I'm Not About to "Get Happy"

...And I don't think Judy would, either.

I feel it's high time I make a response to yesterday's "exciting news." Basically, what the HELL, Hollywood? The recent glut of biopics seems to be just a grab for decent box office and instant Oscar love, and this project is no exception. I admit that I have a ridiculous soft spot for Judy Garland, particularly her work with Vincente Minnelli, and that this love affair plays a large part in my disapproval for this project and its casting.


For starters, everyone with the slightest working knowledge of classic Hollywood knows that Judy's is a tragic story. This film is unlikely to say anything we don't know, particularly with Liza Minnelli still alive and kicking. Sure, young kids don't know anything about Garland, but then again, will they be in the seats for this film? I highly doubt it. It just isn't a film that needs to be made.

As to casting...whatever. No one's going to emulate that woman. Take just one film of hers, Meet Me in St. Louis, and tell me that someone else can bring the same joy, fire, or sweetness to a project. And this is a movie in which she did not want to star. Just look at her coo "Over the Bannister" or belt "The Trolley Song." Or tell John Truett about his mighty strong grip...for a boy. I won't even bring up The Wizard of Oz, A Star is Born, Easter Parade, or Judgment at Nuremberg, because I just don't have all day to hammer the point home.

Now, don't misunderstand. I don't have a problem with Anne Hathaway. I think she's a talented, charming gal, and I agree with Lauren on her Oscar bit with Hugh Jackman. It was cute. HOWEVER, two minutes singing with Hugh Jackman proves exactly NOTHING. Especially that you are competent to play one of the finest performers the Hollywood system has ever churned out. Can anyone honestly think that Hathaway can compare? If so, then the state of cinema is more dire than I ever would have supposed.

And if anyone DARES allow Hathaway to sing for Garland...well, there are no words for the disgust.

The thing is that this will probably be a pretty decent albeit super typical biopic. No surprises. No innovation. Just the facts, ma'am. But it's just not necessary.



And on an unrelated note, people, lay off Zac Efron. That's right. I'm going to bat for the face of High School Musical, and I don't feel the slightest bit of guilt about it. Is High School Musical awful? Of course. Is it Zac Efron's fault? Well, no. He's a pretty talented kid, and, as I'm sure you can tell, I'm pretty hard on the modern musical. Completely innocuous and devoid of ego, this kid is most certainly not the problem with the Footloose remake. The problem with the Footloose remake is that it's...Footloose. Which is just crap, anyway. The last very good movie musical was 1987's Little Shop of Horrors, and the last great one...well, it's been just too long.


This is the kind of "musical news" that calls for curling up on the couch and watching The Pirate, praying that God will answer my prayers of bringing back the old-fashioned MGM musical.

Seriously.

-Katie

Casting Buzz

Exciting casting news from Hollywood! Anne Hathaway has been picked to play Judy Garland in the upcoming biopic Get Happy. I'm actually really excited about this. I love Anne Hathaway, and after her Oscar skit with Hugh "Sexy" Jackman, I have faith that she could pull this off. Of course, I can't really think of anyone in Hollywood worthy to play Garland, but Hathaway might be able to pull it off. 

Ironically, when Katie and I heard about this movie a month ago, I suggested Hathaway for Garland. Katie shot me down. We also bounced around Zooey Deschanel, but we decided she didn't look anything like Garland. Then again, neither does Hathaway. 

In even better news, Zac Efron is no longer in the Footloose remake. Thank you, God. Now if they'd just scrap the project all together life would be better.

Thoughts?

~Lauren

Movie of the Week: The Land Before Time

Forget that they made thirteen movie, forget the awful tv show. This movie is legit. If this movie wasn't an essential part of your childhood, you were seriously deprived. 

This movie, and it's unending list of sequels, made us all love dinosaurs as kids. We learned that vegetarians were good and anything that ate meat was bad. Looking back, this is the best vegan propaganda ever. Who wanted to root for the sharp teeth? No one. At least, not until Chomper was introduced in one of the sequels, but still.

The Land Before Time has everything that makes a great children's movie. Group of friends, one of which is a jerk? Check! Quest lacking parental supervision? Check! Death of parent(s)/Main character orphan? Double Check!

Also, for those of you who can legally and responsibly drink, I've been told that there is a rather challenging drinking game involving Cera and every time her behavior can be summed up by a certain five-letter word, not that we endorse any such suicidal behavior.

Still, where would any of us have been without this movie. I still get teary eyed every time the mom dies, then again when Littlefoot mistakes the rock for his mom. Cera was my favorite, despite her attitude. And for the record, I was terrified by the final face off with the t-rex. The hand drawn animation and the score are lovely. Oh, and earthquakes suck. I'd also bet money, regardless as to whether anyone will admit it, that The Lion King took inspiration from this movie. Circle of life, ghost of parent speaking to him, friends that are a different species? Yeah, parallels can be drawn. Finally, looking back, is there species racism in this movie or what?

Anyways, relive your childhood and go watch The Land Before Time. 

~Lauren

Trailer Watch

Note: I'm sorry that the last post had links which didn't work. I'm not really sure what is up with that. Hopefully this time the links will work.

Happy Day, the trailer for Drag Me To Hell is up. This one looks like a scary movie, all right, but with an interesting and good cast. 

As for The Hangover, well, it has Bradley Cooper, and I'll be an Alias fan until I die, so I'll see it. Plus, Genesis and Tyson? Maybe. But mostly I'm banking on the fact that Cooper always picks solid scripts, or at least solid parts in not so good scripts.

As for the Surveillance trailer, is anyone else thinking of The Hitcher while watching this? I know the two plots don't seem similar at all, but still, something about it...

If I didn't know any better, I'd guess that The Mysteries of Pittsburgh was a French film. Lets be honest with ourselves, how many American movies deal with the issues of threesome relationships? Hm, none. French films, can we count that high?

~Lauren

Mixed News For Iron Man 2

The Good: Mickey Rourke is officially onboard. Can I get a heck yeah? I'm pumped up about this. I hope you are too. 

The Bad: Scarlett Johansson is taking Emily Blunt's place as Black Widow. Everyone, get down on your knees and pray this isn't true. I'm hoping it's a lie, because when Johansson originally screen-tested for the park months ago she was rejected. Let's all cross our fingers and pray really, really hard that this isn't true.

~Lauren

Who Watches Zach Snyder?

Oh, Watchmen. There are so many places I could start. I could talk about the horrible ending, the even worse sex scene, the horrible miss casting of Malin Akerman. I could even talk about Nixon in this movie, but since I occasionally glanced at Katie's face while watching the midnight premier to see if her reaction was the same as mine, I'll leave her to talk about Nixon. Her confused, offended glances told me all I needed to know on that subject. I could even talk about my issues with calling Zack Snyder a "visionary" director, but cnn.com summed that up nicely.

No, instead I dedicate my review to tearing a new one out of the music director of this film. Unfortunately, IMDB doesn't name this soul-crushing fiend, so I've decided to place the blame on Zack Snyder. 

Sometimes, a movie can make excellent use of music not written for the film. Examples: Wall-E ("Put On Your Sunday Clothes"), Wanted ("Everyday Is Exactly The Same"), Kill Bill ("Bang, Bang")...I could keep going, really, but I'll stop. Then, sometimes, movies like Watchmen come along. As I sat through this travesty of a movie, I furrowed my brow in confusion 12 times. It occurred to me that this movie would have been better if I watched the whole thing on mute, because the music basically ruined it. Allow me to go through each song and explain why. Keep in mind, I watched this movie having only slept three of the twenty-four hours before it, so my memory may not be perfect.

"Desolation Row" - My Chemical Romance

Ok, you create one of the greatest books of all time into a movie, and you get My Chemical Romance to do your end credits song. What? Seriously, Snyder? Forget the fact that My Chemical Romance doesn't fit at all in your 80s hits soundtrack, what are you doing? Bad choice. You should have stuck with the vastly superior Bob Dylan original. As often happens, cover of the original song fails.

"Unforgettable" - Nat King Cole

Actually, I'm ok with this one. Kind of unconventional to use in a fight scene, but I'm cool with it.

"These Times They Are A-Changin'" - Bob Dylan

For the opening credits? Sorry, but I wish it had been Dylan's version of "Desolation Row." Still, I don't have issues with this one as much as others.

"The Sound of Silence" - Simon & Garfunkle

What? For the Comedian's funeral. Fail. Just...fail. Not appropriate at all.

"Hallelujah" - Leonard Cohen

As if this sex scene wasn't awful enough, you put this song in it. Why? I wish I could say if it was the scene that killed the song or the song that killed the scene, but there is no answer. It's all just deeply, deeply WRONG.

"99 Luftballons"- Nena

Why? This song was unnecessary. Put it in the scene where it was and it's downright illogical and distracting, two things music in movies should never be. It was worse that McG using "Firestarter" in every fight scene of his Charlie's Angels.

"All Along The Watchtower" - Jimi Hendrix

I never, ever thought that this song could ever be a bad thing. I was wrong. This was the final straw. Truly, horribly wrong song choice. It messed up everything. This was the most tense moment of the film. The bad guy is finally about to be confronted...and you play this? WHAT? Snyder, this one made me want to decapitate you with a record.

"Ride of the Valkyries" Wagner

I hate Wagner. Hate him. His "operas"...don't even get me started. So imagine my displeasure when Dr. Manhattan shows up in Vietnam to this song. Unnecessary, Snyder.

The music killed this. Snyder, you should curl up in a little ball and die. Or better yet, you should be subjected to every form of torture ever created by man.

Oh, and as an adaptation, FAIL.

The good: Patrick Wilson. Jeffery Dean Morgan. Jackie Earle Haley IS Rorschach. Carla Guigino. And that's it. 

Bottom Line: Rent it. I wasted nine dollars and three hours of my life, don't make my mistake. I will admit it was worth it to see the Terminator: Salvation trailer on the big screen.

~Lauren

Sometimes, Hollywood Casting Confounds Me

Why does Hollywood feel the need to cast some actors in big movies, regardless as to weather or not the actor is any good or appropriate for the role?

Case in point, Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan in the upcoming Prince of Persia movie. Yeah, someone explain this to me. Pink is the New Blog has the story and some interesting pictures of a typically confused Gyllenhaal here. 

~Lauren

Trailer Watch

Have you ever wondered what Katie is like? For a while now, we've talked about what it would be like to make a movie about Katie's life. We decided that Zooey Deschanel had to play Katie. Anyways, the movie has finally been made, and it's called (500) Days of Summer. It's Katie, only without the profanity.

The Edge of Love trailer featuring Keira Knightley and Cillian Murphy. It kind of feels like Atonement meets Closer, but hey, I'll see it anyways for Cillian Murphy.

Funny People trailer has hit the net, in case you haven't seen it yet. I'm actually excited to see Eric Bana in this one.

The Wolverine trailers keep getting better and better. I'm getting really, really excited about this movie.

The Public Enemies trailer is online. This might actually be good, despite the so-so trailer. However, I would have liked to see more of the cast than Bale and Depp in the trailer. 

Ok, fans of the Harry Potter books, question - when in the sixth book was there ever an attack on the Burrow? Seriously, because in my memory, and I've read each one of these books about twenty odd times, that happens in the seventh book and it wasn't anything like what happens in this trailer. Ladies and Gentlemen, the makers of the Harry Potter movies has gotten it horribly wrong again. 

The more I see stuff from Star Trek, the more excited I get.

The new trailer for Up is - Squirrel!

Michael Caine has a new movie called Is Anyone There?

None of these are as epic as Terminator: Salvation, but that one has set the new golden standard.

~Lauren

Terminator 101: "The Future Is Not Set"

I happen to know that a few readers (Jonathan) are not familiar with the Terminator series. I feel bad if you aren't familiar with it, because I think that the trailer might not have been quite as epic if you aren't a fan. To help out those who need to brush up on their Terminator lore, here is a brief guide to the series. Note: I am in no means an expert, and this will not be perfect.

Here's the skinny. In Terminator, young, unsuspecting dimwit Sarah Connor is minding her own business when suddenly people are shooting guns and trying to kill her. A young, scruffy man saves her from the Governator. He tells her his name is Kyle Reese and he's from the future. Wait for it, it gets better. She's the mother of the unborn leader of the human race. And this kid of hers is named John Connor (coincidentally Kyle's best friend). As if this wasn't enough to digest, he tells her that in the very near future, humans are going to create an artificial intelligence computer system called Skynet which is going to declare war on humanity and nuke us with our own bombs. Kyle has been sent from the future to protect Sarah, because an evil robot called a Terminator has also been sent back from the future, and the Terminator is hell bent on killing Sarah before she can have her baby. Yeah, you can imagine how this goes over with Sarah. So, Kyle and Sarah go on the run while the Terminator kills everyone in his path. Kyle and Sarah end up sleeping together, because Sarah is freaking out and Kyle has long had the hots for Sarah after seeing her in a picture John had. Thus, Kyle becomes the father of best friend. Yeah. This is why time travel gets complicated folks. In the end, Terminator kills Kyle, Sarah kills Terminator, Sarah goes on the run.

Flash forward several years and you get Terminator II, one of the best action flicks of all time. It's been ten years or so since Sarah killed the Terminator. She's in a mental hospital and a complete bamf. She's also lost the bad 80s hair, but it still doesn't make her much more attractive. John is a punk preteen who hacks atm machines for cash to blow at the local arcade, since staying at home with his foster parents is not on his to-do list. He also thinks his mom's ravings about the future are crap, since she's in the quack house and what not. Of course, since it worked out so well the first time, the machines have sent another robot (T-1000) back in time to kill John, but this one is a lot spiffier than good old Arnold. And the resistance leaders, realizing that the T-1000 is way too much for them to handle, reprogram the Terminator model from the first film to go back with the sole mission of projecting John. So, T-1000 tracks down John, kills John's foster parents, and Terminator saves John. This all forces John to realize that his mom isn't nuts, and he orders the Terminator to help rescue her. Sarah, meanwhile, has been beaten up by orderlies several times and mounts her own escape plan, which coincidentally goes down at the same time as everyone else's rescue plan. Just to make things even more complicated, the T-1000 shows up to kill Sarah at the mental hospital, because apparently that would force John to show himself. Yeah, makes no sense. So, Sarah kicks some ass, flips out when she sees the Terminator, and has a brief tearful reunion with John. Then of course it's back to Sarah bamf mode and she kicks but with the Terminator. The Terminator, John, and Sarah escape the hospital and the T-1000. They go to the desert. Sarah gets out of hospital clothes and into military gear. Sarah sets off to kill Miles Dyson, a computer programer who is building Skynet. Terminator and John go after her. Sarah fails to kill Dyson. Terminator and Sarah tell him about the future. Dyson appropriately hates himself. Everyone, Dyson included, go to blow up Dyson's lab. The cops show up, along with the T-1000. Huge showdown ensues. Dyson gets shot, building goes kaboom. Unfortunately, the stupid T-1000 will not quit. It chases our heroes in a big car chase scene. There's an ultimate showdown and both terminator models die. John gets all upset because the Terminator was the closest thing to a father he's ever had. Sarah is happy, because she thinks she's changed the future. 

And finally, there is the third movie. It turns out, Sarah did change the future, sort of. Judgement Day (when Skynet kills everyone) didn't happen, at least not on schedule. Sarah has died of leukemia. John is a roaming, homeless, purposeless loser. You can't really blame him. One day you're the future leader of the human race, the next that future doesn't exist anymore. Or so he thinks. Anyways, he's just driving along on his bike when he swerves to avoid hitting a deer. So the bike gets destroyed and John, despite the fact that he crashed going 70 mph, gets up, limping a bit, in search of medical supplies. Meanwhile, a new terminator model, the TX, appears. This one is different from previous models. She looks like a super model for starters. I'm sure the guys will enjoy the naked TX, but moving on, she kills a chick, takes her car, and drives off in search of her 28 targets, all the while paving the way for several not so subtle sexual jokes. We then get to meet Kate Brewster, her canon fodder fiance, and military father. Daddy Brewster, is working on a, wait for it, secret government military computer system. Yep, you guessed it, Skynet. Then, the Terminator appears and enters a male stripper club and steals clothes from fairly effeminate male stripper. He steals a car and drives off to find John. John, meanwhile, is a little banged up. He breaks into a Vet clinic to get some meds. The TX kills a guy named Jose and two siblings. Kate (a Vet) goes to the clinic, catching John and locking him in a dog cage. She then realizes who he is - apparently, they went to middle school together and made out in someone's basement. Of course, this reunion is broken up because the TX shows up to kill Kate. the Terminator shows up in the nick of time, saving Kate from the TX. He grabs John and everyone piles into Kate's truck, with kate locked in the back. Car chase ensues. Cops get involved as well. after chase ends, John learns that this is not the exact same Terminator from the last movie, so Terminator doesn't remember him. Kate has her best line - "Drop dead you asshole." Kate really doesn't like being kidnapped. Terminator drives them out into dessert. Terminator admits he must protect Kate too. TX is after all John's lieutenants. Apparently, they only postponed Judgement Day in the last movie. Terminator also admits that TX is way more badass than him. Kate still doesn't like being kidnapped. John gets the Terminator to tell Kate who John is. John tries to explain everything to Kate. TX tracks down and kills Kate's fiance. TX and company arrive at a cemetery and crypt, where John finds a grave for Sarah Connor. He starts to get all sentimental. The Terminator punches into the grave and opens coffin, which, in true Sarah fashion, is filled with weapons. Kate flips out, again, and shoots the Terminator, who spits out the bullet. Then the cops show up. Fight scene ensues. Dr. Sliberman (Sarah's former loony bin doctor) shows up. More fighting. kate makes a run for it. Terminator tells John that kate is important and they must get her back. She's his future wife and the mother of his children. TX makes another go at killing Kate. Kate rejoins the rest of the heroes. All make a run for it. Another car chase ensues. They finally ditch the TX and Kate gets all upset that her fiance is dead. Kate then flips out again when she finds out her father is one of the TX's targets. John finds out her father runs Skynet. John insists on a rescue mission to save her father and to stop Skynet. Terminator says there isn't enough time, since Judgement Day is in a matter of hours. John goes all existential and tries to commit suicide. This time Kate orders Terminator to save her dad, and he complies. Road trip to save dad.  Terminator explains that Kate reprograms him in the future to save John after he killed future John. Kate also finds out she's going to marry John. Kate's dad is pressured into releasing Skynet. And of course, it goes evil and destroys everything just as Kate, John, and Terminator arrive. TX shoots Kate's dad. Machines kill everyone. Big fight ensues. Kate's dad gives them a set of codes and tells them to go to Crystal Lake to destroy Skynet. Dad dies. John grabs Kate and al make a run for it. Terminators face off, and TX wins. John and Kate make a run for it to get a plane. Kate grabs a gun and shoots a robot, proving she can be a badass. John is impressed. John and Kate run from TX and manage to escape temporarily. They get to the hanger, where coincidentally there is a plane Kate knows how to fly. Terminator shows up, but his files have been corrupted and he tries to kill John. Terminator stops himself in the nick of time. John and Kate get on the plane. They arrive at Crystal Lake, a bunker-like facility. Before they can get in, TX shows up. Then Terminator shows up and saves them. Again. They get inside the bunker. Terminator says goodbye with "We'll meet again." Terminator and TX kick it. Once inside the bunker, John realizes Skynet isn't there. He's understandably furious Kate's Dad lied and sent them to a fallout shelter. Film ends with John saying over military radio, "This is John Connor" and military people asking him for help. John admits that maybe the future can't be changed, but he'll never stop fighting.

The fourth movie...hasn't come out yet so I can't tell you squat. It is, however, unique in that it is both a prequel and a sequel to all the other three films. Cool, huh?

So, that's one of the best sci-fi series ever. Sorry I couldn't find anything for the second movie in terms of links. Youtube used to have it, but guess it got removed (Note to friends: have the second if you want to borrow). Excited for the fourth movie?

~Lauren

Review: Best. Trailer. Ever!

UPDATE - Read after watching

OK, so now that I'm no longer running around freaking out, making all my non-Terminator friends watch this glory, I feel I can write a somewhat more calm review of this trailer. First of all, I'm planning, even if it kills me, to go see the midnight premiere of this sucker, preferably in IMAX. In fact, I'm pretty sure the only thing that could stop me is a Nine Inch Nails concert within a five hour driving distance. This leads me to my next point. In case I didn't make it clear earlier, the song used up until the Terminator theme at the very end is "The Day The Whole World Went Away" by Nine Inch Nails. I'd give you a link to the full song, but I'm having trouble finding anything other than the quiet version on youtube (Note to friends: I have every NIN halo, let me know if you want to raid my music library). Also, what an interesting song choice. Fans of the band, if you had known there was going to be an NIN song, would you have picked that? I'd have figured they'd go for something off Year Zero or maybe "And All That Could Have Been," but now that I've seen/heard it, perfect choice. I'm kind of bummed there were only two lines from the song, but dear lord, the placement of those lines were excellent. And the break into the guitars with the shooting of the Terminator's head? Epic. 

My favorite moment is when Marcus looks down at his chest and screams, then the cut to Connor backing into the shadows, followed by the collapsing building...goosebumps every time (and I've watched it about ten times now). For all you car chase fans out there, how mind blowing was the part with the car flipping over and the motorcycle/scout terminator sliding underneath? Breathtaking. And let's not forget the visual look of the film. I'm loving what adding the silver has done. The effect is beautiful. Also, I loved the bombing/terminator head visual at the end. It's been up on the movie's site for a while, and it was nice to see it make it into the trailer.

All in all, I can only complain about three things. 1) The lack of Kyle Reese. 2) The lack of Common. 3) The music transition at the end from NIN to Terminator theme isn't working for me. Wish it did, but it doesn't. 

In case you weren't statisfied before, here is a bigger hd link.

Finally, major cool points if you knew what the word "Fraking" came from. For those that did, I was tempted to start this post with "fraking toasters" or "Fight 'Em Til We Can't," but I wasn't sure that everyone would get the references. I guess I'll save it for later.

Oh, and since I'm going to get crap for it anyways, I'll go ahead and admit (Jonathan, Alyssa, Katie) that I knew it was "The Day the Whole World Went Away" from the second the trailer started. Yeah, I know, I'm pathetic. But if you think I'm bad, ask Katie about The Smiths.

~Lauren

Best. Trailer. Ever!

HOLY FRAKING FISHSTICKS BATMAN!

In all seriousness, I just watched this trailer about two minutes ago and nearly jumped out of my skin. I have died and gone to heaven. I'm really, really big on music used in trailers. It can make a movie. Seriously, look at the people putting together the Watchmen trailers - Massive Attack, Muse, Smashing Pumpkins...I never though it could get any better. Then this happened...

Nine Inch Nails. In a Terminator trailer. I love you, God. There is absolutely no way I'm not seeing this movie. If you want a direct link in case this whole embedding thing doesn't work for you, try here.

I love life.

~Lauren

Keira Knightley, Go Eat A Sandwich

Personally, I've never understood the Keira Knightley love. She was fine in the first Pirates, hated her in the next two. I thought her Elizabeth Bennet was awful. I didn't mind her in Atonement. But seriously, someone explain why everyone thinks she's such a great actress, because I just don't see it. Still, she must have one hell of an agent. Just look at her upcoming projects.

Last Night

All that really needs to be said about this one is that on IMDB, Eva Mendes is the second actor listed in the cast. Otherwise, sounds vaguely like Lost In Translation. Yeah.

The Beautiful and the Damned

This would have been the perfect title for a Vampire movie. Tragically, it's a Zelda Fitzgerald bio-opic with Keira Knightley playing the title role. Can you say Ew?

London Boulevard

This one has Colin Farrell as an ex-con trying to go straight. I know, sounds amazing, right? Here's what's wrong with it. Keira Knightley plays an actress who gives him a job as a handy man. $10 says this is going to turn out to be a romantic comedy despite it's genre label "Crime."

My Fair Lady

First of all, they are violating my childhood by remaking this. Second, Knightley is cast as Eliza Doolittle. Hollywood, I may never forgive you for this.

Never Let Me Go

Oh boy. This one was just announced in good old Variety today. You ready? Trust me, you aren't ready.

Plot: "Story revolves around a trio who grew up in a boarding school with no contact or knowledge of the outside world until they discover they are clones grown for the sole purpose of organ donation."

Wait...Hollywood, you made this already. It was called The Island. You remember, Michael Bay's flick with Scarlett Johansson and a great but underused supporting class? Remember? It sucked too. So why in the hell are you remaking it? Please, someone, explain this to me, cause I do not get it.

I'm off to go cry about the state of the movie industry. In the mean time, Keira Knightley, go eat a sandwich.

~Lauren

Box Office Injustice

THE JONAS BROTHERS DIDN'T WIN! AMERICA I LOVE YOU! 

Well, not really, because they still came away with the number two spot and $12.7 million. But still, there is a little more love than usual.

So this week, on Box Office Injustice...

1. Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail $16.5 million

2. The Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience $12.7 million

3. Slumdog Millionaire $12.1 million

4. Taken $9.9 million

5. He's Just Not That Into You $5.8 million

6. Paul Blart: Mall Cop $5.6

7. Coraline $5.2

8. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chin-Li $4.6 million

9. Confessions of a Shopaholic $4.49 million

10. Fired Up $3.8 million

I'd like to point out that last week Slumdog Millionaire was number five on the list. See what winning an Oscar can do for you? Also, this was a movie with a budget of $15 million that's gone on to gross $115 million. Go indies! Coraline took the hardest hit this week, droping to number seven from the number two spot last week. Also, who in hell is still going to see Paul Blart? Seriously, who?

~Lauren

Hits

Well, we haven't got a darn clue as to how many people actually visit this blog, so we got one of those hit counter things. We're starting assuming that at least, oh, 15 people have visited this blog at some point in their existence. Hopefully it's been more than that. I guess the numbers will tell.

Anyways, keep checking for updates. Look for Watchmen reviews later this week. Spread the word. 

~Lauren

Movie of the Week

Since this blog's creation, Katie and I have discussed doing a Movie of the Week feature. Each week, we'll pick a movie that isn't necessarily recent and rave about it while encouraging you to watch it. The point of this is to spread movie knowledge all around. We've discussed what we'd like to have be our first featured movie, and there was really only one option. This week, we proudly present Flight of Dragons.

Flight of Dragons

James Earl Jones as an evil wizard. Do I really have to say more? This is one of those classic 80s animation gems that you wish you could forget but you love it too much. No, it's not Disney. Believe it or not, there were other animated movies once made that weren't the children of Dreamworks, Pixar, or Disney. In addition to the vocal awesomeness of James Earl Jones, John Ritter stars as the main character Peter Dickenson. According to IMDB, the plot is...well, their summaries are all crap.

You must understand, this movie was a key part of my childhood. It was up there with The Last Unicorn and Little Nemo. This was the earliest Geek moment of my life, since it took me until I was seven to discover Star Wars. Tragically, I have yet to find this epic movie on DVD. But if you feel up to it, you might be able to find it somewhere.

Anyway, this one isn't exactly high art. But it's vastly enjoyable, especially since the dragons and wizarding council members just have so much personality. And with dialogue like "Summon the silver owls of the full moon! Summon them, I say," you'll be believing that crappy 80's animation truly is the most powerful magic of all.

And let's not forget the CLASSIC Flight of Dragons theme song, written and performed by Don McLean, the same guy who wrote the always epic "American Pie."

It's too good to be missed, ladies and gentlemen. Too good.

~Katie & Lauren

General Stuff That Needs Be Addressed

If you are one of our numerous "Anonymous" responders, I'd kind of appreciate it if you signed your name at the end of your post. It makes it a little easier to tell which response was said by whom, especially when someone comes up to me and pulls the "Hey, I commented on your blog today." While we love the comments, please, tell us who you are.

Also, shout out to Furman Underground. You guys have helped spread the word about this blog. We figured we'd do the same.

~Lauren