Hot Chick O' The Week #3 Vol. 2

Sweet lord. The annoying Schwartz was in town last week and I completely forgot about Hot Chick o' The Week. Chauffeuring the Schwartz around is a daunting task as well as a horrible consumption of time. But anyway:

Hot Chick o' The Week #3 Volume 2

Jordana Brewster

This comes after the announcement that Brewster will be in TNT's Dallas reboot - which I will certainly watch - playing Elena, who's involved in a love triangle with J.R.'s and Bobby's son's.

Gellar gets a new Pilot.

It wasn't long ago that Sarah Michelle Gellar was in one of the most popular and cult television shows of all time; Buffy The Vampire Slayer. That show gave way to a pretty good film career and I use the term 'pretty good' loosely. The Scooby Doo flicks, The Grudge (and it's lackluster sequel), she was in Richard Kelly's Southland Tales (which no one has ever seen), and she voiced April O'Neil in TMNT.

She was actually booked in a new show to be on HBO called "The Wonderful Maladays," but the show never came to fruition (or it didn't pass the pilot). Now, she's got another show, which is being scripted by the writers behind Supernatural Eric Charmelo & Nicole Snyder.

The show, tentatively (or not) called "Ringer" has a pretty convoluted plot and this is from Ain't It Cool News:

"CBS pilot about a lady on the run from the mob who comes to impersonate her wealthy twin sister. If that’s not complex enough a premise, the wealthy sister is apparently ALSO on the run."

I don't even know what to think about that plot, BUT...it intrigues me that CBS is pulling away from the whole "NCIS" "CSI" "Hawaii 5-O" "Criminal Minds" thing. "The Good Wife" and "Ringer" back to back could be a hard sell for any day of the week (say Wednesday "Ringer" "Good Wife" "Criminal Minds") without shifting their entire lineup around. And no, I haven't watched "The Good Wife" since it's pilot episode and it didn't light my world on fire.

Hot Chick O' The Week Vol. 2 #2

Unfortunately, I can't begin to understand what goes through people's minds. Like, for example, scientology. I don't get what the huge appeal is for Scientology and maybe it's because I'm not religious or something, but Tom Cruise is their leader, and Katie Holmes is his Queen, I guess.

Anyway, Katie Holmes was at the Golden Globe Announcements this year, and she looked really sexy, so I figured she could be the 3rd HCOTW in the 2nd Volume.

Hot Chick O' The Week #2 Vol. 2

I'm a sucker for teen melodrama, and I actually like the show One Tree Hill a lot. It's a well-written show and it's got a good cast of characters. It's nearing it's end, probably, but that doesn't mean that Sophia Bush isn't smoking hot. She is HCOTW #2 of the second volume.

Sophia Bush.

Top 8 movies of 2010.

Eight you say!

I suppose it’s time for the movies of the year.

Granted I have not seen them all, but the ones I have seen I can clearly base my decisions off of that.

I do, however, want to see The Fighter pretty badly.

The Social Network – A flick directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin based on a book by Ben Mezrich. Ka-fucking-ching. Aaron Sorkin has penned three of my all time favorite television shows: “Sports Night” “The West Wing” and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” David Fincher on the other hand is the director of Se7en, Fight Club, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and he’s already in the midst of directing the US Remake of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Granted, I’ve got off topic, The Social Network is like the movie Network for our generation. It’s got the dialogue, it’s got the betrayal, and it’s got the assholes. It’s a movie centered around, of all things, Facebook. Which, every-fucking-body knows about. You haven’t met a person who doesn’t use Facebook, and the person who doesn’t, just doesn’t know how. Not only is this flick the best of the year, but the soundtrack was made by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. The flick will most likely win Best Oscar, if it doesn’t, it’s because The Fighter did. (And I haven’t seen that – yet).

The Town – Ben Affleck is maybe a better director than he is an actor. Maybe. I mean, Gone Baby Gone, if I remember was my number one flick back in 2007 (It was! http://marcandjdaregreat.blogspot.com/2008/01/jds-top-flicks-of-2007.html) and for good reason. The Town is based on the book by Chuck Hogan called Prince of Thieves and all but the ending and the ‘showdown’ are the same. I think I liked the ending in the book more, but the flick was fantastic. So much so, that I went out the day it came out and bought it. As it stands I’m waiting for Ben Affleck to fail as a director and he hasn’t yet. The Town is acted so well, halfway through; you forget you’re watching a movie. Jeremy Renner deserves some accolades for his performance as a guy who is just trying to hang on to everything he’s ever known, while Affleck’s character is trying to escape the life that has turned him – eternally – into a scumbag. The flick was exceptional and you should go buy it right now.

To Save a Life – I’m going to catch flack for this one. This flick is so beyond the realm of anything I would ever watch. Life is a pretty heartwarming – and often times emotionally heart-wrenching- tale about a guy who loses a former best friend to suicide. Jake Taylor’s (Randy Wayne) life turns upside down when his former best friend – who he lost touch with some years ago – eats a bullet. Up is down, Black is white. He doesn’t know where to turn, as his girlfriend doesn’t understand, his parents are in the midst of a divorce, and he turns to Christianity. He loses friends, loses girlfriends, gains friends, and ultimately comes to terms with what happened. This flick was definitely one of my favorites of the year, and I think it might have come out in 2009, however, the DVD was released in 2010. Therefore, I don’t care.

Kick-Ass – Kick-Ass is based on the exceptionally well-written comic book by Mark Millar. The flick was directed by Matthew Vaughn who most of you probably don’t remember directed the awesome Layer Cake which sky-rocketed Daniel Craig to stardom (ie: playing James Bond). Kick-Ass, like last year’s Watchmen was so much like the funny book it was unfathomable. Aaron Johnson who plays Kick-Ass/Dave Lizewski was the character I remember from the book almost identically. Vaughn stayed so true to the book that he probably caught some flak from non-comic book readers, but who cares. Fanboys love their comic book flicks, and thankfully we’ve been given two of the best in the last two years (in Watchmen and Kick-Ass).

Inception – I don’t know where to begin with Inception, because it was viciously awe-inspiring and confusing all at the same time. This was the first flick I’ve ever seen in IMAX (other than those weird Under the Sea things for school) and it won’t be the last, it was insanely awesome to watch it on a screen as big as my house. It stands to reason that a movie doesn’t necessarily have to make sense (quite yet) for it to be on your Top 10 list, it just has to make you want to watch it again. I never watch movies I don’t like twice, I never have, I never will. I watched the shitty UHF one time in my entire life – and that was one time too many. Inception, however, I got for Christmas on glorious Bluray and plan on watching it many, many times.

Shutter Island – I’ve actually grown quite fond of Leonardo DiCaprio in the last couple of years. Since I saw him in Gangs of New York I think I stopped hating him for making Titanic and then The Departed happened and it was like the greatest flick with the word ‘fuck’ in it since Clerks. For some insane reason, movies in Boston, Massachusetts seem to be awesome. Maybe it’s the accents or the fact that they’re all Micks fighting and shooting each other, because they’re drunk and stupid, but I’m not sure. Shutter Island is a mystery/thriller with the biggest twist of all time at the end and it’s written by my new favorite author Dennis Lehane. Like The Town I read Shutter Island before I saw the movie and was happy that the flick didn’t change anything. The ending of the book is so mystifying and so obvious you’ll be slapping yourself, because you didn’t realize it. Shutter Island is an amazing watch (and read).

Four Lions – Four Lions is a movie about a bunch of bumbling terrorists. It’s so outlandish you’ll openly laugh at the entire atrocity of it. Lions kind of saves comedy for me, there’s not much comedy out there anymore that’s so openly funny and knows it’s limits. It’s either you’re watching Will Ferrel or John C. Reilly or Steve Carrell. Lions takes this real thing (terrorism) and puts a sort-of humility into it that isn’t often looked at. I remember one part where they’re dressed in costumes and one is dressed like a Ninja Turtle and I openly laughed at a movie for the first time in a decade.

Greenberg – Ben Stiller isn’t a great actor when it comes to comedy. I don’t particularly like the Focker flicks or The Heartbreak Kid or Along Came Polly or any of his other slapstick comedy. My favorite Stiller flicks are in no discernable order: Permanent Midnight, Zero Effect, Royal Tenenbaums, Reality Bites, and now Greenberg. I think the word awkward sums up the basis of what Greenberg is. Greta Gerwig is exceptional in the flick and so is Rhys Ifans. Ben Stiller is playing a neurotic mess, and that’s not necessarily the best part about the movie, the best part about the movie is that he doesn’t stop. He continues to be this mess of a person up until the very end. Greenberg is by no means a perfect flick (Number 8, obviously), but it’s definitely one of those movies that get an emotion out of you (ie: cringe worthy). My favorite part of the movie is Stiller with the dog. It’s so weird and great and it shows that Stiller is a much better actor than any of those shitty comedy flicks show.

Okay, considering that I haven’t seen all of the flicks of 2010, I can’t discern which ones are left. I want to see Black Swan, The Fighter, True Grit, Tron, Never Let Me Go etc. Unfortunately I haven’t gotten around to seeing these and at some point I’ll have to review them separately and amend this list.

Pete Postlewaite dies.

Pete Postlewaite died today at the age of 64.

Postlewaite will probably best be remembered for his role in The Usual Suspects, but was actually in two of the best movies of the year this year.

The Town and Inception. He was also in The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Romeo + Juliet.

Green Lantern action figures.

Man, I think since I saw the episode of Big Bang Theory where Leonard holds up that huge green lantern, I decided that I needed to own one. Unfortunately, I don't. Maybe someday, but not today. All that aside, Mattel has released picks of their upcoming Green Lantern toys. They look pretty detailed oriented, hopefully the flick doesn't suck.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/12/31/mattels-new-movie-style-hal-jordan-and-tomar-re-action-figures/hal-jordan/