Cosmique Movie Awards

Trailer: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

2011-04-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

Just last night, I finally got a chance to see the first installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the first part of J.K. Rowlings final book in her fantasy series.

The film has been nominated for eight Cosmique Movie Awards, including:

* Best Cinematography, Art Direction or Set Design for a 2010
* Film Best Costume Design Or Make-Up For A 2010 Film
* Best Visual Effects for a 2010 Film
* Favorite Heroic Character of a 2010 Film - Daniel Radcliffe
* Favorite Villain of a 2010 Film - Helena Bonham Carter
* Favorite Villain of a 2010 Film - Ralph Fiennes
* Best Action/Adventure Film of 2010
* Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Film of 2010

If you're interested, head over to the Cosmo site to vote for the winners of the 8th Cosmique Movie Awards.

And now, just this morning, the trailer for the second Deathly Hallows installment and final film in the Harry Potter franchise was released. For those who felt that the last two films were more build-up and less action, here comes the epic payoff.

Get ready!

8th Cosmique Movie Award nominations announced!

2011-04-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

Inception led the field for the 8th Cosmique Movie Awards with 14 nominations, followed by The Social Network with 12 nominations and Black Swan and The King's Speech with 11 each.

The top-nominated films are all competing in the Best Film of 2010 category, along with Toy Story 3 as the fifth nominee. The top four are also competing for Best Director, along with David O. Russell for The Fighter.
Helena Bonham Carter leads in the acting nominations, with three nominations in an unprecedented three different films: Best Supporting Actress for The King's Speech as well as Best Villain for both Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

Of the six nominees for Best Films of All Time Lifetime Achievement Hall of Fame, five of them -- Apocalypse Now, Chinatown, The Godfather, A Letter to Three Wives, and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring -- have all been nominated before. They're joined by another first-time nominee: Edward Scissorhands.

To vote for the final winners, visit the Cosmique Movie Awards website and cast your ballot online by midnight, May 6, 2011. If you change your mind after you vote, simply resubmit your changed ballot with the same email address. Only your most recent ballot will be considered.

Time to nominate!

2011-04-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

It's time to cast your nominations for the 8th Cosmique Movie Awards!

Head over to the nomination page and do the following:

Download lists of eligible films and a sample ballot (optional)
Cast your ballots online.

Nomination ballots are due by midnight PDT on Friday, April 8th.

Movie Reviews: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)

2011-01-30T12:57:00.000-08:00

It's the coolest job ever.

Directed by: Jon Turteltaub

Written by: Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, Matt Lopez, Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Toby Kebbell

Primary Genres: Action/Adventure; Science Fiction/Fantasy

The sorcerer Balthazar Drake has spent over a thousand years seeking the heir to Merlin's powers, but when he finds him, the young man is more interested in pursuing his life than in learning sorcery.

In yet another film attempting to capitalize on the contemporary fantasy genre revitalized by J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, a young boy -- and, after a brief adventure, a young man ten years later -- finds himself plucked out of his normal, mundane life and facing all sorts of supernatural menaces.

Unlike Percy Jackson, the film is not adapted from a young adult story, and therefore the pacing is more in keeping with a film than a children's novel. Nicolas Cage, who has a tendency to annoy, works well as Balthazar, the sorcerer; his typical over-the-job performance works well here, but manages to be sufficiently restrained. In contrast, Jay Baruchel's hapless nerdiness that worked well in She's Out of My League comes off as a bit nasal and grating. It's a fun adventure for teens but lacks some of the crossover appeal that "Harry Potter" has for adults.

My Grade: B+

Movie Reviews: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

2011-01-30T12:53:00.000-08:00

Directed by: Chris Columbus

Written by: Craig Titley (screenplay), Rick Riordan (novel)

Starring: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener

Primary Genres: Action/Adventure; Science Fiction/Fantasy

A young teen discovers that he's the son of the Greek god Poseidon when he's framed for the theft of Zeus' lightning bolt, triggering a war between the gods.

In the spirit of Harry Potter and similar contemporary fantasy stories, a kid in present-day America is suddenly thrust into a world of magic and fantasy, discovering a legacy of power that had previously been unknown.

Those familiar with Greek mythology may be pleased with how many myths and legends are woven into the tale. Though I have not read Rick Riordan's original novel, I will guess that it's a rather faithful adaptation because the pacing is off for a movie. Each scene feels like a mini-story arc, like a chapter of a novel (especially a novel geared towards younger readers), and that interrupts the overall flow of the film. Even Chris Columbus' adaptation of the first two Harry Potter films had a better pacing.

That said, though the characters never had much of an opportunity to develop any depth, it's a fun popcorn flick with nice visual graphics and a fun delve into mythology, but not a lot of substance. Perhaps subsequent films will have an opportunity to flesh things out.

My grade: B-

Movie Reviews: When in Rome

2011-01-30T12:49:00.000-08:00

Did you ever wish for the impossible?

Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson

Written by: David Diamond, David Weissman

Starring: Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, Anjelica Huston, Will Arnett, Jon Heder, Dax Shepard

Primary Genres: Comedy; Science Fiction/Fantasy

A career-oriented young woman suddenly finds herself besieged by a number of suitors when she plucks their coins out of a fountain of love in Rome.

When in Rome faithfully follows the romantic comedy standard, albeit with a rather annoyingly bit more slapstick than most, that leaves no one surprised by the ending. Kristen Bell works perfectly as the beautiful, charismatic ingénue, and Josh Duhamel could easily play the romantic lead in every rom/com released in the next ten years. The film is perfectly satisfying for those seeking a little snuggle-up chick flick, but there really is nothing surprising or innovative about it. It serves its purpose but never strives for more, and for that will probably not end up on any of my Cosmique Movie Awards ballots, positive or negative.

My grade: B-

Movie Reviews: The Social Network

2011-01-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

You don't get 500 million friends without making a few enemies.

Directed by: David Fincher

Written by: Aaron Sorkin (screenplay) & Ben Mezrich (book)

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer and Josh Pence, Max Minghella, Joseph Mazzello, Patrick Mapel, Rooney Mara

Spurned after getting dumped by his girlfriend, a Harvard student, Mark Zuckerberg, creates a retaliatory website that leads to the creation of Facebook, the largest social networking site of all time.

Historical films come in all varieties. Some try to more-or-less faithfully depict long-gone historical figures with the significant events of their lives, like Elizabeth. Some take historical figures and put them in a more fictionalized story, like Shakespeare in Love. Some place fictional characters against a recognizably historic backdrop, like Gone With the Wind and Saving Private Ryan. Some blend both historical and fictional elements, like Ragtime. Some speculate about what might have happened, like JFK and similar conspiracy theorist films. Often they cover their asses by saying that they are "inspired" by actual events.

But when a biographical story is current -- especially a story that is still ongoing -- audiences expect a higher dedication to accuracy. And in that sense, "The Social Network" probably fails. Only one person involved in the founding of the company, Eduardo Saverin, was involved in the original book "The Accidental Billionaires," and in Aaron Sorkin's subsequent screenplay. But despite the inaccuracies, the film is nevertheless a brilliant character study and a collection of truly brilliant performances.

Jesse Eisenberg stars with his most significant role to date, finally breaking out of the hapless teenager roles dominated by Michael Cera. He portrays Zuckerberg as somewhat petulant, snide, aloof yet quietly passionate, all with an economy of words and the most subtle of facial changes. The minority of critics who have felt that the character was a little two-dimensional need to see this film again to watch for subtle depths that Eisenberg instills in his portrayal.

Andrew Garfield as Zuckerberg's best friend and company co-founder Eduardo Saverin also delivers a tremendous performance, albeit one not forced to be so restrained. And restraint was clearly out the window for Justin Timberlake's delightful performance of the flashy Sean Parker, the founder of Napster who wiggled his way into the company -- and Saverin out -- before himself being forced to resign after being arrested for cocaine possession with an under-21 year old girl.

Is it historically accurate? Some of it, at least, is probably not. Much emphasis, probably too much, is placed on Zuckerberg's reaction to getting dumped by his girlfriend. His initial reaction is no doubt accurate -- the blog entries Zuckerberg wrote about it were included in court deposition transcripts when Saverin and the Winklevoss twins were separately suing him. But Zuckerberg had already met another woman even before TheFacebook launched, and they were dating not long after the company moved to Palo Alto, perhaps already living together by the time the lawsuits occurred. (They remain together to this day.) To suggest that Zuckerberg ended up lonely, dateless and friendless, is an overstatement. Did he plant negative stories about Saverin? Did he set up Parker with the cocaine bust? Did he steal the idea and concepts for Facebook from the Winklevoss brothers? The film, to its credit, raises the speculations made by Zuckerberg's critics without trying to answer them.

Of course, the film doesn't go into much about Facebook's present issues itself -- breaking away from its college exclusivity, finally embracing an advertising-supported financial model, or the controversial privacy issues the company has faced. Nor should it. The story is about the people who founded the company, their relationships. And those relationships reached the end of their story arc with the lawsuits and financial settlements. As a character study and as an example of truly brilliant acting, the film is worthy of the acclaim and the awards being bestowed upon it.

My grade: A

In Memoriam

2011-01-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

Gone but not forgotten: celebrities from Hollywood and elsewhere who left us this year.

Screen Actors Guild nominations announced

2010-12-16T08:49:00.000-08:00

As the countdown to the Oscars continues, the Screen Actors Guild has announced their nominations. Topping the list is The King's Speech and The Fighter with four nominations each, followed by Black Swan with three.

Best Ensemble nominations went to Black Swan, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, and The Social Network. While the category is the actors' equivalent of Best Picture, it's a rough gauge of the Oscar's top nominations because so many films may be driven by a solo performance, writing, directing, or other production values.

Best Actor nominations went to Jeff Bridges for True Grit, Robert Duvall for Get Low, Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network, Colin Firth for The King's Speech, and James Franco for 127 Hours. Best Actress nominations went to Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right, Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole, Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone, Natalie Portman for Black Swan, and Hilary Swank for Conviction.

Check out the full list of nominees.

The movies of 2010 ... in six minutes

2010-12-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

Youtube user Genrocks has created an absolutely brilliant six-minute video mashup of over 200 films released in 2010. Check it out:

The films clips are from, in order:

01. Iron Man 2; 02. The Social Network; 03. Saw 3D; 04. TRON: Legacy; 05. Never Let Me Go; 06. Legion; 07. The Book of Eli; 08. Easy A; 09. The Runaways; 10. Farewell; 11. Kick-Ass; 12. Jonah Hex; 13. Harry Brown; 14. The Sorceror’s Apprentice; 15. Percy Jackson & The Olympics: The Lightning Thief; 16. Despicable Me; 17. Stone; 18. Dinner For Schmucks; 19. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1; 20. Hereafter; 21. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World; 22. Black Swan; 23. Howl; 24. Faster; 25. Casino Jack; 26. Casino Jack and the United States of Money; 27. Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Rebel; 28. Waiting for Superman; 29. Inception; 30. Resident Evil: Afterlife; 31. The Town; 32. The Expendables; 33. The A-Team; 34. The American; 35. The Concert; 36. The Tempest; 37. Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang; 38. The Tourist; 39. Metropia; 40. Burlesque; 41. Love Ranch; 42. Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer; 43. The Warrior’s Way; 44. Twelve; 45. Going The Distance; 46. Chain Letter; 47. Catfish; 48. Machete; 49. Step Up 3D; 50. Devil; 51. Clash of the Titans; 52. Countdown to Zero; 53. Jackass 3D; 54. Alice in Wonderland; 55. Buried; 56. Red; 57. Mesrine; 58. Predators; 59. MacGruber; 60. Robin Hood; 61. Green Zone; 62. The Way Back; 63. Due Date; 64. Daybreakers; 65. Knight and Day; 66. Heartbreaker; 67. The Karate Kid; 68. Secretariat; 69. Middle Men; 70. Repo Men; 71. Hot Tub Time Machine; 72. All Good Things; 73. Skyline; 74. Animal Kingdom; 75. Fair Game; 76. Paper Man; 77. Eclipse; 78. Megamind; 79. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; 80. True Grit; 81. Accidents Happen; 82. Date Night; 83. Perrier’s Bounty; 84. Killers; 85. How To Train Your Dragon; 86. The Other Guys; 87. Unstoppable; 88. Leap Year; 89. Cop Out; 90. When In Rome; 91. Centurion; 92. Salt; 93. Takers; 94. Barney’s Version; 95. Diary of a Wimpy Kid; 96. The Winning Season; 97. Just Wright; 98. Legendary; 99. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest; 100. Ong Bak 3; 101. Rogues Gallery; 102. Defendor; 103. District 13: Ultimatum; 104. Conviction; 105. The Losers; 106. The Disappearance of Alice Creed; 107. Brooklyn’s Finest; 108. Wild Target; 109. Four Lions; 110. The King’s Speech; 111. Boogie Woogie; 112. 127 Hours; 113. Somewhere; 114. Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll; 115. Letters to Juliet; 116. The Kids are All Right; 117. Sex and the City 2; 118. Vampires Suck; 119. Love and Other Drugs; 120. Life As We Know It; 121. Blue Valentine; 122. Jolene; 123. The Extra Man; 124. The Last Song; 125. Our Family Wedding; 126. Morning Glory; 127. Greenberg; 128. Remember Me; 129. Please Give; 130. Certified Copy; 131. The Last Exorcism; 132. Peacock; 133. Flipped; 134. Cemetery Junction; 135. I Love You Phillip Morris; 136. Toy Story 3; 137. The Romantics; 138. Welcome to the Rileys; 139. I’m Still Here; 140. Get Him To The Greek; 141. The Yellow Handkerchief; 142. The Greatest; 143. The Virginity Hit; 144. Furry Vengeance; 145. Eat Pray Love; 146. Don McKay; 147. Solitary Man; 148. Cyrus; 149. Case 39; 150. Dear John; 151. The Good Guy; 152. Jack Goes Boating; 153. You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger; 154. Leaves of Grass; 155. How Do You Know; 156. Death at a Funeral; 157. Tamara Drewe; 158. The Killer Inside Me; 159. The Back-Up Plan; 160. Another Year; 161. Great Directors; 162. The Ghost Writer; 163. Splice; 164. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale; 165. The Wolfman; 166. Piranha; 167. A Nightmare on Elm Street; 168. Charlie St. Cloud; 169. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time; 170. Biutiful; 171. The Lovely Bones; 172. Monsters; 173. Cairo Time; 174. The Crazies; 175. Valhalla Rising; 176. Ondine; 177. It’s Kind Of A Funny Story; 178. Stolen Lives; 179. Creation; 180. Chloe; 181. The Debt; 182. Princess Ka’iulani; 183. Like Dandelion Dust; 184. Shutter Island; 185. Inhale; 186. Heartless; 187. Rabbit Hole; 188. Let Me In; 189. Hemingway’s Garden of Eden; 190. The Fighter; 191. From Paris With Love; 192. Shrek Forever After; 193. The Next Three Days; 194. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole; 195. Spring Fever; 196. Stonewall Uprising; 197. Smash His Camera; 198. My Soul To Take; 199. Life During Wartime; 200. The Joneses; 201. Mr. Nobody; 202. The Good Heart; 203. The Lottery; 204. Leaving; 205. Night Catches Us; 206. Nowhere Boy; 207. Babies; 208. Barry Munday; 209. Tooth Fairy; 210. Yogi Bear; 211. The Borrowers; 212. You Again; 213. Standing Ovation; 214. Soul Kitchen; 215. Multiple Sarcasms; 216. The Nutcracker in 3D; 217. The Last Airbender; 218. Youth in Revolt; 219. Edge of Darkness; 220. Last Night; 221. Extraordinary Measures; 222. Ramona and Beezus; 223. Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore; 224. Alpha and Omega; 225. Tangled; 226. Marmaduke; 227. Grown Ups; 228. Inside Job; 229. Gulliver’s Travels; 230. The Spy Next Door; 231. The Dry Land; 232. Tiny Furniture; 233. La mission; 234. City Island; 235. Letters to God; 236. She’s Out of My League; 237. Lottery Ticket; 238. Wonderful World; 239. The Infidel; 240. Holy Rollers; 241. Why Did I Get Married Too?; 242. Paranormal Activity 2; 243. Frozen; 244. The Switch; 245. Finding Bliss; 246. Made in Dagenham; 247. For Colored Girls; 248. Crazy on the Outside; 249. The Last Station; 250. The Bounty Hunter; 251. I’m Here; 252. I Am Love; 253. Red Hill; 254. Country Strong; 255. Peepli Live; 256. Oceans; 257. Sanctum; 258. Little Fockers; 259. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work; 260. Exit Through The Gift Shop; 261. Winter’s Bone; 262. Get Low; 263. Fish Tank; 264. Valentine’s Day; 265. The Tillman Story; 266. The Company Men; 267. Tales from Earthsea; 268. Spoken Word; 269. To Save A Life; 270. Hubble 3D;

"The King's Speech" leads Golden Globes nominations

2010-12-14T08:54:00.000-08:00

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations for the 68th annual Golden Globes awards, and The King's Speech leads with seven nominations, including Best Drama and Colin Firth for Best Actor.

Additional Best Drama nominations went to Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, and The Social Network. Best Comedy/Musical nominations went to Alice in Wonderland, Burlesque, The Kids Are All Right, Red, and The Tourist.

In addition to Colin Firth's Best Acting nod, additional Best Actor in a Drama nominations went to Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network, James Franco for 127 Hours, Ryan Gosling for Blue Valentine, and MarkWahlberg for The Fighter. Best Actress in a Drama nominations went to Halle Berry for Frankie and Alice, Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole, Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone, Natalie Portman for Black Swan, and Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine.

Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical nominations went to Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right, Anne Hathaway for Love and Other Drugs, Angelina Jolie for The Tourist, Julianne Moore for The Kids Are All Right, and Emma Stone for Easy A. Best Acting nods went to Johnny Depp for Alice in Wonderland, Johnny Depp for The Tourist, Paul Giamatti for Barney's Version, Jake Gyllenhaal for Love and Other Drugs, and Kevin Spacey for Casino Jack.

You can find the complete list of Golden Globe nominees on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's website.

Critics Choice Awards

2010-12-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

Natalie Portman's film Black Swan topped the Broadcast Film Critics Association's Critics' Choice Awards nominations, with a record 12 nominations including one for Best Picture. Additional nominations for the film included Portman for Best Actress and Mila Kunis for Supporting Actress, as well as additional nominations for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and more.

The King's Speech and True Grit each received 11 nominations. Inception received 10 nominations. The Social Network received nine, including Jesse Eisenberg's first Best Actor nomination for a film that has cemented his acting creds.

The BFCA represents 250 film critics in the United States and Canada working in television, radio, and online media. In their press release announcing the nominations, they claim their awards are the best predictors of Oscar winners:

Historically, the Critics' Choice Movie Awards are the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations. All four major acting category winners at the Academy Awards in 2010 were first Critics' Choice Movie Awards winners in the same categories and were present at the January 15, 2010 ceremony to graciously give their first acceptance speeches of the awards season.

We shall see if their track record holds true. Check out the full list of nominations on their site.

Los Angeles Film Critics Awards 2010

2010-12-13T08:55:00.000-08:00

The end of the year holiday season also brings the beginning of the year's movie awards season, and one of the first out of the gate is the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, which just announced their winners for films released in 2010.

Topping the list is The Social Network, the film about the founding of Facebook. In addition to being named Best Picture for 2010, it also won Best Screenplay and tied for both Best Director and Best Music Score.

The award for Best Actor went to Colin Firth for The King's Speech, while Kim Hye-Ja won Best Actress for Mother. Supporting Actor went to Niels Arestrup for The Prophet, and Supporting Actress went to Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom.

Check out all of the winners and runners up on the Los Angeles Film Critics 2010 Awards page.

Movie Reviews: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

2010-12-12T11:36:00.000-08:00

An epic of epic epicness.

Michael Cera manages to turn his always delightful hapless-in-love persona into an action hero in this big screen adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novels when he discovers, after starting to fall for a new girl, that he must defeat her seven evil exes in order to win her heart.

The film itself is presented as part video game, part graphic novel, a clever approach that helps rather than hinders the final film. Anything less might have made the film seem like it was taking itself too seriously. The ensemble cast in wonderful (including Cosmo fave and now Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick). The cinematography and effects are good. But even so, something dragged with the script. Something felt lacking. I wish I could put my finger about what it was, but I really can't. All I really have, in the end, is a feeling. In the end, I felt satisfied but a little underwhelmed after all the hype. Still recommended, but I'm glad I waited for video.

My Grade: B

Movie Reviews: Let Me In

2010-10-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

Innocence dies. Abby doesn't.

A young boy who is the victim of bullies befriends a neighbor girl who is a vampire.

I went to this film with friends expecting the typical horror/thriller vampire film. I was delighted to find that it was more of an artistic drama with suspenseful elements than a traditional horror film.

Let me begin by saying that I have not seen the original Swedish film, nor have I read the book on which the films are based. But I am not such a purist that demands that nothing ever be remade. Sir Patrick Stewart once said in an interview, after co-starring in HBO's remake of the classic film The Lion in Winter, that great scripts deserved to be remade, just as there are dozens of remakes and restagings of Shakespeare's plays. Directors and actors should have an opportunity to bring their interpretations to great roles. And we've found in the United States that remakes can introduce a film to an audience too young for the original or too impatient to read subtitles. I believe audiences can appreciate multiple iterations of a film.

A film like this shouldn't be over-discussed for fear of spoilers. But let me just say that the camera work is amazing, with shots taken at unexpected angles or with unexpected parts of the frame out of focus. Some may find those elements a little too artsy, but I loved it and felt it added to the director's interpretation.

Kodi Smit-McPhee, the young actor who plays the protagonist, Owen, is an absolutely amazing actor, as his co-star, Chloe Moretz. They may very well both make my Best Actor/Actress lists. It will certainly top my list for Best Myster/Suspense/Horror/Thriller, very like for Best Cinematography (if the category survives), and very likely make my list for Best Drama as well.

My Grade: A

Trailers: Another Harry Potter trailer

2010-09-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, we posted a trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Another one has just been released. Check it out!

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Movie Reviews: Vampires Suck

2010-08-30T18:01:00.000-07:00

Some sagas just won't die.

Directed by: Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer

Written by: Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer

Starring: Jenn Proske, Matt Lanter, Diedrich Bader, Chris Riggi, Ken Jeong, Anneliese van der Pol

In this spoof of vampire movies, Becca moves to the Pacific Northwest, where she becomes torn between her love for a vampire and a werewolf.

I am in general a fan of movies that parody genre films, though none of Friedberg and Selzer's other films (Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie, and so forth) quite live up to the classic Not Another Teen Movie, which was not one of theirs.

But Vampires Suck was absolutely dreadful. I've finally found a 2010 film worst than Legion.

I'll admit that I saw it by accident. I had several hours to kill waiting for a prescription to be filled, so I walked to the closest movie theater. This was the only movie that I didn't have to wait two hours for. But even so, I genuinely tried to like it. Alas, there was simply nothing funny about it.

It's hard to even characterize it as a parody of the vampire genre. It is, instead, simply a parody of the first two Twilight films, almost a frame-by-frame retelling of them, with only the barest of references to The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The films they are parodying were dreadful to begin with, but I finally found a film is even worse than the Twilight films themselves.

Twilight fans will hate that it's making fun of their franchise; Twilight foes will hate that it's too similar. No one will like this film. No one.

This is probably the harshest review I've ever written about anything. I'm not sorry. The tagline "some sagas just won't die" is sadly apt.

My grade: F

Trailers: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2010-08-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

Part one of the seventh book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is scheduled to come to the silver screen in November of 2010, with part two being released in July of 2011.

When the first film was released, it was overshadowed at the Cosmique Movie Awards by Peter Jackson's translation of one of the seminal fantasy franchises of all time: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. And the next two Harry Potter films were naturally also overshadowed by the second and third Lord of the Rings films.

It wasn't until the 2005 awards that a Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, would win a Cosmo for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Film. The series is getting darker now, and without a Lord of the Rings film to compete against, will the Deathly Hallows resonate with Cosmo voters?

Check out the trailer to see for yourself:

Movie Reviews: Piranha 3D

2010-08-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

There's something in the water.

Directed by: Alexandre Aja

Written by: Pete Goldfinger & Josh Stolberg

Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Ving Rhames, Elisabeth Shue, Christopher Lloyd, Eli Roth, Jerry O'Connell, Steven R. McQueen, Jessica Szohr, Kelly Brook, Riley Steele, Adam Scott, Ricardo Chavira

When an underwater tremor opens a cavern filled with pre-historic man-eating piranhas just as a desert lake is about to celebrate spring break, a group of locals and tourists must work together struggle to survive the fanged fish.

Begin by accepting this movie for what it is. It is not Sophie's Choice. It's not even Jaws (despite a cameo homage by Richard Dreyfuss -- and the fact that he gets top billing for such a small cameo speaks volumes). With an Oscar winner (Dreyfuss) and nominee (Elizabeth Shue), one might have been tempted to expect more, but you only have to glance at the trailers (or even the poster) to immediately lower your expectations. It's a cheesy T&A horror film with so much female T&A that it could easily be mistaken for something filmed for Cinemax.

Nevertheless, as cheesy thriller films go, it's passably enjoyable in that vein. Yes, the male T&A is virtually nonexistent while the female T&A is so nonstop that a purveyor of lesbian porn for a straight male audience could hardly have added more. The suspense is hardly suspenseful, but the jump scenes, while entirely predictable, were nevertheless jumpy.

Halfway through this movie, I began to lament that not enough people had died. I needn't have worried; within moments, the mayhem had become so exaggerated that I couldn't stop giggling.

The cast for the most part do a good job with shaky material. Shue plays the small-town sheriff trying to protect spring breakers from a then-unidentified menace in the water. Steven R. McQueen (The Vampire Diaries) plays her son who, in perhaps my biggest complaint of the film, remains extremely overdressed in board shorts as other female co-stars expose their breasts, vaginas, and what they ate for lunch (or ... what ate them for lunch). Jerry O'Connell appropriately overacts as a sort of Girls Gone Wild-esque soft core porn producer, while Christopher Lloyd inappropriately overacts to the point of irritation.

Bear in mind that my grade mitigates for what the film strives for. Had it aimed higher, the grade would have been lower.

My grade: C-

Movie Reviews: Shutter Island

2010-08-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

Someone is missing.

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Written by: Laeta Kalogridis (screenplay); Dennis Lehane (novel)

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams

U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner (Mark Ruffalo) must investigate the disappearance of a female inmate from Shutter Island, an institution for the criminally insane.

We need to be careful with films like this to avoid providing too many spoilers, and that can make a review challenging. Let it suffice to say that while Leonardo DiCaprio is a great actor and Martin Scorsese is a great director, there's a reason this film was released so early in the year, long before the Oscar-bait season: the twists just aren't that twisty.

Still, the acting is excellent and worth considering. It might not make Best Drama, depending what comes later in the year, but it could well make it in the Thriller category. It's "Historical" only in the sense that it takes place in an identifiable time period, but is not based on true events, but for many voters that might be sufficient. And it could even be considered for "Best Use of (Gratuitous?) Nudity," though the male nudity, while full frontal, is fleeting and hardly sexy.

My grade: B

Movie Reviews: Legion

2010-08-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

When the last angel falls, the fight for mankind begins.

Directed by: Scott Charles Stewart

Written by: Peter Schink and Scott Charles Stewart

Starring: Paul Bettany, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palicki, Willa Holland, Kate Walsh, Kevin Durand, Charles S. Dutton, Dennis Quaid, Jon Tenney

When God first tried to destroy mankind, he used a flood. This time he's sending ... angels?

Seriously?

This has to be one of the dumbest movies I've ever seen. It feels like it was originally written to be about demons attacking mankind but then some subsequent scriptwriter thought he'd be clever and switch it up a bit. I realize now that it's based on a comic book, so the premise didn't change overly much. Somehow that makes it even worse. I can't imagine how the premise alone got green-lighted.

If I end up seeing five films that are actually worse than this and knock it off the Worst Films of 2010 list, it will be a very bad year indeed. But I doubt it's possible to find five worse films this year.

My grade: D-

Movie Reviews: Hot Tub Time Machine

2010-08-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

Kick some past

Directed by: Steve Pink

Written by: Josh Heald, Sean Anders, John Morris

Starring: John Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, Ron Corddy, Sebastian Stan, Lyndsy Fonseca, Crispin Glover, Chevy Chase

Four friends, depressed about the direction of their lives, revisit an old, favorite vacation spot and find themselves whisked back to 1986 with the potential to rewrite history.

John Cusack has starred in some great films. This is not one of them.

To be honest, I sort of went to this movie by accident. It was circumstantial. I was a little depressed and also needed to kill a lot of time out of the house, and I decided a comedic movie was the best way to do so. I had a gift card I wanted to use, which limited the theaters I could go to, and this film happened to be playing at the right theater and at the right time.

My expectations going into it were very low, but I'm pleased to report that it was better than I was expecting. Not that it's actually a great film, but I had set my expectations suitably low and therefore was lightly amused for 90 minutes.

The premise is somewhat silly (hot tub goes on the fritz because of a banned Russian energy drink?), and the hijinks in the past ... well, it's safe to say that the trailer probably covered the best of them. It's hard to imagine pushing this for any of the positive awards. But I guess that depends on how the year turns out.

My grade: C

Hall of Fame Spotlight: Dustin Hoffman

2010-08-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

At the first Cosmique Movie Awards, when all of the categories were for lifetime achievements, Dustin Hoffman was a surprise win for Best Actor of All Time, and the first inductee in the Best Actors Hall of Fame.

The prolific actor of such great films as All the President's Men, Kramer vs. Kramer, Tootsie, and Rain Man, competed against a number of other favorite actors, including Cary Grant, Jack Nicholson, Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, and Donald Sutherland. Grant and Stewart were inducted into the Hall of Fame at the second and third awards respectively.

Despite Hoffman's appeal to Cosmo voters and his ongoing acting career, his first award represents his sole nomination at the Cosmique Movie Awards.

Hall of Fame Spotlight: Katharine Hepburn

2010-07-31T12:29:00.000-07:00

At our very first Cosmique Movie Awards in 2001, we chose to make every category a lifetime achievement award, with nominees available from any year. Three of those categories were intended to be Hall of Fame Awards, with new inductees added each year. We've already mentioned that The Wizard of Oz was inducted as the very first Best Films of All Time Hall of Famer.

The very first inductee into the Best Actresses of All Time Hall of Fame was the indomitable Katharine Hepburn. At the time, she had achieved more Academy Award nominations (twelve) than any other actress, a milestone subsequently surpassed by future Hall of Famer Meryl Streep.

At the first awards, Katharine was also nominated for Best Individual Performance by an Actress of All Time for her portrayal of Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter, but lost to Rosalind Russell for her titular performance in Auntie Mame. The Lion in Winter was also nominated for Best One Liner or Camp Quote in Movie History for a line she utters: "Of course he has a knife - we all have knives. It's the twelfth century and we're all barbarians!"

Perhaps another sign of the Cosmo's love of Katharine can be gleaned from the 2004 supporting actress win by Cate Blanchett for her spot-on portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator. Blanchett also won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for the performance.

In her lifetime and even afterwards, Katharine Hepburn is one of the most celebrated actresses of all time. She's won four Academy Awards (twelve nominations), two BAFTA Awards (five nominations), an Emmy Award (five nominations), four Golden Globe nominations, the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, two Golden Laurel Awards (four nominations), two People's Choice Awards, an American Comedy Lifetime Achievement Award, and was named Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year in 1958.

Movie Reviews: Clash of the Titans (2010)

2010-07-31T10:18:00.000-07:00

Between gods and men, the clash begins.

Directed by: Louis Letterrier

Written by: Travis Beacham, Phil Hay, and Matt Manfredi (2010 screenplay); Beverley Cross (1981 screenplay)

Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Feinnes, Jason Flemyng, Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos

After surviving being cast to sea as an infant only to watch his adoptive father be killed by Hades, the demigod Perseus, son of Zeus, embarks on a quest to rescue Andromeda from the Kraken and avenge the death of his family. The tale loosely -- very loosely -- intermingles many different stories from Greek mythology.

The 2010 remake of the somewhat more campy 1981 film of the same name follows the general outline of the original, but with significant plot differences that will keep it fresh for fans of the original. That said, "fresh" doesn't always mean "better" or even "good." The film suffers from a lack of character development, a horrible score, and especially from a surprisingly weak script.

I've never quibbled (over-much, at least) with the liberties that either script took with the Greek myths it lifts from. Perseus is indeed cast into the sea, but (as is common in Greek mythology), it was due to fears of a prophesy rather than jealousy. Perseus does, indeed, slay the Medusa in order to save Andromeda from a sea creature after receiving advice from three Gray Sisters (misnamed the Norns in the film) who share one eye. But other elements come from other myths. The scorpions are lifted from the myth of Orion. The winged horse Pegasus is only ridden in Bellerophon's myth and only makes a cameo in Perseus' story (it is born from Medusa's blood when Perseus slays her). Perseus instead flies with the aid of Hermes' winged sandals. Io (who in her own myth is turned into a cow by Zeus to hide her from Hera's wrath) never appears in Perseus' tale. And two elements never appear in any Greek myths. Calibos is a pure invention that may draw from Shakespeare's Caliban from "The Tempest." And while Andromeda is beset by a sea creature, it is named Cetus; the name for the Kraken comes from Scandinavian mythology.

But none of these changes are that material. It's an original tale that draws loosely from multiple mythological tales and can be enjoyed in that light. Where it suffers is from its failure to make the audience truly care about most of the characters. Sam Worthington (perhaps best remembered as the hero in Avatar) gives some life and humanity to Perseus, but even his characterization is a little too stilted to make us care that much about his fate. And as a special effects film, there's nothing truly epic film that makes it stand out from predecessors in its genres. The effects are nice but not particularly innovative, and there's nothing in the film that will make it go down as a classic. Fun summer popcorn film, but ultimately rentable.

My grade: B-