The Jacket

The Official Site for The Jacket, starring Adrien Brody
I just found out about this movie, supposed to be set in Vermont. Not shot here though. Looks interesting. It's about a soldier returning home from Desert Storm being accused of murder. Co-stars the delicious Keira Knightly.

Oscars 2005

OSCAR.com - 77th Annual Academy Awards
Million Dollar Baby won top honors, with Hillary Swank & Morgan Freeman collecting statuettes for their roles and Clint Eastwood honored for best director. This came as a bit of a surprise to me. Though I haven't actually seen any of this year's contenders (shame!), I'd heard that The Aviator was the odds on favorite -- it did pick up awards in several technical categories and Cate Blanchett won best supporting actress. Predictably Jamie Foxx won for best actor and delivered one of the most eloquent and moving acceptance speeches of the night. He thanked his late grandmother for raising him right, and stated that he now talks to her in his dreams and "can't wait to go to sleep tonight."

Chris Rock hosted and true to form had a few people on edge before the night was over. When presenting the award for best actress, Sean Penn came to the defense of Jude Law, the butt of one of Rock's fairly harmless opening remarks. After a commercial break Rock retorted "Sean Penn, my accountants would like to have a word with you backstage," (making reference to two burly gentlemen who had flanked Rock on stage during an earlier bit). My favorite moment!

Amelie ****

Amelie
The fourth feature from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, Alien Resurrection) is arguably his best, or at least his most publicly acclaimed. According to Jeunet, he had been wanting to make a "positive" film about his home country for 25 years and finally got the chance. Evidence of this is the incorporation of one of his short films from the early nineties, Things I Like Things I Don't Like. The script was written with Emily Watson (Breaking The Waves) in mind, but she backed out at the last minute leaving the door open for newcomer Audrey Tautou who is absolutely resplendent in the role. The movie had such an effect on people that even French President Jacques Chirac commented during a private screening that it was one of the finest evenings of his life. Abundant features on the DVD. French with subtitles.

Sky Captain **1/2

Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow
Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow look like matinee idols in this retro-futuristic adventure, now available on DVD. With the magic of blue screen technology, an industrious post-production team, and a lot of imagination, first-time director Kevin Conran took the six minutes short he created on his old Apple II and translated it to the big screen. While the resulting shadowy, soft focus look may not be for everybody, the process represents an interesting new direction in filmmaking. I found the film itself to be beautifully rendered and grand in its aspirations, but lacking any palpable sense of drama. The behind-the-scenes featurettes on the DVD are worth checking out, and show you where SNL got their material for that Will Forte green screen sketch when Jude Law hosted.

Eulogy **1/2

Eulogy
A comedy that puts the fun back in funeral is the tag line, and more or less that's what this movie delivers. Zooey Deschanel -- the main draw for me -- while central to the movie, isn't much more than an on screen narrator. Ray Romano is a more perverted version of the schmoe he plays on TV. Hank Azaria portrays a former child actor whose career peaked with a peanut butter commercial and now works in porn. These three and the rest of the dysfunctional family (populated by an inordinate number of lesbians) are good for a few laughs if your expectations are not too high. Rated R.

'Hawks Rock Higher Ground

The Jayhawks
Original founding members of the Jayhawks, Gary Louris and Mark Olson, appeared at Higher Ground, South Burlington, VT last night. The Minneapolis-based duo reunited for a tour and sounded great playing favorites and obscure gems from their back catalog, with a little politicizing and "free jazz" thrown in. Fun was had by all, and Gary (and perhaps Mark later on) came out and chatted with fans and signed autographs after the show. The Jayhawks' most recent studio album (minus Olson) was 2003's Rainy Day Music, appearing on many critics' top ten lists that year.

Return of the Kings!!

Kings Of Leon - The Official Website
The Followill boys, aka Kings Of Leon, dropped a new album yesterday. It's called Aha Shake Heartbreak and it's already all the buzz. The Kings debut album, Youth And Young Manhood, nearly went double platinum in the UK. They're on tour now. You can read more on the web site and check out their latest video for The Bucket. I'll post a review of the album once I have a chance to pick it up. See Comments.

Napoleon Dynamite ***

Fox Searchlight: Napoleon Dynamite
Just rented the DVD over the weekend. The movie is slow in places, and there's not much of a plot, but very funny overall and highly quotable. Aaron Ruell, who plays Napoleon's older brother Kip, really steals the show. You may have seen Aaron as a serial killer and love interest of Trudy (Kerri Kenney) on Comedy Central's Reno 911.

New Garbage!

garbage.com.home
Stop the presses! A new album from Shirley Manson, Butch Vig & co. is hitting stores on April 11th. It's called Bleed Like Me. The band's new official site is set to launch on March 1st. Click the link for the latest news and tour dates. The first single is Why Do You Love Me. Shirley, do you really have to ask?

Welcome...

Hello and welcome to my ego trip. Here you will find my rants and raves about all things round and shiny or colorful and flickery. Enjoy the self indulgence!