Lack of Oscar Guesses (Sorry)

Lack of Oscar Guesses

By: Nicolette Karter

 

        So, the Oscars are this Sunday, and I have no idea who will win. Honestly, the movies nominated don’t really interest me, at least enough to go and spend time and money on them. So I have no basis to give any opinion. I’ve read and/or heard other people’s thoughts on them, but if I parroted them to you that would be plagiarism, and seeing as I’m not Shia LaBeouf I’m just not comfortable with that. I’m sorry I couldn’t give my opinion on this subject, but I hear it’s really anyone’s guess anyway; that a lot of the major categories are close. Everyone’s saying Cate Blanchett will win Best Actress, but my mom (who saw American Hustle) says Amy Adams might take home the prize. I agree. There, an opinion; I apologize for not having any more hypotheses. I will after the show, on my feelings of who won & what everyone wore and such. Again, sorry if I disappointed you.

August: Osage County

August: Osage County

By: Nicolette Karter

 

        So, my Grandma & I saw this a few days ago, and I hate to say it because I love the people in it, but I was not impressed. Or entertained, as regrettable as that is. The reason I say my Grandma & I saw it is because she was the one who invited me to go with her and my Grandpa (who I’m fairly certain didn’t even know what movie we were dragging him to), but half-way through he fell asleep. Now, older gentlemen have a reputation of falling asleep while watching TV, but if he was enjoying the movie, he would’ve stayed awake; and if I’d enjoyed it more, I wouldn’t have been jealous that he didn’t have to sit through 2+ hours of it.

        Now, you might be thinking “Nicci that seems a bit harsh; it wasn’t that bad”, and you’re right. But I’m trying to get my point across. I did enjoy aspects of the movie, just not it as a whole. Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts both got Oscar nominations for their roles, which I completely agree they deserve. They did such a good job; all of the actors nailed their characters. I liked that they (especially Meryl, Julia, and co-star Julianne Nicholson) were willing to look bad, both physically and as human beings. That sounded like an insult, but I really mean it as a compliment. I also liked that it made the most hectic and head-butting of family reunions and holidays seem nice by comparison. I think I mean that as a compliment, but I’m not 100% sure.

        I know I didn’t like most all of the characters. I don’t think I was supposed to like all of them, but I think the audience is supposed to like them more than I did. People have flaws, and when you’re messed up/a drug addict/ around people who drive you crazy, those flaws (and maybe a few you didn’t know you had) will come to the surface. These characters are supposed to show their flaws, and butt heads; they are going through a stressful family tragedy. But all the cynicism, which didn’t even seem like it was new to any of these people, was so toxic. Only liked only few of the characters, and even then it was mostly out of pity & wanting to root for the underdog.

        Given the upbringing of all three generations in the movie, it makes sense that they would mess each other up. But there is a point where you want to have a whole psych ward designated to this one family. I mean, yeah, families have a lot of similar qualities, but they did grow up with other people in their lives to be role models. The 3 daughters moved away, so you’d think they would try to model themselves after other, not-their-mother type people. Meryl’s character’s pessimism is hard to get away from, especially having grown up with it, and after only about 3 days together the whole family just kinda gave up on each other & their mean, nasty habits. They all ended up running away from each other, and I’m glad I didn’t have to wait days for my time with them to end. Love the actors, hate the movie.

        What did you guys think about it? Is there anything you want me to review next? Just leave a comment.

Sidekicks

Sidekicks

By: Nicolette Karter

 

       So, I was watching Singin’ in the Rain, and my mom (obviously watching it with me) said that a Cosmo was essential to the plot, yet he wasn’t the main character. In fact, the actor (Donald O’Connor) only got 3^rd billing in the credits, yet he deserved higher. (Both because of the importance of his character & the things he had to do to play him). This got me (someone who roots for underdogs) to thinking about other sidekicks, right hand men, best friends and so on that don’t get the recognition they deserve.

        So, obviously, Singin’ in the Rain is my first example. The premise is a silent movie star dealing with talkies becoming the next big thing, and needing his perpetual leading lady to sound as good as she looks (*Spoiler: she doesn’t, she sounds like a dog whistle mixed with nails on a chalkboard). So when this problem rears its inaudible head, Cosmo saves the day. Lonely ol’ Cosmo, whose job is as a pianist for the movie, & is the star’s long time best friend. He doesn’t get any credit in the movie, other than a “thank you”, yet the movie within the movie wouldn’t have gone on without him (so hence the movie itself wouldn’t work out either). He seems happy enough, but I think he was more outshined than he should have been, not to mention the actor was amazing in it. Here’s a clip of his song “Make ‘Em Laugh”:

 

       The next isn’t from a movie, though there have been movie adaptions about it. The novel The Iliad has a hero/diva named Achilles, who is played by Brad Pit in the movie Troy, which I haven’t seen in all honesty. But I’ve read the book, & in it Achilles feels slighted, so he refuses to fight. He knows he’s the best warrior the Greeks have, yet he’s all “Nope, not going to fight unless I get more gold & girls. Even if you guys lose without me, I’m being a stuck up little girl about this.” So his friend Patroclus fights in his place, & ends up dying; this is what gets Achilles to fight again, which helps the Greeks win. What if Patroclus hadn’t been brave enough to fight? The Trojans easily could’ve won instead, changing the whole story; no one seems to remember how important Patroclus is to not only this story, but all the other movies where the hero needs a reason to keep fighting, so their best friend has to die/get almost fatally injured. Look at Reign of Fire, The Avengers (although he wasn’t a best friend of the hero’s but the principle is still there), or another RDJ movie like the first Sherlock Holmes? When Watson got seriously hurt?

        About Sherlock Holmes, both movies are built around the dynamic of Sherlock & his right hand man Dr. Watson. Sherlock is more of the intuition, born with it, go with your gut, be impulsive & eccentric type, whereas Watson is the kind of person who thinks things through first, goes with intellect and things he learned, spent years perfecting and considers consequences. Both types have pros & cons to solving crimes, but together they work perfectly and are seen in a lot of buddy cop TV shows. Like Psych, with Shawn as the Sherlock type, and his best friend Gus as Watson. Shawn & Sherlock wouldn’t be nearly as successful without their respective think-it-through-first buddies. That said, the straight-laced characters wouldn’t get the same results if working on their own, but seeing as they are the sidekicks, and just as important as the attention-getting main characters, they should get more recognition, they deserve it.

Ok, this isn’t my best article and I apologize. Sometimes I go off on tangents and lose my train of thought & original point; but I think I made enough sense (especially given the tangents). Tell me if you thought of another movie or TV shows where the helper deserves more credit than they’re given. Or more then the main character, even. Once again sorry about this just kinda falling apart and let me know any other things you want me to write about.

SYAFC1...And No One Loves You.

Hey guys! It’s Anatole. We’re about to start something awesome. Every other Thursday, we will have a guest writer, The Masked Silhouette, post an article. They’re actually a collection of articles in the same theme- “So You’re A Fictional Character”. They’re like self-help guides for our make-believe buddies, and they’re hilarious. Enjoy!

So You’re A Fictional Character

And no one loves you.

By The Masked Silhouette.

So, you’re fictional. It’s okay, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about- some of my best friends are fictional characters (because, let’s be honest, there’s nothing more offensive than having ONE fictional friend). Being fictional is great. You can have one outfit for your entire life and it’s socially acceptable, you never age, you don’t have to pay taxes, and you can walk across an open, gaping abyss (provided you never glance downward). But, sometimes, being fictional can have its drawbacks. You don’t get Social Security benefits, you can get written out of existence, and (for some,) everyone hates you.

“So,” you ask yourself, and subsequently me, “What am I to do when my public image is on the down and down?” Well, making friends as an adult can be tough- and tougher yet if according to modern science, you don’t technically exist. What you need to do is brush up your charisma skills, break out your best smile, and get to networking. Of course, not all advice can apply to all widely- detested fantasy folk. So, follow this guide to find out what kind of beloathed character you are, and improve yourself accordingly.

-The Crazy-Ass Political Jerk-Off.

I think my long-time penpal, King Joffrey Baratheon said it best when he said, “Lordy-Loo, being famous is harder than shooting an expensive prostitute full of arrows to get off”. (Let’s get that on a T-Shirt).

And he couldn’t be more right. It’s tough to make people like you, and tougher yet to keep it that way. It’s especially tough when you’re a Crazy-Ass Political Jerk-Off. Running a kingdom is hard enough, plus you’ve got to budget time for torturing your 14-year-old fiancée, not moving your lips when you talk, and getting verbally castrated by your even crazy-ass-er grandfather. And then you’re expected to seem nice?

Then, there’s my great aunt’s secret lover, President Snow. Running the Hunger Games is a real bitch. 24 teenagers are all but impossible to control as is, but getting them to put down the One Direction, Proactive, and stolen Playboy’s for long enough to actually get some good ‘ol murdering done is a thankless job.

It’s a tough situation, but it can be managed by following these simple tips:

          -Avoid the ladies. If there’s one thing that can bring down a political jackass, it’s a woman. Sure, there are the types that are way smarter than you even knew was possible (re: Margery Baratheon), but if we’re being honest, they don’t even need to try that hard. Good old Uncle Snow was just leading another, average Hunger Games, when some broad from the projects jumped in. Cut to, he’s got a rebellion on his hands- and all she did was save her sister and feign affection for an obvious second-place-er. Watch out, fellas. Bitches be crazy.

          -Choose your allies carefully. With great power comes great responsibility, and most people need some friends to take a little weight off their shoulders. But choose those friends carefully, as some of them will try to straight-up murder you. Even if they don’t go that far, they could do a plethora of other things. They can sabotage you, try to take your place, sell your secrets, or change the amount of winners allowed in a yearly fight to the death, forcing you to make him kill himself, amazing beard and all.

          -Campaign. As political powergrabbers, you know the importance of a solid campaign. Make sure to advertise well, and above all, get a good slogan. Something short and simple that gets across your best attributes:

-The Over-Enthusiastic Employee.

 Being good at your job is usually a great quality to have. There are, however some people just might be taking things a smidge too seriously. Take, for instance, the man with whom I had a salacious love affair in the late 70’s, Sensei John Kreese from the Karate Kid. Sure, he would have had a child in a wheelchair for a fairly inconsequential reward, but I know from our month-long rendezvous in Paris that he’s actually a great guy. If he’s guilty of any crime, it’s the crime of being an Over-Enthusiastic Employee. Well, that and attempting to force his students to cause potentially permanent damage to minors. But let’s focus on the first one.

                                      My, how I loved you so.

Also under this category is my BFF, the most handsome person I have ever seen in my life, Principal Rooney from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

           Look at that face! When did Ryan Gosling get here?

When you watch the movie, it’s easy to think that he’s the bad guy. But if you really think about it, what was it that he really did wrong? His job is to make sure his students receive a full education, and is it explicitly said anywhere that you can’t take that to a hilarious extreme? Maybe. But even if it doesn’t, people still take it a bad way. So, how do you get people to appreciate all your hard work? Well;

-Dial it back. Like, just one hair. I love the enthusiasm, but maybe before you do something drastic, you should take a step back and look at what’s really at stake here. I mean, Johnny, baby, you know I love you, but you teach karate to kids. This isn’t Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, okay? No one’s going to, like, kill your entire family if you lose (although that would have made that movie way more dramatic). Take it easy.

-Hang out around more adults. Both of my examples spend a weird amount of time around kids. Specifically, educating them. It makes a lot of sense that they do rather insane things, as education is one of the most stressful jobs ever. But, I can’t help but feel like you may have not gone to such great lengths if you had, like, one other adult friend, who was like “Dude, you probably shouldn’t go to this kids house just because he’s skipping school. You sound like a crazy person, and remember that you have many other students here. This kid isn’t even 1%. Is this really the biggest problem you have in life? My wife is leaving me for a yoga instructor. Not that you asked! I feel like we don’t talk anymore,” okay, that was not so good an example, but it would have been better than nothing.

-Call me. I miss you, Johnny. I love you. I have always loved you.

-The Unfortunate Unlikeables.

The Unfortunate Unlikeables are an unlucky bunch. It’s not that they do anything wrong, exactly. They’re just so easy to hate.

For example, there’s my nemesis-turned-accomplice Meg Griffin from Family Guy. She’s not a bad person, there’s nothing she does that in any way harms other people, and yet people still want to punch her in the face every time they see her. Or, there’s my cult’s messiah, Jerry from Parks and Rec. Not only does he not do anything bad, but often, he does good things. And yet, everyone around him (sans hot wife and kids) hate him.

If everyone around you hates everything you say for no reason, there really isn’t much you can do. If you try to redeem yourself, it will probably backfire. And, even if it goes off without a hitch, people will still hate you. Your entire character description is “comedic patsy”, and you may as well just accept that. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. Except that, for you, it’s the only step.

-The Characters from Smash.

The only thing for you guys to do is move on with your lives and try to remember how good the pilot was.

                                                       It was okay.

Violence on TV.

Violence on TV. 

By Valyrie Mia Stone.

 If you are a human being that does not live in a cave, you have probably noticed that there are a lot of television shows out there that show violence. I don’t feel like dragging out this intro, so to put it simply, here are some examples of some of the most violent shows, and whether or not the violence serves a purpose.

It should be noted that I left out Game of Thrones. It’s too obvious. 

 Hannibal, Heroes & Pushing Daisies:

Bryan Fuller, while perhaps not a household name, is pretty much televisions Quentin Tarantino. He’s got a specific, defined tone with everything he does. He can mix the dark and the whimsical with ease, like a less hilarious looking Tim Burton.

With the majority of his work, there’s a great deal of gore. I don’t mean just cool-fight-scenes-with-corn-syrup-blood, I mean sawing-heads-open-and-using-corpses-as-musical-instruments. Shit goes down in his shows. Take, for instance, Heroes. We all know how wildly successful it was (well, season one, anyway, and that’s as long as Fuller stayed on), and we all also remember how we would cringe at the thought of Sylar.

                                                                 NOOOOOOOOO!

The way he would hide in the shadows, the way he crept into that high school at night to murder a teenage girl, and, of course, the way, with the wave of his hand, he could saw into your skull and take your best qualities (so…was he eating it, or what? Did they ever say? Did anyone finish the series? I have so many questions). It gave the series a horror-like edge, and as audience, we find it enticing.

Then came Pushing Daisies. If you have not seen it yet, then I urge you to promptly close your computer, remove your eyeglasses if you wear them, and punch yourself in the face. This show is the best. Just the absolute best. It’s its very own delightful little world, full of bright colors and strange people and more murders then any singular small town should ever have. However, it also shows at least one corpse per episode, usually more, and they’re pretty graphic. In the pilot, there was a man who was missing the majority of his face.

And yet, the show doesn’t feel very horror-y, or even all that gory. Its overall tone is this very cutesy, magical thing. The balance between those two extremes keeps the violence on the show from being too offensive to the audience.  

Then, there’s Hannibal. This is one of the best written and casted shows out there. If you’ve never seen it, I know what you’re thinking. “Val, there’s no way it can be as good as Silence of the Lambs. How can they get someone to make as good a Dr. Lector as Anthony Hopkins?”

                                                          Oh, that’s how.

It’s a great show, however, it also has a lot of weird stuff. Actually, no, weird is when your total at a café is $12.12. Weird is when you smell fresh-baked bread even though your oven is reserved for storage. Here is an unorganized list of things that are by no means “weird”:

Peeling off someone’s back to extend their lungs outward like wings. Making a totem pole out of dissembled corpses of people you murdered. Killing someone, forcing the neck of a cello into their throat, and playing their vocal chords like an instrument (no matter how good it sounds-not cool). Almost killing several people, but keeping them alive to use as fertilizer for your mushroom farm. Assisting a clearly disturbed special agent in his cases while also giving him a psychological evaluation, even as you copycat other murders and eat people, mostly just to screw with him, and also act as a bizarre father figure (uninvited) to an almost-adult with strange, vaguely sexual undertones until you kill her and frame the aforementioned clearly disturbed special agent.

That isn’t weird. It’s barely even okay for the writers (I mean, is it just me, or does any one else think whoever wrote this stuff should maybe talk to a professional? No? We’re all just gonna look the other way here? Okay, whatever...).

A lot of other shows will imply bad things happening, but then pan away and cut to the next scene. This show does not. If something happens to a character, you will be forced to watch it. I mean, sure, in theory you could stop watching it, or at least glance away, but if you’ve seen the show you know you can’t. It’s like a car crash- it’s terrible, but you can’t stop watching even when it starts giving you clinical-grade depression that this guy was in Confessions of a Shopaholic.

But let’s take a look at that for a moment. I mean, yeah they show some messed up things, but imagine, if you will, what it would be like if they didn’t show that stuff? Think about it- the most terrifying Edgar Allen Poe works are the ones where he doesn’t explicitly say how it ends. Why? Because he knows that there is absolutely nothing he could ever write that would be more terrifying on an individual level then what each person can come up with themselves. Plus, then you’ve got the added sting of knowing that you’re the screwed-up person that came up with it. Could you imagine how awful it would be if they forced you to picture the throat-instrument on your own? It would be way worse than just showing it themselves.

If they ever pan away from something, I think it would scar me for life. How deplorable must something be for this show to class it up?

Bottom Line: The violence is plentiful, but either benefits the show, or at least is better than the alternative. Also, marry me, Bryan Fuller.

American Horror Story-Coven: 

In the opening scene of the pilot, we take a look at a torture attic. A slave owner has many slaves in cages. One guy literally has shit sewn into his mouth (a practice she apparently later applies to one of her own daughters. On Christmas. You know, like Santa does.) She puts the head of a bull on this guy, and cuts out people’s inner organs, and killed the baby of her housemaid. And this is just one character. There’s also a magic death vagina; the torturing of a mute, mentally disturbed, possibly perverse (although maybe just lonely?) butler; zombies sawed into pieces (in one of their tamer scenes); an undead frat boy bludgeoning his sexually abusive mother to death; and a burning at the stake.

But, let’s be honest, if you watch the show you know it’s totally worth it. Perhaps pushing it a little, yes, and maybe you turn away at times (I’ve never actually seen the opening scene all the way through), but the show is a badass. Like sulking-in-a-corner-smoking-a-cigarette-wearing-a-black-leather-jacket-driving-away-from-an-explosion-on-a-stolen-motercycle-I-can’t-believe-the-same-guy-made-Glee-badass.

Bottom Line: Set your DVR’s, but remember that it’s totally dignified to sleep with the light on that night.

Scandal: 

With one of the main characters on the show being a former(?) torturer (for more information on becoming a torturer, go to your local job fair!), it is not particularly surprising that there is a fair amount of torture-related gore depicted. But in the most recent episode (Obviously, SPOILERS), they showed Liv's imprisoned mother... how do I put this gently... eating her own wrist to kill herself. So, pretty much, a masturbatory, suicidal Hannibal.  

                                 Twice in one article- doin good, buddy!
 

Now, with most of the gore that they put in this show, it makes sense. It helps us to sympathize with Huck much better. I mean, if they cut away every time he tied someone up, you’d be like “Well, it seems like that’s not a big deal”. But when we watch him drilling into someone’s spleen, we can’t help but want to hug him like a small, fluffy puppy.

                                        Above: how we react to torture. 
 

But did watching a woman go down on her wrists like a rack of ribs really help anything? I mean, couldn’t they have shown her in a hospital bed and just had Daddy Pope talking to the doctor to tell us what went down? Would that have been so terrible? I don’t think it helped the plot, and it mostly felt like they wanted to let the actor show off a little bit.

What’s more, I don’t think that’s as bad as it’s going to be this season. We’re not that far in yet, and Scandal’s got a bit of a habit of topping itself. Take, if you will, the previews for next episode. We know there will be some crazy-ass plot twists (we know this because it’s AN EPISODE OF SCANDAL), and it clearly showed some torture (as foreshadowed) between Huck and Quinn. Now, I don’t know how this will play out gore-wise, but it’s still probably going to be the most intense torture scene they’ve shown. I mean, with all the other times, it’s either been A) on orders, B) between strangers, or C) between people who dislike each other (Huck and Charlie, in case you’ve forgotten). But this time, Huck’s just acting on his own, and, honestly, I feel like he could just have a conversation with her about it (“Say, ol’ buddy, ‘ol pal, are you by any chance working for B613?” “Aww, you got me!), AND there’s always been a slightly romantic, or at least very friendly, connection between them. However, these characters are not meant to be idealistic, and it makes sense that Huck’s first reaction to a suspected betrayal would be tarps and knives, rather then a bottle of tanqueray and some amicable chit-chat. So, for the show, I’m glad to see it will get dark, but based on the previews, it may get flat-out weird. (Did... Did he lick her face? Because, Shonda, baby, there's been enough rape-y things this season, thankyouverymuch). 

Bottom Line: 99% of the time, it helps the plot, but sometimes it feels like they’re explicit just for the sake of pushing the envelope, which is a little bit lazy.

      The Voice: 

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Val, honey, sweetheart, highlight of my day, apple of my eye, light of my life, goddess among humans, surely you have written that wrong. The voice isn't violent. It isn't even scripted!"
 

And you would be right. To the untrained eye, it may appear as just another singing competition. But if my daily letters to the producers have paid off (and, really, it's only a matter of time), if won't be long until they come out with a scripted spin-off:

In a world where you have to give everything to make it big, what will happen when one person takes it too far? (You should have read that in a Vincent Price voice. Charlie Day also acceptable).

Six aspiring singers. Four suspicious coaches. One murder! When one of the contestants drops dead halfway through Roxanne (you don’t have to put on the WHAT!?! What doesn't she have to put on!?!?!?!), will the remaining contestants be able to figure out whodunit- before it's too late? They know they have one week before the killer strikes again. Can they find out Who Silenced The Voice? (Title under reconsideration.)  

Is it the boozy southerner with a penchant for plaid...and revenge? Or the blonde bombshell whose public image took one too many hits? Or the eccentric and unpredictable one, who's also currently on trial? Or is it the tattoo-happy perpetual badass with a possible helium addiction? Let's hope they find out before The Fat Lady Sings. (Title under reconsideration.)   

  My money's on Levine.   

We’ll kill off one character an episode, and keep people changing who they think the killer is (SPOILERS: It’s Carson.)

                                      NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Bottom Line: You’re welcome, NBC. 

Happy Holidays, guys. Oh, and soon we’re going to have a special guest writer. It’s gonna be awesome.

                                                             -Kisses, V.

People's Sexiest Man Alive 2013

People’s Sexiest Man Alive Contenders

By: Nicolette Karter

 

       Alright, here are my predictions for 2013’s People’s Sexiest Man Alive. It’s really anyone’s guess, there are a lot of hot guys in Hollywood, and I’m often surprised by who is considered hot (like Robert Pattinson is not my cup of tea, but all I hear is how much girls swoon over him; I just don’t get it). But, I think I have it narrowed down to three front-runners, plus three more honorable mentions.

        One of my best bets this year is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Right now, he doesn’t have anything in theaters, but he had out the sexy rom-com Don Jon, which he wrote, starred in and directed. A man who wears many hats is impressive, & he’s been a versatile actor for quite a while. Funny, handsome, charming & creative (he made a production company called hitRECord), he can sing & dance & act with the best of the best, yet still has a relatable quality about him. All around a lovable fellow, I think it’s his time to be recognized for the sexy man he is.

 

        Who hates Tom Hiddleston, my next pick for SMA? No one, like I literally haven’t heard one person say anything bad about him. This is one of the reasons why I think he’s a definite possibility this year.  He’s reprising his role as Loki in Thor: The Dark World, where he plays a villain, yet fans love the character seemingly just because of him. He also has the sexy indie Only Lovers Left Alive in which he plays a vampire, which are still super popular right now. He has a charming accent, smile & personality, plus a smash hit movie out now.

 

        The last guy on my short list is one that I’m not that fond of, personally. In all honesty I haven’t actually seen anything Benedict Cumberbatch has been in. Yet this year he has been everywhere; he’s the lead in the TV show Sherlock, played a villain in Star Trek into Darkness, was/will be in The Fifth Estate & August: Osage County respectively. He’s in the highly anticipated new Hobbit movie & in the buzzed about 12 Years A Slave. Not to mention I’ve heard a lot of “Oh, he’s so sexy & talented” about him (though he personally doesn’t do it for me), so I think he’s a strong possibility this year.

 

        There are another 3 possibilities that aren’t as strong as the aforementioned, but I feel they deserve an honorable mention because it could still easily be them.

        First up is the star of 12 Years A Slave, Chiwetel Ejiofor who is getting a lot of Oscar winner talk for his amazing performance. Usually the SMA isn’t black, but Denzel Washington won in 1996 & I think it’s time for another hot black guy to win.

 

        But another 90’s winner could come back to make a new record. That debonair silver fox George Clooney could win a third time. He won in ’97 and ’06, and the talk he’s gotten for Gravity (haven’t seen it & probably won’t; just not my kind of movie) is all good. Plus people love to break records, and my friend thinks it’ll be him.

        Last but certainly not least is the “Thunder from Down Under” (as called by an honest trailer for Thor, one of his movies; Google it, the makers are funny) Chris Hemsworth. I had him in my top three last year, & he’s back this year because 1.) Look at that face/guns/abs, and 2.) He recently had a hit movie out (Thor: The Dark World) & earlier this year he had out the movie Rush and apparently dropped trou. Note to self: go see that movie.

        In all seriousness, I could be completely wrong, but I think the winner this time around will be Tom Hiddleston. Everyone loves him, and he was in more things this year than my original guess for the title (who was Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Well, if you guys have a better guess tell me. And leave a comment telling me what you want me to review next.

 

 

 

Actor Profile: Angelina Jolie

So, I've never written something like this before, & I wasn't entirely sure what it should include. But I decided to have it be my opinions on a few of the person's movies & not much of their personal life (not that a celebrity's personal life is as private as a normal person's, it's more of a career life & public life, but you know what I mean). If you would rather I have a different format, like you have any criticisms or comments, just let me know & the next time I write a profile, I'll fix it.

Angelina Jolie

By: Nicolette Karter

 

        I love this lady. She is an amazingly talented actress, not to mention a good person, with all of the humanitarian work she does across the globe. {She recently got The Academy’s Do-Gooder award (not the actual name) for all of her work helping those in need.}

        But we are here to talk about her movies. Now, she’s done a lot, I mean I haven’t seen everything, so out of the ones I have seen, I’ll talk about five of them. Not necessarily my 5 favorite or most well-known or ones she got awards for, but some that I like (& have seen) & think she did a good job with.

        First up: Mr. & Mrs. Smith. This is one of her funnier roles, which aren’t as common for her as action-y or dramatic roles; it’s a shame because she’s pretty funny. That said this is primarily an action movie, seeing as the premise is about a married couple who find out they married an assassin. And a rival assassin at that. She obviously plays Mrs. Smith, opposite Brad Pitt’s Mr. Smith; they met on the set & now have 6 kids & are engaged. I really love this movie, partly because it manages to have several genres tie together so well, a quality I like in movies (when they pull it off). It’s an action movie about assassins, a romance about a couple who try to figure out their feelings about their spouse when a big secret is revealed, yet it accomplishes this with wit.

        One of her much less light-hearted roles is as Lisa in the critically-acclaimed Girl, Interrupted, for which she won a SAG, Golden Globe and an Oscar. It’s about a group of women (mainly Winona Ryder’s Susanna) in a psychiatric hospital during the 60’s. All the acting in it was great, but her work was phenomenal, she deserves all those awards. It might make you cry, or you might be heartless, but it’s one of those movies that are supposed to strike a chord with you in some way or another, especially because it’s a true story.

        Hopefully not a true story is Angelina’s movie Taking Lives. Not that serial killers don’t exist; it’s just that this bad guy is so good at his (job? No; passion? Hobby?) killing that it’s scary. Scary good though, especially in this movie where Ethan Hawke comes forward with information about a serial killer that Angelina Jolie is helping the police track down. The twists & turns in this are amazing, and one of my favorite psychological thrillers. Plus, for a serial killer movie, there were some missed opportunity for blatant gore, which some people may not like but anyone who’s read other horror-esque reviews of min now I’m a chicken when it comes to grotesque horror movies.

        Another thriller, but with less horror and more romance, is Original Sin, costarring Antonio Banderas & Thomas Jane. A wealthy single man (Banderas) decides to marry a plain American woman he knows through an ad in the paper, but finds she’s gorgeous (I mean, she’s Angelina, just look at her) & becomes putty in her hands. Unfortunately for him he lives in a thriller & no one is who they say they are in the beginning of this kind of movie, so she deceives him. She takes all his money (which was a lot) & leaves him heartbroken, so he decides to find & kill her. This is movie about love, & it’s rated R, so I would recommend not watching this with your parents or on a first date. Things can (& probably will) get quite awkward hint, hint.

        In the Land of Blood and Honey isn’t starring Ms. Jolie, but it was both written & directed by her, so I thought I should add it. I’m not a huge fan of war movies, but I thought this looked decent (& honestly I was curious about how she would do writing/directing). And I think she did an amazing job with it. It’s about the Bosnian civil war, mostly centering on 2 people on opposite sides who loved each other before the war, & still do, despite impending death & destruction looming over them. It was really well done, especially for her directorial debut. Being in the business her whole life, she probably learned a few things along the way, but still great for a first effort.

        Anyway, I think she is an amazingly talented actress, not to mention so beautiful (& that’s coming from another girl. If junior high taught me nothing else, it’s that I should hate her for being prettier than me but I just can’t).She could have just coasted by on her good looks, but no, she puts her best foot forward in her career, humanitarian work, & personal life. A good person and actress all the way around; good for her. What do you guys think of her? And if there are any other actors/actresses you want me to write about, just let me know.

Here are trailers for all the movies I just reviewed, though please note that the trailer for Girl, Interrupted is misleadingly funny. The actual movie isn't as funny overall as the trailer, so know that now:

 

^ Mr. and Mrs. Smith

^Girl, Interrupted

^Taking Lives

^Original Sin

^In the Land of Blood and Honey