John's DVD Pick of the week (August 23rd 2011)

Hey guys once again it's Tuesday, This week I chose a film that came out of Sundance it's

Win Win

That's right the Paul Giamatti comedy/drama about a teenager going into wrestling is my pick for the week. The only other major release this week is the Jodie Foster directed The Beaver. 

My vintage pick is.. In honor of this weeks release of Our Idiot Brother, I'm recommending a handful of Paul Rudd's films, they are The 40 Year Old Virgin, I Love You Man, Knocked Up and Role Models, so see them if you haven't.

1st oscar predictions

So in honor of my 100th post I decided to post my first oscar predictions

Bold determines predicted winner

Best Picture:
A Dangerous Method
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Ides Of March
J. Edgar
My Week With Marylin
Tinker,Tailor,Solider,Spy
The Tree Of Life
War Horse

Best Director
David Cronenberg - A Dangerous Method
George Clooney - The Ides Of March
Clint Eastwood - J. Edgar
Terrence Malick - The Tree Of Life
Steven Spielberg - War Horse


Best Actor
George Clooney - The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio - J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender - A Dangerous Method
Ryan Gosling - The Ides Of March
Gary Oldman - Tinker,Tailor,Solider,Spy

Best Actress
Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs
Elizabeth Olsen - Martha Marcy May Marlene
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Emma Stone - The Help
Michelle Williams - My Week With Marylin

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marylin
Jim Broadbent  - The Iron Lady
Armie Hammer - J. Edgar
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Ides Of March
Viggo Mortensen - A Dangerous Method

Best Supporting Actress
Jessica Chastain - The Tree Of Life
Viola Davis - The Help
Keira Knightley - A Dangerous Method
Octavia Spencer - The Help
Naomi Watts - J. Edgar

I'll  put up screenplay and technical nominations up at some later point.
 

Mini Bulk Reviews

Cowboys & Aliens (***)

A spaceship arrives in Arizona, 1873, to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. A posse of cowboys and natives are all that stand in their way.The movie was good, liked the twist at the halfway point. For some reason I did not like the ending.

The Change Up (***)

A comedy in which a married father (Jason Bateman) accidentally switches bodies with his best friend (Ryan Reynolds), leading to a series of wildly complex difficulties.This movie I really liked more than others, I found it to be one of the better comedies of 2011.

Spy Kids: All The Time In The World (*)

A retired spy (Jessica Alba) is called back into action, and to bond with her new step-children (Rowan Blanchard, Mason Cook), she invites them along for the adventure to stop the evil Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) from taking over the world. Horrendous, avoid this movie at all costs.

Failure to Prepare...

...is preparation to fail.

I'm using this cool, Real Simple graphic of spoons in a drawer again because a) I love it and 2) I've been getting my collective "house" in order. 

 A couple of weekends ago, when I was back home visiting, I was awakened early Sunday morning by screams from my mom.  Needless to say, it was unsettling.  She had fallen in the dark, on her way to the bathroom, and long story short, my brother and I ended up in the ER with her. 

She is totally fine now, although at the time she was beside herself with pain and confusion.  And so were my brother and I.  We did not react very well to this mini-crisis at first, but we picked up the slack and got her the care she needed.

All of this got me to thinking about making arrangements for life's little uncertainties well in advance.  For example, I was faced with this question: Sir, what is your mother allergic to?  And I promptly drew a blank.  My brother knew less than I did.

Now, granted, Barb is completely back to her version of normal now.  And she's way (way) too young to be "falling," but these are the kinds of things one should prepare for before they are needed.  Suze always says that one needs a will and trust.  I'm now working on that, despite my lack of vast wealth or children.

The important thing is to make your wishes known to your immediate family, despite your current health, income, living situation, etc.  If (God forbid) your health were to take a turn for the worse, would you want life support?  Who gets your house?  Your money?  Your creepy doll collection?  Do you want to be buried?  Cremated?  Other?

I'm not trying to be all macabre here, but I've had a bit of a wakeup call, and I want to pass along this life lesson that I'm currently in the midst of learning.

Carnage Trailer is here

Thoughts?

'Underworld: Awakening' Trailer HD

Thoughts?

John's DVD Pick of the week (August 16th 2011)

Hey guys sorry for the delay. This week I chose a fun but scary film it's

Priest.

That's right the vampire action horror is my pick of the week. Other big films out include, The Robert Redford directed thriller The Conspirator, The Austen tale Jane Eyre, the awful animated sequel Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil, and the Kate Hudson Romantic Comedy Something Borrowed, the first two you can pick up the other two I can care less about.

My vintage pick is: In honor of this weeks release of Fright Night I'm recommending the original 1985 version of Fright Night with Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowell, a pure fun film that's all I gotta say.