Jane (Heigl) has been a bridesmaid 27 times and never close to being the bride. She is secretly in love with her boss Geroge (Burns). When her sister Tess (Akerman) shows up and ends up on the fast track to marrying George she cannot bear to stand by her side. Kevin (Marsden) is a reporter who writes about weddings and ends up writing a story about Jane . . .

This is pretty much your typical romantic comedy which is pretty easy to read and figure out which direction it is going in. What happens next is pretty obvious, with Jane being the I don’t really believe in love . . . it will never happen to me . . . in love with a guy who does not really notice her in that way. It really does have leading rom-com actress written all over it.

The unlikely guy being “the one” in the end after a lot of trauma, arguments and denial pretty much explains the majority of this film. It also has arguments between two sisters which I think gives a slightly different edge at times.

In the end when Jane could get the man she really wanted, she realised that he was not in fact the one for her and that the perfect guy for her had indeed been the one she did not like and did not want to be with straight away. So does this mean that you cannot always tell right away if you could actually be with someone? So the whole love at first sight thing, does not exist? But eventually getting to kiss the “man of her dreams” and realising that she felt nothing, this brings up another age-old question do you have to feel something in a kiss? Does it really help you know this person could be the one? I think feeling something in a kiss makes such a difference.

The last lines leading up to her eventual wedding mention something about all that matters is the person standing waiting for you at the end of the aisle. Which is definitely a thinking point, in theory nothing else about your big day should really matter as much as loving and wanting to be with the person waiting for you at the end of the aisle, right? Surely it has to be the most important thing, and if it is not the most important thing then should you really be marrying that person?

I really think I picked the wrong time to kinda watch this and attempt a review as  I have totally tried to take more out from the film than was ever probably intended. But I guess everything depends on your frame of mind when watching a film, and if you over think it all . . .

“A Sound of Thunder” could be the worst science fiction film I have seen since “Battlefield Earth” and this time we can’t blame Travolta. Wanna know why?

“A Sound of Thunder” is based on a classic Ray Bradbury story that chronicles what happens when man steps back into the distant past and changes the smallest of things like killing the tiniest of insect, dropping a gum wrapper or picking a flower. One of these smallest changes could bring about the end of the world as we know it.

In the year 2055, TimeSafari is making a killing as it takes millionaires and other spoiled rich people back to the age of dinosaurs on the “greatest hunt man has ever known”. The brain behind this venture is Charles Hatton (Ben Kingsley) who loves money more than common sense hence the reason he is now worth billions. Leading the safaris and trying to maintain an ethical look under Hatton’s shadow is Travis Ryer (Edward Burns) who one day wants to use TimeSafari’s technology to better mankind.

As all these kinds of stories go, something goes terribly wrong and 2055 begins to change from what Ryer and Hatton remember it being. Ryer teams up with a revolutionary scientist Sonia Rand (Catherine McCormack) to uncover what went wrong on their last safari and to fix it if they can.

We have seen this kind of time-travel story before or is it just me that all time machine stories are basically the same. Anyways that is the least of the film’s problems.

Let us examine some of the obvious problems with the film.

One, the visual effects away are juvenile at best. Some of creature effects are passable and interesting but also utterly soulless and stiff in places.

It is almost like the studio forgot to finish some of the effects. Also, why did two of the major conversations in the film have to be staged in the middle of busy street that is filmed in front of horrendously bad blue screen?

The second is the implausibility of how things change when time is altered. The film says that time changes like ripples when a stone hits water thus the explanation for the film’s utterly stupid “time waves”. It doesn’t make sense then there is all the other sci-fi techno babble that is just so baffling.

Thirdly there is the production design from the goofy plastic helmets, toy laser rifles made from some bad plastic, the ridiculous “ape-tors” who hunt our heroes, and of course Ben Kingsley “jet-white” spiked hair. I do have to say the helmets and guns do look like they were stolen from the wardrobe of the classic Irwin Allen TV series, “Lost in Space”.

Fourth, the script is just so bad I had a hard time listening to any of these people and furthermore the acting was wooden and vacuous. Even Kingsley looked bored beyond all recognition.

I could go on and on about more ridiculous and awful things in this film but some you just have to see to believe. Like how about a love scene without even a single kiss? And, no, there was no time machine involved.

I like Edward Burns but would somebody get this man a real agent because his imaginary friend just isn’t doing the proper job. After this and “15 Minutes”, Edward Burns will be working on the Lifetime Network before he can say “cheese”. I often refer to the Lifetime Network as the network where good actors go to die.

I have liked a lot of director Peter Hyams films dating all the way back to 1978’s “Capricorn One”. Actually there have been a lot of his films which I would think would make good rentals including 1981’s “Outland”, 1984’s “2010: The Year We Make Contact”, 1986’s “Running Scared”, 1988’s “The Presidio”, 1992’s “Stay Tuned”, 1994’s “Timecop” and 1997’s “The Relic”. The man isn’t a genius behind the camera but he has done a lot of good B-movies and some memorable flicks.

But after this movie, 1999’s “End of Days” and 2001’s “The Musketeer”, Hyams needs to take a vacation and maybe one day soon he will bring back the fun B-films of yesterday that he was good at making.

This film’s only redeeming feature is probably the dusty, dated original short story written by Ray Bradbury.

1 out of 5

So Says the Soothsayer.

L’any 1996 Tom Petty composava la banda sonora del film She’s The One (Ella Es Única), cinta dirigida pel realitzador nord-americà Edward Burns i protagonitzada per Jeniffer Aniston, Cameron Diaz i el propi Ed Burns. El tema central de la pel·lícula és aquest esplèndid “Walls”. Com a curiositat citar que al vídeo també hi apareixen els protagonistes del film.

Echelon Conspiracy may be a little rough around the edges, but the fighting sequences were very impressive and the main story was quite interesting.

My rating

If you have never heard of Echelon Conspiracy is probably because it was only released for one week in about 400 theaters in late February 2009. The movie only made about $500,000 in the US, it actually made more money abroad where it was released for longer than a week. Believe it or not, that happens a lot with American movies.

Echelon Conspiracy is the story of a young network administrator who unexpectedly receives a cell phone by mail then soon after begins receiving strange text messages instructing him to do seemingly random things. The text messages would advise him on when stock prices would go up, when computerized slot machines would pay out and it would even tell him when to bet big during a blackjack game.

The story revolves around an investigation on trying to find out who is sending the messages. However, when the FBI learns that the messages are coming from Langley the investigation is halted. Instead they begin a different investigation to find out who has broken into Echelon, the NSA’s communication computer. The story becomes a pretty decent action adventure after the kid is finally caught. Although not perfect, the director does a good job at keeping you guessing who the good guys and the bad guys are.

The producers of this movie do an okay job at keeping the suspense through out the movie, however the acting is very week and that leads to a lot of confusion during the film. Regardless, the story is quite entertaining. I am not sure how plausible it is, but who cares, it’s a movie. While this movie wasn’t as good as Eagle Eye or Enemy of the State, it did borrow some elements from both, however they managed to keep it fresh and not appear to have been stolen.

The movie features some pretty cool fighting scenes, some of the best fighting scenes I have seen since the Bourne series. There were some decent car chases and some very cool plot twists. In all it’s not a bad film.

The film does feel a little amateurish, I am not convinced it wasn’t, but that is fine. Greg Marcks, the director of this film only has two other films under his belt. In my opinion Greg is still learning the ropes, however, I do see a good future for him.

Silly, ridiculous and ultimately harmless, One Missed Call is a throwaway horror flick that provides nothing by way of scares and quite a few unintentional laughs. It is a completely harmless motion picture, save for that the fact that it was made and cost money in the first place, so it’s a little hard to get too steamed about its lack of coherence and decent chills.

As yet another American remake of a Japanese horror film, One Missed Call takes many of the elements from Takashi Miike’s 2004 version and creates a palatable softcore horror movie that relies on creepy visuals and a cell phone ringtone that is supposed to signify impending doom. The usual trappings of American remakes of J-Horror are all here, including creepy children, strange sounds, funny-looking eyeballs and strange objects coming out of peoples’ mouths.

Directed by Eric Valette (who?), One Missed Call stars Shannyn Sossamon as Beth Raymond. Beth is a girl who is disturbed by the deaths of four friends after learning that they’d each received cell phone calls from themselves in the future prior to their untimely deaths. In each case, the victim sees strange apparitions shortly before they die. Beth reports the problem to the cops, who essentially treat her like some kind of nut.

The heroic and dashing Detective Jack Andrews (Edward “What Am I Doing In This Movie?” Burns) is the only one to believe her and he takes Beth at her word. Jack’s sister died in similar fashion, so he’s got a vested interest in the case. The two of them take to solving the case, only to discover that Beth’s cell phone soon delivers that same eerie ringtone and that she might be next. It’s a race against time and awful special effects as Beth and Jack must discover who is placing these death calls and why.

To say that One Missed Call was disliked by critics would be an understatement. It scooped a whopping 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, which I think is slightly too low but may have a lot to do with the fact that it wasn’t screened for critics ahead of time. That’s never a good sign. One Missed Call is a bad movie, don’t get me wrong, and there’s no way I can recommend it to people who actually enjoy good horror or good films, but it wasn’t the most terrible movie of 2008.

It’s actually a fair shade better then this year’s brutally awful The Haunting in Connecticut, as it doesn’t waste time setting up any characters or giving us stupid moments of development or overly dramatic nonsense. One Missed Call is silly the whole way through and its payoff is about on par for how Valette has set the whole thing up. Sure, it’s a ludicrous mess of a movie with uninteresting acting and bad effects, but it’s relatively undisruptive and doesn’t take too much attention to get through.

Like most American remakes of J-Horror, One Missed Call is an exercise in “dark” atmospherics and not plot and character development. These characters are essentially worthless objects, with no spark and no energy whatsoever. There’s nothing to them and the performers behind them do nothing to bring any sort of force or significance to their existence. They seemingly exist just as observers of the smoggy sort of world Valette wants us to find creepy.

Of course, I was at least grateful that the film didn’t contain countless time-wasting meanderings about the significance of this person or that person. I was relieved that the silliness didn’t seem to get in the way of something and I was glad that Valette didn’t force-feed the audience a ridiculously long runtime or an overabundance of “meaning.” One Missed Call is ultimately meaningless, a waste of time and money entirely but far from the worst horror movie in recent years.

1.2/10

Trailer:

I’m not one to brag but I’m a glutton for punishment.  At least when it comes to my fav actors.  I have wasted endless hours on pointless, rambling, disturbing pieces of celluloid trash in the name of supporting them.  You’d think I’d have gotten wiser in my advancing years.  For the most part, yes.  But when it comes to the stubbly planes of Clive Owen’s manly cheeks, um, no.

So I’ll save you the disappointment of sitting through this underacted, meandering excuse for a big screen vehicle for Julia Roberts.  Yes, she looks fabulous.  Yes, he looks more fabulous.  I’d like to have a word with both their agents on this one.  While Duplicity claims to be a smart, sexy caper movie, it lumbers along with you wondering why the hell you’re still watching it.

The real crime of this movie?  Having the calibre of actors like Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti and pushing their far more interesting battle of wits as corperate head honchos in the skincare industry aside for the tepid romantic daisy pulling of Owens and Roberts.  If you want a tightly written, sharp, wonderfully cast and acted con movie without too much higher Hollywood paparazzi glitz, rent 2003’s Confidence with Rachel Weisz and Edward Burns (and Paul Giamatti).  If you want a messier, wants-to-prove-its-smarter-than-you-but-damn-pretty film, go back and watch Clooney, Pitts, et al in their Ocean’s Movies.  Ocean’s Eleven is still a good choice just for the airport scenes.

Leave Duplicity for a night that you want a little help falling asleep.  (Sorry, Clive!)  SKIP IT!

7 Degrees of Giamatti!  Clive Owen & Paul Giamatti:  Shoot ‘EM Up! (Mindless, gratuitously violent fun!), Paul Giamatti solo: Sideways (“I’m not drinking F***** merlot!”), Paul Giamatti obscuro & Julia Roberts: My Best Friend’s Wedding (Classic creampuff rom com).

Pick Instead:  Confidence  with Rachel Weisz, Edward Burns, Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman just to name a few.

Came across a 2-page “special advertising section” for Grey Goose Vodka entitled “On the Terrace with Edward Burns” in the new Vanity Fair. The copy begins, “Filmmaker and actor Edward Burns enjoys getting together with friends old and new in New York’s Southampton. Here he shares a few of his entertaining principles that make everyday occasions extra special…”

This badly cropped photo doesn’t really convey the expansiveness of the ad’s outdoor gathering, which is apparently taking place on a fabulous bi-level terrace attached to a fabulous duplex.

It’s the tagline that got to me: “The perfect evening is one that reminds you that you don’t need to leave home to have a good time.” — Edward Burns

Very true if your home is as grand as this one, but for those of us living in less exalted digs, the perfect evening often involves escaping the claustrophobia of one’s tiny combination living room/kitchen/dining area. Bah.

On to happier things: Saw the film “(500) Days of Summer” and liked it much better than I thought I would. (The commercials, like all movie commercials, made it look a bit twee.)  As for the immensely likable Joseph Gordon-Levitt, isn’t he already the object of many crushes? His attractively lovelorn “(500) Days” character should win him a whole slew of obsessive fans. Good luck with that, buddy.

Eu pensei em indicar esse filme como Melhor Sing-along, mas o espírito de ‘Eu canto tudo errado! E daí?’ colocou-me no caminho certo.

E já que estamos falando em versões, que tal Sr Elton John com Cher…

…e Christina?

PS1: Essa é a típica comedinha romântica que a gente adora – pelos diálogos, pelos amigos engraçados e pelo casalzinho (que, neste caso, ganha mais pontos por ser a fofa da Izzie).

Exemplo 1: Quando a amiga, interpretada por Judy Greer (ela é sempre a melhor amiga), cobra da Jane posicionamento: He asks if you want a drink. You smile and say, ‘Vodka soda.’ If you already have a drink, you down it. Then there’s some flirting, some interoffice sex, an accidental pregnancy, a shot gun wedding, and a life of bliss. How many times do we have to go over this? 

Exemplo 2: A melhor parte de um casamento na versão…

- de Jane (representando as mulheres): You know how the bride makes her entrance and everybody turns to look at her? That’s when I look at the groom. Cause his face says it all you know? The pure love there.

- de Kevin ( homens!): When the bride comes in and she makes her giant grand entrance, I like to glance back at the poor bastard getting married. Cause even though I think he’s an idiot for willingly entering into the last legal form of slavery, he always looks really, really happy.

PS2: Malin Akerman repete a personagem descontrolada e chata de Antes Só do que Mal Casado. A diferença é que nesse último ela é menos bitch e mais engraçada:

“The Echelon Conspiracy” like “Spring Breakdown” shows a growing trend of making theatrical level films that end up going straight to Blu Ray. The aspect here is a fairly good cast and nice locations despite a somewhat basic storyline. The throughline follows a computer that is supposed to be a watch dog for the NSA and protect the freedom of Americans. It starts operating outside its parameters on its own which we eventually find is a glitch in its programming. It traces the government involvement in cover-ups which brings to mind HAL’s conundrum in “2001″. Now this is an adequate perception and the film does not play it over the top. It keeps its progression fairly rooted in reality although the eventual resolution and placement of a Russian operative seems a little suspect.

Shane West, who hasn’t been seen as much lately, places a young ex-NSA operative who happens to be picked by the computer to become the recipient of money although the perceptions of the machine and why it is texting him specifically do not seem to make much sense. That said the surrounding direct circle of Ving Rhames and Ed Burns and the peripheral parts of Jonathan Pryce and Martin Sheen throw some definite acting chops into the selection. Granted with some points (especially with Rhames and Sheen) you can see a slight wincing in the dialogue despite the fact that it serves the plot. The shooting in St. Petersburg Square in Moscow, like many more high budgeted films, gives the production a sense of scope and a very techno-based but very “Bourne”-like score along with a very fluid but subtle visual style  gives the film an specific edge.

“The Echelon Conspiracy” is entertaining at times because it is not too intrinsic, doesn’t take itself too seriously and has the right amount of fun. While on an opening weekend it might get lost, it is a nice effective “night at the movies” at home which is sometimes lost on the big budget spectacles. People need simple pleasures and a mid budget thriller like this one (which brings to mind how “Taken” was made) shows an efficiency and clarity of filmmaking because it knows what it is. Out of 5, I give it a 2 1/2.

Don’t answer the phone with the creepy ring-tone! Regardless of whether your phone is smashed, dead or turned off this spirit will call and then collect.

Weird things start happening when a circle of friends begin receiving weird voice messages of their own last moments alive.  Dated in the near future, they try and avoid death while seeing weird people with burnt and mangled faces everywhere they go.  After their untimely demise, the spirit uses their phone to update its own contact list.

Its the usual ghost in the phone scenario, with limited gore and a surprisingly detailed plot .  Stand-out is when Beth has an encounter with a corpse in an air vent. 

Once the identity of the spirit is revealed, its all downhill- so enjoy the suspense while it lasts.

This movie is best watched at night but will make you think twice before using the door peephole again.

4/5

-Mrs Ford

looks like fashion has poised a return for the supermodels after all. the legendary christy turlington covers the latest issue of vogue. the issue is the publications yearly, age issue- which chronicles beauty at every age. many may not know but christy turlington is married to actor edward burns (google him) & also has a masters in public health. not only is she an icon but also a mother, a wife & intelligent. all the makings of what a true supermodel is. christy is, literally, timeless- i dont give a fuck! she’s beautiful & will remain so for, i believe, all of her life & mine & beyond. christy is represented by ford model management & the photos for the latest vogue cover, seen above- as well as the editorial images were shot be steven klein. effortlessly chic, confidently gorgeous & totally iconic. christy is one bad bitch though. cant no one deny that.

imagesource | models.com

And I mean it in the most affectionate way.Well,most of the time…
Some people lead glamorous lives and live to talk about it. These are talented and driven people who have had the guts to try again and again until they’ve made it. These are the people who actually risked poverty (no,I am not being dramatic…OK-maybe a tad…), faced constant rejection and came back on top. My list has a lot of names,whose jobs I wanna have. Why do I feel they screwed me over? Because I know that there are people out there who made it,so I am tempted to try. Because I know am never gonna be satisfied with a simple paycheck and two days free in a week-and this is if you are lucky-in a city where there is so much traffic that you spend half your life on vehicles…Would I be considered such a dreamer had these people not existed? I don’t know…All I know is, life would be so much more boring.

So let’s start with the criteria: people like Gwyneth Paltrow don’t count. Born to parents in movie business??? So she is pretty and can act, but she has had the connections first!!!

So let’s go…I respect and admire all the people I mention here. They are not in some sort of admiration order…

1) Edward Burns: actor/director/writer/producer

Edward Burns

Jon Bon Jovi

So he did have this cousin or something who worked in a record studio but that didn’t really help Jon gain anything apart from observing rockers, cleaning the floors and yeah-recording at night when the place was empty. He worked at crappy jobs and worked his ass off to get noticed by the music industry. He started from 0, made all his dreams come true…Hell, the guy went beyond his dreams. He is the singer of my favorite band ever, he writes most of the songs and when he’s not touring or recording with the band, he is acting. He started acting from scratch too. He has played in a number of movies, got both big and small roles. He even co-stars in one of Edward Burns’ movies.Gotta respect this guy…

3) Timothy Ferris: entrepreneur,writer,wrestler,tango dancer,actor…

Up until April, I had a regular office job. I didn’t like it, I just needed it to save money. Time lost in traffic and lone lunches ( my co-workers weren’t really outgoing)  gave me a lot time to read…I decided it was research time. I was buying anything I could get my hands on about writing, getting published and freelancing.And this guy had written the marketing book with the most appealing title ever: The 4-Hour Work Week. The cover included a hammock…The more I read, the more hooked I got. He had started out as a guy who worked in an office. Then he realized he wanted more to his life.  Are you wondering how he managed to pull more titles than Jon and Ed combined? He founded his own business. Became his own boss. Of course the process that led to this is complicated and I’ll be covering his book in a post dedicated to it alone. But let me just say, he now has enough money and time go and dance the Tango in Argentina, learn languages,star in TV shows in Asia and become a professional wrestler. He talks about how we can market our ideas and turn it into cash, how we don’t need to be millionaires to live like them and well…isn’t it enough?

But the guy with the most imitable strategies is not doubt Ferriss. Edward was lucky enough to be born in New York. Jon had the relative’s studio to wipe the floors of. Tim is a businessman. He is self-made.  He has trained himself in so many areas and he has been having the time of his life ever since he set up his business. I don’t have Jon’s voice or musical talent. I don’t have the 25.000 $ Ed used to shoot his first movie “The Brothers McMullen” . Don’t get me wrong, he accomplished a major thing. However, 25.000 $ is a huge sum to me and to a lot of people but in Hollywood terms,it is nothing. He managed to scrape it together. Do you know his modest movie earned? 10,000,000 $ !!!! You can calculate the profits,right? His second movie had Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Anniston. But I don’t have any resources to get that money. If I do find 25 grand, it will be spent on one of the film schools I’ve been dying to go to. So I will combine everything I’ve learned from Tim, plus the drive and the relentlessness of Ed and Jon and fingers crossed, I will make my own dreams come true. What are they? Apart from becoming the female Ed Burns of my generation? To become a best-seller novelist, a freelance non-fiction writer for all my favorite magazines, a great dancer, speaker of 4 different languages, a really good-guitar player….Oh I have more. If you think I am wasting time writing this blog, you are wrong. The thing is, I have already gotten to work. Blogging is a part of the plan.

Now tell me, what are you waiting for?

]]> http://peach78.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/edward-burns-particular-voice/ Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:27:35 +0000 Alice http://peach78.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/edward-burns-particular-voice/

I am watching a movie, Purple Violets written and directed by Edward Burns. He also has a part in the movie. I’ve always been fascinated by his particular voice. I don’t even know how to describe it. I don’t know if it’s manly, but it’s part sweet and part grave. I first discovered Edward Burns and his voice in 15 Minutes movie. Then I found out that the guy has Irish roots, he was born a January 29′th (like my father) and he is married to supermodel Christy Turlington.
Returning to his voice… I think it’s very special and it really stands apart.