A Night They'll Never Forget

By Amy Albertson

Finally, the moment we've all been waiting for: the premier of The Hangover Part II. The highly anticipated comedy comes out today, and lucky for all of you I saw it at midnight, so I've got the scoop.

First of all, if you haven't seen The Hangover I you really are missing out. It is the hilarious, ridiculous tale of a group of friends (and one awkward future-brother-in-law) piecing together a crazy bachelor party in Vegas, featuring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha. Shenanigans include an impromptu wedding to a stripper, stealing Myke Tyson's pet tiger, and stealing a cop car. In The Hangover Part II this crazy team is at it again, but this time in Thailand.

Now, I don't want to give away too many of the details, so you'll just have to trust me when I say this movie is hilarious. As with any sequel, the original is obviously better, but you'll still get plenty of laughs this time around from Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug (and a few new characters and familiar old faces thrown into the mix). It is worth your $9 if you're a fan of the first one and are looking for a flick to start off the summer movie season.

The Nominees are...

I've been hesitant to write an Oscars-prediction-post because part of me feels unqualified. But I like movies, have seen most of the films nominated for best picture, and like to think I watch films with a somewhat critical eye. By that I mean I can be a tough critic and that is why I feel like sometimes my opinion becomes less valuable. So here I go. These are my picks for this years top categories:
Best Actor: I'm with most of the critics on this one and have to say that Colin Firth definitely deserves it. A seasoned Actor who has paid his dues, I think his job in The King's Speech hit the nail on the head. Although Eisenberg was pretty impressive, separating himself from other teen male actors (namely Michael Cera) by even getting an Oscar nomination for The Social Network, Firth really gave a great performance.
Best Actress: Again, I'm with most of the critics and Natalie Portman is my top pick. Her role in Black Swan was both mentally and physically demanding and she did a beautiful job. Natalie has shown a range of emotions and types of characters throughout her career and really dedicated herself to this demanding role.
Best Director: I'm going to go with David Fincher for The Social Network, or perhaps Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan. After reading a few articles and watching the round tables with the actors and directors I've gathered that The Social Network seems to be a very director-driven film. The acting is great and the story interesting, but ultimately Fincher's execution is what did it. I have a little bias towards Black Swan because I feel like it comes from some really specific vision that Aronofsky wanted to create and because it was a spectacular film I'd have to say he achieved it. I am a Cohen Brothers fan but I haven't seen True Grit or heard too many really amazing things about it. I also would hate for them to win it for a remake.
Best Picture: My vote/prediction for best picture is Black Swan. When I think of a "best" picture I think of a movie that is great in many different aspects. The film was visually stunning, had an interesting story and plot, had great acting, costumes, etc., and also was psychologically thrilling. It covers so much ground and was a really great piece. My second pick would probably be The Social Network because it seems like a somewhat revolutionary film that is causing a lot of hype and was actually really great.

I decided I couldn't make a comment about supporting actor/actress because I haven't seen enough of the performances. Please leave comments with your Oscar predictions/opinions! I can't wait to watch. Especially because James Franco and Anne Hathaway are hosting!

Music: Girls Fall Like Dominoes - Nikki Minaj

Facebook Me

I'm sure you are all familiar with the internet social networking sensation, Facebook. Did you know that the Facebook corporation is worth $65 billion? Well I now do thanks to the film The Social Network, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, and breakout star Andrew Garfield. The film weaves through the tale of genius, computer programming, Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg) and his idea to create an exclusive social networking website for all of the students of Harvard. He invites his business savvy best friend Eduardo Saverin (Garfield) to fund the project as CFO of the project and of course when they mix business with pleasure things get sticky. The site gains popularity, as do the boys, and things get tricky when a group of prominent Harvard students accuse Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for the site. Zuckerberg, a man some might say is too intelligent, swayed by Napster founder Justin Parker (Timberlake) and sucked up in corporate confusion, finds himself facing two multi-million dollar lawsuits from both his best friend Eduardo and the other Harvard students. The film is both intrigueing in plot and style. Sequences between anecdotal flashbacks and deposition questioning build tension and keep you fiending for more information every second. Jesse Eisenberg proves himself as the neurotic Zuckerberg to be more than just "another Michael Cera" and Timberlake also shows he has taken some notes since his Model Behavior days. As for Andrew Garfield, we all should watch out for this blooming talent. Whether you see it for the good-looking talent or the intriguing story of the website that is shaping the new generation, I highly recommend that everyone see The Social Network. Out in theaters everywhere!!!

Prepare to Fight!

I recently ventured to the movies to see Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (twice already) and I've got to say, IT ROCKED MY WORLD!! Here's a list of 5 great reasons I'm loving SPVW and why you should go check it out yourself.

Reasons I LOVE Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World:
1. Michael Cera is such a BAD ASS in it.
2. Ramona Flowers is awesome, and worthy of these epic battles.
3. All of the Evil-exes (and even all of the characters) are great characters. You know how I love me some strong characters.
4. The special, video game effects are great. They make the movie even more fun.
5. IT IS HIIIIIIILARIOUS!!!!!! I was LOLing all over the place for the entire 1 hr and 53 mins both times I watched it. As were my mother, brother, and friends.

P.s. It's so good that I'm most likely going to see it again with other friends who have yet to enjoy the fun and entertainment that is Scott PIlgrim Vs. The World.

Music: Napoleon Says - Phoenix

Get Him To The Greek

Another hit from the Apatow camp, Get Him To The Greek is really quite simple. Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) works at Pinnacle Studios and his boss, cooky and demanding CEO Sergio Roma (P.Diddy), gives him the demanding assignment of getting the notoriously difficult, drug addicted, rock star Aldous Snow to a 10th anniversary concert at LA's Greek Theatre. Now, personally those three names are partially what make the movie. As typical for an Apatow film, the jokes are funny, but what really makes the film is the ridiculous characters. Aldous Snow, a carry over from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, is a crazy british rockstar who sings over-the-top hits about anything from "The Clap" to "African Child[ren]", and Russell Brand does a great job of creating a seriously hilarious character. Surprisingly P.Diddy puts on a pretty good performance as Sergio Roma. All in all, the film is really fun to watch, will make you laugh, and even throws in a nice anti-drug message in the process. The only possible complaint is that in the last fourth of the movie the plot and characters start to get a little serious and experience some self-discovery. Viewers not looking for any sort of brain stimulation might find that annoying.

P.s. For some reason i am oddly attracted to Russell Brand. Katy Perry, yousa lucky lady!

Music: African Child - Aldous Snow

Obsessed

I've recently been drawing a blank when it comes to blogging. School is coming to an end, my 19th Birthday is in 20 days, and 2 of my best friends have returned home for the summer. But here's a little movie review to entertain you.

Typically i wouldn't choose to watch one of these suspenseful movies that make you worry about your everyday safety and check twice before turning a dark corner, but i just finished watching the movie Obsessed, starring Idris Elba, Ali Larter, and Beyonce Knowles. The movie is about a man named Derek (Elba) who faces the wrath of the psychotic Lisa (Larter), a temp at his job who becomes obsessed and in love with him. She stalks him and fabricates lies that the two of them are having an affair when in reality they are not. Lisa is a crazy bitch, but no one goes crazier than Sharon (Knowles), Derek's wife, once Lisa begins to take more evasive action. The movie's suspense is poorly done. The entire time you fill with frustration because Derek's character won't speak up! But there is a silver lining. Beyonce kicks major ass in the last scene of the movie and lives up to the title of Number One Diva. Overall i can't really recommend the movie but maybe you should youtube that last scene.

Music: Diva - Beyonce

Greenberg

Last night the Tower Theatre offered the film Greenberg for my viewing pleasure. Greenberg, starring Ben Stiller as its namesake character, is a brief chunk of a fortysomething-year old man's life who recently got out of a psychiatric hospital. Roger Greenberg returns to LA to house sit for his much more successful older brother and family as they vacation in Vietnam. During his short few weeks there he reunites with people from his past and begins having an affair with Florence (Greta Gerwig, a St Francis HS graduate!), his brother's much younger personal assistant. The film is a sort of dark comedy offering many laughs but also a lot of thought for viewers. Both Greenberg and Florence are in the middle of life, looking for something, and neither one is really sure what. I personally find the tense and awkward situations and interactions presented to be a refreshing splash on what reality can be like, something most movies sugar coat or leave out. I recommend Greenberg to people who appreciate a more odd variety of movie that possibly triggers some sort of contemplation. Overall, i enjoyed the film and the themes it touched but i wouldn't say it was REALLY that great. I recommend Greenberg to people who appreciate a more odd variety of movie that possibly triggers some sort of contemplation.

Music: Bruised - Chairlift

An Education

An Education, set in 1960's London, is the story of 16 year old Jenny who's father has put her on track to be the top of her class with the goal of attending Oxford University. however, beautiful and brilliant, Jenny is interested in other things such as French culture, art, literature, and music, and her world is changed when she meets the charming, wealthy, and much older, David who shows her an exciting lifestyle of fancy restaurants and clubs, art auctions, and spur of the moment trips to Paris. wrapped up in the world of David, Jenny begins to learn about life, love, and the options and choices life presents. i don't want to give too much away so i will stop there. Carey Mulligan gives an amazing performance as leading lady Jenny. the movie offers humor, sadness, and an education for all who view it.
it is hard for me to talk about this movie because for some reason viewing it was a seriously profound experience. i just had a new feeling about it that i have never had about a movie or gotten after viewing a movie. the story demonstrates how relationships with all people, boyfriends, parents, teachers, etc, are not something out of fairytales. so many movies give people the false hope about personal relationships and are often left unhappy because of it. i used to be like that a lot but in the past few months i've really been working on accepting relationships and people as hard work and although they can be very confusing and even painful, we are left with the choice of whether they are worth it or not. with my new form of optimism i'm finding that they are usually more worth it than not.

Music: A Sunday Kind of Love - Beth Rowley

The Assassination of Jesse James

i just finished watching one of the longest, but most beautiful and intriguing films: The Assassination of Jesse James. the film, suspenseful and eerie, follows Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) as he attempts to earn the admiration of his lifetime hero, Jesse James (Brad Pitt). James is the king of the outlaw world with a large sum of money on his head and Robert finds himself making a deal with law enforcement and in a predicament of whether or not he should betray his lifelong hero or keep his end of the bargain. Brad Pitt, often under rated as an actor and overrated as a man of good looks, creates a fascinating and psychotic character and young Affleck definitely shines far beyond his brother Ben (whom i find to be a terrible actor). if you have both the patience and time, and an appreciation for beautiful cinematography, i highly recommend this one.

Music: White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes

switchin' teams

being a teenage girl of america (though not for much longer) i ventured out with my main group of girls to see the highly anticipated second movie of the Twilight Saga, New Moon. for those of you who did not see the first movie (Twilight), it was not exactly the highest quality film. although the characters in the opener were cast very well, the film itself was overly cheesy and poorly done. New Moon was easily an improvement. the characters of Edward (Robert Pattinson), Bella (Kristen Stewart), and the rest of the Cullens were back in full force and this time little baby Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) stole the show. sporting a brand new set of 8-pack abs and big, buff arms, Jacob is now all grown up and him and his cute, also very buff, werewolf friends made me want to switch teams from Team Edward to Team Jacob (or maybe just Team Taylor Lautner). his many shirtless and scenes and smiling face were refreshing to see next to the brooding, cold, and dramatic scenes of statuesque Edward and Bella. overall the film was fun and pretty well done (although an improvement on the first one was not hard). the effects with the werewolves and volturi were not spectacular but they did the trick. all in all i recommend you see the movie if you love the series, even if the first movie disappointed you.

Music: New Moon Soundtrack (which i need to look up because it was pretty good)

Whip It/HOPE,CHANGE,BS (dual post)

First order of business: My review of the movie Whip It
first off, i highly recommend this movie. props to Drew Barrymore for the success in her directorial debut. Whip It is the story of a girl named Bliss (Ellen Page) whose small-town mother attempts to raise her through beauty pageants in order to assure her development as the ideal young woman. but Bliss has other priorities in life and finds a greater passion when she attends her first roller derby. She takes on the name Babe Ruthless and ends up on the Hurl Scouts, with Smashlee Simpson (Drew Barrymore), Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig), and Rosa Sparks (Eve). now i don't want to give away too much, but what i love most about this movie is it's ability to be a cinderella story without the typical ending, but still satisfying nonetheless. all the characters were very well casted (something i really enjoy). you'll see plenty of familiar faces: Jimmy Fallon, Ari Graynor (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist), Marcia Gay Harden (Into the Wild, Mona Lisa Smile), and many more. the only complaint i have is that a few parts were anticlimactic where their could have been more action or tension. all in all i give it two large thumbs up and recommend you go see it. i anticipate more films by Drew Barrymore in the future.

Second order of Business: Barack Obama winning the Nobel Prize
Yes, i am a Republican. No, i could not vote in the last election. No, i would not have voted for Barack if i could've. No, i am not a sore loser. go read my blog post from that day. i am willing to give the man a fair chance to do his job right and admire him as an intelligent qualified man. however, i do not believe he has done anything thus far which deserves the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize. he has been in office for less than a year and has not achieved any real progress yet. now i am completely willing to admit i am not the most informed citizen, but i am informed enough to be confused as to why President Obama has received this award. he claims the award is a "call to action". well if they gave out A's in school to call all the slackers to action, do you think that would work? preemptively awarding Obama the Nobel Peace Prize will not help him stop the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. it will only backfire on him if he is unable to do so.

Music: Youth - MGMT

papercuts hurt, work safely

yesterday i had the pleasure of seeing the film 500 Days of Summer, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as Tom who falls in love with a girl named Summer (played by the beautiful Zooey Deschanel). yes, this movie would probably be categorized as a romantic comedy but it is far from your sappy, formulated, fairytale one (for example, 27 Dresses, Maid of Honor, or basically any movie with Matthew McConaughey). no. instead 5DS was a refreshing breath of reality in the fact that when you fall in love with someone there is not always the guarantee that they will love you back. also, no matter how much it makes you hate your life, or possibly the other person, there is no need for that because the person has been put in your life so that you may learn something about yourself and there is no need to fret because you too will eventually find a person whom shares a mutual feeling of love with you. the movie highly reiterates something one of my very good friends (Sarah Wong) always tells me and i very often doubt: everything happens for a reason. all in all i highly recommend the movie both to girls and to guys who appreciate quality film. the actors were cast perfectly, it makes you laugh, the story is paced well in my opinion, and the cinematography is beautiful.

Music: Us - Regina Spektor

believe in magic

of course i saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince at midnight because i am a HUGE HP fan and wouldn't have missed it for the world. the festivities kicked off at JR's with some epic t-shirt making where i perfected my abilities to draw the iconic harry potter font. a few go girls to go around and we were in line for 3 hours waiting to get our seats, which ended up being very good.




as for the movie, it was overall quite good. i love the filters and they style of all of the HP films. everyone is beautiful and glows. it truly is magical. my only disappointment was the fact that they overly focused on the many budding romantic relationships and left out what i feel were a few important details/explanations. of course being heavily emotionally invested, i cried when Dumbledore died and felt upset in the end in anticipation for what is to come.

it is things like HP which make me smile. i enjoy being a part of the generation who got to grow up with HP. when i'm older i will tell young people about how i read HP when it came out, got the books, and saw the movies at midnight. it is like when we ask our parents about if they remember the original Star Trek or if they saw Star Wars when it first came out. it is things like this which define our generation. i like having definition.

_________//Part Two//________________________________________

i've been in weird moods lately. i feel super aware of a lot of different things. it is unexplainable. i've been kind of overwhelmed with the amount of epic events i've been to recently and i think i need to just chill out and have "normal" fun. today was great because all i did was run errands with brian. although usually spending 5 hours shopping for a bicycle helmet isn't usually my idea of fun doing something completely ordinary felt quite satisfactory. tomorrow i'm spending the day poolside with stephanie. sleeping is also a great escape. i like having that space right now where i can just let my thoughts flow freely and not get frustrated.

Music: Harry Potter Soundtracks, Jack's Mannequin

cosmo girl

yesterday i saw the new Star Trek movie. now i'll be the first to admit that one of the main reasons i went was because of all the beautiful men featured in the roles of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) but this movie is actually great. (Pavel Chekov and Kirk Snr. weren't hard to look at either.) i specifically remember my semi-trekie father dragging my entire family to the movie theaters when a new Star Trek film came out but being an eight year old girl i remember little else. this film, with interesting camera angles and eerie galactic battle scenes set to soft music, begins at the beginning with Cpt. Kirk's father and his journey through the Star Fleet Academy and becoming Captain of the Enterprise. With an appearance by the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy), an interesting and compelling plot line, beautiful film quality, and nothing less than good-looking actors, this film is more than enough to make anyone a trekie.

in the wise, wonderful words of Spock (whom i have a bit of favoritism toward) Live Long and Prosper.