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!
Donnerstag, 20. Januar 2011
Mittwoch, 19. Januar 2011
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!
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!
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!
Dienstag, 18. Januar 2011
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!
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!
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!
Sonntag, 16. Januar 2011
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!
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!
Samstag, 15. Januar 2011
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!
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!
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