Switching From Stars to Letters

I've made the decision to switch from the star rating to a letter grading system. Some things just aren't worthy and it's getting too hard to decide. Plus, Entertainment Weekly uses letters, so I might as well get used to it.

Beck is Back and Just Okay

I was a little excited for Beck's new album Modern Guilt's release. And the other day I finally gave it a listen. I adore the cover art by the way, but it's so unlike his usual technicolored ones.

What I did like was how "Beck-y" (that's a hell of an adjective, I know) it sounds; he stayed very true to himself. All the songs have his signature calm-coolness and light melodrama stamped on them, but even with that, most aren't too eventful.

It's certainly easy listening music, per usual, but of course, none will ever live up to "Loser"s amazingness. I liked the opening track "Orphan" and a few others, but found the title song "Modern Guilt" strangely aggressive.

I won't be purchasing this one, but if you're a fan, by all means, give it a listen.

Out of the Box Office

Surprise, surprise...I totally saw this coming (note to self: gotta start betting). Anyway, The Dark Knight reigned supreme yet again with another whopper of a weekend (the last movie to come in #1 two weeks in a row was 21), leaving it's competition in the dust. But what's even more of a surprise is that The X Files did bad, man. And who actually went to see Step Brothers? Shame on you, there's way better options out there- Brideshead Revisited will go to wide release next weekend- yippee!

For the Weekend of July 25th - 27th.

1. The Dark Knight...$75 mil
2. Step Brothers........$30 mil
3. Mama Mia!............$17 mil
4. The X Files.............$10 mil
5. Journey/Earth.......$9 mil

A Great Night with The Dark Knight

I know I should have written this earlier (of course I saw it opening weekend), but I just couldn't decide how to go about it.

Superhero, comic book-esque films aren't (typically) much to my liking, but this one has certainly redefined the genre.

I doubt, and am nearly sure, there has never been such a well-acted and beautifully crafted adaption of this type. The film is perfectly rounded (just how I like my movies; when you, the audience, are gracefully brought from point A to point B) and easily holds the audiences attention; not to mention, it's very beautiful to look at, with glorious special effects. Director Chris Nolan was able to pull off a dark, deceptive, and natural tale between the characters, without making it look forced or overdone.

I obviously have to speak of Heath's performance which was simply glorious. To me, an Oscar-worthy performance is when the viewer cannot separate the actor from the character; this is what his performance was, whole-heatedly- pure acting in it's most simple and complex forms. And it may or may not have caused his downfall.

Overall, I'd recommend it to anyone and would be eager to see it again.

You're a Film Buff If...

...You automatically associate the name "Harvey" with Harvey Weinstein.

{Harvey with his gorgeous wife Georgina Chapman, co-designer of one of my favorite line's Marchesa}

I'm In Love With a...Boston Cream Pie

Mmmm... I finally tasted the delectable goodness of it this weekend.

And I looked it up on wiki and the first thing it says is:

"The Boston cream pie is a cake, not a pie."

DVDing Tuesday

I am so very excited to rent [and possibly buy] this week. Jim Sturgess cast his spell upon me with last year's Across the Universe (my 2nd favorite movie of 2007), so I naturally had to see him in his follow-up starring role in 21 (just two quick notes- it was number 1 at the box office for 2 straight weeks; I saw it opening weekend). And some of my favorite cinema alums- Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne- top off the great and quite gorgeous cast of Vegas moneymakers and losers.

But other than 21, there's nothing else worth spending time sitting on your couch at home this week, so get a job, fool!

Out of the Box Office

What a wowzer of a weekend, huh? Obviously, I love it when films break records which is exactly what two films did this weekend, particularly TDK- I've heard it broke upwards of eight of 'em, but Mama Mia!, did as well, becoming the best musical weekend gross of all time. But this single-handed weekend has become the highest grossing weekend of all time. Wowzers!

For the Weekend of July 18th - 20th.

1. The Dark Knight...$158 mil
2. Mamma Mia!........$27 mil
3. Hancock..............$14
4. Journey/Earth....$12
5. HellBoy II...........$10

DVDing Tuesday

Eh. Nothing much to say about this week in the Land 'o' DVDs. But we have one of my latest crushes Jason Statham being the action star that he is in the obviously action-packed heist film The Bank Job. And we also have Penelope, which features the beauty of Christina Ricci, Reese Witherspoon, and the extreme hottness of James McAvoy. I did see this one; it's cute, a little shallow, but has amazingly quirky art direction. Enjoy!

Out of the Box Office

I saw no reason to go to the movies this weekend. Nothing interested me. Some audiences agreed with me- but obviously not all. The second installment in the Hellboy franchise raked in a couple million more than it's predecessor, but didn't have a huge opening by any summer box office standings.

For the Weekend of July 13th - 15th.

1. Hellboy II: The Golden Army............$34 mil
2. Hancock.................................................$32 mil
3. Journey to the Center of the Earth...$21 mil
4. Wall- E...................................................$18 mil
5. Wanted..................................................$11 mil

10,000 BC Makes You Want to Stay in 2008

I was really looking forward to this movie. I really and truly was; I even wanted to see it in the theatre, but because of the not-so-shining reviews I decided to pass. And let me tell you- the critics were right. It was horrible, just horrible. But let me go over the [very few] positives- the two main stars were well cast (hottie Steven Strait-who has his shirt off the whole time- and the eternally, ethereal beauty Camilla Belle), the acting overall wasn't bad; pretty good score; and visually, it was stunning. Now for the negatives- poor story; poor dialogue; but what annoyed me the most was that the music was too loud to hear the narration (which was spoken in a rough, indistinct voice) and the narration told the entire story. Overall, I would not recommend it to anyone because I couldn't even explain what it's about; half of the time as you're watching you don't know what the hell is happening! I'm very disappointed because it had the potential to be very, very good and just let me down completely.

DVDing Tuesday

My two picks this week really weren't too loved by critics. The first is Sleepwalking a drama that premiered at Sundance starring Oscar winner Charlize Theron (who also produced it) and nominees Dennis Hopper and Woody Harrelson. Critics didn't particularly love the script, but said the actors gave "honorable performances" but I'm gonna give it a go, anyway. My second pick is The Ruins a horror flick novel adaption by Scott Smith starring the talented Jena Malone and hottie Joe Anderson of Across the Universe. Critics wern't particularly feeling this one either, but if I'm feeling in the mood for a scare-fest this weekend, I'll give this one a try.

Helena and Clive Catch Up

Two of my fave previous Oscar nominees, the gorgeous Helena Bonham Carter and the gorgeously sexy Clive Owen chatted at a Rufus Wainwright outdoor concert in London this Saturday.

Kevin Spacey is Shrinking

Mr. Spacey was seen earlier this week on the set of his new indie Shrink (which I reported on earlier.)

Vampire Weekend at Glastonbury

The totally awesomeness that is Vampire Weekend is indescribable, but they played at Glastonbury a few days ago --->>>

Out of the Box Office

Things went exactly as I expected this week at the box office. Hancock making [over a whopping 5.5 days this past holiday], more than $100 million is no surprise; it has become Will Smith's 2nd biggest opening, behind this December's I am Legend. From the looks of things, everything from last week has just shifted down a spot.

For the Weekend of July 4th- 6th.

1. Hancock...............$107 million*
2. Wall-E..................$33 mil
3. Wanted................$20 mil
4. Get Smart...........$11 mil
5. Kung Fu Panda...$7 mil
   

*Only Hancock's b.o is over a 5.5 day period (its weekend b.o. was $66 mil)!

July Musts

What to do, who to do, and where to do it- in July.

Movies:

The Dark Knight

July 18th

With Oscar buzz for the late Ledger building by day (that will be a later discussion) I have just gotta go, though I may tear up. That's basically the only reason I want to see it, cause I had little interest in the 1st one. (But I can't wait to see how much money it brings in at the box office!)

Mamma Mia!
July 18th

Two words- Broadway adaption; I just cannot resist. And it happened to turn into box office gold for Hairspray last summer, but the release date being the same as TDK will hurt it.

Music:

Modern Guilt

Beck

July 8th

I'm really looking forward to the "loser's" highly-anticipated new album. And judging from his teasers, I'm very excited.

Life, Death, Love, and Freedom

John Mellencamp

July 15th

Mr. Cougar, one of my favorite singers of all time, is back and getting 4 star reviews from Rolling Stone! For those who don't know- he was just inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

DVDing Tuesday

Let's take a healthy helping of two extremes of film making- one being a highly marketed action movie and the other a super-indie romantic drama. Numero uno is Vantage Point, which I did see, and did enjoy quite a bit; for a fast-paced action film it boasts an impressive ensemble cast inculing Oscar winners Forest Whitaker and William Hurt, plus nominee Sigourney Weaver, with Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox rounding it out. And the second is My Blueberry Nights which also showcases a big name Oscar cast with the likes of winner Rachel Weisz and previous nominees Jude Law and [my fave actress] Natalie Portman. With these fabulously talented actors, how can you go wrong either way?

Get (Not All That) Smart

To begin with, I never really had any interest in seeing this comedy, so I was bound not to fully enjoy it. Moving on; for a film in general it wasn't too, too shabby. But for a '60s television adaption, it really wasn't that good. It lacked a strong plot; you're is never told exactly why they're trying to save the world- scratch that- save the U.S. government. Nor are you ever shown or told just how Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) falls for Max (Steve Carrell), considering she appears to hate him for more than half of the time. (And while we're mentioning actors, the one thing I whole-heartedly liked about it was the phenomenal casting and acting). But, to top off a loose plot, I found the jokes and humor to be not particularly hysterical. What still has me confused is how 75% of the humor is geared towards youngsters and yet there's a bounty of intense action and sexual references to go along with the PG-13 rating. All in all, I was left slightly puzzled and as if I'd wasted my $8. My advice- wait for it to arrive via Netflix.

Out of the Box Office

When this week's numbers were announced I was utterly stunned. Many were predicting a much smaller opening for the Jolie- and-McAvoy-action-packed-Wanted. And Wall-E has become the third best opening for Pixar, but that's not of much surprise either; there's a 9/10 chance we'll see it nominated for (and winning) the Oscar, come December.

For the Weekend of June 27th - 29th.

1. Wall-E...........................$62 mil
2. Wanted.........................$51 mil
3. Get Smart....................$20 mil
4. Kung Fu Panda............$11 mil
5. The Incredible Hulk...$9 mil

This Week's TV Numeros

The ratings that rocked and the one's that flopped.

• The Daytime Emmy's, even award show junkies like me couldn't have cared less with a dismal 5.4 million.
• Camp Rock, the crap-ass Disney movie with the gay Jonas clan, did well enough to spawn a sequel with 8.9 mil. (Note above reference).
• Celebrity Family Fued is this week's second best premiere with 8.8 mil.

DVDing Tuesday

Here's two noteworthy films to check out on disc this week. First up we have 10,000 BC starring the man-gorgeous Steven Strait and just-plain-gorgeous Camilla Belle. It's also directed by Roland Emmerich, whose directed some goodies such as Independence Day, The Patriot, and The Day After Tomorrow. My number two pick is the animated, Academy Award nominated Persepolis, based on the graphic novel, about a girl growing up in Iran. I'm sure either will guarantee entertainment in one way or another.

Out of the Box Office

Am I surprised by this weekend's numbers? In a word- nope. It was obvious that Get Smart would take the top spot (despite mixed reviews, I know many who were looking forward to it). And this week's other opening, The Love Guru, doing badly is certainly no shocker.


For the Weekend of June 20th-22nd.

1. Get Smart....................$38 mil
2. The Incredible Hulk...$22 mil
3. Kung Fu Panda...........$21 mil
4. The Love Guru............$13 mil
5. The Happening...........$10 mil

Consider How Great Kathy Griffin Is

If your'e an avid Kathy Griffin fan, such as I, you've probably seen her show My Life on the D-List. This past week on the show she went to the small town of Tracy, California to record her comedy album For Your Consideration. And in true Griffin style the only reason of doing this is to try and get a Grammy to go along with her Emmy win.

So yesterday I listened to the album which was just released last week (yes, there's been a ton of awesome releases this week- Katy Perry and Coldplay), and was pretty happy with what I heard. As always, there's just the right amount of language to elevate Kathy's amusingly absurd celebrity run-ins. But I found the jokes to be just funny, not hilarious, but I think that's just because I've seen all her specials (twice) on TV and, obviously, because it's recorded you lose her goofy gestures and expressions which always add to the comedy. But overall, it's not to shabby, and I'd be willingly listen to it again.

Click here to buy For Your Consideration.

Entertainment Weekly's 'New Classics'

They've decided, and I don't agree.

At all.

Once a reliable source for everything entertainment, I am starting to lose my respect for EW. I mean, I've looked over these lists and am very dissapionted at what they claim to be "the new classics."

NOTE: Below are the top 10's , to see full list click the link.

Yes, many of these movies have won Oscars, but some are just cult-faves. I know that is sometimes what makes a classic, but some of them are ridiculous. Here are the top 10 out of the 100 choices.

The New Classics: Movies

(Since 1983)

Complete list: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207076_20207387_20207063,00.html?iid=top25-20080621-The+New+Classics%3A+Movies

1. Pulp Fiction (1994)

2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03)

3. Titanic (1997)

4. Blue Velvet (1986)

5. Toy Story (1995) 6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

9. Die Hard (1988)

10. Moulin Rouge (2001)

And their TV show choices also angered me. My issues: some were only on for one season; Lost at #8, when the writing's sucked since season 2; and The Hills being on the list angers me to no end!

The New Classics: TV

(Since 1983)

Complete list: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207339,00.html

1. The Simpsons, Fox, 1989-present

2. The Sopranos, HBO (1999-2007)

3. Seinfeld, NBC (1989-98)

4. The X-Files, Fox (1993-2002)

5. Sex and the City, HBO (1998-2004)

6. Survivor, CBS (2000-present)

7. The Cosby Show, NBC (1984-92)

8. Lost, ABC (2004-present)

9. Friends, NBC (1994-2004)

10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The WB (1997-2001); UPN (2001-03)

I'm not as super-educated in music as I am in the movie category, but this list is, too, a bit corrupt. I'm glad to see two U2 albums and Green Day's AI in the top 10, but Amy Winehouse's Back to Black- as much as I liked the album- is it a classic, no. Not to mention it's only produced one hit single. And Kanye's Dropout (first of all- I think he's overrated), but it too produced the monster single Goddigger, which he did have help with from Oscar winner Jamie Foxx.

The New Classics: Music

(Since 1983)

Complete List: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207076_20207387_20207337,00.html

1. Purple Rain, Prince and the Revolution (1984)

2. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill (1998)

3. Achtung Baby, U2 (1991)

4. The College Dropout, Kanye West (2004)

5. Madonna, Madonna (1983)

6. American Idiot, Green Day (2004)

7. The Blueprint, Jay-Z (2001)

8. Graceland, Paul Simon (1986)

9. Back to Black, Amy Winehouse (2007)

10. In Rainbows, Radiohead (2007)

This Week's TV Numeros

The show's that got high and the one's whose writers should.

• Weeds set Showtime's record with 1.3 million for it's season premiere. By the way, the opening above is a pretty clear drug reference to the show.
• America's Got Talent and ratings. The season premiere set this summer's record with 12.8 mil.
• AFI's 10 Top 10 is clearly not on top. It became the lowest rated AFI special on CBS, with 5.6 mil.

Oscar Predictions: Best Actor, Round 1

Time to get a start on the acting categories; this season it looks as if their more than a few contenders with previous nominations.

Top 5:

In Alphabetical order,

and in order pictured above

Benicio del Toro, Brad Pitt, Frank Langella, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn

Film

Benicio- Guerilla

Brad- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frank- Frost/Nixon

Leonardo- Revolutionary Road

Sean Penn- Milk

Top 10:

In alphabetical order by first name

1. Benicio del Toro, Guerilla
2. Brad Pitt, Ben Button
3. Daniel Craig, Defiance
4. Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
5. Josh Brolin, W
6. Leonardo DiCaprio, Rev Road
7. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
8. Sean Penn, Milk
9. Viggo Mortensen, The Road
10. Will Smith, Seven Pounds