return the Crystal Skull and its power to its rightful place.

As the movie turns into a race to the temple where the skull unleashes all its power, Irina gets more impatient to gain all the power in the universe. The cat and mouse game continues to action and absurd dialogue…

As the finale comes to a close, the Russians and the Jone’s team arrives in the same time. But knowing the bad guys, the Russians take the skull and Irina places it on the head of a mystical being that is not complete. Lights and magic circulate, but the temple crumbles and happens to be a big UFO and sucks the life out of Irina.

The whole group escapes leaving the UFO to fly away and watching Irina and the Russians leave with them. Indy and Marion’s old love sparks again and they marry into a happy ending. But as they walk away, Indy’s hat is blown away from the wind and lands on his step-sons feet, making the world realize that he’ll follow in his footsteps.

Cheesy or cheesy? I’m sorry but ALIENS? Were they serious? The movie is okay, but when the aliens started popping out, it simply deteriorated in front of my eyes. How terrible to add such a wacky twist and making the amazing Cate Blanchett look like an idiot.

I do however, praise then for their visual effects. Though most of the sets don’t look so natural, the effects added and done were polished with delectable grandeur. Even the space ship at the end looked fantastic. However, it sad to say that most of it was ruined but the unintentionally funny acting of people like Blanchett, Ford and especially the unprofessional choice of Karen Allen.

Karen Allen was the worst. It was not fun to listen to her. She was simply annoying and if I were the script writers, the addition of her to the story would’ve never crossed my mind. I mean, what does the new generation care of Indy’s old love interest? What would’ve been 10 thousand times better if they gave Shia a love interest, even if she were a very bad choice like Miley Cirus or Lindsay Lohan or something, which would’ve been better then seeing that old fart ruin half of the film for me.

Shia is a promising actor; he’s been doing quite well lately and completely outshines the cast. But Harrison Ford’s choice for a comeback was quite overdone. He’s too old for his character and seemed kind of silly seeing him jump around on screen liked he did in his hay-days in Hollywood. But I would NOT like to see Shia as the next Jones if ever they were to make a next movie.

Blanchett’s choice to get as far away as her “Oscary type” performance has become only “type-cast”. She put herself in a trap and getting back to her “The Good German” (2006) roots. And that’s not good at all…

But I guess the film was a little bit worth it because of the grand scale it was presented. The scope and excitement of seeing an old character back on his feet was breathtaking, I admit. Even if it wasn’t as brilliant as I thought it would be.

My confession is, up to this day I have never watched an Indiana Jones film. But I’m kind of glad I haven’t, because if I did, I knew I’d be more disappointed and bash this film thoroughly. My time will come however.

Not that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas wasted their time, I’m sure this was a fun project for them. But they are such amazing story tellers and I know they could’ve made it so much better than this. But this is what they produced and the world has to live with it.
At the end, despite much of my criticisms and bashing it wasn’t absolutely terrible. It was plainly mediocre and for sure fans would agree. That’s why it’s so disappointing. Sagas and series have to be great. All the movies in a series SHOULD be great…but this one is a miss. I’m not counting on a spin-off with Shia Labeouf. Though he is quite talented, I’d rather see him exert his talent else-where.

Twilight isn't that bad.

2008-07-14T19:56:00.003+08:00

I'm reading the book and it isn't half bad. It's interesting and really good actually. I cannot wait for the movie. Stewart and Patterson look very promising and hopefully all ends well. No chance at Oscar, but maybe...if its good enough. Here's to hoping. :)

30 Under 30 - The Most Promising Young Actors Under the Age of 30 (MY CHOICE)

2008-07-13T19:35:00.032+08:00

1. JIM STURGESS (Age: 27)
Why He's Promising: "Mouth to Mouth" (2006), "Across the Universe" (2007), "21" (2008) and "The Other Boleyn Girl" (2008)

2. JAMES MCAVOY (Age: 29)
Why He's Promising: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" (2005), "The Last King of Scotland" (2006), "Atonement" (2007) and "Wanted" (2008)

3. KEIRA KNIGHTLY (Age: 23)
Why She's Promising: "Bend It Like Beckham" (2002), "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003), "Pride and Prejudice" (2005, Best Actress Oscar Nomination) and "Atonement" (2007)

4. JAKE GYLLENHAAL (Age: 28)
Why He's Promising: "Donnie Darko" (2001), "Brokeback Mountain" (2005, Best Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination), Jarhead (2005) and "Zodiac" (2007).

5. EMILE HIRSCH (Age: 23)
Why He's Promising: "The Girl Next Door" (2004), "Imaginary Hereos" (2004), "Lords of Dogtown" (2005) and "Into the Wild" (2007)

6. HEATH LEDGER (Age: 29)
Why He's Promsing: "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999), "Brokeback Mountain" (2005, Best Actor Oscar Nomination), "I'm Not There" (2007) and "The Dark Knight" (2008)

7. RYAN GOSLING (Age: 28)
Why He's Promising: "Murder by Numbers" (2002), "The Notebook" (2004), "Half Nelson" (2006, Best Actor Oscar Nomination) and "Lars and the Real Girl" (2007)

8. ED WESTWICK (Age: 21)
Why He's Promising: TV's "Gossip Girl" (2007 - )

9. EVAN RACHEL WOOD (Age: 21)
Why She's Promising: "Thirteen" (2003), "The Upside of Anger" (2005), "Running with Scissors" (2006) and "Across the Universe" (2007).

10. ELLEN PAGE (Age: 21)
Why She's Promising: "Hard Candy" (2006), "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006), "An American Crime" (2007) and "Juno" (2007, Best Actress Oscar Nomination)

11. NATALIE PORTMAN (Age: 27)
Why She's Promising: "Leon" (1994), "Cold Mountain" (2003), "Closer" (2004, Best Supporting Actress Nomination), and "V for Vendetta" (2006).

12. JOE ANDERSON (Age: 26)
Why He's Promising: "Beoming Jane" (2007), "Control" (2007), "Across the Universe" (2007) and "The Ruins" (2008)

13. SCARLET JOHANSSON (Age: 24)
Why's She's Promising: "Ghost World" (2001), Lost in Translation" (2003), "Match Point" (2004) and "The Prestige" (2006)

14. AMANDA SEYFRIED (Age: 23)
Why She's Promising: "Mean Girl" (2004), TV's "Veronice Mars" (2004-2006), TV's "Big Love" (2006- ) and "Mamma Mia!" (2008)

15. PAUL DANO (Age: 24)
Why He's Promising: "The Girl Next Door" (2004), "Fast Food Nation" (2006), "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006) and "There Will Be Blood" (2007)

16. SHIA LABEOUF (Age: 22)
Why He's Promising: "Holes" (2003), "Disturbia" (2006), "Transformers" (2007) and "Indianna Jones and the Island of the Crystal Skull" (2008)

17. ZAC EFRON (Age: 21)
Why He's Promising: "High School Musical" (2006), "High School Musical 2" (2007) and "Hairspray" (2007)

18. LEIGHTON MEESTER (Age: 22)
Why She's Promising: TV's "Entourage" (Season 6 2008 - ) and TV's "Gossip Girl" (2007 - )

19. AMANDA BYNES (Age: 22)
Why She's Promising: TV's "What I Like About You" (2002-2006), "Loved Wreck", "She's the Man" (2006) and "Hairspray" (2007)

20. KEVIN ZEGERS (Age: 24)
Why He's Promising: "Transamerica" (2005) and "It's A Boy Girl Thing" (2007)

21. MICHAEL CERA (Age: 21)
Why He's Promising: TV's "Arrested Development" (2003-2006), "Superbad" (2007) and "Juno" (2007)

22. JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT (Age: 27)
Why He's Promising: "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999), "Mysterious Skin" (2004), "Brick" (2005) and "The Lookout" (2007)

23. ADAM BRODY (Age: 29)
Why He's Promising: TV's "The OC" (2003-2007), "Mr and Mrs Smith" (2005), "Thank You For Smoking" (2005) and "In the Land of Women" (2007)

24. ABIGAIL BRESLIN (Age: 12)
Why She's Promising: "Sings" (2002), "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006, Best Supporting Actress Oscar Nomination) and "No Reservations" (2007)

25. KRISTEN STEWART (Age: 18)
Why She's Promising: "Panic Room" (2002), "Zathura" (2006), "In the Land of Women" (2007) and Into the Wild" (2007)

26. BRITTANY SNOW (Age: 22)
Why She's Promising: "John Tucker Must Die" (2006) and "Hairspray" (2007)

27. BLAKE LIVELY (Age: 20)
Why She's Promising: "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" (2005) and TV's "Gossip Girl" (2007 - )

28. JOSH HUTCHERSON (Age: 15)
Why He's Promising: "Little Manhattan" (2005), "Zathura" (2005), "Bridge to Terribithia" (2007) and "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (2008)

29. DANIEL RADCLIFFE (Age: 19)
Why He's Promising: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix" (2007), "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005), "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002) and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (2001)

30. CHANNING TATUM (Age: 28)
Why He's Promising: "She's the Man" (2006), "Step Up" (2006), "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" (2006) and "Stop Loss" (2008)

Movie Review: 21 (2008, Robert Luketic)

2008-07-10T18:01:00.001+08:00

* * * * *

Cast: Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts
Screenplay: Peter Steinfield & Allan Loeb (Based on the novel “Brining Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions” by Ben Mezrich)
123 minutes / Color

It’s a fact that director Robert Luketic has had some misses (“Monster-in-Law (2004)) but has some very valuable hits too (“Legally Blonde” (2001)). With “21”, we are given another hit. This time, with more spunk, more love and more brains too!

I’m not being bias because it has Jim Sturgess, who I absolutely loved in his first movie “Across the Universe” (2007). But I’m proud he did this movie next because it’s avoiding his type-cast and it was really good. Over-hyping isn’t the word I’m using my “hype”, because the film is more then enjoyable, it’s fantastic!

The film, about 6 M.I.T students counting cards in Vegas, follows the young and bright Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) and his struggle for money and how to get into Harvard Med School. When he shines in Prof. Mickey Rosa’s (Kevin Spacey) math class, he gets an offer he can’t refuse…

Rosa and an ensemble of talented card counters from the same school had formed a team to go to Vegas every weekend and count cards to earn millions. Rosa has one condition however, whatever they earn: he gets 50% of all the proceeds. A little doubtful, Ben joins and promises himself that when he earns the $300,000 he needs for Med School he would stop then and there.

But as Ben gets to Vegas and finally lives the life he was longing, he gets into the highlife and the addiction of gambling and playing black jack. Every weekend they play, party, shop and sleep together (Ben falls for his beautiful teammate Jill (Kate Bosworth) on the job).

As Ben gets richer and richer, he soon slacks off to his problems back in Boston and his friends who care much for him. Soon the cops are on their tail, especially casino specialist Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne) and Ben and the team boots out Mickey after a brief conflict.

They soon try to earn as much as they can but during that night, the police strike and everyone escapes…except Ben. Ben doesn’t only loose all his money but gets the beating of his life from Cole.

When Ben comes back from his “hell” weekend, he realizes that his whole life is crumbling apart. His friends hate him and Mickey has stolen all the hard earn money he was saving up. He couldn’t leave the experience without a fight and was ready for one more heist.

Ben befriends Mickey and fixes all his problems, he brings the whole team back for Vegas and says that they should earn as much as they can this one night and this one night only. However, when the police comes, Ben and Jill devise a plan and have Mickey ride the wrong escape car. Apparently, Ben had made a deal with Cole to capture Mickey all along for he was one of the biggest gambling criminals of years gone by…

Basically, that’s the story. Though it sounds like another “heist” or “Vegas” movie, don’t be alarmed, because this is way better then the likes of any “Ocean’s” movie. It surprises me such a young cast (expecting Kevin Spacey) could be the likes of George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Oh, I take that back. I’m not surprised.

Being so good, you feel that the cast are already veterans, despite that fact that most of them are just begging their careers. Obviously, Jim Sturgess shines. But Aaron Yoo and Kate Bosworth also make their marks in this movie. Bosworth is sexy, elegant and has showed us a great variety of “disguises” that actually shows of her skills. Though Aaron Yoo, is a bit type-casted, I cannot deny he isn’t a talent.

Jim Sturgess gives an exemplary portrayal of Ben Campbell. Though it doesn’t beat his “Jude” character (and I’m kind of confident to say that I don’t think anything will), he still gives us a character so complex and so entertaining that he’s probably the earliest contenders for awards. How I wish he’s win an Oscar soon!

Spacey, like always tries to gives us his best, but fails. He needs to stop playing the villain. Though he was perfect here, I feel like I’m seeing the same old routines I’ve been seeing since…forever!

Lucketic’s direction surprised me a bit. I wouldn’t have guessed this was his picture until I saw the credits. I mean, if you look at his old lineup of movies, including “Legally Blonde” (2001) and “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton” (2004), this doesn’t look like his type of movie. And I’m glad he’s making a transition to this kind of film. He did a pretty good job and should keep it up.

Vegas is always a beautiful place. But “21” shows it in a young light. It became sexier and much more full of life then we see it in other movies. In “21” not only does the sights an sounds of Vegas indulge us, but the clothes choices and music choices and the cinematography was appealing and perfect. It’s glitzy, it was glamorous, it was fabulous.

Top rap up the review, I’ve got to say that “21” is far jaw-dropping and amazing. But as a 2008 film, it is yet to be beaten. It had great acting and a great plot. I young actors a notable and memorable and they are like Vegas: FULL OF LIFE! Can’t wait to see more of Luketic and Sturgess.

RIP Cyd Charisse (1921-2008)

2008-06-22T15:12:00.021+08:00

It was too sad and too shocking the few days ago when I found out my favorite big screen dancer Cyd Charisse had died to to an heart attack, she was 86. I'm sorry for my very, very late tribute to her, but I needed time to be able to "take-it-in". The day I found out, I skipped my Homework and instantly watched her best film, The Band Wagon (1953) and I've been watching it daily ever since. I love you Cyd, God Bless You. The most beautiful legs in Hollywood and one of the most beautiful stars to EVER live has gone to the most beautiful place in the universe.

THE BAND WAGON (1953)

By this time of her career, Cyd Charisse was one of the most popular stars in Hollywood. And she was the best of the best of female dancers all over the world. She danced rounds around the likes of Leslie Caron and Eleanor Powell. She was a screen goddess. Her best work is here in The Band Wagon (1953), where she plays ballerina Gabrielle Gerard across the likes of Fred Astaire. Gabby and Fred's character Tony Hunter are to appear in a stage play together called "The Band Wagon" but have to live with each other's primma-donna personalities before eventually falling in love. Featuring some of the best numbers in musical-movie history, the movie was "entrainment!"

The Band Wagon (1953) gives the the spectacular "Girl Hunt Ballet" where Cyd plays two roles, the sexy brunette and the tortured blonde. In a murder-mystery type of performance, Cyd Charisse not only shows off her talents but her beauty and wonderful legs too. Sexy she was...

Here, Cyd is shown dancing with Fred Astiare in "The Girl Hunt Ballet". Cyd Charisse is so tall that they hardly showed her standing beside Astaire when she was wearing high heels. The ballet was absolutely amazing.

The best song in the film is off course, the simplest one "Dancing in the Dark", the Love Theme of the motion picture. At the middle of the movie, after one of Gabby and Tony's big fights, they decide that they wanna actually see if they can dance together NOT on stage. So they go to a deserted part of Central Park and give it their all. The product is romance, brilliant orchestration and choreography that mixes Astaire fast beat dancing and Charisse's ballet elegance.

The Band Wagon (1953) gives Charisse the best time to shine as a dancer-actress and beauty. Not only is she given break taking costumes (like the sexy, red dress that has become her "signature" outfit) but she is featured in beautiful musical sequences such as a ballet, "That's Entertainment Finale", "A New Sun in the Sky", "Dancing in the Dark", "You and the Night and the Music" and "The Girl Hunt Ballet".

Look how absolutely sexy she looks in that red dress. All her dresses throughout the movie are so conservative. But when she takes off that green coat when she first sees Astaire is absolutely fascinating and absolutely sexy. One of the best looks ever made for cinema!

SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)

Does it matter that this performance is so short? NO. You know what they say, "Sweet and Short". Cyd gave us absolute brilliance as that "Hooker" in Singin' in the Rain (1952). Her number in "The Broadway Ballet" made her so jazzy, hip, beautiful and sexy. Not to mention that she really, really is very good. No wonder she's the favorite dance partner of both Gene Kelly AND Fred Astaire (Yup, over Ginger Rogers too!)

Seductive and sizzling like always, Cyd is fantastic. That green dress is so sexy on her. I've always wondered if her and Gene Kelly ever had an affair together. That's one beautiful and talented couple. LOOK AT THOSE LEGS!

In the more elegant side of the performance Cyd awed us with this part. It was always a wonder to me how they did this part. If you don't know what happened in this part of Singin' in the Rain (1952), imagine this: Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse are dancing in a long stage, nothing is moving but one thing. Their hair isn't moving, their clothes, their body parts; but Cyd's plain white drape is floating in the air. It looks just great and whole thing is just spellbinding. Offcourse, Cyd is beautiful. Magnificent sight = magnificent performance.

SILK STOCKINGS (1957)

Okay, maybe Silk Stocking (1957) didn't re-capture the Astaire-Charisse magic that was The Band Wagon (1953), but was brilliant for something that was a 2nd try AND wasn't an Arthur Freed produced feature. The songs are the highlight of the low rated picture. But it doesn't mean if a movie isn't good a performance isn't. Go Cyd!

Cyd always, always entertains me. From being bubbly, seductive or being a weird-Russian-chick-who-dances-around-her-apartment-praising-her-silk-stockings, she can never do a wrong step for me. What ever she's in, I will watch. And what did she feel about her 2nd-time-round partner Fred Astaire?:

"Fred moved like glass. Physically it was easy to dance with
him. It was not as demanding on me. I didn't need the same vitality and strength."

THE ZIEGFIELD FOLLIES (1946)

Two highlights of the 1946 musical extravaganza featuring tons of music musical talents (Astaire, Charisse, Kelly, Garland, Ball, Breymer etc.) was that only time Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire only danced together, and Cyd Charisse's bubble-ballet number. All those bubbles complimented her so well...she did no wrong.

BRIGADOON (1954)

In Brigadoon (1954), probably Cyd Charisse's most underrated performance, she plays Scottish mountain girl who (and the rest of her town Brigadoon) only comes to life once in a hundred years, as if they were just in a deep sleep. But Cyd faces a nasty decision, go back to sleep and never see her love (Gene Kelly) again, or leave the town, killing everyone else she loves...Brigadoon (1954) features tons of very impressive numbers, "The Heather on the Hill" (picture seen below), is the most impressive. Seeing Gene and Cyd together is magic.

Quoting Cyd Charisse about what she felt about dacing with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly:

"Fred could never do the lifts Gene did and never wanted to. I'd say they
were the two greatest dancing personalities who were ever on the screen. Each has a distinctive style. Each is a joy to work with. But it's like comparing apples and oranges. They're both delicious."

Oh Cyd, how you do run on. Don't you know your also one of the greatest dancing personalities to ever graze the screen? Actually, the were the best of all the girls!

IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER (1955)

I got admit, It's Always Fair Weather (1955) wasn't that good. Okay, it was just "mediocre". But I do have to give kudos to Cyd for doing that absolutely enchanting number with all the boxers called "Baby, You Knock Me Out".

Ladies and gentlemen, the legend, the master: CYD CHARISSE! She will live forever.

"If I had to give up either acting or dancing, I'd choose to keep dancing."
- Cyd Charisse, (1921-2008)

Defintion: Best Pictures are...

2008-06-11T21:29:00.085+08:00

:: Revolutionary ::
"Wings" (1927)

:: Landmarks ::
"The Broadway Melody" (1929)

:: Gloomy ::
"All Quiet in the Western Front" (1930)

:: Special ::
"Cimarron" (1931)

:: Grand ::
"Grand Hotel" (1932)

:: Appealing ::
"Cavalcade" (1933)

:: Hilarious ::
"It Happend One Night" (1934)

:: Intense ::
"Mutiny On the Bountry" (1935)

:: Dreamy ::
"The Great Ziegfield" (1936)

:: Life Long ::
"The Life of Emile Zola" (1937)

:: Engaging ::
"You Can't Take it With You"

:: Groundbreaking ::
"Gone with the Wind" (1939)

:: Disturbing ::
"Rebecca" (1940)

:: Luminous ::
"How Green Was My Valley" (1941)

:: Gripping ::
"Mrs. Miniver" (1942)

:: Eternal ::
"Casablanca" (1943)

:: Meloncholy ::
"Going My Way" (1944)

:: Puzzling ::
"The Lost Weekend" (1945)

:: Warm ::
"The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946)

:: Innovative ::
"Gentlemen's Agreement" (1947)

:: Dramatic ::
"Hamlet" (1948)

:: Rousing ::
"All the King's Men" (1949)

:: Bewildering ::
"All About Eve" (1950)

:: Impresive ::
"An American in Paris" (1951)

:: Genuine ::
"The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952)

:: Pasionate ::
"From Here to Eternity" (1953)

:: Tough ::
"On the Waterfront" (1954)

:: Loving ::
"Marty" (1955)

:: Largen-Then-Life ::
"Around the World in 80 Days" (1956)

:: Socially Significant ::
"The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957)

:: Bubbly ::
"Gigi" (1958)

:: Striking ::
"Ben-Hur" (1959)

:: Original ::
"The Apartment" (1960)

:: Tragic ::
"West Side Story" (1961)

:: Hypnotic ::
"Lawrence of Arabia" (1962)

"Mischievous"
"Tom Jones" (1963)

:: Glamorous ::
"My Fair Lady" (1964)

:: Timeless ::
"The Sound of Music" (1965)

:: Spellbinding ::
"A Man For All Seasons" (1966)

:: Courageous ::
"In the Heat of the Night" (1967)

:: Blissful ::
"Oliver!" (1968)

:: Daring ::
"Midnight Cowboy" (1969)

:: Patriotic ::
"Patton" (1970)

:: Connected ::
"The French Connection" (1971)

:: Masterworks ::
"The Godfather" (1972)

:: Witty ::
"The Sting" (1973)

:: Conspiring ::
"The Godfather, Part II" (1974)

:: Crazy ::
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975)

:: Motivating ::
"Rocky" (1976)

:: Delightful ::
"Annie Hall" (1977)

:: Explosive ::
"The Deer Hunter" (1978)

:: Sentimental ::
"Kramer vs. Kramer" (1979)

:: Emotional ::
"Ordinary People" (1980)

:: Inspirational ::
"Chariots of Fire" (1981)

:: Powerful ::
"Gandhi" (1982)

:: Heartbreaking ::
"Terms of Endearment" (1983)

:: Haunting ::
"Amadeus" (1984)

:: Lucious ::
"Out of Africa"

:: Gritty ::
"Platoon" (1986)

:: Educational ::
"The Last Emperor" (1987)

:: Bold ::
"Rain Man" (1988)

:: Driven ::
"Driving Ms. Daisy" (1989)

:: Historic ::
"Dances with Wolves" (1990)

:: Scary ::
"The Silence of the Lambs" (1991)

:: True ::
"Unforgiven" (1992)

:: Sinister ::
"Schindler's List" (1993)

:: Touching ::
"Forrest Gump" (1994)

:: Glorifying ::
"Braveheart"

:: Elegant ::
"The English Patient" (1996)

:: Iconic ::
"Titanic" (1997)

:: Romantic ::
"Shakespeare in Love" (1998)

:: Sexy ::
"American Beauty" (1999)

:: Action Packed ::
"Gladiator" (2000)

:: Smart ::
"A Beautiful Mind" (2001)

:: Stunning ::
"Chicago" (2002)

:: Spectacular ::
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003)

:: Uplifting ::
"Million Dollar Baby" (2004)

:: Controversial ::
"Crash" (2005)

:: Thrilling ::
"The Departed" (2006)

:: Fierce ::
"No Country for Old Men" (2007)

What will be next?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUDY GARLAND!

2008-06-10T22:24:00.008+08:00

She may have played the "underdog" in most of her movies, but when it came to careers (especially glittery ones) Judy Garland was on top of it. M-G-M's top star when she first appeared as the naive Dorothy in 1939's "The Wizard of Oz", the performances of Judy only got better and better as she received more praise and more stardom. But as she got older, Judy's unfortunate drug addiction lead to her downfall and death in the late 60s. In praise and memorial of my 2nd favorite actresses' birthday, these are her 5 Greatest Performances of all time.

01. "A STAR IS BORN" (1954)
Judy's best performance is the portrayal of movie star/singer Esther in 1954's spectacular "A Star is Born". Playing a nigh club singer, turned famous when she meets and falls in love with actor Norman Maine (James Mason), Judy gives an ultimately beautiful and magnificent performance, even though in the most depressing time of her life. She gives us a performance to remember; an Oscar worthy performance. Grace Kelly winning the Oscar that year for "The Country Girl" is a crime. 20 minutes into the movie, when Judy sings "The Man That Got Away" in a smoky bar made me realize that she did one of the best performance of ALL TIME.

02. "THE WIZARD OF OZ" (1939)
Judy's first "BIG" movie isn't only a masterpiece, but her performance was naive, sweet and totally surprising for someone her age. The voice, the expressions, no one could have been more perfect for the role of Dorothy. The song "Over the Rainbow" is absolutely immortal and her performance is full of life and fantastic. Not to mention how cute she was!!!

03. EASTER PARADE (1948)
Her charm, her wits, Judy makes me laugh, makes me feel sad for her. Her most "underdog" performance is truly, truly memorable. The songs here are absolutely fantastic, with Judy and Fred Astaire combination, we are given a wonderful, musical delight with such treats as the fluffy holiday tune "Easter Parade", the sentimental "Better Luck Next Time", the zestful "I Love the Piano", the comedic "Couple of Swells" and the stormy "Fella with an Umbrella".

04. MEET ME IN ST. LOUISE (1944)
Judy enchants again with "Meet Me in St. Louis", she giving us another colorful performance, a one to remember for it was her first "grown-up" role. Her performances in the songs were magical as always. Especially "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". But it's Judy's bittersweet attitude and naiveness that makes us love her here so much. So great.

05. THE PIRATE (1948)
Judy's most underrated movie and most underrated performance. I don't understand why people hate this movie. It was funny, glorious and it had Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. Nothing was better to see the two in a comedy. Judy was soooo funny and sooo glorious. I'd love to see this movie again and again and it doesn't deserve all the bad bashing it's received. And the "Be a Clown" finale was just so fun to watch.

Movie Review: Iron Man (2008, Jon Faveau)

2008-06-01T18:55:00.003+08:00

* * * *

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Leslie Bibb, Shaun Tobb, Faran Tahir
Screenplay: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum & Matt Holloway
126 minutes / Color

Action packed, thrilling, amazing sound, a great performance or two, spectacular visual effects and a perfect screenplay to adopt the Marvel Superhero are the components that make up “Iron Man”. I must say that director Jon Faveau has outdone himself, and Robert Downey Jr. is someone to be admired now.

Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark. The owner of the world’s leading weapons making company. And Americas ticket to victory against the Iraq war. But in a demo for his new, fatal weapon, Spark is kidnapped and brought to the other side to make the same weapon for them.

But Stark’s heart and body is week, leading another captivated scientist to make sort-of a electronic heart for him. With this, and his knowledge, Stark pretends to agree with the opposite side and uses the materials they give him to build an Iron suit to break him out.

When his mission is complete, and he finally gets back to his life of sex, rock and weapons back in the United States, he goes on a whole new journey with his personal assistant Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) to perfect the suit.

Stark’s mind takes him to places and he advances the suit to perfection. But behind his back, a mastermind is working to duplicate and rule. Stane (Jeff Bridge), supposedly Stark’s closest business partner, steals one of the suits he made and advances it himself, the same way Stark does his.

Now Tony and Pepper are faced to go against another Iron Man, but this time 10 times bigger. As Tony fights on, Pepper (sort of his, “love interest”) helps and they pull together and destroy the other iron monster with hard-core science.

At the end, they push through. Pepper and Tony get together but now the whole world suspects that this young billionaire might just be a superhero. They rehearse there cove-up for a press conference, but Tony just loves the limelight and states…”I am Iron Man”.

It was a great ending line. And a wonderful, simple closing to a character that defines himself at the beginning and keeps his standards to the end. Downey Jr. does this so very well…

Though I myself haven’t lost respect for great talents such as Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow (some say he’s an addict and some say she’s washed-up), but we should look pass their personal status and look at their performances. Paltrow, the leading lady, wasn’t sheer perfection, but I’m glad she’s made a project like this. It jolts her back to the screen as a star and she looks gorgeous. She’s just another unlucky Oscar winner, but I have faith in her. She can get work and she did pretty well.

Downey Jr. was spectacular. He was interesting, funny, witty, smart and exiting to watch. He did a wonderful job as Tony Spark and his alias Iron Man. This just makes me more excited for a so-called rumor hat he may portray Playboy’s Hugh Heffner. Let’s wish for the best. This guy has been under the talent radar for so long that he needs an Oscar. I think 2008 and 2009 will be good years for him. He shows us great talent in “Iron Man” and proves he can do other things than dramas.

“Iron Man” was a great combination of everything great that should be seen in a comic-book movie. It’s been the Best Comic film I’ve seen since “Spider-Man 2” (2004)! But we’ll have to wait for “The Dark Knight” (2008).

It had unbelievable effects .Not only were the visuals eye popping enough to notice the shiny flying chrome and distinctive yellow and red, but the sound mixing and editing was glorious. And so was the film editing. It was a tech masterpiece of this year, and most likely this years “Transformers” (2007).

However, like “Transformers”, I’m facing the problem that it’s being over hyped. People keep talking about it anywhere I go; I’m getting sick of this. This is far from good. Actually not good at all. When a movie like this gets too talked about it soon leads to a downfall of hate (Ala “High School Musical” amongst others). Oh welll…

Hoping it will make it to Oscar season is useless. Because it already is there (despite the downfall fear). If not acting or film editing, I’m sure that sound and visual effects like this have big chances of being honored. Good luck, because I’m rooting for you “Iron Man”.

Movie Review: When Love Begins… (2008, Jose Javier Reyes)

2008-06-01T18:38:00.003+08:00

* *

Cast: Aga Muhlach, Ann Curtis, Boots Anson-Roa, Jon Avila, A.J. Dee, Christopher De Leon, Desiree Del Valle, Gemme Fitzgerald
Screenplay: Jose Javier Reyes
120 minutes / Color

I admit, I like Filipino movies, even if they are extremely far-fetched, stupid and none-quality. But this was just too much. It was boring, badly acted and very disappointing. I like love stories too, but I never knew that it would be this boring. I wanted them to break up, get together—whatever, I just wanted it to be over. I left the theater mad and I felt that my money was wasted.

Starring big Filipino film star Aga Muhlach as love struck, Ben Cabellero, he was probably the only one who did a good thing—a comeback! Set in the tourist filled Boracay Island in the Philippines; we are introduced to couple Ben and a beautiful, younger woman Mitch Valmonte (Anne Curtis). Though they hit it of real fast, its when there together when they’ll be facing real problems.

Ben was a lawyer, but doesn’t practice law anymore. Now he is just an environmental activist in love. Mitch is a comfortable, fashionable working girl who works for her father’s corporation. When Mitch’s fathers plan to put up a subdivision in a place Ben was against, they break up and decide to be together only if it’s meant to be.

At the end, they find each other and they end up together. Easy to say right? Oh no…Through out the journey, they face twists and turns and irrelevant inner stories of their families lives. Especially Ben’s mother’s struggle against cancer.

It was a bore fest of bore fests. And not something you would expect this director to make. It was terrible. I guess I’m just kind enough not to give it a one.

Anne Curtis was in a performance that was only vain for herself. She didn’t do anything but stand around and look pretty. She sounded scripted and was heinous at everything she did. I would have rather seen an older woman doing a better job, then this young beauty practically ruining the film. They should know better to star a minor with the greats of Muhlach.

Muhlach was good. He was the same as he always was. No touch lost and I think if he could pursue a acting career again. What an unfortunate waste that this had to released. Waste of money and waste of time.

“When Love Begin…” is lowly recommend. And I think the critics would agree. As much as you want to take you lover to a date movie, do not watch this one. It’s dragging, boring and absolutely not my cup of tea. Thumbs down. The love did not begin…

Movie Review: Never Back Down (2008, Jeff Wadlow)

2008-06-01T18:19:00.001+08:00

* * * *

Cast: Sean Farris, Djimon Honsou, Amber Heard, Cam Gigandet, Evan Peters
Screenplay: Chris Hauty
110 minutes / Color

Teen movies are well…teen movies. And never back down is a typical teen movie, with sort of a punch. As much as I enjoy lowly rated teen movies to entertain me, I really thought the movie was quite fun to watch. Despite all the character and story holes, the movie came together and gave us an underrated film that brought us into the world of underground fighting.

Starting out in small town football game, lead character Jake Tyler (Sean Farris) makes himself infamous with on-court rambles and fighting that makes his outrageous mother feel that Jake is good for nothing and responsible for her husband’s death.

When the mom gets a promotion and moves her family to the sunny streets of Miami, Jake finds it difficult to survive in his new high school with the likes of the popular students such as Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet) and his beautiful girlfriend Baja Miller (Amber Heard).

When one night, Jake gets lured into a beating by Ryan that he wasn’t aware of, he seeks for a Martial Arts coach that can train both his body and soul in how to defend himself. He finds the perfect person, Coach Jean Roqua, a Brazilian. But Jean has one condition; he can’t use what he taught him in the gym.

When Ryan finds out that Jake is buffing up, he decides to take his violent sport to another level and challenges him in an annual Fight Night. But after a refusal, he lures in Jake’s only friend Max (Evan Peters) and beats him up terribly.

Going against his mother’s conditions, his Coaches rules, Jake goes for it and goes through the fight of his life. But with one more jolt of strength, the love of Baja (she was in love with him and not Ryan after all, because he was a “bad guy”) and wisdom from the coach, Jake beats Ryan and wins back his respect.

Sounds cliché huh? Well it is. As I said, a teen movie is a teen movie. And nothing more. But apparently, this one is quite enjoyable. It wasn’t the direction or screenplay and especially the performances, but there was something about the movie that made it interesting and fun to watch with a close group of friends.

Sean Farris hasn’t traveled the acting road for long, but with a little more twists and turns; when the right performance comes (and not trash like “Sleepover” (2004)), he will make his mark in Hollywood. He has the talent, he just needs to horn it better.

Djimon’s performance was something to enjoy. Not “Blood Diamond” (2006) or “Amistad” (1997) but great to put on a resume. I mean, it’s not always that nice to see serious movies all the way. We need variety and Djimon gives us that this time. He was good and was the best performance in the film.

The rest of the actors weren’t so “good”, as I like to say. They were only as nice as the broken up sports car Max drove. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but somewhere close...

Lastly, I must say that I enjoy glamorous teen movies. As the country and media (teen media, that is) gets more into TV’s latest teen sensation “Gossip Girl”, I think anything like this (glamour and looks) hits the silver screen, its something the masses will watch. Good to know, “Never Back Down” was one of the first.

All in all, it was a fair bargain. “Never Back Down” was far from bad and far from good. But mixed elements and a fun storyline gives us something to enjoy and get away from the heavy season of movies we had just a while back. I had fun.

Thoughts on 2000s Best Pictures

2008-05-29T23:07:00.012+08:00

2000
Who won: "Gladiator" / Dir: Ridley Scott
Who should have won: "Requiem for a Dream" / Dir: Darren Aronofsky (Not nominated)

"Gladiator" was great. I swear. The ending was perfect and Joaquin Phoenix was splendid in his haunting role as a the Emperor. So was Russell Crowe. The tech side was fantastic and the visuals couldn't be beaten that year. But was it really the Best of the Best? No! It wasn't even the best out of the nominees ("Erin Brockovich" was). The nominees that year were some of the most messed up I've ever seen. It was probably the worst Oscar year of the decade for me. The best film that year was most definitely Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream". The story of 4 affected drug addicts really blows the Gladiator out of the podium...the Oscar podium that is.

2001
Who won: "A Beautiful Mind" / Dir: Ron Howard
Who should have won: "Moulin Rouge!" / Dir: Baz Luhrmann (Nominated)

As much as I really, really, really loved this movie and the fantastic story that has something to do with my dad's work (not to mention the lead stars' dynamic performances), the movie didn't hit the perfect strings to be the best. Everyone knew that "Moulin Rouge!" was truly the greatest film that year. Some people feel that its the best this decade (I'm partly with those people). "Moulin Rouge!" was of grandeur and extravagance, but "A Beautiful Mind" seemed to make the Academy out of "love". It didn't take me out of love. "Moulin Rouge!" forever! COME WHAT MAY...

2002
Who won: "Chicago" / Dir: Rob Marshall
Who should have won: "The Pianist" / Dir: Roman Polanski (Nominated)

First, I have to say this was a hella strong year. Possibly the most painful year to decide on. In one side we the spectacle murder story known as "Chicago", with jazzy tunes and great performances. But then we also have the Brody powerhouse "The Pianist". Then we have the Leo-Adams-Hanks-Walken wonder "Catch Me if You Can". Then the Scorsese masterwork "Gangs of New York". The list goes on and on. I gotta say that I'm fine with "Chicago's" win. I'm not as bitter as my "Moulin Rouge!" love. But after "The Pianist" grabbed Director (Polanski) and Actor (Brody), Picture belonged to it. It was absolutely marvelous in all aspects. But hey, all that jazz was loved more...

2003
Who won: "The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King" / Dir: Peter Jackson
Who should have won: "Cold Mountain" / Dir: Anthony Minghella (Not nominated)

It's the best in the trilogy. It really was. But it wasn't what I like to say "Best Picture" worthy. I mean, it was just another one of those "Rings" movie. It was all the same: Frodo, fighting blah-blah-blah! I'm not bashing it okay? But OSCAR for Best Picture? C'mon. We could do so much better then that. The best of the nominees was clearly "Mystic River". But two more films were grater then that too. The crazy world of the "Thirteen" girls and the Civil War love epic "Cold Mountain". "Cold Mountain" was touching, grand and fully magic. I loved it and all the characters and emotion that went with it. How the Academy walked right by this (it got all the other 7 nominations it deserved) for even a Best Picture nod is beyond me...

2004
Who won: "Million Dollar Baby" / Dir: Clint Eastwood
Who should have won: "The Aviator" / Dir: Martin Scorsese (Nominated)

"Million Dollar Baby" is a deserving film. I liked it a lot. Clearly not enough though. A majority of people do think that "The Aviator" should have won. Don't worry, I'm not going with the crowds to say it did. "Aviator" was a clear front runner and it was a front runner for a reason: because it was brilliant. The 5 wins that night gave us hope, but at the end "Baby" took the win. Life wasn't fair for "Aviator" director Martin Scorsese, but the result of the next two years is brilliant for him. I guess he was more motivated after the defeat.

2005
Who won: "Crash" / Dir: Paul Haggis
Who should have won: "Pride and Prejudice" / Dir: Joe Wright (Not nominated)

It's not as bad as people say it was. I mean they exaggerate when people call it "Trash" or "Crap" as its alternative name. It wasn't bad at all actually. Fine, Bullock and Frasier were crap, but everyone else (especially Dillon) was quite good. But just the same, it took up a spot in a year full of brilliantly made movies. It was the worst out of the nominees, but still manages to win. Is it because of that "racial" theme it had. Maybe...Anyways Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", directed by the underrated Joe Wright was far superior and far underrated in its own right. "Pride" is nearly a masterpiece. I hate it when people go all dramatic since "Brokeback Mountain" didn't win--they should be dramatic for Elizabeth and Darcy. :(

2006
Who won: "The Departed" / Dir: Martin Scorsese
Who should have won: "The Departed" / Dir: Martin Scorsese (Nominated)

The only year this decade I agree on. This film was by far amazing. Thrilling, intelligent, confident, smart, witty--can't think of enough words to say how good it was. Confusing? Naahh. Just really, really well made. Marty was a genius. He won for the perfect film. DiCaprio was marvelous and so was Damon, Nicholson, Wahlberg and Farmiga. Everyone was in place. All it's Oscar wins match my Chino Choice Awards. Love it.

2007
Who won: "No Country for Old Men"
Who should have won: "Across the Universe" (Not nominated)

Before I saw it I was excited. After I saw it I was very disappointed. It was over hyped and not a very good movie. Well, not as good as everyone says it is. "Across" is a unique choice and I'm a Beatles fan. But believe me, I'm not being bias. It was WORST out of the nominees ("Juno" was the best!) and WORST movie to win Best Picture this decade. It was very, very over hyped. It was utterly mad and people are hypocrites when they call this movie a masterpiece and "Across" crap. It's not true. This was an okay film all together, but to be considered to be TOP HONORS is just waaay tooooo much. A Sound nomination (or win) and a nom for Javier Bardem is enough. "Across the Universe" kicks this ones ass better then Chugah's American accent.

RANKING OF THE MOVIES
01. The Departed (2006)
02. Chicago (2002)
03. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
04. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
05. Gladiator (2000)
06. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
07. Crash (2005)
08. No Country for Old Men (2007)

Downey to play Heff?

2008-05-28T16:58:00.002+08:00

The "rumor" is out that every one's Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. impressed Playboy mogul Hugh Heffner so much that he asked him to play him in a reported biopic. I'm a Downey Jr. fan so this is good news and I think that the role would match him well. Let's just hope he doesn't re-create his "Iron Man" (2008) performance and give is something that we'll really love. We trust you dude!

So does this mean that the old reported rumors of Leo DiCaprio playing Heff is gone? I hope not. Either one of them would be very cool...

2000-2007: Favorite Movies of the Year

2008-05-27T22:06:00.011+08:00

REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000, Darren Aronofsky)
[Picture: Marlon Wayans and Jared Leto go to a drug distrubution that goes rampant.]

MOULIN ROUGE! (2001, Baz Luhrmann)
[Picture: Nicole Kidman sings the seductive "Diamons Are a Girl Best Friend" to sing to the "one-and-only" Duke.]

THE PIANIST (2002, Roman Polanski)
[Picture: Adrian Brody walks from place to place, past the worrying and terrified Jews in Poland, World War II.]

COLD MOUNTAIN (2003, Anthony Minghella)
[Picture: Renee Zelwegger and Nicole Kidman share a nice, warm Christmas together; looking after each other during the Civil War.]

THE AVIATOR (2004, Martin Scorsese)
[Picture: Leonardo DiCaprio and Gwen Stefani (in a cameo as Jean Harlow) enter the movie premier of "Hello's Angels" in 1920's Hollywood.]

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (2005, Joe Wright)
[Picture: Keira Knightly looks and observes Mr. Darcy's mansion as she hears piano music from the other room.]

THE DEPARTED (2006, Martin Scorsese)
[Picture: Leonardo DiCaprio reflects his troubled and "living-in-fear" mobster life.]

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2007, Julie Taymor)
[Picture: Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood and ensemble of the movie sings the haunting "Because" ballad.]

2008 Oscar Predictions

2008-05-27T20:26:00.002+08:00

Best Picture of the Year
01. "Doubt"
- It has Meryl Streep in it a it does look absolutely promising and Oscary.
02. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
- Could it be director David Fincher's big break? Brad Pitt too. Lets not forget that the Academy absolutely loves Cate Blanchett.
03. "Milk"
- Gay theme with a strong stellar cast. Sean Penn, as everyone knows it brilliant. Brokeback Mountain 2 anyone? Could be...
04. "Revolutionary Road"
- Re-team up of "Titanic" (1997) powerhouse Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. Daymm...Mendez is directing, the Academy did love "American Beauty" (1999).
05. "Australia"
- Director Luhrmann and Kidman were really snubbed for "Rouge"! (2001). Could this be there payback? And the visuals are stunning. We always need a strong visiaul film in the lineup anyways.

Best Actor in a Leading Role
01. LEONARDO DICAPRIO - "Revolutionary Road"
- With 3 brilliant Oscar nominated performances under his belt, DiCaprio is long overdue and will eventually win one anyways.
02. SEAN PENN - "Milk"
- Could this be Penn's 2nd Oscar? He's playing a gay politician in a biopic, what more can the Academy want and love...nothing else!
03. BENICIO DEL TORRO - "Che"
- He just won the Canne and he's getting rave reviews despite the film's bad ones. Could he be this years Cate Blanchett nomination?
04. FRANK LANGHELLA - "Frost / Nixon"
- Playing a public figure never hurt. But we still need to see solid reviews for the film to see if he's getting anywhere.
05. BRAD PITT - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
- A highly buzzed film and overdue cast only means gold. Lets not mention how promising it looks. Watch the trailer now!

Best Actress in a Leading Role
01. KATE WINSLET - "Revolutionary Road"
- She's brilliant and everyone knows it. From "Sense and Sensebility" to "Titanic" to "Iris" to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" to"Little Children"..What!? No Oscar win!!! With 2 highly buzzed movies, this might just be her year...
02. MERYL STREEP - "Doubt"
- She's Meryl. Streep. She can do anything. All is said.
03. JULIANNE MOORE - "Blindess"
- Who ever said not winning in the Cannes is a rule. Jullianne Moore is also very long overdue. It just depends if this performnce is absolutely strong enough.
04. KEIRA KNIGHTLY - "The Duchess"
- No win for "Pride and Prejudice" and a brilliant perfmormance in "Atonement". She's young and has it going strong. It's a big possibility for a nomination...ONLY.
05. NICOLE KIDMAN - "Australia"
- Already an Oscar winner. But Luhrmann brings out the best in her (Hello, "Moulin Rouge!"). I can see her up here.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
01. ROBERT DOWNEY JR. - "The Soloist"
- Right now he's gold -- I mean IRON. This could be Downey's comeback year. But sometimes, "comebacks" don't work. Lets wait for the reviews.
02. JOHN MALKOVICH - "The Changeling"
- The films is being reviewed very well. But will Angelina over-shine him?
03. PHILLIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN - "Doubt"
- Is his new "thing" supporting roles. With last years nomination for "Charlie Wilson's War", Hoffman could be in a roll. But its another case of = will-the-main-star-overshine-me.
04. DAMIAN BICHI - "Che"
- C'mon. He's playing Fidel Castro.
05. JOSH BROLIN - "Milk"
- He kills the Sean Penn's gay character right? The Oscars love the controversy of this. And man, he was good in last years "No Country for Old Men".

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
01. AMY ADAMS - "Doubt"
- She was snubbed for "Enchanted" (2007), "Junebug" (2005) and "Catch Me if You Can" (2003). Her talent is magnificent. She's young and amazing. Need is say more but this: SHE'S OVERDUE ALREADY!
02. AMY RYAN - "The Changeling"
- She was really great in "Gone Baby Gone" (2007). Could this be one of those: best-out-of-the-nominees-the-previous-year-and-didn't-win-and-will-win-the-following-year-thing ala Renee Zelwegger and Nicole Kidman? Maybe...
03. KATHY BATES - "Revolutionary Road"
- Bates always nails her performances. Higly buzzed movies might get her another nod.
04. MICHELLE WILLIAMS - "Synecdoche, New York"
- Did a brillaint job in "Brokeback Mountain" (2005) but that was a year too strong. This year might be the same.
05. CATE BLANCHETT - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
- I can't think of a Oscar year this century without at least buzz on Cate Blanchett. Knowing her and how much the Academy loves what she does (even if the movie sucks)...she'll got nominated one way or the other.

Best Director
01. JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY - "Doubt"
- I've never heard of him till now. But since I'm predicting "Doubt" as next years Best Picture, might as well give him the win too right?
02. BAZ LUHRMANN - "Australia"
- The "Moulin Rouge!" (2001) snub back in 2001 was the biggest directorial snub in the history of Oscars! Teaming with muse once more Nicole Kidman might finally give this talented director the nom he deserves.
03. DAVID FICHER - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
- Wierd movie but looks too brilliant to be true. His nom will come with the movie's Picture nom. And did I mention, he's way overdue!
04. SAM MENDEZ - "Revolutionary Road"
- Won for "American Beauty" (1999). He'll get nominated for this highly buzed movie...
05. GUS VAN SANT - "Milk"
- Will he finally get a nomination for his gay-themed biopic? I think so...it's a daring project and the Academy won't miss out on it.

C'mon, you got to admit. It's a good show.

2008-05-27T20:21:00.003+08:00

Oscar Season is coming up soon!

2008-05-27T20:19:00.000+08:00

It seems like yesterday when I was so happy that Marion Cotillard was on the Oscar Podium recieving her Best Actress Oscar. With Cannes finishing up...it won't be long, yeah!

RIP Sydney Pollack (1934 - 2008)

2008-05-27T20:04:00.004+08:00

Another talent grately lost.
RIP to the brilliant Sydney Pollack who wasn't only a actor, producer, wirter and public figure but brought out the best in himself when he directed movies. Pollack died from his struggle againts cancer on Monday morning, all will always be remembered. Pollack's talent varried in all genres. From romance to drama to comedy to movies with music and no-music, Pollack's effort has definately made a mark in Hollywood. I'm sad to say he was one of my favorite directors...

3 memorable films:

THE WAY WE WERE (1973) - Sydney shows off his talents with drama "The Way We Were" with superstar Barbra Stresiand and life-long friend Robert Redford (who he made 7 movies with). "The Way We Were" features brilliant direction that fits timeless music together and shows us that years can seem fast and interesting when in the hands of someone that can shift scenes so well.

TOOTSIE (1982) - Pollack not only directs my favorite film of his, but he also acts in it opposite the brilliance of such Oscar-nominated performances of Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange and Teri Garr! Pollack gives us something to remember with the gender-bending comedy "Tootsie" in which he recieved an Oscar nomination.

OUT OF AFRICA (1985) - Probably knows as Pollack's greatest cinematic achievement, Pollack puts together a mix of fine acting, breathtaking cinematography, a wonderful story and a uplifting score. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning 7 (2 for himself in the Best Picture and Best Director catagories) Pollack scores and truly makes a mark in history.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM STRUGESS!!!

2008-05-16T19:31:00.003+08:00

I've only seen one of his movies, but already 27-year-old Jim Sturgess is already one of my favorite on-screen personalities. Unfortunately, he just misses my 2007 Best Actor lineup as #6. Darn shame. But with his talent, especially the one he showcased in 2007's movie musical extravaganza "Across the Universe", there will be plenty more of him. He's a brilliant young actor, and with such a voice too! He'll go places. I haven't seen his other 2 new movies "21" and "The Other Boleyn Girl" but I'm planning to very soon. Maybe "Boleyn" tomorrow and "21" when its released here on May 28 (long way...). But for tonight, I must celebrate with "Across the Universe"; his triumph (its kinda early to say but I mean it)!!! Brilliant job, can't wait to see more of his films. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM!!!

...Hope OSCAR comes soon... :)

Photo: Jim Sturgess mesmerizing the silver screen with his rendition of "Girl", the first musical number in "Across the Universe".

Best Motion Picture of the Year

2008-05-08T14:41:00.006+08:00

"ACROSS THE UNIVERSE"
Director: Julie Taymor
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther McCoy, T.V. Carpio, Bono, Selma Hayek, Spencer Liff
Screenplay: Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais

TOTAL CHINO CHOICE AWARDS (5): Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Joe Anderson), Best Director (Julie Taymor), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

Set in the groovy 60s and set to the music of the Beatles, we are taken into a musical power serge full of color, sex, drugs and love. Starting out with Jude (Jim Sturgess) in England who falls in love with Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) when he reaches the shores of America to find his long lost father. Behind there love story is the wacky Max (Joe Anderson), Lucy's brother. And their gang of friends who live with them in the same apartment: rocker Sadie (Dana Fuchs), African-American Jojo (Martin Luther McCoy) and the lesbian Prudence (T.V. Carpio). As the war in Vietnam goes on and Max gets drafted, we enter the world of Jude and Lucy's problems. Jude is an artist who just wants to work, while Lucy becomes a radical rebellion who wants nothing but to be noticed. As their problems (and a crazy rally) tear them apart, Jude gets deported to England but is persuaded by Max to come back and realize that all he needs i love.

"Across the Universe" is the full package for a movie for me this year. Though it doesn't really contrast with my winners of the past years ("The Departed", "Pride and Prejudice", "The Aviator", "Cold Mountain" etc.), when I saw this movie I fell in love with the art and the music. I'm a pure Beatles fan and now a pure "Across the Universe" fan. I'm not ashamed to say t his is my favorite movie of the year, just because its bashed SOOOOO much. I'm proud to say it is. It shows that I have unique taste and a wonderful eye for entertainment. The art, the direction, Joe and Jim's performance, the music, the druggies FX makes "Across the Universe" truly the Best Movie of 2007. I'm in love with it.

Lat years winner: "The Departed"

Best Actor in a Leading Role

2008-05-08T14:28:00.003+08:00

"Into the Wild" - EMILE HIRSCH
Portraying Christopher McCandless (aka Alexander Supertramp) we are blessed with a wonderful performance in "Into the Wild" by Emile Hirsch. Believe me Hirsch has been under the radar of brilliance for a long time. His performance in "The Girl Next Door" is underrated, but finally he gets absolutely TRUE recognition for his work here. Escaping his life in the big city, McCandless decides to travel to Alaska with no money and no resources. After meeting dozens of people and rediscovering himself, he arrives at Alaska and starts living there. But as the days go by and he becomes more lonely. He realizes that happiness is only good when shared. Hirsch goes beyond "dialogue" acting, his emotions of loneliness and even his doings when he's eating something, killing something, catching something, taking a bath, thinking = its all remarkable. He makes the movie.

Last years winners: "The Last King of Scotland" - FOREST WHITAKER

Best Actress in a Leading Role

2008-05-08T14:18:00.002+08:00

"La Vie en Rose" - MARION COTILLARD
Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose" goes beyond the makeup. And she is by fat the BEST (as in BEST) performance of the entire year. Her portrayal of Edith Piaf is sensation, uncanny and over-the-top (just like Piaf actually is). Playing her from her early years from the 20s to her death at her late 40s, Cotillard portrays us her life as a street singer, her scandalous life in France, her Night Club days, her Broadway performances, the death of her love ones both named Marcel and her sickness. Without a doubt, Marion Cotillard is excellent. Her performance even excels pass the greatness of the movie itself. Who can forget that "Marcel scene" where Edith goes hysterical to the death of her boyfriend? Or the scene where she faints on stage but still wants to go out again to please her fans? Or the ending, oh the ending!-- That ending where she sings "No Regrets" is mighty amazing. Mighty true to Piaf. Mighty brilliant performance.

Last years winner: "The Queen" - HELEN MIRREN

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

2008-05-08T14:09:00.004+08:00

"Across the Universe" - JOE ANDERSON
As a newcomer, British born actor Joe Anderson has made his mark as the carefree, happy Max in Julie Taymor's "Across the Universe". With not much acting experience (he was in a terrible film called "Becoming Jane" last year) Joe Anderson surely gives us a performance to remember. His good looks, damn good voice and phenomenal acting was perfect for Max's character. Playing a rebellious rich boy who moves to New York City to live a free life with his buddy Jude, Max gets the bitter taste when his dropping out of college leads to his drafting to the war in Vietnam. With much agony, when he arrives home, he is war-torn and shell-shoked. Singing unforgettable tunes to match his acting like "Hey Jude", "With a Little Help from My Friends" and "Happiness is a Warm Gun", Joe Anderson is a young talent on the rise. With few movies, he'll just get better and better. WOW...one was was so brilliant already!!!

Last years winner: "Dreamgirls" - EDDIE MURPHY

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

2008-05-08T14:03:00.003+08:00

"Gone Baby Gone" - AMY RYAN
Amy Ryan's performance in "Gone Baby Gone" is just what it wants itself to be: annoying, self-righteous and arrogant. But that's what brings out the beauty of a new comer now turned gold. Even though Ryan's part wasn't so big, her performance as suffering mother Helene McCready blew off the roof and surpassed most of her co-stars. Portraying selfish and prima donna notions in lower-class Boston, Ryan's Helene is a complex character who only used her daughter's disappearance as a publicity stunt. At the end, when her daughter is retrieved, she goes back to her previous life of drugs and sex, without a care. Ryan gives us a woman to hate, despise and without a doubt the best female supporting performance of the year.

Last years winner: "Notes on a Scandal" - CATE BLANCHETT

Best Director

2008-05-08T13:58:00.002+08:00

"Across the Universe" - JULIE TAYMOR
Best female direction I have ever seen is Julie Taymor's in "Across the Universe". Her angles and presentation of things are just absolutely brilliant. She took me into a world of pure madness but I enjoyed it because of the way it was made. Taymor IS "Across the Universe", without her the movie wouldn't have worked. She did a great, spectacular job. She goes beyond "amatuer" and beats many male directors out of the water. I really can't wait to see more of her work in the near future.

Last years winner: "The Departed" - MARTIN SCORSESE

Best Ensemble Cast

2008-05-08T13:27:00.002+08:00

"Hairspray"
Just mentioning the names of the amazingly musically inclined cast makes you know what kind of talent pot you have to expect: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta ("Grease", "Saturday Night Fever"), Michelle Pfeiffer ("Dangerous Liaisons", "The Fabulous Baker Boys"), Christopher Walken ("The Deer Hunter", "Pennies from Heaven"), Amanda Bynes ("She's the Man"), James Marsden ("Enchanted"), Queen Latifah ("Chicago"), Brittany Snow ("John Tucker must Die"), Zac Efron ("High School Musical" 1 & 2), Elijah Kelley ("Take the Lead") and Allison Janney ("Juno", "American Beauty")...Damn. Lets not forget the talented chorus dancers that make "Hairspray" a spectacle. Best Cast of the Year!

Last years winner: "The Departed"

Best Original Screenplay

2008-05-08T13:23:00.003+08:00

"Juno" (by Diablo Cody)
Ex-exotic dancer Diablo Cody has written a comical masterpiece for all ages. What could be more original and funny than this? "Juno" tells us the story of a young high school student named Juno who gets pregnant and puts up her baby to adoption. During the 9 months of her pregnancy, she is taken on a roller coaster ride with adoptive parents who are so problematic, confusion about her love life and family oh and..."looking like a planet". The screenplay is just brilliant and heartwarming. It's a masterwork.

Last years winner: "Little Miss Sunshine"

Best Adapted Screenplay

2008-05-08T13:18:00.003+08:00

"Into the Wild" (by Sean Penn)
Adapted from the book by Jon Krakauer, "Into the Wild" tells the story of Christopher Mckanilis (adapting the name Alexander Supertramp) who had everything in life, only to end up abandoning it to live in the wild. This is his story to Alaska, as he meets people, discovers himself and understands others. "Into the Wild" reads brilliance onto the screen as it did on paper. Sean Penn's adaptation is perfect, with sweet dialogue and story that does not bore.

Last years winner: "The Departed"

Best Original Score

2008-05-08T13:15:00.002+08:00

"Atonement"
This is just really, really lovely. Once again, the score in Joe Wright's film is absolutely a hit and is amazing and smart. Not only is it haunting, but the unique way of using a typewriter as an instrument is delectable and unforgettable. The music hits the right notes in the right time. Great to listen to. Probably, the best part of the film too.

Last years winner: "The Painted Veil"

Best Cinematography

2008-05-08T13:11:00.003+08:00

"Across the Universe"
I just have to say that the cinematography in this movie is utterly, utterly overlooked and underrated. I mean "its gorgeous", in Sadie's words. The bright stage lights of "Oh Darling and Helter Skelter" to the dimness of "Hey, Jude", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Happiness is a Warm Gun", "Across" is purely charming to look at and watch in the same time. Very lovely indeed. Spectacular!

Last years winner: "The Prestige"

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

2008-05-08T13:06:00.001+08:00

"Across the Universe"
True - it does bring us back to the groovy 60s but its much more then that! From the dark Liverpool walls to the brick wallks of Princeton to the upbeat colorful New York City to The bombings of Viet Nam to a druggy's circus to stages and musical performances to subways stations and rallies to Suburban New Jersey to circulating hospitals to bleeding strawberries and underwater sex, the art direction of "Across the Universe" goes beyond normal...LITERALLY!!!

Last years winner: "Dreamgirls"

Best Costume Design

2008-05-08T13:01:00.003+08:00

"Hairspray"
The amazing 60s is what is it: tight suits, poodle skirts, dancing muffins, beads and glitter, glamour and fur, sweaters and chucks...you name it, its all here. The costumes in "Hairspray" takes us back to a time which doesn't want to be anything but beautiful. The grand sowing and many colors are great and eye-candy. Who can forget such iconic clothes worn by John Travolta (The pink and red dresses), Nikki Blonsky (the cockroach dress and big hair!), Zac Efron (the tight blue, grey and black suits) and Queen Michelle Pfieffer (her wardrobe was phenomnal!)!!!

Last years winner: "Dreamgirls"

Best Makeup

2008-05-08T12:55:00.002+08:00

"La Vie en Rose"
Transforming someone so, so, so, so BEAUTIFUL, into someone well, uh...not so beautiful is really hard. And that's what "La Vie en Rose" did for Marion Cotillard. It's not just the fact that they turned her completely like the french singer, but the fact that they transformed her face from her life in her early 20s till she dies from sickness at her late 40s is absolutely amazing. And absolutely believable too.

Last yers winner: "Pan's Labyrinth"

Best Sound Mixing

2008-05-08T12:52:00.002+08:00

"Transformers"
Once more we are taken into the world of robots, explosions and transforming sounds. Here, the sounds are tricky...mixing together explosions, voices, bullets, fights, conversations and panicking people, "Transformers" introduces us into sound quality so fine, we feel that these events are actually happened right beside us.

Last years winner: "Letters from Iwo Jima"

Best Film Editing

2008-05-08T12:50:00.003+08:00

"There Will Be Blood"
How can anyone forget such a masterwork when it comes to cinematography, music AND...FILM EDITING. The editing in "Blood" is spectacular. Enhancing the story little by little till we reach a phenomenal moment when oil springs from the ground and everyone is going crazy. The film editing is beyond perfect, making everything not only beautiful, but exciting too!

Last years winner: "The Departed"

Best Visual Effects

2008-05-08T12:45:00.002+08:00

"Transformers"
Though it was a good year for visual effects, it wasn't hard to decide the winner when the action flick "Transformers" came along. The movie was funny, action-packed and the effects were the best anyone had seen. Mighty robots fighting each other, guns blasting off, car chases and off course: transforming and EXPLOSIONS! It was a feast for the eyes!

Last years winner: "Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest"

Best Original Song

2008-05-08T12:41:00.002+08:00

"Enchanted" - "That's How You Know"
The Alan Menken /Stephen Swartz tune was hummed by everyone after leaving the theater. The choice of Amy Adams is perfect. The colors and sounds and people of New York City bring the song to life. "That's How You Know" isn't only one of the most sung movie songs of the year, it's the best one too.

Last years winner: "Dreamgirls" - "Listen"

Best Animated Feature

2008-05-08T12:37:00.003+08:00

"Ratatouille"
Is is too obvious to be true? Well everyone can surely say that it was really, really the best animated feature of the year. Pixar has been doing a good job lately. The story of Remy the Rat, who goes to Paris to be chef is a little unconventional. But the movie is fun, hip, colorful and includes a brilliant monologue by Peter O'Toole at the end. Bravo! Let's not forget the fact that the animation is gorgeous...

Last years winner: "Cars"

4th Annual Chino Choice Awards nominees

2008-05-07T22:39:00.012+08:00

This was quite a sad year for me since I missed out 3 major movies: "Away from Her", "Once" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly". And since its getting quite late, I guess I have to post my awarding now. How annoying I didn't get to watch those 3. But I will surely update when I do. For now, here are the nominees for the 4th Annual Chino Choice Awards, the winners will be announced tomorrow:

*****

Best Motion Picture of the Year
"Across the Universe"
"Atonement"
"Hairspray"
"Into the Wild"
"Juno"

Best Actor in a Leading Role
"Across the Universe" - Jim Sturegess
"Gone Baby Gone" - Casey Affleck
"Into the Wild" - Emile Hirsch
"Lars and the Real Girl" - Ryan Gosling
"There Will Be Blood" - Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Actress in a Leading Role
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" - Cate Blanchett
"Enchanted" - Amy Adams
"Juno" - Ellen Page
"La Vie en Rose" - Marion Cotillard
"Sweeney Todd" - Helena Bonham Carter

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
"Across the Universe" - Joe Anderson
"The Assassination of Jesse James" - Casey Affleck
"Hairspray" - John Travolta
"Into the Wid" - Hal Holbrook
"No Country for Old Men" - Javier Bardem

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
"Atonement" - Saorise Ronan
"Gone Baby Gone" - Amy Ryan
"Hairspray" - Michelle Pfieffer
"Juno" - Jennifer Garner
"Michael Clayton" - Tilda Swinton

Best Director
"Across the Universe" - Julie Taymor
"Atonement" - Joe Wright
"Into the Wild" - Sean Penn
"Sweeney Todd" - Tim Burton
"There Will Be Blood" - Paul Thomas Anderson

Best Ensemble Cast
"Atonement"
"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"
"Hairspray"
"Into the Wild"
"Juno"

Best Original Screenplay
"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" - Kelly Masterson
"Eastern Promises" - Steven Knight
"Juno" - Diable Cody
"Lars and the Real Girl" - Nancy Oliver
"Superbad" - Seth Rogan & Evan Goldberg

Best Adapted Screenplay
"Atonement" - Christopher Hampton
"The Assassination of Jesse James" - Andrew Dominik
"Gone Baby Gone" - Ben Affleck & Aaron Stockard
"Into the Wild" - Sean Penn
"There Will Be Blood" - Paul Thomas Anderson

Best Original Score
"Atonement"
"Enchanted"
"Into the Wild"
"Micheal Clayton"
"There Will Be Blood"

Best Cinematography
"Across the Universe"
"The Assassination of Jesse James"
"Atonement"
"Into the Wild"
"There Will Be Blood"

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
"Across the Universe"
"Atonement"
"Hairspray"
"Sweeney Todd"
"There Will Be Blood"

Best Costume Design
"Across the Universe"
"Atonement"
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
"Hairspray"
"La Vie en Rose"

Best Makeup
"Hairspray"
"La Vie en Rose"
"Norbit"
"300"
"Sweeney Todd"

Best Sound Editing
"Hairspray"
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
"No Country for Old Men"
"300"
"Transformers"

Best Sound Mixing
"Across the Universe"
"Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End"
"Stardust"
"300"
"Transformers"

Best Film Editing
"American Gangster"
"Eastern Promises"
"I'm Not There"
"Into the Wild"
"There Will Be Blood"

Best Visual Effects
"Across the Universe"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"
"Spider-man 3"
"300"
"Transformers"

Best Original Song
"Enchanted" - "That's How You Know"
"Enchanted" - "So Close"
"Hairspray" - "Come So Far (But We've Got So Far to Go)"
"Hairspray" - "Ladies Choice"
"Music and Lurics" - "Way Back Into Love"

Best Animated Feature
"Bee Movie"
"Ratatouille"
"The Simpsons Movie"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUDREY HEPBURN!!!

2008-05-04T18:34:00.006+08:00

When you think of the name Audrey Hepburn you think of one of the most beautiful faces that ever graced the silver screen. Along with a face that matched angels, was a talent like no other. A talent that went beyond other actresses of the time. This was Audrey Hepburn, my 2nd favorite actress of all time! Happy Birthday Audrey Hepburn! Though she did pass away at 1993, Hepburn's films are immortal and she has created some of the best screen performances of all time. This is five of my favorites.

1. As Holly Gollightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961) - Audrey Hepburn's most iconic performance is really her best. No doubt about it. Not winning the 1961 Oscar is beyond me. She deserved it! Hepburn plays a vivacious, social climbing, outgoing and interesting free-spirit in director Blake Edwards adaptation of Truman Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Hepburn blew the screen away with scenes that broke the heart and a romance that will live forever. Her performance in the film went beyond the screen, after the movie, she became an fashion icon as well...

2. As Eliza Doolittle in "MY FAIR LADY" (1964) - When you put an Oscar winner into a role that's was really, really, really meant to be hers, beyond all the scandal of Hollywood...screen magic will surely be made at the end. Oh yeah...and a snub for an Oscar nomination and maybe even a win. Though I don't have a problem with Julie Andrews Oscar win for that year...she was not even in good comparison to Audrey Hepburn. Playing a poor English flower girl (who talks like white trash) transformed into a "duchess" with beautifully conducted vocabulary in George Cukor's musical co-staring Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn was "loverly".

3. As Princess Ann in "Roman Holiday" (1953) - Her Oscar win. Delectable, beautiful, subtle, lovely and charming, Hepburn's Princess Ann goes beyond other princesses. Showing human form and heart when she escapes her high life to join the poor and see how her country is in the eyes of the locals, Princess Ann discovers that she's meant to be in the seat of power and live loveless and a loner. With such performance with so much fun and heart, Hepburn gives a performance that is truly deserving.

4. As Sabrina Fairchild in "Sabrina" (1954) - "Sabrina!" the 1954 romantic comedy with a twist. Playing a poor girl who catches the eyes of two rich brothers, Sabrina is sweet and an amazing cinematic experience. Co-starring Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, and directed by the fantastic Billy Wilder, this crew brings out the best in Audrey Hepburn.

5. As Jo Stockton in "Funny Face" (1957) - Hepburn shows off her musical talents in "Funny Face" as librarian Jo turned model by Fred Astaire. As I watch this movie, I realized that this movie shows off what Audrey Hepburn can do best: dance, act and MODEL! Her dancing is soft and graceful, her acting in fun and zestful and her modeling...DAYM! She's too beautiful to be true!

Top 20 of All Time

2008-04-27T18:05:00.022+08:00

1. GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
Director: Victor Fleming
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havillard, Leslie Howard

2. THE GODFATHER (1972)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall

3. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
Director: Gene Kelly & Stanley Donan
Cast: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Jean Hagen

4. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
Director: Victor Fleming
Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Margaret Hamilton

5. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2007)
Director: Julie Taymor
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs

6. ROMEO AND JULIET (1968)
Director: Franco Zeffirelli
Cast: Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, Micheal York, Pat Heywood

7. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, Joe Brown

8. REAR WINDOW (1954)
Director: Alfred Hitchock
Cast: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Berr

9. THE GRADUATE (1967)
Director: Mike Nichols
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Kathrine Hepburn, William Daniels

10. KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979)
Director: Robert Benton
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Justin Henry, Jane Alexander

11. TOOTSIE (1982)
Director: Sidney Pollack
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Bill Murray, Teri Garr

12. THE DEPARTED (2006)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg

13. THE GODFATHER, PART II (1974)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton

14. MOULIN ROUGE! (2001)
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman, Jim Broadbent, John Leguzamo

15. TITANIC (1997)
Director: James Cameron
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates

16. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
Director: Frank Capra
Cast: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers

17. THE EXORCIST (1973)
Director: William Friedkin
Cast: Ellen Burnstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow

18. PRIDE AND PREJUDIC E (2005)
Director: Joe Wright
Cast: Keira Knightly, Mathew Mcacfadyan, Donald Sutherland, Rosemary Pike

19. FORREST GUMP (1994)
Director: Robert Zemickis
Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright Penn, Gary Sinise, Sally Field

20. Ordinary People (1980)
Director: Robert Redford
Cast: Timothy Hutton, Mary Tyler Moore, Timothy Hutton, Judd Hirsch

Movie Review: Meet the Spartans (2008, Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer)

2008-04-25T21:40:00.000+08:00

* *

Cast: Sean Maguire, Carmen Electra, Ken Davitian, Kevin Sorbo, Diedrich Bader, Method Man, Jared Dauplaise, Travis Van Winkle, Nicole Parker
Screenplay: Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
84 minutes / Color

At least it was a stupid movie and they knew it would be stupid. Get me? That’s what I enjoyed about “Meet the Spartans”. Yes, it is a bad, bad movie but when you put it together and realize that it’s a full-length spoof of recent, overrated blockbuster “300”, you’ll entertained. But as a critique, it was not near a great a movie.

Just like last year’s “300”, “Meet the Spartans” is a full length spoof; it brings us on the adventure of the might Spartans (now much less then they were in the original) with their leader Leonidas (Sean Maguire) against the evil Persian Empire.

As they fight for their land Sparta, the Spartans encounter the weirdest enemies while working there way up to beat the unbearable human-god (now completely over-weight): Xerxes (Ken Davitian).

At home, Leonidas’ wife, the porn star-sexy Queen Margo (Carmen Electra) is using all her power to persuade the cities council to send more troops to help her husband and his warriors.

At the end, Leonidas and his men are beaten by Xerxes and his super powers, not to mention his ultimate spy Paris Hilton (Nicole Parker). But in a chance to redeem Sparta and his King Leonidas, wounded Dilio (Jared Dauplaise) gathers more men and beats Xerxes’ army.

In the end “Meet the Spartans” does not compare to such teens spoofs such as the first 2 “Scary Movies”, “Mafia” (1998) and “Not Another Teen Movie” (2001), but goes beyond the terrible mess known as last years “Epic Movie” (2007).

I do however; have to give a few actors some kudos for impersonations. The biggest one would have to be leading man Sean Maguire whose Gerald Butler impersonations and stylings weren’t only a close resemblance but were kind of entertaining.

I can’t lie if I say the movie didn’t entertain me. It actually did, but I also have to be honest and say that some things were just outright stupid. Many jokes were unbearably corny and the impersonations of the real-life celebrities were idiotic. A smile on my face was very rare, but I must admit I did – once in a while.

At the end, “Meet the Spartans” was far from mediocre, but it wasn’t that bad. Definitely not as bad the disgusting “Vantage Point”, to tell the honest to God truth, it’s quite near getting 3 stars from me. Unfortunately, it really doesn’t reach.

I think spoof movies are getting old and I watch them just for the hell of it. Not for bashing believe me; if you read this review carefully you can see that I expected the stupidity from the very beginning. I just hope that one day, “spoof films” will redeem itself and releases something actually worth while. “Not Another Teen Movie” is still my favorite movie of the genre. I do hope something involving spoofing Oscar movies will come out soon; now that would be interesting…

Movie Review: Vantage Point (2008, Pete Travis)

2008-04-25T21:39:00.001+08:00

* *

Cast: Dennis Quaid, Mathew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Bruce McGill, Edgar Ramirez, Said Taghmaoui, Ayelet Zurer, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt
Screenplay: Barry Levy
90 minutes / Color

Peter Travis’ political thriller “Vantage Point” was probably the longest 90 minutes of my movie watching life from the part 4 years. Even “Gone with the Wind” rolled faster by. It was not intriguing, boring and not worthy my money. The bad acting and annoying screenplay were the biggest components which lead to “Vantage Point’s” downfall, especially from Oscar winner Forest Whitaker.

The story is simple (being that it repeats itself a billion times), it takes us on an adventure of 8 different people on the day of the assassination of a United States President in Spain. Some of the memorable characters include the New Caster’s Boss (Sigourney Weaver), the President’s ultimate body guard (Dennis Quaid), a American tourist (Forest Whitaker) and off course: our bad guys.

We are taken on the journey numerous times in different eyes. Though it DOES get old, we are put through finding out that the killed president was actually just a body double and the body guard would end up saving the real President from an attempted kidnap, because the killer’s knew they killed a body double. Get it?

I’m sorry, that’s my summary. I found the movie irrelevant and just terrible. I’m kind enough to give it a 2 star rating and I’m just lazy to actually summarize is perfectly. What I don’t understand that why so many good actors didn’t do well in this project.

Let me not forget to mention how predictable the whole feature was. It was so predictable that they turned a great concept into crap. It was extremely flawed, most especially the screenplay. The dialogue was horrible and it affected the acting of many greats.

Let me start with Dennis Quaid, he really needs to start making better movies. I don’t remember him for anything that good and I’m not surprised with his performance here, but I expected better.

Who I was completely annoyed with and surprise with was recent Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, who is fresh from his 2006 winning for “The Last King of Scotland”. He was phenomenal in that movie and that this is on his resume, he can very well know that he might be touched with the “Oscar Curse” (if there really is one). I hope not, he is very good actor.

To conclude all, I just have to say the movie was lame. I love political thrillers, I love difficult ones, but this one, as simple as it was, it was a big misfire – just like the terrorists attempt. I pray for these actors and this director who wasted their time on a bad movie, even though they had so much potential…a wasted budget.

This makes me more excited for Australia (2008)

2008-04-25T20:39:00.001+08:00

The movie looks very, very promising. I have faith in Nicole Kidman and Baz Luhrmann after their masterpiece "Moulin Rouge!". But can they do it with Jackman instead of McGregor? I hope they can. But look at that pic: great looking cinematography, costumes and Kidman looks great too. I'm excited!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARBRA STREISAND!!!

2008-04-25T19:54:00.008+08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABS! And yes, I might have missed her birthday for a day, but don't hurt me - I was buisy. Anyways, even though I did miss it, it still needs to be celebrated, since she is one of the very few last living legends of film. Babs first came on the Hollywood radar with her Oscar winning turn as Fanny Brice in 1968's "Funny Girl", but even though she did win for that movie, I believe she did better in another one. Presenting, My Top 5 Favorite Barbra Streisand performances:

1. As Dolly Levi in "HELLO DOLLY" (1969) - My favorite Babs performance is that of matchmaker, Dolly Levi. Barbra was astonishing and the role fit her perfectly. Streisand made the lavish musical, even more lavish with great vocals and 100% character transformation. Her "loud-mouth" performances full of pride and no-insecurities made Dolly Levi more fun to watch. She delivered a performance superb for a big, glorious musical comedy. She was zestful, exuberant, funny and her vocals are: WOW!!! Not giving Streisand an Oscar nomination for this movie is a damn crime and utter shame...

2. As Fanny Brice in "FUNNY GIRL" (1968) - When she first appears on screen you see a mellow woman and you don't know why. A few minutes later, you see a girl - "who isn't pretty". A few more minutes into it, you see a powerhouse - opening her mouth and making full magic with the song "I'm the Greatest Star". A few hours later, you are blown away with an amazing acting force, combined with brilliantly performed numbers such as "I Rather Be Blue" and "Second Hand Rose" (comic brilliance), "People" (sentimental and lovely) and "Don't Rain on My Parade" (Daymmm). When the final moment comes on screen ("My Man"), everyone knows why Barbra Streisand gave us one of the best female performances in history.

3. As Katie Morosky in "THE WAY WE WERE" (1973) - In an Oscar nominated turn, Streisand's performance in "The Way Were" is the only non-musical performance on the list. Her pairing with leading man Robert Redford is great and they have a lot of chemistry. This movie proves that Barbra can do anything and not sing to be good in a movie. The storyline is perfect - without her, the movie would be half as great...

4. As Esther Hoffman in "A STAR IS BORN" (1976) - Yes, her performance doesn't match Judy Garland's performance in the 1954 version, but if someone would have to be in the remake, they choose the pefect actress for the rock version. The songs and performances are great and hard-knock, while the acting is all-round splendid. Once more, her "love-interest" pairing with Kris Kristopherson was a perfect match.

5. As Daisy Gamble in "ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER" (1970) - Actually, the only good thing about the movie. If she wasn't here, it wouldn't have worked. But with her personality, acting, and voice, the movie was saved from doom and the bashing of ME. Streisand's screentime is golden and irrestistable, making it a performance to remember. The rest of the movie = zughsss.

My New and Improved Top 100!

2008-04-15T12:47:00.002+08:00

Check-check-check-check it out! :)

01. Gone with the Wind (1939, Victor Fleming)
02. The Godfather (1972, Francis Ford Coppola)
03. Singin’ in the Rain (1952, Gene Kelly and Stanley Donan)
04. The Wizard of Oz (1939, Victor Fleming)
05. Romeo and Juliet (1968, Franco Zeffirelli)
06. Across the Universe (2007, Julie Taymor)
07. Some Like it Hot (1959, Billy Wilder) s
08. Rear Window (1954, Alfred Hitchcock)
09. The Graduate (1967, Mike Nichols)
10. Kramer vs. Kramer (1977, Robert Benton)
11. Tootsie (1982, Sidney Pollack)
12. The Departed (2006, Martin Scorsese)
13. The Godfather, Part II (1974, Francis Ford Coppola)
14. Moulin Rouge! (2001, Baz Luhrmann)
15. Titanic (1997, James Cameron)
16. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra)
17. The Exorcist (1973, William Friedkin)
18. Pride and Prejudice (2005, Joe Wright)
19. Forrest Gump (1994, Robert Zemickis)
20. Ordinary People (1980, Robert Redford)
21. Giant (1956, George Stevens)
22. The Apartment (1960, Billy Wilder)
23. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, Robert Mulligan)
24. The Sound of Music (1965, Robert Wise)
25. Back to the Future (1985, Robert Zemickis)
26. The Sting (1973, George Roy Hill)
27. Gigi (1958, Vincent Minnelli)
28. Midnight Cowboy (1969, John Schlesinger)
29. Cold Mountain (2003, Anthony Minghella)
30. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958, Richard Brooks)
31. My Fair Lady (1964, George Cuckor)
32. Cabaret (1972, Bob Fosse)
33. Platoon (1986, Oliver Stone)
34. The Silence of the Lambs (1991, Jonathan Demme)
35. West Side Story (1961, Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins)
36. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961, Blake Edwards)
37. Rain Man (1988, Barry Levinson)
38. Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese)
39. Shakespeare in Love (1998, John Madden)
40. Amadeus (1984, Milos Forman)
41. The Princess Bride (1987, Rob Reiner)
42. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999, Trey Parker)
43. An American in Paris (1951, Vincent Minnelli)
44. Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg)
45. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, Elia Kazan)
46. Grease (1978, Randall Klieser)
47. Catch Me if You Can (2002, Steven Spielberg)
48. Misery (1990, Rob Reiner)
49. Taxi Driver (1976, Martin Scorsese)
50. Easter Parade (1948, Charles Walters)
51. The Little Mermaid (1989, Ron Clements & John Musker)
52. American Beauty (1999, Sam Mendez)
53. Hello, Dolly! (1969, Gene Kelly)
54. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953, Howard Hawks)
55. Requiem for a Dream (2000, Daren Aronofsky)
56. Terms of Endearment (1983, James L. Brooks)
57. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975, Milos Forman)
58. Interview with a Vampire (1994, Neil Jordan)
59. Chicago (2002, Rob Marshall)
60. Into the Wild (2007, Sean Penn)
61. Toy Story (1995, John Lasseter)
62. Pal Joey (1957, George Sidney)
63. All That Jazz (1979, Bob Fosse)
64. The Aviator (2004, Martin Scorsese)
65. Walk the Line (2005, James Mangold)
66. Schindler’s List (1993, Steven Spielberg)
67. Fight Club (1999, David Fincher)
68. Juno (2007, Jason Rietman)
69. To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Taymor (1995, Beeban Kidron)
70. The Great Gatsby (1974, Jack Clayton)
71. Roman Holiday (1953, William Wyler)
72. An Affair to Remember (1957, Leo McCarey)
73. Swing Time (1936, George Stevens)
74. It Happened One Night (1934, Frank Capra)
75. Funny Girl (1968, William Wyler)
76. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, David Lean)
77. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Michel Gondry)
78. Annie Hall (1977, Woody Allen)
79. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975, Jim Sharman)
80. As Good As it Gets (1997, James L. Brooks)
81. Sense and Sensibility (1995, Ang Lee) s
82. Jerry Maguire (1996, Cameron Crowe)
83. A Star is Born (1954, George Cuckor)
84. Death Becomes Her (1992, Robert Zemickis)
85. The Sixth Sense (1999, M. Night Shyamalan)
86. The Band Wagon (1953, Vincent Minnelli)
87. The Way We Were (1973, Sidney Pollack)
88. The Shinning (1980, Stanley Kubrick)
89. Elizabeth (1998, Shekhar Kapur)
90. A Beautiful Mind (2001, Rob Howard)
91. Sin City (2005, Robert Rodriquez)
92. Calamity Jane (1953, David Butler)
93. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, William Wyler)
94. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944, Vincent Minnelli)
95. Dreamgirls (2006, Bill Condon)
96. Top Hat (1935, Mark Sandrich)
97. The Cider House Rules (1999, Lasse Hallstrom)
98. Finding Neverland (2004, Marc Forster)
99. The Last King of Scotland (2006, Kevin McDonald)
100. In the Bedroom (2001, Todd Field)

MINI REVIEWS FOR 2007 MOVIES

2008-03-30T00:11:00.003+08:00

I will never stack up a list of movies to review again. From now on, after viewing, I'll review it right away. Since I don't have time to review these 2007 films, here are mini reviews. I hope my small comments and my "In Consideration For" lists will help you understand what I liked and not liked about certain films. Thanks! :)

The Nanny Diaries (2007, Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini)
* * *
-Mediocre film that goes with its "follow-the-script" direction
-Scarlet Johansson isn't as good as her past performances
-Kinda dragging for a "comedy"
-Not that bad though
-Laura Linney was good though

IN CONSIDERATION FOR: Nothing...zip...zero.

The Assassination of Jesse James (2007, Andrew Dominik)
* * * * *
-Amazing movie
-Pitt was supberd and made a not so big part amazing
-Affleck gave one of the Best Supporting performances of the year
-He made a supporting role HUGE and he was brilliant and heart breaking
-The movie was visually stunning in terms of cinematgoraphy and art direction
-Screenplay was awesome

IN CONSIDERATION FOR: Picture, Actor (Brad Pitt), Supporting Actor (Casey Affleck), Director (Dominik), Ensemble Cast, Adapted Screenplay, Score, Cinematography, Art Direction

Lars and the Real Girl (2007, Craig Gillespie)
* * * *
-Not as funny as I thought it would be, but still pretty good
-Ryan Gosling is freakin' amazing
-Even his plastic co-star is cool
-You will find brilliance in the writing
-Emily Mortemer has improved from her "Match Point" days

IN CONSIDERATION FOR: Actor (Ryan Gosling), Supporting Actress (Emily Mortemer), Original Screenplay

Into the Wild (2007, Sean Penn)
* * * * *
-Honestly one of the best films I saw from 2007
-Emile Hirsch will surprise you and knock you out of your socks
-Hirsch is fantastic and his performance is top notch
-Holbrook and Keener and heartbreaking brilliance
-The ensemble is A+
-Penn can act, direct and write
-The screenplay was fantastic
-Not boring at all
-Presented in amazing shots
-Cinematgoraphy here is love

IN CONSIDERATION FOR: Picture, Actor (Emile Hirsch), Supporting Actor (Hal Holbrook), Supporting Actress (Catharine Keener), Director (Penn), Enseble Cast, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Film Editing, Song

La Vie En Rose (2007, Olivier Dahan)
* * * * *
-Marion Cottilard is an acting godess
-She outshined EVERY SINGLE THING IN THE MOVIE
-Her makeup was devine
-She embodied Edith Piaf amazingly
-One of the greatest performances this decade
-Her "Marcel" scene is GOLDEN
-I will always love MARION

IN CONSIDERATION FOR: Picture, Actress (Marion Cottilard), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design, Art Direction-Set Decoration, Sound, Makeup, Film Editing

No Country for Old Men (2007, Joel & Ethan Coen)
* * * *
-Sadly overrated
-Not near deserving Oscar's Best Picture, not even the best from the nominees
-Javier Bardem kept me alive through out the movie, very interesting characater
-I was disapointed with the end
-Tommy Lee Jones talk is overrated
-Thrilling but not Best Picture enough
-Good but not great

IN CONSIDEATION FOR: Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem), Director (Coens), Ensemble Cast, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Sound

There Will Be Blood (2007, Paul Thomas Anderson)
* * * * *
-Fantastic
-Daniel Day-Lewis was really, really good
-PTA best directorial job
-Cinematography = LOVELY
-Paul Dano is very impressive
-I loved the screenplay

IN CONSIDERATION FOR: Picture, Actor (Day-Lewis), Supporting Actor (Paul Dano), Director (Anderson), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Original Score, Art Direction, Costume Design, Film Editing, Sound

Margot at the Wedding (2007, Noah Baumbach)
* * *
-Kinda pointless
-The characters make me sick
-Kidman and Leigh acting wise were okay
-Screenplay was okay but too much "F words"

IN CONSIDERATION FOR: Actress (Nicole Kidman)

Reposting 2006 Chino Choice Awards

2008-03-29T22:46:00.009+08:00

Not posting all my winners, just the winners of The Big 8. Anyways, here are my winners from last year. I promise, I'm almost done watching and deliberating my 2007 films. So, the nominations for the 2007 Chino Choice Awards are out soon. Just enjoy this first, during our short delay. :)

NOTE: 5 nominees each catagory. RED means WINNER. :)

Best Motion Picture of the Year:
"The Departed"
"Dreamgirls"
"The Last King of Scotland"
"Notes on a Scandal"
"The Queen"

Best Actor in a Leading Role:
"Blood Diamond" - Leonadro DiCaprio
"The Departed" - Leonardo DiCaprio
"The Last King of Scotland" - Forest Whitaker
"The Last King of Scotland" - James McAvoy
"The Pursuit of Happyness" - Will Smith

Best Actress in a Leading Role:
"Little Children" - Kate Winslet
"Notes on a Scandal" - Judi Dench
"The Queen" - Helen Mirren
"Running with Scissors" - Annette Benning
"Volver" - Penelope Cruz

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
"Babel" - Brad Pitt
"The Departed" - Jack Nicholson
"The Departed" - Mark Wahlberg
"Dreamgirls" - Eddie Murphy
"Letters from Iwo Jima" - Kazunari Ninomiya

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
"The Departed" - Vera Farmiga
"The Devil Wears Prada" - Emily Blunt
"Dreamgirls" - Jennifer Hudson
"Notes on a Scandal" - Cate Blanchett
"Volver" - Carmen Maura

Best Director:
"Children of Men" - Alfonso Cauron
"The Departed" - Martin Scorsese
"Letters from Iwo Jima" - Clint Eastwood
"The Queen" - Stephen Frears
"United 93" - Paul Greengrass

Best Original Screenplay:
"Letters from Iwo Jima" (by Iris Yashamita and Paul Haggis)
"Little Miss Sunshine" (by Michael Arndt)
"The Queen" (by Peter Morgan)
"The Science of Sleep" (by Michel Gondry)
"Volver" (by Pedro Almodovar)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
"The Departed" (by William Monohan)
"The Last King of Scotland" (by Jeremy Brock, Giles Folden, Peter Morgan)
"Little Children" (by Todd Field and Tom Perrotta)
"Notes on a Scandal" (by Peter Marber)
"Thank You for Smoking" (by Jason Rietman)

HAPPY EASTER!

2008-03-23T15:37:00.002+08:00

A little song from my Annual Easter Movie: "Easter Parade" (1948)

Easter Parade
by Irving Berlin

Judy Garland:
Never saw you look quite so pretty before
Never saw you dress quite so handsome - what's more
I could hardly wait to keep our date
This lovely Easter morning
And my heart beat fast as I came through the door
For...In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it
You'll be the grandest fella in the Easter parade.
I'll be all in clover, and when they look us over
We'll be the proudest couple in the Easter parade.

On the avenue,
Fifth Avenue,
The photographers will snap us
And you'll find that you're in the rotogravure.
Oh, I could write a sonnet, about your Easter bonnet
And of the guy I'm taking to the Easter Parade.

Fred Astaire:
On the avenue,
Fifth Avenue,
The photographers will snap us
And you'll find that you're in the rotogravure.

Ensemble:
Oh, I could write a sonnet
About your Easter bonnet
And of the girl I'm taking to the Easter Parade.

Check Out the ACROSS THE UNIVERSE Shirt I made!

2008-03-22T20:36:00.003+08:00

COOL RIGHT? I painted it myself!!! With what? Offcourse, the magical thing called: textile paint!!! I LOVE THIS MOVIE SO MUCH THAT I MADE A SHIRT FOR IT. hahahaha. Aint it cool???

21.

2008-03-21T21:07:00.003+08:00

21 - The new Casino flick by director Robert Luketic, starring "Across the Universe" (2007) star Jim Sturgess was not so anticipating when I saw the trailer early January. But after like TONS of re-watching it this past two weeks, I'm now really damn excited about this movie. First I said to myself: "What can you expect from the director of "Win A Date with Tad Hamilton" (2004) and "Monster-in-Law (2005) - It's gross!". But now as I think about it they have freakin' Jim Sturgess and Kevin Spacey and the film not only looks visually stunning but the trailer is freakin' awesome. If you haven't seen it, go to youtube.com RIGHT now and watch it. It looks awesome. I'm so excited! So the list now goes:

Chino's Most Anticipated Movies of 2007:
1. 21 (Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey)
2. Revolutionary Road (Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet)
3. Mamma Mia! (Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan)
4. Australia (Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman)
5. Ashecliffe (Leonardo DiCaprio)
6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett)
7. Untittled Kurt Cobain Project (Ryan Gosling, Scarlet Johansson)
8. The Young Victoria (Emily Blunt)
9. Footloose: The Musical (Zac Efron)
10. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp)
11. Doubt (Meryl Streep, Amy Adams)

RIP Anthony Minghella (1954-2008)

2008-03-21T20:53:00.003+08:00

Academy Award winning director (and one of my favorites EVER) Anthony Minghella passed away on March 18, 2008. Sadly, I was away and only learned the sad news now. Minghella (even with such a small filmography) was one of the most talented working directors of these days. Not only did he direct the 1996 Best Picture "The English Patient" (which he won an Oscar for), but he directed two other fantastic masterpieces: "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999) and civil war romance "Cold Mountain" (2003); one of my most favorite movies of all time! Its such a sad waste that he died so young. Minghella also directed 5 different actors to Oscar nominations for their respective roles: Ralph Fiennes, Kirsten Scott Thomas and Julliette Binoche for "The English Patient", Renee Zellwegger for "Cold Mountain" and his muse Jude Law (who appeared in a number of his movies) for "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Cold Mountain". Zellwegger and Binoche won for their respective supporting roles. Mingella is a master of his craft and since he didn't live forever, he will live in his masterpieces that define some of the best directional work in modern cinema.

Movie Review: Juno (2007, Jason Rietman)

2008-03-13T22:10:00.000+08:00

* * * * *

Cast: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons, Olivia Therby
Screenplay: Diablo Cody
96 minutes / Color

The themes of the teen-pregnancy flick “Juno” might come as a surprise at first, but as the movie goes on, you won’t find it only a comedy, but a film that brings truths and honest-feelings to the screen with a touch of humor. Amongst the deliciously amusing cast of veterans and new comers, we are graced with the might screen presence of Ellen Page in the title role and Jennifer Garner as an lonely woman seeking for the someone to take care off. With a touch of class and a fine script by Ms. Diablo Cody, “Juno” enthralls and easily becomes one of the best of 2007.

Opening with out main character Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) taking a pregnancy test after having sex with her “best friend” Polly Bleaker (Michael Cera) on her immortal “couch”, Juno is about to experience the most important, life-changing 9 months of her entire life.

After a difficult confrontation with her parents (Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons), Juno then looks for a couple that would take her baby in after she gives birth. Luckily, she finds a “happy”, rich and successful couple, Mark and Vanessa Lorring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), who sign the adoption papers and will pay for all medical expenses till Juno gives birth.

As the months go by, Juno goes through her difficult high school life not only experience a lot of rumors and talks about her, but she faces problems regarding Prom, going out with her friends, going to the doctors, eating habits and her lifestyle reaches a complete shift of what it was before.

With hardly any friends in school now, Juno tries to get close to Mark. Mark isn’t the soul-bread winger of the Lorring household. He just stays home, plays guitar, watches horror movies, listens to rock songs and tries to compose music, while his wife Vanessa works her butt off for the both of them.

Juno and Mark become the best of friends, but his relationship with his wife Vanessa declines with not only annoyance towards each other, but bitter feelings rise to the highest degree. Mark then ruins all the plans, when he then files for divorce…

However, even though Juno completely doesn’t support broken families (from her own personal experience), she continues with the adoption to Vanessa, knowing that she (after a brief encounter in a play-pen in a local mall) was born to be a mother. “Juno” ends in a bittersweet ballad, as Juno gives her baby to Vanessa and she resolves her problems with Polly.

Clearly, as I said earlier, “Juno” was not only a deserving Best Original Screenplay winner, but probably the best movie out of the 5 Best Picture nominees. The film had everything going for it, great direction by Jason Rietman, the screenplay (as I said before) and strong-ass performances.

Ellen Page was, as Juno would say, “friggin’ awesome”. It’s incredible an actress this young could pull off such an emotional and sentimental performance without a flaw to it. Yes you heard me, without an utter flaw. She has just delivered us one of the best comedic performances ever seen on the silver screen and she can support that with her rightfully deserved Oscar nomination. How thankful I am that this performance wasn’t snubbed or ignored. It was so bloody brilliant and wicked cool. High, never-ending praise to her.

Another brilliant performance was that of Jennifer Garners. Finally a project where she didn’t look like an idiot or a man! She was perfect as the supporting player of Ellen Page. At first, you hate her character. But at the end, your whole mood towards her changes. Yes, the screenplay helps a lot, but in my opinion, she was the only one who could have pulled this performance off.

I’m also really proud of Jason Rietman and Diablo Cody though. Imagine, Cody, was an ex-stripper and she wrote something this brilliant. I’m not saying that being a stripper means you aren’t educated, but man, she sure had some hidden talents (and NO I do not mean that in a sexual way). Her screenplay was bright, touching and full of jokes people could actually appreciate. None of that stupid sexual or toilet humor…

Jason Rietman is one talented directors for the comedy genre today. 2006’s “Thank You for Smoking” was a joy to watch, but “Juno” is the one that brings out his true visionary talents. Every shot and every frame is pure brilliance. It’s such a shame that this year’s directional pallet is so strong. He would’ve been in my list of the absolute best. I can’t wait to see his next projects…

To wrap it up, I’ve just got to say that I really, really enjoyed the movie. I’m glad they kept it the way it was: an indie movie. I have a feeling if this was a big, huge-budgeted motion picture, they would not have captured the same brilliance. Two thumbs up!

Movie Review: Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007, Tim Burton)

2008-03-13T21:51:00.002+08:00

* * * * *

Cast: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Timothy Spall, Jaime Campbell Bower, Laura Michelle Kelly, Jayne Wisener, Ed Sanders
Screenplay: John Logan (Based on the Broadway Musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler)
116 minutes / Color

Tim Burton’s adaptation of Steven Sondheim’s immortal musical is put to the screen with a refreshing tone to it that works all too well. An complete gore fest full of dark comedy and amazing set pieces, “Sweeney Todd” remains to be more then a period-musical (ala 2004’s “Phantom of the Opera”) and becomes an entertaining, enthralling film with delectable performances and fine direction.

Based on the Broadway musical that shocked audiences when it was released, the story tells of a young barber named Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) who lives a happy life with his wife Lucy (Laura Michelle Kelly) and his baby daughter Johanna (Jayne Wisener). What Benjamin doesn’t know is that the cruel Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) is actually in love with his beautiful partner.

In an act to separate them, the judge sends Benjamin to a British Penal Colony and abducts his wife and daughter. After satisfying his lust of Lucy, the judge then moves on to Johanna but waits for her to be a little older…

15 years later, Johanna is being treated as a young ward under Judge Turpin while Lucy seems to be “missing”. With the help of a young sailor named Anthony (Jaime Campbell Bower), Benjamin escaped the Penal Colony and goes back to England. But he goes back as someone new, no more Benjamin Barker but a “Sweeney Todd” now.

He goes back to his old home/Barber’s shop on top of Mrs. Lovett’s (Helena Bonham Carter) meat pie show. As they get reacquainted, they begin to conspire of Sweeney’s revenge to Judge Turpin for taking his daughter away and for (Mrs. Lovett says that Lucy killed herself by drinking poison) making his wife kill herself.

Meanwhile, in Anthony’s short time in London, he had found his love of his life, a young girl sitting by a window sill named Johanna. As Johanna is in the watchful eye of the Judge and his servant Beadle (Timothy Spall), Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett decide the best way to kill the judge is to kill him when he comes to Sweeney’s shop for a shave. But how do they get him to the shop? Popularity off course.

Sweeney then competes in a fight with Adolfo Pirelli (Sacha Baron Cohen) to see who the best barber in town is. After his victory, the Judge makes his way to Sweeney’s shop after deciding he would marry Johanna. But in an awkward and rather shocking comment, Anthony walks right in before the killing and ruins everything for Sweeney.

Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett decide that getting the judge back to the shop won’t be that easy anymore. So they decide to practice on a few honorable throats. As Sweeney keeps killing innocent souls, Mrs. Lovett’s meat pie business is rising again for whenever he’d kill someone, she’d make them into “delicious” meat pies. Not only did the business rise, but also Mrs. Lovett’s affections for Sweeney.

In the final act, Sweeney does his revenge and finally kills the judge, and Anthony saves his true love. After the killing, a crazy woman walks in and Sweeney decides to kill her as well. But as he goes downstairs to the bakery, he sees Mrs. Lovett try to burn the woman’s body immediately. Sweeney, however, notices something. As he comes closer to the woman, he notices that she isn’t only a crazy old hag, but his wife Lucy!

Sweeney’s anger shifts to Mrs. Lovett because she told him that she died from poisoning years ago. Sweeney then throws Mrs. Lovett in the fire to burn. As he picks up his deceased wife up in his arms, Mrs. Lovett’s loyal assistant slits his throat, letting him rest forever,

Tragic huh? Well is really is. But somehow that’s the entire beauty of the projects. Though its not the best musical of the year even (people who know me know that I’m an absolute “Across the Universe” AND Beatles fanboy), I must say that the performances and production values of “Sweeney Todd” really impressed me.

First I have to mention the spectacular Johnny Depp, YES, I do think he deserved his Oscar nominations, but there was someone 100x better then him. This beautiful, female creature it off course his co-star Helena Bonham Carter. Her Mrs. Lovett was flawless, cheap BUT chic, elegant (in a raggy way) and just pure entertaining. Not to mention the depths and power she put in such a bland performance, supposedly overshadowed by the male lead. Helena, I’ll always be more faithful to your performance, because you were absolutely better.

Tim Burton creates one of his best directorial pieces (however, I do like “Big Fish” (2003)) more. But Burton’s choices for the production are oh too brilliant. The set decoration was stunning and was built with grandeur. The costumes were exquisite. The cinematography was amazing and the “gorgeous blood” was just right to make the film the “beautiful gore-fest musical” it intended itself to be. It was pure entertainment from start to end and is something Burton-fans and movie-fans alike should enjoy.

SUMMER SCENE #4 - A Goofy Movie (1995): "On the Open Road - I Mean Lake"

2008-03-12T23:03:00.004+08:00

Go on a road trip with you DAD this summer. Just you and him, "On the open road" - I mean lake. Whatever and wherever it is. Have absolute fun.

Bond, eat alphabert soup, be chased by a wild animal, live in a motel, watch a disgusing child show and most of all - SHOW YOUR LOVE. :)

SUMMER SCENE #3 - From Here to Eternity (1953): "Beach Time Love"

2008-03-11T21:54:00.004+08:00

How often do you go to a deserted beach in the beautiful state of Hawaii and make-out like crazy in glorious black-and-white film? NEVER. Make it happen this summer. :)

Live in the moment! Be spontaneous!!!

SUMMER SCENE #2 - Jaws (1975): "Eaten by Something"

2008-03-09T20:20:00.003+08:00

Bum-bum. Bum-bum. Bum-bum. Bum-bum. BUMP BUMP BUMP!
AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be careful this summer my friends. Especially when your drunk and decide to go skinny dipping with a stranger you don't even know. Wanna know why?

Because there will be jaws waiting for ya...

SUMMER SCENE #1 - High School Musical 2 (2007): "All for One - A Real Summer Has Just Begun!"

2008-03-08T21:13:00.004+08:00

A bit corny eh? Well summer time is always corny...and fun. :)

Everybody all for one,
A real summer has just begun!
Let's rock and roll and just let go,
feel the rhythm of the drums
We're gonna have fun in the sun
Now that all the hard work, work is done!
Everybody, one for all,
everybody all for one,
A real summer has just begun!
Let's rock and roll and just let go,
feel the rhythm of the drums
We're gonna have fun in the sun
Now that all the hard work, work is done!
Come on, everyone let's dance!
We can't let this moment pass!
Let's make this party last!
All for one!

All! For! One!

Overview of 4th Annual Chino Choice Awards

2008-03-03T15:46:00.005+08:00

With me releasing the Nominees AND Winners of the Chino Choice Awards (hopefully next week), there's gonna be quite a few surprises. I just need to watch like 5 more movies (No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Away From Her, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Michael Clayton) to really see my winners. Hopefully, I'll be done by next week and can announce my winners for the 4th Annual Chino Choice Awards.

I was wrong about 2007 I must admit. It was actually a very good year for film. In my opinion, just as strong as 2006. I've loved so much movies and awarded so many 5 stars to deserving films. This past year we were given the wonderful life of troubled performer Edith Piaf ("La Vie en Rose"), a throat slitting barber from Fleet Street ("Sweeney Todd"), a controversial Beatles musical ("Across the Universe), a pregnant high school student ("Juno"), Bob Dyan being "portrayed" by a woman ("I'm Not There"), and a Live Disney Princess ("Enchanted"), just to name a few. Even if any of these titles boom as my Best Picture of the Year, they'll have a lot to beat from past years before this.

To start of the "overview", I've just got to say the artistic area of last years movies are tremendous. Much better then 2006, by far. We got truly amazing cinematography ("Into the Wild", "Across the Universe", "The Assassination of Jesse James"), costumes beyond beauty (Hairspray", "Atonement", "La Vie en Rose") and Art Direction with so much LIFE ("Sweeney Todd", "300"). 2007's artistic side was amazing. Great work.

When it comes to performance wise, performances in 2007 went beyond great. Clear newcomers like Joe Anderson in "Across the Universe", Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose" and Saorise Ronan in "Atonement" really caught my attention with their unique, touching and amazing performances in their respective films. And movies as a whole, captivated. But what will the new Best Picture be following? A long line of my favorites, a long line of pure movie magic.

2004

In 2004, when I first awarded the Chino Choice Awards, One particular film really caught me visually and acting wise. This movie was "The Aviator". This film, about the life of Hollywood Producer and Aviation Mogul Howard Hughes, was perfectly shot (direction by Scorsese) and wonderfully acted. The movie ended receiving 8 Chino Choice Awards, the most in my award-giving history. It got: Best Picture, Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Director (Martin Scorsese), Best Ensemble Cast, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design and Best Film Editing. To round of the year, Hilary Swank won Best Actress for her work as Boxer Maggie in "Million Dollar Baby" and Clive Owen as his sex-pot addict in "Closer" got Best Supporting Actor.

2005

With a controversial gay cowboy flick ("Brokeback Mountain") versing a racist LA flick ("Crash") at the Oscars, 2005 became one of the most controversial years in Oscar and in cinema. But to me, the two hardly deserved to be on top. With amazing Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line" and the Jane Austen novel "Pride and Prejudice" on screen, 2005 gave us a delightful "romantic" theme to it. Joe Wright's "Pride and Prejudice" however, had the edge and ended up snagging my Best Picture award. Along with that, it won: Best Actress (Kiera Knightly), Best Director (Joe Wright), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score and Best Cinematography. "Walk the Line" took home the Best Actor prize ofor Joaquin Phoenix. As for the supporting roles, Jake Gyllenhaal for his controversial Jack Twist in "Brokeback Mountain", and, Rachel Weisz as the stubborn wife of "The Constant Gardner".

2006

When this year came around, I saw one of the strongest performances given in a single year and I was amazed with the many different types of wonderful and truly deserving movies that came out. My awarding became messy and the Best Picture, "The Departed", though nominated for 9 Chino Choice Awards won only half. It only won 5: Best Picture, Best Director (Martin Scorsese), Best Ensemble Cast, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. Facing some very tough competition (Leo DiCaprio for "The Departed" and "Blood Diamond", co-star James McAvoy), Forest Whitaker ended winning the Best Actor award for his portrayal as the evil Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland". Also playing royalty, Helen Mirren won Best Actress for her performance as Queen Elizabeth in "The Queen". Eddie Murphy entertained and sparkled as Best Supporting Actor for "Dreamgirls" and Cate Blanchett, winning for a 2nd year this decade, won Best Supporting Actress for her seductive teacher in "Notes on a Scandal".

So this 2007 Chino Choice Awards, who will it be? Who will the nominees be? Will it be a comedy? A musical? A biopic? Just wait and see...

COMING SOON.

Marion Cotillard: I LOVE YOU

2008-02-28T20:24:00.003+08:00

I am now convinced that Marion Cottilard isn't only the most talented actress from France. But she is one of the most beautiful ever to walk on the Oscar Red Carpet and probably the most beautiful Best Actress winner. She is a goddess and so damn beautiful. Marion, you are the bestest, most amazing, most hotess, most beautiful girl EVER (next to Vivien Leigh off course).

80 Academy Academy Awards.

2008-02-28T18:03:00.005+08:00

I know I'm late but how can you blame me? I was in Singapore.
Anyways, the Oscars showed and YES I watched it! It was joyful night, especially for brothers Joel and Ethan Coen who won 3 Oscar...EACH. However, its not a surprise at all. Though throughout the night, we had a few disappointments...Here is a little comparison and my comments about the winners and the show itself...

Best Picture
Winner: "No Country for Old Men"
Prediction: "No Country for Old Men"

Best Director(s)
Winner: JOEL AND ETHAN COEN - "No Country for Old Men"
Prediction: JOEL AND ETHAN COEN - "No Country for Old Men"

Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: JOEL AND ETHAN COEN - "No Country for Old Men"
Prediction: JOEL AND ETHAN COEN - "No Country for Old Men"

Though I have not seen "There Will Be Blood", with Daniel Day-Lewis' Golden Globe, SAG and numerous critics awards we all knew he would win. Wasn't it obvious. We all knew it making the catagory not as exciting...still I shant judge him for I haven't seen the movie.

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Winner: DANIEL DAY-LEWIS for "There Will Be Blood"
Prediction: DANIEL DAY-LEWIS for "There Will Be Blood"

Right before the BAFTAS, I changed my prediction to Marion Cotillard from Julie Christie. I really knew she would win deep in my gut. When she did, I was more then glad. Cotillard's performance in "La Vie en Rose" is so outstanding, I can say she's one of the most deserving wins this century. And her speech! What an exceptance speech! Not only was she super, duper beautiful, but her speech was heartwarming.

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Winner: MARION COTILLARD for "La Vie en Rose"

Prediction: MARION COTILLARD for "La Vie en Rose"

Too obvious to be true. I can't even say anymore...Everyone knew it so all the nominees were all cool and enjoyed the night...His Spanish speech to his mother was really sweet. (I Wish) I Wish I could do that some day...LOL.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Winner: JAVIER BARDEM - "No Country for Old Men"
Prediction: JAVIER BARDEM - "No Country for Old Men"

I got a little freaked out with her dress...and her win. I don't know. I haven't seen "Michael Clayton", but with all the feedback it's getting, I wonder why Tilda Swinton won. This ruins my streak of good predictions...her speech was dull and it seemed like people weren't listening to her...awww Cate lost in both categories...

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Winner: TILDA SWINTON - "Michael Clayton"
Prediction: CATE BLANCHETT - "I'm Not There"

*************************************

Best Original Screenplay - Predictable from the very start...

Winner: DIABLE CODY - "Juno"
Prediction: DIABLE CODY - "Juno"

Best Cinematography - Actually very, very difficult.

Winner: "There Will Be Blood"

Prediction: "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"

Best Film Editing - Annoying...

Winner: "The Bourne Ultimatum"
Prediction: "No Country for Old Men"

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration - Clear winner.

Winner: "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

Prediction: "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

Best Costume Design - Gross win. The other 4 were better. MUCH MUCH.

Winner: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"

Prediction: "Atonement"

Best Makeup - Makeup is tooo good to be true

Winner: "La Vie en Rose"

Prediction: "La Vie en Rose"

Best Original Score - The only memorable score and the best score. Great choice.

Winner: "Atonement"

Prediction: "Atonment"

Best Original Song - The only reason I got it wrong is cause I loved "Enchanted"...biasness.

Winner: "FALLING SLOWLY" - "Once"

Prediction: "THAT'S HOW YOU KNOW" - "Enchanted"

Best Sound Mixing - Disgusting...

Winner: "The Bourne Ultimatuim"

Predction: "Transformers"

Best Sound Editing - Also disgusting...

Winner: "The Bourne Ultimatuim"

Prediction: "No Country for Old Men"

Best Visual Effects - Crap was alive. I'm not at all happy with this...

Winner: "The Golden Compass"

Prediction: "Transformers"

Best Animated Feature - Yup...

Winner: "Ratatouille"

Prediction: "Rataouille"

Back from Singapore yesterday and I got to watch the Oscars!

2008-02-28T17:55:00.001+08:00

Loved Singapore. Loved the Oscars. Love the DVDs...

In the Spirit of Valentine's Day: 10 Great Movie Couple

2008-02-14T17:09:00.010+08:00

1. Jack Dawson & Rose Dewitt Bukater - "Titanic" (1997)
Portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet
Love Points: Freezing to death for her. Leaving you hella rich fiance for him. Breaking social class rules. Looking out for each others backs. Young "car" love. WOW. Now this is the absolute and truest first love I've seen in a movie. Aww.

2. Christian and Satine - "Moulin Rouge!" (2001)
Portrayed by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman
Love Points: First of all, they have great singing voices. But battling out a mean, old Duke with lots money and an evil body guard is waaaaaaaaaaaaay cooler. Awww.

3. Tony and Maria - "West Side Story" (1961)
Portrayed by Richard Breymer and Natalie Wood
Love Points: I think seeing Natalie Wood this crazy and hysterical in a character...yes she loved him....A LOT. Awww.

4. Paul Varjak & Holly Gollightly - "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961)
Portrayed by George Peppard and Audrey Hepburn
Love Points: They saw through each others "money-hunger-caged" selves and found one another in the right time. Awww.

5. William Shakespeare & Viola De Lesseps - "Shakespeare in Love" (1998)
(Portrayed by Joesph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow)
Love Points: Duh, he wrote the greatest Romance play in the world for her. She practically backstabbed the Queen of England and other royal blood for him. Awww.

6. Inman & Ada Monroe - "Cold Mountain" (2003)
Portrayed by Jude Law and Nicole Kidman
Love Points: He walks thousands and thousands of miles for her, even though he's just gonna die at the end. She survives the whole Civil War and waits for him the whole 4 year period. Awww.

7. Nickie Ferrante & Terry McKay - "An Affair to Remember" (1957)
Portrayed by Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr
Love Points: They reunite (or at least attempt to) with each other after a year. PLUS, he goes back to her even with that ugly leg and annoying singing children. Awww.

8. Mr. Darcy & Elizabeth Bennett - "Pride and Prejudice" (2005)
Portrayed by Mathew MacFayden and Keira Knightly
Love Points: Despire all their prejudices and social status, they realize that they actually love each other truly. Awww.

9. Rick Blaine & Ilsa Lung - "Casablanca" (1943)
Portrayed by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman
Love Points: He saved her from the cruel life of Casablanca and gave her back to her husband. Awww.

10. Romeo & Juliet - "Romeo + Juliet" (1996)

(Portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Daines)
LOVE POINTS: They both died for one another. Awww.

HAPPY VALENTINES.

2008-02-14T16:52:00.003+08:00

Let's share the love.

Poopie...at least I'm back.

2008-02-14T16:49:00.001+08:00

With the crashing of my computer, I missed so much things. IT'S SO ANNOYING. I missed blogging about the BAFTAS and Roy S's death and SO MUCH things. But I'll look at the bright side. At least I got my computer back. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLARK GABLE!

2008-02-02T15:50:00.000+08:00

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to put this post up yesterday, his real birthday Febuary 1, 2008 because of a certain arm injury that happend. But I'm okay. I don't matter, what matters is we're here to celebrate Oscar winner and amazing actor Clark Gable's birthday. Sadly I haven't seen that many (yeah around 3 or 4) Clark Gable movies (if you think that's a lot, compare it to the dozens of movies I've seen of Audrey Hepburn or Gene Kelly or etc.), but after watching this four (I haven't seen "Mutiny in the Bountry" (1935) but I already own it on DVD) I'm really convinced that Gable is one of the greatest actors of all-time. Wanna know why? 9 words: "GONE WITH THE WIND" and "IT HAPPEND ONE NIGHT".

"IT HAPPEND ONE NIGHT" (1934) was practically the movie that boosted Clark Gable's career. Even though he had done 34 movies before that, no one knew who he was until this film. Here, he was pared up with the big-eyed Claudette Colbert and plays rusty journalist Pater Warne. As they boomed the screen, Gable and Colbert made screen magic for their lovely work in this romantic screwball comedy. Winning an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, everyone knew that Gable was the HOLLYWOOD LEADING MAN of the time and became one of the most popular people - IN THE WORLD!

In "GONE WITH THE WIND" (1939), Gable plays Rhett Butler and not only marks his name as one of the most iconic character's of all time, but also made his best perfornace to date. When they were announcing that this movie was gonna be made, the world screamed Gable's name and he joined later on. In the film, Gable gives us a performance to remember. He laughs, he cries, he whistles, he dances - in this 4 hour biopic, Gable did what every actor wanted to accomplish: BE AMAZING. He was so amazing...all is said.

So this was just my little Clark Gable Birthday Tribute. Happy Birthday Mr. Gable!!!

ONE COOL FACT: Gable is the first actor even to have gotten a song written for him. Download Judy Garland singing "(Dear Mr. Gable) You Made Me Love You" from "The Broadway Melody of 1938" (1938).

For Fun: Picture From My Top 10 of All-Time

2008-02-02T12:39:00.000+08:00

1. GONE WITH THE WIND (1939, Victor Fleming)

2. THE GODFATHER (9172, Francis Ford Coppola)

3. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939, Victor Fleming)

4. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959, Billy Wilder)

5. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952, Gene Kelly and Stanely Donan)

6. THE GRADUATE (1967, Mike Nichols)

7. REAR WINDOW (1954, Alfred Hitchcock)

8. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2007, Julie Taymor)

9. THE DEPARTED (2006, Martin Scorsese)

10. TOOTSIE (1982, Sidney Pollack)

COMING SOON...

2008-01-31T15:37:00.000+08:00

...REQUIEM FOR A DREAM...

...MOULIN ROUGE!...

...CATCH ME IF YOU CAN...

...COLD MOUNTAIN...

...THE AVIATOR...

...PRIDE AND PREJUDICE...

...THE DEPARTED...

WHO WILL BE NEXT?
THE ANNUAL CHINO CHOICE AWARDS

Top 10 Anticipated Movies of 2008

2008-01-31T14:51:00.000+08:00

1. REVOLUTIONARY ROAD - This movie is my number 1 most anticpated movie of 2008 because of so many reasons: 1) Leonardo DiCaprio, my 2nd favorite actor is in it, 2) Leo and Kate Winslet are together again after the 11 year seperation since "Titanic" (1997), 3) Really talanted director Sam Mendes is doing the picture, and 4) everything about this movie screams OSCAR. Could this be my next years Best Picture? I'm so excited even for the trailer to come out! But as for now, I have to settle with this one and only steamy picture of the lead stars.

2. MAMMA MIA! - Probably the biggest reasons why I'm so excited for this is because I saw the stage version on Broadway last year. Though I really, really enjoyed the stage version (I had good seats too), I think the movie would be much, much better. Even the trailer says so. I think with the casting of Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried the movie might turn into this years less-glamorous "Hairspray". With 5 musicals released last year, ("Across the Universe", "Hairspray", "High School Musical 2", "Once", "Sweeney Todd") the addition of this and Zac Efron's "Footloose" is really exciting!

3. AUSTRALIA - Australian vesion of "Gone with the Wind" anyone? Haha. Well it has all the right ingredients to make an Oscar Epic. Nicole Kidman + Baz Luhrrmann = Payback Oscar for 2001. However, I feel like when I watch this, It'll istanstly be overshadowed by their "Moulin Rouge!" power-work. Whatever, it's great to have Baz back.

4. ASHECLIFFE - No matter how wierd the title or cast or setting, just tell me its another Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio partnership, I'll storm the movie theaters the first day it's released. This two is my favorite team of the century. They can do new wrong.

5. THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON - What an awesome cast. Just because Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt and Tilda Swinton (all made Oscar nominated movies and two have Oscar nominated performances this year), this will definetely be under the Oscar radar. It's really cool to have another Oscary-fantasy-drama again.

6.UNTITTLED KURT COBAIN PROJECT - Though I'm really dissapointed that Joe Anderson didn't get the part of the late rockstar, I guess I'm still pretty much excited to see a biopic of the Nirvana singer. Ryan Gosling will play Cobain (I'm positive he'll lip sinc, the only time he'll completely COMPLETELY win me over is if he sings himself) and its interesting to see Scarlet Johansson in the role of Courtney Love. This film will rock

7. THE YOUNG VICTORIA - Ever since I gave Emily Blunt a nomination for her supporting work in "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006) , I've been so excited to see her as a lead star. Best Actress anyone? I have a feeling she can do it...The Academy has always loved Queens.

8. FOOTLOOSE: THE MUSICAL - I really enjoyed Zac Efron in "Hairspray" (I don't wanna sound like I'm part of the fad, but he's annoying in "High School Musical 2") and I'm quite interested to see what he'll do the Kevin Bacon character in an all-round musical version. His song "Bet On It" from HSM2 was just a preview for this. I gotta admit, fine, he was good at that part.

9. THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS - Ohhhh..not really my "type" of movie, but I'd really like to see what Heath Ledger left off. I also wanna see Johnny Depp filling in and how they actually do it.

10. DOUBT - Amy Adams and Meryl Streep! WEEE HEEEE!

My Updates Top 10 of All Time

2008-01-31T13:45:00.000+08:00

1. Gone With the Wind (1939, Victor Fleming)
2. The Godfather (1972, Francis Ford Coppola)
3. The Wizard of Oz (1939, Victor Fleming)
4. Some Like it Hot (1959, Billy Wilder)
5. Singin' in the Rain (1952, Gene Kelly and Stanely Donan)
6. The Graduate (1967, Mike Nichols)
7. Rear Window (1954, Alfred Hitchcock)
8. Across the Universe (2007, Julie Taymor)
9. The Departed (2006, Martin Scorsese)
10. Tootsie (1982, Sidney Pollack)

What ya think?

Movie Review: Across the Universe (2007, Julie Taymor)

2008-01-29T19:33:00.000+08:00

* * * * *

Cast: Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther McCoy, T.V. Caprio, Bono, Eddie Izzard, Lisa Hogg, Harry J. Lennix, Selma Hayek
Screenplay: Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais
131 minutes / Color

Julie Taymor’s beautiful, visual feast “Across the Universe” wasn’t only a complete dream for me, but a dream for any Beatles fan. As a musical set to the lovely tunes of 31 Beatles songs, the whole film and the music fits together like the beauty of jam and bread. The whole cast hits the right notes and so did female director Taymor.

Set in the 1960s during pre and post Vietnam War, we are introduced to the two main characters: the rich American High School student Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) and British steel worker Jude (Jim Sturgess). Jude leaves England and his girlfriend and goes to the shores of America to look for his long-lost father.

When he arrives there, Jude gets fairly disappointed when he learns his father is already married to another woman and is nothing but a janitor at Princeton College, New Jersey. As Jude temporarily bunks in his father’s janitor room, he meets Max (Joe Anderson) and the two misfits hit it off real fast. The two become the closest of friends and he later invites Jude over for Thanksgiving dinner.

Lucy, Max’s sister, who is depressed at the moment because of her boyfriend fighting the war in Vietnam, meets Jude during the dinner and they grow a connection. Jude quickly falls for her but the two get separated when Max drops out a college and persuades Jude to move with him to New York.

The two go on to New York and start their new life of art (Jude’s new profession), weed, and sex and rock n roll. They rent a duplex with Sadie (Dana Fuchs), their landlord and singer by night. Lesbian Prudence (T.V. Carpio) and estranged guitarist Jojo (Martin Luther McCoy) lives with them in the apartment too.

When Lucy’s boyfriend dies, she feels she can’t take her surroundings and asks her parents if she can live in New York for awhile with her brother Max. They agree, with hesitation. As she gets to New York, she also gives Max a letter saying that he has to go to war as soon as possible. Lucy’s spark with Jude also gets turned on again and they end up being together.

As Max goes off to the fight, Lucy gets to “affected” by the pointless war, joins The Radicals, a group of peace rebellions who want the war to stop and never goes back to school. As Jude and Lucy’s beautiful relationship starts getting torn apart due to her work, the two face a dark zone in their lives.

During a strike demonstration in Columbia University that Jude gets forced to go to, he is caught up in the “helter-skelter” crowd and is instantly deported. As Max arrives home from the war, war-torn, him and Lucy try to restart their lives again…without Jude.

As Jude lives in England, he misses his friends so much that he hallucinates Max (song “Hey Jude”) and the hallucinations tell him to go back to America, back to the girl he loves. Jude follows and travels back to the States the right way to get back with Lucy, making everyone know that “All You Need is Love”.

Though there are plenty of sub stories and events in the film, the movie is basically “boy gets girl-boy losses girl-boy gets girl again”, but with all this Beatles music and lovely visuals and an great ensemble cast, “Across the Universe” becomes more then a simple tale but also the best movie musical of the year. Best Movie? Maybe…it’s a secret.

I do consider “Across the Universe” as one of my guilty pleasure. Already I’ve seen it probably more then 10 times. If there was a cult, I’d love to be their leader. With a movie like this, there’s bound to be one.

As much as I love the cast (most of them did okay, better in singing however), two people really stuck out acting and singing wise: performance wise. These are the young newcomers Jim Sturgess and Joe Anderson.

Sturgess explodes onto the screen as a wonderful, wonderful leading man with an amazing voice to match. His covers and renditions of many Beatles songs were amazing and his untrained acting and voice was beyond brilliant. He did so well for a first movie. I can’t wait to see his future projects.

Joe Anderson’s supporting performance for Max is already classic for me. He was so natural-like and did not only show-off some great singing skills, but also some wonderful dramatic and comedic scenes as well. All his scenes were done with a naïve but wanna-be strong sense which really worked for the performance. He was wonderful and did a great job. This is his break: good enough for awards consideration!

The breathtaking musical numbers are accompanied by the beautiful voices of the 6 principal cast members and truly amazing direction by Julie Taymor. Almost all the songs in the movie were absolutely beautifully done. Out of the 30 songs, their were only 2 songs that didn’t compare to their originals (“Let it Be” and “Come Together”). The rest were equal and most were even better.

My favorite song was sung by my two favorite cast member and two favorite singers in the film. “Strawberry Fields Forever” was too extraordinary and Sturgess and Anderson in it were absolutely incredible. The whole song and sequence was a masterpiece and extremely done well.

Other notable songs with great vocals and staging were “All My Loving” (cool Jim Sturgess solo beginning), “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” (great slow version), “It Won’t Be Long” (exciting song, Wood’s high-low vocals was the shiznick), “I’ve Just Seen a Face” (First big production number in the bowling alley), “If I Fell” (romantic, Wood’s best songs), “I Want You” (great Viet Nam soldiers Production Number starring Anderson), “Dear Prudence” (“look around” part is the best), “I Am the Walrus” (twisted Bono cameo), “Because” (Uber cool number when their singing in the water naked – beautifully staged and amazingly sang), “Something” (so good that it’s haunting), “Oh! Darling” (fun “breakup song”), “Across the Universe” (lovely title tune), “Helter Skelter” (really rocking, Dana Fuchs is an amazing performer), “Happiness is a Warm Gun” (delirious and daring, loved it), “Hey Jude” (the climax of wonder) “Don’t Let Me Down” (rested but splendid), “All You Need is Love” (one of the best finale’s ever, corny in a sense-but altogether amazing).

Julie Taymor’s direction and concepts were so good that she has done the Best Female directing all decade. If I’m not mistaken, girls only started directing this decade so do we have a Best Female Director of All Time? Possibly…She is pure genius.

The techs were just so wonderful. The costume design (rightly earned Oscar nomination on this one), the art direction and especially the visual effects were stunning. I’d love to see the making of this movie to see how they did some of those beautiful effects. To top it all off, the movie had miraculous cinematography.

To rap it up, “Across the Universe” was sheer wonder from beginning to end. It was a blast of exuberant colors, lightings, visuals and songs and was really enjoyable (especially if you’re an enormous Beatles fan like me). I’m not sure if I’m just in pure “Beatles” shock, but “Across the Universe” is a must-see film experience and waiting for the movie for nearly two years was really worth it. All I can give to this movie and it’s entire cast is LOVE.

Movie Review: Bee Movie (2007, Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith)

2008-01-29T19:11:00.000+08:00

* * * *

Cast: Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Mathew Broderick, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, Barry Levinson, Larry King, Ray Liotta, Sting, Oprah Winfrey, Larry Miller
Screenplay: Jerry Seinfeld, Spike Feresten, Barry Marder, Andy Robin
90 minutes / Color

One thing I really don’t get with animated movies is the fact that they always use big name stars in the lead (or even small) roles. I find it funny because there are so many more talented voice actors out there that could do a better job. Not that I’m saying I didn’t enjoy “Bee Movie”. I found it really fun and funny and even cute. It’s a great effort that surpasses the ranks of the overrated “Simpson’s Movie” this year.

In an active hive in Central Park, there live many Bees working for their company Honex, to not only provide their whole hive with honey but also feed and keep them running for the next year. When Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld), a curious bee, leaves the hive to explore the outside world before working for Honex forever, he meets Vanessa Bloome (Renee Zewllweger), a kind and beautiful florist. There’s only one problem…she’s human!

After hanging around with Vanessa for a while, Barry discovers one of the most shocking things in his life: humans are stealing honey and forcing bee’s to work for no charge! This angers Barry and starts legal action against every human in the Honey Industry.

As he fights for the Bee’s legal rights with his friends Adam (Mathew Broderick) and Vanessa, though times rise but they still manage to win and the honey industry is completely terminated. All the bees are free and every single drop of honey is returned back to them. Barry grows rich and lazy…

One day, when Barry goes to visit Vanessa. It seems like she is leaving forever. Vanessa explains that the park is completely dead because since the bee’s were free and they have all their honey to last them for a lifetime, their old habits of flying around and dropping pollen has lead to New York’s dead plants and will lead to the death of their animal life too.

Barry feels completely guilty for all of this, flies to California with Vanessa, steals a flower parade show float and all the Bee’s pollinate the city to the tune of “Here Comes the Sun”. At the end, Barry and Vanessa re-open her flower store and also open a Law Firm for animals in need.

That’s basically it. Well even though it sounds really corny, “Bee Movie” turned out to “bee” really cute indeed. It was fully of stupid jokes (that kids probably don’t understand) and it made me laugh throughout the film!

The voice talents were mediocre. Like I said, I don’t really “feel” that whole fact of using big name stars in the head. They just did an okay job. Seinfeld was great but Broderick and Zellweger was off.

What saved the movie for me is the humorous screenplay. It was funny, charming and surprisingly smart. It angers me that the really annoying flick “Surf’s Up” got an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature and not this. This certainly deserves a place over that overrated piece of mush.

“Bee Movie” was so full of a new type of energy and zest in an animated film and filled with jokes that go beyond regular kiddie stuff. It blew away my low expectations and I wasn’t even watching the movie with an open mind. I’m not sure if I’m just retarded and really low for these jokes, but watching this movie literally made me laugh out loud.

SAG WINNERS!

2008-01-29T13:59:00.000+08:00

Sorry for the late post, but here is is anyways. SAG clearly shows us the front runners for the Oscars. Here's the winner and here's my thoughts:

Best Ensemble Cast - "NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN"
Will definitely be winning the Oscar for Best Picture. It looks likes this, the DGA and WGA is supporting it. Even if "There Will Be Blood" or "Juno" takes home the PGA, it has no chance with all the support "No Country for Old Men" is receiving.

Best Actor in a Leading Role - DANIEL DAY-LEWIS for "THERE WILL BE BLOOD"
Yes. The Oscar is his. NO MATTER WHAT. Nothing could get in his way.

Best Actress in a Leading Role - JULIE CHRISTIE for "AWAY FROM HER"
Don't declare her the winner just yet, the artsy people might just go for Marion Cottilard for "La Vie en Rose", but just count her as an alternate. One Christie downside: She has an Oscar, Marion doesn't.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role - JAVIER BARDEM for "NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN"
Just as much as a lock as the movie is for Best Picture. All is said.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role - RUBY DEE for "AMERICAN GANGSTER"
As much as I don't want her to win, she has a certain "old" edge that won't stop her from winning now. I really think she's gonna win this year now. Remember Alan Arkin?

Joel and Ethan Coen win the DGA!

2008-01-27T20:58:00.000+08:00

Well the Coen Brothers won the Director's Guild of America Award and it isn't surprising at all. Could the brother's be expecting their Oscars? YES. The movie for Best Picture? Most probably. Love the picture. Looks great. The last time someone shared the awards of the DGA I think was in 1961 right? Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise for "West Side Story"? Anyways, congrats boys!

SAG PREDICTIONS

2008-01-27T17:19:00.000+08:00

WOW. Oscars are soooo near, but we gotta go through SAG First.

Best Ensemble Cast
WINNER: "No Country for Old Men". I'm going say this and choosing this, knowing that there's SO much love.

ALTERNATE: Even though "Into the Wild" was shut out in most major categories (exception of Hal Holbrook), it think it could make a surprise snag to "No Country's" award.

Best Actor
WINNER: Daniel Day-Lewis for "There Will Be Blood". He's unstoppable. HELLO OSCAR!

ALTERNATE: George Clooney for "Michael Clayton". He can manage to get it, since Ryan and Emile weren't nominated and this category lacks Depp, he can surely win (remember he snagged quite a few critics awards too, it sure does help).

Best Actress
WINNER: Marion Cotillard for "La Vie en Rose". Though is a 3 horse race with Page and Christie, I think she's capable of winning SAGs heart by playing a real-life-person. Remember Helen Mirren?

ALTERNATE: Ellen Page for "Juno". No one said she was out. Just because Julie won the Globe, numerous critics awards and got an Oscar nomination I don't think she can outshine Ellen's pregnant Juno in the little Indie-that could film.

Best Supporting Actor
WINNER: Javier Bardem for "No Country for Old Men". Practically a lock for the Oscar. Let's add the SAG to his collection of awards this year...

ALTERNATE: Hal Holbrook for "Into the Wild". This veteran can win the hearts of his fellow actor's with the "OLD FACTOR". Not to sound insulting, okay?

Best Supporting Actress
WINNER: Cate Blanchett for "I'm Not There". I think she'll win but she has two HUGE threats: an veteran and a newcomer.

ALTERNATE: Ruby Dee for "American Gangster". When the SAG nominations came out, everyone new Ruby ("overrated") Dee would get an Oscar nomination. They started all this buzz for her, they could give her the award too. If she wins here, the Oscar is practically hers. Amy Ryan isn't "Gone Baby Gone" yet.