Well, ladies and germs, it’s almost Christmas time, so I suppose it’s time for me to review an uplifting film for a change. I am not keen on watching too many actual Christmas movies, considering that most of them leave a taste in my mouth I could only liken to that of a candy cane found in a dead man’s chest cavity, so I’ll instead opt to just write a review on a movie that is not about murder or bizarre sexual practices. Disney’s Invincible is one of those feel-good movies, a movie that makes you believe that you can do anything if you try hard enough, even if it just isn’t possible in any realistic sensibility. It also tries to remind us that second chances ARE possible, despite our high-minded cynicism. It’s an unreasonably bland affair, other than the message of hope, with not that much to bolster its 90 minute run time besides a plot so hardwired to the tracks that changing the course with original thoughts might just be structurally impossible. But, in this instance, that isn’t such a bad thing.

The plot is based on the true story of the 1976 Philadelphia Football Team With Some Mascot I Can’t Think Of At The Moment. Their team sucks big time, embarrassing the city and all the owners. So, in a desperate bid for success, they try something SO CRAZY THAT IT JUST MIGHT WORK; they actually start open tryouts for people to play on their NFL team. The one guy they cull from the droves of idiots and not-quites is Vince Papale, a 30 year old Philly native who has the drive to win and a burning desire to prove himself. His life has hit the skids since his wife left him, his teaching job fell through, and he was reduced to bartending at a local pub recently to keep himself afloat. He is a long shot, being a little old to start out as a rookie, but that won’t stop him, and maybe nothing will. But desperate coach Dick Vermeil will ride this guy’s ass until he’s ready to quit; can these two take each other to the Playoffs in 1976? Or is Vince too old to start a new career as a guy who gets beat to shit for a living?

There goes my cynicism again! And I JUST finished watching this movie! In spite of my misgivings, it actually is a very inspiring movie. Much like the Disney movies of old, I was moved to go out and do something with myself after I got done with it. The “based on a true story” aspect of it is really the neat part. Someone with a dream and a lot of initiative actually made it into the NFL, beating out all other prospective hopefuls and joining the ranks of legendary football players like (and these are just off the top of my head) Dan Marino, Johnny Unitas, um, Babe Ruth, Pelé, and Winston Churchill, I think. It makes you feel like any day could be the day you turn your life around. I think the world needs a little more of that, even if it’s from a predictable football movie.

The movie is really sold by Mark Wahlberg. His Vince Papale is as earnest as can be, and a real charmer to boot. The first part of the film, watching Papale’s life fall apart, wasn’t pretty to watch, and he made us feel it personally with his body language and an impressive failure in his eyes. It is a role that seems to define his later career, that of the put-upon man looking for some sort of redemption. But here he certainly gets it and then some as an actor. Greg Kinnear shines as similarly put-upon coach of the Philadelphia Platypi (is that it?), but he doesn’t fare as well. The problem is that his hard-ass coach role has been filed by so many more impressive performances over the years, like Gene Hackman or Denzel Washington, that this seems sort of an afterthought to have him here. I would have much rather seen Robert Patrick as the hard-ass coach than nonthreatening Greg Kinnear. I could kill Greg Kinnear with my left thigh alone, so watching him coach fully grown large men without a larger-than-life attitude to back it up is a little weak. And Elizabeth Banks shows up as a love interest for Vince to look really pretty. She can’t even really look too HOT, since this is a Disney movie, so her contributions are scanty at best.

Invincible isn’t really a movie to dwell on too much. It’s a sports movie where a guy gets everything he wanted after living a life of poverty and loneliness. We get it, nobody will be surprised at the ideas being put forth, and this will end up as a movie sold at Wal Mart around 3:28 in the morning. But Invincible has a spirit that a lot of movies today have lost in their pessimism. It gently reminds us of a most valuable lesson, that it’s never too late to take your life in your hands and go for it; there are no rules in our hearts, just the limits we build around it. I enjoyed that immensely, even though I thought most everything else was trending towards the mediocre, including the soundtrack, most of the acting, and the incredibly boring direction. All in all, though, Invincible still gets 6 1/2 Philadelphia Platypi out of 10!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so I will be very curious as to what I watch! Hopefully it’s something positive and uplifting! Until then!!

Flash of Genius is the based-on-a-true story of Robert Kearns, who went up against the Ford Motor Company for the misuse of his windshield wiper patent –”The Kearns Blinking Eye Wiper”, a mechanically timed windshield wiper that pauses between wipes. Snore. Already the premise is not winning, but the character of Robert Kearns is a fascinating character study to stick around for.

Kearns (Greg Kinnear), is an inventor whose greatest fear is being taken advantage of once he’s invented something successful. He wonders aloud to his wife (Lauren Graham) what is it that truly makes a man successful and reasons that if he’s not properly credited for his inventions, he’s liable to go insane as many of his colleagues have. In the college class he teaches, he even stipulates that it was individual men, not groups of people, who invented or instigated the successful innovations of history.

Because of a wedding night accident with a champagne cork, (funny, but not what you think), his left eye blinks out of rhythm. This malfunction enables an epiphany while driving on one rainy afternoon: why can’t a windshield wiper act more like the human eyelid?

He’s off and running after that, with his four kids (who he refers to as “The Corporation”, they help in planning out many of the business decisions that come down the line) assisting in his workshop, where he eventually masters the timing mechanism, ensuing family celebrations outside in the rain, dancing with joy.

Kearns and longtime friend Gil Previk (Dermot Mulroney) meet with the Research and Development at Ford. Still fearful of being taken advantage of, he stands them a good 20 feet away from the prototype for the demonstration. They’re impressed with his ingenuity and he’s soon off to meet with the Ford suits themselves to discuss business. Kearns is just as wary, (while Gil is casually enthused) when in the middle of talks, Ford wants the prototype to send to Washington. Trusting Gil’s business sense, he reluctantly agrees to do so. However not long after doing this, he receives word from Previk that Ford no longer wants to deal. Kearns becomes fearful and incensed, his previous optimism giving way to full anger and paranoia. Eighteen months later, the final piece of the puzzle is laid in place: standing on a rainy street corner, he sees a brand new ‘65 Ford Mustang with working, pausing, windshield wipers.

Gil and his lawyers want to hold back from filing a suit, and regrettably his family feels this way too. No one at that time would even think of taking on a large corporation like Ford. Kearns, determined not to go insane like his predecessors, refuses to settle for very comfortable amounts of money, and instead drives full ahead to get get Ford to admit it’s thievery through legal action.

Though played convincingly and sympathetically by Greg Kinnear, the real Robert Kearns seemed to be even stranger than was shown on the screen. According to the Washington Post obituary, by 1967 he had over 30 patents on windshield wipers and yet still pursued Ford and other companies over the intermittent windshield wiper, straight up until his death by brain cancer brought on by Alzheimer’s in 2005. It eventually cost him his relationship with his wife who filed for divorce in 1989 and a strained relationship with his children. The issue of the patent had become his life at the expense of everything else it seems.

When Director Marc Abrahams presented the script to a studio chief at Universal Studios he was told it was not an easy script to work with and that Kearns was not a “likeable man”. This is true up to a point, as I believe he very much loved his family, but couldn’t often get them to reconcile with his pursuit of truth in a patent. It would’ve been good for the movie to have focused on his mental illness aspect for more than the few cursory scenes they’ve given, and examine how much of his drive and single mindedness was powered by what he was so afraid of succumbing to.

Syracuse, NY — This morning, a mini snow storm hit the Syracuse area. When I walked outside to my car at 7:45, the entire thing was covered in a 2-3 inches of powder.Freezing rain was coming down. Using the sleeve of my jacket, I brushed away some of the snow on the front door.  The parking lot in my development was  full of slosh. James Street wasn’t any better.  When I finally cracked open the door,I tossed my bag inside and grabbed my red scraper/brush. It took me 10 minutes or so to clean before I hit the road.

On a good day, my drive to campus takes less than 10 minutes. Today it took me 30. My front wheel drive Mitsubishi didn’t fare well in the poorly plowed roads. Neither did a bunch of Saturn’s, Honda’s and pickup trucks involved in accidents or stranded on  the side of the road. To add  insult to injury, my car doesn’t have intermittent windshield wipers. The car was made in 2002. Intermittent wipers were invented in 1969 (not 1953, thank you @jfm2k1).

“Flash of Genius,” with Greg Kinnear, is a great film that “focuses on Robert Kearns and his legal battle against the Ford Motor Company when they developed an intermittent windshield wiper based on ideas the inventor had patented.”

As I sat in traffic, I had to keep switching my wipers from fast to slow to stop the smearing. Eventually I made it to campus. I was 15 minutes late to class, but I made it. I now have a new found appreciation for intermittent wipers and Mr. Kearns.

- east coast paper boy

The first poster has been released for next year’s The Last Song, which was written by Nicholas Sparks and is starring Miley Cyrus alongside Greg Kinnear.

I am really looking forward to this, I love Nicholas Sparks based movies and I am a big fan of Miley Cyrus.

Or am I just seeing things?  You decide.

Rachel McAdams modeling our Queensboro Classic Women’s Tee, Style 7710

Josh Hopkins, who recently appeared in the fantastic Lifetime Movie “The 12 Men of Christmas,”  and who has a recurring role on Courtney Cox’s “Cougartown.”  He’s wearing our Tall Classic Tee, style 7051.

Greg Kinnear modeling the Queensboro Pocket Tee, style 7704  He’ll be starring with Miley Cyrus in the new Nicholas Sparks Movie “The Last Song” due out in April.

Katherine Heigl wearing, of all things, Queensboro scrubs, style 1985.

Kevin McKidd, Heigl’s co-star on Grey’s Anatomy, wearing our Raglan Baseball Tee, style 7035

James Lafferty, of locally-produced show “One Tree Hill,” in the Tall Mesh Pique Polo, style 1010.

Ok, now take our poll:

Based on best-selling novelist Nicholas Sparks’ (“A Walk to Remember,” “The Notebook”) latest novel, THE LAST SONG is set in a small Southern beach town where an estranged father (GREG KINNEAR) gets a chance to spend the summer with his reluctant daughter (MILEY CYRUS), who’d rather be home in New York. He tries to reconnect with her through the only thing they have in common—music—in a story of family, friendship, secrets and salvation, along with first loves and second chances. The film is directed by Julie Anne Robinson from a screenplay by Spars & Jeff Van Wie.

Website:

http://www.thelastsongmovie.com
http://www.twitter.com/TheLastSong

Starring:

Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth, Bobby Coleman, Hallock Beals, Nick Lashaway, Carly Chaikin, Nick Searcy, Kate Vernon, with Kelly Preston and Greg Kinnear

Screenplay By:

Nicholas Sparks and Jeff Van Wie

Directed By:

Julie Anne Robinson

Produced By:

Adam Shankman, Jennifer Gibgot

Rating:                                      PG

Release Date:                            April 2, 2010

http://wdmp-wdsmp.rd.llnw.net/wdsmp/TheLastSong/TrailerOne/LastSong_Trlr1_Low.mov

Plot: Five men wake up in a locked-down warehouse with no memory of who they are. They are forced to figure out who is good and who is bad to stay alive.

Genre: Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Rating: ********** 6.6/10

Director: Simon Brand

Starring: James Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Bridget Moynahan

Misc.: IMDB.COM,

Google keyword Search : Unknown.2006.LIMITED.DVDRip.XviD-DiAMOND

Wasn’t planning on posting this now, but an historic moment has arrived: my first blog post while airborne, thanks the the good people at Google and Virgin America. Too bad the movie sucks.

Two from Robert Benton, two days in a row, starting with the more recent of the two: Feast of Love. A weird film; one would expect something quite a bit more substantial and not so stacked with sophistry from an experienced director and pretty solid cast. Morgan Freeman is basically “God” again, offering the hollow voiceover about the Greek gods and how they invented love, what a mess it turned out to be, etc., etc. Could be argued that the camera work is trying to mimic the way in which Greek gods might observe us silly human lovers: constantly moving in and out, side to side, giving that transient quality to everything it sees. Life occurs, then rinses itself off, then repeats. The movement isn’t as fluid as an Altman or as jagged as a Cuarón; seems overall noncommittal, confused. The film professes to profess wisdom, and thanks to Freeman it might well get away with it for gullible audiences. The actors, the clichés, and the nudity factor are likely to keep plenty interested in this truly uninteresting film. Hard to value something for pointing out facts that a day in the real world with an ounce of common sense makes quite obvious. Sounds like the definition of “pretentious”.

Ghost Town è un film del 2008 scritto da John Kampse e Davdi Koepp e diretto dallo stesso David Koepp.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Ricky Gervais | Greg Kinnear | David Koepp | Téa Leoni

As I was about to call it a day, I saw a video link from a Facebook Page I joined called “Definitely Filipino” about the CNN Hero of the Year. It say’s: Acceptance speech of OUR 2009 CNN HERO and the thumbnail picture of Efren Penaflorida was attached to it.

Prior to being feted as such, Efren is relatively unknown. At such a young age of 28, he has accomplished something that not many people his age or even older had accomplished or will ever accomplish in their entire life..that is, changing the lives of others–for the better.

He created the group called “Dynamic Teen Company” which aims to teach basic reading and writing to children living on the streets in the hope that it will be a diversion to hooking up into gang activities like vandalizing, bullying others or even raping young girls.

Their classroom is a ubiquitous push cart wherein volunteers teach children with age ranging from 2-14 years old. Since 1997, approximately 10,000 members had taught over 1,500 “children of the slums”. To sustain this activity, they make and sell crafts or collecting items to recycle.

Moreover, those children that they taught upon getting the inspiration to learn more and strive to have a better life has also become volunteers for future students.

CNN selected 10 nominees for this year’s Hero of the Year which is now on it’s 3rd year. These Heroes as what the tagline says “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Impact” was selected by a distinguished panel comprising of leaders and humanitarians such as Gen. Colin Powell, Whoopi Goldberg, Sir Elton John, Phil Jackson, Shakira among others.

The Gala Tribute attended by an audience of 3,000 was held in Kodak Theatre, Hollywood last Saturday, November 21 and will have its premiere on Thanksgiving, November 26.

Apart from the prestigious recognition, Efren received USD 100,000 to continue his advocacy. More than 2.75 million votes were received online in CNN.com in a span of 7 weeks. Proof of the impact CNN Heroes of the year has brought us in 3 years time.

Presenters include Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Neil Patrick Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes, Randy Jackson, Greg Kinnear, George Lopez and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Here is Efren’s acceptance speech. While delivering it, he was visibly shaken and emotional maybe upon realizing he won such a great recognition and soon will be watched by millions of people worldwide.

“Our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes. We are one great tapestry,” Peñaflorida said upon accepting the honor. “Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have to look inside you and search it in your heart, and be the hero to the next one in need.”

“So to each and every person inside in this theater and for those who are watching at home, the hero in you is waiting to be unleashed. Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve. As I always tell to my co-volunteers … you are the change that you dream as I am the change that I dream and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be.”

His speech is short but so meaningful and inspirational. May this recognition give him and his team more energy and passion to continue helping needy children have the education they deserve. It is such a pride and honor to the Filipino people to be given such award. Hope this would also open the eyes of many of us to help someone in need whenever we can. All the small efforts we exerted can be a life-changing experience for others.

For the full story of the CNN Hero of the Year gala night, please click the link below.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/11/16/cnnheroes.tribute.show/index.html

Update: According to ABS-CBN news report, Efren said 90% of the prize money will go to his organization and the remaining 10% to the Church and none for him..really a selfless act. May your tribe increase.

Mabuhay ka Efren! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay ang lahing  Pilipino!

Cuando uno era jovenzano estaba de moda la música de un fulano con bombachos y gafas que con una canción llamada U can’t touch this copaba las listas de éxitos del mercachifleo musical. Como es obvio, aclamado como precursor del rap y el hip-hop, el tipo en cuestión fue olvidado como siempre en estos casos justo al cuarto de hora de su éxito. Perplejo se quedó quien escribe cuando, todavía de joven y para más inri, en una de las millonésimas reposiciones de El equipo A que emitía (y sigue emitiendo) cierto canal televisivo español con cierta inclinación a lo cutre, descubrió este tema del ya fallecido (pero no creemos que por eso) Rick James, Super Freak, todo un homenaje a sí mismo (mucho ojito, que aunque el meloncio éste gaste semejante pinta en la foto, en sus inicios compartió grupo con todo un Neil Young), en un capítulo que contaba con el intérprete en un pequeño papel. Luego resultó evidente que M. C. Hammer había destrozado la (ya de por sí triste) canción de James para “rapear” (en esa asquerosa moda consistente en tomar una melodía de éxito y devaluarla poniéndole chumba chumbas varios, costumbre convertida en habitual ya y a la que se ha consagrado lo más vomitivo del espectro musical mundial, empezando por ese engendro llamado Madonna), despojándola, eso sí, de la guasa con que se la tomaba el autor original.

Avispados, los responsables de Pequeña Miss Sunshine, esa joya de la comedia dramática dirigida por Jonathan Dayton y Valerie Faris en 2006 recuperaron la versión original para la escena final, el número musical de la pequeña Olive (Abigail Breslin) en el certamen de belleza infantil con cuyo despliegue coreográfico ensayado durante horas en compañía de su abuelo, habitual de los bares de strip-tease, la niña escandaliza a la concurrencia y defeca virtualmente sobre semejante bochorno de concurso (lo cual es extensible a los de la misma especie protagonizados por mayores de edad).

Video Source: Yahoo! Movies

Here is trailer for “The Last Song” starring Miley Cyrus (“Hannah Montana”). “The Last Song” is the screen adaptation of Nicholas Spark’s book of the same name. Nicholas Sparks, author of “The Notebook” and “A Walk to Remember”, also co-wrote the screenplay for the film. “The Last Song” will be released in theaters on April 2, 2010. Full cast list can be found on IMDB.com.

Miley Cyrus has a lead role in the new Nicholas Sparks film (author of The Notebook) called The Last Song, about the teenage daughter of divorced parents who spends the summer at her dad’s beach house. This will be her biggest serious role, if you don’t count the Hannah Montana movie. Greg Kinnear plays the dad who is a pianist and wants her to follow in his footsteps. I won’t be seeing it.

This girl cracks me up. She has a #1 hit with Party in the USA and then says she’s never even heard a Jay-Z song. And she says it with no embarrassment at all. She just doesn’t care. And now she says she doesn’t like Twilight, has never seen the film or read the books and never will. She said, “I don’t believe in it. I don’t like vampires. I don’t like any of the stuff. I don’t like the wolf that pops out on the screen when I’m watching my TV at night. I don’t like it. I don’t want anything to do with it. I don’t like the shirts, I don’t like anything about it.”

It’s not that I care what she likes or doesn’t like, but I think it’s hilarious how she has no tact and doesn’t play the celebrity game of pretending to like everyone. She is, you could say, real and her real personality is a snotty brat. I kind of dig that she doesn’t pretend she’s not.

Here’s the trailer for the film, in case you care.

Little Miss Sunshine fait partie de ces films qui suscitent une forte réaction, surtout quand on avoue que non, on ne l’a toujours pas vu. Généralement, une exclamation en voix de tête du type : “QUOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIII??? Mais c’est TROP bien, il faut que tu le voies” avec 1 000 points d’exclamation derrière. Et ma sempiternelle réponse du “oui, oui, à l’occasion”…Il se trouve que l’occasion a pris la forme d’un DVD à 5€ à côté de chez moi, et surtout de mon sublime nouvel ordinateur, cadeau d’anniversaire de mon père, avec un écran qui fait honneur aux films (il faut dire que comme je ne regarde pas souvent la télé, je n’ai pas de lecteurs DVDs et mon poste est loin, mais alors vraiment très loin, des écrans plans qu’on voit en boutiques actuellement).

Alors comme souvent, quand on a tellement d’attentes d’un film, on reste un peu sur sa faim…Cela dit, dans la lignée de Away we go, la philosophie positive du film fait plaisir à voir.

Le pitch : le film tourne autour d’une famille composée d’un père qui prône la réussite en 9 étapes et qui est un loser fini, d’un fils qui a fait voeu de silence avant de rentrer dans la Airforce Academy et qui hait tout le monde, d’un grand-père libidineux qui se shoote à l’héro pour profiter de la vie, et de la mère qui fait le liant entre tous ces personnages. Là-dessus, son frère suicidaire se joint à la troupe, dont le dernier élément est la petite dernière, Olive, une petite fille de 7 ans. Pas très jolie, un peu ronde, elle gagne un concours de beauté de seconde zone et se retrouve qualifiée pour un concours de bien plus haut niveau, le concours de Little Miss Sunshine. Toute la famille se réunit donc pour lui permettre de participer à cette nouvelle aventure, et de concrétiser son rêve par la même occasion.

Il est faux de dire que c’est un film “drôle”, parce qu’il est à la fois drôle et touchant, triste, émouvant…Chaque personnage apporte une couleur particulière à ce film. Olive, bien que finalement assez peu présente, apporte un souffle de légèreté avec sa vision d’enfant et ses questions un peu naïves. Personnellement, j’ai particulièrement apprécié le personnage du frère, moine silencieux qui finit par rompre son vœu de silence dans un “FUCK” aussi monumental que libérateur…Le “Fuck” que tout le monde rêve de sortir au moins une fois dans sa vie….

Honnêtement, il y avait un moment où cette famille me semblait au-delà de tout espoir de réconciliation, et pourtant, à force de persévérance et de tolérance, non seulement ils y arrivent, mais c’est crédible ! Bref, un vrai moment délicieux, duquel on sort le sourire aux lèvres et l’optimisme gonflé à l’hélium…

La bande annonce de Little Miss Sunshine

Infos pratiques

Date de sortie cinéma : 6 septembre 2006
Film disponible en DVD depuis le : 21 mars 2007
Film disponible en Blu-ray depuis le : 11 février 2009

Réalisé par Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris

Avec Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Abigail Breslin
Durée : 1h40 min Année de production : 2005

Green Zone è un film thriller d’azione scritto da Brian Helgeland e diretto da Paul Greengrass.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Drammatico | Guerra | Paul Greengrass | Matt Damon | Jason Isaacs | Greg Kinnear

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JASON BORNE IS BACK, INO INO DATS AINT HIS NAME IN THIS FILM BUT WE ALL NO IT IS SERCRETLY

BUT THIS FILM DOES FEEL LIKE ITS BIN DONE ALREADY……….

Release Date: 12 March 2010
Cast: Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Antoni Corone
Genre: Drama | War
Director: Paul Greengrass
Writer: Brian Helgeland, based on the novel by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Studio: Universal Pictures

WWW.APBLOG.TK

A scant five days after the best movies of 2009 are crowned at the Academy Awards, a movie will be released that could have been among those.  ”Green Zone” was slated for release this year, but the decision was made to push it back to 2010.  This was probably for financial reasons as so many great movies get lost in the heap during the month of December, and this year has taught us that a movie can make a nice chunk of change in the early months of the year.

“Green Zone” reunites the versatile Matt Damon, who at the time of release could be fresh off an Oscar win or nomination for either “The Informant!” or “Invictus,” with Paul Greengrass, director of the final two installments of the Bourne trilogy.  But Greengrass is capable of making something other than an epic action movie; he was nominated for Best Director at the Academy awards in 2006 for his work on “United 93.”  Damon’s character Roy Miller is a U.S. Army officer in the volatile Green Zone region, the center of international presence in Baghdad, who discovers that the CIA is working directly in opposition to his efforts to remove terrorist leaders.  In order to do what he feels is the greater good, he goes rogue.  Featuring an ensemble cast including Brendan Gleeson, Jason Isaacs, and Oscar nominees Greg Kinnear and Amy Ryan, “Green Zone” can hopefully provide awards-level entertainment in the fairly barren winter months.

However, the movie being set in Iraq could hamper the film’s receipts.  There has yet to be any bonanza made off a movie set in the Middle East, and only recently has their been a movie, “The Hurt Locker,” that has opened to widespread critical acclaim (although I loved “The Kingdom” … never have I felt so patriotic).  That movie focused more on characters and not on action, and if the same applies to “Green Zone,” it should do fine.  Universal put out two trailers for the movie this week.  The domestic trailer makes it look more like the “Bourne” movies with plenty of action, while the international trailer focuses more on the plot.  I embedded the international trailer here because if you have read this blog at all, you know my main concern is story.  A side note/quick pondering, does this mean that Universal thinks that Americans only want action and no plot?  Whatever the case may be for “Green Zone,” I’m sold.

The Last Song è un film di Julie Anne Robinson del 2010

Leggi altre notizie su: | Drammatico | Julie Anne Robinson | Miley Cyrus | Greg Kinnear | Kelly Preston

Jim Henson’s world famous Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Elmo, Grover, and Oscar with all their friends will be partying big time! Today Sesame Street is celebrating Big Bird’s birthday. Then on November 10th children’s television longest running program Sesame Street is celebrating its 40th Anniversary with a brand new program format and two new books. Over 30 stars will be in the shows this coming year including Cameron Diaz, Michelle Obama, Adam Sandler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kobe Bryant, Eva Longoria, Christina Applegate, Ricky Gervais, and Greg Kinnear.

The 122 Emmy Award winning program is changing smartly with the times. “While maintaining an emphasis on the importance of literacy and numeracy, the new season kicks-off “My World is Green & Growing,” a two-year science initiative designed to increase positive attitudes towards nature, deepen children’s knowledge about the natural world and encourage behavior that shows respect and care for the environment.” (From Link here.)

Have you noticed Big Bird On Google? It’s really cute! Check it out here! (I don’t know how long it will be there.)

Happy Birthday, Big Bird!

Kate (Tina Fey) is a high flying business woman who longs to have a baby but finds out that she is infertile so hires Angie (Amy Poehler) to be the surrogate to her baby. You can imagine the funny moments which occur when Angie ends up moving in with Kate.

This has to be a very interesting and risky topic to have a film on, surrogacy and how it can affect people in different ways. But also making it really amusing as well with so many comedy moments. Taking the serious matter into a lighter hearted moments, which actually worked better than I first thought it was going to. It was mainly due to the differences in the backgrounds of the two women which really caused the problems to begin with. This shows that people have to adapt and get along with people they would usually not talk to if they want something different.

I thought the funniest performance had to come from Steve Martin, in the hippy role he was just totally off the page which was hilarious. Talking about energy in places, but even his hairstyle with the long ponytail was amusing before he even said anything.

I have to admit that while I do know that Tina Fey is in “30 Rock” I have not seen it before. The first time I really noticed her was at the Oscar’s this year when she presented with Steve Martin and seemed very popular. I have to admit that I did actually quite like her character in this film even if she was a little psycho at times in terms of the whole things to eat etc. But played the part very well, and believable that she really wanted a baby.

Amy Poehler played the rather annoying Angie, very well really as she irritated me for most of the film. Until she eventually does the right thing and she actually ends up being good friends with Kate in the end.

Greg Kinnear always seems to play the very likeable guy, and in this film that is no exception. His character is extremely likeable and the ending is always pretty obvious as the story unfolds.

Sigourney Weaver had a rather amusing role as the woman who owns the surrogacy business yet is old and still getting pregnant which seems like pretty much all the time. Which adds more comedy value to the film, while being slightly strange.

While this is not the worst film ever made, it certainly is not the best either. Not one that I will be rushing to watch again anytime soon.