Scoop

This movie is interesting because as amazing Match Point was, that's how underwhelming Scoop is. It takes all the tics that make a Woody Allen movie, a Woody Allen movie and exploits them in the setting of England. Unfortunately, this time Woody doesn't use the city [London] to the same advantage {as another character} as in MP and of course, his many NYC flicks. The editing suggests that he had about 4 different choices to go with this movie - dramatic thriller, daffy magician comedy, love story, or existential death philosophical film. What we got instead? A film that has no voice, no category, and really, when it comes down to it - not much of a plot. Sidenote: He even manages to make S.Johannsson look dowdy and a little bigger than usual; no easy feat...

2007 Tally, DVD: 4

Catch & Release

A few twists and turns in the plot that the trailer didn't give away completely, but mostly what I expected. Considering that this movie was actually made some time ago and finally released, I thought that it was going to be incredibly bad; it surprised me by being only mildly bad. Garner is likeable - the "comic relief" of the friends seemed contrived, especially since they all lived together? What group of friends in their 30's all live together? Saw the ending coming a mile away and was also contrived, but at that point, I didn't care - you don't go to your typical rom-com to be bummed out. :)

Tally, Theatre: 2

2007, Week 4: 20on20

1. Meet Me In The Red Room - cast, Moulin Rouge OST - Vol 2
2. Ships - Umbrellas, Illuminare
3. White Diamond - Kylie Minogue, Showgirl: Homecoming Live in Sydney
4. Caravan - Bond, Explosive: The Best of Bond
5. Grace - Kate Havnevik, Grey's Anatomy - Vol 2
6. Bittersweet Faith - Bitter:Sweet, The Mating Game
7. This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race - Fall Out Boy, Infinity On High
8. Raspberry Beret - Prince, Around The World In A Day
9. Under The Covers - The Village Green, EP
10. You're All I Have - Snow Patrol, Eyes Open
11. All The Dark Horses - The Trash Can Sinatras, Weightlifting
12. Pieces of the People We Love - The Rapture
13. Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve, Urban Hymns
14. Show Me What You Got - Jay-Z, Kingdom Come
15. Inside Your Head - Eberg, VoffVoff
16. Naive - The Kooks, Inside In/Inside Out
17. Oh Mandy - Spinto Band, Nice And Nicely Done
18. Burning Up - Ashlee Simpson, I Am Me
19. I Wish - Skeelo, I Wish
20. Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood, Some Hearts

Double Feature: Crank/Little Miss Sunshine

Interesting premise. Very XBox-esque execution. I can't say that I liked it much, but I did watch the whole thing. Ending seemed fitting, yet I thought that it was moving in a different direction from the get-go. Statham stayed true to his "roots" as the anti-hero. Smart was decent, but it was an extremely small part to get second billing on this one.

The tagline says it all on this one: A Family on the Verge of a Breakdown. Terrific acting brings this small movie into the big time. A slice of life that maybe is a little far-fetched and yet, the emotions of the family are so true. Even the smallest characterizations are fully realized (the cop, the backstage areas). I don't see this as the best picture of the year, but it was amazing and deserves every audience member that it can get.

Tally, DVD: 3

White Diamond

Sometimes I wonder why Kylie Minogue hasn't caught on here like the rest of the world. Everywhere else she is of Madonna proportions in her popularity. Granted, most of her stuff is very cheesy dance Europop, but it is among the best in that genre!

PotC 3: At Worlds End

Copyright Walt Disney Studios - Taken from Ain't It Cool News

=== I'm excited! Aren't you? ===

This Week's Personal 20on20

1. This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race - Fall Out Boy
2. All The Dark Horses - The Trash Can Sinatras
3. Inside Your Head - Eberg
4. The Way I Want To Be - The Village Green
5. Once More With Feeling - Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.
6. Caravan - Bond
7. Bittersweet Faith - Bitter:Sweet
8. Into Dust (Mazzy Star cover) - Ashtar Command
9. Is It Any Wonder - Keane
10. How We Operate - Gomez
11. Oh Mandy - Spinto Band
12. Snow Patrol - Open Your Eyes
13. Float On (Modest Mouse cover) - Ben Lee
14. Shame For You - Lily Allen
15. Pieces of the People We Love - The Rapture
16. Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush cover) - Placebo
17. Three More Days - Ray LaMontagne
18. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
19. Unlike Me (acapella) - Kate Havnevik
20. We Used To Be Friends - The Dandy Warhols

The Last Kiss

When this film first came out, there were a lot of reviews about how it wasn't that good and a letdown after Garden State. I had really wanted to see it and then stayed away because of that. I'm sorry I did. I thought the movie was pretty terrific and while it didn't have the depth of GS, it was still pretty good in its own right. Braff was decent, L.Barrett was surprisingly good, and R.Bilson took a one note character and made her vivid and emotional. The peripheral characters of the guy friends were well done and "real."

Tally, DVD: 1

My Summer Of Love

Was interested in this movie because of E.Blunt and she did not disappoint. Her co-star in the movie was really good too. The story was moving, although some of the plot points seemed unrealistic. One such point was the why and how they become friends/lovers; like they are literally the only two teenaged girls in the town?

Tally, online: 1

The O.C., Season 4

*sigh*

Press release excerpt from Fox:
The sun will set for the last time on THE O.C. when the series ends its four-season run Thursday, Feb. 22 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The countdown has begun, with all-original episodes airing from Thursday, Jan. 4 through the last episode on Feb. 22. The season four finale will also be the series finale.

Dreamgirls

Not sure what I expecting. I think due to the whole busy-ness of the weekend and fitting this in with everything else that I would have enjoyed it more if I had seen it at a different juncture. Hopefully, I'll catch the beginning at some point in time...I fell asleep for the first half of the movie. It's wasn't terrribly hard to follow, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I don't think that this is the movie of the year, but I definitely think that J.Hudson is the actress to beat in the Best Supporting Actress category this year. She was amazing! So much nuance to the role. On the other hand, what they have been saying about B.Knowles, I was really trying not to believe, because I like her. I think she's real and I don't have a "problem" with her being a triple threat [singer/actress/dancer]. However, it's very telling in the film where J.Foxx's character says he chose her to be the lead singer of the group because she is the most "characterless" (I don't remember the exact wording); there were certain points in the movie where she should have been emoting and there was just a blank look in her eyes where with another actress you would have seen about 25 things flash around in her head as the cogs and emotions swirled in there. The other standout was E.Murphy. Amazing; you really had no idea that a guy who sang "Party All The Time" in the 80's could be this actor. So, all in all, a movie worth seeing.

2007 Tally, Theatre : 1