Brothers

You might have never even heard of this movie. It came out in December of last year, but kind of got lost in the mix of all the holiday movies. We watched it today, and I liked it a lot. It's a drama, and it definitely lives up to that title. Here's the deal.

Natalie Portman is married to Tobey Maguire. Tobey's character is in the military and is being deployed overseas once again. Jake Gyllenhaal is Tobey's bad news brother. He's just gotten out of jail and has a rocky relationship with his family. After a little time, Natalie receives the news that her husband has died at war. Overtime, she and her husbands brother become closer. They never really get together, but they become emotionally close, and her daughters grow to love him too. A few months later, they find out that her husband, Tobey Maguire, is actually alive. He had been kidnapped by the terrorists and made to do terrible things. He comes home, terribly disturbed, and can't seem to get back to normal. Let the drama begin!

This is a great movie. Lots of craziness. The only letdown might possibly be the ending. I won't say anymore. Check it out if you want.

B

Surrogates

Poor Bruce Willis. He hasn't made a truly good movie since....hmmmm. Quiz Time!!! Who can name the last good movie Bruce Willis was in. And to make things more difficult, you can't use "The Sixth Sense". GO!

(i think my answer would be...The Original Die hard?...good grief, he has really been in a lot of awful movies) Anyways, I digress.

This movie is set somewhat in the future. The entire worlds population has started living their lives through surrogates, robots who look like their human counterparts, except without flaws. (One might argue that Bruce Willis' surrogates' disgusting, wig-looking hair is a serious flaw, but that's neither here nor there)

With surrogates roaming the earth, and the humans hooked up to machines in their homes, crime has ceased. By using a surrogate, humans can do whatever they want without consequence. There are villages of humans left around the country who think the surrogates are immoral and should all be destroyed. Bruce Willis plays a detective who must investigate the first case of a human being killed after its surrogate is murdered...something thats not supposed to happen.

Confused yet? I'm having a hard time typing it. Look, the movie fails on so many levels. At best, it's a good made-for-tv movie. I mean, I was slightly entertained throughout it, but it's nothing special. After seeing movies with amazing special effects, like Avatar, this movie is quite lackluster. Plus, even a "perfect" looking, surrogate form of Bruce Willis looks aged and out of place. If you're looking for a sci fi movie to watch with friends, go ahead and rent it. Just remember that this isn't a groundbreaking movie that's going to impress you at all.

C

Oscar Review 2010

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges "Crazy Heart"

I'm not going to pretend that I know anything about this movie. I haven't seen it, and quite honestly, I don't really have a desire to see it. So Kudos to Jeff Bridges. Besides, I don't think I saw any of the movies that the other nominees were in either. (I know, shame on me, the movie critic)

Who I thought should have won: Morgan Freeman.....just b/c I like him.

Best Acress: Sandra Bullock "The Blind Side"

Shocker, we haven't seen this yet. We've wanted to since the previews first started back in the summer, but the movie came out at a time that just somehow didn't work for us, so we missed it. Don't worry, we'll see it. BUT, I've heard great things about it and I really like Sandra Bullock, so I'm happy she won. She had a great year, so I'm okay with it.

Who I thought should have won: Meryl Streep.....she's the best and everyone knows it (and agrees). It's a shame that she's been nominated 16 times and only won 2. Stop nominating her if you aren't going to pick her to win, thats RUDE!!!!!

Supporting Actor: I don't even know his name, nor do I care. (this is obviously a biased review) "Inglorious Basterds"

I didn't see the movie. I will in a few weeks.

Who I thought should have won: meh, didn't care.

Supporting Actress: Monique' "Precious"

I've been dying to see this movie. We finally got it on Netflix today and we're watching it tomorrow. This one wasn't my fault. Provo showed the movie for about a week and we were out of town....and luck. Monique is supposedly amazing in this movie. We'll review it soon

Who I thought should have won: Monique'

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow "The Hurt Locker"

Like I said in the review of this movie, this is a great war movie. It doesn't take sides, it just presents a story....and it's good. Definitely was one of the best directed movies of the year, and very deserving.

Who I thought should have won: Kathryn Bigelow: she earned it.

Best Picture: "The Hurt Locker"

Of all the nominees (10 this year), The Hurt Locker was the best in my opinion. All around, it was entertaining, interesting, and intense. Okay, lets take this opportunity to deal with the Avatar fans. You'll notice I gave Avatar great reviews. It was a great movie. I loved how Avatar looked, I loved the story, I loved all of it. The problem with Avatar is two-fold. 1: It's a science-fiction movie, and those types of movies always have a hard time winning awards. Who knows if that's fair, but that's how it is. 2: (more importantly) Honestly, Avatar was not very original. Yes, James Cameron created his own world and his own language....but the story has been told before, and told better. Watch Dances with Wolves, you'll understand. In a nutshell, Avatar is about a soldier joining a group of people that are different and looked down upon. The soldier eventually becomes one of the people, and fights against his former military unit. Ring any bells? So yes, I loved Avatar, but I wouldn't consider it the Best Picture, b/c Dances with Wolves already won for telling that story.

Who I thought should have won: The Hurt Locker. Although, I would have loved to see District 9 win....even though it probably didn't deserve it as much. But I loved that movie, so I was glad to see it nominated.

THE END. Agree? Disagree? Meh, who cares.