New movie Tuesday

We get closer and closer to the Oscars, but still no mind-blowing movie releases. Today we have "The Informant!"starring Matt Damon and directed by Steven Soderbergh, "Everybody's Fine," starring Robert DeNiro, Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore and Kate Beckinsale and finally, "The Box," starring Cameron Diaz. Or, for all of you that like MTV-crap, "Jersey Shore" comes out on DVD today as well (I can't lie, I watched a few episodes - very moronically entertaining).

I went with "Law Abiding Citizen," which was released last week, and seems to be pretty popular at Crazy Mike's in Polson. I'll get a review up soon. Enjoy some movies!

New movie Tuesday

Tuesday again, but not such a stellar selection available. The only mainstream movie that came out today was "Law Abiding Citizen" starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx. Looks pretty cool, but I got to Crazy Mike's too late today. Instead, I went with "Surrogates", starring Bruce Willis. It was released in the end of January, but I nabbed it today because it looks interesting. Seems to have been a lot of futuristic movies like this lately, so I'll see how it is.

In the theaters, the Polson Showboat is showing "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" and "Valentine's Day." I saw "Percy" so I'll try to get a review up soon. In Ronan, "Extraordinary Measures" is showing until Thursday, at which point it will switch to "Dear John."

Some 'Serious' Problems

Much like I enjoy most Tarantino movies, I also really like movies that Joel and Ethan, the Coen brothers, make. The list is long, and has a similar formula: somebody, or numerous people, get in way over their heads in a situation that may have been avoidable, leading to chaos and unhappiness for all involved. Their most famous film, "Fargo", follows this plotline to a T, so if you don't get what I'm saying, think "Fargo." Their latest, "A Serious Man", takes a similar idea, but tweaks some aspects to turn in one of their more unique and odd films to date.

Officially labeled as a black comedy, the film follows a snippet of the life of Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg, looking somewhat like Joaquin Phoenix) and his family in 1967. The Gopnik's are Jews living in a heavily Jewish area in the mid-west, my guess being Minnesota, where the Coen brothers are from. Larry seems to have a good life: a wife, two kids, suburban household and a good job as a college professor on the brink of being tenured. That is, until his wife drops divorce talk on him out of left field so she can be with a widowed family friend ("Sy Abelman?!"). And the South Korean student that tries to bribe him for a better mid-term grade. And those damn annoying calls from the Columbia Record Club. From these exchanges, it's obvious Larry is quite the pushover, and doesn't seem to have much "backbone." As many do in times of crisis, he turns to what should be the one steady thing in life: religion. Even here Larry can't seem to find answers to his complex, ever-changing life questions. Like most characters in Coen brothers films, Larry is confused and yes, in over his head.

Larry's son, Danny, soon to be bar mitzvahed, and daughter, Sarah, a precocious 16-year-old, are also shown and included. Danny gets more of the attention, from listening to head phones during class to smoking pot in the bathroom. Their lives only add to Larry's confusion, as he can't seem to even keep himself together, much less parent his children, and their attitudes and actions reflect that. He wants to be a good father, but has issues.

Issues are a central tenet to this film. The Coen brothers recognize that everyone has them, but they explore how they react to them, and the different outcomes each path may lead to. It's a good movie, and makes you think, but it's difficult to fully digest. There are a lot of layers to it, and if you just look at the surface layer, you won't get as much out of it. Life, death, family and love are all important aspects of the film. It can be confusing, and one might think, "What's the point?" but that in itself may, in fact, be the point.

6 out of 10 stars

"A Serious Man" is one of the 10 films nominated for Best Picture. Also, the DVD has a "Yiddish for Goys" special feature, which goes through all the Yiddish so people understand what they were talking about. Here's the trailer:

82nd Oscar Nominees

And the Oscar goes to...won't be heard for about a month, but the nominees were announced last week. This year, the Best Picture category has 10 nominees, which I think is really stupid. Regardless, it happened. After I watch "A Serious Man" tonight, I'll have seen 6 of the 10, so I'll try to see them all before the big ceremony.

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Prediction: Like I said, I've seen 6. This is a preliminary guess, but I'd go with "The Hurt Locker." If you look at all the nominees and things, though, I'd guess "Up in the Air" will probably take it. Its gotten a lot of buzz, and is more recent than "Locker."

Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

Prediction: I've only seen "The Hurt Locker", and Renner was good, but I'd guess Freeman might nab this one.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon, "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

Prediction: I've only seen "Basterds" in this group, but regardless, I think Waltz will win. He was excellent, and the buzz was building even when the film was released in the summer.

Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"

Prediction: I've only seen "Juli" in this group, but Streep was incredible as the famous Child. You might see Bullock surprise, or Sidibe, who has been highly praised. My gut says Streep. She does a dead-on Child impression.

Actress in a Supporting Role
Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Prediction: Haven't seen any of these, but I'd like to see Farmiga or Gyllenhaal nab it.

Directing
James Cameron, "Avatar"
Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"

Prediction: I think either Cameron or Reitman will get this one, but I'd love to see Tarantino get it.

These are the major categories. Click here for a full listing. What are your predictions? Let's here some feedback.

New movie Tuesday

Pretty good day of DVD releases. "The Time Traveler's Wife" and "Couples Retreat" are the two big ones. I've seen neither, but they both sort of look like generic rom-com's. We'll see though, I give a lot of movies a chance.

I went with "A Serious Man", the latest film from Joel and Ethan Coen (yes, the Coen brothers). They are best known for "The Big Lebowski", but "A Serious Man" has gotten some serious buzz too. It is one of the 10 films nominated for best picture, so it must be halfway decent, right? Plus its a dark comedy, which I always like. I'll have a review up soon. Enjoy .99 DVDs!

Super Bowl Movie Trailers

If you were one of the record 106 million viewers watching this year's Big Game, then you might have seen some of these trailers. Spots for this type of event are extremely expensive, usually $2 or $3 million per 30 seconds of airtime. That means that the movies that usually seek out space are big blockbusters with big budgets.

I'll start with the one I'm most excited about. "Robin Hood" stars Russell Crowe and is directed by Ridley Scott, the pairing that made "Gladiator" into a Best Picture winner in 2000. That alone is exciting, and it just looks awesome. Check out the trailer, set to be released on May 14, 2010:



Then there's "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time" starring Jake Gyllenhaal and based on a video game of the same name. Also looks kind of cool. Here's the trailer:




Another big one was "Shutter Island." Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese, this movie has had its release repeatedly pushed back, so who knows whats up. Now they say it'll be out on Feb. 19, but who knows. I read the book, which was pretty good, but I'll be interested to see the movie. Here's the trailer, which makes it look pretty creepy (and it will be!):



This next one has been out for awhile too, but looks pretty sweet. "The Wolfman", starring Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, should be awesome. Look for it to come out this Friday, Feb. 12. Its release has also been pushed back multiple times. Here's the trailer:



Finally, "Alice in Wonderland", starring Johnny Depp and a pretty solid cast. This is the second Disney entry, as "Prince of Persia" is a Disney flick too. "Alice" looks pretty trippy and crazy, but could be a pretty cool Tim Burton remake of an all-time classic. Here's the trailer; film due out March 5, 2010:



Those are all the trailers I saw. Did I miss any? What were your favorites? And how about the game itself? Pretty sweet if you ask me. My favorite commercial might have been the Google one. Pretty good stuff from the giant search engine. Lets hear some feedback!

New movie Tuesday

Another Tuesday, another day of new DVDs. The biggest release is "Zombieland", which I saw in the theaters. Click here to read my review of it. I liked it a lot; that's the basic gist of it. The other two releases are "Amelia", a biopic of Amelia Earhardt starring Hillary Swank, and some rom-com with Jennifer Aniston called "Love Happens." I went with a movie that came out a few weeks ago called "Pandorum" starring Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. Last week I watched a film called "Moon" which was pretty cool. I'll have a review of both up soon.

The list of Oscar nominees came out today. I'll have full details on that either later tonight or some time tomorrow.