Holiday Cheer!

The time has come… time for Christmas trees, colourful lights and good cheer. For me (besides the smell of the Christmas trees)… it’s about the holiday movies. My favorite hands down… Home alone 1& 2. Yes, Lost in New York was the first movie I ever saw in theaters and I will watch those two several times a year. But there are hundreds out there! From old ones to Its a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story to new ones such as Bad Santa (AKA Bad Movie) or The Santa Clause. So many are on TV which is just fantastic!

Now there are also those movies that you wouldn’t necessarily count as being a Christmas movie, but they do have many elements of the holiday season in them. Classic example… is the first installment of Die Hard considered a Christmas movie? I would think so, but it just barley makes the cut. Yes, it takes place at a Christmas party smack in the middle of the Christmas season. If you want action, violence, Bruce, and Christmas cheer, pop in Die Heart and as John McClane would say…Yippie-kay-yay

“Another Christmas in the Trenches” (Home Alone 2)

Light goes out in Twilight

So I just went to go see the film adaptation of Twilight, and I was rather disappointed. For the record, I did enjoy the books. However, the movie just lacked something. First, Robert Pattinson (from Harry Potter) didn’t do the best job. As the main character he was just too awkward. He was not as I pictured Edward and his facial expressions were honestly a joke, a lot of people laughed. As for Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob, well his wig was just awful. Another thing, I’m tired of hearing how GORGEOUS those two are. SOOO many screaming tween girls who clapped when their first scene came on. This was even after the movie has been out for a bit. They were also talking through the whole movie and starting saying all of the characters lines- even when they were wrong. Not going to lie, it kind of ruined the movie. Also, the film was clearly low budget. As such, the effects were board line laugh- worthy; the jumping/flying and the ‘sparkly skin’, made me laugh and not in a good way.

But I didn’t hate every aspect of it. Although the movie was low budget, it was kind of artsy and edgy looking. And not all of the characters were poor choices, Kristen Stewart (Jodi Fosters kid in Panic Room), who is the lead was pretty good. That and I loved her hair. Michael Welch was also good as Mike Newton, he was goofy, funny, and pretty close to what I imagined that character be look and be like. (And Esme was Jane Doe/ Ava from Grey’s Anatomy) The baseball scene was also done quite well! And the film had a good soundtrack.

Well there is three more films to be made as a part of this series, so there is much room for improvement, and I will go see them. Also, the budget has been increased A LOT. Pattinson received two million for the first one or something like that, and he will be receiving something like nine million for the second one. But it is too bad his character in Harry Potter was killed off, because he should have stuck with that.

To end, if you have not read the books, then I suggest you do so before seeing the film. If you were to judge the series by the film, than you would not want to read the books OR go see the other films.

“Yo rug-man! Haven’t seen you in a few millennia. Give me some tassel!” (Aladdin)

Buying is a beautiful thing…

Ok before I even begin the ramble that is this post… I must make one thing clear… I love movies, and I love buying them, which I do a lot (Santa will be getting a list again this year). I do not discriminate against VHS either… I still cannot part with mine (kind of like my parents still keep around old records).  I will also watch one on VHS from time to time (such as Catch Me If You Can last week). Also, I own a couple hundred DVDS (no joke).

BUT I will burn/rip/download movies every so often. However, there are some pretty high tech and crafty ways that the industry will put on their discs which makes it harder for us to do so. And who doesn’t skip the anti-pirating ads that say something like “You wouldn’t steal a car, so why steal a movie”. There is this new one now that uses an old movie (I’m 95% sure it’s the movie “Laura”, and they add these subtitle-like lines, trying to be all cool.

But you know what… if you get caught burning/pirating a movie and selling it… you get beat with a colossal fine. So just go out and buy movies.. you can find them cheap. And now here is my plug for the store, The Beat Goes On. It first started out as a used CD place, but now they have an impressive collection of DVDs. The discs go through this process of being lazered which means that a layer is removed so it’s like new- with no scratches and the movie will not skip. You can get seasons of TV shows for like 20-30 bucks. They have loads of locations, check it out, and you can even sell your stuff if your able to part with stuff you know you will never listen to or watch again.

www.thebeatgoeson.ca

“Spectacular… Spectacular … Words of the vernacular” (Moulin Rouge)

 

Yes… A movie can be both awful and great

Let’s start with a fact…a true story HAS THE POSSIBLITY of becoming a fantastic film. Others should have never been attempted to put up on screen. I recently went to go see “The Changeling” with Mrs. Pitt. The movie is not “Based on a true story” but is advertised as “A true story”. I looked into it (because I’m cool) and to be able to drop the ‘based on’ it needs to be all factual (with little made up stuff for dramatic emphasis) and you get a lot of fact checkers and historians look into the film to see if it truly is factual, and everyone looks bad if it’s not when you say it is.

It’s a Clint Eastwood film and the photography is just amazing. As a period piece set in the late 20’s L.A it looks really authentic. And Angelina Jolie does a convincing job as a mother who wants to find her son.

Without going into plot summary (Don’t be lazy…Google it) it’s about a woman whose son goes missing and months later the L.A.P.D claim they find her son. But it’s not him, so the film goes through the corrupt police (instead of admitting their mistake, they try to convince the mother that this boy is her son, and then they hide her in a ‘psychopathic’ hospital). BUT then….this whole other back story comes into play…. About this deranged man who (with the forced help of his 14 year old cousin) snatches little boys off the street, hold them prisoner in a chicken coop, he collects a few, and then kills them with an axe. The 14 year old kid gets caught for deportation (he’s Canadian) and then tells the police the story of killing the boy. He also recognizes Jolie’s son from a picture as one of his victims. The film was graphic and disturbing. It was heartbreaking when you see the killer tell a little boy this story to get him in the car and it actually works

Without giving the story away too much, the two story lines connect… who is this boy who is saying he is Jolie’s son?  Was her real son one of the victims of the ‘chicken coop massacre’? Or did he get away?

And this is a real story… some psycho (who is Canadian but killed in the U.S) actually did this. The actor that played him was truly amazing. It was a haunting performance. People were crying in the theater, and even I had to look away multiple times during the film.

Look up the story, they called it the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders.

“On the night of November 14th, two men broke into a quiet farmhouse in Kansas and murdered an entire family. Why did they do that? Two worlds exist in this country: the quiet conservative life, and and the life of those two men – the underbelly, the criminally violent. Those two worlds converged that bloody night.” Truman Capote, ‘Capote’.

Grey Area…Get it already!

Yes, I will admit, I have been attached to Grey’s Anatomy. I started purely because people have been talking about it. So awhile ago I picked up season one… and guess what… it was bad. Poor plot, shaky acting, and basically trying too hard. Basically, I enjoyed House a MILLION times more. BUT, what the hell, I gave it another shot. And yes, after season two, I was hooked. In turn from the previous season, it had great story, good acting ECT (especially that bomb!). Now I still needed to catch up on a few more seasons. But like any devoted viewer, I flew through all the season, and am now fully caught up. See this proves to show… that word of mouth advertising (and the beauty of DVDs and the internet) really catches viewers. Watching full eps on the internet is also great. HINT, get seasons on DVD from the library… its free, you get the full season, and you can keep it a week. If you wanted to buy season go to BGO (the beat goes on) Its great (also for cds) and they are cheap and new. ANYWAYS, if you hear good things about a show, check it out because TV is crap these days and flicking through the channels is a pain in the ass and nothing is ever on when you want it anyways so go online or to your local library.

“You’ve heard of the golden rule, haven’t you? Whoever has the gold makes the rules!” (

See What I SAW

So of course I had to check out the new SAW movie. Yup, Saw IV, Five, 5. Now you may ask yourself what could possibly be still left to tell in the world of guts, gore, and Jigsaw. But let me tell you! PLENTLY! Yes, that is correct, I am a fan of this movie set. First of all, I should clearly state that I do not like scary movies. Nor do I enjoy guts and gore (esp. flowing intestines…that image is just too disturbing and stays with me for a long time). And yes, the Saw movies fit that description quite nicely. HOWEVER, it is also a psy. thriller with a great storyline. Yes, I see Saw for the story line and I close my eyes at the gore. But come-on… you got a great villain who kills people by not actually committing murder…. HE does not kill them. He wants to play a game. He chooses people who take life for granted, have cheated life, or basically, screwed up their life. He puts them in a situation that makes them have to choose between life and death. Each ‘task’ is designed for them to survive. IF they use their smarts and ignore their instincts.  Basically Jigsaw is trying to home in on the fact that life is precious and don’t fuck up. Now the first one sets the story all in motion. The fourth one explains what jig is doing and reveals ALOT. And the latest one basically answers most of the questions that are brought up. Now there’s rumors that there will be another one, and the newest one leaves it so that there could be more, but it also makes it so that this could be it. I’ve heard rumors that the writers will keep on making them until Tobin Bell (or whatever his name is who plays Jigsaw) says he’s done. Well you can’t have Saw without him! Its deff. his voice that makes him just as awesome. And honestly, why wouldn’t he want to keep doing them… what else has he been in?? I know he was in an ep. of ‘Charmed’ (But I know that just because I love that show). Anyways, the point is…. go see it. It’s not scary. Doesn’t make you jump. This one focuses more on storyline than guts and gore (but for all you lovers of guts and gore then you will get your fix for sure).

“Why so serious?” (The Dark Knight)

Hello Bloging?

So I finally begin this whole new online world of blogging. Now I have known a bit about it, I mean I’ve read blogs from friends here and there when I’m bored, but I have had abs no interest in them. Which brings to me why I’m here. Which is because of school. That’s it, that’s all.

Now for a topic I kept drawing up a blank, until about 5 sec’s ago. I was asking myself what are my interests. Of course I drew a blank! But I was watching a movie trailer earlier so volia… that’s what I will do. Well until I think of something else or get bored, which may happen. Or I may forget all together which also may happen.

Just to clarify, I will incorp TV shows as well. Just for kicks and giggles.

“Stupid is as stupid does”  (Forrest Gump)