"Note to self: Hold the trophy like it's The Lion King baby."

I did not watch the Emmys live last night because I was at the Phillies game. Instead, I DVR'd the show and stayed up until 2am watching it. Here now is a list of some of the things I liked about the show and a few things I could have done without:

Likes:
-All the Friday Night Lights love! I got a little overly excited when Zach Gilford, Jesse Plemons and Michael Jordan were featured in Jane Lynch's opening number, even though you only saw them for about 30 seconds. And, even though I knew they were coming because I had checked twitter from the game, Jason Katims winning Best Writer for a Drama and Kyle Chandler winning Best Actor in a Drama made me ridiculously happy as well.

-Cee Lo Green having trouble with his chair from The Voice made me laugh, probably harder than it should have.

-The Best Actress in a Comedy beauty pageant was hands-down the best part of the show. All the ladies standing onstage holding hands, then all hugging when the winner was announced and Melissa McCarthy actually being crowned and handed a bouquet of roses was awesome. I have loved McCarthy since Gilmore Girls but I do not actually watch Mike & Molly, so I really could not say whether she deserved the award or not, but the presentation of the award was hilarious.

-Clifton Murray, who plays one of Channing Tatum's friends in the movie She's The Man, is apparently one of the Canadian Tenors who sang Hallelujah during the In Memoriam montage. I found this to be incredibly random and I am probably the only person on the planet who realized that. It made me smile though :o)

"I've never lived closer to danger, but I've never felt safer...

I've never felt more confident, and people could spot it from a mile away. And as for this, the violence? I gotta be honest, it grew on me. Once you've taken a few punches and realize you're not made of glass, you don't feel alive unless you're pushing yourself as far as you can go."

---------------------------------------------

I have been a little distracted this past month with March Madness and skiing in Utah, but I am back from vacation and my bracket is completely demolished, so I am back to reality.  I know you have missed me!

Now, we all know that I am a little Bradley-Cooper-biased, but I really do not understand why Limitless did not get better reviews. I have to say, I really quite enjoyed it. It had a good plot that kept moving and kept you interested throughout.  Cooper plays Eddie Morra, a blocked writer who is presented with an "FDA approved" drug that will give him access to every part of his brain and all the fame and fortune that comes with those abilities.  The whole concept definitely poses an interesting question, or two.  First, would you take the drug in the first place, not knowing exactly what it would do to you?  And second, what would you do with your life if you could remember everything you have ever read or seen, learn any language in an instant, pretty much accomplish anything you have ever wanted to accomplish?  Obviously, there are also other twists and turns to the movie that you keep you engaged and on the edge of your seat, but I definitely left the theater feeling very motivated, like I could be doing so much more with my days.  Of course, that feeling did not really last too long :o) If anything, this movie proves what I have been saying for a while now, that Bradley Cooper is a leading man that can carry his own movie.

I also recently saw Rango, an animated movie starring Johnny Depp. It was a little slow getting started and a little more serious than I expected it to be, but overall an entertaining movie.  Below, is one of my favorite scenes:

You Ain't From Around Here



Rango
at MOVIECLIPS.com

Although, I have to say, the most interesting part of this movie was that it was not filmed like a typical animated feature.  Normally, for animated films, the actors record their voices in a booth and are separated from the rest of the cast at all times.  For Rango, Director Gore Verbinski actually had them act out the scenes together while he recorded their voices.  I am not sure that you could actually tell the difference during the movie, but it is certainly a fun fact!

Another Johnny Depp movie that I finally got around to seeing was Public Enemies.  Sadly, it was not very good.  The acting was a good as you would expect from Depp and Christian Bale, however the plot was just sooooooo slooooooooow!  Thirty minutes into the movie I was already checking my watch...and it was a two hour and twenty minute film! If you have not already subjected yourself to this movie, I would say you can definitely skip it.

On the other hand, Green Street Hooligans was a movie that I was not sure about going into it, but that I really enjoyed. It stars Charlie Hunnam and Elijah Wood and is about a Harvard undergrad who gets expelled, moves to London and learns about the world of football hooliganism. As someone who has recently gotten into American soccer, this film opened up an entirely different culture than what we are used to in the States. Being part of a firm, or supporters club as we call them, is more of a lifestyle across the pond than it is here.  It is about supporting your team, but it is also about your firm's reputation and defending that reputation against other firms. It was incredibly interesting to see what European football firms are really all about. If you are a soccer fan, you should definitely see this movie.  Even if you are not, it is an intriguing story and is worth the watch.

In other sporting news, regular season baseball officially begins for my Phillies on Friday! I will try to not let it get me too distracted from my TV and movie duties, but I am not making any promises :o)

Also, for those of you who are interested, Chris Despo's album is now available for sale at www.chrisdespo.com! It is not yet up on iTunes, but I will have that link for you as soon as it is available. I have pretty much been listening to the album non-stop all week and have to say that it pretty amazing.  He is my friend, so I am slightly biased, but I think that it is definitely worth checking out!

As always, if you have any questions or comments feel free to post them below. I especially want to hear if you agree/disagree with my reviews or think there are any shows or movies that I should not miss.

xoxo
c

p.s. Japan has been added to the list of tragedies currently in our world, so I once again give you my list of places to donate: 

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
Habitat for Humanity
United Way
American Red Cross
World Vision
StillerStrong 
The Nature Conservancy
National Wildlife Federation 
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Damon: I took away your suffering once before. I can do it again, but it's your choice.

Jeremy: Look, I know you think you took it away, but it's still there.  Even if I can't remember why, I still feel empty...alone.  And making me forget won't fix it.  It won't fix what's really wrong.
-------------------------------------------------

So here they are, my favorite TV episodes of 2010.  It was hard enough to pick these, let alone put them in some kind of order, so they are pretty much just listed as I thought of them :o)

Community "Cooperative Calligraphy" While I did love "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" a few weeks ago and last season's "Contemporary American Poulty" and "Modern Warfare," I think this was my favorite episode this year.   Annie accuses someone of stealing her pen and the entire group goes on lockdown in the study room.  There is nothing flashy or fancy about the episode, it is just the actors in a room being funny.  Plus, there is a Puppy Parade at the end!

Dollhouse "Epitaph Two: Return" Joss really started to hit his stride in season two of this short-lived series.  Network executives should know by now not to mess with the genius.  Alas, it was canceled before it's time, but not before giving us an AWESOME finale.  What happens ten years from now when the tech gets out of control?  Hopefully not what happened on Dollhouse, as I am hoping there is no one out there wiping people's memories and imprinting them with new ones.  But you never really can be too sure :o)

Justified "Fire In The Hole"  In the series premiere, Federal Marshall Raylan Givens is reassigned from Miami to his childhood home of Eastern Kentucky.  The episode sets up the character of Givens perfectly as an old-school Marshall living in modern times where, even in Kentucky, his cowboy-look is out-of-place and his quick-draw is not always warranted.  He is not where he wants to be and he now has to deal with all the things that made him leave Harlan in the first place.  The new season starts February 9 and if you are not watching this show, you really should be.

The Vampire Diaries "Founders Day" or "The Return"  It is hard to say whether or not I liked the finale of season one or the premiere of season two better.  The finale was action-packed and tied up the story of the tomb vampires, leaving us with three possible-death-cliffhangers.  Whereas the first episode of the second season gave us the infamous Katherine in action.  When this show started, I really did not think that it was going to be anything special but it continues to get better every week and is never dull.  I know the thing a lot of TV critics point to is the amazing acting of Nina Dobrev, but she really is phenomenal in her dual roles and the show would not be nearly as successful without her.  It also does not hurt that the ENTIRE cast is gorgeous :o)

Grey's Anatomy "Death and All His Friends" The reappearance of Denny Duquette in season five made me wonder if I should continue watching Grey's Anatomy.  But, my girlfriends and I endured (with the help of a few margaritas) and were rewarded by a great season six and an awesome season finale.  With a shooter on the loose in the hospital we saw many shocking losses and some heart-wrenching acting performances.  Shonda Rimes said early on in the year that the season finale would be a "game-changer" and she was definitely right.  We are still seeing the repercussions in the current season and I am glad to say that the show has rebounded nicely from its tumor-induced-hallucination.

White Collar "Copycat Caffrey" Neil and Peter discover that there is a Criminology class at a local college that is studying Neil and the work of several other white collar criminals.  The problem is, they are not JUST studying them but copying their heists.  Neil goes undercover as himself, minus the FBI job, and tries to get in on the students next con in hopes that it will out the professor as the leader of the group.  I pretty much love every episode of White Collar, but this one really made me laugh.  The dynamic of the Peter/Neil relationship, the return of Alex and the always-lovable Mozzie make for a very good time.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia "The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods" This episode has guest appearances by Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.  Do I really need more of an explanation for why I love it?! :o)

Friday Night Lights "The Son"  Why this show has been nominated for so few awards is beyond me.  The whole series is phenomenal, but this is the best episode of this year.  It is not just about a boy whose father dies as a soldier in Iraq, leaving him to take care of his grandmother.  It is about a boy who struggles with the emotions of his loss and reconciling them with the fact that he hated his father for abandoning the family when he volunteered to go back to Iraq in the first place.  It really is a shame that more people, including myself, did not watch this show from the start and I will be sad when it is over at the end of this season.



Honorable Mentions: Spartacus: Blood and Sand "Kill Them All," Accidentally on Purpose "Speed," Mad Men "The Suitcase" and The Glades "Pilot"

What were your favorite episodes this year?!  Please let me know in the comments section!

I hope everyone has a very, Merry Christmas!

xoxo

c

---------------------------------------------

Nathan: I'm not strong enough for this...

My whole life, I've willed myself to face things.  Anything that was bigger than me, anything that defeated me, I just kept going until I beat it.  Not this.  This is too big.  I never really understood what you faced when you lost your mom until today.  I'm not strong enough, Haley
Haley: Yes, you are, and when you're not, you have me
-----------------------------------------

All of my shows have premiered and I am ridiculously over-scheduled this year.  Luckily, there is not much to watch on Wednesdays, so I have a day to catch up on what I DVR'd Mondays and Tuesdays :o)

I really enjoyed Lone Star and am very sad that FOX has canceled it after only two episodes.  Although, I am not terribly surprised because FOX has a habit of canceling really good shows (ie. Firefly and Dollhouse).  I really liked James Wolk and am hoping he will land an even better role.  Of my other new shows, I have also really enjoyed Blue Bloods, My Generation, No Ordinary Family and Hawaii Five-O.  Nikita, on the other hand, despite its continued good reviews, I just could not get into.  I love Shane West, but it just is not holding my interest at all.

Other new shows that I have checked out OnDemand include: Terriers, The Event and Chase.  The jury is still out on The Event.  I really, really liked Terriers with Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James and it has now been added to my list of shows to watch.  I was hoping Chase would be better, because I like Cole Hauser, but it was just not.

My newest TV obsession these days, though, is Friday Night Lights.  I did not like the movie with Billy Bob Thornton very much so, when the show started in 2006, I had no interest in watching it.  I am also not a huge football fall in general, so I figured it was a show that I could skip.   Over the past couple years though, it has gotten really good reviews from the critics and it seemed like maybe I should check it out, but I was already watching way too much television, so I continued to ignore it.  But then, a few weeks ago, ABC Family started playing the entire series from the beginning every week day.  So I decided, now was as good a time as any to see what all the hype was about and, from the first episode, I was hooked.  The show is focused around the town of Dillon, Texas and their obsession with high school football, but it is really about the people of this town and how they deal with every day issues.  As one of the actors, Scott Porter, put it in one interview, "You can't build a show around a sport, you build it around the people."  It is beautifully shot on location in Austin and the writing is simple, but brilliant.  I am a little disappointed that I waited so long to find this show, but highly recommend you watch it.  

As you can tell, I have been mostly occupied with television the past two weeks, but I did get out to the theater to see a couple new movies: The Town and Easy A.

The Town was awesome.  It was gritty and exciting and everyone should see this movie.  I was particularly impressed with how good Blake Lively was in her role.  I enjoy her on Gossip Girl, but...well...it is Gossip Girl, so who is really expecting all that much?  Her part was not very big, but she played it very well.  Jeremy Renner and Jon Ham were phenomenal, as usual and Ben Affleck did a great job directing and starring.  If this does not at least get nominated for a few Academy Awards, I will be shocked.  Seriously, go see this movie.

I also found Easy A to be very well done and pretty hilarious.  While I was not a huge fan of the theater full of obnoxious teenagers, the movie kept me entertained throughout.  Emma Stone is great as Olive, the modern-day Hester Prynne, and Amanda Bynes is great as the pious antagonist.  I think my favorite characters, however, were Olive's parents played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson.  How Stanley Tucci does not have an Oscar is beyond me, because he is amazing in every role he plays, no matter how small.  Some of my favorite lines from the movie include:

Brandon: Is there an Olive here?
Olive's mom: There's a whole jar of them in the fridge!

I know, totally corny, but it made me laugh, as did this:

Olive's Mom: No offense, but you kind of look like a stripper
Olive: Mom!
Olive's Dad: A high-end stripper, for governors or athletes

This movie is not going to win any awards, but if you want to be entertained and/or just need a good laugh, then this is the movie for you :o)

Starting next Wednesday, my Phillies start their run at world domination...or a World Series, either is fine with me :o)  I will, therefore, be distracted by baseball for a little while.  Also, make sure you check out my dream Phillies movie cast.

I hope you are all enjoying some new fall TV shows and please let me know if there are any movies you think I should be seeing!

xoxo
c
----------------------------------------------

"That’s my corn. You guys are guests in my corn!"

In June, the Phillies Ballgirls made their list of who they thought were the best movie star look-a-likes for the Phillies.  This got me thinking about who I would choose to play my beloved Philadelphia Phillies if there was a movie made about them.  I figured this was a perfect combination of my two loves: the Phillies and movies :o)

I went by looks, but also by acting talent.  Some of my actor choices do not look exactly like the players, but that is mostly because I could not find anyone that really looked like them.  In which case, I picked actors that I thought might be good in the role.  I cast most of the current roster, but not everybody.  I mostly just did the starting players/pitchers and coaches.

So, in honor of the Phillies winning the National League East for the fourth year in a row, here is my list:

Jimmy Rollins - Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges
Shane Victorino - Jay Hernandez
Chase Utley - Bradley Cooper
Ryan Howard - Morris Chestnut
Jayson Werth - Taylor Kitsch
Carlos Ruiz - Jon Huertas
Raul Ibanez - Carlos Ponce
Placido Polanco - Francis Capra
Ben Francisco - Columbus Short

Wilson Valdez - Walter Perez

Domonic Brown - Aldis Hodge
Roy Halladay - Sam Worthington

Roy Oswalt - James Roday

Cole Hamels - Ashton Kutcher
Joe Blanton - Aaron Hill
Jamie Moyer - Steven Weber
Kyle Kendrick - Jason Dohring
Brad Lidge - Geoff Stults
Ryan Madson - Paul Walker
Chad Durbin - Josh Radnor

J.C. Romero - Kevin Alejandro
Charlie Manuel - Tom Wilkinson
Greg Gross - Dayton Callie
Davey Lopes - Tony Plana
Sam Perlozzo - James Caan
Rich Dubee - Nick Offerman
Mick Billmeyer - W. Earl Brown

Ruben Amaro Jr. - Carlos Gomez

What do you think about my choices?  Do you agree or disagree with any of them?  Do you need to check IMDb to figure out who most of these people are? :o)

Let me know what you think in the comments section!

xoxo

c

-----------------------------------------

"Hang on, everybody - I wanna try something I saw in a cartoon once!"

Since all of my regular season shows have finished and the new summer seasons are just now getting started, I have not been watching a whole lot lately. Also, because of this ridiculously hot weather, I have been spending a significant amount of time by my aunt's pool READING! Shocking, I know, but it does happen from time to time :o)  I have also been watching lots of the World Cup.

I did finally get around to watching An Education the other night when my mother ordered it OnDemand. It was a good film, well acted, etc. I just was not very excited by it. Carey Mulligan's performance was definitely excellent. However, I am not sure that it was more deserving of an Oscar nomination than Emily Blunt's role as Queen Victoria. I do love Emily Blunt though, so I am little biased.  I was, however, excited to see Olivia Williams from Dollhouse as the teacher. I would not say that everyone HAS to see this film, but it was well-done, so if it looks like something you would enjoy, then you will probably like it. I know, that was not super helpful, but it is pretty much all I can say.

The A-Team, on the other hand, was SO MUCH FUN! I did not go into this movie expecting much more than a typical action film. The special effects did leave something to be desired and, while the scene was hilarious, the idea of "flying" a tank is not exactly what I would call realistic. However, if you were a fan of the TV show then I think you will definitely enjoy it. I used to love watching this show with my brother when we were younger and I was happy to see that my favorite characters were as entertaining as I remembered them being. And if you do go see the movie, make sure you stay until the credits finish! Definitely a fun summer flick!

It also made me happy to see Bradley Cooper wearing Phillies shirts in two different scenes. It obviously does not take a whole lot to make me happy, especially when it involves Bradley Cooper. To be fair though, I loved him before most people and while I did try to track him down while he was filming The Dark Fields though in Philly last month, I was unsuccessful. C'est la vie!

Season three of Deadwood was just as awesome as expected. My only complaint would be that, because it was canceled, the finale left some unanswered questions. I have no idea if it was canceled after the season was finished filming, so it is possible they thought they were coming back for another season. Regardless, it was an excellent series overall and I highly recommend everyone watching it at some point. Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane are obvious stars, but it is really the supporting characters that really make this show shine. Just be prepared for lots of people's throats getting cut :o)

I am now planning to catch up on It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. I have heard that this is a hilarious show and after learning that Chase Utley and Ryan Howard will be in an episode of the upcoming season, I decided it was time I started watching. In fact, one of my friends has threatened to cut me off unless I watch the show, so I guess I better get started :o)

I never did see Sex and the City 2, mostly because it got horrible reviews, but also because I just never found the time.  I do, however, still really want to see Toy Story 3, so that is on my to-do list for next week.  I have also added Despicable Me to my list of movies that I might see depending on reviews, because the previews look really funny.

xoxo

c

So many places still need our help after all the devastating natural and unnatural disasters that have happened, please consider donating SOMEWHERE. Here are my suggestions:

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

Habitat for Humanity

United Way

AmeriCares

StillerStrong

The Nature Conservancy
National Wildlife Federation
----------------------------

Art: Have you considered the possibility that he’s not in there?

Raylan: He’s in there
Art: You think he’s in there because you think he wants to see his kids, but maybe he doesn’t give a shit about his kids. He’s probably not a candidate for “Father-of-the-Year,” he has shot a cop, among other things
Rachel: If he’s not here then we don’t know where he is
Art: Well then you’re like some drunk who’s looking for his car keys under a street lamp cause that’s where the light is
---------------------------

In light of my newest obsession with Timothy Olyphant in Justified on FX, I have been trying to see more of his movies and TV shows, as is my way. I had already seen The First Wives Club, A Life Less Ordinary, the Sex and the City episode, Go, Gone in Sixy Seconds, Head Over Heals, Rock Star, Catch and Release, Stop-Loss and part of The Girl Next Door. You would think that I was already obsessed, considering how much of his work I had already seen, but it really was all coincidence. Until now, I had never watched anything because he was in it, he just happened to be in a lot of movies that I had seen. I found both Hitman and Live Free or Die Hard OnDemand and watched both of those. Unfortunately, the issue that I'm encountering is that he has been in several scary movies (ie. The Crazies, A Perfect Getaway, Scream 2, Dreamcatcher), which we all know I am not a fan of, and several not-so-good movies in which his acting skills were not fully utilized. He was also in several episodes of Damages, which is a show that I do not watch. I also never knew that he was on Deadwood, but did not get HBO so I could not have watched it anyway, so it is now in my Netflix queue. And, I know I have said this before, but if you are not already watching Justified, you really should be.

Hitman was alright, it was not horrible but it was not fantastic either. Something about it just did not flow very well. I had wanted to see it when it was in theaters but never did and never got around to renting it either. The action sequences were pretty cool, I just kind of felt like the role did not really suit Olyphant. Not that he is not a good actor, maybe it is just my personal preference, but I like him to play characters with more personality. Even when he is the bad guy, he is more fun when his characters are more playful. Like I said, it is not that he acted poorly, the character was just not written to have any personality.

I had that same issue with his character in Live Free or Die Hard. Overall, the movie was exactly what you would expect from a Bruce Willis movie. I had seen the first Die Hard, but none of the ones in between and you really do not have to see all of them to understand each one individually. I thought the movie as a whole was alright. The concept was pretty interesting and the action sequences teetered on the edge of realism...right up until the point where Willis jumped from a collapsing highway over-pass onto a jet, when it totally jumped off the edge into totally not realistic or humanly possible. I really only watched it because of Olyphant and Justin Long.

I tried to get back into watching my Netflix movies, as I had been neglecting them for a while. I still have not been in the mood for Rachel Getting Married, but I promise I will watch it soon! I did, however, watch Eight Men Out (to commemorate the official start of baseball season) and Wall Street.

After seeing my Philadelphia Phillies win the World Series in 2008, and compete again for the title in 2009, I cannot even imagine what would make any athlete throw a championship. What I did not realize was, the reason most of them did it was because the owner of the White Sox at that time, Charles Comiskey, was a cheapskate and never paid them their bonuses for making it into the series in the first place. And while I am in no way making excuses for their behavior, 1919 was a different time and players were definitely not paid anywhere close to what they are now. It is also interesting to see how Shoeless Joe Jackson is portrayed in this movie, compared to how he is portrayed in Field of Dreams. Not that they made him out to be a genius in Field of Dreams, but until seeing Eight Men Out, I had no idea that he was illiterate. Overall, I thought the movie was very well done and if you are a fan of baseball, you should see it.



I watched Wall Street to prepare for the sequel this summer and it was very good. Michael Douglas is brilliant as Gordon Gekko and I look forward to his reprisal in the sequel. Daryl Hannah annoys me slightly, but even she did not bother me as much as usual. I do not really have much to say about this movie, except that it came out in the late 80's, so if you have not seen it, you really should. Especially in light of our current economic situation :o)

I have also been slacking on going to the theater, mostly because there has not really been anything that I have desperately wanted to see. Although, I do really want to see How To Train Your Dragon. Also, Kick-Ass has been getting really good reviews. After seeing the commercials, I did not really have any desire to see it, but now I might need to check it out.

On a personal note, my friend that was in the hospital is doing much better and has been moved to a rehab facility. His improvement makes me ecstatically happy and I pray that he continues improving. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for him and his family, it really means more to me than you can possibly imagine!

xoxo
c

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The one constant through all the years has been baseball...

America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again."
-------------------------------

The Olympics are over and I have no more Curling to watch, so I guess I should get back to my movies :o)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was good but I was not blown away by it. I think I am just over the X-Men movies. Enough is enough. There were lots of plot twists, but i was not really shocked by any of them. It was kinda like, "Okay that make sense that he was being deceived, I am not surprised" :o) The action sequences were cool, I just think if they are going to keep making these movies, they need to be better. Let's hope that Ryan Reynold's Deadpool does just that.

Rachel Getting Married has been sitting on top of my blu-ray player for about a month and a half now. My mom saw it in the theater and said it was pretty depressing, so I just have not been in the mood to watch it yet.

I have also been really bad about watching all my Oscar movies, so I tried to cram a lot in this week. Thank you Bryn Mawr Film Institute for playing all the nominated films that I had not yet seen!

A Single Man was a beautiful movie. Colin Firth was amazing. He played a man, dealing with the sudden death of his partner of sixteen years and, not really knowing how to live without him. When it started, I thought it was going to be way too artsy for my taste, but I loved it. It was sad without being depressing and it was very visually pleasing. Nicholas Hoult was also excellent. I did not even recognize him at first until I got home and checked imdb.com to discover he was the little boy from About A Boy all grown up. This is definitely a movie that everyone should see.

Crazy Heart was good, but not amazing. I thought Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal were excellent, but they are both good actors, so that was not a surprise. Maybe my expectations were too high? Jeff Bridges has been getting all this Oscar buzz that I guess I just expected to be totally blown away by his performance, and I was not. He is a good singer, but this just felt like a country version of The Dude to me. I thought Jeremy Renner and Colin Firth were much more impressive in The Hurt Locker and A Single Man respectively.

I could not get through District 9. It was weird and I just could not get into it. I only watched about forty-five minutes of it, maybe it got better, I guess I will never know.

Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to see An Education. It is a bit of a long shot for any Oscars and I just did not have the time to get to the theater again this week. It did get really good reviews though, so I plan to see it next week :o)

To sum up my Oscar prep this year, of the ten Best Picture nominees, I recommend seeing the following (in no particular order): Avatar, The Hurt Locker, The Blind Side, A Single Man, Precious and Up In The Air. And I will give you my winner predictions soon, probably Sunday afternoon. I am having my annual Oscar Party and I do not want to give my friends any tips :o)

In non-movie-related news, Spring Training is officially underway, which makes me ridiculously happy! It also means that the Phillies road to the 2010 World Series is underway. You can even follow Jayson Werth's Beard on twitter! So, to put you in the baseball spirit, and since I just watched this movie on TV, I leave you with Tom Hanks...



xoxo
c

Haiti, and now unfortunately, Chile need our help. Please give what you can:
Hope For Haiti Now (H)
Stiller Strong (H)
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (H&C)
UNICEF (H&C)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"None of you understand. I'm not locked up in here with you. You're locked up in here with me."

Sorry for the long absence....lots going on....

My last two movies were unexciting.

Coraline was entertaining, but didn't wow me. The only thing that I realized from watching it was that Dakota Fanning doesn't irritate me nearly as much as she used to. She used to be the only child actor in every movie and pretty much drove me nuts. However, she's been gone for a while and seems to have grown up quite a bit. I'm actually excited to see her in New Moon next month.

Watchmen was interesting but I felt like it jumped around too much. There was the story about the Comedian being killed and the rest of the Watchmen trying to find his killer. Then there was the backstory for all of the characters. It felt like they were trying to have a movie for all the people who read the graphic novels but also not confuse the people who hadn't read them. Needless to say, I wasn't a huge fan. The cinematography was pretty cool, but other than that, you're not missing much if you have not yet seen it.

I have been watching A LOT of television, which is the reason for my accidental hiatus. But now that I don't have a job, I should have plenty of time for catching up on all my shows and still get in a few movies.

On deck for this weekend is the Godfather trilogy. Since the Phillies' playoff games are not on until late Saturday and Sunday night, I should get through all three during the next few days and still get my laundry finished as well :o)

Until then...

LET'S GO PHILLIES!!!
xoxo
c

The Maiden Voyage

My friends thought I should start a movie/tv blog about the shows I watch, movies I see and actors and actresses related. I don't really know where to start, so bear with me.

I will probably drop a lot of actors names, some you may know, some you may not, but I suggest you get very familiar with IMDb if you want to follow along because telling you who each person is will just get too tedious. I may ramble about something totally random...maybe throw in a comment or two about my World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies...you may even disagree with most of what I say, but I don't really care, these are my thoughts, not yours. I will try not to use any spoilers, but I can't make any promises.

Okay, here goes.....

The most recent movie that I saw was The Hangover.

Initially, I had no desire to see this movie because I tend to not enjoy "boy" humor. It's hard to clarify that though. I have never seen 40 Year Old Virgin, Talladega Nights and I hated Anchorman. I have not seen Borat and have absolutely no plans to see Bruno. However, I did enjoy Old School and Wedding Crashers and I loved Dodgeball. I guess, I like Vince Vaughn but not Will Farrell...for the most part. There are, of course, exceptions to every rule.

After hearing the good reviews that The Hangover was getting (especially from Angelo Cataldi of the 610 WIP Morning Show), I decided to see it with two of my girlfriends and I actually really enjoyed it. At times, I felt like it dragged just a little bit, but overall I thought it was pretty hilarious.

What really surprised me the most about this movie was that most people did not know who Bradley Cooper was before it came out. I have been following Bradley Cooper since 2004 when he was in the ABC Family movie I Want to Marry Ryan Banks (yes, I watch ABC Family movies, I know I'm a big dork). Before that, I had seen him in Sex and the City and Wet Hot American Summer (an awesomely hilarious movie that everyone should see) but he was eclipsed by more famous actors like Paul Rudd and SJP. Then I really fell in love with him in Kitchen Confidential. A TV show that sadly got canceled on FOX, as so many good shows do (FIREFLY) but was based on the book by Anthony Bourdain about a chef in NYC. My dvd is on it's way to my house and I have rewatched every episode on hulu in the past week. He was also in Alias, Wedding Crashers, Failure to Launch (with Justin Bartha who is also in The Hangover), He's Just Not That Into You and several episodes of Nip/Tuck. I have not seen all of his work, but have at least put most of it on my Netflix queue. He's recently been cast in the A-Team movie remake as Faceman...which I'm a little overly excited about. He also happens to be from the Philadelphia area, as am I, so that makes him even cooler :o)

I feel like most of the time good actors get over-looked because people are paying attention to the well-known actors who are usually not very good, but are just more popular. Bradley Cooper is a victim of that phenomenon and it's my goal to change that...although, I'm not really sure how because I guarantee that only my friends will follow this blog. ;o)

But I digress....

To summarize my very first blog posting, if you haven't seen The Hangover, you should. And more importantly, if you don't know who Bradley Cooper is, you definitely should get caught up.

xoxo

c