Now this is my favorite part of an Award Show! Who wore what, who wore it best and who wore it worst is in some cases more important than who won. The Academy Awards is probably the most important of the award shows and it’s very important to look classy, sassy and fabulous. The theme of the night was definitely all about the sparkle and the flow.
From seasoned actresses like Demi Moore in Atelier Versace, Penelope Cruz in Donna Karan couture, Cameron Diaz in Oscar de la Renta, Elizabeth Banks in Versace and Rachel McAdams in Elie Saab Haute couture, to the younger players on the field like Kristen Stewart in Monique Lhuillier (Finally she looks stunning… I was getting a little worried with her funky little outfits), Miley Cyrus in Jenny Packham and Anna Kendrick in Elie Saab, all looked absolutely phenomenal. But who took the cake? That will be the crowd favorite, Sandra Bullock, who also picked up a little gold man for Best Leading Actress in The Blind Side. Bullock’s beaded Marchesa gown won over the Academy and the Fashion Police in both elegance and and glam.
The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, is not only known for it’s importance and the life long statement “I’d like to thank the Academy”, but also for it’s funny. And this year, none other than Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin brought the funny. The show started off with our favorite mini doctor, Neil Patrick Harris, singing and dancing his little heart out with two half naked rockettes.
Over the course of the night, the hosts made sure they put their two cents in and I was sitting with the laptop and writing it all down. Here are some of their Gems:
Steve: “There’s Damn Helen Mirren”… Alec: “That’s dame Helen Mirren”
Alec about Woody Harrelson: “He is sooo high!”
“There’s James Cameron” – ‘Both put on 3D glasses’
Steve: “Inglorious bastards’ Christoph Waltz is a Nazi obsessed with finding Jews – Well here is the motherload”
Steve: “The Academy awards… the best night in Hollywood since last night”
Alec: “Hey Feriss… is this your day off???”
What else happened? The star of Precious, Gabourey Sidibe, told Ryan Seacrest “If Fashion was Porn… this dress is the money job!”… The only time that Mr. Smith dramatically inhaled was when they showed the horror movie slide… and George Clooney was clearly pissed off about something all night.
I know normally when there is an award show, I pick the movies or actors that I hope will win. But lets face it… That rarely happens. So this time I decided to just pick who I think is going to win. I noticed that with all award shows, you get two or three movies that just win everything. So here you go guys… I really hope I guessed em’ all. Who do you think is going to win? Did I make the right picks?
Best Picture – Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Bastards,
Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up In The Air
Actor In Leading Role – Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Morgan Freeman, Jeremy Renner
Actor In Supporting Role – Matt Damon, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Plummer, Stanley Tucci, Christoph Waltz
Actress In Leading Role – Sandra Bullock, Helen Mirren, Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe, Meryl Streep
Actress In Supporting Role – Penelope Cruz, Vera Farmiga, Maggie, Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick, Mo’Nique
Animated Feature Film – Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, The Secret of Kells, Up
For the first time in 2010, I was looking forward to seeing a movie with Mrs. Smith. While the Book of Eli had my attention when it hit theaters, Shutter Island put together a more interesting story in the horror genre, which I simply could not resist. When you add in the direction of Martin Scorsese, it appears to be a must watch film. Did it hold up to my expectations?
The movie opens with Teddy Daniels (An FBI agent played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Teddy’s FBI partner played by Mark Ruffalo) sailing into Shutter Island, a prison housing the criminally insane during the 1950’s. The reason that the FBI has been brought to the island is because one of the prisoners, Rachel Solando, is thought to have escaped. According to the doctors at the facility, Solando was on the Island because she drowned her three children in a lake, but seems to believe that her children are still alive and that her fellow prisoners are just her neighbors and all kinds of delivery men. It’s Teddy and Chuck’s job to find out what happened, and more importantly to find Rachel.
Honestly speaking, I very much enjoyed how the movie went straight to the plot without having to set any back story. So often in movies like this, the first 45+ minutes are wasted simply setting the scene, but Shutter Island takes care of that with quick flashbacks throughout. So far … so good.
After arriving on the island, you are immediately introduced to the mastermind behind the island design, Dr. Cawley, played by the awesome Ben Kingsley. You learn a little about the patient missing, a little about Dr. Cawley and most about what takes place on Shutter Island. On the Island, three wards house different criminals – One for men, one for women and one for the “super crazies” (My defined term). It’s now the job of Teddy and Chuck to investigate. I bet you’re wondering at this point why these two FBI agents were sent out on an island nobody would ever dare visit. Well that’s the subplot! Teddy Daniels’s wife, Dolores, (Played by Michelle Williams) was killed in an apartment fire and the man who set the blaze, Andrew Laeddis, is housed in the crazy ward of Shutter Island. You can bet that if Teddy finds him, he’s as good as dead.
From here on out you are taken on an elaborate quest to find both Rachel and Laeddis and it would appear that both FBI agents are free to travel about the prison as they like. Throughout his journey, Teddy Daniels learns that gruesome studies and operations are conducted on Shutter Island, specifically in the island’s lighthouse, and his goal no longer becomes finding the people he’s after but getting off the island before something happens to him. Unfortunately, Daniels believes that his partner Chuck has been taken to the lighthouse, so he has no choice but to try to save him. So if you’re following, the plot has completely changed from an FBI investigation, to a man on the path to revenge, to a torturous island, get me out of here movie. It would seem that just when you have things figured out, this movie says “No, you think you’ve got it… but you really don’t”.
Before the end of the movie, I was a little disappointed with where the story had taken me. The acting was absolutely fantastic but this movie was definitely lacking something. When Teddy reaches the lighthouse to expose the Island for the anti-humanitarian that it has become, the last plot twist is thrown your way … it’s completely empty! Well, not completely, at the top of the lighthouse Dr. Cawley is sitting at a little desk and waiting for Teddy . Spooky!
What’s Dr. Cawley doing all alone you ask, well wouldn’t you know it, Teddy Daniels isn’t in fact an FBI agent on an investigation, he’s a patient at Shutter Island with multiple personalities whose real name is Andrew Laeddis! (Confused?) A long flashback would confirm that Leo’s character had three children who were all drowned by his crazy wife (Sound Familiar?), thus causing “Andrew” to snap and shoot her. For the past two years, Andrew’s primary doctor was Mark Ruffalo’s character and Dr. Cawley decided the only way to snap Andrew out of his delusion was to create the monster ruse. Did it work? Hell yea, you better believe anything Ben Kingsley does, he does well. So let me explain – Teddy Daniels, Rachel Solando and Chuck Aule are actually all characters that Andrew Laeddis made up to help him deal with the tragedy that made him lose his mind. Believing that he is in fact Teddy Daniels and that Andrew Laeddis was responsible for his wife’s death, was all to escape the guilt that he was feeling himself. Funny enough, Andrew Laeddis was actually an FBI agent before he went coo-coo.
To complete the story, Andrew Laeddis doesn’t want to live with the burden of his dead family and pretends that Dr. Crawley’s experiment to retrieve him from the black hole in his mid has failed. He pretty much asks to be lobotomized. The end has mercifully come upon us.
Ohhhh how I wonder what could have been. With a director like Scorsese and a cast that includes DiCaprio and Kingsley, I was really pumped for this but it turned out to be a poorer version of the psychological thriller “Identity” (Which I love because it was original at the time). The acting was truly the only thing that kept me from booing this movie during the credits and on the horror movie scale, I disappointingly give it 4 decapitations.
James Bond – Sexy secret agent man known for his womanizing ways… oh and of course saving the world from eminent doom. Created by novelist Ian Fleming and externalized as the ultimate ladies man by millions of people for the past 48 years, James Bond is the coolest manly man to ever walk the Earth. And just as every manly man has to have a female counterpart, James Bond has the Bond girl. After all, one dream that every aspiring actress has is to die in the arms of James Bond.
These courageous ladies are far from shy and definitely far from ugly. The typical Bond Girl is in her early to mid-twenties, roughly ten years younger than Bond, who seems to be in his mid-thirties. Bond Girls also have a degree of independence even though they are clearly intended as sex objects. They are often victims rescued by Bond, fellow agents or allies, villains or members of an enemy organization, most typically the villain’s accomplice, assistant or mistress. Some are mere eye candy and have no direct involvement in Bond’s mission, and other Bond Girls play a pivotal role in the success of the mission.
To date, only two Bond Girls have actually captured James Bond’s heart. The first, Tracy Draco (Diana Rigg), married Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) but was later shot dead at the end of the movie. The second, was Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in Casino Royale (2006), but unfortunately she committed suicide by drowning herself in a canal in Venice. So what’s the morale of these stories? Well James Bond is just destined to roam the earth in search of the next global disaster and a vixen to help him save the world. Or at least help him take his mind off of things for a night or two.
How lucky can one man get? Every movie has a main Bond girl, sometimes one or two secondary Bond girls and a Bond villain who is normally the main villain’s henchwoman… and Bond gets to sleep with all of them. Some of the most famous secondary Bond girls and Bond villains include Grace Jones, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, Teri Hatcher and Sophie Marceau and you can bet there’s going to be many more to come.
2. In 1953, he entered the Mr. Universe contest and finished third in the tall man’s division
3. He started losing his hair at the age of 21 and actually wears a toupee in all the James Bond movies
4. Connery has two small tattoos on his right arm. One says “Scotland Forever” and the other says “Mum and Dad.” He got them when he enlisted in the Royal Navy when he was only 16
5. Sean once worked as a coffin polisher, a milk delivery man and a nude model for art students
6. While filming Never Say Never Again, Connery made his martial arts instructor angry… and in return got a broken wrist. His instructor was Steven Seagal
7. Connery started smoking when he was only nine years old
8. He took dancing lessons for 11 years from a Swedish teacher
9. Stated that he will not come back to Scotland until it is declared an independent country
10. His favorite James Bond film is From Russia With Love
Dear John is definitely a movie I was excited about, another gem from the author of The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks. Dear John tells the story of a soldier on leave named John (played by Channing Tatum) and a gorgeous girl next door named Savannah (played by Amanda Seyfried). The two meet when Savannah drops her bag in the ocean,and John, who just happened to be surfing nearby, dove in to get it. That ladies and gentlemen, is all it takes to fall in love.
It’s not enough that these two are absolutely beautiful, Savannah also builds houses for the homeless while on spring break and wants to be a special ed teacher and John is not only fighting for his country but also surfs, fights, has a perfectly sculpted body and is altogether a sweet sensitive guy. What more can you ask for?
After the two fall in love, John has to go back to the army (Special Forces) and they begin writing each other letters back and forth. Even though John promised Savannah he will be back in a year, he is forced to reenlist due to 9/11. Thanks for ruining the love of a lifetime Bin Laden.
Then, John receives a letter he was not expecting. Savannah has moved on with someone else, an older fellow with an autistic son and is already engaged. John is heart broken and decides to reenlist for another few years. Six years have gone by and John is sent home to take care of his dying autistic father, played by Richard Jenkins. While home, John can’t resist and decides to visit the long lost love that broke up with him with a letter five years ago. And that’s when the story unravels… if you are planning to see this movie, stop reading right now because I will totally ruin it for you.
Who did Savannah marry? She tied the knot with the last person you would ever expect. The older single father (Tim) to an autistic son that she has known her whole life. Why? That’s a very good question. Savannah never stopped loving John, but felt like Tim needed her. After all he had an autistic child AND cancer. Talk about a sad story.
Savannah catches John up on the situation, and John, being the selfless romantic that he is, sells his deceased father’s enormous coin collection, makes an anonymous donation for Tim’s hospital bills and heads back to the army. A few months later, John receives a letter from Savannah, telling him about the strange donation that gave her husband two healthy months to spend with her and his son to say goodbye. Crying yet???
Well, the movie ends while a hunky goatee sporting John is tying his bicycle to a poll next to a coffee shop, where he catches Savannah’s eye. She runs out of the shop and they hug. Really… that’s it??? Ending was a little disappointing, but at that point I was sobbing so hard I really didn’t care. Seriously though, this is definitely not a date movie. Do not see it with your boyfriend, and definitely do not see it with a stranger. Call your girlfriends, bring a box of tissues and prepare to cry your eyes out. I loved it.
This guest post comes from Michael, a contributing editor of the Dough Roller, a personal finance and investing blog, and Credit Card Offers IQ, a credit card review site.
If you’ve been going to the movies lately, then you know that there hasn’t been a shortage of apocalyptic themed films. After seeing “Knowing” and “2012”, I was tired and disappointed that the end of the world couldn’t be done in a way which I found enjoyable to watch. Both of those movies showed worldwide destruction, as it happened, and in the end offered hope for the rebuilding of humanity. However, for some strange reason, I was looking forward to The Book of Eli, as this movie had what the others lacked … an extremely solid cast. No offense to Johnny C or Nicky C of course.
Denzel Washington continues to put forth excellent cinematic appearances and casting him for the lead role in The Book of Eli was the first step in the right direction. The movie opens with the world already in ruins and a single man (Denzel), who goes unnamed at the time, hunting for food to survive. As the story progresses you learn that the United States is a vast wasteland, emptied by a war to trump all wars.
It isn’t until a good half hour into the movie that you come across one of the other few main characters, Carnegie, played by Gary Oldman, who also has lit up the big screen in recent roles. Carnegie runs the town that our unnamed hero enters and after his cronies return from looking for loot, you learn that the one possession Carnegie is after is a King James Bible. The reason is quite ingenious as he plans to use religion to further expand his reign as ruler, which history has shown is quite effective.
The third and final main character named Solara, played by Mila Kunis, accidentally unveils that Denzel’s character is named Eli as she rummages through his backpack to find his name written inside. Acting as the annoying, innocent, “wants more out of life” daughter of Carnegie’s wife, Solara decides to help Eli protect his Bible and deliver it west, where God said it should go.
Once the plot is developed, the remainder of the film is spent showing you a few action and dramatic scenes, which includes an off the wall, ironic plot twist in the end. I feel as if the writing and screenplay lacks what could make this film outstanding and it felt like it was dragging along at certain points. Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman turn in fantastic performances and simply watching the two of them battle it out is enough for me to want to see this movie again.
If you’re the non-religious type, then this may not be the best movie for you as “blind faith” is actually the glue that holds this movie together. I was actually surprised that such a slow moving movie could hold my attention as it did and through it’s impressive action and demolition scenes, it’s intriguing plot and it’s incredible acting, I would definitely recommend spending $10 and going out to see this flick.
Sometimes, it seems like there’s a new movie coming out every day. There’s so much to choose from and so much to get excited about. But every once in a while, a movie comes out that just gives me the chills. Dear John, is one of those movies. I am a huge fan of romantic movies in general, and The Notebook is one of my favorites. I must admit, at some point I had it on my IPod and I was watching it every day at work under my desk. lol. The reason I’m mentioning The Notebook is because both movies were directed by the same person, and you can feel how amazing it is just from the trailer.
Dear John stars two of hottest up and coming young actors, Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried, and tells the story of young guy named John who falls in love with a young girl named Savannah. They only have two weeks to spend together before John goes away to the army and the only way they can keep in touch is by writing each other letters. This movie is based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, and the screenplay was written by Jamie Linden. Dear John comes out February 5th, 2010 in a theater near you and I just can’t wait! Oh and the song from the trailer is amazing!!! Gives me goosebumps every time.
This year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards had a lot of colorful surprises, but also some unexpected disasters! Nicole Kidman, who normally looks very classy, looked like a crazy gypsy lady in an embroidered Oscar de la Renta gown and Fred Leighton jewelry, including a 19th-century gold necklace and Indian enamel bracelets. Even though Julianna Margulies won Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for The Good Wife, she didn’t even come close to getting her outfit right. Margulies wore an 80’s suede type fabric with a seat-belt on her shoulder.
Next up we have The United States of Tara’s Toni Collette, in a collection of window curtains sown together. Justin Timberlake was probably trying to show his funky personality but came out looking like Mr. Bean. Now I love Meryl Streep, but she really messed up with her couch upholstery dress and a leather belt. Last but not least we have Patricia Arquette, who won worst dressed on The SAG Awards Fashion Police with Joan Rivers, Khloe Kardashian, Julianna Rancic and Jay Manuel from America’s Next Top Model.
The 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild aired last night, and the winners were… less than surprising. Almost all the people that won the Golden Globes, won an Actor. Kinda boring really. The one thing that wasn’t boring was the fashion. Colors, colors and more colors. The stars were pouring in the hottest and brightest dresses I have ever seen. One gal totally impressed me once again, a newby to the red carpet, Lea Michele from Glee, looked absolutely amazing in an emerald green Malandrino gown. She is once again my #1. A close second was my favorite funny lady, Kate Hudson, in an Emilio Pucci sleek and sexy dress.
My runners up were Diane Kruger in a mustard gown by Jason Wu, Julie Benz (Darla from Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel) in a beautiful plum dress, E! reporter Julianna Rancic in a flowing orange gown, Up In The Air’s Anna Kendrick in an orchid purple Alberta Ferretti gown, Mariska Hargitay (Olivia Benson from Law & Order SVU) in a fun pink dress and Glee’s Quin, Dianna Agron, in a classy white gown.
Newlywed Bachelor couple Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney look happy at a date night in Hollywood Monday – the same evening their wedding special aired on ABC
March 9, 2010, at 1:09 pm
Now this is my favorite part of an Award Show! Who wore what, who wore it best and who wore it worst is in some cases more important than who won. The Academy Awards is probably the most important of the award shows and it’s very important to look classy, sassy and fabulous. The theme of the night was definitely all about the sparkle and the flow.
The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, is not only known for it’s importance and the life long statement “I’d like to thank the Academy”, but also for it’s funny. And this year, none other than Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin brought the funny. The show started off with our favorite mini doctor, Neil Patrick Harris, singing and dancing his little heart out with two half naked rockettes.
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