Zac Efron in a Movie Other Than HSM?!! NO WAY

It's True. The heart throb of pre-teen girls this decade is renewing himself in a movie that GASP is rated PG-13 and EVEN BIGGER GASP isn't a Disney production, but a new film from New Line Cinema!

Personally, I think, from the looks of the trailer...the movie doesn't look half bad. When I first saw that Zac Efron was to star in a movie this April titled "17 Again", my immediate assumptions were that
1. It was going to be another Disney flick
2. It was going to be a re-make of Disney Channel movie, "Seventeen Again" released back in 2000
3. It was going to be an utter waste of film


However, I think I was wrong. Just the fact that the movie is from New Line Cinema and not Disney is a pretty big pull factor for me. Also, seeing as the movie is officially rated PG-13 for language, some sexual material, and teen partying makes it even more intriguing.


But anyway, on to the synopsis: Mike (played by Matthew Perry) finds his life is not exactly what he expected. He is separated from his wife, Scarlett (Leslie Mann) and living with his best friend Ned Freedman (Thomas Lennon, who also has a part in I Love You, Man - haha), his career at a pharmaceutical company is at a stand still, and his relationships with his teenage children are nonexistent. Through a series of events, Mike finds himself turning back to his 17-year-old self (played by Zac Efron) and reliving his high school days when he realizes he hasn't been the best husband or father.


This fresh comedy brings you good family morals and a lot of amusing acting from Efron I'm not sure if my friends will want to see this, just knowing that Zac Efron stars in it (but don't get me wrong. We're not like ANTI-EFRON haters, we're simply not fans), but hey, at least I can get my mom to go see it with me. (^_^)

What Took Me So Long, I ask You

One bride, Three fathers. This should be interesting.

And it was! A couple days ago I finally saw Mama Mia! A movie that hit theaters LAST July. What took you so long to see it??? Well, that's what I'd like to know as well. I know that when I first saw the previews for it last summer on TV, my interest wasn't possessed obviously. Even this past weekend I really didn't have no particular interest or reason for seeing it, but my mom had it laying around her house and there was nothing else to do during the very long, rainy Saturday, so I said why not.


What began as just another movie turned into one of my favorite musicals. As I watched, I noticed the actress, Amanda Seyfried - I know her best for her ditzy role in Mean Girls - stared in the main role, the 20-year-old daughter of well-known actress, Meryl Streep. The movie revolves around Sophie's (Seyfried) wedding. Prior to the wedding, Sophie invites three men her mother (Streep) had previous relationships with...all around the same time Sophie was conceived. The day before the wedding, all three of Sophie's "fathers" (Stellan Skarsgard, Pierce Brosnan, & Colin Firth) arrive to Sophie's excitement and her mother's dismay. The movie is filled with upbeat music and tons of fun. I'd reccomend it as a family movie/musical, for sure.


Even though the movie was fantastic, the actual musical is said to be so much more. Reviews call it a "solid gold production".

I Love You, Man

Opening March 20, 2009, is
"I Love You, Man".

It's an "adult" comedy about a real estate agent, Peter, who upon recently getting engaged, realizes that he has no male friends close enough to him to bestow the privilege of being his Best Man at his wedding. So, in order to rectify the situation, he arranges a bizarre set of multiple "man-dates". After a good deal of awkward series of events, Peter finally finds Sydney, a charming yet opinionated man that he instantly finds a connection with. The story follows up with the lesson of what it truly means to be a friend.


This flick stars Paul Rudd (known for his roles in Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Jason Segel (known for his roles in Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and sitcom, How I Met Your Mother), and Rashida Jones (known for her role on sitcom, The Office).


I first heard about this movie and saw the trailer while in the theater the first time I saw Taken. It looks somewhat funny but overall looked like a mediocre movie, in my opinion. However, I guess I won't need to worry about debating with friends this month whether or not to see it because (suprisingly) it's rated R. The trailer made it look like a full-proof PG-13 film, but apparently, it's rated R thanks to the pervasive language and crude/sexual refrences it contains.

A Tad Late...Blame Turnabout

So, yes I know, I was supposed to post this as soon as I got home from seeing Slumdog Millionaire, but I got home later than I expected and yesterday I was extremely busy getting ready for Turnabout.

All excuses aside, I am back and am proud to say I LOVED Slumdog Millionaire. It was brilliantly written and kept my undivided attention for the entire 2 hours. I can fully understand why this movie was rated R. Besides the occasional foul language, the material was definitely for a mature audience and there were some scenes that involved torture and violence that were disturbing. However, the shots were clean and brought out the true emotion in the movie.

After watching the trailer on Youtube, I read some of the comments the users left and was appauled at how many ignorant people left comments like "A movie about Who Wants to Be A Millionaire won 8 Oscars? I'll take a pass" and "India isn't even like this" and "A Bollywood film won best picture? You've got to be kidding me". It's obvious these people haven't even watched the movie, otherwise they'd know that

1.) The whole purpose of this movie IS NOT just about the main character becoming a millionaire, but about the events in his life that got him there and the life he had to go through.
2.) This is the SLUMS of India. Yeah, most of India is not as portrayed in the movie, but where the movie takes place is in the poor side of the country.
3.) This isn't even a Bollywood movie! It was made by the English with an Indian cast and there's one Bollywood dance at the end during the credits. (Which, was quite entertaining and pretty amazing, in my opinion)


So, let me just sum it all up for you all.
This movie was excellent! People should definitely give it a try,
I recommend it.
Slumdog Millionaire totally deserved the Oscar for Best Picture this year.


And I ask you, what's with all the controversy?

Slumdog Millionaire

Okayyy so this post is going to be REALLY short only because I can't finish it at the moment. However, in about four hours I shall be able to elaborate and such.

So, tonight I am going to see Slumdog Millionaire, FINALLY. I'm leaving in about four minutes and once I get back, I'll blog on what I thought about it. So, hopefully I won't be disappointed!

Academy Awards 2009 - My Reactions

Overall, I was quite satisfied.

So I realized last night that the Academy Awards is one of the very few award shows I can proudly sit through for the entire 3 1/2 hours of speeches, performances, and awards. With Hugh Jackman hosting this year, I couldn't have been more content. He opened with a large almost-Broadway performance in which he depicted several of the movies up for nomination this year. It was both amusing and humorous and I thought throughout the entire night, Jackman did a phenomenal job hosting.

As I expected, Benjamin Button was up for a couple nominations and ultimately won in 3 categories.

The Dark Knight took the win for 2 categories, including Heath Ledger winning Best Actor in a Supporting Role. I think everyone predicted this win for Ledger and I can say I was personally very happy about it. As reported, his father, along with his mother and sister, were there to proudly accept the award on his behalf.

However, the film that stole the show was Slumdog Millionaire, bringing home 8 wins including Best Picture. Let me just say, I have not seen Slumdog Millionaire. I want to see it so badly now though! Prior to the Academy Awards, I'm guilty of admitting that I knew very little about this movie but after reviewing the cast and thoroughly reading the synopsis of it, I feel an unhealthy need to see it. During the entire Academy Awards, every nomination mentioned for Slumdog Millionaire, I would nearly jump out of my seat and pay attention to every detail about the cast and film. I haven't wanted to see a movie this bad since the Twilight phenomenon. And that's saying something.

Click here for complete list of Academy Awards winners 2009.

81st Annual Academy Awards

This Sunday (February 22, 2009) at 5pm, the Academy Awards will premier once again!

Here is your list of nominees! (Well, for the main three awards anyway)

Best Motion Picture of the Year:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Performance By an Actor in a Leading Role
Richard Jenkins for "The Visitor"
Frank Langella for "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn for "Milk"
Brad Pitt for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke for "The Wrestler"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Anne Hathaway for "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie for "Changeling"
Melissa Leo for "Frozen River"
Meryl Streep for "Doubt"
Kate Winslet for "The Reader"

Other movies up for nominations include "The Dark Knight", "Hellboy II", "Iron Man", "Wanted, "Wall-E", and many others.

With Heath Ledger up for nomination for "The Dark Knight", his father will be attending the Academy Awards to represent him.

I am looking forward to watching the Academy Awards and will post my opinions on the winners as my next post. And yes, I do think Brad Pitt had better win at least one of his nominations. =D

Crossing Over

Quick Info
Movie: Crossing Over
Genre: Drama
Rated: R
Starring: Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd
Movie I'd Like to See??? Ehhhh not really...

So, I'm a semi-fan of Harrison Ford (I only really like him as India Jones. haha) and I just saw on imdb.com that he's to play the main role in upcoming drama, Crossing Over. The film will come out nation-wide on March 13th. I'm not quite sure how this movie will pan out at the box office. I haven't seen one trailer at the theater or on TV for this movie (though, I'm not quite sure if that's because I don't watch an excessive amount of television).

So, here's the synopsis of this movie I've been oh so deprived of:
Crossing Over is a film about immigrants of different nationalities struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. The movie is a collaboration of many characters and deals with the border, document fraud, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and the clash of cultures.

This movie seems pretty timely and I expect a large audience to be able to relate to it, just because it deals with a lot of daily common conflicts average Americans deal with. Check out the trailer.

Get "Fired Up"

Quick Info
Movie: Fired Up
Release Date: Feb 20, 2009
Genre: Comedy
Rated: PG-13

"Fired Up" stars Nicholas D-Agosto (known for his minor roles on NBC's The Office and Heroes), Eric Christian Olsen (known for his roles in Cellular and Beerfest), and Sarah Roemer (known for her roles in The Grudge 2 and Disturbia)

Synopsis:
This comedy is about nothing other than...cheerleading! I've seen a good share of cheerleading comedies in my lifetime (all-time favorite - Bring It On) and I've enjoyed them for the most part. However, Fired Up is totally different, mainly because this movie revolves around...two guys? Yup. Shawn and Nick, the two stars of their high school football team, find themselves in a scheme full of teenage girls in short skirts yelling cheers and doing hurkeys. The two guys joing their school's cheerleading squad at cheercamp where Shawn falls for Carly (Roemer). To win over her heart, the two guys will have to live up to the hilarious challenge of being part of the squad.

My Opinions:
I can tell from the trailer that this movie is going to be one of those movies you'll see in the theater and continuously ask yourself, "What the hell are these guys thinking?" For the majority, I'm sure this is going to be one of those stupid-funny comedies, but it does look pretty amusing, so I'm going to have to see it. It seems like it would have it's moments of good quirks and it's not your average storyline when it comes to cheer movies, so it should prevail. I hope it is good in the long wrong because it would be a shame if it were a $7 waste.

Click for a "Fired Up" review

"His name is Jason. And today is his birthday"

So, guess what this Friday is...Friday the 13th, baby. And the movie that compliments that day will also be released in theaters.

The 2009 version of "Friday the 13th" will star Jared Padalecki, (known for his roles in horror, House of Wax, Cry Wolf, Supernatural, etc.) Danielle Panabaker, (known for her roles in Sky High, Yours Mine & Ours, etc.) Aaron Yoo, (one of my favorite actors, known for his roles in Disturbia, 21, and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist) and Travis van Winkle (known for his roles in Accepted, Meet the Spartans, and Asylum)

So here's the over-written, re-written, and I'm-sure-to-be-written-over-and-over-again synopsis of the infamous "Friday the 13th" :

A group of friends take a weekend up in the woods, but end up getting abandoned up there near Camp Crystal Lake (shocking, I know). Of course, being the curious cats they are and letting stupidity get the best of them, they decide to check the site out. What was supposed to be a fun weekend of teenage partying, sex, booze, and drugs turns out to be a horrifying story that begins with the name, Jason.

I want to see this movie, but unfortunately, it's rated R....hahaha! Like that will stop me. My friends and I plan to see it this Friday with the help of one of their older sisters. I didn't even get to see "The Uninvited" or "The Unborn" or any of the other latest horror flicks and I'm going insane waiting to see one!! Plus, Jared Padalecki and Aaron Yoo are in this one!!! (two of my favorite men in the film industry). 

Click for ET At the Frightening Premiere

Fast & Furious - New Model. Original Parts.

The sequels and continuous movies just keep comin'. This time, the 4th addition to "The Fast and the Furious" makes its debut on April 3rd.

I have only seen the 1st movie and the 3rd - "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" and this one takes off exactly where it left off at the end of the 3rd movie and I'm pretty stoked to see this one. I'm actually quite surprised that this one is simply called "Fast & Furious 4"....compared to it's 1st counter-part, "The Fast and the Furious"....what did we do, Universal Studios? Just got rid of the "the's"???

Anyway, in this movie, Vin Diesel returns and acts along side the main character of the 3rd film, Paul Walker. This time, the two studs will "blast muscle" and drag race through Los Angeles and the Mexican desert. Once again, the two guys will have to face and race against enemies and win/keep the hearts of their women. You know, you're all-in-all hot racing movie.

Check out the trailer (which was also shown during the Super Bowl, coincidence?? I think not!)

Shia is Back!!

July 3, 2007 - Transformers the movie was a huge hit making over $300 million at the box office.

June 26, 2009 - "Transformers" returns with a second movie.

Hottie, Shia LaBeouf, will return to play the main protagonist in the 2nd installment of "Transformers" this summer, as will his partner in crime (and love-interest), Megan Fox. The movie is now in post-production and the trailer was shown Sunday night during the Super Bowl. (of course, I was doing other things to have missed it). However, only two minutes ago I watched the trailer on YouTube and it looks like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen should be a hit just like the 1st.


SYNOPSIS FROM www.imdb.com The battle for Earth has ended but the battle for the universe has just begun. After returning to Cybertron, Starscream assumes command of the Decepticons, and has decided to return to Earth with force. The Autobots believing that peace was possible finds out that Megatron's dead body has been stolen from the US Military by Skorpinox and revives him using his own spark. Now Megatron is back seeking revenge and with Starscream and more Decepticon reinforcements on the way, the Autobots with reinforcements of their own, may have more to deal with then meets the eye.


I saw the 1st Transformers movie and I thought it was great. It wasn't one of those movies I wanted to buy so I could watch over and over again, but one of those movies where if you have nothing to do on a Friday night, it's a perfect rental for you and your friends/family. (Not to mention Shia was lookin' pretty fine in it.)

Prepare to be "TAKEN"

In my opinion, one of the best thrillers I'd seen in a long time.

Quick Info -
Movie - Taken
Genre - Action/Drama/Thriller
Rated - PG-13
Staring - Liam Neeson & Maggie Grace
Movie I'd like to see??? Already did =)

"Taken" is the new movie from 20th Century Fox that made its nation-wide release this past weekend. Originally, it was supposed to come out last September, but the date was pushed to January 30, 2009. The film is about an ex-CIA "Preventer" (Liam Neeson) whose mission now is to get back his kidnapped daughter (Maggie Grace).The movie is full of action and drama - fast cars, countless murders, guns, punches, kidnapped daughters, and an angry father.

I actually saw this one, guys. =P And it was AMAZING. I saw the trailer for it once on TV three days ago and then saw it with some friends yesterday. I don't recall seeing any other movies starring Liam Neeson, but all I have to say is that he was magnificent in this movie. The stunt work and action scenes (which were like 80% of the movie) were awesome and I never got bored with this movie. I liked that the movie took place mostly in Paris and there were some points in it that were unusual and thought provoking. I do have to mention however, there were a couple parts that were somewhat disturbing and I wouldn't recommend this movie for any kids who aren't at least in middle school.

The movie seemed long with all the action, but is actually only a bit over 90 min long. I liked that the movie kept your attention the whole time and that the content that made it mature (PG-13) the most were the action/fighting scenes, not so much language/sexual content. It was a pretty clean movie for the plot of it and it's definintely a movie I recommend for someone looking for a good thriller to go see. SO GO SEE "TAKEN", IT WAS GREAT.

Inspector Jacques Clouseau Is Back

Steve Martin returns in the second Pink Panther due to release on February 6th. That's right, the movie that made "I would like to buy a hamburger" a comedic catch phrase back in 2006 is now back three years later. There's only one thing that's missing this time around: Beyonce is no longer Inspector Jacues Clouseau's partner in crime.

The Pink Panther 2
Synopsis:
This story revolves around legendary treasures that are stolen, including...ready? THE PINK PANTHER DIAMOND. Clouseau is then assigned the job with a team of international detectives in charge of catching the thief and retrieving the stolen artifacts.
Rating:
PG


I've seen the first Pink Panther and thought it was a funny movie. I'm not particularly interested in paying 5 bucks to see this one at the theater, but for a late night movie rental in a few months, sure why not. What I amused me most about the first movie was the fact that Beyonce was in it and it gave the movie a nice touch, in my opinion. I only hope part 2 will gain as much success as the first.

My Bloody Valentine 3-D

As if "The Unborn" isn't creepy-looking enough, (and let me just say, still haven't seen The Unborn because my friends are too chicken to see it with me. Whatever!) a new 3-D experience is now on the loose. Released on January 16, 2009, "My Bloody Valentine" has made the 3rd spot at the box office this past weekend.

The story of "My Bloody Valentine" revolves around a man who returns to his hometown on the 10th anniversary of the Valentine's night massacre that killed 22 people. He then finds himself suspected of committing the murders, and it seems like his old flame is the only one who believes he's innocent.

The movie stars Jensen Ackles and Jaime King. It's directed by Patrick Lussier, who also edited other movies such as "The Eye" (interesting movie, I must say. Wasn't too bad) and "Red Eye" (AWESOME movie. I own it. haha)

As for my view on My Bloody Valentine, I'm not particularly interested in seeing this one. Not that I could though, it's rated R. haha. Speaking of the rating, it got a lot of people sort of irritated. I know that last week, a lot of kids at school were complaining about the rating because it would be harder for them to see it. But yeah, it seems too gorey for my taste. The trailer is awesome though. =D

Anime to Live Action - Another Failure, I'm Sure

So I've recently discovered that Justin Chatwin (known best for playing the son of Tom Cruise's character in "War of the Worlds" as well as the lead in "The Invisible") is going to take on the lead in upcoming movie "Dragonball Evolution".

When I read at imdb.com that Chatwin is to star in 20th Century Fox's live action film of the Japanese 1990s anime, Dragonball Z, I was shocked. I'm still shocked. I can't believe a studio is going to adapt an anime to an AMERICAN live-action film, AGAIN! This was already tried last May when Warner Bros created the live-action movie of "Speed Racer". And unfortunately I agreed to see that terrible, terrible movie. It was cheesy and down right queer. (I apologize to those who enjoyed it. I don't mean to offend you.)

I've seen Japanese live-action versions of animes and not gonna lie but, the Japanese do a hell of a lot better job at doing their adaptations than us. I'm guessing it's because they understand better what to do to capture the anime as a movie...and us, not so much. But an American adaptation of Dragonball Z...ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

I've seen videos on YouTube of clips of Dragonball Z and let's just say this: It's about a guy with crazy hair who yells "Ka-me-ha-me-ha" and a green alien lookin' guy who fights with the first guy over these "dragonballs". But WAIT! That's not all! Apparently this movie is filled with tons of fighting and martial arts. Well, as far as I'm concerned, that's the only part of the movie I'd be interested in - the stunts and martial arts.

Well anyway, enough of my flaming on a movie I haven't seen. I'm just strongly opionionated about this one. haha.

"Dragonball Evolution" comes out April 8th, 2009. It's not yet rated.

Click here to read a brief critique of the trailer and other comments.

Heroes THE MOVIE...well...sort of

Opening February 6, 2009, "PUSH" will entertain movie-goers, particularly fans of the NBC hit, "Heroes". The movie is being compared to the famous trilogy of "X-Men", as well as the 2008 Warner Brother's hit movie, "Jumper".

"Push" stars Dakota Fanning, (known for her roles in "War of the Worlds", "Uptown Girls", etc.) Chris Evans, (known for his roles in "Fantastic Four" and "Perfect Score") and Camilla Belle (known for her roles in "When a Stranger Calls" and "10,000 BC")

Long story short, it's another "epic" movie about a group of people with supernatural powers who are fighting against another group of people with supernatural powers. But wait! Don't forget that Group #2 is ABSOLUTELY EVIL! Come on, really? I wish these American studios would come up with some fresh ideas instead of playing off movies with the same story line.

And okay, I admit that I'm probably going to see "Push" for the sake of going to the movies with my friends. And okay, I'm probably going to say in the end that it was "good." But I simply blame my love for entertaining movies for that one.

Click here for complete synopsis of "PUSH"

Seeing is "KNOWING"

Get ready for this, Nicholas Cage is staring in an upcoming suspenseful thriller! His new movie "Knowing" is to be released on March 20th, 2009, and even though it's still a couple months away, I am stoked. I'm a huge fan of Nicholas Cage, particularly for his work in Disney's "National Treasure" and Warner Bros' "Matchstick Men". I'm excited to know - (haha, no pun intended) - that he's going to be in another thriller movie, the type he's great at playing.

"Knowing" is about a professor (Cage) who discovers that some uncovered notes originally put away in a time capsule mean more than just random numbers. He soon realized the numbers are really records and predictions of disastrous events in history, and, for the future. DUN DUN DUN!

Ever since I saw the trailer for the first time in theaters last month, I have been absolutely excited. Unfortunately, I must wait for March.

Bring On "The Unborn"

Due to release later this week, January 9th, "The Unborn" will bring viewers to the edge of their seats and shock them, sinking them back in.

Quick Info -
Movie - The Unborn
Genre - Supernatural/Horror
Rated - PG-13
Staring - Odette Yustman, Gary Oldman, Meagan Good
Movie I'd like to see??? Oh yes.

"The Unborn" is the first bone-chilling movie in theaters this month and trailers have been running on TV sets for weeks now. The story revolves around a young woman "pulled into a world of nightmares when a demonic spirit haunts her." She finds confidence in the one and only spiritual advisor, Sendak, who has the power to make it stop. Discovering a curse has been unleashed, their only hope is to close the connections between them and a demon child who had never even been born.

After seeing the trailer, I do want to see this movie. I love going to the movies with a bunch of friends and watching a scary film. Jumpy girls and loud screams when the dynamics get high just amuses me, probably because I don't get freaked out by "scary" movies that easily. I guess I just think it's a different atmosphere while watching a scary movie than a chick flick.

Another reason I want to see this movie is because it was directed by David Goyer, the same man who directed "The Invisible" (a great supernatural movie, I must say) and "Batman Begins" (really, how wrong can you go with Batman?).

Marley & Me - Got Some Puppy Love??

About a week ago (December 25, 2008), the family-friendly film, "Marley and Me" released in theaters around the country. Rated PG, this cute movie is about a couple, played by Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston (love the pairing, by the way), who adopt an adorably but naughty dog, Marley. The movie is based off a book by author/journalist, John Grogan.

Watching the trailer for this movie on TV for the past three weeks, I've always thought it looked straight out adorable. One look at the trailer and someone would say this movie is for elementary school kids. But I disagree!! To me, it looks like a movie that I would find myself coming out of the theater saying, "That movie was SO CUTE!" I also think "Marley and Me" would make an awesome 1st-date type movie. haha.

As of this point, I have yet to see the movie, but I am determined to see it!!

Click to read a more in depth summary of movie as well as a movie review.