John Rambo? That is not the movie title... is it?

Moviehole is reportingthat Sylvester Stallone is no longer referring to the next "Rambo" movie as Rambo IV: Pearl of the Cobra, or Rambio IV: In the Serpent's Eyes, but instead as simply John Rambo.
Stallone referred to the film as John Rambo on a recent news interview, and it seems as though he is trying to follow the success of Rocky Balboa. The only problem is, that was a drama, and this is an action movie. Just call it Rocky Returns! for all I care, but for God's sake don't call it John Rambo.
Regardless, all of those titles are stupid. Keep trying, Mr. Stallone. Keep trying.

Superman in the Top Ten?

Some people have commented (though unfortunately not on this blog) that they think Superman Returns deserves no place in my Top Ten Movies of 2006, if for the sole fact that it is a comic book movie about a man in red tights who flies around and saves people. To them, I say watch the frikkin' movie! If you're a comic book junkie, you've probably already seen it, and if not, you probably won't LOVE it, but maybe you'll actually like it. Give it a chance!

Top Ten Movies of 2006

1. Children of Men

Children of Men received a surprisingly mixed number of reviews, for what reason I do not know. The movie I saw engaged me from minute one and had me on the edge of my seat up until the end, even if the previews do show just about every part of the movie. Despite those marketing flaws, the movie still throws in a few twists you wouldn't have guessed from the previews, and still offers plenty of action and drama to make it number one.

Children of Men stars Clive Owen as a man who lives in a future Britain where the government has closed its borders, arrested all immigrants, and terrorism is rampant. Oh, and no child has been born in over 18 years, which means that humanity only has 50 more years to live.

The movie is bleak, depressing and wholly realistic, thanks to director Alfonso Cuarón. Cuarón's world wraps itself around the audience and makes you part of the experience, and so you feel everything the characters feel. While set in a hopeless world, the movie is about hope, even if it is just a glimmer. One scene near the end, where soldiers and terrorists (or freedom fighters?) cease fire to let Owen and co-star Claire-Hope Ashitey through, is nearly tear-jerking. I say "nearly" because I don't cry at movies.

Children of Men has it all, and that's why it's my favorite film of 2006. Read our movie review

2. Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth is from director Guillermo del Toro, who really hasn't done much in terms of delivering memorable films. With exception to Hellboy, most of his movies are pretty lame, but if Hellboy showed he could be imaginative, Pan's Labyrinth shows he is a force to be reckoned with.

Set in fascist Spain in 1944, the movie follows a little girl who has a vivid imagination and who is told by a creepy faun that she is the long list princess of the underworld, but to return to the underworld and her true parents, she has to complete three tasks. The movie is marketed as fantasy, but the film is more about a girl trying to separate herself from the horrors that surround her. Her mother is struggling to deliver a baby, her father is an evil, fascist soldier, and there is a rebellion in the woods that surround her home.

The movie is as creative as it is gory, and is certainly one of the most serious films of the year. Del Toro's vision exists in every facet of the movie, and the result is a vivid, shocking and emotional tale.

Pan's Labyrinth is in subtitles, but that shouldn't keep you from watching this amazing film. Read our movie review

3. The Departed

This has to be Scorsese's year. Right. Right? Who the hell knows, as we've said that in the past and repeatedly he gets snubbed. Compared to the other directors in the race, Clint Eastwood is perhaps his closest competition, but Eastwood has won before for better films than Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of our Fathers.

Scorsese's latest is The Departed, a gangster-cop flick based on an Asian film called Infernal Affairs. Unlike Infernal Affairs, which was a great little film but more action-oriented than anything else, The Departed is a deep, moving character drama that still allows Scorsese to deliver his brutal gangster violence.

The movie also features spellbinding performances from Leonardo DiCaprio (who is better here than he is in Blood Diamond, for which he was nominated for), Matt Damon (as the bad guy) and Jack Nicholson (as the bad guy of bad guys). Read our movie review

4. Little Children

This movie was in theaters for nearly four months before I finally went and saw it, and it was well worth the wait. A dark, sometimes disturbing drama that at the same time has plenty of laughs, Little Children is about the dark secrets of suburbia, the pent-up tension and the restraints society places on us.

What makes Little Children great is that it is so different from any other movie that has come out this year. The film is narrated in a very witty, comical way, yet the subject matter is serious. The mixture of the two result in a very matter-of-fact, emotionally engaging film that slowly builds up to a terrific climax. Read our movie review

5. United 93

When United 93 came out in early 2006, most people dismissed this film as hitting too close to home too early after September 11th. I tended to agree, but went and saw it anyway, and was blown away from minute one. Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy) presents an unbiased re-telling of that morning, and uses many of the real people involved in the air traffic coordination that day. The result is an emotionally-charged and fast-paced drama that has you on the edge of your seat, despite the fact you know exactly what is going to happen.

Unlike Oliver Stone's God-awful World Trade Center (which somehow made a lot more money), this movie doesn't have any emotional fluff or hammy A-list stars to clutter up the store. It just tells things as is, and lets the day's events do their work on you. Had this movie come out in November or December, it almost undoubtedly would be a front runner for Best Picture, and would probably be higher up on this list. Read our movie review

#6: An Inconvenient Truth

From a filmmaking perspective, An Inconvenient Truth is hardly groundbreaking and does not warrant a top ten listing. It is a PowerPoint presentation and not much more, and never tries to do anything technically challenging.

But that's okay.

An Inconvenient Truth, featuring Al Gore, takes a direct stab at global warming and presents in very clear terms just how serious and obvious this problem is. A water cooler subject for months, Gore's movie has finally (we hope) gotten the issue of global warming out of the environmentalists' hands and into mainstream discussion. As a result, Al Gore has received a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, and we had to give him an even more coveted spot in Movie-Source.com's Top Ten movie list. Read our movie review

#7: Letters from Iwo Jima

Clint Eastwood directed two movies in 2006, both about World War II, and both set on the island of Iwo Jima. His first movie, told from the American perspective, was somewhat of a cluttered mess, as it jumped around in time a lot and failed to develop its characters properly. His second, Letters from Iwo Jima, is told from the Japanese perspective and focuses on a few soldiers who fight to the very end with no chance of escape or survival.

Iwo Jima is not Eastwood's best movie, but unlike its predecessor, it is simple and powerful. Top notch acting from every actor involved, some good battle scenes and some horrifying moments make Letters from Iwo Jima one of the best movies of 2006, and one of the front runners for Best Picture. Read our movie review

#8: The Pursuit of Happyness

I saw The Pursuit of Happyness way back in March, nearly nine months before it was released to theaters, so I haven't seen the final cut and my memory is a bit hazy on certain aspects. All I remember is that this one was one of the most frustrating, depressing, emotional, kick-me-while-I'm-down movies I've seen in a long time, and that it ends happily.

The real highlight, though, is Will Smith, who turns in his best performance to date. His Oscar nomination is an understatement, as he transforms himself into a character he's never done before. To top it off, his real-life son co-stars with him, and the chemistry between the two works wonders. Read our movie review

#9: Superman Returns

Some may spite me for including Superman Returns in a Top Ten list, but it deserves to be there. After nearly two decades and the death of Christopher Reeves, Superman was noticeably absent from the big screen. The movie passed from director to director, screenwriter to screenwriter (some absolutely insane screenplays were tossed around), and eventually it wound up in the perfect hands: Bryan Singer, the man behind two of the best comic book movies ever, X-Men and X-Men 2.

Singer doesn't take the same approach to this DC franchise that he did to his mutants; Superman Returns is much more of a drama, and Singer makes obvious allusions to Jesus in his portrayal of Superman. The movie suffered heavily at the box office for its more serious approach, but the result is a high energy, dramatic and still action-packed adventure that features Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor.

While the movie unfortunately lacks a good guy vs. bad guy climax at the end, Superman Returns still offers some excellent action scenes. Love him or hate him, Brandon Routh did a better job than expected, and Kate Bosworth is the hottest Lois Lane to grace the silver screen. This is a high quality film and I look forward to the next one (hopefully it will have a lot more action, though). Read our movie review

#10: The Prestige

This spot was going to go to Babel, a rather poetic and symbolic look at the world, but that one just didn't live up to my expectations. By chance, I happened to watch both The Prestige and Babel for the second time this last weekend, on DVD, and whereas Babel remained consistently good but not great, The Prestige was much more impressive the second time around.

This tale of two rival magicians who develop such an obsession with one another that they are willing to do anything, including lose their humanity, to reign over the other is a wonderful, complex and well-acted film from director Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins). Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman turn in tremendous performances, and the movie offers a character study in a way that can appeal to mainstream audiences.

While not without its flaws, The Prestige is one of those films that is much better the second time around, and just scrapes into the Top Ten as a result. Read our movie review

Friday Box Office Analysis - Good and bad

It is a weekend of cheers, and a weekend of shaking heads. On the positive side, American audiences finally figured out that Tyler Perry movies are God-awful pieces of crap as Daddy's Little Girls looks to make around $10.1 million dollars over the holiday weekend, according to Box Office Prophets.

Unfortunately, Ghost Rider made $15.8 million on Friday, which means it will make approximately $50 million over the four-day Presidents Day weekend. This movie looked like a loser from the first trailer, but American audiences went for the flaming skull anyway. Sad, sad, sad.

As for Breach, the best-reviewed film to open this week, it looks to make less than $10 million over the weekend. I wonder if there would have been a better weekend to release this film.

1 Ghost Rider

2 Bridge to Terebithia

3 Norbit

4 Music and Lyrics

5 Daddy's Little Girls

6 Breach

7 Because I Said So

8 Hannibal Rising

9 Night at the Museum

10 The Messengers

Shut Up and Sing DVD Review

I've posted Shut Up and Sing over at my movie review website and must say that after watching the film, I have a much greater respect for the Dixie Chicks. The movie chronicles the three years after their fall from grace following a statement made on tour by one of the band members, the deliciously honest, "I'm ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas." They should be, so I don't know what the big deal was, but a bunch of right wing nut jobs decided it would be right to ban The Dixie Chicks from country radio.

Aaron Eckhart is Two Face

With The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins, coming to theaters next year, the casting keeps rolling in. Heath Ledger is already the Joker, but Aaron Eckhart is in final negotiations to play Harvey Dent and Two Face. Two Face, as you might recall, is the ex-district attorney of Gotham who, after his face is scarred with acid (by the Joker?) , becomes a villain who does good or evil based on the flip of a coin.
Eckhart has been inconsistent over the years, but has shown signs of moving up in the world with projects like Thank You for Smoking. He could certainly play a good Two Face, and I'm looking forward to seeing Christopher Nolan's interpretation of the character. After Batman Forever massacred the character with cartoon delivery by Tommy Lee Jones and ridiculously cheesy makeup, Nolan's darker, more serious approach should finally do justice to the character.

Anna Nicole Smith Dies

A perfect example of how a woman no one really liked still makes the top headlines for the day. I have to admit, I was a bit surprised when I heard Anna Nicole Smith died... certainly didn't see that one coming. As my roommate always says, famous people die in threes, so that means it should be an interesting weekend.

The Grudge 2 Movie Review

The Grudge 2 is now out on DVD, and how else can God make me suffer? If you read my Grudge 2 movie review, you will discover just how lame this franchise is.

Because I Said So Movie Review

Read our Because I Said So movie review! Mandy Moore, Diane Keaton, and Piper Perabo star in this romantic comedy movie. Because I Said So is now in theaters. Read the movie review now at http://www.movie-source.com/movie_page.asp?movieID=2425.
My little bro wrote this review as he fits his screening attendance in between school and his new internship at a film production company. Let's hear what he has to say... I haven't even read it yet.

May the Colts crush the Bears

Well, the lesser of two evils - the Colts - made it to the Superbowl on a last minute touchdown, while the Bears unfortunately decided to lead their undeserving quarterback Rex Grossman to victory over my hopeful to win it all, the New Orleans Saints. It is not that Grossman is bad - even with all of his problems he still lead his team to an amazing amount of wins - but it's just that he's not that good. Now he gets to wear a Superbowl ring. What. The. Fuck.

I am now, at least for the next two weeks, a Peyton Manning fan.

My trip to the far off fantasy land called Canada

To boldly go where no man has gone before, I drove two hours north to Vancouver, British Columbia. And not just Vancouver... No, North Vancouver, a posh little area with eateries, my company's Canadian office, and Canadian women.
What a business trip it was. Unlike my last business trip where I stayed in Hilton Shanghai, here I really lived in luxury here: I drove myself and inflicted upon my new car its first heavy dirt; I lived in the company apartment, a nice place other than the Ikea beds (if a thin piece of something resembling a mattress can be considered a bed) and the fact that no one cleans up after you every day; and, well, that's about it.
The trip was good. I got some meetings out of the way, have several big projects steamrolling along, and best yet I got to go "home" to a nice apartment and just veg out without any to bother me. And at the same time, every night I went out with coworkers, ignored my New Year's resolution to drink less beer, and drank a lot. It's fun watching coworkers "enjoy" themselves, and enjoy themselves they did. Oh, how the martinis were pouring.
On my final days, I neglected coworkers' calls to drive them back down to Seattle immediately, a border with zero wait time and hundreds of friends back home dying to hang out with me (actually, make that around five friends and only one had requested my presence that evening). Instead, I stayed up in North Vancouver by my lonesome to enjoy the peace and quiet and do the unthinkable: watch a movie at a movie theater by myself. Yes, I hadn't done it in years, but I did it: I watched Letters from Iwo Jima (read the Letters from Iwo Jima movie review here) by myself. Some may call it pathetic (as did I for a few minutes), but then again, business calls and I did.
Anyway, before the movie, I spent three wonderful hours standing at a bar (heaven help my feet!) watching the Canucks lose a hockey game in overtime. Those who know me would say that was a sarcastic comment, but it was not: it was a lot of fun (and this I did not do alone, mind you! Two coworkers attended with me to drink booze and watch the Canucks blow a lead in the last 45 seconds of regulation).
One thing I noticed, or at least was reminded of: Canadians are nicer. They are more cheerful than Americans for whatever reason. You hear it in their voices, in their accents. They are just happier people, or at least are born to sound like it. Well, I was going to go into much more detail on this subject, but I've losted interest, so until another day, I bid adieu, if that is how you spell "adieu."

Reaction to 24: Season Premiere Part I

24 debuted tonight. While very, very good, it does not quite compare to the explosive nature of some of the previous season premieres, although there are several explosions to be found. The plot of the show is simple: an Islamic terrorist group had rooted itself in America and is performing suicide bombings around the country. Americans are feeling unsafe and going paranoid. The President is considering putting Muslim-Americans in concentration camps.
How much you want to bet that President Bush has had one or two conversations on the very topic?
Anyway, the first two hours are good, although I have to say the producers lost a perfect opportunity to take 24 overseas and out of Los Angeles for a season. While last season was probably the best, you can only conceivably do so much in LA. As of the end of last season, Jack had been captured and taken to China - why not spend a day in China with Jack trying to break out and uncovering some kind of political plot to overthrow the Chinese government?
Well, the producers didn't go that route, and two hours after Jack arrived in America with a beard, he has returned to normal form - clean shaven, perfect teeth (he couldn't shave but he could brush?) and extremely dangerous. For God's sake, he rips a man's artery out of his neck with his teeth!
24 looks to be as exciting as it was last year, as the show delves further into the Muslim theme it started last year. If most terrorists are Muslim and from the Middle East, is it right to give people who fit that bill harsher treatment, even if 99% of them are just as safe as any other American?
The previews for the second half of the season premiere also seem to imply something huge, and is that a rumbling that you hear in the background? A nuclear bomb going off perhaps? In a city this time? Tomorrow we shall see.

The Apprentice: Gay Bombshell

Donald Trump is gay! He announced it on The Apprentice LA. Okay, actually one of the gaty competitors of the show (and by gay I mean homosexual) completely throughout all his business intelligence for personal taste and got fired because of it. Carey, along with his team, was tasked with creating three women's bathing suits and three men's bathing suits. For the men's bathing suits, he "forced" his team to do three highly gay swimsuits that 99% of America wouldn't buy. They were tight, colorful, short and... tight!
Not that I have anything to hide (or not that I don't have too much to hide), but when I'm at the beach, I don't want my bulge to be sticking out. And I don't want shorts that are short enough where that bulge would be more than just sticking out. This is speaking from a heterosexual viewpoint, of course, but come on! Apprentice! Hello? You're not marketing to gay consumers - you're marketing to a select group of buyers who want to sell to the general population.
Sadly, Carey seemed like a smart player and it would have been nice to see him go a little farther. Unfortunately, he lost sight of the end goal and got way too excited about a fashion show. Sort of like how the runner-up last year lost the tailgate party task because he became consumed with throwing the best party rather than making the most money. And this swimsuit was just plain hideous.
And that's my rant about this week's Apprentice LA.

The HBO Television Series Rome

With the second season premiere tonight, I figured I would go On Demand and take a gander at HBO's Rome, a series that had never interested me for whatever reason despite my huge interest in ancient civilizations and politics. Someone had told me the show sucked and for some reason I engrained that in my head, which is a silly thing to do. One thing I have learned is to never doubt an HBO series (at least an HBO dramatic series).
Rome is not as good as HBO's best shows, like Sopranos, Deadwood and Carnivale. It has a lot of characters, and it took me a long time (a.k.a. the entire first season) to figure out who they were. The series is also slightly predictable, at least if you've ever read anything about the rise and fall of Julias Caesar.
Still, like most HBO shows, Rome is still one of the best series on TV. The acting is terrific, the sets well designed, and the bloodshed is shamelessly wonderful. In one of the final episodes of the first season, a main character gets sentenced to death via gladiator fight, and he ends up taking down all the other gladiators who are sent against him. One man gets a spear through his shoulder and down through his body so that it parallels his spine. Yuck.
Wonderful. I have now realized that this is yet another television show I am going to watch. With American Idol, 24, and The Apprentice kicking into high gear, and Lost, Battlestar Galactica and Heroes returning soon, I am in for a lot of productive evenings...

Notes on a Scandal Movie Review, and the Seahawks

Today, January 14th, I wake up to surprising warmth in my apartment. The reasons are unclear, though one would suspect the heat has risen from our wonderful neighbors downstairs. Outside, the temperature is a timid 19 degrees, which is really damn cold for the Seattle area. We're used to 40 degrees and raining in January, not 20 degrees, snow and ice. That being said, I don't completely mind the weather. I worked from home Thursday and Friday and watched the entire season of Rome, one of HBO's latest series.
Anyway, I wake up expecting it to be cold, but the temperature is pretty bad. I hop out of bed naked (okay, not really, just wanted to plant that frightful image in your head), turn on the heat, and turn on the television in two rooms. After all, the Seahawks are about to kickoff for the NFC Divisional Game, and I can't possibly miss a minute.
I wake up the roommate and the game begins. Thankfully, the game is close and not the embarrassment that was the Monday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears earlier this year. Rex Grossman is unfortunately pretty good after a season of inconsistencies, but the Seahawks are matching him step for step. Near the end of the game, the Seahawks take the lead, but then the Bears tie it up with a field goal. We have a chance to get down the field in the last two minutes, but can't quite do it. Again, this happens in overtime and the Bears manage to kick the longest field goal of the year (a piddly 49-yarder) to win the game. The Seahawks defied expectations and nearly went to the NFC Championship two years in a row, but their inability to convert on 3-and-1 and 4-and-1, which has been a problem all year, stifled their chances.
The game ends, and my heart returns to normal speed. After a variety of calls from friends calling to console me, I head on out to the botanical garden for some winter wonderland fun, where I meet my parents' new greyhound and my dad proceeds to lose his car keys in the middle of a snowy field. We find the keys, end of story.
I then drive to Seattle, pick up two friends and we head to Pacific Place for some Notes on a Scandal action, with every intent of seeing some Judi Dench lesbian action (and hopefully nudity). Not really, but it'd still be better than Kathy Bates in About Schmidt.
The movie is decent, but not what I expected. Thankfully Dench is everything I wanted and more, minus the nudity. Read the Notes on a Scandal movie review here.
I then return home for some pasta made by my roommate - while he doesn't like them as much, I like them more than his other pasta concoctions. We watch some Simpsons, and I prepare for the season premiere of 24. And now we are all caught up, and I can end this dreadfully dull post...