Best Posters of 2006

Right now there is not much to talk about. There aren't really any movies coming out that I am interested in nor are there any right now on DVD. I have been stuck in my room watching re-reuns on TV of Finding Nemo, Fargo, and The Lord of the Rings. I thought this would be a good time to do the run down on the best posters of the year.

1. Volver

This has some of the best use of color in any poster I have seen. The areas of color like her lipstick, gold loop-earings, and especially the red flower are a nice contrast to the lack of color in her face. I always find it more visually appealing when there are both dynamic and static elements mixed. It also doesn't hurt that it is Penelope Cruz.

2. Little Miss Sunshine

It's simple but effective; it sticks in my mind. I absolutely love the yellow theme that was carried throughout the poster. It complements the film nicely.

3. The Good German

Since the film is a homage to the old black and white films, what better way make a poster than to mimic one of the greatest black and white films, Casablanca?

4. The Proposition

The use of color and defined areas reminds me of the old western wanted posters. Oh, and the smoking gun barrel is sweet.

5. The Descent

The five girls who are huddled together form the shape of a skull. I don't think I need to say anymore.

6. Lord of War

Probably the best poster of the year. To me, it looks as if it could be a cover for TIME. Making Nicholas Cage's face out of ammo shells is pure brilliance.

Spiderman 3 Trailer

Mark May 4th on your calendar.

Golden Globe Nominations!

MOTION PICTURES:

Picture, Drama: "Babel," "Bobby," "The Departed," "Little Children," "The Queen"

Actress, Drama: Penelope Cruz, "Volver"; Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"; Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Sherrybaby"; Helen Mirren, "The Queen"; Kate Winslet, "Little Children"

Actor, Drama: Leonardo DiCaprio, "Blood Diamond"; Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Departed"; Peter O'Toole, "Venus"; Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness"; Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland"

Picture, Musical or Comedy: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Dreamgirls," "Little Miss Sunshine," "Thank You for Smoking"

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, "Running With Scissors"; Toni Collette, "Little Miss Sunshine"; Beyonce Knowles, "Dreamgirls"; Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada"; Renee Zellweger, "Miss Potter"

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"; Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"; Aaron Eckhart, "Thank You for Smoking"; Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Kinky Boots"; Will Ferrell, "Stranger than Fiction"

Supporting Actress: Adriana Barraza, "Babel"; Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal"; Emily Blunt, "The Devil Wears Prada"; Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"; Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel"

Supporting Actor: Ben Affleck, "Hollywoodland"; Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls"; Jack Nicholson, "The Departed"; Brad Pitt, "Babel"; Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed"

Director: Clint Eastwood, "Flags of Our Fathers"; Clint Eastwood, "Letters from Iwo Jima"; Steven Frears, "The Queen"; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Babel"; Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"

Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga, "Babel"; Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, "Little Children"; Patrick Marber, "Notes on a Scandal"; William Monahan, "The Departed"; Peter Morgan, "The Queen"

Foreign Language: "Apocalypto," USA; "Letters from Iwo Jima," USA/Japan; "The Lives of Others," Germany; "Pan's Labyrinth," Mexico; "Volver" Spain

Animated Film: "Cars," "Happy Feet," "Monster House"

Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, "The Painted Veil"; Clint Mansell, "The Fountain"; Gustavo Santaolalla, "Babel"; Carlo Siliotto, "Nomad"; Hans Zimmer, "The Da Vinci Code"

Original Song: "A Father's Way" from "The Pursuit of Happyness"; "Listen" from "Dreamgirls"; "Never Gonna Break My Faith" from "Bobby"; "The Song of the Heart" from "Happy Feet"; "Try Not to Remember" from "Home of the Brave"

TELEVISION:

Series, Drama: "24," Fox; "Big Love," HBO; "Grey's Anatomy," ABC; "Heroes," NBC; "Lost," ABC

Actress, Drama: Patricia Arquette, "Medium"; Edie Falco, "The Sopranos"; Evangeline Lilly, "Lost"; Ellen Pompeo, "Grey's Anatomy"; Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"

Actor, Drama: Patrick Dempsey, "Grey's Anatomy"; Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"; Hugh Laurie, "House"; Bill Paxton, "Big Love"; Kiefer Sutherland, "24"

Series, Musical or Comedy: "Desperate Housewives," ABC; "Entourage," HBO; "The Office," NBC; "Ugly Betty," ABC; "Weeds," Showtime

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Marcia Cross, "Desperate Housewives"; America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty"; Felicity Huffman, "Desperate Housewives"; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "The New Adventures of Old Christine"; Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds"

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"; Zach Braff, "Scrubs"; Steve Carrell, "The Office"; Jason Lee, "My Name is Earl"; Tony Shalhoub, "Monk"

Miniseries or movie: "Bleak House," PBS; "Broken Trail," AMC; "Elizabeth I," HBO; "Mrs. Harris," HBO; "Prime Suspect: The Final Act," PBS

Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Gillian Anderson, "Bleak House"; Annette Bening, "Mrs. Harris"; Helen Mirren, "Elizabeth I"; Helen Mirren, "Prime Suspect: The Final Act"; Sophie Okonedo, "Tsunami, The Aftermath"

Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Andre Braugher, "Thief"; Robert Duvall, "Broken Trail"; Michael Ealy, "Sleeper Cell: American Terror"; Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Tsunami, The Aftermath"; Ben Kingsley, "Mrs. Harris"; Bill Nighy, "Gideon's Daughter"; Matthew Perry, "The Ron Clark Story"

Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Emily Blunt, "Gideon's Daughter"; Toni Collette, "Tsunami, The Aftermath"; Katherine Heigl, "Grey's Anatomy"; Sarah Paulson, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"; Elizabeth Perkins, "Weeds"

Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Thomas Haden Church, "Broken Trail"; Jeremy Irons, "Elizabeth I"; Justin Kirk, "Weeds"; Masi Oka, "Heroes"; Jeremy Piven, "Entourage"

Start selling your kidney on eBay

Don't buy butter popcorn. Don't claim your Sour Patch Kids. Don't get the Pepsi. Don't pass go. Don't collect $200.

Movie tickets cost $10 here in Albany, and it is still climbing. The price is inflating as fast as the price of gas. Soon, it will literally be an arm and a leg (okay, maybe I'm a little dramatic). I envy college students with their dirty and cheap four-screen theaters that charge $4 for admission.

All I want is a cheap night out. It's pretty ridiculous when I pay the same price for a ticket as people who live in NYC. If I waited for the film to be released on DVD, I could buy it for another 5 bucks. Ten dollars may not seem like a lot, but it adds up quickly.

What $10 can buy:

-12 bar mason jars
-11 assorted colored highlighters
-10 McDonald's double cheeseburgers
-9 printed champagne flutes
-8 Sentry keyfinder keychains
-7 mini cookie cutters
-6 Mother Earth News magazines
-5 ice cream cones
-4 Rhode Island parking tickets
-3 decks of cards
-2 CDs
- or a pair of Grandpa Walkabouts Non Skid Slipper Socks.

I should buy 8,333 red paper clips with my $10. Then I could continually trade them for more valuable goods until I have 8,333 houses. Maybe then I'll stop ranting about a ten dollar bill.

AFI's Top Ten Movies of 2006

On Sunday, the American Film Institute (AFI) announced the ten best films of the year. The thirteen-person jury that deliberated and compiled the list wanted to pick out the very best Hollywood had to offer this year. The films chosen range from comedies to musicals, and dramas to animated flicks. The films are Borat, The Devil Wears Prada, Little Miss Sunshine, Dreamgirls, Happy Feet, Inside Man, United 93, Babel, Half Nelson, and Letters from Iwo Jima.

I am glad that United 93 and Borat were recognized. Both are achievements in very different ways. But even more so, I am glad that Little Miss Sunshine was not looked over; it is probably my favorite film of the year. It has the so much heart and doesn't sacrifice quality for mainstream humor. It really is a unique comedy, all centering around a beat-up yellow Volkswagon that has to be manually pushed up to twenty miles per hour. As a low-budget film, it could have easily been ignored.

I would be lying if I said I was not surprised by the fact that The Devil Wears Prada, Happy Feet, Inside Man, and Babel made the cut. These are hardly films that come to mind when I think of everything I want to see or have watched within the past 11 months or so. But then again, I can only speak for Inside Man because it is the only one that I saw. I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed by the film and its cheap ending after all its hype. As for the other films (which I will simplify against my better judgement), a chick flick, a children's animated movie, and a wanna-be Oscar film, they are not associated with the word "memorable."

But by far the biggest surprise to me is the exculsion of The Departed. As an exceptional "cat and mouse" flick with brutal violence mixed within espionage, betrayal, and twists, this film is definitely Scorcese on his A-game. Personally, it goes right up there with Taxi Driver. When I see some of the films that made the list, I can't help but wonder why The Departed was left on the curb to freeze.

To each his own...I guess.

Leathal Weapon 5: Mel Gibson

This Friday, on December 8, Mel Gibson's new film, Apocalypto, will hit theaters. It will be his latest film since The Passion of the Christ, or as Matt Stone and Trey Parker would like to call, The Passion of the Jew. The photo above is actually from the official trailer for the film. It is only on the screen for a single frame, but that single frame speaks volumes.

The film Apocalypto may be a good movie or even a great one. I don't know; I haven't seen it. But Mel Gibson's involvement is not very compelling. Braveheart was a brilliant movie, and he should be comended for it. The Passion, however, is sheer manipulation and the product of an extremist. It is widely mistaken for beauty and gives the audience fake emotions. I pray that Gibson will leave his extremist religous values out of his new film, but that might take a miracle.

No matter, I still find that picture to be hilarious. The worst part is that he was probably sober. Maybe the climate in Central America has taken a toll on him. Eh, who am I kidding? This is much bigger than Central America. Matt Stone and Trey Parker got it right two years ago: Mel's religous revival didn't just push him over the edge, it sent him flying. In a 2004 South Park episode, Gibson bounced around in his underwear speaking gibberish and wound up driving an oil truck into the town's movie theater. It doesn't seem too far from the truth. As Lewis Black said, "Mel Gibson...sanity...couldn't be further apart."

Casino Royale Trailer

"Does it look like I give a damn?"

'Casino Royale'

Rating: PG-13
Directed by: Martin Campbell
Running Time: 2 hours 24 minutes

A couple months ago, I reluctantly participated in a mall survey and was asked questions about the Casino Royale trailer. The surveyor asked me if I was going to see the movie in theaters, and I said, "Neh, I don't want to see want to see it; it looks like a mindless action movie. Maybe I'll catch it on DVD."

Well, as things turned out, I didn't wait for it on DVD. I went and saw it in theaters...on opening night nonetheless. And as it turned out, it wasn't a typical mindless action movie either. Immediately after the opening credits ended with its cel shaded animation, I knew this Bond movie would be different.

The most obvious difference is Daniel Craig, mostly described as a Blond-hairded Brit and (get your english accents ready) "dashing," in the role as James Bond because he doesn't exactly fit into the typical mien (tall, dark, and handsome). Immediately following the opening of the film, Craig left the internet cynics speechless because he has also created one of the best Bonds in decades. Kudos to Craig for making Bond believable as a vulnerable amateur.

That really is the shining aspect of the film: playing on Bond as an uncontrollable rogue with "a license to kill." Everything is built around Bond being granted Double O status and his short life expectancy that comes with it. A decent amount of humor also coats the story, making the somewhat predictable twists forgiveable. When asked if he wants his martini shaken or stirred, he answers, "Does it look like I give a damn?" Classic.

Bond's first mission as 007 is to bring down a finance organization for terrorists headed by Le Chiffre. Bankrupting Le Chiffre would be feeding him to the wolves, so MI6 enters Bond into a high-stakes poker tournament at the Casino Royale. During some of the most intense poker scenes, I found my attention drawn towards Bond's and Le Ciffre's eye movements, similar to the final showdown in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

For Bond, it's one rookie mistake after another. *Minor Spoilers* Bond seems to get himself into situations where he gets cocky, only to find himself staring at a pair of machetes in a stairwell or lying in his car with his shirt open and a diffibulator hooked up to his chest *End of Spoilers*. It's these moments that make me glad Bond didn't have his usual gizmos and gadgets that eliminate any shred of intensity.

But where would any Bond film be without a Bond girl? It just plain wouldn't. Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green, is a nice addition, always moving the story along. She is a smart-witted woman and gives James a run for his money, literally. She originates as Bond's purse, but soon becomes his loves interest, even if she isn't his type: single.

My biggest gripe with the film is that it feels washed out and anti-climactic by the end. The last half hour seems to really slow down the momentum. Dragging on the film is something that more and more movies are doing nowadays (Superman Returns). What ever happened to "short and sweet?" (I'm looking at you Mr. Jackson.)

For me, the film is this year's Batman Begins. With so many changes to the franchise, it really is tonic. Ian Fleming's Casino Royale breaks itself from the mounting cliches, and in doing so, it has become an entirely different movie. All of its risks paid off. Let's just say, Bond is not dead.