Oh please, like anyone was really surprised...
So, I'm sure you've heard of the
Faith Hill/
Carrie Underwood thing.
We believe it was a joke.
- She couldn't get by with that if she wasn't joking.
- She couldn't have been really all that surprised that Carrie won... Carrie did sell 4 million albums and have three #1 singles (so far).
- It just doesn't seem like Faith Hill. And she was laughing around with someone before they announced it.
Faith Hill easily came in second in the votes. It was a banner year for her as well. A true comeback. Sara Evans had a good (errr...) year too. You know what we mean... career-wise.
Other stuff about the night...
Miranda Lambert should've won for Video of the Year. In other news... she's not looking near as cute as she used to.
Brooks & Dunn should not have won Single of the Year or Video of the Year. That should've been Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton and Miranda Lambert (as we just stated), respectively.
Vince Gill is so good.
Carrie might have a top 10 hit on the US Hot 100 with "Before He Cheats" this week or next... which is a HUGE feat for a country song.
Josh Turner is so, so good.
Something Kinda Gooood
Congratulations are in order for
Girls Aloud, who just scored their very first #1 album in the United Kingdom! Also,
"Something Kinda Ooooh," their biggest single since
"I'll Stand By You," is holding steady this week at #3 on the UK singles chart.
Coming Attractions pt. 2
Let's see... we were kinda thrown off a little... let's see how far on our list we got.
- Deana Carter and newcomer Sarah Buxton compared! (Or at least their songs.)
- World Trade Center film review!
- Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche - Reviewed in bullets!
- Updated charts, perhaps a new systems for the charts!
- Updated films on hype meter! (Except for Babel... its still a ways away.)
- Biggest Oscar nomination and win injustices! (Of at least recent years.)
- 2006's 14 Finest Women in the World!
- Recaps of 2004 and 2005's 14 finest women in the world!
- Probably more!
- Seriously, we're on a roll here!
- !
Oh dear, we have a lot to do.
What the....uhhhh....
Stupid Blogger.
Movie Review: World Trade Center
It's understandable that a lot of people do not want to see this movie. Most people will be one way or the other... either really wanting to see this or really not wanting to see this. I can't imagine many people just saying "meh... maybe I'll see it on a whim."
Shortly after 9/11, the aspiring filmmaker in me decided that years and years from now (which is now then), I want to make a movie about 9/11. I thought it would be much longer until it was acceptable to make a film about the day, but times change and people change. I now think that it was the right time to make this movie. I didn't know the story about the officers the movie revolves around, but the movie is just how I imagined it would be. I don't have to make this film anymore.
Oliver Stone did and he did it well.
And first off, let me go ahead and commend them on the use of "Fix You" by
Coldplay in the trailers. It worked perfectly.
There's a big question mark when people ask if the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is going to honor the two 9/11 movies,
United 93 and
World Trade Center, with nominations come the first of next year. The answer would have to be... maybe. I think they have just as good a chance as any other movie. It just depends on the competition. I think voters will give them an equal chance and I do think there is a possibility that due to the subject matter, they might be even more favored. But the fact is, both are excellent films.
Oliver Stone managed to make a film that in just about every frame manages to disguise itself as a film made by any other director. His movies are usually politic-heavy and aggressive. This is not. The film is powerful. For me, as an American who experienced the day as much of the rest of the country did, it was like reliving the experience without the horror. You already know what happened, so you aren't exactly horrified watching it. But you do go through the emotions that you had that day... anger, bitterness, sadness, worry, anxiety.
For the first part of the movie, leading up to the collapse of the first building on top of the officers, you are very anxious. The closer it gets to happening, the faster your heart beats. Everything is how you would imagine it would've been if you had been there. An ordinary day, then that happens.
After the collapse, you get to know
Nicholas Cage and
Michael Peña's characters and their families very well. Cage and Peña do a great job portraying these real people... and yet, they are stuck in the same position using only their face and voice to do the acting. Michael Peña is stellar in this role. He was excellent in
Crash, but he's even more wonderful in this. He is very dynamic when he can't even move. I hope he is remembered come
Oscar time.
The wives are played by
Maria Bello (Cage's wife) and
Maggie Gyllenhaal (Peña's). Both are very good and do excellent jobs of portraying the angst of not knowing where your husband and the father of your children was or even if he was alive. The beautiful Maria Bello transformed herself, putting in contacts and gaining weight so that she could capture the softness of her real-life counterpart. Maggie Gyllenhaal turned me into a fan of hers. I was never crazy about her, especially her politics. But she assuredly captured the reality of her role.
Jay Hernandez was another who gave a good performance. His role was smaller than the others, but he was still very convincing and pulled off a great accent.
The movie is paced nicely, although if you don't pay attention to details and to the depth of the performances and settings, your mind might wander off and later complain that it was too slow. Honestly, that would be your own fault.
The film definitely works. The writer worked very closely with the families and so what you see is pretty much what really happened. This is not the type of story that you can get away with fudging any of the structure, so they didn't. They kept it real.
It's difficult to watch, emotionally, but it's worth it. The emotion of this event could not and should not have been left out, and it wasn't.
First Singles: Deana Carter vs. Sarah Buxton
Newcomer Sarah Buxton is climbing the country charts with her first single, "Innocence." Its a good song and we like what we know of her. We really like her voice. But we can't help but notice some striking similarities with another country singer's first single that was released ten years ago... "Strawberry Wine" by Deana Carter. Let's see...
Musically, they aren't close at all, except for they are both country songs. Deana's, which I'm sure many of you know, is more of a ballad. Sarah's is midtempo. Vocally, they both have very different and distinctive voices. Deana has one of our favorite voices around, smokey with a perfect little twang to it. Sarah has a much softer and lighter voice. It's the lyrics that are so similar.
As you can see they're both about... erm, first time experiences... or I guess you could say the 'loss of innocence.' Both are bittersweet experiences. Wine was involved in both stories. Underaged drinking, no doubt. Both songs talk of coming back to an old place.
Which do we like better? Hmm... I think we'd have to say "Strawberry Wine." It's stronger. But that is a very hard song to beat. We do like Sarah's song very much, though. She looks to have a hit with it. We also feel confident that she can follow Deana's lead and have several follow-up hits as well.
Coming Attractions
- Deana Carter and newcomer Sarah Buxton compared! (Or at least their songs.)
- World Trade Center film review!
- Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche - Reviewed in bullets!
- Updated charts, perhaps a new systems for the charts!
- Updated films on hype meter! (Except for Babel... its still a ways away.)
- Biggest Oscar nomination and win injustices! (Of at least recent years.)
- 2006's 14 Finest Women in the World!
- Recaps of 2004 and 2005's 14 finest women in the world!
- Probably more!
- Seriously, we're on a roll here!
- !
We just heard this on the television...
...in a trailer for
Step Up.
"Every generation, a film comes along that is the voice of that generation. Step Up is that film."No kidding.
They actually said that.
We just heard this
seconds ago. It had to be urgently posted.
The United States of Goldfrapp
Anyone else noticed how Goldfrapp have pretty much taken over the American media in it's entirety? Have a look.
- "Number 1" is used in a television ad for MTV's Laguna Beach, third season
- "Strict Machine" is used in a television ad for FX's Nip/Tuck, fourth season
- "Strict Machine" is used in a television ad for Verizon Wireless, 'Chocolate' phone/mp3 player thing
- "Strict Machine" is featured on the Miami Vice soundtrack
- "Ooh La La" is used in a television ad for Diet Coke
- "Fly Me Away" is used in a television ad for Loreal hair stuff (dye or something of the sort)
And it's not like this just started. No! "Strict Machine" and "Train" were both used in Nintendo commercials in 2004 and "Tiptoe" was in a previous Diet Coke commercial with Kate Beckinsale. We don't recall these in particular, but it shows that Alison and Will have had their eyes on the States for some time now.
"Number 1" and "Ooh La La" have already topped the US Dance Charts.
So... whats next for them in America? A remix album titled We Are Glitter. And it's being released ONLY in America (for the time being).
We're impressed.
A Very Good Poster
We really, really like this. Reeaallly like it.
If anyone has a larger version,
email us.
Tea time? At 5 o'clock perhaps?
From a recent
People Magazine...
Is it just
Snapculture, or do those tea cups look suspiciously like shot glasses?
We're only kidding. Congratulations to
Colin Farrell for 6 months sober! That's a big deal. Way to go!
And we are even looking forward to
Woody Allen's next movie. How bizzare!
Scan courtesy of
ColinFarrellFansite.com. Thanks!
Movie Review: Miami Vice
There will be people who are disappointed with
Miami Vice. But those will be the people who were expecting either the TV show reincarnated or a movie in the same fashion as
Bad Boys,
Bad Boys 2 or
S.W.A.T. (Don't get me wrong, I love S.W.A.T.).
Miami Vice is a really good movie.
Michael Mann is a genius. A wonderful director. This is just another fine piece in an amazing collection of films he has made including
The Insider,
Last of the Mohicans and
Collateral. He gets so many amazing shots in this movie. The cinematography alone is worth checking out the whole movie.
The movie starts out with a jump. A very nontraditional start that might make you wonder when this little intro vignette is going to end a la
James Bond and they are going to start the title credits. But it doesn't. The story starts at the first frame and ends at the last frame. I think this made me like it more. At times it can get a little confusing who is fighting who and where these people came from. But by the end of the movie, you are pretty sure you get it all.
The best thing about this movie is that it's almost a new breed of action movie. Summer action movie, in particular. Everything that is in this movie could happen in real life. It could happen today. It could be happening right now. When was the last time you saw an action movie and said that?! Probably never! There are no unusually huge explosions (although there are a couple and they are great, but totally within the bounds of reality). There are no unreasonable super-villains or totally unreal stunts or unbelievable plotlines. Everything could take place right now. There's no superfluous tripe that one might expect in a summer blockbuster set in Miami, Florida. And this is the reason that some mindless moviegoers might be disappointed. But that is solely their problem, not the film's.
The acting is good.
Colin Farrell is definitely the lead. His role is noticeably bigger and more important than
Jamie Foxx's. Although you will notice Foxx's name gets mentioned first in most of the advertising. Ah, the power of the Oscar. But, honestly? Sorry, Jamie, Colin could've won an Oscar for playing
Ray Charles too.
Colin Farrell gives us another performance that proves he is one of the (if not the) best actors of this generation. But unfortunately, I doubt many people will look past the handlebar mustache to see that. He does a great American accent, which we've seen before, but this time it has a slight twinge of Southern drawl in it, y'all. And I have to say, I'm very pleased and impressed.
Jamie Foxx was pretty good too.
Gong Li was great. She gave a solid performance that is sure to keep her on American minds. She's doing a great job of cracking Hollywood.
Naomie Harris was good in her role as well, although I would've liked to have seen more of her character. Well, actually, in the first shower scene, we got to see a lot of her. But that's not what I'm talking about. And I read that it was a body double anyway.
That brings me to the sex scenes. There's quite a few of them. None of the sex scenes feature nudity (that I saw), but definitely some close calls. The shower scene with Foxx and Harris featured a little bit of their 'bits.' I thought these scenes were all a bit overlong and not completely necessary. And apparently, they were longer before Michael Mann cut the film down under 2 and a half hours. But at least the cast is very attractive. I mean, wouldn't you rather see Colin Farrell and Gong Li together than say,
Whoopi Goldberg and
Kevin Bacon?
Music is another important aspect of the Miami Vice brand. The music was very fitting for the film. They compiled tracks from all genres and inserted them into each scene seamlessly. This is not your 1980s Miami Vice music... but it's just as good.
John Murphy scored a few new pieces that sound very nice.
Glossy and gritty at the same time... this movie is one of the best of the summer.
