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!

Lights Out S1E2

I stated after the show premiere, that this is a series to look at, and pay attention to because it could be something. Second episode aired two days ago and it was a nice episode.

I think it was an even better episode than the pilot. Lots of things I said came actually true and a few new possible stories were pushed into the occassion. This episode was a great way of mixing up stories all evolving around one character - Lights. I really like this concept because usually you got a ton of supporting characters that have their own problems but in this series Lights is truely the main character and everyother supporting character is involved in stories through him! Great way that I haven´t seen in that form before.

My fear that the show might be a bit overloaded by all those stories has not come true, actually only three strings have been picked up and the other issues are still there but kinda in the background. So this series is mostly about the dept and money issues of Lights, the disease he suffered through his boxing career and of course the job he did in the first episode is going to play a huge role in the series as well. Things like a teased comeback are pushed back a bit and so it´s really a great plot you can follow without being lost at some point!

Other than that the episode was just great and the way they brought in a few "new" characters was just a great way of getting the new stories rollin - or continue with the disease thing but add a little more spice with a connection to the family that can sure cause some drama down the stretch!

So I said it once and I am going to say it again...Lights Out is a great show, that I highly recommend to EVERYONE!

Top Five Lists! Western

So here we go, I always find this a great discussion start when somebody is putting out his favorite movies out of a certain genre. I know a lot of times this is turning into a mess, because apperantly people tend to understand it as criticism about their own taste in movies, it their favorite movie is not up there, but regardless of this I can assure you all, that these Top-5 lists are only the best films out of a specific genre that I!!! think are good...I haven´t seen EVERY film out of those genres so feel free to fill out the blanks if you got a film on you mind!

This week we start of with Western, an older genre, that has not been utilized often recently but still I think it is one of the best genre of the entire movie-genres because it consists action, heroes and often great motives that are driving the story. It also might be one of the manliest genres, quite friendly I don´t know many women, that have ONE single western on their top-50!

I will write down the top 5 and tell a little bit about them and after that I will name some more films out of the genre that are good but couldn´t quite make the list!

1. For a few dollars more - This might be a suprise, but in my mind this is the best western ever! It has a great story all evolving around a mystery that is solved in this last part of the film. It contains great actors like Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef and a cool sidestory. All the strings are pulling together to a great showdown in the very end, underscored by a great soundtrack. And as always or quite often in those westerns there are some cool lines here and there!

2. Once upon a time in the west - The absolute classic of all the western, the masterpiece of Sergio Leone - the second best film out of the trilogy. Really not much to say about that, it has a great story, a great theme, the sound is awesome, the story is the driving force and it leaves you with a few thoughts and suggestions of how it will end and who the pieces you witness over the movie can be put together. Claudia Cardinale has not a huge role but it is a sideline story were she does a good job...and Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda are doing an awesome job!

3. The magnificent seven - A remake of a Samurai-movie about a bunch of people helping out a village that is terrorized by bandits...a common motive in westerns. Still the movie is good, this time not from the mainplot which is rather simple, but of the way it works out....honorary men are fighting for a good cause...great shootings, but this time a classic 1on1 showdown at the end is missing!

4. El Dorado - A totally different type of western starring the late great John Wayne. A funny western with a few punchlines and a story that is in many ways comparable to the magnificent seven. John Wayne and his companion are helping out drunk Sheriff John Mitchum in his fight against a group of bandits working for a rich guy who wants to take over a ranch. John Wayne as a mumbling and old hero with colts is great in that role!

5. A fistful of dollars - The first film out of that trilogy is considered the best of that trilogy in many reviews and so on. In my opinion it is the second best, because the story is not that thriving in my book. It is great to see Clint Eastwood in his role as he plays two families against each other to get a paycheck, but for me the motive in the second one is stronger than here! Still a great film with good gunfights and an introduction of a character that made Clint Eastwood a western icon - the man with no name!

Other good movies : Pale Rider, Hang'em high, True Grit (both of them), 3:10 to Yuma (both of them), Cat Balou , The good, the bad, the ugly , They call me Trinity, Trinity is still my name, My name is nobody!

Thats it for this time...if you wanna add a movie just do it in the comments...or just comment about my list!

[Column]Milking out a brand?

As yeah see I am not going to post only my thoughts about films and series on this site, I will also going to dip into recent hot topics that have a valid discussion point! This time I was thinking about what I can do this week and James Cameron throw the perfect pass to me with his interview about the Battleship movie. Certainly he has been outspoken with critic about Hollywood and the writers of Hollywood, but this topic is certainly a great start for a discussion because it is not only real in the movie-genre, but also in the TV production.

So does James Cameron has a point by saying pretty much all the writers are uncreative and are just trying to jump on a brand-bandwaggon to get the best paycheck out of it?

Cameron received a lot of bad buzz about his recent comments but everyone gotta admit, that he is certainly nailing a crucial point with his comments. Most of the ideas and most of the films are trying to be branded to get a certain kind of appeal to a solid, preexisting fanbase. With that kind of fanbase you get automatically a few persons motivated to see the film. I am not sure if the Battleship-brand is strong enough to carry such a project but other films are doing it to!

It has come to a point were we are getting TONS and TONS of releases that already exist as a brand out there, the most recent examples for that are Harry Potter and of course The Green Hornet (maybe not a real huge fanbase existing there!). So you release a film and in the case of Harry Potter you do not even have to really put huge efforts into your marketing , just because Harry Potter is already out there and a existing BRAND. So it´s just like you host a sport event and you automatically sale tickets because each team has a fanbase...thats what it is in sport but for movies it should be about stories, innovations and certainly new characters.

I don´t mind seeing books or so out there but it really hits a point were it´s just ridiculous. I mean books have been there all the way, and every film essentially is based on a book or a play, but it has come to a point were Hollywood is doing adoptions of not even really successful games. I have heard that there is going to be a film about the Madden Course of EA...really? Thats what we are going to look forward down the stretch? I am a huge Football-Fan but enough is enough! What happend to bright ideas, that took over an existing story like Romeo and Juliette and adopted it into a fresh look like you have seen it in Shakespear in Love? That was a original idea! I mean there are always going to be fresh ideas out of the minds of bright young or even established writers and producers and directors like Tarrantino, but I can see a LOT of comic adoptions and game adoptions down the stretch. The past has shown us that those type of films are not really working...Far Cry sucked, Max Payne had a good cast but still couldn´t deliver so why go on with that?

Why don´t try to elevate NEW movies up so that they can have a chance to become a NEW BRAND? Like Toy Story did? The first movie hits theaters and it is awesome...a fan base is forming and a whole brand is emerging with merchandise and great, really GREAT sequels to the existing movie! It was a fresh idea, great delivering and now its out there as an own brand!
Thats the kind of stories Hollywood needs! Not just go out search for something that worked as a book, as a videogame, as a boardgame, as a comic or as a theatrical play...invent something new and get a set of new fresh ideas in it! Thats the kind of things that seperates average writers from genius writers! And thats the way it should go in Hollywood!

How I met your mother S6E14

Like I said from the beginning I will write about new episodes as soon as they happen! And the new HIMYM episode was definitly different, but in my eyes different in a good way. You see this is supposed to be a funny show, but I certainly liked that even those genius writers from the show cant find anything really funny about DEATH! And so we got ourselves a nice and sad little episode where no real BIG laughs happend because of the all overwhelming presence of death!

Barney and Robin sure provided for a few smiles but overall it was a dramatic episode. And I suppose thats the way it should be, it is a comedic sitcom alright, but also sitcoms have life-alterating implications that can hit you every time and even in a sitcom it effects people, and that is great!

So we were really looking at an episode that had quite some depth in the story because it is a subject that keeps us all thinking was in it, who will we be remembered. That is a heavy topic to carry around in a comedic sitcom but I think the writers and the cast did a great job of covering it! You can be remembered as a great husband, a lovely father, a funny father or a caring grandpa...thats the way it should be and this episode really shows this very essence of life and of getting old! Everything you say can be your last words, so make sure everyone around you can remember back to the last moment, look up to the sky above and remember you with a smile!

It was the saddest episode ever but it certainly worked for me! Good episode!

68th Annual Golden Globe Ceremony

Hey guys, hope you had a great weekend...comin up now is my review or my thoughts about the Golden Globe Ceremony. For those of you, who haven´t seen the show and recorded it, do not read this article, cause it will contain a few spoilers of who won an award!
So first of something general about Award Shows, I personally love them, they are thrilling and those shows have a huge amount of glamour surrounding them coz of all the celebs around! Only thing I do not like is the obvious reading from a telepronter during a award presentation, I mean you are a PROFESSIONAL actor! You get paid a couple of bucks to act in a certain way on screen and you can´t present an award with excitment and WITHOUT letting everyone know that you are just reading a script? There were certain presenters that showcased their actor ability by really doing a good job presentating the awards! Tina Fey and Steve Carell did a nice and funny job, Robert Downey Jr. had his speech well prepared, Kevin Spacey seemed to read the pronter but with his pronounciation he did a good job of hiding it, and Tom Hanks was good as well! Cruel for me to watch were Swinton and Rush, they seemed so out of place here. So obvious just reading the pronter...I mean they are actors one of them was also NOMINATED for an actor award and they can´t do a better job presenting an award than Justin Bieber? Seriously?
At least they both seemed awake, not like Robert Pattinson who seemed so bored, they I can´t imagine why he is presenting the award other than an easy way of getting a paycheck!
Some other notes on presenters, Halle Berry and Eva Longoria looked stunning! And Hailee Steinfeld was doing a good job on her first presenter job!

Another general thing about Award Shows...they NEED a comedical host, there is absolutly NO alternative for a professional comedian to host. Everytime I watched an Award Show and it´s hosted by a comedian I enjoy the show for example the Oscars last year presented by two comedic actors, last two years of Emmy Awards a comedic Late Night Host and a comedic actor! And of course last two years of Golden Globe Awards with Ricky Gervais! Only exception to this rule was Hugh Jackman two years ago doing a good job hosting the Oscars but also he did it with quite some humor.

Now to the specific show! Ricky Gervais opening created some buzz both negative and positive. In my opinion he did a great job with his hosting performance and hey...you invited Ricky Gervais to host your show, you have to expect black humor so why be upset later? The Charlie Sheen-Jokes where nicely done and the I really laughed about the 3D comments he did with the characters in THE TOURIST! Good opening but I always enjoy a music number prior to the first funny opening! Just my preference!

In Christian Bale we had a GREAT and well-deserved first winner of the night! I thought it was strange tho starting with the supporting actor award and not start of with the least important award but I guess you want ratings from the beginning! For me Bale was a logical choice based on his performance in THE FIGHTER, allthough I would have loved to see Jeremy Renner taking home this award for his great perfomance in THE TOWN!
At that time during the speech of Christian Bale I thought it was funny to see the music being played to show the winner that it is time for him to shut up! Guess the HUGE clock that you saw in a couple of angles wasn´t enough!
Later on the show THE FIGHTER got a second award for supporting actress with Melissa Leo for her role of the family-focused mother of Micky Ward and Dickie Eklund! She played the role great with a great intensity that she was the deserving winner out of that film! She outplayed Amy Adams, who wasn´t bad but not as great as Melissa Leo!
Another deserved winner of a Golden Globe Award was Chris Colfer. He plays Kurt so great in GLEE, he has a great voice and he is a good actor. I think for him GLEE is a career highlight that will elevate him to a great theatrical/musical career if he chooses to!

One complain that I had about the show and I think the Oscars did it as well last year, was the lack of clips showed when actors were nominated! I don´t get it why you do not show clips from their role that they got the nomination for. I mean the actor is nominated but not for a certain role, so just show a small clip for what role exactly, show a punch-line or whatever and roll on!

Steve Buscemi and Boardwalk Empire getting the Award for best actor and best drama series was nice to see! It was a young show, that just started with huge expactations and it is nice to see that the press realizes what great work and effort is put into the show! I don´t know if I am the only one curious about that but HBO seemed to be all over the place. In a couple of winning speeches HBO was named and a couple of series nominated where on HBO! So a great performance by HBO to get that kind of talent and potential to their network!

I don´t wanna say anything about TOY STORY 3! It´s a great movie and for me one of the best movies of the year - hands down!

Ricky Gervais announcing Robert Downey Jr. with the porn films and so on was hilarious...that little brit has no fear even badmouthing actors that are actually comin next. Think it was a great job hosting!

Al Pacino sure got old, but it seems like he still has the fire! He seems to love what he is doing as an actor appearing in a TV-production! Just a great actor and one of the greatest of all time. I was actually thrilled to see him got nominated and to see him win was actually even better!

Jane Lynch...she is something. I think it´s not only deserving that she got the award for Sue Sylvester in GLEE but it is always great to see her winning because her speeches are ALWAYS refreshing. She is not standing there mumbling about how unprepared and shocked she is...she is just straight to the point and adds a little bit of humor everytime she gets an award. Thats the kind of speech I am looking for!

The highlight of the show for me, as a huge Robert DeNiro fan it was great to see him getting the Cecil B. DeMille Award for his outstanding career! Usually those lifetime-achievement awards are kind of a brag about how great someone is and so on, but this time I actually enjoyed it because it was well-rounded and well-done! Matt Damon was not in a state of AWE that he can present that award, the actually was playing it down a bit which I really liked! The Videopackage of great movies DeNiro starred in was awesome, always been a fan of those type of things, because 2 minutes of different movies can give you a great inside of what this person has done! And then the speech of DeNiro...I loved it, he was not saying "HEY I AM AWESOME!" he had the class to admit that LITTLE FOCKERS was actually not a great movie, he talked like a normal person, with a few jokes and overall with an attitude that was really great! Just a great person, an ICON and I hope he will be around for a long time.


The best actor and best actress in a drama motion picture will be discussed seperatly because I haven´t seen Portman in BLACK SWAN and I haven´t seen Firth in THE KING`S SPEECH yet!

Last but not least I gotta say something about the BIG WINNER of the 68th annual Golden Globe Award...and it was THE SOCIAL NETWORK! They won 4 awards that night one of them being best motion picture! It is just a great movie and it has everything I like about movies. It got the best original score award with a score that is not outspoken but fluently and driving in the back! It got the best original screenplay by Sorkin who has done a good job with nice dialogues...I mean just the opening scene of the film with Zuckerberg talking nerdy to his girlfriend is awesome!
With the Best Director award for David Fincher, he proved all his critcs wrong. They all said that he can´t deliver two good movies in a row...after his first sucess with SEVEN came the mediocre GAME, followed by the  big sucess in FIGHT CLUB, then two not that good movies with PANIC ROOM and ZODIAC and again a criticaly acclaimed movie with BENJAMIN BUTTON, this time directly followed by the next major successful movie with THE SOCIAL NETWORK! He proved himself worthy! Hopefully he can deliver the third straight success with THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO!

The last major award for Best motion picture Drama (I skip the musical comedy thing cause it was a no-brainer with THE KID´S ARE ALL RIGHT!)  THE SOCIAL NETWORK stole the show for good. A lot of critics stated early that a movie about an internet phenomenon can´t work but they way they did it with aspects like friendship, success, betrayal, greed, envy and the general lifestyle of this generation it can work! I can not confirm finally that it is the best drama coz I haven´t seen 2 out of the 5 nominated films yet, but for me THE SOCIAL NETWORK beat INCEPTION and THE FIGHTER...so now it comes down to those other two movies or SN wins!

Overall a good show with a few weak links but I guess that is fairly normal for a 3 hour show!

Saturday Night Football

I know, this is not really a topic that is included in the Tagline, but I was so excited about last nights games, that I just gotta post my thoughts on these extraordinary matches!

Starting of with the AFC North rivalry clash between the Ravens and the Steelers at Heinz Field I was pumped about that match going in!
Started of like I expected it to be...plain and simple smash-mouth football! Lots of intensity, lots of hidden fouls and unsportsmanlike behaviour and a lot of flags flying around all over the new turf at Heinz Field. Not pretty but intense! And thats what it is supposed to be when to long-term rivals go at it to move one step closer to the ultimate goal!
The game itself was building up some intensity, I first thought after the impressive defense of the Ravens in the first half they might be able to put this game away early in the third quarter, but the Steelers D and Big Ben fought back...and for some reason the Ravens totally fell apart in the second half. Veterans dropping balls, O-lines couldn´t hold the pressure anymore and Flacco was inaccurate from time to time creating some turnovers that they nicely avoided in the first half of the game! The Steelers on the other side were dominant at the point of attack and the D stepped it up, creating more pressure towards Joe Flacco and covering the Receivers nicely throughout the second half!
Still the Ravens could have been able to put the Steelers away and move on, but first Q dropped a well thrown ball in the Inzone and then with only about 30 seconds to play, Housh dropped a fairly catchable pass on 4th and long which could have been the new first down! So in my book it´s not Flacco who should be blamed for this tough lost to a rival, the lost is more on the Receivers that couldn´t get the job done!
Congratz to the Steelers looking forward to see that defense against the Pats (honestly...I don´t give the Jets an even slight chance of winning in Foxboro!)

Comparing to that first exciting and tough football match the second match of the night was a bit of a disappointment when it comes down to tension and intensity. I felt from the beginning of the second quarter like the Falcons were not at the top of their game. I mean lets face it...the Falcons come out and are getting the job done on Defense forcing an early fumble of Greg Jennings and are able to draw first-blood with a nice tough run by Michael Turner. That should give you a whole lot of momentum going into the defense again...but then seeing Aaron Rodgers orchestrating a drive starting from inside his own 20, resulting in a TD is tough but a direct answer via a 103-yard Kickoff-return should lift your confidence for good. After that the big Packers show of strenght began. Rodgers orchestrated 3 drives resulting in TDs (2 in the air, 1 on the ground) and the Pick-6 by the great CB Tramon Williams. In my eyes the turning point of this was the second scoring drive by the Pack, when they were pinned inside their own 6 yard line and came away with big completions on 3rd down with great catches by Jones, who made the drops of the last two games almost irrelevant snatching in a jump ball against great coverage by the Falcons to score the second TD.
So the Pack really dominated the One-Seed from the NFC and are still alive to go to Arlington February 7th to take on the Winner of Pittsburgh vs. Pats/(Jets)! Would love to see Aaron Rodgers getting the opportunity to play against the Pats on the big stage, to show up for the battle of the two best QBs in the entire league today!

Tonite another great day of football actions upon us with the NFC West team in the Seattle Seahawks travel to Soldier Field to take on the Two-Seed of the NFC in the Chicago Bears, and then of course the highlight of this Divisional Round Match...trash-talking Jets vs. confident Pats....can´t wait for that!

To end this Sunday blog I came up with a list of film and episode reviews that will hit the blog in the following weeks building up to the Academy Awards! I will take a close look at favorites for the Awards starting off next week with Black Swan (4 time Golden Globe nominee), followed by The King´s Speech (7 time Golden Globe nominee). Those are the two big reviews that will come up within the next week (maybe the Weekend) and I will post my thoughts on the Golden Globe winners and of course keep you updated with the reviews of the new How I met your mother episode airing tomorrow night!
Also I will post my thoughts about the Academy Award nominations, that are going to be announced on January 25th! And wrapping this blog up I will also post a review of The Social Network and Inception prior to the 83th annual of the Academy Awards, coz I think both films will be awarded there!

Hope you enjoyed this sports episode of my blog! Would love to hear your comments! You will hear from me soon!

The Fighter

Earlier then expected I am able to write the review about the Golden Globe nominated movie THE FIGHTER starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Amy Adams.

The movie is based on a true story about the life of Mickey Ward and his brother Dickie Eklund, both boxers that are looking for a great career. Dickie is the elder brother who had already some kind of success boxing, and that success got into his head. He is a drug-addict. His younger brother on the other side is clean as a whistle and is just looking for a big opportunity to prove himself as a boxer!

Going into the film I really had HIGH expectations because I love Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. These two are just epic actors and everytime I see them on the big-screen they usually deliver, and this movie was no difference. I went in with high expectations and I came out totally satisfied with the movie I saw!

I really like the entire movie, really not much to complain about. The film starts off with a bit of a flashback to show the family relationship and all that stuff and then the opening credits are shown in a way I really liked it. Not just a meaningless scene where the lead actors are ridding a car or whatever you might see in movies, it was a solid walk through the streets of a city in Massachusetts shaking hands, signings autographs and taking pictures of the big thing in town Dickie Eklund! The scene itself had no real connection to the plot itself but it was a strong scene to show who is the big dog in town and who is kinda the apprentice.
That feeling wears through the entire movie, in nearly every scene it´s about Dickie being a star. The mother of the brothers is only looking at him, it´s all about his career, his major career KO and so on. Everything is build and designed to showcase Dickie Eklund, pride of the family, so Mickey has to step back and just try to move on with his career!

With that being said I gave away the greatest thing in the movie, the contrast of the brothers. You have a very slim, sick-looking, hasbeen in Dickie Eklund who almost tries to convince himself that he still has what it takes to be a champion, and then you have his brother Mickey Ward a young, talented but underrated fighter who wastes his time being a stepping stone for other boxer. And irony is that the crack-addict is the pride of the family!

This being the thriving force of the movie it was more like a family-drama then a boxing drama. For most of the film the sport of boxing is a bit hidden in the background and the actual action is the dynamic inside the family.
That all changes with Dickie ending up in prison and Mickey changing his life and trainingstyle to make something out of his career. In the script that was a well-designed move to actually not split those two brothers apart for good, but still giving the film a progress to come to the big reunion at the end of the movie.
And again a contrast was shown that I really,really loved! One brother training in the gym, getting ready for his career, the other in the jail doin some work out just to stay in shape.

And now without spoilering the ending or whatever I just gotta say that the ending was absolutly epic! The last fight completly hooked me and I was close to getting goosebumps at the end. Great cinematography, basic scriptwriting on that part, but I guess there is no real alternitiv in a boxing fight with an underdog and a designed ending to satisfy the audience! So no big suprise there but great acting and good emotions on the screen made it work, at least for me!

With all that being said this film leaves a very good impression, but there was actually one thing that bugged me a bit. I´ve seen it a couple of times, a fucked up person walks into a prison and comes out completly sober and changed. I mean I can´t tell if you really find yourself in a little cell or what, but for me this is just a bit of a clichee that is used too often in movies and series! Maybe a little bit more creativity when it comes to the prison and not everytime some kind of stereotype thing of rejuvenation inside the yard.

That was pretty much the only weak point I could find in the movie and makes it still a great movie to watch, and a must-see movie certainly for everyone who loves drama mixed up with sport! And in this case the sport is actually presented well. The fights are looking really good, the punches are looking realistic (except the slow-mo part in on fight!) and so the fights are adding a great experience and atmosphere to the movie. I mean you don´t get fighting scenes like in ROCKY where one guy punches and then the other guy is throwing haymakers like a fucking round-base sport or so! I think when it comes to the fighting scenes THE FIGHTER can knock ROCKY down in the first round! Otherwise they are both strong movies and storywise I think ROCKY would win a judges decision here, but I guess it would be a split-decision!

My rating for the fighter is a 9,5 out of 10! The story is great, the acting is awesome (can see it getting nominated for a couple of Oscars) and the actual sports scenes are looking great. The 0,5 are left behind in the prison when Dickie found himself!

Lights Out Season Premiere

I said that the next blog will be about the Fighter or about the Golden Globes, but I actually forgot that I saw the premiere of the new FX series Lights Out , so I just wanna share my thoughts on that episode with you since it really hits the topic of the Fighter (review will be up by tomorrow!).

For those of you newer heard about Lights out I am gonna summarize the general plot here and then dip into my thoughts about the actual stuff that is going on, on the screen.

Lights Out is the story of the retired former heavyweight champion Patrick "Lights" Leary , who had to retire after a vicious championship fight against his rival. His wife forced him to retire and for the sake of the marriage he agrees.  Five years later the actual series actions starts showing Lights in the actual environment as a retired boxer. No one really gives a shit about him, he really has no big name and no fame left, but he aint realize that. To earn some money he is managing a Gym and goes to certain happenings for a couple of extra bucks.
Thats the main structure of the first episode.

To be honest I haven´t expected it to be a good series, coz I thought the boxing type of series are pretty much milked by all the boxing movies that are going on, but the series has some potential in my opinion cause there is not only the struggle of money involved here but also struggle with childs, wife and certain moral issues that need to be settled, so the series really has a lot of plot-strings to work with which could make this series a really good thing.

When I first watched it I was not that hyped about the show, but after a couple of minutes into the pilot I really felt satisfied and actually thrilled to see what the writers have in store for the pilot. I like pilots a lot in general because I thing you can lay it out there which direction you wanna go with the series. In the case of Lights Out there are several directions that can be choosen, because the pilot is really loaded. A possible comeback is teased, a threatening disease is mentioned, family issues are shown with his kids growing up, lies are established, money needs are there and last but not least an immoral job to earn quite some money is shown, so really a lot to work with.

The performance of the actors and actress is pretty solid, lots of characters are introduced (usual for a pilot) and non of the characters really leave a bad impression. The series needs Holt McCallany (Lights) to perform well and he did a good job in the pilot so there is really no reason to complain about that. Don´t know if his performance can actually improve to really get recognized for awards or so, but it is a solid level to work with that he has established!

Couple of other things to mention. I like the flashback in the lies, that totally turned around some stuff and I think it was a cool thing. Since I am a Scorsese Fan the flashbacks are always working for me. In this real case here I thing the boxing past flashback is setting up to be a regular thing since his boxing career is not finalized in a way. And I hope the other flashbacks in the lies will be a big part of the series, coz they really emphasized the ending. You had some thoughts about what happend but the flashbacks really solved it, you had to stay tuned until the final minute and thats how it´s supposed to be!

So I really liked the pilot and I will continue watching the series cause I thing a lot of potential is in it. If the writers play their cards right and are not trying to force it too hard (like totally overloading the episodes with 5 different strings all involving Lights or so) it can very well be an entertaining series to watch!

Rating-wise I would give the pilot a 4 out of 5! (Series only 5 points because of the lenght)

Hope you enjoyed the second review...the Fighter will be next, followed by the Golden Globes! Stay tuned!

Little Fockers

I dont know if its a good start for a blog to start with a fairly average movie...but I saw it today so...this is the freshest memory for a blog in my head!

So lets cut right to the chase.

To start of positive...the cast of the movie is once again awesome...I really enjoy the mix of dramatic actors like Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffmann and Barbra Streisand and comedic actors like Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. Newly acquired Jessica Alba was not a big help to sell the movie I would suggest but still she fits into the mix in some kinda ways!

The story overall was shallow...I dont wanna jump into any details but it was pretty obvious where the movie was going. I mean it was teased all the time that their might be some connection on a personal level between Gaylord and Andi and of course Jack wants to find out and sees suspiscious images and scenes and so on...so not a real suprise there! It all leads to the huge fight between those two because Jack is looking for an actual replacement for Gaylord in the marriage between his daughter and the Focker and yeah...thats pretty much the entire plot...

I guess the plot was never the selling thing in the prequels either so at least the series hasnt took a step backwards...some kind of positive in a way!

Right back to a good thing...the film references...I really really love to Godfather...and the fact that DeNiro was part of that too makes it even funnier. The only line that really kinda cracked me in the entire movie was "the Godfocker!" nothin to fancy on that joke tho, but it was played perfectly into the scene...and following scenes that took spins from the Godfather where all nicely done! The scene where Jack gets carried off by the ambulance as a rip of off the shooting and hospital scene with Marlon Brando and Al Pacino was well done as well!
I said references...the Jaws reference was a nice thing too...the soundtrack, the movement of the actual ocean scene into a ball pit was nicely done for a comedy and yeah...I thought it was a nice reference at that time!

Thats pretty much all of the good things I have to say about Little Fockers (maybe Jessica Alba with sexy black hair and only lingerie can be added but...!)...and for me the negatives outweighting the positives in this movie!

The title Little Fockers is actually a bit misleading in my opinion because the story pretty much focuses on the relationship and the "Circle of Trust" between Gaylord and Jack once again! The little Fockers are in some scenes but they are not carrying anything in the story except that they are some kind of a symbol for the happy family that Jack wants to protect. So the title actually only states the fact that there are kids...plain and simple...a bit too plain and simple for me!

Then I gotta say something about certain types of acting...I love Robert DeNiro and Ben Stiller...I enjoy watching them...but maybe fighting scenes are not really their expertise! The fighting scene hits the screen and I kinda felt that that was one of the lamest fighting scenes I have ever seen! Not because of the location or whatever...but just the acting in this "action" scene was not really well done and didnt came across as a moment where the relationship could actually be ended for the entire time! Also I disliked the fact that Focker landed some shots...I mean Jack is build up as a freakin tough former CIA agent...shouldnt he be able to beat up a nurse decisivly? He got the Submission-Victory so no jugdes scorecard needed but...come on...he got rocket once at least!

Last thing I wanna get off my chest before I come out and rate this thing is about Alba, Hoffmann and Streisand! Albas role was certainly a bit cheesy...but for me the scene where she wants to "get" Gaylord was really really over the top...I mean the acting was certainly bad there...I was a bit disgusted the way that scene came across so I dont know how that scene should deliver with that acting performance!
Speaking of performance...the performance of Hoffmann and Streisand as the parents of Gaylord and thein-laws of Pam is not rateble because they were only in the movie as some kind of nostalgic look in the past..there were no really stories going on with them...no side-strings attached...it felt like they were just in the movie to provide their names! Really some sort of false advertising there!

So with all that being said...I can only give this movie 4 out of 10...maybe the sequel, that they kinda teased with the last scene can lift the entire series back up! I hope so because the first two were really enjoyable!

Hope you enjoyed the first read! Next movie will probably be THE FIGHTER starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale...next blog might also be about the Golden Globes! Enjoy your weekend!