So... Not a Thumbs Up Then?

"Watching Battle: Los Angeles is like watching other people play a video game.  It looks cool for a while, but it quickly becomes tiresome." - Richard Roeper.

 Roger Ebert, longtime host of "Siskel and Ebert" (then after Gene Siskel's death "Ebert and Roeper") just released his review of the somewhat anticipated film Battle: Los Angeles.

Personally, it wasn't a film that I was too intrigued in, primarily because it reminded me far too much of the recent Aliens attack us and we're all going to die film Skyline (which incidently was ultimately just an 80 minute or so trailer, not an actual movie).

After reading Ebert's review, I feel pretty safe skipping this film.

His review is honestly one of the most scathing reviews that I have ever read.

Here are a few of the choicer quotes...

"Battle: Los Angeles" is noisy, violent, ugly and stupid.

The aliens are hilarious. Do they give Razzies for special effects?... they look like stick figures whipped up by apprentice animators.

You gotta see the alien battleships in this movie. They seem to have been assembled by the proverbial tornado blowing through a junkyard.

When I think of the elegant construction of something like "Gunfight at the OK Corral," I want to rend the hair from my head and weep bitter tears of despair. Generations of filmmakers devoted their lives to perfecting techniques that a director like Jonathan Liebesman is either ignorant of, or indifferent to. Yet he is given millions of dollars to produce this assault on the attention span of a generation. 

 His conclusion is extremely scathing...

Young men: If you attend this crap with friends who admire it, tactfully inform them they are idiots. Young women: If your date likes this movie, tell him you've been thinking it over, and you think you should consider spending some time apart.

Wow.

Until Next Time, thank you Roger Ebert for turning the movie review into an art form, especially where crappy B-movies involving aliens attacking are concerned.

Thoughts on Some of the New Fall Shows Part 2

Thanks to having the flu and the inability to get out of the house since everyone is afraid that I'm going to infect them, I have gotten to watch some television in the last couple of days.  That means there is a new post on some of the new shows this season.  Today I'll be giving you my thoughts on Vampire Diaries, Modern Family, Cougar Town, The Forgotten, The Good Wife, Eastwick, and Mercy.  You can check my previous post for my thoughts on Glee and Community.
VAMPIRE DIARIES

Everyone is going to talk about this as a Twilight knockoff, and while there is little doubt that this show exists only because of the popularity of the teen Vampire series, the books that this show is based on actually predates Twilight by more then 10 years.  So any similarities aren't really ripping off Twilight, just taking advantage of that series's popularity.  The show is developed by Kevin Williamson, who is famous of course for Dawson's Creek.  I'm not sure that this show has the potential of that one, and it doesn't seem to have the mythology of Buffy or Angel to sustain it for long either.  As much as I love vampires and like Kevin Williamson, the show will have to lay off of the cliche pretty quickly for me to stay on board.  I do have to admit that it is great to see Boone on the television again, however.  Ian Somerholder (Boone on LOST) is outstanding in the first couple of episodes as the evil vampire.

MODERN FAMILY

This comedy actually made me feel even less excited about Community.  While I was willing to give Community some room to find its way, Modern Family showed that it isn't necessary for every show.  It hits the ground running.  It is hilarious and despite all of the characters it manages to have a perfect pacing and no one gets a short shift.  The episode both made me laugh and engaged my emotions.  It is a comedy, but even though there has only been one episode, I already care about the characters.  I did not expect a show that I hadn't heard that much about to win  me over so completely, and yet it did.  I highly recommend catching the replay of the pilot on Friday at 8 Central on ABC (assuming, of course, that you have some way to also watch the season premiere of Dollhouse airing at the same time) or on Hulu.com.  From not even being on my radar, this show is now in the running for the coveted Josh's Choice For the Best New Show of the Year Award (won last season by Dollhouse!)

COUGAR TOWN

While I am a fan of much of the cast, the show was overly cliched and not really that funny.  I doubt that I'll watch it again.  Courtney Cox deserves better, as does Busy Philips (from Freaks and Geeks and the land lady last season on Terminator), Christa Miller (from Scrubs), Dan Byrd (from the under appreciated show Aliens in America), and Ian Gomez (who was so great in Felicity that it is hard for me to buy him as a straight guy in this show).  I wish I liked it, because I am a fan of all of those actors, but I'm just not.  I don't recommend it at all.

THE FORGOTTEN

Christian Slater's new show, and the new show from Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI et al, and Cold Case), it is as formula as any of those.  Not terrible, but not great either.  It was odd to me, because I had seen the video from the upfronts, and the pilot was exactly the same as that showed, except the lead actor was different.  Apparently when ABC decided to go with it for the season, they replaced the main actor with Christian Slater.  Even with the former movie star in the main role, there were no characters that really grab you in this show, and the formula aspect really turns me off.  While there were little hints about each of the characters that I guess will be played out over the season, I can't help but feel that this show will be one that it won't really hurt you if you miss any.  So, I'll probably be missing quite a few.

THE GOOD WIFE

Another show in the running now for Josh's Choice for the Best New Show of the Year.  Sure, in a way, it is just another Lawyer Show, but there is enough extra going on that really gathered my interest, and then there is the fact that it was a great episode of a Lawyer Show.  The cast is terrific, Julianna Margulies (Nurse Hathaway on ER), Josh Charles (Dan on the great, great show Sports Night), and Chris Noth (probably best known as Mr. Big).  The premise is ripe for a lot of interesting stories, Julianna Margulies plays "the good wife" standing by her politician husband (Chris Noth) after he is brought down in a prostitution scandal.  In order to provide for the family, she goes to work for a law firm run in part by an old friend from when she was in law school (Josh Charles).  Intertwining the stories of the cases she is working on and the continuing legal troubles of her husband as well as her own personal problems with the situation should make the show interesting for some time to come.  I really enjoyed the pilot.

EASTWICK

Yeah, I honestly don't even know what was going on in this pilot.  It really didn't strike me as believable, and I recognize that a show about three witches in a New England town probably shouldn't seem believable, but I mean that it was impossible for me to suspend my disbelief at all.  I didn't really buy any of the characters at all with the possible exception of the maybe evil mysterious dude, played by Paul Gross from Due South (if you remember that show), but since they didn't really build his character enough (I guess because they wanted to keep him mysterious) I didn't really care that much.  As much as I love fantasy type shows, I feel like this show is not one that will really work for me.  Neither did Charmed, so maybe if you liked it, you'll like this one as well.

MERCY

Another Hospital Show is probably needed as much as another Lawyer Show, but I like that the main character is a nurse as opposed to a doctor, in fact most of the main characters are nurses, and that in itself is enough to differentiate it from most other Hospital Shows.  I'm worried that it might become a little too soapy (like ER fell into after its first few amazing seasons, and what Gray's Anatomy has never tried to avoid), but the characters seem strong and interesting enough to keep me interested.  Plus, I love Michelle Trachtenberg, and she is awesome as a brand new nurse who is slightly out of her element.  I think that the show has good potential, and after seeing it I admit to being a little surprised at how many negative reviews it has gotten.  I enjoyed it.

Until Next Time, I will be reviewing FlashForward in a post of its own tomorrow!

4th Annual Josh's Choice For the Best New Choice of the Season Award

It's that time of year again, time to award the coveted Josh's Choice for Best New Show of the Season Award, the 2007-2008 edition.

In preparation, lets go over the past winners.

2006-2007  Friday Night Lights

2005-2006  Invasion

2004-2005  LOST

This season was especially difficult to narrow down to the five finalists.  There were a lot of great new shows this season.  Here are some that I really liked, but that didn't make the Final Five (don't sue me BSG, didn't mean to steal your Cylon bit, totally a coincidence, I swear).  In alphabetical order

Bionic Woman (if only because Katee Sackoff, aka Starbuck on BSG, gave the best performance of anyone on any show this season)

Dirty, Sexy, Money (funny and smart, any other year this probably would have made the top five)

Life is Wild (I'm really sad to see this one go, it got better every week, and this type of show is so rare on television these days and I really think there is a place for it.)

Reaper (if there was a stronger female presence on the show earlier, it would have definitely made the top five)

The Sarah Connor Chronicles (I just really love Terminator, and the fact that Summer Glau is in it doesn't hurt at all)

Normally I wouldn't mention any runners up, but like I said this was a strong season, and each of the above shows did deserve some mention.  Now, counting down to the winner, because life is so much more fun that way....

5. Pushing Daisies

Makes the cut despite a ridiculous episode in the batch.  The other episodes were strong enough to make up for it.  It had heart and quirky humor, two things Josh Man loves in his tv.  It took a concept that was genius, but that it looked like it would be difficult to sustain, and then was able to sustain it.  Towards the end of the strike shortened season it really began to hit its stride.

4. Eli Stone

The season isn't fully over for this show yet, but I feel confident in placing it here on the strength of the episodes thus far.  It hasn't hit a note wrong all season (and I'm not just talking about the occasional music numbers).  It is a very smart show that makes you think and it has some of the best supporting characters on tv.  Every week it has the potential to come off preachy, and yet every week it finds the exact right balance.  It makes you laugh and if it doesn't make you tear up just a little you're probably a Cylon.

3. Life

And I thought that the cop show was a tired genre.  This show matches great characters with interesting weekly mysteries but adds in a mystery story that is sustained throughout the season.  Sure it was done just as well (or even better) in Veronica Mars, but these are different characters and our stories are more serious then the ones Veronica tackled weekly in Neptune.  Plus the overall mystery is brilliant.  The main character was a detective who was charged and convicted for murdering another cop.  He served twelve years in prison until he was cleared by DNA.  He won a huge settlement from the LA police department but decided to return as a Detective for them anyway, partly so he could investigate who it was that framed him.  All episodes are available on NBC.com and Hulu.com.  Check them out and get into this show for next season.

2. Chuck

Alias for the nerd crowd is what I called this in my review of the pilot.  It stayed at a high level the entire season and Adam Baldwin is brilliant as Casey.  This show has potential to be great for a long, long time.  Plus, Cake does the intro music and they are my favorite band.

and the winner of Josh's Choice for the Best New Show of the Season is....

JOURNEYMAN

Of course, the show that wins won't be returning, and that's a shame.  This show was incredibly well done.  It had the potential to just be a Quantum Leap redo, but it was so much more.  I really wish that this show had found an audience as I love anything related to time travel and I liked where this show appeared to be headed.

Congratulations to NBC for its strong showing this season, although I am upset that they canceled Journeyman.  If only this award could convince them to change their mind.

Until Next Time, let me know what your choice was for the best new show of the season.

Oscar Preview and Prediction Post 2007

There are a lot of categories, so let's get down to it, shall we?

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

The nominations are

George Clooney - MICHAEL CLAYTON

Daniel Day-Lewis - THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Johnny Depp - SWEENY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET

Tommy Lee Jones - IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH

Viggo Mortenson - EASTERN PROMISES

There really isn't a question here.  As I said in my Top Ten Post yesterday, Daniel Day-Lewis's performance will go down as one of the greatest ever taking a completely unlikable character and making him riveting to watch.  Day-Lewis should and will win.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

The nominations are

Cate Blanchett - ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE

Julie Christie - AWAY FROM HER

Marion Cotillard - LA VIE EN ROSE

Laura Linney - THE SAVAGES

Ellen Page - JUNO

Julie Christie is far and away the favorite here, and definitely the safe bet if you're picking to impress, but Oscar has surprises every year, and overall, there aren't many places for surprises this year.  This however is a possible spot for a shocker, therefore, I'm going out on a limb and predicting the shocker.  Most people will tell you it will be Julie Christie, I'm however going with the young and talented newcomer Ellen Page, and actually think that if it's not her then Marion Cotillard will win.  I'm picking Ellen Page, but predicting that it won't be Christie giving us our big surprise of the night.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

The nominations are

Casey Affleck - THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD

Javier Bardem - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

Philip Seymour Hoffman - CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR

Hal Holbrook - INTO THE WILD

Tom Wilkinson - MICHAEL CLAYTON

First of all, let me say that Tom Wilkinson was about the only good thing about Michael Clayton, he was tremendous.  Any other year, I'd say that Casey Affleck was going to win this category considering his performance was beyond brilliant, but again, there really isn't a question this year in this category.  Javier Bardem embodies the killer in No Country for Old Men so completely and gives us the single scariest villain in film history.  In return, we can only give him the Oscar.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

The Nominees are

Cate Blanchette - I'M NOT THERE

Ruby Dee - AMERICAN GANGSTER

Saoirse Ronan - ATONEMENT

Amy Ryan - GONE BABY GONE

Tilda Swinton - MICHAEL CLAYTON

Honestly, I'm not sure why Tilda Swinton got nominated, surely there were better actresses in supporting roles, Michelle Pfeiffer was great in Stardust, and Chloe Sevigny was brilliant in Zodiac.  It's not that I don't think Swinton is a fine actress, but her character was so ridiculous I'm not sure any actress would have done well in the role.  Amy Ryan was very good as was the young Saoirse Ronan, but my feeling is that Cate Blanchette in the role of Bob Dylan will win this one like a rolling stone.  (That's in reference to a Bob Dylan song, in case you didn't get it.)

ANIMATED FEATURE

The nominees are

PERSEPOLIS

RATATOUILLE

SURF'S UP

None of these films should have received a nomination, but since they did all get nominations and they are the movies we have to choose from, your winner will be Ratatouille.

ART DIRECTION

The nominees are

AMERICAN GANGSTER

ATONEMENT

THE GOLDEN COMPASS

SWEENY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

There will be an Oscar for There Will Be Blood.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

The nominees are

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD

ATONEMENT

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Two of these films, Assassination and No Country  had the same cinematographer, Roger Deakins, and he will win an Oscar this year.  It probably should be for Assassination, but it will ultimately be for No Country.

COSTUME DESIGN

The nominees are

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

ATONEMENT

ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE

LA VIE EN ROSE

SWEENY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET

I think that this Oscar will probably go to Elizabeth.  Oscar loves this time period, and not much of this film was Oscar worthy, but I think they'll honor the one part that was.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

The nominees are

NO END IN SIGHT

OPERATION HOMECOMING: WRITING THE WARTIME EXPERIENCE

SICKO

TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE

WAR/DANCE

I'm holding out hope that Sicko will win this year, and I think that it has a chance just because it's the only non Iraq war related nominee.  Michael Moore won just a few years ago, however, and a lot of people really dislike him, so that could hurt his chances.  If it isn't Moore, my money is on War/Dance.

FILM EDITING

The nominees are

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

INTO THE WILD

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

I think that Roderick Jaynes will win an editing Oscar here, the question is will they hand out two Oscars for Roderick Jaynes or make the Coen Brothers (since Joel and Ethan together are Roderick Jaynes) share this one? In either case, No Country continues its strong night.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

The nominees are

BEAUFORT

THE COUNTERFEITERS

KATYN

MONGOL

12

The Counterfeiters, although that is the only one with any buzz whatsoever, which makes it a pretty easy guess to make.

MAKEUP

The nominees are

LA VIE EN ROSE

NORBIT

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END

Just looking at the nominees should let you know who will win, La Vie en Rose.

ORIGINAL SCORE

The nominees are

ATONEMENT

THE KITE RUNNER

MICHAEL CLAYTON

RATATOUILLE

3:10 TO YUMA

Definitely, one of the best parts of the movie Atonement is the score, and I predict it will get it's lone win in this category, mainly because Jonny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood was determined not to meet the requirements as an "Original" Score.

ORIGINAL SONG

The nominees are

"Falling Slowly" - ONCE

"Happy Working Song" - ENCHANTED

"Raise It Up" - AUGUST RUSH

"So Close" - ENCHANTED

"That's How You Know" - ENCHANTED

A long time ago, this was one of my favorite categories (and I still hold out hopes that one day a song I write will win an Original Song Oscar), but of late this category has gotten old.  First of all, I don't like that they do all of the songs together.  Even when they don't do that, they do it at just two separate points with three songs together at one point and the other two together at one point.  I think the Original Song nominees should be spaced out throughout the show the way it used to be.  I also think that each movie should be only allowed to be nominated for one song rather then one film getting three nominations.  (Last year, that film was Dreamgirls, this year it is Enchanted.)  In any case, the song "Falling Slowly" will win the Oscar this year, as Once is a critically acclaimed film and this is its only nomination.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

The nominees are

FREEHELD

LA CORONA (THE CROWN)

SALIM BABA

SARI'S MOTHER

I'm picking Sari's Mother since it's about an Iraqi woman (big subject) who has a son with AIDS (big subject).

SHORT FILM - ANIMATED

The nominees are

I MET THE WALRUS

MADAME TULI-PUTLI

MEME LES PIGEONS VONT AU PARADIS (EVEN PIGEONS GO TO HEAVEN)

MY LOVE (MOYA LYUBOV)

PETER & THE WOLF

I'm going with I Met the Walrus simply because it's about an interview with John Lennon, and how can you go against the Beatles?

SHORT FILM - LIVE ACTION

The nominees are

AT NIGHT

IL SUPPLENTE (THE SUBSTITUTE)

LE MOZART DES PICKPOCKETS (THE MOZART OF PICKPOCKETS)

TANGHI ARGENTINI

THE TONTO WOMAN

It is hard to get this one right, it is almost always the most difficult to predict (along with the Short Animated), I'm picking The Tonto Woman, because I heard it's based on an Elmore Leonard story, and I love Elmore Leonard.

SOUND EDITING

The nominees are

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

RATATOUILLE

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

TRANSFORMERS

A few years ago, King Kong won a crap load of Oscars despite being a horrible film, I have a feeling that Transformers might do the same (although, to be fair, it was much better then King Kong).  If No Country doesn't sweep all 8 awards, look for a win for Transformers here and in

SOUND MIXING

The nominees are

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

RATATOUILLE

3:10 TO YUMA

TRANSFORMERS

If you didn't get my segue, I was predicting that Transformers could win here too.  I'll let you in on a secret, whoever wins one will win the other.  It almost always happens that way.  No Country does have a chance to sweep out though.  If it wins both of these, it won't lose in a single category.

VISUAL EFFECTS

The nominees are

THE GOLDEN COMPASS

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END

TRANSFORMERS

At least the effects in Transformers were good, unlike King Kong when they were almost as bad as the movie itself.  The 1933 version had better effects in my opinion.  Of these nominees, though, I don't have a problem with Transformers winning.

SCREENPLAY - ORIGINAL

The nominees are

JUNO

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL

MICHAEL CLAYTON

RATATOUILLE

THE SAVAGES

Not even a contest.  Former stripper Diablo Cody will now have to be described as former stripper and Oscar winner Diable Cody.  Juno wins easily.

SCREENPLAY - ADAPTED

The nominees are

ATONEMENT

AWAY FROM HER

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

The winner of this will win Best Picture, and I predict that movie will be No Country for Old Men.

DIRECTING

The nominees are

Julian Schnabel - THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

Jason Reitman - JUNO

Tony Gilroy - MICHAEL CLAYTON

Joel and Ethan Coen - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

Paul Thomas Anderson - THERE WILL BE BLOOD

It is rare that a directing duo wins an Oscar, in fact, I can't recall it ever happening before, although they have occasionally been nominated (including last year for Little Miss Sunshine).  Look for that to change tonight, the Coen brothers are going to need some new shelf space for all of the Oscars they will win this year.

BEST PICTURE

The nominees are

First let me give you my thoughts on the two movies I haven't talked about already in my Top Ten and Honorable Mention Post from yesterday.

ATONEMENT -

This was an interesting film, and I simply loved the ending.  I'm still not sold on Keira Knightley as an actress.  Sure she's beautiful, but she's never blown me away in a role and this movie is no exception.  The rest of the cast is very good, however.  There is a great tracking shot about halfway through the film.  It is an amazingly well executed shot.  The score is hauntingly beautiful and very effective.  All of these pluses, however, are ruined by the fact that a sitcom-like cliche is what Robert McKee would call the Inciting Incident, and that ruins the whole film for me.

MICHAEL CLAYTON

This movie is simply horrible.  I didn't like it at all.  It's boring, it uses cheap story tricks to try to keep you interested, it seems like a lot of the main actors don't really want to be in the movie at all, Tom Wilkinson being the one exception, relishing his role as the one interesting character in the entire boring movie.  George Clooney, who is a great actor and much better in most everything else he's done, as the title character never seems to give us a good idea of who he is and what he stands for, making it hard to really care what decisions he makes, and seeing as it is through him we follow the action (if you can call it that) of the film, the movie suffers greatly.  How this movie got nominated at all surprises me.  Why, oh why, did the Academy forget Zodiac?

JUNO

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

If you've read this far, you probably have an idea of what I'm predicting will win, No Country for Old Men.  It's possible that There Will Be Blood will shock us all, but I highly doubt it.  This will probably go as predicted and this will be one of the least surprising Oscars of all time.

Tune in on Monday for my Third Annual Thoughts As I Had Them During The Oscars Post and we'll see how I did.

Until Next Time, I'll be watching LOST a little late tonight as I will be watching the debate of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama from our state capital, Austin, Texas.  I just wish I could be watching it in person instead of on television in the metroplex.