Good News, Bad News

Which do you want first?

Here's the good news: Kim Cattrall has confirmed that a Sex and the City movie sequel is going to happen. As you may remember, I may or may not have seen Sex and the City three times in the theater and rushed out to buy it the day it came out on DVD. Even though it wasn't quite as fabulous as the actual show, I love love loved it! I looooved it! So while they seemed to have neatly tied up the story at the end of the first movie, there is always enough Carrie-Samantha-Miranda-Charlotte drama to go around.

And now for the bad news: Pushing Daisies is reportedly "on the bubble." Are you freaking kidding me? This is one of the most unique, entertaining, perfect shows on television and I cannot imagine life without Ned the piemaker and his slew of over-the-top murder "mysteries." There is nothing else like this show and people need to start watching it ASAP! How can this show be on the bubble and the crapfest that is Private Practice gets an entire season? Turn on the TV an hour earlier and enjoy Pushing Daisies before it's too late!

Two More Quickie Reviews

Changeling
This movie moved me to tears and made me writhe in my seat, beyond uncomfortable thinking what I would do if I was in Angelina Jolie's terrible situation. You'd think after Pride and Glory, I'd have enough of bad cops, but this movie took police corruption to a whole new level--especially since this was a true story! Jolie shines as the main character, and the guy who plays the crazy man on the ranch is perfect for his part (as is the Police Captain). Overall I liked this movie a lot more than other critics and highly recommend giving it a chance. ****

High School Musical 3

I may have been the oldest person there without a child, but it was worth the potential embarrassment to enjoy Zac Efron and friends in their Senior Year at East High. While the costumes and sets were much more high quality, what with a feature film budget and all, I wasn't as impressed with the songs as I was with the made-for-TV HSM 1 and 2. Make fun all you want, but had Zac Efron not been in this movie for some big screen eye candy, it wouldn't have come close to rivaling the original or first sequel. That said, it was fun and peppy and is sure to please its actual target audience--kids and tweens. ***

The Return of Quickie Movie Reviews

Even though I may not have been blogging a lot lately, but I definitely have not been slacking in the movie-going department. Here are three quickie reviews from recent weekends:

The Duchess
Gorgeous costumes, gorgeous scenery, gorgeous sets, gorgeous Keira Knightley. Not so great? The way men treated women back then. We may not be equal yet, but my God at least we've made a few advances. It may have yet-another-Keira-Knightley-period-film, but at least it was well done! ****



W.
Josh Brolin's Bush chuckle was spot on. Dick Cheney looked like a total D-Bag. Elizabeth Banks' Laura Bush never aged a day. Condoleezza Rice managed to annoy me more than ever before. But it was actually quite interesting. It definitely wasn't the Bush bash I expected from Oliver Stone... at least until the last 10 minutes. Unfortunately it may have been the most entertaining 10 minutes of the film. ***

Pride and Glory
Could've just been another good cop-bad cop movie but this movie was a little more complex than its police drama counterparts. Several big twists kept my interest for the entire 2+ hours--although I'm sure super talented Edward Norton helped, too. And who would've guessed? Colin Farrell was great as a cussing, corrupt cop. ****


I know what you're thinking: only three? Don't worry, three (plus) more reviews to come in the near future...

Give Me a Little Paul Rudd and I'm Happy

I came across this trailer over at Buzz Sugar for the movie Role Models. Sean William Scott sort of annoys me, and the plot seems kind of overdone, but honestly? Give me a little Paul Rudd and I'm happy. I really can't stop staring--he is just so darn cute. Look at how normal he is--buying AMC concession stand treats before seeing Pineapple Express:



Oh yeah, here's a trailer for that movie:


Role Models - Theatrical Trailer

Random Movie Trailer

Still reading (I know I should be done by now but I did have to be a little productive and it is 750+ pages long) so here's a trailer for a movie I had never heard of but looks like it might be fun:

Sex Drive (looks better than the title sounds AND James Marsden is in it!):

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Ohhhh Michael Cera!

Now you may not remember this, but I love me some Michael Cera. I even put up with the mildly offensive plot and annoying Jonah what's-his-name in Superbad just to catch a little bit of the sorta awkwardness that Michael Cera brings to whatever he is in. Arrested Development, Juno, Superbad, etc.

Now they've released a longer trailer for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist--it's Michael Cera and the principal's daughter from Charlie Bartlett. The movie itself looks kinda cute but you know I'll be there with my I <3 Michael Cera shirt on!***

***No, I do not actually own such a shirt. I'm not that much of a creeper.

Watch the trailer:

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Dubya Trailer

Here's a trailer for Oliver Stone's biopic about the current pres, W. (Only 175 days left until the "end of an error!") Looks interesting-- have they ever done a presidential movie while the president was still in office? Seems strange...

W. Teaser Trailer
by iliketolookatmyranch

Vampires Rule Comic-Con

Apparently fans of the book series waiting in anticipation for the movie have whipped Comic-Con into a Twilight frenzy.

Read VH1's report on the cast's Comic-Con panel

I can't even imagine 6,000 teenagers (and probably a bunch of weird adults like me who like the books) screaming and/or declaring allegiance to Team Edward or Team Jacob.***

Author Stephenie Meyer also sat down for an exclusive video interview at Comic-Con with Entertainment Weekly. Here's a link to the first clip--click here for the other 3 parts of the interview, including information about Breaking Dawn--out one week from Saturday!

Stephenie Meyer EW.Com interview

***I, by the way, am totally on Team Edward. A beautiful vampire or a hairy werewolf? No contest.

Figures

Just as everyone predicted, Batman kicked Spidey's ass at the box office. The Dark Knight beat Spiderman 3's opening weekend record, bringing in more than $155 million.

WHOA. That's a whole lotta Batman.

Read all about the weekend box office results here

UPDATE:
The records keep on breaking-- the movie made $25.4 million TODAY. That's a Monday. Yeah.

I am The Batman

It took me until Sunday night, but I finally saw The Dark Knight this weekend.

Really, there's not much to say other than WOW.

It was an excellent movie--great storyline, great action, great visuals, great stunts, great cast.

As everyone and their brother has reported, Heath Ledger was pretty darn amazing as The Joker. I may have nightmares about that makeup tonight.

And OH. MY. GOD. Christian Bale is SO ATTRACTIVE. We're talking beautiful, gorgeous, flawless in those super expensive suits and hot cars. Siiiiigh.

If you haven't seen it yet (although I'm thinking with what they are predicting to be record-setting box office sales, everyone must have already seen it), run and do so NOW. I guarantee it's playing about every 45 seconds at your local theater.

Feel The Beat from the Tambourine

I may or may not have seen Mamma Mia two times this weekend. No joke.

It was THAT GOOD.

I saw the musical at Mandalay Bay in Vegas years ago and while it was fun, I don't remember enjoying it that much. Totally not the case for this movie.

Meryl Streep is beyond awesome. She really can do no wrong in my book and this is no exception. Amanda Seyfried has a great voice and is super cute as Sophie and OH. MY. GOD. Colin Firth is adorable. When he sings "Our Last Summer" I couldn't stop smiling and again, OH. MY. GOD. Him in the stretchy disco outfit at the end was hysterical.

Love Love LOVED it.

...Even if Pierce Brosnan can't sing to save his life.

Read some other reviews if that was too gushy:
Salon
VH1 (Kurt Loder)
BuzzSugar

Twilight Trailer

Okay I'm not sure what I think about this but here it is, a longer trailer for Twilight:



I have a feeling this movie will not be what I imagined--from the trailer it looks awfully action vampire-y rather than the love story I enjoyed so much.

Either way, like I've said before, I'll be there on 12.12.08 to see it. I should probably stop trying to pretend I'll be anything but ridiculously excited alongside all those teenyboppers.

Only two more weeks until Breaking Dawn!

Here I Go Again...

DID I MENTION TOMORROW IS AN AMAZING DAY?

Mamma Mia and The Dark Knight are finally here.

Being a total musical geek I will be seeing Mamma Mia tomorrow afternoon and Batman sometime later this weekend. I'm sure most people would do the opposite, but guess what? I'm not normal.

I. Love. Musicals.

POST 300: 3 Fun Things

1. Weeds
This week's episode was pretty great, actually. Back to the old quick-witted humor, bizarre antics and hysterical family interactions. I thought Celia returning was going to be stupid, but she totally fits into the motley Botwin crew. I love that Nancy has to work retail at an outlet mall on the border and that she finally apologized to and/or thanked everyone in her family--AND that she actually admitted she was a terrible drug dealer. I hope this seasons continues to get better and better!

2. Wanted
I went to see this movie with my sister and her friend over the weekend--mainly because I had already seen every other movie I was remotely interested in seeing and because Wanted featured Chicago. I was in Chicago, so it made sense even though honestly I had no idea what the movie was about. Turns out, it was super violent, pretty insane plot-wise, kinda goofy at times... but also very entertaining and full of fantastic special effects. Things I didn't like: The stupid train wreck part and Morgan Freeman dropping an F bomb not once but twice! That is Samuel L Jackson crap. Things I loved: James McEvoy dripping wet and the part where he flipped his car over a gangster guy's limo and shot him through the sunroof.

3. Swapping Lives by Jane Green
So I thought I was way beyond chick lit but I am having fun reading this book! It was a little hard to start but now I am hooked and it is very cute. Jane Green is a great story teller and really makes you like and identify with her characters. Nothing intellectual or ground-breaking here but a fun "beach read" amidst all of the education stuff I'm reading right now.

THAT WAS MY 300th POST! CRAZY!

The Best News I've Heard In Weeks

David sent me this link today and I nearly squealed with happiness:

WICKED THE MOVIE
It's really going to happen! Obviously it is still in planning stages and they say they have to wait for the show to reach its "pinnacle" but seeing as it's closing in Chicago at the end of the year, maybe the pinnacle has been reached and they can get to work on the movie version!

No word on casting yet--could they really have anyone but Idina and Kristin?

Now or Never! HSM3

The trailer for High School Musical 3 is finally released!

Click here to watch it on Disney.com

I know I'm lame but it actually looks like a lot of fun.

And I already like the "Now or Never" song featured in the trailer.

Click here to listen to pretty Zac Efron and the whole cast

Get excited for October 24!

Fang You Very Much

Thank you, Entertainment Weekly for this:


I know I haven't blogged about it yet, but I am kind of obsessed with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. I read all three books in under 2 weeks--just totally ate them up. Aaaaand I may or may not have fallen in love with a fictional vampire. Ha! The movie may not come out until December, but EW already has it on the cover of this week's issue.

I'm still not sold on the casting (Edward is soooo not pretty enough!) but I will totally be at the movie on opening day, pretty or not. 12.12.08-- such a long time to wait! However, coming up much sooner is the release of the fourth book in the series-- Breaking Dawn, out August 1!

Quickie Review: Hancock

Today I went to see Hancock on the spur of the moment with my dad. We were by the theater and didn't have anything else to do, so we wandered over to see what was playing around 1pm. I've never done that before I don't think--funny. Lucky for us, Hancock was starting right when we arrived.

Background: When I first heard Will Smith as as superhero, I was pretty much like "pass." Then I saw a whole trailer and realized it was Will Smith as a drunk, not-so-perfect superhero and I decided I might want to see it after all. It opened to not-so-perfect reviews, but I was still interested--despite those reviews it was #1 at the box office for 4th of July weekend.

And you know what? It was a fun movie! Lots of cool special effects, Will Smith was pretty good in it, I can't get enough Jason Bateman, and there was even a surprise twist that I totally didn't see coming and wasn't spoiled by any trailers! No, it wasn't deep or meaningful but it was fun and sometimes you just need to watch a fun movie, especially during the summer. ****

Quickie Review: WALL-E

Warning: If you want to read a really good review, head over to Gretch-a-Sketch and read hers. I liked it a lot. If you're okay with mediocre, proceed...

I loved this WALL-E! How can I love a movie where there was no real dialogue (other than [adorable!] bzzzzing and bleeping) until nearly halfway through the show? How can I love little animated robots and find them totally endearing and cheer for their love story? How can I hear laughter from the kids behind me yet receive quite a number of political messages all in the same show?

It's the magic of Pixar, I tell you. This is a movie that kids and adults can both enjoy and really benefit from--it makes you think for sure! Messages sent: 1) Protect the environment--wow. 2) Don't let technology get out of control or the robots will take over! 3) Maintain real personal communication [not fake, virtual communication] and 4) Get active and get out of the recliner!

That's a lot from a little Disney show. I really enjoyed it and everyone needs to see it to understand all the very important messages it sends. *****

Happy 4th!

"To live in a country where you can take an ugly old mountain and put faces on it--faces of great Americans who did so much to make our country super great--well, that makes me proud to be an American." - Drop Dead Gorgeous

Happy Fourth of July!