Mini Movie Review: Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: ★★½

A valiant effort by director David Fincher, but this reboot falls short. It's not nearly as enthralling as the original Swedish version, but Trent Reznor's eerie soundtrack keeps the otherwise carbon copy plot somewhat intriguing. The recent surge of remakes of great foregin language films proves only one thing...Americans are too lazy to read subtitles. Rent this one(Watch the swedish movie first).

Mini Movie Review: Young Adult: ★★½

Well acted movie, but a bit too depressing. Don't expect the same light-hearted whit found in Diablo Cody's first film, Juno. The movie was marketed as a comedy, when this is in fact a drama with sprinkles of "comedy" mixed in. Rent this one if you need something to make you feel better about yourself.

Mini Movie Review: One Day: ★★½

The story line is fairly "gimmicky" following the relationship of 2 people who meet on the same day through different years. Not terrible, emotional driving drama. Rent this one with your lady and you'll score some "aw, isn't that cute" points!

Mini Movie Review: Transformers: Dark of the Moon: ★★

Without a doubt the worst in the trilogy. Great action, and special effects. Hokey jokes and gags feel awkward and forced. Simply put, this movie could be a live-action translation of the Saturday morning cartoon. Rent this one if you have an afternoon to waste.

Mini Movie Review: Immortals: ★½

Visually stunning, fantastically gory, but lacks real drama. Rent this one, you won't regret waiting. (that is about all I'm willing to write about this movie)

Mini Movie Review: The Thing : ★★★½

'The Thing' (2011) is not as unforgettable as the 1982 John Carpenter classic, but this sci-fi horror does compliment its predecessor very well. Its obvious first time director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. took notes as this ultra-violent prequel does well in setting up all the pieces for the 1982 hit. Its full of easter eggs and nods to Carpenter's 'The Thing' which makes this a lot of fun for fans. Heijningen deserves credit for his great attention to detail. Don't take your kids, but don't waste any time getting to a theater to see this instant classic. I already can't wait to see it again! "Den er ikkje en bikkje!"

3.5 out of 5

Mini Movie Review: 50/50: ★★★★

50/50 is what you would call a "feel good comedy." Touching performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen does well in bringing the comic relief. Cancer sucks and this movie reminds us just how unexpectedly it can come and flip our world upside down. If you can't see this in theaters, definitely rent it

Mini Movie Review: Moneyball: ★★★★

'Moneyball' is one of the best movies of 2011. An endearing and motivational true story about an MLB general manager hoping to defy the odds. If you're not a fan of baseball fear not, I don't follow Major League Baseball and was still able to connect with the story. Go see this one in theaters, Brad Pitt will likely get an Oscar nom for his role.

4 out of 5

Mini Movie Review: Killer Elite: ★★½

'Killer Elite' tried way too hard to be a espionage conspiracy movie along the lines of 'Patriot Games' when it should have been more like 'the Transporter.' Let's face it, sometimes its better to keep things simple. We want to see Jason Statham kick ass, not act. Although, it was pretty cool to see Clive Owen and De Niro along side Statham. My advice, wait to rent this one. But its definitely worth seeing.

2.5 out of 5

Mini Movie Review: Drive : ★★★½

A very violent but captivating film. 'Scarface' meets 'the Transporter.' Don't confuse this with any of Ryan Gosling's recent movies, as this is very graphic, and chances are your lady will not like it. Go see this one with your buddies.

Mini Movie Review: Warrior: ★★★★

Hands down one of the best films of 2011. Unforgettable story of two estranged brothers competing against each other in a world class MMA championship. Such a power story, high with emotion and tension. In my book 'Warrior' put 'The Fighter' to shame. Go see this in theaters NOW! You WILL NOT regret it.

4 out of 5

Mini Movie Review: The Debt: ★★★

'The Debt' is a Jewish espionage movie in the same vein as 'Munich.' A mission during the 60s doesn't go as well as planned, and the much older team has to clean up the mess they created 30 years later. Although I don't think this film will garner much critical acclaim, I did enjoy it. Wait to rent this one.

3 out of 5

Mini Movie Review: Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes: ★★★½

Surprisingly decent prequel/reboot of the classic scifi franchise. It took some convincing for me to see this one as I assumed it would be a typical bust that most remakes are. But I'm happy to say I was proven wrong. See this one in theaters or rent it when it comes out on DVD. 3D isn't necessary.

(3.5 out of 5)

Mini Movie Review: The Troll Hunter : ★★★★½

A brilliant modern-day take on ancient Norwegian fairy-tales. 'The Troll Hunter' is already my favorite foreign film of the year. Shot in the style of 'The Blair Witch Project,' the movie was so well received in Norway that it was called "THE cultural event of 2010." Go see this as soon as you can. TROLL!

'The Troll Hunter' is out on BluRay/DVD August 23, 2011

(4.5 out of 5)

Mini Movie Review: Attack The Block : ★★★★

WOW. Attack the Block is what Super 8 should have been! A band of trouble-making teens, a more dangerous version of the Goonies, battle a horrific alien enemy in the slums of South London. The chemistry among the boys feels natural and gives the film some unique charm. Its all glued together with funny-man Nick Frost and one of the best soundtracks I've heard in years. It's not often you find yourself head-nodding to the score of a Sci-fi movie. BRAVO! If you get the chance go see this in theaters....NOW!

"Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy!"

(4 out of 5)

Mini Movie Review: The Help : ★★★★

THE feel-good movie of 2011! Oscar-worthy performances by Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Bryce Dallas Howard. "The Help" is packed with comedy and emotion and will have you talking about it days after you see it. Don't wait any longer, take the whole family and see this one in theaters.

(4 out of 5)

Mini Movie Review: 30 Minutes or less : ★½

Huge disappointment. I expected a lot more innovation from director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland). Mediocre comedy with very few big laughs. Wait to watch this on Netflix or Cable.

(1.5 out of 5)

It's Shark week on the Discovery Channel so I thought it was only appropriate to show off my figures of Steve Irwin and Desmond "The Shark of Inspiration." Both stand on my computer at work.

Mini Movie Review: Crazy, Stupid, Love. : ★★★½

Refreshingly entertaining, perfect balance of comedy and drama. Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling make a dynamic duo. Great date movie, but not essential to see this in the theater. Guys take your ladies and they’ll be convinced you have great taste in movies.

3.5 out of 5

Mini Movie Review: Cowboys & Aliens : ★★½

With the unique mash-up of the Scifi and Western genres, an all-star cast and ‘Iron Man’ director Jon Favreau, one would think 'Cowboys & Aliens' film might be epic to the geek degree. But unfortunately it falls WELL short of that. Daniel Craig is convincing as the baddest outlaw in the West, but Harrison Ford, on the other hand, unintentionally looks old and frail (its sad). Overall, this film is right down the middle, its not horrible, but its nothing special. If you’re a huge Daniel Craig fan, or enjoy over CGI-ed visual feasts you’ll probably like this movie. But I’m confident no one will say they “LOVE” Cowboys & Aliens.

(2.5 out of 5)

Mini Movie Review: Captain America: The First Avenger: ★★½

'Captain America: The First Avenger' is like having a sandwich made with generic brand meat, cheese and condiments surrounded by by the most delicious bread you’ve ever had. The beginning and ending of the film were very strong, but everything else in between was predictable and bland. If you are a die-hard Marvel fan, like me, don’t waste any time and see this in theaters, otherwise waiting until this one is on DVD won’t be a bad idea. Also, as most Marvel flicks go, make sure you stick around until after the credits to see a teaser for the upcoming Avengers movie!

I doodle the strangest things while on conference calls.

There is a troll on my desk! Call the Troll Hunter!

Mini Movie Review: Green Lantern: ★ ★

Never been a fan of any DC universe character outside of Batman, but Green Lantern wasn’t horrible. Ryan Reynolds plays the same character he does in all of his movies. The plot feels rushed and is very predictable. This might as well have been an animated movie but is definitely worth seeing. Check it out on a night when you have nothing better to do, but watch it on Netflix.

Mini Movie Review: Super 8: ★★★★

Super 8 was masterfully done, for once a film that lives up to the hype and effectively utilizes the audience’s imagination, just like the old days. I connected with this movie on many levels and it will forever be grouped with other favorites like: ‘the Goonies,’ ‘ET’ and ‘The Monster Squad.’ See this on the big screen, and make sure you stay through the credits.

I drew this!

Mini Movie Review: X-Men: First Class: ★★★½

Wow, surprisingly great! On par with Marvel's 'Thor,' 'Iron Man 2' and dare I say the best X-Men movie to date! I expected this movie to be terrible, but thankfully I was proven to be wrong...well done Marvel! Go see this one in theaters! There are a couple awesome cameos by familiar Marvel personalities!

Mini Movie Review: Thor: ★★★½

Thor delivers everything that a viking could ask for, battles of legendary proportions, interdimensional travel, sibling rivalry/betrayal and Norway! Expect to see a hammer wielding demigod flying around like Superman. By far the most fantastical Marvel feature to date, yet true to the comic book mythology, Thor effectively sets up the final pieces leading to the upcoming Avengers movie. *smashes coffee mug on ground* “I want another!”

P.S. Stay for the stinger following the credits. If you’re not familiar with Marvel lore, read this. It will help you understand the stinger better:

(MAY CONSIDER AS SPOILER)

http://marvel.com/universe/Cosmic_Cube

I only share this because more than half the theater didn’t get the reference in the stinger.

2011 Academy Awards: My picks!

The nominees are out and here are my picks!

Actor in a Leading Role

• Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
• Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
• Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
• Colin Firth in “The King's Speech”
• James Franco in “127 Hours”

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
• John Hawkes in “Winter's Bone”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
• Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Geoffrey Rush in “The King's Speech”

Actress in a Leading Role

• Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
• Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter's Bone”
• Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
• Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
• Helena Bonham Carter in “The King's Speech”
• Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
• Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
• Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Animated Feature Film

• “How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
• “The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
• “Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

Art Direction

• “Alice in Wonderland”
  Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
  Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• “Inception”
  Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
• “The King's Speech”
  Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr
• “True Grit”
  Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
  

Cinematography

• “Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
• “Inception” Wally Pfister
• “The King's Speech” Danny Cohen
• “The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
• “True Grit” Roger Deakins

Costume Design

• “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
• “I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
• “The King's Speech” Jenny Beavan
• “The Tempest” Sandy Powell
• “True Grit” Mary Zophres

Directing

• “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
• “The Fighter” David O. Russell
• “The King's Speech” Tom Hooper
• “The Social Network” David Fincher
• “True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Documentary (Feature)

• “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
• “Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
• “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
• “Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “Killing in the Name” Nominees to be determined
• “Poster Girl” Nominees to be determined
• “Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
• “Sun Come Up” Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
• “The Warriors of Qiugang” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon- *guess

Film Editing

• “Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
• “The Fighter” Pamela Martin
• “The King's Speech” Tariq Anwar
• “127 Hours” Jon Harris
• “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Foreign Language Film

• “Biutiful” Mexico
• “Dogtooth” Greece
• “In a Better World” Denmark
• “Incendies” Canada
• “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

Makeup

• “Barney's Version” Adrien Morot
• “The Way Back” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
• “The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)

• “How to Train Your Dragon” John Powell
• “Inception” Hans Zimmer
• “The King's Speech” Alexandre Desplat
• “127 Hours” A.R. Rahman
• “The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)

• “Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
• “I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
• “If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
• “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Best Picture

• “Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
• “The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
• “Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
• “The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
• “The King's Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
• “127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
• “The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• “Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
• “True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
• “Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

• “Day & Night” Teddy Newton
• “The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
• “Let's Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe- *guess
  
• “The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
• “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Dubois

Short Film (Live Action)

• “The Confession” Tanel Toom
• “The Crush” Michael Creagh
• “God of Love” Luke Matheny
• “Na Wewe” Ivan Goldschmidt
• “Wish 143” Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Sound Editing

• “Inception” Richard King
• “Toy Story 3” Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
• “Tron: Legacy” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
• “True Grit” Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
• “Unstoppable” Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing

• “Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
• “The King's Speech” Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
• “Salt” Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
• “The Social Network” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
• “True Grit” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Visual Effects

• “Alice in Wonderland” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
• “Hereafter” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
• “Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
• “Iron Man 2” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
• “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
• “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Winter's Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
• “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
  Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
• “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
• “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
• “The King's Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

My celebrity lookalikes, or so I'm told...

It has been a very interesting week. Throughout my life I have been told that I resemble certain celebrities, but through the years I have never been labeled as one specific celebrity so often and frequently as I have this year. People have frequently told me I look like the following:

1. Bradley Nowell (lead singer of Sublime) but not dead or on drugs.

But I don't see it.

2. Ethan Suplee (actor) only 100 pounds thinner.

But again, I don't see it.

3. Justin Timberlake (as far fetched as it sounds)

I may have real deal DANCE MOVES, but again, I don't see it.

But over the last few months, on an almost daily basis, I've been hearing the same phrase. In person, on the web, and even from family members. "You look like Jason Statham," those are the words that have been uttered more frequently than you can imagine. Do I think I resemble the British action star? Well, besides sharing the same hair cut and 5 o'clock shadow, no I do not. But it seems others would disagree.

Comments are left on my semi-popular Youtube video "A Tribute to the Handshake in Predator" everyday. And only recently have I been getting comments from complete strangers regarding my Jason Statham-esque looks. Here are a few examples:

"To the guy in the red.....if you were a little leaner....BAM!!! JASON STATHAM lol"

urb3stm8

"You look like Jason Statham"

larrymcjones

Yesterday, while walking to lunch with my friend, a homeless/crazy man, stopped us, asked us if we were famous. He said to me, "You know who you look like? Have you seen the Expendables? You know the guy that drives all the cars and gets all the women? You look just like him, man, for real." Had this not been happening as a regular occurrence I would have just laughed off the compliment and chalked it up to this man's insanity. But at this point, I might just have to buy into the hype. To hell with it, I do look like Jason Statham...