Saturday, April 10, 2010

'Blind Side' vs 'Hurt Locker' vs 'Avatar'


why is it that EVERYONE i know loved 'avatar' and 'the blind side' and disliked if not HATED 'the hurt locker', myself included? just asking. how did the critics darling win best picture of the year? just asking.

And The Oscar for Best Picture Went To ... (2010 Edition)

Friday, April 9, 2010

'The Ghost Writer' Rates **stars


i am a polanski fan. in fact, i believe he directed the best drama of the past decade: 'The Pianist'. his 'rosemary's baby' remains unmatched in the thriller edge of your seat drama. that said 'ghost writer' is a second class citizen in his repertoire. it is seemingly an indictment of cheyney and the u.s.'s influence on tony blair. if any director could have made this effective and a real indictment it could have been roman polanski. he fell short with the subject matter.

truth be told i might have given this a B but for some odd reason he cast kim catrell in an important role. kim is just out of her league here. she is downright awful. her so-called british accent is beyond laughable. ewam mcgregor and olivia williams are convincible while pierce brosnan is wasted in a dull supporting role.

catch it on dvd.

better luck next time roman.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Jon Stewart Slams Pope Over Sex Abuse Scandal: Less Contrite Than Domino's

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Pope Opera
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party

'Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing' on DVD:***stars



1973: alan j. pakula gave us this tragicomedy love story starring maggie smith and timothy bottoms. i love this film of unthinkable lovers traveling thru spain on holiday. how did i miss this september 2009 dvd release. oh well i found it now. pakula was amazing. 'the sterile cuckoo', 'to kill a mockingbird', 'klute', 'love with a proper stranger' and 'starting over' are among the highlights on his resume. he passed on 11/19/1998 and hollywood suffered a great loss.












the dvd cover



the trailer

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

For Sandra: 'Smile"



dear sandra,

it's been a rough time since that oscar win right sandy? but there are a gazillion people on your side and pulling for you. people who may only love you from afar but love you we do for the joy you have given us and for the humanity you have shown for those in need. i ask you to smile. i only hope one day soon you can...smile again.

love,
josh

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

What Year Is this Again?*


And now after removing sexual orientation as a protected class in state employment and ordering the state's public universities to rescind domestic partnership provisions for gay employees, VA Governor McDonnell declares April to be Confederate History Month. He couldn't be prouder to celebrate the wanton and needless deaths of 600,000 Americans in the name of State's Rights.

What year is this again???

*compliments of my buddy larry

Happy Birthday ABBA

on april 6, 1974 ABBA won the eurovision contest and ABBA was born.

so happy birthday ABBA and' thank you for the music'


the winner takes it all




the visitors crackin' up mix



super trooper

Monday, April 5, 2010

Happy Birthday Agnetha



one of us extended mix



if i thought you'd ever change your mind



wrap your arms around me live edition



i wasn't the one who said goodbye




Sunday, April 4, 2010

My Favorite Films of the Decade*

My Favorite Films: These are films that moved me, touched my heart, filled my spirit, made me laugh or made me cry, uplifted me or completely devestated me. Some of them made me feel. Some made me think. Some of them surprised me. Some made me laugh out loud. Some stunned me visually and audibly. Some gave the Best acting of the decade. None of them made me feel as if i wasted my time watching and liking or loving them.

All of them AMAZED me one way or another.

These are my favorite films of the 'oughts' as opposed to the best. They are the films I have revisited and will revisit often.



So, in alphabetical order, my favorite films of the past decade are:

Angels and Demons
A Single Man
Avatar
Away from Her
Babel
Batman Begins
Before Sunset
Chocolat
Crash
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fahrenheit 911
Finding Neverland
(500) Days of Summer
The Hours
In the Bedroom
Iris
I've Loved You So Long
The Jacket
La Vien Rose
Little Children
Love Actually
Luther
Mamma Mia
March of the Penguins
Marie Antoinette
Match Point
Milk
Mona Lisa Smile
Moulin Rouge
Munich
The New World
Nine
The Blind Side
The Bourne Trilogy: Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum
The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Devil Wears Prada
The Others
The Phantom of the Opera
The Pianist
The Reader
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Pride and Prejudice
Spider Man Trilogy
Unfaithful
Up in the Air
United 93
Volver



and the Best of them: FILM OF THE DECADE: (TIE)

'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' and 'The Pianist'



Best Actor:

Adrien Brody - 'The Pianist'





Runners up: Joseph Gordon-Levitt - '(500)Days of Summer', Colin Firth - 'A Single Man' and Sean Penn - 'Milk'






Best Actress:
Kate Winslet - 'The Reader', 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', 'Finding Neverland' and 'Little Children'





Runners up: Julie Christie 'Away from Her' and Marion Cotillard 'La Vie en Rose' and 'Nine'




Best Actresses Supporting:
Rachel Weisz - 'The Constant Gardner'
Sandra Bullock - 'Crash'
Thandie Newton - 'Crash'



and

Best Actors Supporting:
Michael Shannon - 'Revolutionary Road'
Matt Dillon - 'Crash'




Best Director:
Roman Polanski - 'The Pianist'



Beat Original Screenplays:
'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'
'(500) Days of Summer'



Best Screenplays Adapted:
'Milk'
'The Pianist'
'The Reader'



Best Musical Score:
'Finding Neverland'



The Films:



*updated

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Happy Birthday Doris

Film Week in Review

the most uplifting film of 2009. watch sandra bullock's amazing and oscar worthy performance. buy it!:rates an A:



the best film of 2009...rent it...buy it...but see it. a modern classic. rates an A+:





recommended to rent. rates a B:




recommended if you have nothing else to do. rates a C:


don't bother renting either of these:

this wife gets a D:



did cameron diaz even read this script? a definite F:

Friday, April 2, 2010

'Up in the Air': ***1/2stars

i had no desire to see this film when it opened. i had been disappointed by most of george clooney's films. color me wrong! thank the gods for netflix. this is one helluva brilliant film. i now think it was the best film of 2009. and clooney was brilliant and brilliantly supported by the always amazing vera farmiga and the up and coming anna kendrick. director jason reitman has made a classic film.

so now i had to re-look at and readjust my best of the past decade and add this brilliant work. and as an aside it also has the best opening credits i've ever seen on film.


Happy Birthday Chris

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Happy Birthday Ali and Debbie

Passed: March 2010

fess parker - actor
peter graves - actor
robert culp - actor
at the movies - series
johnny maestro - singer
24 - series
june havoc - actress

Monday, March 29, 2010

The Catholic Church Is Once Again Shooting the Messenger

the victims remain victims...the perpetrators getting away with the abuse.

this pope, and consider his roots, are pulling the same bs as the germans and the response to the jews in 1939-1945.

holy mother the church is just a lecherous old whore now!

Keira Knightley Out, Carey Mulligan In As Eliza Dolittle

emma thompson to write screenplay

Sunday, March 28, 2010

A Day Care Center vs The Vatican


if a day care center had a pederast that they were protecting and we found out would we demand it be closed down?

if your answer is YES why would the same not be true of the vatican???

CLOSE IT DOWN!!!

'Glee' Returns April 13th

i haven't written about 'glee' before as i was late coming to it. i really discovered it by impassioned friends. so when the dvd of the first half of the season was released i caught up. i was wowed. the talent is extraordinary. along with 'the good wife' it deserves every award this coming emmy season. i am counting down the days for season 1 part 2.

here is a preview:




Saturday, March 27, 2010

Child Terrorist

Hitler Blindsided

parody of hitler finding out sandra bullock will not be attending 'the blind side' in berlin.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Emmybation? Not Really...But for My Consideration...

but 'The Good Wife' and 'Glee' deserve the lion's share. especially the remarkable Julianna Margulies


Impeach the Anti-Christ! Where Are the Borgia's When We Need Them?

POPE IMPLICATED IN COVER-UP OF WISCONSIN SEX ABUSE CASE



As a cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI and other Vatican officials did not punish or even hold a trial within the Catholic church for a Wisconsin priest who may have molested as many as 200 deaf boys, according to The New York Times.

The Times reports that despite warnings from "several" bishops to then-Cardinal Ratzinger about Father Lawrence Murphy, a priest at the St. John's School For The Deaf in St. Francis, WI, the Vatican chose not to act and ultimately allowed Murphy to go unpunished before his death in 1998. The Times reports:

In 1996, Cardinal Ratzinger failed to respond to two letters about the case from Rembert G. Weakland, Milwaukee's archbishop at the time. After eight months, the second in command at the doctrinal office, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, now the Vatican's secretary of state, instructed the Wisconsin bishops to begin a secret canonical trial that could lead to Father Murphy's dismissal.

But Cardinal Bertone halted the process after Father Murphy personally wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger protesting that he should not be put on trial because he had already repented and was in poor health and that the case was beyond the church's own statute of limitations.


"I simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood," Father Murphy wrote near the end of his life to Cardinal Ratzinger. "I ask your kind assistance in this matter." The files contain no response from Cardinal Ratzinger.

The Times acquired the correspondence and church files from the lawyers for five men who are suing the Archdiocese of Milwaukee over the abuse. A 2006 story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailed Murphy's violations:

The men's stories are similar. Murphy would call them to his bedroom in the school, or visit them in their dorm beds late at night, masturbate them and leave. Sometimes he would go on to other boys. Often he would say nothing. Sometimes when the boys saw him molesting other boys in the dorm room, they would cover their heads with their blankets, hug themselves tightly and weep. At times, he would take their confession in a second floor walk-in closet in the boy's dorm and molest them.

"Murphy was so powerful and it was so hard," said Geier who was molested when he was in seventh grade and said he saw more than a dozen other boys molested. "You couldn't get out. It was like a prison. I felt so confused. Here I had Father Murphy touching me. I would be like, 'God, what's right?' "


Geier said the boys received no sex education and had no idea what was happening to them. Some, he said, believed it must be all right because it was being done by a priest.

Story continues below

On Wednesday, the Pope accepted the resignation of Bishop John Magee, an Irish bishop, for his failure to report child-molesting priests to police. Last week, the Pope issued an unprecedented letter to Ireland addressing the 16 years of church cover-up scandals there. But he has yet to say anything about his handling of an abuse case in Germany.

In that case, Ratzinger approved the 1980 transfer of Rev. Peter Hullermann to a psychological treatment center to receive treatment for pedophilia. Ratziner, then a cardinal, was the archbishop of Munich and did not report Hullermann's alleged abuse of boys to German police.

Since January, more than 300 former Catholic school students and others have stepped forward with abuse claims and the church has seen it's poll numbers fall drastically.

According to Stern magazine, Only 17 percent of Germans polled said that they still trust the Catholic church, compared to 29 percent in late January, just before the first abuse cases there were made public.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

'African Queen' Finally Released on DVD and Blu Ray

after restoration now on dvd and blu ray



before restoration and what we.ve been watching for years

Tuesday, March 23, 2010