A Little Late on the Oscar party...

...but people in the living room are watching the rerun. (team up of the two biggest franchises of the decade)

No surprises there! Anne Hathaway won her first Oscar for Les Miserable. I'm still not watching the movie, and I still don't get how her role can be so hyped considering she's only in the film one third of the time (and actually does die before her daughter gets old - then again, based on the musical). I think her chances of winning were higher than her competitors was because they were mum about their nomination and didn't do much press, unlike Hathaway who kept on talking and talking about her role. Jennifer Lawrence also wins her first Oscar...and she hasn't been in much films as other people that has been in the industry longer than she was. I did love her performance in Silver Linings Playbook and have now deduced that I like her in independent films. Daniel Day Lewis also snags the award for Best Actor, but it was just to be expected. Would have been surprising if Bradley Cooper scoops the award. Was kind of hoping it would be Denzel Washington though. Amour winning foreign film wasn't a surprise, considering it has been nominated for best picture. Has a foreign film nominee ever won best motion picture?

Argo for the win! While my money's been with Argo for Best Motion Picture, it couldn't be helped but think of Lincoln suddenly sweeping in for the win. I haven't been following the Oscars that long (and there are years that I didn't pay attention to them), but I remember Crash winning over Brokeback Mountain. What was that? Brokeback was sweeping in with nods and Crash wins the statue. 

Most surprising win. Ang Lee wins best director for Life of Pi. That was a shocker, and vaguely confusing. If Ben Affleck was nominated, he would have won it and Argo's fate would be sealed. I was expecting it to go to Spielberg at least, but no. I still have to watch Life of Pi but based on the visuals alone, I'm betting it's going to be pleasing in the eyes. 

Christoph Waltz wins his second Oscar as Best Supporting Actor. About time he aims for the Best Actor award. I'm sure with the right role and with the right director (possibly Tarantino, hopefully Tarantino), he's going to win that statue one day. 

The greatest Oscar moment to grace Tumblr would have to be Jennifer Lawrence falling. If it was anyone else (probably Anne Hathaway), it would be a laughing matter. No, it was Jennifer Lawrence and it just adds to her already pleasing personality. That, and Bradley Cooper, Hugh Jackman and Jean Dujardin all rush forward to help her. 

Other wins. I expected Frankenweenie to win for animated feature, but it went to Pixar's Brave. Not one of their best though. Plus Adele wins for Skyfall! Why didn't I hitch to the Adele bandwagon earlier? She's amazing!

Red Carpet. Best dressed for me would have to be Amy Adams and Naomi Watts, followed by Amanda Seyfried, Adele and Jennifer Lawrence. 

Trailer: The Big Wedding


Oh look, Katherine Heigl is in another rom-com where she plays another uptight character...but she is not the star! 
This week has not been a good movie week. I managed to see A Streetcar Named Desire and after reading a bit about it, I realized that there were elements that I did not understand. I do have a question though; are all female leads in black and white films written to be overly dramatic and vaguely annoying? They all seem to be rather jumpy and sentences come out of their lips as paragraphs. I also got to watch The Purple Rose of Cairo last night, and while it wasn't the best Woody Allen film I've seen, I like the whimsical factor of it. I expected it to be quite short, and while the romantic feeling was there, I felt that it wasn't explored fully, that it was just settling on the ground. Still, it's a good film. 
The Big Wedding is basically another rom-com starring some of the biggest actors on screen. While I deem the movie to bomb, I believe Robert De Niro would at least be good at it, even if he is playing alongside Diane Keaton (whose credibility still has a profile, but her acting chops have faded, in my opinion) and Susan Sarandon. It's obviously the three of them who are the stars, but it looks like Katherine Heigl is trying to steal some of the spotlight by having some relationship crisis with her father (and does not do anything for the story). Definitely not one for the theaters. 

A Good Day to Die Hard

Cast: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch
Director: John Moore

I will officially start this off by saying that I am more amused with the audience's reactions to certain parts of the movie rather than the flick itself. Besides soliciting a few movie theater laughs with the one-liners that are trying to be bad-ass, or the stunts that basically plagued the entire movie, most movie goers with me were entertained. As far as that sounds, that movie was not at all entertaining. It was unstructured, written badly and it felt like it was going nowhere. The entire film was purely explosion, gun firing and more explosion, with Bruce Willis mouthing off ill-written lines to suit an action movie. The ohhhs and the ahhhs of the audience was better than this.

Wreck It Ralph

Cast: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer
Director: Rich Moore

Now that Valentines Day is over, let the reviews pouring down in! I may be a bit late on the Wreck-it-Ralph hype, but seeing as it is nominated for best animation movie, I thought I'd put my two cents in. I've seen all five nominated films, and while I'm leaning towards Frankenweenie to take home the prize, Wreck-it-Ralph was the funnest to see out of all four (Pirates! gunning in a close second). Wreck-it-Ralph joins the ranks of the game-based movies that have been plaguing the screen for some time. However, unlike the other movies that are just pure sheer explosion, Wreck-it-Ralph became a movie gem. While it may not be the game of my generation (I have heard of it though), it manages to bring a sense of nostalgia while stepping out of its screen (exploring other game worlds).

Valentine Movies

Happy hearts day, everyone! Hope all your plans are set because tonight is definitely going to be busy! If you forgot, then it's time to get creative and do last minute shopping and plans! If you're planning on having a movie night, whether with your friends, your special someone or alone (which isn't so bad, really), here's a few Valentine flicks to start you off!

Anti Valentine

Valentines Day is tomorrow (already?). While the couples of the world gear up to celebrate one of the four biggest nights of the year, the rest of the population thinks this. Anyway, I did say I was going to make an anti-Valentine post, and here it is (sort of)! Valentines Day usually mean happy endings, so keeping in line with the month of love, here are some movies where the romance has gone sour.

(Some) Favorite TV couples

Day 3 of the Valentine day countdown!
Well, it's an unofficial countdown, but with the week of love upon us, why not do a week's worth of love-related posts? While movies give us a spectrum of romance in a span of 2 hours, television shows tend to do more than that. They give us season after season of exploring the romantic potential of the cast, leading to the term 'ship', and spawning numerous fan sites about them. With all the TV couples out there, there are some that are to be our favorite, or in web terms, we 'ship' them. Here are a couple of my favorite couples. 
*As much as I like Jim and Pam, they are sadly not on the list, simply because I haven't watched an entire season of The Office. Which is why I'm also keeping Don and Betty Draper (and others) off this list.

(Some) Favorite Movie Couples

The movie industry is good at spinning up love stories; I think in almost every movie, there is a romance story involved. Yes, there's an entire genre devoted to it but it's also present in action flicks, thrillers, etc. What makes these pair ups work is that the actors sell the romance on screen: chemistry. Aided by the back story of the characters and where the plot is going, romance pairings usually work. For all the romance the film industry feeds us, I'm sure that there's a pair or two that we like. So, in keeping up with the love-themed posts this week, here are some of my favorite movie pairings.

Romance, Hollywood Style

It's the month of love, and the month where Hallmark card sales go up the roof, not to mention the scarcity of roses, chocolates in heart shaped boxes and the standard teddy bear with the 'Be Mine' card sticking out of it. It's also the month where cheesiness can be tolerated and excusable, and the month where hearts are overused in every stall, restaurant, building. So while we're a few short days away from Valentines Day, what have you got planned? Mine is the standard work-home phase (it's a Thursday, not to mention the absence of a love life, haha). But for those with loved ones out there and are still thinking of what to do for the big V-Day, here's some inspiration from movies! Some may be absurd or all out impossible, but hey, it's romance according to Hollywood!

Trailer: The First Time


Here comes another trailer! I may not have much movie reviews in store this month (as I'm currently cramming a couple of essays and studying for exams, not to mention rewriting my resume and fixing up my recommendation). 2013 is the year of risk, and this year I'm thinking of uprooting myself to a new scenery, and possibly going back to school to get a master's degree. That doesn't sound risky, but uprooting to a new place is usually scary, but it's only going to be for a couple of months, so that's ok. Hopefully everything works out. I do have some Valentine-related posts ahead, so it won't just be trailer after trailer. Ok, I'm going to stop now. 

Trailer: Iron Man 3


Iron Man won't be out for months, but based on the trailer, I think it has taken a darker turn. Hope this is better than the second!

January Round Up

"January seems to be so long...it's the end of January already?"

New films seen: 17
Rewinds: 2
Total: 19
Awards season officially kicked off this month, and in a couple of weeks, it would be the most important awards night, The Academy Awards. Argo has been pulling awards here and there, but there's still a slight chance Lincoln will win the Oscar, so we just have to wait and see. I've been out for some time so I missed an entire week of movie-viewing. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up this month, movie and blog-wise. 

Some links:
Mettel Ray wrote about her favorite Friends moments. Her list is great! While checking it out, go read about her views on the downfall of comedies (part 1 and part 2).

Sofia from Film Flare shares her ten favorite Paul Newman and Cary Grant films. 

I haven't seen the entirety of New York, I Love You (but have seen Paris, je'taime). Alex from And So It Begins gives a breakdown of the film, which I think you should give a read before seeing the flick. Also, check out the In Character feature. The last post was about Ralph Fiennes, who is really good. I have yet to see Schindler's List, but I tend to stay away from Holocaust films because they immediately make me sad.

Sati from Cinematic Corner shares her favorite scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as her comedic take on Leo not being nominated. He is always snubbed for the awards; he already deserves an Oscar so can they give it to him already?

Castor from Anomalous Material shares Oscar nominated short from Disney entitled Paperman. I guess they're also taking the Pixar short route. Good luck to them!

Ruth from Flix Chatter writes about being able to travel via cinema in In Bruges.

What's Next on Feb?
I still have a couple of reviews to write. Maybe an anti-Valentine post? Community's almost premiering, so that's something to look forward to.