Movie Muse

As I’ve alluded to the last couple of days, 2009, in my opinion, was a year for great genre films, not necessarily straightforward dramas. For instance, this time of year I’d normally be busy planning how I was going to get to see all the major Oscar contenders in the next month. This year, my January clean-up list is small and I can’t even say for sure the ones on it will get nominated.

As a DVD collector, I’m fairly pleased that 2009 was a genre year. I tend not buy many dramas on DVD and instead stick with more re-watchable titles in comedy, action and science fiction. Considering the best films of the year came out over the summer for the most part—in my opinion – this winter in particular has been about picking up the hot DVDs like Star Trek, The Hangover and District 9, even though I usually prefer to wait or buy used.

So to send 2009 out, I’ve taken a look at the year’s highest-grossing films, its best reviewed films and my own personal opinions, and spun up some interesting assertions that I think you’ll find put a proper label on this year. Read the rest of this entry »

The first thing that stands out about “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” is that it’s not gun- shy about its moral storytelling. From the get-go, legendary director John Huston, who wrote the script and directed based on a novel by B. Traven, feeds us foreshadowing about the perils of money and seeking great fortune. In the beginning, the prospector, Howard, played by Huston’s father, Walter, in a role that won him an Academy Award, warns us “I know what gold does to men’s souls.” From there on out we know we’re in store for great human conflict fueled by greed, paranoia and the American dream. Read the rest of this entry »

I didn’t see everything 2009 had to offer, but I feel pretty good about this list of the ten best films of 2009. I think most people, at least of my age demographic of 18 – 28, will agree.

I gave a lot of films 4.5/5 stars this year, which I was pretty surprised at when I looked back to create this list. I didn’t include a film here that had any lesser of a rating.

Although Oscar season has been fairly underwhelming, a lot of films surprised me at different points of the year. Five of these were summer films, one spring, two fall and two winter. As I mentioned yesterday in my Genre Awards, there were also more great genre films than straight dramas, which is why I think the quality of 2009 snuck up on me a bit. Read the rest of this entry »

There comes a point in the repetitive nature of films where the phrase “run-of-the-mill” just won’t do. In the case of the remake of the train hijack/ransom heist thriller “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” the mill has been running so much that maybe the more adequate phrase should be the past tense “ran.” Tony Scott’s “Pelham” does give us those vital and homey conventions of the “mad man takes hostages and demands millions” movie, but the story is so straightforward and the film as a whole never seems to take itself seriously enough to completely hook its audience and pull them into the situation. Read the rest of this entry »

Call me behind the curve, but I think now is the appropriate time (the last film release of 2009 was Friday) to take a look back at the last year of this pretty remarkable decade in film (more on the decade later).

To start off my Year in Review, I present the Genre Awards – given to the best film of the year in a specific genre. Tomorrow morning will be my 2009 Top 10 list, so keep checking in.

I don’t think 2009 was a particularly great year for movies unlike last year and arguably the year before it, but the success of genre films in 2009 is unlike much before it. I’ll share a little bit more in Thursday’s post where I’ll reflect on 2009 and its contributions to the annals of movie history.

Please remember that I only rank what I saw. I’m sure there are other gems on the independent end of things that I missed, so forgive me. In the one film on this list I mention that I didn’t see, I’ll let you know straight up. Read the rest of this entry »

Did I say disappointing December? Well, it seemed everyone was just waiting until Christmas. The Box Office jumped up over 100 percent this past weekend for the highest grossing weekend of all time.

To let you know how incredible this weekend was: my prediction for the box office winner, Sherlock Holmes, broke the record for Christmas Day opening – and still lost to Avatar, who made almost the exact same amount of money as its first weekend. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel made the quietest $48 million ever thanks to the combined $137 million plus that “Holmes” and Avatar made. Read the rest of this entry »

Does the independent drama have a formula? “Sunshine Cleaning” is a touching family/relationship drama with a great cast, but there’s also something incredibly familiar about it. For instance, there’s Amy Adams as Rose, a former high school cheerleader now a single mom without a steady paycheck having an affair with a married man (Steve Zahn). What I mean is, Rose Lorkowski is the prototype of the indie protagonist; she’s a lower- middle-class working woman with a boatload of personal issues. As far as independent film characters go, she can get in line, but the difference is clearly the charm of Adams. Read the rest of this entry »

The grandfather of the mystery genre — and film’s most adapted character — is none other than the great detective Sherlock Holmes, so if one were to apply Holmes’ own deductive reasoning skills, a modern reinvention was a matter of time. English Director Guy Ritchie (“Snatch,” “RocknRolla”) applies his witty and gritty crime thriller style to the first mainstream 21st Century version of Holmes, one that will likely appeal to a younger crowd and those less familiar with previous incarnations of the iconic sleuth. Read the rest of this entry »

No matter what religion you do or don’t observe, everyone has their favorite Christmas movies. Fact of the matter is, you turn on the TV at any given moment the week or so leading up to Christmas and your bound to find one – and not be able to stop watching it.

Since I have time for this, I thought I’d share with you my Top 5 Christmas movies (there are only five because I can’t say I’ve even seen ten Christmas movies) of all time. Enjoy the read and have a Merry Christmas. Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you considering Nine as your Christmas weekend movie, here’s a little insight into where it came from, “8 1/2″ by Federico Fellini.

There are many different ways to look at Federico Fellini’s masterpiece, “8 1/2,” and the one you choose ultimately determines how well you understand and enjoy the film. There are broad lenses that capture the bigger picture of fictional film director Guido Anselmi’s creative block and the tighter lenses that zero in on Fellini’s creative choices during imaginary sequences and their underlying messages. For the average viewer, the big picture lens — if you can keep that perspective the entire length of the film — will earn the more favorable response. It’s the artist, however, anyone who watches this film that has struggled to create, ever, who will love it most. Read the rest of this entry »

In case you missed last weekend’s preview, I’ve evolved this weekly post into a more comprehensive movie guide, mostly in anticipation of this huge coming weekend at the movies. Now when you click on these posts, you’ll find a list of the new releases, a brief plot summary and some of the buzz surrounding the film and my recommendation of “Worth Admission,”  ”Worth Dismissin’” or “Worth Renting Later.” I’ll end with my usual Top 5 Box Office prediction.

As usual, Christmas weekend is booked this year with a couple films opening wide on Wednesday and the rest Christmas Day (Friday). And as usual, there’s something for everyone — comedy, family films, date/couples films, Oscar hopefuls and overlaps of all those genres. Hopefully this guide will sort out what’s worth your dollar in this ever popular movie weekend. Read the rest of this entry »

As expected, the much-hyped revolutionary sci-fi action film Avatar gave a boost to a disappointing December box office so far. The total was $77 million, right what I initially thought it would have made had there not been 3D ticket sales and a pretty incredible buzz. The real feat was worldwide, however, where Avatar make a killing with $241 million total.

Avatar has clearly won over audiences too. It has a killer 8.9 rating on imdb and an 84 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Although at first I was skeptical of the Golden Globes awarding it a Best Motion Picture – Drama nomination, I’ve since seen it and think there’s no reason it shouldn’t make the Oscar’s expanded list of 10 Best Picture nominees. It will earn a handful of technical nominations (and awards) and should be rewarded that much at the least.

1. Avatar – $77 M (weekend) … $77 M (gross)
2. The Princess and the Frog - $12.2 M … $44.7 M
3. The Blind Side – $10 M … $164.7 M
4. Did You Hear About the Morgans? – $6.6 M … $6.6 M
5. The Twilight Saga: New Moon – $4.4 M … $274.6 M
6. Invictus - $4.2 M … $15.8 M
7. A Christmas Carol – $3.4 M … $130.8 M
8. Up in the Air – $3.2 M … $8.2 M
9. Brothers – $2.9 M … $22.3 M
10. Old Dogs – $2.3 M … $43.6 M

The other newcomer, “Morgans,” managed just $6 M while also earning some of the most scathing reviews of 2009. With a wider release, Up in the Air also jumped into the Top 10 at No. 8 with $3.2 million in just 175 theaters. Expect it to stay there for a number of weeks up until Oscar season. Read my view of this fantastic picture here.

As Christmas nears, stick with me to help sort you through all the holiday hoopla at theaters. Look for an early weekend preview on Wednesday. After that, I’ll have my guide to the first couple months of 2010 and all the Oscar buzz.

James Cameron is a storied director whose films have been landmarks of their time. Like he did in the ’80s and ’90s with both Terminator films, he returns from his 10-year hiatus without missing a beat, shepherding audiences into the future of cinema with progressive film-making done with the most advanced technology. “Avatar” is a miraculous visual feat, the greatest epic since “The Lord of the Rings” and a film-making milestone unlike any other. At the conclusion of a decade, it’s a window into what audiences of the future can expect at the movies. Read the rest of this entry »

Jason Reitman has been the creative force behind two of the warmest, funniest, modern- savvy and thought-provoking comedies in the last five years (“Thank You For Smoking” and “Juno”). He continues this tradition with “Up in the Air,” one of if not the best film of 2009, which looks at life with a view from the top, the perspective of a man who lives out of his suitcase — and packs light. Devoid of commitment and responsibility in everything down to relationships, the story of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is cleverly smooth and will make filmgoers everywhere appreciate their own baggage. Read the rest of this entry »

Actress Brittany Murphy, famous for her roles in films such as Girl, Interrupted, Uptown Girls, 8 Mile and Sin City, died in LA Sunday morning, reportedly from cardiac arrest. She was 32. Murphy made her debut in Clueless at age 18 and has several films, including the highly anticipated The Expendables due out early next year.

Murphy was last in the news earlier this month in a controversy over her parting ways with the upcoming production The Caller. Murphy was reportedly “fired” for being difficult but claimed there were creative differences. Only a few days before, Murphy’s husband, Simon Monjack, was hospitalized after a plane ride for unknown reasons.

Read the news brief at Empire Online here

Read about Brittany leaving The Caller here

Read about her husband’s hospitalization here