Inside the Head of a TV Junkie

This film was part of Turner Classic Movies’ 31 Days of Oscar this year. I have never seen Roman Holiday before but it’s one of those films that comes up in conversation every once in a while. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to think about this film and, to be honest, I thought it was going to be boring. Wow, I was wrong. This film was so good. It’s more funny than you would expect and I enjoyed the chemistry between the two lead actors. The film moves along and the story is engaging. Of course, the fact that it was filmed in Rome helped me to enjoy it more. I would suggest that you rent this film if you haven’t seen it yet and, if you have seen it, post your thoughts in the comments.

Netflix has announced that they will be discontinuing HD DVD support sometime this summer.  Because of this fact, I have moved all of the movies on my queue that are available in HD DVD format up to the top.  Some of these movies would normally not have made it to the top of my queue for at least half a year.  I’m motivated to get through these movies before they are discontinued.  I think there are only about 25 of them, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.  Anyway, just thought it was worth mentioning here.  I can’t stress enough how much I hate the fact that HD DVD lost the format war, but what are you going to do?  Maybe I’ll do some reviews of these films I have to watch… we’ll see.

According to Variety the final book in the Harry Potter series will be made into two films. FINALLY! The producers of this franchise have finally realized that it’s just too difficult to put everything that happens in these long books into a 2 hour film. Sadly, we have almost 3 years to wait before these final installments will be released. Thankfully, we’ll only have to wait six months between the releases. Hearing this news just makes me happy. At least they’re not going to torture us by making us wait for two full production schedules between releases. The final installment will be filmed concurrently in the same way “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Potter fans everywhere should be looking forward to November 2010 and May 2011 for the story to come to an end on the big screen.

In other Potter news… Just in case you didn’t know, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be in theatres this November. The film is slated for release on November 21st. The last film was released on July 11th, 2007. Almost a year and a half later, we’ll be getting the next film. Not too bad. That being said, it’s going to be a long 2 years between this film and the first installment of the final film. I guess you can’t have everything in life, right?

Anyway, I know some of you are just as excited as I am to hear this news.

This post is done in response to one written by [Mike].  He has decided to post the top 100 films of all time for 2008 (according to the AFI) and has the goal of watching all 100 by the end of 2008.  I am also going to list the 100 films and bold the ones that I’ve seen.  As of this posting date, I’ve seen 40 out of the 100.   To view the list and see how I’ve progressed so far, click the more link below.
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I was searching through my Windows box today and found some DVD .iso files that I forgot I had.  I’m now in the process of converting “The Commitments“, “In America“, and “Open Range” to .mp4s so that I can play them on demand from my couch through the Xbox360.  I love technology.  (That reminds me of Kip’s song from the end of Napoleon Dynamite… you know, the one he dedicates to LaFawnduh)

Here is one of the newer posters for the next installment of Batman.  Creepy.

Cloverfield is probably one of the most anticipated movies of early 2008.  Ever since the teaser trailer came out with Transformers and didn’t show much, people have been talking about it.  First, if you are susceptible to motion sickness, stay away from this movie.  It’s completely filmed like a home movie.  It’s very shaky but that’s one element that makes this film so good.

The good:  Excellent story telling, perfect use of suspense and the "unknown" factor, interesting and effective use of a handheld camera and using lesser know actors was the correct move for this film.

The bad: Storyline issues and unbelievable or impossible plot points (of things that should be completely believable/possible).

As you can see, not many bad things to mention about this film.  Of course, it’s not a deep or thoughtful piece, but it definitely entertains.  The movie is played as though the audience is watching the playback of film from the handheld camera.  There is no background story.  There is no explanation of what happens next.  I am okay with that since there is no real need for the audience to know.  My friend Erin mentioned she saw a review somewhere on the web that said "think Godzilla meets The Blair Witch Project."  Perfect way to describe how this film works.

If you don’t get motion sick, see this movie in the theater.

I can’t believe it! I’ve actually caught up on all my “must see” shows! Amazing. I still have tons of stuff on my TiVo but they’re not things that I need to see.

Tomorrow I will be seeing an advance screening of Juno. I will try to post a review here but you can always catch it on facebook.

yes, the poster is supposed to be that dark! it’s kick ass! comments? (nothing rude, e.k.m.)

In the beginning of this movie, you get a really good idea of what you think it’s all going to be about… but you’ll be wrong. There is no way to figure this movie out before the end is shown… seriously! It’s a good thing. I love movies that seem like you’ve figured them all out and then you’re completely wrong. There are parts of this movie that will really confuse you though and I’m not sure if it ’s a mistake or if that’s the way the movie was meant to be. If you go and see this film, let me know so we can discuss more. There are inconsistances (at least I think there are) that need explaining… and I NEED someone to talk to about it!

Ok, that’s all for now. I say go and see it in the theater, it’s pretty damn good.