Top Five Lists! Hanks Movies

Right on time, here we go with the second actor I am focussing on this one! I got that idea because of a trailer I just saw couple of hours ago for Larry Crowne and so I thought why not about one of the most acclaimed actors in Hollywood.

1. Philadelphia - One of the many memorable dramas that Hanks has done over the career. A great story with a great performance by Hanks and the other lead in Denzel Washington. A great drama that showed discrimination and the danger of a virus that wasn't known that broad until that movie showed what it can do. Starring Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio Banderas and Jason Robards. Directed by Jonathan Demme.

2. Apollo 13 - Another great drama and pretty much a Tom Hanks Show in outer space. Some of the old folks I talked to are saying that it is a seriously great drama that showed the passion and the coverage of the Apollo 13 mission very good. I am too young to say something like that but it is still a great story that is based on true events. It has drama, love and of course friendship in it. Starring Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris. Directed by Ron Howard.

3. Saving Private Ryan - Maybe one of the most critically and award wise acclaimed movie with Tom Hanks and one of those movies that are putting tears into my eyes pretty much everytime. It is a passionate project that is focussing on the herorism in war and is showing what a group of people working together as a unit are capable of doing, and it also shows what burden you take on yourself when your mates died in the battle and you are visiting them years after it. Starring Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore and Edward Burns. Directed by Steven Spielberg.

4. Forrest Gump - Just saw that every movie on this list is gonna be a drama so lets honor the more "comedic" part and the more historic importance of this movie. I mean it shows so many great steps in American History all covered in a great love story and the part of narrations to fill the viewer in. I mean some punch lines about the history...hidden parts like the Watergate Affair and so on! Really awesome performance by Hanks and a great script. Deserving of the Academy Awards. Starring Tom Hanks. Robin Wright, Gary Sinise and Sally Field. Directed by Robert Zemeckis.

5. The Green Mile - One of the most emotional movies I have ever seen. The story of a warden in the death department in a jail who has an inmate who seems to be pretty nice and is lighting up some magic here and there. This all filled in with a ruthless warden who doesn't care about the dignity of the inmates who are about to get killed. Starring Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan and David Morse. Directed by Frank Darabont.

And here are the other notable mentions as usual! The DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons, Cast Away, War of Charlie Wilson, Terminal, Catch me if you can, Cast Away and Turner & Hooch.

Have a great sunday and make sure to follow me on twitter. twitter.com/fanthaiza

Top Five Lists! DiCaprio Movies

Hey guys,

I am not available this weekend so I will post this list prior to the weekend so you guys can enjoy it! I will start off a little feature with actors and directors about their best movies and all that stuff, this will be only interrupted if a new top movie is hitting the theater that SCREAMS for a special edition!
So here we go with one of my favorite actor Leonardo DiCaprio, sadly never awarded with an Academy Award.

1. The Departed - Alright this list will of course open with the amazing picture that Martin Scorsese created and won him an Academy Award in 2006. Amazing picture about the weird and paradox life of a cop infiltrating the mafia and a mafia member infiltrating the cops, awesome performances by every cast member and one of my favorite films of the decade and probably overall! Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson, Vera Farmiga and Alec Baldwin. Directed by Martin Scorsese.

2. Inception - Academy Awards have also hitted this movie but no nomination for Leo on this one. Still this is a great movie with some stunning visuals and one of the best designed story inside a Sci-Fi world that I have ever seen. Just everything is tied together greatly and the suspense that is created and the mystery of the Leo character that is wooven into the story is just great! Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ken Watanabe. Directed by Christopher Nolan.

3. Shutter Island - Returning back to the Scorsese pics. And here we go with a great movie that is creating suspense and mystery and has an atmosphere and sound design to it, that I am still shocked that it hasn't scored a single nomination in the Academy Awards. The story of the Federal Marshall that comes to Shutter Island investigating the disappearance of a violant murder out of an Insane Asylum is great, the twist and the twist of the twist is awesome and the way you can interpret the ending in so many different ways is just an awesome achievement! Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley and Mark Ruffalo. Directed by Martin Scorsese.

4. catch me if you can - This picture based on the true story of Frank Abagnale Jr. is one of the more comedic takes that Leonardo has done in his career. This movie is an awesome "heist" movie that features not only just two great actors and a great director but also features a great story and humourous dialogues that are simply refreshing and enjoyable. Just a great watch! Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Directed by Steven Spielberg.

5. Gangs of New York - Ok it started with a Scorsese and I will end with a Scorsese. With the epic project that brought in a couple of nominations at the Academy Awards and it is one of the most underrated movies in the entire movie horizon.  The epic story of Gangs rivalring in New York with a lot of hate, blood and of course some love here! Great performances and a nice story. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis. Directed by Martin Scorsese.

And other notable mentions that I will throw at you before I go into an exciting weekend with football ONLY here you go :
Titanic, Aviator, Body of Lies, Blood Diamond and The Beach!

Follow me on twitter twitter.com/fanthaiza :) Enjoy your weekend!

Top Five Lists! War Movies

Alright guys,

as promised here is the new Top 5 List and this week the topic is War Movies. And not only WAR Movies where the war is actually shown, also movies were the WAR is a pretty huge part of the movie.

1. Saving Private Ryan - A great movie that shows not only the cruelty of war, but also the heroism and the companionship in the troops. Great scenes, great dialogues and nice action paired with a lot of great emotions and an ending that is just great and awesome and shows you, what a military mission can mean for you and your further life! Starring Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore and Matt Damon, directed by Steven Spielberg.

2. Schindlers List - Not a typical war movie that shows you the violence of the war, but it shows you heroism in a different kind. An awesome movie shot in B/W with great actors, lots of drama and visuals that are great in a melodramatic way not in a stunning way! Starring Liam Neeson and Sir Ben Kingsley, directed by Steven Spielberg.

3. Inglourious Basterds - WWII an band of jewish americans are landing in France with the purpose of  killing as many Nazis as possible. This basic story is mixed up with great dialogues that are purely smart constructed, great acting, above ALL Christoph Waltz and typical flashbacks that are making this movie a great enjoyable movie. Starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent, Diane Kruger and Daniel Brühl, directed by Quentin Tarrantino.

4. The Downfall - This time end of WWII. A rare and emotional look at the last days in the Bunker of Hitler. It shows the fanatism of Hitler and his servants and the will to force the Third Reich or go down with it, no matter how many neutral victims there are. A great german movie that deals with our history in a great way. Starring Alexandra Maria Lara, Bruno Ganz, Ullrich Matthes and Heino Ferch, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel.

5. Platoon - Maybe one of the most accomplished war movies, but not good enough to be higher on this list. A good movie that shows what it is like to be a newbie in a troop and what it is like to fight a war that has absolutly no reason or purpose! Starring Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe and Tom Berrenger, directed by Oliver Stone.

And here we go with the normal other stuff that didn't made the list for whatever reason but still are a great watch!
Rambo, Flag of our fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima, Black Hawk Down, Apocalypse Now, Pearl Harbor, All quite on the western front.

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The Next Three Days : Prison Break,Drama and Romance

After directing "Crash" and writing "Million Dollar Baby" THE NEXT THREE DAYS are the most recent movie from Paul Haggis, and in this one he is working with the star and Academy Award winner Russel Crowe and Elizabeth Banks. Also in a weird way this movie features Liam Neeson (Schindlers List) and Olivia Wilde (Tron Legacy).

Basically the story is about the married couple John and Lara Brennan and their son Luke. After an argument with her boss Lara Brennans Boss is found dead at a parking lot with Lara Brennans finger prints on the weapon. She gets convicted for the crime and has to spend a life-long sentence at the County Jail. The only person who believes that she is innocent is her husband John, who fights through courts to get her out of jail. After that fails he sees one last chance and that is a prison break and after that a departure out of the United States.

The most prison break movies have a basic structure that is pretty much the same throughout those kind of movies. One person gets convicted, is send to jail and then he or the friends/family outside the jail are working on a plan to get her/him out of there. The Next Three Days are not inventing anything new with the movie, but this movie is adding some great things to the basic structure, that is making this movie so good.

The time span and the methods that John Brennan is using are looking fresh and modern, like the Youtube clips and the way of preparing every single step and evaluating all the important facts that are neccessary for a prison break. Also the fact that John Brennan as a English Teacher at a Community College is not really familiar with the conversation to drug dealers and other criminals is well done.
What is well done aswell is the relationship that is build in the family of the Brennans. You have John, who loves his child and loves his wife so much that he would actually do EVERYTHING to have her close to him. You have Lara, who is loving her family alright but is kind of realizing that the conversation through bars and inside a room with tons of guards are the closest thing she will ever get with her beloved ones. Last but not least you have little Luke who loves his father but is realizing that his mother is getting convicted of a horrible crime and therefor he turns away from her. This kind of family drama is well done because it comes to a full circle at the end, which is always great, when little details are mentioned at some place and then are getting picked up again in the end. (The Town does that in great fashion)

The actual plan and execution of the plan (without getting into some kinds of spoiler here) is great. The cops are good, the frustration of the cops is really great, the twist and retwist is nice and the action are really spot on! Actually it is also great to see how his entire plan is unravelling after you see just fragments at the beginning and throughout the movie.

The acting jobs that Crowe and Banks are giving is pretty good as well. Crowe is great as a teacher who is getting more and more into a criminal and really determind guy and Banks is really good with herself losing every piece of faith in a reunion with her family. Weird in the actor column is just the casting of Olivia Wilde and Liam Neeson. I might get that Olivia Wilde is not a huge star with a huge name yet, but still she was in the movie for like 4 minutes and for that kind of role they could have casted a really unknown actress. And Liam Neeson is even weirder because he is really only in the movie in two scenes, two short scenes. Ok he is the one supporting Crowe with some much needed information, but still his acting ability is never shown because of the lack of time he is on the screen.

Still the movie is an enjoyable Prison Break Romance with lots of drama and some action. If you like stories that are well told and have a "suprising" and unfolding ending this movie is a great watch for you. Definitly worth checking out!

Rating : 8 out of 10

Next on the blog is going to be the next edition of Top Five List and maybe a new review of a movie. Not sure yet!

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Top Five Lists! Movies with a Narrator

Ok here we go...I thought about a new topic throughout the entire week and I looked through my shelf and I realized that I have tons of movies, with a narrator guiding you through the movie. Then I saw a movie on TV and I knew, that this would be my new category for this week. And to clear this out before...technically GOODFELLAS would again top this list, since it topped pretty much every other list of mine...so many fascinating techniques are used in that movie and it fits into so many categoryies, that it would top about 50% of all my lists...so from now on, I will see Goodfellas as a given one! I will say is is No.1 and I will go through the list naming 5 additional movies!

1. Goodfellas


2. Fight Club - David Finchers "first" huge success is the story of a bored person, who tells the story of how he is bored, looking for a thrill and discovering many different interesting persons in his environment. Don't wanna spoil anything so I just say, that the movie is awesome and wouldn't effect in the way it does without the narration of Edward Norton. Starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham-Carter, directed by David Fincher.

3. Shawshank Redemption - I always like it, when the main actor is not narrating the story for himself. Shawshank Redemption is delivering superb in this fashion. Red is narrating the entire thing for his buddy Andy. Cool thing about this is, that some points leave room for speculation, cause even Red can't know all the motives behind Andys actions! Perfectly narrated by Morgan Freeman. Starring Tim Robbins, and Morgan Freeman, directed by Frank Darabont.

4. Million Dollar Baby - This one is completly comparable with the Shawshank Redemption - the main actor is not speaking for himself, leaving room for speculations and adding opinions about certain things! This is the movie that got me the idea for this list, coz it made me think about that stuff. So pretty much a great movie by my idol Clint Eastwood. Perfect drama! Oh and hey - Morgan Freeman is narrating! Starring Hillary Swank, Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman, directed by Clint Eastwood.

5. Casino - Second Martin Scorsese in this list. And second Robert DeNiro in this list! The story of the "owner" of a Casino with connections to not that legal friends is a great story, and the narration aspect gives you a great inside of what DeNiro's character thinks in various situations. Great way of letting the audience know, what the main character thinks about the actions you see on the screen! Narrated by Robert DeNiro. Starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone, directed by Martin Scorsese.

6. Forrest Gump - I love the technique, when the story is already onreveled and the main person is sitting somewhere and is telling his story. I even love that thing when it is not with a narration like in Saving Private Ryan or so. This one here is a masterpiece because of the narration, the clever story and TOM HANKS! He is narrating, playing and he is playing in a total lovable way, just great! Narration by Tom Hanks. Starring Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise and Robin Wright, directed by Robert Zemeckis.

And business as usual here are some other movies with a narrator that are worth checking out at least for some laughs!

The Usual Suspects, Taxi Driver, Kill Bill I+II, Gangs of New York, American Beauty and  The Men who stare at Goats.

I am sure I forgetting TONS of movies! If you have a great movie, that I totally forgot comment please! Also make sure you follow me on twitter twitter.com/fanthaiza. And of course subscribe to this blog if you like it!

And last but not least - The Next Three Days review will not be on today or so, coz I couldn't get my hands on that movie YET. I will go to the theater Tuesday to Rango so this review might be up Wednesday of Thursday.

[News] J.Edgar Project gets another cast member!

I am so excited about this upcoming project that I will announce ANY new news about this movie, that I will see!

So here we go with the first one. Apparently the actor of the US Network Show "Burn Notice" Jeffrey Donovan got casted, as an addition for the already illustrious cast. He will be the addition to Leonardo DiCaprio (playing J. Edgar Hoover), Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Josh Lucas, Ed Westwick and Judy Dench.

J. Donovan will portray the arch rival of J.Edgar hoover in this biopic, Robert F. Kennedy.

Also casted this week was Miles Fisher (known for Superhero Movie). Fisher will play an agent who repeatledly will interview J. Edgar throughout the movie.

Still the style of the movie is not revealed, but I truely trust Clint Eastwood to give this one a great direction to maybe make this one of the best movies in 2012!

Top Ten List! Series

I was a bit quite with the Top-Lists, but now here is another extended list this time focussing on Series. I watch a lot of series and here are my Top Ten of those I watch/watched or took and extended look at, but haven't watched everything yet!

1. How I met your mother : I start off with a sitcom and man what a sitcom. The story of Ted Mosby telling the story of how he met his wife to his children is so funny and so great, with a lot of funny jokes and suprisingly for a sitcom some drama as well! Just a complete series with great characters just like Barney Stinson who is just..classic! Starring Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Neil Patrick Harris, Coby Smulders and Alyson Hannigan.

2. House M.D. : Pretty much the first doctor-hospital series I have ever watched and it was an awesome experience for me. Just a great story of a narcicist genius doctor, that is an icon concerning diagnosisis. Of course he has some issues like drug addiction, sarcasm and a general hate toward patience.  Starring Hugh Laurie, Omar Epps, Robert Sean Leonard, Lisa Edelstein, Jennifer Morrison, Olivia Wilde and Jesse Spencer.

3. The Sopranos : I said it earlier on this blog and I will say it again - I LOVE mafia gangster stories, and series wise The Sopranos is THE one for me for that matter. The story of a modern mafia family in New Jersey is pure gold. It might drag a little bit to long, but it has action, awesome dialogues and of course FUCKING great characters. Starring James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Dominic Chianese, Tony Sirico, Steve Van Zandt and Robert Iler.

4. Entourage : Might be a weird choice to have this one up so high, but this is really really a great and funny series about the life and career start of Vincent Chase and upcoming star on the Hollywood Sky. Great dialogues, a great chemestry between the characters AND a different set of characters all the way. Just a very interesting series to watch. The fact that sold it for me is that it is loosely based on the life and career of Mark Wahlberg, nough said! Starring Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and JEREMY PIVEN!!!

5. Glee : Golden Globes honor this series every year and rightfully so. A great musical series, that has some comedy, some drama and the struggle of young teenagers at high school when you are not in the cool society of the school. Great songs, great acting and sometimes a little bit of cheesy things! Great series. Starring Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Cory Monteith, Lea Michele and Jayma Mays.

6. Boardwalk Empire : Prohibition, a city of lust and corrupt politics. All the ingredients you need for an entertaining watch. HBO is investing so much into this series to make it so authentic with great atmosphere that really kicks you back into the 1920s on the screen! I really love that series because it features not only fictional characters but also real characters like Al "Scarface" Capone at the start of his career. Starring Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham and Aleksa Palladino.

7. Bones : I don't know exactly why I love this series so much, but I just do. It is the story of a forensic anthropologist who works for the FBI in order to get informations out of skeletons. She is joining forces with a confident FBI Agent and together they form a great team with great dialogues that sometimes seem to be a bit out of the world! Also with the team the conversations are great and the cases are sometimes so smartly constructed, that it is just a pleasure to watch this series. Starring Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, T.J. Thyne, Tamara Taylor and John Francis Daley.

8. The Big Bang Theory : Once again a sitcom makes my list and this time a bit of a nerdy one. This nerdy tho is selling this series for me, because you have so many clichees and so great dialogues and jokes that this is a series that really made me laugh so hard the first watch, that it had to made my list! Starring Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar.

9. Scrubs : I thought with the departure of J.D. this series is loosing a bit of it's stride, but fortunatly I still enjoy the series even after the departure. Still the series is one of the kind. It has some comedy, huge amounts of drama and a moral aspect, that can not be counted out. Starring Zach Braff, Donald Faison, John C. McGinley, Ken Jenkins, Sarah Chalke, Neil Flynn and Judy Reyes.

10. Lights Out : I wanna honor this amazing new FX Series. The story of a former World Champion, who finds himself in all kinds of trouble. Every episode is great, no lows so far and the characters are developed so great, that this is a series, that is a must-watch in my opinion! Starring Holt McCallany, Stacy Keach, Chatherine McCormack, Pablo Schreiber, Meredith Hagner and Ryann Shane.

Thats it for the Top Ten...leave comments if you like it or not. And here is a list of more series, that are recommendable. (They are in no paticular order!)
Rules of Engagement, Mad Men, The Office (US and UK), Two and a half Men, 30 Rock, Castle, Boston Legal, Family Guy, Simpsons, Modern Family, Lie to me, Burn Notice, The Wire and King of Queens!

Next week a new review will come to this side, I am not sure exactly which film I will review...I am currently thinking about reviewing some film of my DVD shelf but I will see about that.
So thats it for today, subscribe to my blog and follow me on twitter twitter.com/fanthaiza for the latest news and some thoughs about films I recently watch...definitly worth it guys! :)

[Rumour] Tarantinos next Movie?

Since there are no real good movies hitting the theater lately I want to share some excitment for the news I saw last night on my smartphone! I was casually checking my Movie App for the latest news and two news really caught my attention.

First Mark Wahlberg stated that a Fighter sequel is an option the producers are thinking about. There are no real confirmed news or stuff about that, but the story could focus on the Trilogy of fights Micky Ward took on his rise to become a World Champion. That was "teased" at the end of the first movie with a text that Ward took on an opponent three times in order to rise as the Champ!

Dont know if we are really needing a sequel to the first one, but I think we cant evade it since the first one was such a huge success!


Second and even more thrilling news for me was something that is rumoured for a couple of years right now. And it came one step closer to becoming real! Quentin Tarantino apparently is thinking about doing a Italo Western with Christoph Waltz involved in some kind. As a HUGE western movie fan I am actually thrilled to see what Quentin Tarantino can bring to that genre. The Coens did a good job in their western last year, but I am sure that Tarantino can elevate that Genre even higher! Maybe to the state that we saw in the era of western around the 70s and 80s!

Quick thoughts about the Oscars

Just a few days removed from the Academy Award Celebration I wanted to let my voice be heard on the ongoing discussion as well. Pretty much everyones opinion about this years show was, that it absolutly sucked, to be honest I am not gonna change on that judgement, but I want to be fair and square and split the show into positives and negatives - sadly the negativities far outweighting the positivities.

I like the opening number...it was no song nothing really fancy, just a great way to introduce the audience to the hosts and to the best picture nominees this year! Last couple of years the opening numbers were pretty strong, from Hugh Jackman singing his song and next year NPH starting of and then Steve and Alec crackin some jokes about the nominees. It worked for me! What didn't worked throughout the entire show was the face and the attitude James Franco provided....he seemed to be so full of himself that it was really annoying to see this guy on the stage! And since the purpose of the two young hosts failed, I am hoping to see better hosts next year again!

Now as the show moved on I was really really confused how the show was structured. I know that it is not helping the show when you are waiting with the important awards till the end, coz your ratings in the first half will absolutly hit a minimum point, but what was up with the structure here? You got an important awards, followed by some minor awards, followed by songs and then minor awards, then again songs and all of a sudden a tribute to the great ones that died this year, followed again by weird structured elements? I don't get it!

With that criticsm I pretty much ranted about the entire show, coz it was so damn weird how they made and structured the awards this night.
Still in all these confuzing things a lot of stuff was still enjoyable - only partial but still enjoyable parts were in it. I really like Kirk Douglas in his speech, I mean they celebrated him and he paid back with great comedy and so on! Just great to see those guys go out. probably for the last time in their career and work the crowd one last time! Just a classic moment.
That moment was followed by Timberlake and Kunis presenting an award and that presentation seemed so fresh and great that it was maybe the second best of the night followed by the Douglas think. The Banksy line was awesome and how Timberlake improvised with that line from Douglas not only cracked Kunis up!
The rambling of Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. was great as well. Downey Jr. worked his way up my favorite list throughout this year with his funny appearances in the Award Shows that it is just great to see him present!

Those three great presentations stood out for me! I mean the other presentations weren't bad but those three were most enjoyable for me.

Now to let the show rest a bit I will turn my attention to the awards and the winners. And that is another problem of the Academy Awards coz they are sometimes so predictable that it is almost ridiculous. Everyone expected the main winners this year! Kings Speech, Hooper (maybe this one is an exception because of the Fincher Fans still hoping that the Academy will get it right!), Firth, Portman, Bale and Leo. No suprises their! Only suprise for me was that the King's Speech actually won Best original Screenplay. I mean whats up with that? It's not even an Original Screenplay for Christ sakes. It is based on a true story, parts of the movie are inspired by the Book that the Doctor wrote down about the therapy and it was not even a great story either. I bet there is not one single guy out their who could argue with me, that the Inception Screenplay was far more impressive and creative than the Kings Speech!

That was really the only Award I am actually pissed at because it is just not right in my book! Still I got 16 right on my home ballot I made with a couple of friends and I won! Maybe one of the best parts of the night!

Academy Award predictions

Alright guys, I promised you all to deliver my Academy Award predictions this weekend and here they are. I will run through the single categories and kind of explain my choice - please bear with me...sometimes my choices are not based on the knowledge or something just on thoughts!

Best Picture : After all the hype we got about The Social Network earlier this year, going into the beginning of the Award Season and cleaning the house at the Golden Globes, the buzz settled a bit and they were caught by The King's Speech. Quiet frankly I don't know what will change about this here. I would love to see The Social Network win, but I predict The King's Speech to win here.

Leading Roles : I don't split the leading roles, nor the supporting roles up. In both categories my choices are very clear. Natalie Portman and Colin Firth are going to take home those awards for their great performance in Black Swan  and  The King's Speech. I have no doubt here.

Supporting Roles : This one is a bit more tricky than the leading role category. I think, that the Globe Winners Christian Bale and Melissa Leo have a pretty good chance of repeating their success here - both also winning the Actors Guild Award, but they also have to fear competition like Hailee Steinfeld (Why the hell is she nominated in Supporting Roles?) and Geoffrey Rush. Still I think The Fighter will get both of these awards.

Best Director : The Director Guild of America made their presence felt and awarded Tom Hooper their award for his direction in The King's Speech. 90 percent of the GDA winner have moved on to winning the Oscar in that exact same year. It's risky betting against those odds, but I am a gambler and I think, that David Fincher will get this award here. 10 percent is still a chance!

Best Writers :  I don't split those up either and so we have Aaron Sorkin and Christopher Nolan winning in my book. Sorkins Award seems to be pretty save, but Nolan is a shot in the dark. A lot of experts are saying, that it is "The royal year" but when I look at the ideas that Nolan put in Inception I think that is the better script!

Animated : Toy Story hands down!

Best Foreign :  That one is a bit tricky as well. The Globes saw the danish film In a better world winning, but something tells me, that Biutiful will win this one.

Cinematography : True Grit was shoot so well with such a great atmosphere, that I think it will win this award...probably the best chances for True Grit of winning an Oscar this year.

Editing : In my book two movies would be fighting for this Award, Inception and The Social Network. Both had to rely on perfect editing, because there were several plots and strings and locations that had to be brought into a fitting structure, and both movies succeeded in that point. Since Inception isn't nominated  The Social Network will take this one home.

Art Director : Tom Burton  for  Alice in Wonderland is the obvious choice here. It is a colorful movie that is playing in a dream world, and that dreamworld is portayed in a great way by the Art that Tom Burton put into it.

Costume Design : Same as Art Director. Alice in Wonderland wouldn't work without the costumes that are introduced in the movie.

Make Up: I don't know about that category. I believe that the voters are not really watch every movie closely enough to get every bit of Make Up and the way it is used, so I go with Wolfman coz you can't miss the Make Up there!

Original Score : I believe that Social Network will take this one home as well, cause I really like the flow of that Score, always in the back, never really in the face but always there and supporting the vibe. I fear, that The King's Speech will get this one at the end of the day, but my prediction is The Social Network!


Song : Don't heared every song nominated but I go with Randy Newman and his song for Toy Story 3 here.

Sound Mixing : Did a little research about this category and my sources are telling me, that the Sound Mixing craft is about the way dialogues and the environment are presented. So my choice here The Social Network  because so many scenes are taking place in different environments, and the atmosphere there is always pin point accurate delivered!

Sound Editing : When a movie and it's sound are supporting the story and concept of a movie in the way it is achieved in Inception it's gotta win the Oscar.

Visual Effects : Freakin spinning fight in the Hallway! Inception


Documentary : This might be a political choice and so my vote is on Inside Job. Speaking of politics...war documentary Restrepo about the Afghanistan War could be the political choice as well!

Documentary Short : Don`t know lot about those movies. Just read a few synopsis and again from a political standpoint I think Killing in the Name is having good chances of taking this one home!

Short Animated : Also only read a few thinks about those movies and Day and Night was attached to the screenings of Toy Story 3. So I guess it has pretty decent chances!

Short Film : This category I am really having no ideas what the movies are about so I just randomly pick a movie and the winner will be...Wish 143.


Thats it for the Academy Award Predictions...I am sure I won't get 24 out of 24 but I hope I have at least half of the movies right!

Summary:


The Social Network : 5 Awards
Inception : 3 Awards
The King's Speech : 2 Awards
Toy Story 3 : 2 Awards
The Fighter : 2 Awards
Black Swan : 1 Award
True Grit : 1 Award

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The Kids are all right : A modern comedy

The recent years have brought us a totally new way of thinking about the "modern" way of having a family - a heterosexual family that is. Apparently this topic is most suited to a comedic approach with the hit series „Modern Family“ and now the comedic romance „The Kids are all right“ nominated for several Oscars like Best Picture, Best Lead Actress and Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Script. And deservedly so. The movie moves in a fresh and unapproached area of family with a lesbian couple, two kids and the sperm donator who gets mixed into the occasion and spices things up in many ways.

The story is lacking a bit focus and that is a good thing. We jump from one story angle to another which gives this movie a good pace to go with. The story starts with a general overview about the dynamics in the family. We have the bride young girl – Joni, the bit out of control boy – Laser, and of course Mom and…mom Nic and Jules. And later the sperm donator Paul is mixed into the occasion. He wants to get to know his kids better and so he becomes a part of the family, he participates at dinners, is doing sports with the kids and gives the unemployed part of the parents a job in his garden. From there on this entire movie is turning upside down and I can’t progress with the synopsis here without getting any spoilers away!

The thing with those romantic comedies is, that they are almost predictable from the get go. The Kids are all right is no difference in this, if you have seen a couple of those genre movies you pretty much know what’s gonna happen, that there is gonna be a twist were one member of the family gets turned away from the rest and so on. The refreshing part in this movie whatsoever is, that no stereotype can be entered here. With this total new way of presenting the family it is a new situation for movies in a different way. Usually the boy is cheating and then is crawling back in regrets and is doing something romantic for an hour on the screen to get back to the love of his life. It is in The Kids are all right but in a totally different way and not with all the drama and scenes that you know out of other movies.
The fact that one family member betrays the others is presented different here in the movie, no yelling, no screaming, not so many tears and no “I don´t want to see your FACE ever again!”. It´s all settled and quite which is a great way of showing a conflict like that. And in a bizarre way the betrayal is totally new as well. In a gay relationship, a straight betrayal gotta be something new.

But that’s not what drives this movie and makes it watchable. The best thing about this movie is the relationship and the acting. And in a way those two aspects are pulling together. Pretty much every conversation seemed authentic and real in a great way. Mark Ruffalo made a great job delivering the sperm donator who is really unsure of his role in this family, but understands the responsibility that he is taking by getting to know his kids better. Annette Benning is delivering big time as the working mother and the “core” of the family, the institution of the family. Julianne Moore is doing her share as well as the more “hippy” mother, that is really playing the betrayal down to earth. Even in the situations and conversations were the lesbians are talking to each other after the betrayal no tearjerkers are applied, just a down to earth bitterness and remorse that is coming from both ends in those conversations. Last but not least is Mia Wasikowska as Joni, the smart 18 year old girl. She is in a way the center piece and driving factor in this comedy. Her progression is the leading way through the movie, because the troubles are starting with her calling the donor and the movie ends – almost an open end – with her getting out of her parents’ house and moving in to a college flat. And what she is doing in her role is good. She is good in the conversations with her lines, her pronunciation is appropriate and most of all she plays a “changing” character with her –at first- being the protected child with no troubles in live and ending up drunk and yelling at her parents. That’s a twist that is not delivered well by every actor in Hollywood!
The only weak link in the cast is Josh Hutcherson. He is not getting the great exposure either but the scenes he is in he looks shallow and is overshadowed by every other actor that is in those scenes.
Nevertheless this movie is a perfectly enjoyable movie, with the only exception that it is pretty much a romantic comedy genre movie with no real inventive ideas that are turning the genre upside down. Still the modern family aspect is getting some laughts out and is creating some awkward situations, but it is not used in a way, that it could reinvent romantic comedies.

Rating : 8 out of 10

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Top Five Lists! Football Movies

Here we go folks, first Sunday after the football season...so I am going to "keep" up the season once again with my top 5 football movies of all time!

1. Remember the Titans - Not only good as a football movie, but also good as a movie about ethnical difficulties in the early years in America. This movie shows how hard it was for black people to get into the spotlight, and look at the NFL now! Directed by Boaz Yakin starring Denzel Washington and Will Patton.

2. Any given Sunday - A true football movie. It´s about the game and the game behind the game. Stars are born, stars are dropping, injuries are happening, money is tight and success is the best argument you can have on your side for a coach. Directed by Oliver Stone starring Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, Dennis Quiad, Aaron Eckhard and Cameron Diaz.

3. Jerry Maguire - I covered the life of a coach and the life of an entire team with my first two choices, now I am heading for the agent. Jerry Maguire is showing what success and money are capable of doing, but still a human component has to exist in order to accomplish your goals and dreams. And my team the CARDINALS are featured :) Directed by Cameron Crowe starring Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Renee Zellweger.

4. Invincible - After three fictional football movies here comes the true story of a unemployed football fan in Philadelphia. Due to the recent lack of success the Eagles are looking for new members and are hosting an open casting and only one can step it up and earn the spot in the team - Vince Papale. Directed by Ericson Core starring Mark Wahlberg, Elisabeth Banks and Greg Kinnear.

5. The Blind Side - Another true story about the OL Michael Oher, who comes from a crack addicted familyhood and is trying to be just a part of the society. After he is growing into a family he is showing his impressive strenght on the football field becoming the First Round Draft Pick in the NFL Draft 2009. Directed by John Lee Hancock starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron and Jae Head.

And as usual the films that I know that could make it into the Top 5 : Friday Night Lights, Brian´s Song, Rudy, We are Marshall!

Next lists topic is still pending...I am looking for a topic currently. If you have any advises or suggestions just follow me on twitter twitter.com/fanthaiza and let me know what I should write about!

Inception: An unexpected dream movie

The headline might surprise a few of you because the movie created some buzz and offers a great cast so why was this unexpected to be a great movie? Because for a summer blockbuster this movie features so many great innovative ideas both in visual and in storytelling  and plot that it separated big time from the usual summer blockbuster, that are mostly all a repetition of action movies, with a lot of stunts, a lot of explosions and a sexy female!

It´s great to get something new and actually groundbreaking in the summer, were most studios are not releasing their great prospects for the award season. So it´s great to see that guys like Christopher Nolan are not bound to the season in which their film is released but more dedicated to their own prospect and their own project and ideas. The creative plot that is behind the whole story of Inception is both creative and groundbreaking, and the way it is shown in a film is even better.

Don Cobb and his team are traveling to the dreams of men to steal information out of their minds to use them in their favors or to just fulfill a job. Most of the time that information they are stealing are thinks that can be used to create a disadvantage for the one it was stolen from. Their most recent job failed whatsoever and so they need to job together with Mr. Saito, a business man that they formally tried to steal from. The major purpose of that collaboration is to perform the act of “inception” on the mind of Robert Fischer, the young son of a business owner who is going head-to-head with Mr. Saito´s Company.  And with that the fun part starts!

The ride through several layers of dreams only to implant on specific thought into the mind of Robert Fischer, which will change his actions forever. This film is a great mixture of spy, sci-fi and a little bit of an action movie, with no part of those elements dominating each other. It´s a perfectly balanced movie, that offers more and more in each layer you get. The most recognitions (at least at the Oscars) this movie is receiving from the technical standpoint with both visuals and sound editing being front runners for the Academy Awards, and rightfully so. The great sound with all the effects and the score by the great Hans Zimmer are delivering an experience that is just awesome. Watching this movie in a cinema with huge speakers is an experience you should not pass on! The other parts are the visuals and they are innovative and awesome in so many ways. I could jump on the obvious great spinning hallway, where Joseph Gordon-Levitt fights of an armed guard and the entire room is spinning and turning and they are flying around trading punches without gravity, but it´s not only this! Right from the get go the visuals are awesome with the new architect Ariadne trying out her skills and turning an entire city upside down, those shots were awesome as well!

Next thing you will notice after the visuals and sounds is the amazing cast that Christopher Nolan has put together for this movie. With Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard pretty much carrying the movie you get great performances out of them. In addition you have Ken Watanabe who is delivering a great performance and you have Jospeh Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy, who are not carrying the movie in any way, but providing great scenes and action in their scenes. And don’t count out Ellen Page in their performance as a young and curious architect that is discovering more and more about the life and past of DiCaprio´s Character.

So we got the visuals and the cast…what´s missing there? The story! And that story is spot on great. What Christopher Nolan did with this script that he wrote is one of the greatest jobs I have EVER seen. He is not only coming up with a creative idea, creative characters and an unusual topic but he has created a separated world with were different rules are applying and were you can do certain things. All his layers and dream levels are separate from each other both in the design and the way you move in it. He has created an entire new dimension within his movie and the greatest thing is, that the movie is never falling out of his own structure. Everything the cast does in the certain levels is plausible, every blow and everything is explained and it sounds logical. It´s just a great piece of writing that Nolan accomplished.

Now to my favorite part of the movie. I am usually not a big fan of love stories that are woven into a serious plot but in this case it´s so great to see.  With Mal who lost her mind inside a dream and killed herself being all around this love story is not only shallow scratched but deeply analyzed within the movie. Everything is perfectly explained and the use of symbols within a movie is something I absolutely love. He love story is evolving inside the movie without being annoying or slipping to deep into romance or whatever. Just a great example of a sci-fi movie or a action movie or whatever, that is featuring a love story without even getting close to the typical romance clichés.

With all that being said I have only one last thing to say about Inception. It´s GREAT. You have to pay attention to the screen all the time in order to get the content and the rules and systems that are working on each layer, but it´s fairly easy to get if you following the movie. And you SHOULD follow the movie just because this movie is a really really fun and entertaining watch, that features some of the greatest and most innovative writing that I have ever seen.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Whats next?

I have a bit of troubles taking a look at some movies recently course of my college exams and stuff like that, but this will get fixed in a week, when I have time again. Just wanted to give you a little heads up on the reviews and stuff that is awaiting you in February!

I will definitly post reviews of the final missing nominees for best picture in the upcoming Academy Awards which are Inception, The Kids are all right and Winter´s Bone. Probably Inception goes first, then The Kids are all right and after that Winter´s Bone.
Then as we move closer to the Academy Awards, I will announce my predictions for the Academy Awards in every category! Maybe I will devide it into several post to keep the tension...lets see about that. And of course I invite EVERY reader to post his own thoughts in the comments!

Then of course the Top List will stay a feature on the Blog, next topic is pending, but I guess I will make it about football since the SuperBowl is only a few days ago, when the list hits the board!
If there is any huge topic I need to focus on I will of course write something in the Column category, but this feature will not occur weekly on the blog!

And with a little bit more time on my schedule I will try to establish two new categories to the Blog as a weekly feature. One is the DVD Shelf where I will write a review about one movie, that I recently rewatched out of my own DVD collection. The second being the weekly classic, where I will pick one classic and legendary movie, which will get a review on my blog as well!

That is the agenda for the next weeks, if you like my plans let me know and of course bookmark this blog! You can also follow me on twitter twitter.com/fanthaiza for the newest updates on the blog and the unfiltered thoughts that I have when I read something about movies or pretty much anything :)

Top Ten List! Adapted Screenplay

So once again on the weekend a new Top-List hits the blog. This time it is an extended 10 film list because there are soooo many based on true story movies, just too hard to pick only 5 out of this list! Once again this list is based on my preferences in movies!

1. Goodfellas - No big suprise here. It was best gangster movie and it is the best adapted screenplay movie based on the life of Henry Hill and how he works his way up in the New York Mafia. Directed by the genius Martin Scorsese and starring Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci!

2. All the president´s men - In my opinion this is the best political thriller there is out there. The true story of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that are fearlessly uncloaking the Watergate Affair with just good journalism. This project was made and directed by Robert Redford and is starring Robert Redford and a young Dustin Hoffmann.

3. Raging Bull - A boxing story. Just like basically every boxing movie this is a dramatic movie about the boxing career of Jake LaMotta, a middleweight boxer with a strive of getting hurt and enjoy it. This character is so great portrayed by Robert DeNiro that this is an all-time classic in this legendary career of DeNiro. Directed as well by Martin Scorsese and starring as mentioned above Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci.

4. Schindler´s List - The real and great story of the brave austrian industrialist Oskar Schindler who saved more than one thousand jews in the Third Reich by employing them in his industry. Great disturbing images and the story of one of the silent heroes in the Third Reich. Directed by Steven Spielberg starring Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes.

5. Apollo 13 - The story of a desastrous moon mission of the three astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert that are up above the earth with a lot of technical difficulties. The dramatic mission, that nobody cared about at the beginning and then turned out to be a media spectacle after they had to manage every difficulty to come back to earth. Directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris.

6. Walk the Line - The great story of the country legend Johnny Cash and his loved one June Carter. The movie shows everything from the beginning of his life, to the starting country career, all the way to the drug addiction and the return to the stage. It´s so great to see Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon sing all those great songs. Directed by James Mangold and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon!

7. The Social Network - Mark Zuckerbergs successful story of him founding facebook with a bunch of friends and then ending up in a mixture of success, money and betrail. A great story of friendship, loyalty and of course what money and success can make to you and your social life. Directed by David Fincher starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake.

8. Catch me if you can - A chasing cop and a smart criminal in an unbelievable real story of Frank Abagnale who impersonates a lot of different persons and jobs on his way to stealing more than 1 million dollars from his "employer". Only Carl Hanratty is interested in this kind of frauds and tries to hunt him down. Directed by Steven Spielberg starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and Amy Adams.

9. The Untouchables - The true story of Eliot Ness who tries to prove that Al Capone is acting against the law in the time of prohibition. Only problem is, that nobody wants to support Ness on this mission except a old officer, a italian youngster and a booky who tries to prove that Al Capone is acting against tax laws rather than against prohibition laws or even killing people! Directed by Brian De Palma starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith and Robert DeNiro.

10. American Gangster - Not a traditional mafia movie, more the story of how Frank Lucas builds his drug empire without the backup from a mob group. He smuggles Heroin into the states and sells it for an unbeatable price. That of course brings him competition in the drug scene and of course get him the attention of the police. Richie Roberts is the cop who tries to be honest in his job and not fall into corruption. Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and in a supporting role Cuba Gooding Jr.

Other notable films in this category are : The Fighter, 127 Hours, Invictus, The Blind Side, 21, Kings Speech, Invincible, Donnie Brasco, Titanic, Saving Private Ryan and Casino!

127 Hours : One-armed Slotmachine

Clearly "127 Hours" is a good film in general, but for everyone is gotta pay close attention to his likes and dislikes. Surely the performance of James Franco is great and it has to be because basically he is the only person you see on the screen for about 1 hour. Other than that performance the movie has no action and no dialogues. It´s one of those milestone films that are somewhat groundbreaking but are not accessible for the everyone in the audience, because let’s face it most people visit the cinema to get blown away by visuals or effects or whatever. This movie does nothing in that direction might not be the typical go-to big-screen movie but still it is a great movie with emotions, a great character and just plain and simple nice techniques to showcase the situation James Franco´s character is in.

(From here on to the end spoilers can be involved!)

The movie itself is about the true story of the climber Aron Ralston, who leaves his normal environment to discover a bit of a Utah desert landscape and ends up being trapped with one arm under a boulder in a small "canyon". What follows are the 127 hours he survives and tries to stay focused and positive and not losing himself because of the bad situation he is in.

The thing about this movie is that it is a one-man show by James Franco only mixed up with some hallucinations and some trips down memory lane while he is tripped under the boulder. Regardless of that is the great emotions that James Franco´s character shows throughout the movie, he is not going nuts, or cries all the time, he always manages to stay positive about his situation and even can joke about his dumb departure without leaving a note, and about dumb laws about missing people and so on. So the movie has a really serious tone just because he is about to die alone in a little canyon but still the film manages to mix it up with actual "funny" stuff.

Also the technique that is used to burst out of the silent film is actually a nice way. Aron has nothing but a camera in this cliff, so he talks to the camera, first of a bit desperate like when somebody finds this tape please send it to my mum and dad and stuff like that, but later he gets funny, or just talks about the fact that he has nothing left to eat or drink which makes the movie more accessible than a complete character study of Aron Ralston in silents. It´s comparable to "Buried" where Ryan Reynolds only talks to his cell-phone and drives the story through that otherwise it´s just him in a casket, breathing,snorring and moving. So both films use media access or so to burst out of the silent film structure to make it more enjoyable for the audience.

Whatsoever the film has some great use of silence in a way you wouldn´t expect it to be. First of it´s great to see, that they don´t tear jerk the fact that Aron is trapped, he doesn´t scream he holds his composure and just stays calm thinking of a way to get out of this situation. 

In another scene, actually the last scene in the canyon, where he desperately cuts off his arm in order to free himself he needs to cut a ligament and he BURSTS in scream from the pain, and it is just an epic cinematic experience to see him scream but not hear it because monumental sounding music is hitting and his screams are silenced. Just an epic experience with the great use of music. This movie is not build around visuals or so, it´s build around a sound and emotion mix that is simply great.

The memories and hallucinations are sometimes a bit weird and seem out of place at some points. I mean he is just dreaming about parties, beer and stuff like that. It can be a possibility if you are thirsty as hell and you are lonely and stuff, but they just seemed to be a little bit out of place here. Also the Scooby-Doo reference was a bit weak, sure it was the dream or hallucination about the girls he met before the accident, the girls he obviously liked a lot, but those things seemed to be a bit forced every once in a while.

The thing with this movie is, that you have to really check your film-collection first before you decide to watch it. If you are an action fan stay away from it, but if you like the experience of a score that is used to perfection, a character that is simply inspiring because of his will to not give up and not lose control, and if you like great acting ability it´s definitely worth checking this one out!

For me the movie did quite good. I like character studies and I like more silent films without the big action pretty much. The scene that totally convinced me that I like this movie is the ending, with the score and the emotions and stuff like that it is just so powerful that you can really feel with Ralston and really dig this character, and in a way admire that character for what he sustained throughout those 127 hours!

Rating : 8,5 of 10

The Social Network : A change for generations

Loyalty and friendship are the major points in this masterpiece by David Fincher, but it is also a great potrail of what success is able to do to those things. Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin started of to be best friends at the Harvard University only to drift apart with the success of Facebook, a invention initiated by both.

The success of the site and the money that is flowing in due to the success are bringing in a few other individuals and step by step the two former best friends are losing sight of each other. After a long journey they end up in some sort of court to try to solve their issues both financially and from a pride perspective. This is the ultimate breakdown for a friendship, but David Fincher was able to display this breakdown without getting into really deep emotions or so, he just describes the surface and therefor doesn´t go deep into the mind of computer genius Mark Zuckerberg. Only Eduardos mind is scratched because of an emotional outburst at the court where he explains – close to tearing up – that he was the only real friend Mark Zuckerberg ever had. So friendship, loyalty and at the end also jealousy are the dominating emotions, and those are key emotions in every life. First we start of with friendship and loyalty and in the end we have a mess driven by jealousy through the arrival of Mr. Sean Parker, who wants also a big part of the cake. Success and money really are life-altering things in life, and The Social Network is able to capture that in just 120 minutes.
Zuckerberg – excellently potrayed by Jesse Eisenberg – hardly shows any emotions throughout the film, once the company starts to have real success he is all business, he doesn’t see the friend in Saverin anymore, he only sees the CEO of Facebook, who starts to make bad business decisions and so is a thread for the entire project. That matter is so well displayed throughout the entire movie with Zuckerberg, that it is ridiculously smooth and clear what this character is about.
Already the first expression you get from Zuckerberg makes this clear he is 100 percent analysation and brain, no room for real emotions that also explains the lack in social contacts throughout the movie. The entire script is so well designed by Aaron Sorkin, that every dialogue delivers a message and a character development, so The Social Network is not only about the story and the relationships that are changing within the movie, it´s also a character driven movie, with top notch actors and actress. Without the excellent performances by Eisenberg, Garfield, Timberlake and Armie Hammer this movie wouldn´t live up to the high standard, that it has right know – one of the favorites for the Academy Awards.
So this movie delivers excellent performances, a great story, great dialogues and a great analysis of what happens to relationships and persons that are gaining quick success. Already these facts would make the movie an awesome film, but The Social Network has much more to offer.
With the great technique, that is used David Fincher is not only recreating the development of Facebook, he is showing it as a product, that was made with brains and a lot of thoughts. He is not going into any hype of Mark Zuckerberg, he tries to show him as a human – a human with weaknesses. And he is creating an atmosphere, that is simply refreshing, because you are jumping from one set to another – one time you are in the trial with the Winklevoss Twins because of the stealing of intellectual property, the next time you are right in the process of the development of Facebook and then one moment later you are right in the court with Eduardo Saverin about the screwed up company share. All these different strings are keeping this movie refreshing and they are delivering the story and the side-stories of the development of Facebook in a great way.
One other thing about this movie…the Score. Usually the score is not that important for a movie, but in this case the award winning score is top notch as well. It underlines the story in a silent but driving way. Really every scene, where the score is used is silent and quite but has the appeal that the plot is moving straight forward. And when a score is able to deliver that, it is simply genius.
So The Social Network is a well-rounded movie with a great cast and a simply refreshing way of telling the story of the network Facebook, that changed the life and the social interaction of people forever. It´s not a film that is focusing on the fact, that the Inventors are the greatest people in the world, but it has it´s eyes set on the way, that was walked to get to this multibillion dollar company. And you simply cannot walk this path without making a bunch of enemies around you – just like the promotional poster says “You don´t get to 500 million friend without having a few enemies!”.

Rating : 10 of 10

Top Five Lists! Gangster Movies

I usually hate the phrase "Gangster Movie" but I am lacking a better word for this, coz not all the movies on this list are about the REAL italian or american mafia so. As I said one week ago with the Western movies this is actually a genre that I really really enjoy watching. I think this is my second love after Western movies so lets roll with it. Maybe this will get some comments because the number one might be controversial!

1. Goodfellas - Martin Scorsese at its best. One of the fucking best movies I have ever seen. Based on the real story of Henry Hill like he grows into the mob group that is just over the street. The film shows it from the beginning,starting when little Hill is parking all the Cadillacs for the bad guys and ending with the thing, that ended most of the mafia in North America. The actors are awesome with Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci and of course Robert DeNiro. Just a great piece of art that is enjoyable every moment.

2. Godfather I - Usually this is the obvious choice number one, but for me this film is the close second behind Goodfellas. I can´t really explain why I guess it´s because I saw Goodfellas first and it hooked me right away, the Godfather had me also quick, but not as quick as Goodfellas. This movie is just the great story of Michael Corleone as he turns to his father in a war, that is fought between two rival families. Great movie, great acting and I honestly LOVE the ending with the ceremony and simultaniously all the enemies of the Corleone Family are extingushed. GREAT SCENES!

3. Godfather II - This movie is something like a split experience for me. I really love the flashbacks were you can see, how Vito came to America and how he started his crime empire. The other part of the movie with Michael trying to figure out who tried to assasinate him is also well done, but is a bit of a letdown compared to the flashbacks, that are told through Robert DeNiro. But please don´t get me wrong, this movie is still great in both strings but really the old string is a bit better, which makes it a bit of a split experience.

4. The Departed - A newer example of gangster movie, not about the original italian root mafia, but about the Boston Irish Mafia. This movie is actually my movie of the last decades, I have seen it so many times and I still love this movie. It´s once again directed by Scorsese and it starrs great stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg and last but not least Jack Nicholson. The entire structure of the movie is GREAT just AWESOME, the way it is shown, that the cop who is trying to infiltrate the mafia is in a bad situation and the gangster who is infiltrating the lines of the cops lives a perfect live, this contrast is so great. Then the tension in this movie is awesome, you never really know whats going to happen next - great unpredictable movie. And last but not least, this is the movie where the blog has its name from, so it got to be on the list! :)

5. Pulp Fiction - The ultimate cult film, John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson directed by great director Quentin Tarrantino. Just a great film with absolute classic quotes and actions. I mean not everybody has seen the movie, but as soon as the music of the dancing scene hits, everybody knows where this is coming from. Also for me this is classic Tarrantino, not a straight forward story, but divided into several pieces and different strings. Everytime you see a movie by him you will see that stylistic device and it is always epic!

So that is the Top Five List for gangster movies, but as last week I will also throw out other notable films, that are fitting into the same category and are worth watching.

Scarface, Once upon a time in America, Donnie Brasco, The Untouchables, Casino, Snatch, Reservoir Dogs and Carlito´s Way

That´s it for this week, if you wanna discuss about the list or if you are willing to throw out your personal ranking feel free to do so in the comments, also if you wanna keep track with this blog follow me on twitter : twitter.com/fanthaiza and also make sure you are a official reader of this blog! Enjoy you weekend!

[Column] Fine line for award shows!

This weeks column is about hosting jobs at Award Ceremonys. Actually it´s not only about Ricky Gervais performance and the jokes he told at the Golden Globes it is more a general view at the topic.

It´s clear to me that Ricky Gervais offended a lot of people actually with his comments he made at the Golden Globes - his second time hosting this event. Although I really like Ricky Gervais I can understand some of the criticsm he got right after the show. Some of the stuff he brought in was dated and he really seemed mean-spirited in some of his lines. I mean some stuff was actually pretty funny like his comments about the Tourist and the Steve Carell stuff and I am always a fan of overwhelmingly announcing one presenter than just drop the name  of the second presenter, worked with Alex Baldwin and Steve Martin in the Opening of the 2010 Academy Awards and it sure worked with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen here!
Other commets were definitly dated, I mean make fun of the relationship between Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher is not really last days news and Robert Downey Jr. spend some time in Jail and in Rehab...not really exciting news as well. I have no problem with guys picking on those comments.
For the Charlie Sheen stuff, I think it was funny but it seemed forced. To start the show with that was certainly not the best way, last year he could brag about himself to start the show, that was something he couldn´t do twice, but the start of the show got the appeal that Gervais was just fishing for a topic and he found the hooker-drug-alcohol lifestyle of Sheen.
So Gervais performance was actually not as good as his second one, but the media and the Globes are overreacting, he said he wants to give it to them and thats what he did. You could have stopped him, but it looks like they knew that this would draw attention to the ceremony so they havent stopped Gervais.

Unfortunatly this case of Ricky Gervais will now set a more conservative run in the hostings of events. I guess every major award show will now look for either actors and actress that they can controll or comedians that are soft. I still can feel something good happening with soft comedians like it worked pretty good with NPH hosting the Emmys couple of years ago, he was funny but in a not insulting way which is also enjoyable from time-to-time. Steve Martin and Alex Baldwin had their moments but they haven´t crossed the line. Hugh Jackman was just cool and his opening was funny. I hope that James Franco and Anne Hathaway will at least try to be funny, coz nothing is more horrible than a award show with bad hosts. They need to carry the whole show, presenters can be downers or enlight the show, actors and actresses, directors, writers or whoever gets awards, they can be pretty annoying and just reading a bunch of names or they can put a little spark in they show, but the host NEEDS to be funny and good. I think that Hathaway and Franco can do it, I still think a comedian or two comedians would have been better for the jobs - or a funny actor or actress (haven´t seen so many hilarious stuff from either Hathaway or Franco).

I guess time will tell if Franco and Hathaway can get it done. And if they do I am thrilled to see which presenter the Globes will get next year, go the conservative way or go on a collision course once again for the sake of the ratings. Nothing would suck as much for them as a bad host and an uninspired show because they got new audience tuning in from the Gervais-hype...use it!

The Green Hornet : Movie without a sting

Superhero movies are pretty high at the moment; comic superheroes are all over the big screen. Iron Man, Batman, Catwoman. And of course X-Men, Thor and Avengers right at the horizon. They are of course all serious productions not like The Green Hornet starring Seth Rogan, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz and Cameron Diaz.

The Green Hornet is trying to be a combination of a superhero movie and a comedy. Action combined with comedy is a thing that worked in numerous films but unfortunately The Green Hornet is not an example for that case. It tries to split and be serious at the end with a bit drama and so on. It tries to be so many things but ends up being nothing.
The movie is not funny, no real puns, no punchlines, no nothing…if you are not into some kind of slapstick humor you will end up watching a close to two hours movie without ever losing it. The action is not what you see in action movies recently like A-Team and The Expendables. I know maybe not the best examples but they deliver good action and a whole lot of explosive materials. Only thing The Green Hornet does is having kind of good fights in a MMA fashion but that’s it. I mean those fights are at least presented well with slow-mo and some kind of cool vision channeled through Kato.

Still a movie could be around decent if it would have a nice story to tell, but even in that matter The Green Hornet can´t deliver. It comes out flat, like the story was written in about an hour or so. It all starts with a loser or to phrase it a bit more positive with a rich idler who doesn’t care about earning a paycheck or doing something meaningful with his life. After his dad dies he ends up owning a huge newspaper but still he doesn’t know what to do with it. Then all of a sudden he meets Kato and suddenly he wants to do something meaningful – fighting crime. Still he doesn’t know shit about fighting crime and his “sidekick” Kato does all the work with him getting the laurels. That’s pretty much film writing 101. A seven year old could come up with that idea.
So it ends how you would expect it they are competition... but even that comes out of nothing and has no build up.  And that’s not even goofy enough, for some weird reason the writer decided to “spice” things up with a little bit of a love triangle that never appeals to be something because it is only mentioned a few times and Rogans character is not really presented as a womanizing competition to the cool MMA-fighter Kato. So the Cameron Diaz character is pretty much a waste because the love triangle is not featured in that big of a fashion. At least they haven’t made her being kidnapped – thank god.

So you are watching a movie with a wasted character and unappealing love triangle, an obvious story and a kind of Antihero in Seth Rogan. He doesn’t look like a fighter, he doesn’t appeal as a hero and he is no competition for Kato, the sidekick. Only thing he does is being a goof and bragging about his success as the green hornet in fighting crime, obviously trying to convince himself that he is the real hero and not the inventive and smart chinese sidekick. Still he ends up “learning” the Kato vision – however he managed to do that. It´s just stupid that he suddenly knows how to do things, without putting an effort in it, but whatever.

So why should you go in the theater and watch this movie? You shouldn’t really do it, but the movie still has some nice things to offer.
The idea of a superhero not being loved by the public is actually a nice idea, not new of course but still a nice idea. Visually The Green Hornet has some nice things to over. The Kato vision and the few explosions are well done – and slowmo always works in fights.
Other than that the ideas of Kato and the gimmicks in the car and in the weaponry are kind of nice. Last but not least Christoph Waltz is underutilized but still a nice addition to the cast. The few scenes with him are nice and it´s cool to see that he has some sparks of his Lambda role that brought him an Oscar. There he was obsessed with finding and killing jews, here he is obsessed with being scary. Nice thing to come back to a successful thing in a career to get some connections and references in the film.

Still The Green Hornet cannot sting the audience and is a flat movie with decent action and at least one good actor. Not good enough to be a good movie, but if you are ever bored as hell and need some not so serious superhero movie The Green Hornet can still provide a bit of fun…not much but if you are bored as hell you gotta try something.

Rating : 3 out of 10

Now after that review next weekend a review of oscar nominated film THe Social Network will hit the blog and after that the review of Inception will follow. The Kids are all right and Winter's Bone are planned as well, so stay tuned and keep on reading this blog if you like it.

If you wanna have the lasted updates and thoughts from me follow me on twitter : twitter.com/fanthaiza ! Updates for my blog and other thoughts will appear there!

Academy Awards possible nominations!

So guys here is a little suggestion of what the nominees for the 83rd annual Academy Awards could look like. I will run through the films, that are worthy of taking a look and then take a bit about the chances and the possible awards.

The Social Network - After an impressive way to kick off award season, winning every major Golden Globe, this movie looks like the sure frontrunner in the Major Award department. The nominations for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director are a sure thing. Also Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield are pretty sure to be nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. The chances of both to win these awards are limited, but at least they will get the recognition they deserve by getting a nomination.
Other possible nominations are coming off Best Score and Best Editing.
I think we are looking at the big winner of this years Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay are looking to score golden statues for this film, and with the victory in Best Picture this movie has the momentum on it´s site.

The King's Speech - The BAFTA nominations are giving this movie a real boost heading into the nominations. Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor are a lock for this movie. Also Helena Bonham Carter can hope for a nomination as Best Supporting Actress and Hooper sure can get a Best Director nomination. Other than that the film might look at a possible nomination in the minor award department with Costum Design and Art Direction.
Colin Firth is the frontrunner in the Best Actor department scoring a Golden Globe and a BAFTA nomination in that category. Geoffrey Rush chances are limited because of the strong competition and also the Best Picture and Best Director awards seem to be a bit out of reach, but the Academy suprised everyone last year with bailing on Avatar maybe The King's Speech can be next Hurt Locker.

Black Swan - This movie created a lot of buzz going out of the BAFTA nominations scoring second most nominations next to The King's Speech. Academy wise this movie will get a nomination for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and maybe Mila Kunis will get recognition as Best Supporting Actress. Those awards might go to different movies, except the Best Actress Award that will go to Natalie Portman or it will be the biggest flaw since Best Picture 1990. Vincent Cassel will not get a nomination, but Best Screenplay, Best Costum, Best Art and Best Make Up can be possible nominations as well. Black Swan will get at least 1 Award!

Inception - The buzz faded a bit over the last weeks with not scoring any Globe and not doing so great at the BAFTA nominations, still this movie will get recognition in the Best Picture and Best Director department. Leonardo DiCaprio might be looking at a Best Actor nomination although the competition is really tough there. Other than that Best Screenplay, Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography are possible nominations as well. And in those sections the chances for the Sci-Fi Adventure are pretty high. I still think that the twisting hallway scene is worth an award!

The Fighter - Obviously Best Picture will be a nomination, but the chances are limited there. The Fighter will look for an Award in the Actor and Actress department with 4 great chances. Christian Bale will get a nomination in Best Supporting Actor and he might take this award home like he did with the Globe. Amy Adams and Melissa Leo will get a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for sure, and Mark Wahlberg can opt at a Best Actors nomination, although he seems to fall short against Colin Firth.

Those are the 5 big movies, that will get a chunk of nominations and are a look in the Best Picture department. Other movies will be named below, with possible chances. Since the Best Picture category is up to 10 movies, some other movies will get attention at the Big Stage.

True Grit - possible nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Jeff Bridges) and Best Supporting Actress (Hailee Steinfeld)

The Kid are all right - possible nomination for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo) and definite nominations for Best Actress (Annette Bening) maybe also Julianne Moore will get the nomination there.

Toy Story 3 - maybe an animated fill in the Best Picture category, but in Toy Story 3 we are looking at the award winner for Best Animated Picture 2011!

The Town - 10 movies are a chance for The Town to get a nomination for Best Picture. Also Jeremy Renner will be nominated for Best Supporting Actor!

Winter's Bone - Similar to The Town this movie can get the recognition with a nomination for Best Picture. Would be a great success for this indie production! Maybe they are able to get two nominations with Jennifer Lawrence who could be looking at a nomination in Best Actress.

One last movie, that is on nobodys list, but I heard quite some good reviews also from a source that could be a part of balloting.
Ghostwriter can be a possible pick for Best Picture replacing either The Town, Winter's Bone or Toy Story 3. Other chances are limited except maybe the Screenplay award. Maybe this movie can get 2 nominations as well.

So that´s it with my list we will know how well my picks were, when the Academy announces the nominees January 25th.

The King's Speech

The King's Speech a drama surrounding the stammer Duke of York and his therapist is getting a lot of award attention lately. You cannot argue about the fact that this is a good piece of filmmaking, but it lacks some essentials in the entertainment sector, which is a bit of a downer coming out of the theater.

For a historical drama it is always a fine line to walk between the repetition of historic facts and the refreshment with new creative parts. Sad thing about The King's Speech is, that it walks this line well from a script perspective, but it is rather unentertaining when it comes down to the historic facts. Every scene that is outside the room of Lionel Logue is a bit of a letdown, because you get the feeling that it is only there to provide a bit of additional drama. It sure tells the historic background a bit and the urgency of a strong and stammer-free King, but it feels short sometimes. 

The entertainment in this movie is provided by the great chemistry of Firth and Rush. Their scenes, that they have together are strong in the dramatic department and they are giving this film the award spark. Firth, as the stammer Duke of York, who later becomes George VI, the King of the Kingdom of Britain, and Rush, as his therapist are doing a great job of playing their characters in an entertaining and interesting way. The thing between this two is, that the power is reversed, which makes for an interesting look at a Prince, that is working out of his comfort-zone. Logue as an authority works with the King with very unconventional methods. The King can argue about the way these methods are working, or about the way his therapist is treating him, but he cant argue with the results.

This look at a odd couple is great, not only because of the therapy but also because of the character development. George is opening himself to his therapist and those stories are really a strong dramatic act in the film. Colin Firth is getting a lot of attention because of his performance, but it might be for the wrong motives. He surely delivers a great acting performance with his stammer, the way his face is doing the stammer, how he keeps it up and only slightly improves his speech throughout the film, when his therapist is not available. That is a great performance, but he also delivers a human Highness, he is able to walk the thin line between a Royal Highness, that should demand respect out of every person, and a human being that really needs the help of a therapist.

Logue as the counterpart is a demanding and autherity thriven person, who is the only "doctor" around, who can treat the King because of the lack of respect for his social position. That is a social image that is hard to deliver, but those two are working as a cohisive unit that brings across this fact perfectly.

At the end of the movie, where the therapist has to leave his safe castle, to really help his patient out of the house in the real world, the relationship between those two is great and as an audience you really get the equal level of these two. The only thing that makes underlines the social difference between the two right there is the great camera work. The speech George delivers, The King's speech, is done in a small room, and Logue and George are treated as equals, only the fact that the camera is looking upwards to George and down to Logue manifests the difference between the two at the end. With these small things Tom Hooper was able to get the equal relationship that should exist between a therapist and his patient, but still showing the different social levels.

Other than that The King's Speech is a good film, that deserves the award spotlight, but is not entertaining all the way through. What still remains is a great performance by Firth, Rush and also Helena Bonham Carter, she plays the "first lady" the proper attitude and also is performing the equal relationship at the end of the movie. It´s a well-rounded cast with a good story and great performances, that are elevating this movie to a hot candidate for any award!

Rating : 9 out of 10

Black Swan

Darren Aronofsky is a genius. When you look at his film BLACK SWAN you will see why I think that. He took something that has only limited appeal to an audience like ballet and made it connectable for a huge audience. I mean this film started as a limited release in the States and is now all over the world and all over award shows.

And it deserves to be. It is definitly one of the best movies of the last year. First a quick undetailed summary about the story then I will cut right to the chase on my observations and stuff like that.

The film is about a ballet dancer that is offered to play the Swanqueen in "Swan Lake". She is so thrilled by this opportunity that she is given, that she first doesn´t realise how everything is changing around her. The pressure gets to her and she is kind of freaking out about stuff.

That pretty much sums up the entire plot.
It went into the movie with not a lot of knowledge what I will see on the screen, certainly I am not a huge fan of ballet and I wasn´t really sure if I could find a way to be interested in the fate of a ballet dancer if I absolutly don´t care about that sport. At the end of the film I was blown away. It is such a powerful, strong, weird, emotional, angry, pretty, nice peace of film that it is getting to you!

I thought the opening was chosen great by Aronofsky, to open with a ballet dance was certainly a great way to show the audience right away what they can expect and what they will see as a form of art in this movie. Also the summary that Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) provides at the start of the film about Swan Lake is a great way of putting the essence of the actual ballet play up their. I am sure not a lot of people went in the movie knowing exactly what Swan Lake is about, so it was a great way to putting up those news without it being forced in there, it was just a really casual way of letting everyone know what the play is all about.

The following scenes you could really see the "White Swan" in Nina (Natalie Portman), the pretty and talented dancer who just can´t let herself go. And that´s why she is not good enough for the role of the Swanqueen cause she can´t embody the evil twin - the "Black Swan". In these scenes you can really see a spark of what to come from Natalie Portman, who does a perfect job in here acting. She is actually pretty amazing and I can´t argue with her being award the Golden Globe for this great film. I mean throughout the entire movie she is doing a fantastic job in the dancing scenes and she delivers the splitted and confused personality of her character to a whole new level, she really brought it here.

That of course can be said about everyone who was involved in this project, when it comes down to the actress and actors. Mila Kunis was good as a really uncertain characterm that pumped up every once in a while and never left a real impression of what you have to think of her character.
Vincent Cassel played the boss of the play, he was a man, who was surrounded by a lot of controversy. A death former dancer, the unconventional choice of Nina as the Swanqueen. All the time I got the feeling that Vincent Cassel really belongs there, when you was observing the practice of the ballet dancers he really looked like he was the boss of the whole project. Really well done tho.
And last but not least the mother of Nina played by Barbara Hershey. The way she is angry at her daughter and herself for not really succeding as dancer, the way she walks the characters line between supporting her daughter and judging her daughter is really great. The entire main-acting front is great their.

Now back to the genius - Darren Aronosfky. I was stunned by some visuals that he had in his films. I loved the way he presented the insanity that caught Nina in the process of the movie. Nina is loosing herself literally and it is presented in such a great way that you really get caught up in the plot. First you just see rashes on her body or other stuff, then it expands to blood on the toe or the finger, than all of a sudden she sees dead people, then she sees herself in the mirror doing different stuff then her actual ego. In the end when she fights with Lilly and when she dances, how she morphs into the Black Swan is a great visual! I really, really enjoyed that kind of filmmaking style.
The kind of camera movement was also well done, the spinning camera during the pirouette were nice, the backshoulder angle throughout most of the conversations at the beginning was a great way to set a hint, that there was not only one part of Nina in the movie...and the shaky cam throughout the entire walking scenes was great, cause you got an impression that this movie is really moving at a fast pace, which is a good impression in a movie that is certainly not action-oriented.

I also enjoyed the insanity of Nina. Insanity is something really unexpected, with someone completly nuts you can direct your film and your character into every direction. So you can not see were is film or the character development is heading at the beginning of the film, you can make guesses and you get a bit of a general direction but never a detailed view what transpires next. It´s such an unpredictable aspect to a movie....just great.

Before I finally rate this movie I just wanna go at Aronofsky for the last time...he not only did a great job with the visuals, but also with the audio. I mean everytime the audio-line did a perfect job on pushing the action into a certain type of direction. In some moments there was just silence, to support the dramatic importance of the scene, then some scenes were casually underscored by a melody just to keep a certain rhythm, and last but not least the audio during the dancing presentation was awesome. The volume jacked up and with the melody of the final act of Swan Lake the scene became so monumental, that it is just hard to not get into a thrill watching it!

So this movie is just a great peace of Hollywood. The acting is superb, the visuals and the audio is great, the atmosphere is awesome, the insanity and paranoia is greatly featured in segments were you really have to pay attention to the film to catch the reality and the insane dreams. Just a great dramatic thriller with some aspects of a horror-movie with body horror and some kinds of shockers due to sudden appearings and reappearings of dead people.

It is hard to find anything bad about this movie, but I found something and it is really nothing big, but the women that died at the beginning of the movie and Mila Kunis looked really similar, which was sometimes confusing because Nina fantasised about the dead person and it was not clear everytime if it was Kunis or the dead girl that appeared!
Thats just a minor point but the casting or the make up could have helped there to make it clearer. But hey...if you count all those positives about this movie and you count in this little negative you will still end up with a perfect 10/10 rating. It is such a great movie that it has to be a 10! This movie is definitly generating more and more buzz and it will at least earn 5 Academy Award Nominations...MARK MY WORDS!