Pencil Pushers: News on the Strike

The Writers Strike may be coming to a close. The WGA will vote Saturday. If they vote to end it, that will mean that in a couple of weeks, we may see Betty, Grey, those Desparate Housewives, Samantha and even Oscar could be in the lime light. Cross your finges for the whiny brats to vote to end it all!

Big (Stupid) Brothel: Review for "Moulin Rouge!"

I know that those who know Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann will hate me for saying that I hate his movies. I have so far seen his MTV-era adaptation of William Skaespeare's Romeo + Juliet and his love story-filled-with-old-songs tale Moulin Rouge! and have been so scarred from those viewings, I'm scared to see his first film Strictly Ballroom. I just don't like his executions, though his ideas are interesting.

Moulin Rouge! is the story of a young man, Christian (Ewan McGregor), who has come to Paris in 1899. He gets mixed up with some weird Bohemians and ends up in a night club/brothel/I-have-no-idea-what-it-is trying to persuade a beautiful courtesan named Satine (Nicole Kidman) to have him write a play called Spectacular Spectacular. He falls in love with her, but *gasp* she has TB and is dying!

There are several problems with this film. One is that the use of old songs of yesteryear are not well executed. Sure, it's a great idea, but destroying songs such as Madonna's "Like a Virgin" (which was rather offensive to begin with) is just plain wrong. Not only have they mixed songs together (The "Elephant Love Medley" consists of about ten different songs.), they have even changed the lyrics to fit the storyline. I think that jukebox musicals are an interesting, but dangerous idea. Nicole Kidman is really the "Sparkling Diamond" she is supposed to be and her voice is pretty good, while Ewan McGregorr is fine. My favorite duet between the two is the song "Come What May". The cinematography is appalling. During FatBoySlim's "Can Can", you may actually get dizzy or naucious from watching the twirling camera angles of petticoats and garter belts.

Though there is one thing I can say that I liked about this film. One of the famous numbers in the film is "El Tango de Roxanne", which is a visually and inspriring number. It's actually a new version of The Police's "Roxanne", which is in a way shocking. The song runs chills up your spine. That's about it.

This film is not very good, but you might enjoy it. There were a few parts I did enjoy, I guesse.

Grade: C+

"Quantum" Physics?: News About the 22nd Bond Film

The title of the 22nd Bond film has been released. It will be called Quantum of Solace. The title originates from an original Ian Fleming short story in his collection called For Your Eyes Only. The movie continues about 20 minutes after Casino Royale, Bond has shot Mr. White. The phrase actually means "a measure of comfort". Solace will be released in theater on November 7, 2008.

Kickin' Assasin: Review for "Lucky Number Slevin"

Bruce Willis, Josh Hartnett, Lucy Lui, Ben Kingsly, and Morgan Freeman star in Lucky # Slevin, the slick thriller about a horse race and the crime world. Slevin (Josh Hartnett), a young man who stops at a friend's house, is mistaken for that friend, who is Nick Fisher, and is brought to a big crime lord, called the Boss (Morgan Freeman). The Boss wants the supposed Nick Fisher to kill someone, not just for fun, but because his son was murdered by another crime lord, called the Rabbi (Ben Kingsly). So Nick must kill the Rabbi's son, as revenge. To help him, the mysterious assasin, Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis, charismatic as usual), gets the job done. Nick's neighbor, Lucy Lui, is a peppy-girly version, of say Miss Marple and Columbo. She and Willis steal the show. This assasin first tells the taleof a horse race that was fixed and a father lays the bet on a crime boss. He, howeverm is unnable to pay, but has high hope that he will win. He brings his son, a kid named Max, and watches, socked to find that his horse, a Lucky Number Slevin, falls and dies. The crime boss kills his whole family. No one wanted to kill the kid, so he hires "the guy who does jobs no one wants to do." This crime thriller is cunning in a way, manages to keep you guessing, but if you use your head, you can find out the real mystery of this story in about 10 mnutes. The ending is shocking, while somehow managing sympathy for the characters. Tucci plays a cop trying to find out what this Slevin guy is doing. His is a subtle, but important role. There rae many pop culture references, the most important to the story being a cartoon named Shmoo. James Bond and few others are thrown around. Bruce Willis, as the mystery assasin, is excellent, never breaking a sweat, kind of like a bad James Bond who kills for money. This was fun to watch, with the unravling tale of guns, horses, and revenge.

Grade: B+

The Great Ape: Review for Peter Jackson's "King Kong"

Peter Jackson, famous for the Lord of the Rings films, makes films that are very faithful to, not only the original of what it is based on, but also to his vision of what it should be. King Kong is not exception to this band of greats. Naomi Watts plays Ann Darrow, a hopeful starlet for the new adventure film by Carl Denham. Jack Black plays Carl with surprising ease and skill, considering he is more of a comedic actor. Black not only plays Carl, who is somewhat of a wannabe film maker who's denied every chance to film a film by those evil producers, with seriousness, he plays him as somewhat of a mad scientist and conniving con artist. Black's charisma and comedic timing works with the character very well. While trying to film on location on a mysterious Skull Island, the crew of Carl's film decides to explore the island, only to find carnivorous bugs, dinosaurs, and a giant gorilla. Carl's screenwriter is the famous Jack Driscoll, who writes plays and begins to fall in love with Ann. Driscoll is played by Adrien Brody, who won an Oscar for The Pianist. He is fine, but he doesn't really stand out. The real emotional relationship in the film is between Ann and Kong (Andy Serkis, who made the movements for Kong and LOTR's Gollumn). Kong finds Ann fascinating, considering he hasn't seen a human before. During one of their first encounters, Ann bangs her fist against her chest as a sign for "beautiful" towards the end of the film, when the two are on top of the Empire State Building, bangs hiss chest. That is so beautiful and the way Jackson portrays this misbegotten love story is fantastic. This is probably the best remake I have ever seen in my life. The emotion of the original film lingers. The visual effects are excellent and the sets very well made, though I ponder why in many period films, they make the cars in such bright, fluorescent colors. Naomi Watts is absolutely ravishing and acts fantastically in this film. Her protests against the fighter pilots killing the already bullet riddled Kong are heart wrenching. This performance deserves a standing ovation, because it is the visual effects and Watts's performance that make the story of the tragic love story. The facial expression is so real on Kong. My heart breaks every time when Carl says, "It was beauty that killed the beat." The most romantic and the saddest films I've ever enjoyed watching. This is one of my favorite films of all time.

Grade: A+

The SAG Award Winners

Here is the list of Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Male Actor in a Drama Series

James Gandolfini, The Sopranos

Female Actor in a Drama Series

Edie Falco, The Sopranos

Ensemble in a Drama Series

The Cast of The Sopranos

Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Ensemble in a Comedy Series

The Cast of The Office

Life Acheivement Award

Charles Durning

Male Actor in a TV Movie or Mini Series

Kevin Kline, As You Like It

Female Actor in a TV Movie or Mini Series

Queen Latifah, Life Support

Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Ruby Dee, American Gangster

Male Actor in a Leading Role

Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Female Actor in a Leading Role

Julie Christie, Away From Her

Cast in a Motion Picture

The Cast of No Country for Old Men

Miss Interpretation: Review for "Atonement"

The long and somewhat confusing adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel Atonement, is a masterpiece to behold during the Oscar season. The story of a young girl, Briony Tallis (Oscar nominee, Saorise Ronan, for Best Supporting Actress), who reads a letter that was delivered to her sister, Cecilia (Keira Knightley, ravashing as always), by Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) that featured the C-word and blames him for not only being a pervert, but molesting her sister in the library and her friend Lola. What happens: Robbie is sent to prison, but then joins the army during WWII in 1940. Robbie and Cecilia had been very much in love, but have now been torn apart for what the little girl had done 5 years earlier. She becomes a nurse and then tries to talk with her sister. Robbie is stuck in France in the war, desperate to get home to his Cecilia. The ending is not only emotional, but also a bit shocking. Some may feel tired and restles during the film, but the end of the film will completely change your views, as it did mine. In some sequences, it shows what Briony had witnessed, and then what really happen, going with the point of view, though some may find it hard to make the transition, due to no actual notification of change of scene or fashback. The film is very intricately made and is a wonderful watch. Keira Knightley is beautiful, graceful, and brilliant, though she smokes some eleven or twelve cigarettes. Smokey and the Falsely Accused Bandit, I guess. Young Ronan plays her with great ease. McAvoy and Knightley have great chemistry, real spark on film. This is the kind of film, however, that you have to be in the mood to watch. Dario Marianelli wonderful score, which has been nominated for Best Original Score Academy Award, is wildly creative. When Briony is on screen, a piano and a typewriter start playing an intoxicating little tune that, I suppose, symbolizes that something might happen, typewriters are weapons, and/or a reminder of what happened in the beginning of the film. Joe Wright, who previously directed Ms. Knightley in Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, has come back to make a masterpiece of 2007.

Grade: A-