OSCAR SPECIAL

The Academy Awards are next Sunday so I thought I would give you my picks on who I want to win and who I belive the Academy will pick. I'm not going to do all the categories like Sound Mixing because lets be honest, the only people who care about that are the people nominated.








ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Hear
George Clooney in Up in the Air
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Morgan Freeman in Invictus
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker

My Pick: Jeff Bridges
Academy: Jeff Bridges

I have not got a chance to see Crazy Horse yet, but he won the Golden Globe which bodes well for him because the Globe winner normally takes home the Oscar.







ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Matt Damon in Invictus
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
Christopher Waltz in Inglorious Bastards

My Pick: Christopher Waltz
Academy: Christopher Waltz

I said after viewing Inglorious Bastards for the first time that he better not only get nominated for and Oscar but win it. I didn't care what else came out and how great they were, I wanted to see him win. Looks like I'll get my wish.







ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Helen Mirren in The Last Stalion
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious
Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

My Pick: Gabourey Sidibe
Academy: Sandra Bullock

This is a tough one because I don't feel that Bullock was THAT good in The Blind Side. I feel that Sidibe will steal it. But then again there is always Meryl Steep who as a friend pointed out gets overlooked every year.







ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Penelope Cruz in Nine
Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick in Up In the Air
Mo'Nique in Precious

My Pick: Mo'Nique
Academy: Mo'Nique

I hate Mo'Nique, anyone remember Phat Girls, but she had a great performance here and you have to give credit where it is due.








ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

My Pick: Up
Academy: Up

Pixar is hard to beat and I wouldn't be surprised if Fantastic Mr. Fox stole this one, but I'm pretty confident Up has it in the bag.







DIRECTING
James Cameron for Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino for Inglorious Basterds
Lee Daniels for Precious
Jason Reitman for Up in the Air

My Pick: Kathryn Bigelow
Academy: Kathryn Bigelow

I think the only reason Bigelow is going to win is because Cameron has already won this award for Titanic. I hope she does win, however it was a hard choice for me between her and Tarantino. A fun little fact too is that she is James Cameron's ex-wife.....















BEST PICTURE
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

My Pick: Inglorious Basterds
Academy: Avatar

This year it is really hard to pick with 10 pictures in the race. I have actually had to delete this and re-write it a few times because I keep going back and forth to whether the academy will pick Avatar or The Hurt Locker. For me my absolute favorite film was Inglorious Basterds so that is who I would like to see win, but it won't. Avatar or The Hurt Locker is taking this sucker home and my final decision is Avatar BUT I think The Hurt Locker should win.

So those are my choices for this years Oscars. I have to give Avatar credit for the record breaking numbers and everything, but I have a feeling that in a couple of years we will all look back and think about how overrated this film really is. So I hope and do not think it deserves to win best picture or should Cameron win, but it should mop the floor with things like Art Direction, Vissual Effects those sort of things.

MOVIE REVIEW: COP OUT

Cop Out pairs Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan together as cops for the NYPD. When an undercover bust goes wrong, the two are suspended without pay. Willis then wonders how he is going to pay for his daughters $50,000 dollar wedding. To keep her step-dad from paying he must sell a baseball card which is worth over $80,000 dollars. When two morons rob the collectibles store, Willis and Morgan get thrown into an even bigger case to bust the criminals and get the card back.

Cop Out is the first Kevin Smith film that he has directed, but not wrote. Is that a bad thing, yes and no. This film will not be for everyone, but if you want to go in get a couple of laughs then it is definitely worth the time. For me, I had to break it down into three parts; the first fifteen minutes, the fifteen minute mark up to the the third act and then of course the third act. The first fifteen minutes were a little questionable. I wasn't sure if I could handle Tracy Morgan for an hour and half. Then the entire middle part was surprisingly funny and then it drops off the final stretch of the movie.

Tracy Morgan was a big surprise to me in this film. Like I said, I can't believe I didn't get tired of his routine by the end of the film, but he kept me laughing. Now if he continues to get big movie roles, there is no doubt in my mind I will get tired of him, but this was his first big movie so for now he is ok.

A lot of people are complaining on the writing. Kevin Smith is known for his scripts and since he did not write this one, I think Smith fans just went in expecting one thing and got something else. For me thought I didn't mind it. It had some eye rolling moments but I laughed enough for it to be worth the time.

I also really enjoyed all the co-stars of the film. Adam Brody and Kevin Pollak had some funny scenes together. Jason Lee and Rashida Jones were both good in the small roles they had. And much like Tracy Morgan, Sean William Scott surprised me. I can't stand that guy most of the time, but he got some laughs out of me.

As for what is wrong with the film, lets start with story. It was a very dumb plot which probably took twenty minutes of thinking up. Some of the "action" scenes would build and build and then implode into this very anti-climatic ending. I get that it's a buddy cop comedy, but come on, a little more effort could have been put into the story.

What was probably the worst part of the film for me was anytime any member of the mexican gang was in the film. It was as if they put up a sign that said "first fifty latin americans to sign will star in a film". The head gang member played by Guillermo Díaz was absolutely horrible in this film. These guys had no acting ability, much less making me believe that they were these tough guy criminals.

Finally, something I never notice but stood out like a sore thumb in this film was the score. It reminded me of Bad Boys 2 (which I love) where just about ever scene has "Shake Ya Tailfeather" in it. The music they used here was the techno-rap that was in every scene. It was horrible.

In the end, Cop Out is a flawed, turn your brain off and laugh film. Could have been a lot better, but still worth a watch if you need some laughs. I give it a 2.5 out of 5.

HEADLINES

DIE HARD 5 TO BE SHOT NEXT YEAR???
While doing his press for Cop Out, Bruce Willis just came out and announced that there are plans to shoot Die Hard 5 next year. He also said that he would hire Len Wiseman on the spot and that films needs to go worldwide with this one. Very exciting news for me because I am a huge Die Hard fan.

I was very pleased with the last film and my only complaint was that I felt they took away from McClane's character by making it a PG-13. Any fan of the franchise knows that McClane is a foul mouthed hilarious character. I think they should go back to the "R" rating and bring back Len Wisman.

Now some of you have heard this before but I'm going to go ahead and share my dream for Die Hard 5. The title will be "Die Hard with a Lethal Weapon". This will be the fifth and final film for both the Die Hard and Lethal Weapon franchises. McClane, Riggs and Murtaugh have all been invited to Las Vegas for a retirement ceremony for officers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Each officer gets introduced by someone of their choice. Riggs and Murtaugh will be introduced by Chris Rock's character Butters and by this time, Justin Long's character Farrell will have become an officer with the IT unit and will introduce McClane, which will be good cause he can help with computer hacking and all that stuff.

The awards ceremony will take place in a major casino. And of course, that casino will be the target of a terrorist group that will be robbing it the same night of the ceremony. Leaving it up to them to stop. I like Ralph Fines as the villain. Now obviously McClane and Murtaugh will have to say their classic lines, I picture it happening right when the terrorists attack and Murtaugh and McClane meet for the first time probably crouched behind a flipped over poker table. Murtaugh looks over at McClane and says "I'm way to old for this s#%$", and McClane looks at him grinning and simply replies "Yippie-Ki-Ya, mother f*%@#$!". Work in a few cameos from both franchises and you have yourself the biggest movie of the summer hands down.



ZOOLANDER 2 FINALLY HAPPENING
For years there has been talk o doing another Zoolander film. Today it seems that the wait is over. Justin Theroux who wrote Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2 is set to direct. There is no word on whether Owen Wilson will return as Hansel or not, but it is reported that Jonah Hill will be playing the villain in this film.

Awesome news here!!! I think that Zoolander really blew up after it was released to dvd which should make the sequel a big hit in theatres. Definitely need Wilson to come back as Hansel and I think it would be hilarious to have Christopher Walked play an older washed up model much like David Duchovney's character was in the first.

















FIVE FINALISTS FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA LESS THAN APPEALING
Reports are that John Krasinski, Michael Cassidy, Patrick Fluger, Scott Porter, Mike Vogel and Chace Crawford are the five finalists to play Captain America. Really??? This is the best list people can come up with??? I would like to see Krasinski get the role. He is a good actor and I think it would be good for him so he could get out of the typecast of Jim from The Office. Other than Krasinski the only other one I would even consider would be Michael Cassidy. I would rather them go after someone a little more established like Chris Pine but I'm not holding my breathe on this film anymore anyway.



MAN OF STEEL HAS A WRITER
Batman Begins and Dark Knight writer David S. Goyer will be writting the new Superman film titled "Man of Steel". This is no surprise since Christopher Nolan will be "mentoring" the film. The site says that Brandon Routh will not be back as Superman, the villain will be both Lex Luthor and Brainiac, Bryan Singer doesn't appear to be directing this one and that Nic Cage will NOT be Superman.

I think it is a huge mistake not bringing Routh back. The guy was perfect as Clark Kent. It's not his fault the film was a flop in the studio's eyes. I like Routh and I think he is the one who got the shaft out of all this. As for Kevin Spacey returning as Lex Luthor, I'm good either way. He is my favorite actor, but I didn't really buy him as Luthor. If this one doesn't perform well, I think Warner Bros. should just leave this franchise dead.



GALIFANAKIS TO WORK MIRACLES
Zach Galifanakis has signed on to star in Miracle Workers. The film is about Galifanakis's character who is put on a path that has him posing as an exorcist with a pal. The two think they've got a good thing going until they're faced with a real menace.

I hope that what has happened to Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, and is starting to happen to Seth Rogen happens to Zach Galafinakis. All these guys had a big movie, started getting movie offers and did the same movie over and over. People get tired of seeing the same thing over and over and they begin to get old quick. Zalifanakis has been around for a long time and has kept a low profile. I hope he picks films wisely and doesn't wear us out with the same routine.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE WOLFMAN

Joe Johnston is one of those directors who keeps getting break after break although his films turn out to be just average. As a kid I didn't know who Joe Johnston was, but I new his films well. He directed Honey I Shrunk the Kids, The Pagemaster, Jumanji and The Rocketeer, all favorites of mine when I was younger. And for kids, they are good films. But then he started getting some bigger budget stuff, October Sky, Jurassic Park 3 and Hidalgo, which were all very average movies, JP 3 being borderline bad. In his latest film, he remakes the classic horror film The Wolfman.

Lets start with the cast. Benicio Del Toro in my opinion was dead on casting to play the part of Lawrence Talbot aka The Wolfman. The guy is an incredible actor who I feel is very underrated and has yet to find his "big break". Then we have Anthony Hopkins who plays the father. Yet again, another proven actor who fits the role perfectly. Then you have Emily Blunt who is a very good up-and-coming actress and Hugo Weaving who plays the detective. With a very strong cast I was hoping for a very strong film.

I don't want to say I knew the film would turn out badly, but after the film gets pushed back two different times, something had to be up. The problem was the story. It is very slow, very boring and the plot barely holds it all together.

In the film, Lawrence is called back to his home when his brother mysteriously goes missing. Upon arrival he is informed that his brother's body had been found and that it appeared he had been slaughtered by some kind of beast. Determined to kill the beast, he goes out to find it, gets attacked, and then he himself turns into one of the legendary wolfman. Then the hunt begins to find Lawrence and destroy him.

It moves to slow and the characters have little to no depth to them. It is really a shame because you have all this talent being clearly wasted on screen.

I did enjoy the "wolfman" scenes. The make-up was fantastic and the graphics were very good. But he doesn't turn till an hour into the film and the scenes were too far and few between.

I really believe if someone else was given the opportunity to take a crack at this film with this cast, they could have knocked it out of the park. Sadly, the make-up and effects do not do enough to save this film. I'm still pulling for Johnston because whether I like it or not he is directing Captain America so I might as well try and embrace him. I did not embrace The Wolfman and I give it a two out of five.

MOVIE REVIEW: VALENTINE'S DAY

I have actually been looking forward to seeing Valentine’s Day for some time now and with an all-star cast that includes; Patrick Dempsey, Eric Dane, Tohper Grace, Queen Latifah, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Gardner, Emma Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, Taylor Swift, Taylor Lautner, Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez and my personal favorite, Anne Hathaway, how could you go wrong? The answer is the script.

Valentine’s Day follows the story of what seems to be twenty different characters over the course of their Valentine’s Day. Some find love, some lose love and some rekindle it. Some of the more memorable storylines are Julia Roberts playing a military woman on her way home via plane to see her special valentine which turns out to be a nice little twist. The Jennifer Gardner, Ashton Kutcher, Patrick Dempsey and Jessica Alba story was an enjoyable storyline dealing with love and loss. And Anne Hathaway’s character/story was probably the funniest of the film. Then some of the storylines were borderline miserable to watch. The Taylor Swift/Taylor Lautner storyline was nearly unwatchable. If there is one thing I learned from the film, it’s that Taylor Swift needs to stick to music and let the professionals do the acting. Same goes for the Twilight star Taylor Lautner, the kid can’t act.

Valentine’s Day had a lot going for it. Great cast, most of the stories were enjoyable, but its downfall was the script. You had A-list actors delivering D-list lines. Many times during the film I just laughed and shook my head at the horrible writing. I’m sure to most viewers, problems with the writing go unnoticed, but to some, you can’t help to sit there and roll your eyes.

A sequel is already in the works with some but not all of the characters from the first film which will be titled, New Year’s Eve… Clever. Who will be returning has not been decided yet, but hopefully the writing team will not be. The movie was enjoyable in parts, but deserves an Oscar when compared to When In Rome. I believe it is worth a watch and will give it a cautious three out of five.