New Years Eve, Movies reviews

New Years Eve Movies reviews This is just a list of movie that I have seen this year, but I did not blog about, for any number of reasons. This will be short and fast for each movie, and I hope I can remember them all.

Capote

This movie was about author Truman Capote played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the process he went though to write the book In Cold Blood. This was a vary well acted movie, and you can see that there was a lot of good work put into this film. However this film was boring and I don’t think that the story was well told. The acting was some of the best out there, but in the end I did not care. If you have read the book, in cold Blood, and loved it, this would be a good movie to watch, but I could not recommend this film for some one like me. This film was nominated for Best Picture; I can not understand this, it was that good.

5.5/10 Good Acting, but boring

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Children of Men

I just saw this film, with some friend’s downtown, and it has been sometime since I have seen a movie downtown, or even taken a subway. Also this was the first time in a long time that I have had to sit in the corner of the theatre (it was a full house). Anyways, the movie how was it? Well I enjoyed it a lot; the end of the movie I found vary hard to watch, but that was because it was so well filmed. This movie felt so real and raw, I found myself questioning how they did a lot of the scenes. They do not give you a lot of back story; you have to look for the back story from other charters and thinks going on in the background.

7.5/10 You should go and see this movie

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The Producers

What can I say about this movie, well, it was stupid, dumb, a waist of time; the acting was so bad it was painful to watch. I really really hated this movie. Matthew Broderick was so bad in it, I can’t even describe it. It was long, and the more it went on, the more the anger built up inside me. This I would say was one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my life.

1/10 Crap Crap Crap. The 1 is for Nathan Lane, he was ok.

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The Family Stone

A nice simple movie about a very liberal family, were one of the sons wants to marry someone that is a bit uptight. There not much I can say about this one, it was advertised as a comedy, but it was not a comedy in my option. You can skip this one if you want, you wont be missing anything. It was not bad, but not a must see. Just life, I guess. One side note: there was a side story that should have been the main story.

5/10 it was ok

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Nanny McPhee

A good kids movie, that was simple and predicable. I did not think I would like this movie, however it was so well made, I found myself smiling by the end if it.

7/10 good one

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X-Men: The last Stand

I was looking forward to this one, and I really wanted to love it too, and based on the first two films, I thought that it would not fail, But it did. Ok, so what was wrong it? First of all,

1) Halle Berry was the wrong person to play Storm.

2) They should not do the Phoenix story if they don’t have Cyclops character.

3) The story could have focus on the Rogue character, but she did not have much of a part.

There were some good things about the movie, like Kelsey Grammer as Beast, it was a nice surprise

6/10 missed out on so much potential

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Superman Returns

Hmm… I did not think much of this one before it came out, and after it came out, and I saw it lived up to my expatiation. They tried to be like the first Superman movie, and that as both good and bad. The start of the movie was good, and they stuck with the look and feel of the it, with the score, and flying though space. Now this is were I think they should have left the 70s movie behind, and started something new, however, the only thing or person that they changed was Lois Lane, and not for better. I found that she was not a strong character (a she should be). Lex Luthor was the same as the first movie, and Kevin Spacey played him really good, but I felt that he was too much of a joke. Superman, played by Brandon Routh, was really good too, however, I find that this superman dose not really work today. The Superman in the cartoons and comic books is a much better Superman, and they should have tried to work with that character. Oh well They will just have to try again.

6/10 I think it was a failed attempt

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Prestige

Now this was a nice surprise; this was just a well told story that did not feel it, but it was over 2h long. If you have the time you should try and see this one. There were some problems with some parts of the story, but it did not mater, it was complex, but simple too, and it all comes together in the end. Well acted, and well filmed.
7/10 Good solid movie

This is me

I have to get this poster for myself. I would say that this is me, and people that know me would say so too. This is now in my bothers room, I have to get it from him. He and his girl friend got it from the bus. [it says "Sorry Meg. Daddy loves ya. but Daddy also lover Star Trek. and in all Fairness, Star Trek was here first"]

Oh and I have just found this internet tool http://speedtest.net/, that will test your internet speeds. (It looks cool) If you people don't mind, could you test your speeds and tell me what you are getting. I want to know how bad my internet provider is. This is what I got

I hate my provider!!

Snow Day

Well today, we got snow, two days late for Christmas, and not that much, but snow. On my way to the gym I saw a min van in a ditch do to the black ice (the people in the car were ok). I feel that cars should come with the option of snow tires, but I don’t think that will happen.

Later on in the day I went over to my friend’s new home, downtown. I wish we could get a house downtown. Their home was so nice, and it was just renovated too, it would have been perfect for us, with four bedrooms (that is what we have now). And I love the way the kitchen looks.

The only problem was that I was there a little too long, and I got a $30 parking ticket; sometime I really hate this city.

Boxing Day

What a waste of a day, I hate Boxing Day, I always go out on boxing Day, and never find what I want, or the stuff I want it not on sale, or it is already gone. Well this time we got up and left the house at 8am to get to the stores, and this time it was easier to find a parking spot (I will never understand why people have to try to find a spot right by the doors when there are zero), however I still did not get anything for myself that was on sale. I picked up the third X-Men movie, and a copy of The Transformers movie, that I always wanted, but they were not on sale; I had to use a gift card, blah!

Well we left all the crowds, around 11am and went over to Chapters, to look for some Christmas cards for next year (they always have good card, but they cost a lot). We did not find any however I picked up a book to try and get me back into Art and Drawing. “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” Hethos told me it was a good book, and I should try it out. I will try chapter 1 tomorrow after I go to the gym.

Christmas Surprise

This was a good Christmas, I got more then I could ever want, however, I gave Dan a new scale. I know I know, that is does not sound like a good gift, but he wanted it. Anyways I got him a scale, that will track your weight loss, your BMI, and a bunch of other stuff that I don’t understand yet, it will also tell you, your correct weight I just found out that I’m 10 lbs more then I thought I was, not a good day.

Other then that it was a good day, lost of food (can’t eat to much of it) and gifts

Christmas Eve

Did not do too much today; got up; went out for my first jog; took some pictures, of the new fad to make your home all festive for the holiday season. Well at least a fad in my neighborhood. You will have to tell me if this is tacky or not. I like that people are doing things for Christmas, I just don’t know if these things are too much? Oh well I should not be bothered by this.

After my jog, we went down town to Benny and Fabian place; went out for lunch, and saw their two new cats. Got to see them fight.

Came back, and got some games for my new PS2 and Game Cube. Played a bit, but I had to stop, so that I can start to wrap presents.

Oh, now my neighbor, has one of these new, blow up Christmas things….

BBQ in the Rain, Yes it’s Christmas!

We had our friends Mark and Tony come over for a BBQ, lol, we thought that the weather was going to be good, however it rained all day, it really sucked. How ever the burgers were good, and we had a good time. We had put up the Power Puff Girls Christmas lights that Tony gave us a few years ago, (I hate those lights) Dan thought would be funny.

But my real reason for wanting them to come over, was to get some early Christmas presents. Mark got the new Nintendo Wii, and Sony PS3, and he told me that I can have his old PS2 and Game Cube. Now I just have to find some games that I like.

Syriana

This is a hard one. Hmm… I really liked this movie, not because it was a good movie, that keep moving, and kept me interested; but for the message. I knew that the movie had an import message, so I gave it a lot of leeway. The acting was amazing, and the end was vary satisfying, however I found that the movie felt too long, and I did not understand what was going on for the first ¾ of the it. I would tell you to go and see this one, but I can see people getting board.

6.5/10 good message, you should see, but not a must see.

Casino Royale

I have never been the biggest James Bond fan, I could take it or leave it, when it came to 007. However, having all these people that this movie was amazing, I went to see it, and yes it was a good solid movie. One thing I like about this movie, and it’s take on 007, was that it was more grounded in reality, there was no sun laser, that threatened to destroy the Earth. They also removed some of the Bond clichés; names of the Bond women; some of his quick wit, and other things. This was a long movie but I did not feel the time go by. This is one movie I would suggest you go and see.

 7.5/10  A good solid movie

Slim Fast

Ok I’m at it again, trying to lose weight, I have been very good with exercise (5 times a week, doing something) however, the way I eat is just awful, so now I’m trying Slim Fast. I don’t know what made me pick it up, I just saw it in the grocery store, and picked it up for $9.75 CND (not bad). I have now been on it for a week, and I don’t know if it work or not, however I’m now saving some money, so some good may come from this. If this does not work, I will look into a personal trainer at my gym in February.

New Band I like (The Gossip)

I never do this, but I just had to talk about this new band, I just herd. This morning, I was reading my emails, and news of the day when I was pointed to this interview on CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/24/tbr.ditto/index.html. In the article, it had a link to the bands "My Space" page http://myspace.com/Gossipband (god how I hate My Space!!!); I clicked on the link; it started to play one of the bands songs, and before I could find the mute button, I found myself liking the song. Take a look

The Gossip

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The Departed / Infernal Affairs

Big cast, big director, a good story taking from a good movie ( Infernal Affairs ), so was this a good movie? Was it as good as the first movie Infernal Affairs? I would say yes.

Infernal Affairs, with Andy Lau Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Driected by Wai Keung Lau.

A friend told me to watch this movie, he said I would love it, however took me a long time to take the time to see it but when I did, I loved it. I loved the concept, of the story, and all the crap that the characters had to go through. I was a story that I have not seen before, and it felt fresh and new. When watching it, I found myself stopping and pausing to read all the subtitles, and take it all in. If you do see this film, do not watch a dubbed version.

I did find some things hard to understand, but don't let that turn you off, this is a vary good film and a well told story

8/10. I really nice surprise, a fresh new story that I have not seen before

Now For the movie The Departed with Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin and Anthony Anderson, Directed by Martin Scorsese. With all this star power behind this film, how could it go wrong, and it did not go wrong, it was a really good movie, long but good. But why remake a movie that was good in the first place? I don't know, however I enjoyed both. However there were some thing that were changed or added to the story that was not need, and took away from the original story. There was a love story that was put in, that was not need and did not fit. Also some of the scenes were not necessary, but did not take away from the movie as a whole.

Some of really good things about this movie; the Mark Wahlberg character, for me he was the best part of this film. also I like the ending of this film a little better then in the original one.

7.5/10. In the end I like and appreciated, Infernal Affairs just a little better, but this film was very well made.

Just Friends

This was a forgettable movie, that did not say too much, however I enjoyed. Anna Faris and Ryan Reynolds were ok, but I don't think they were anything special. Reynolds plays high school over weight geek, turned hot music executive, and tries to get back with Faris, but things just keep going wrong. For me the real star of the movie was Anna Faris, of Scary Movie fame. She plays an over sexed pop star, that Reynolds character has to baby sit. In the end, this movie had a number of scenes that made me laugh, so if you want to see a movie that does not have too much depth, but not to dumb to turn you off, this just might do it for you.

6.5/10. Made me laugh for what it was.

My New Windows Mobile 5 Phone, O2 Atom

Anyone that knows me, knows that I have been waiting for an all in one device, that is a phone, for a long time. I first wanted a Palm phone, however, after using a Palm for a few years without a phone, it just became a toy, a toy that was taking up space in my pocket. Also it was not convenient to use; like moving files from my computer to my Palm, using it on the Palm, and them moving them back to the PC, was not seamless or strait forward. So now I got a new Windows 5 enabled phone with WiFi, the O2 Atom from Europe; it looks like the all in one devise that I have always wanted. It’s a phone; it’s an MP3 player; it is a video player; I can read eBooks on it; it can send and receive emails; I can take pictures; I can brows the web using WiFi. And because it is using Windows Mobile 5, I can install almost any program I want on it, to do almost anything, I should be jumping for joy, however I’m not.

Microsoft did not deliver with the new Windows Mobile 5 OS. Some of the problems I have had with the phone are:

• The number one complaint that I have is that you can not use the phone with one hand. I can open and run programs with one hand. However if I want to close the program, and the program does not have an exit option in its menu, I have to use the “ok” or “x” button in the top right corner. I should be able to navigate up to this button using the hardware navigation buttons, but I can’t. (I had to go into the hardware button setup and change one of the buttons, to do this for me)
• I find myself rebooting all the time. Programs hang, or the system starts to really slow down, a lot. This did not happen to me with the Palm.
• Some programs interfere with the phone. At one point, I was always getting disconnected from calls after one minute. I thought it was the phone; however I found out that it was not the phone, but a program that was disconnecting me. What made it even more baffling was that program did not have anything to do with the phone functionality.

There just seems to be this list of little things that keep giving me problems. But The one main thing that really bugs me, is that Microsoft does not have a good RSS reader, that will download text, video and Audio files. I love to read news on my phone, and I have really gotten into listening to podcasts. What I have to do today, is get the podcast from iTunes, then move them into my play list in Windows Media Player, then sync it with my phone. After I have listened to it on my phone, I delete it from my play list in Windows Media Player, sync again, and then delete it from iTunes, I hate doing going though all those steps, however if I want to listen on to the podcasts on my phone I have to do it. If I had an iPod, I would just have to sync. but I want my all in one device, not just an MP3 Player.

I really hope that Microsoft has some major updates in the works for Windows mobile 5; updates that I can just download. I don’t want to have to get a new phone, just to get some new features. I still really like the phone, and it does all the things I want, however, it just not ready for people that aren’t tech savvy.

The Sentinel

Ok what was this movie about? I just did not get it; no I just did not care. This was so boring, and I just did not care, I just want to say don’t watch this, watch the show “24”.
The only thing I like about this movie was that fact that part of the movie takes place in Toronto, and they had a nice fly over of the city.
But really; I don't know why they made this movie, it looked like a poor mans 24. The story felt like it was done befor; Kiefer Sutherland was just playing the same person that he plays in 24; Michael Douglas did not feel like the big hero (I don't think it was his fault); and Eva Longoria did not really matter. On the other hand Kim Basinger did play her role well, for what is was.

3.5/10 This movie sucked

Olbermann's special commentary on Clinton vs Fox

This is something that we all should watch, get someone else take on the whole thing

Working with Canada’s next top model, Jessica Frampton

A co-worker is working to become a model, and now she just got her new business card. If you know someone, or you are in the industry, contact her, through dawn@sutherlandmodels.com, or call (416)839-2805 and ask to use Jessica Frampton.

Mission Impossible III

This Summer, I did not rush out to see a movie each weekend, however I did go and see the big ones. Well the first one for me was, Mission impossible III, and you might think that I’m crazy for this but I when and saw this movie on my vacation when I was in Vancouver, (it was fun, to go out to a movie out side of Toronto)
I really did not have plans to see this movie, at that time, however with all the good reviews for it, and all the bad reviews for the The Da Vinci Code, we went to go see this one

Ok, this movie was blah. What do I mean by that? Well, it just did not do anything for me, and I don’t think it was worth my time and money to go and see it in a theater. I would say that it’s an ok rental, but that is all. But what really pissed me off about this movie, was not anything in the movie, but the things that the critics were saying about it.
Some things people were saying about it :

The perfect summer movie -- fast-paced, action-packed, emotionally engaging (without demanding too much investment), and pure, unadulterated eye candy. Whattya want for 10 bucks?
Full Review

For all of the movie's professional craft and lovely vertigo, the experience is like eating popcorn in a guillotine.

Full Review

Ok I, must be completely off in left field, but I did not enjoy this movie at all, I felt like I was watching a movie from the 80’s, or early 90’s. It was the same old formal, good guy, and girlfriend having a good time, just being good people; bad guy does something bad, and kidnaps girlfriend; good guy goes underground to get bad guy, and save the girl; blah blah blah…… I’m so boarded. Maybe I watch too many movies, and I have become too cenacle; and you may love this movie, with all of its predictable twists and turns, its super human stunts, and all of its special effects. So I would not try to stop people from seeing it, it looks like a lot of people had a good time with it, but I did not.
5/10 nothing new here.