The State of Hollywood

Quick review of some of this years Oscar contenders:

Atonement – a chick flick and kinda too long, but a story that haunts you
No Country for Old Men – I was disappointed by the end, but there were some great performances and the infamous weapon is like another character
Charlie Wilson’s War – a humorous (apparently true) story of a congressman who fights Russians in Afghanistan. The meaning of our success and failures there are poignant.
Eastern Promises – Viggo Mortensen is naked! But with good reason. It’s an incredible scene in a disturbing and disturbingly good movie.

I’m hoping to see ‘Juno’, ‘Sweeny Todd’ and maybe ‘There Will be Blood’ this week and I’ll pass judgment on those if I do.

I also saw ‘Citizen Kane’ on Saturday. In a weekend of arguably the best movies of the year, it held its own. But when you go into a movie thinking it’s going to be the best movie of all time (according to AFI) you’re bound to be disappointed. Also, I’d already heard about Rosebud, which I guess was the point…? I did think it was shot in some really fascinating ways and I loved seeing the young Joesph Cotton. Not exactly a waste of two hours.

By the way- if you don’t trust me and you’re trying to figure out if you’re going to like ‘Juno’ or ‘Atonement’ or some other recent release, visit my friends site, http://www.movie-recipes.com/, to get a “taste” of what the flick is about.

And finally…
Heath Ledger: you were a cutie and I’ll miss you. I will mourn you in the theater during the next Batman movie (you look awesome in that). I will not watch ‘A Knight’s Tale’ because I’m pretty sure we both know that was a mistake.
Everyone else in the world: it’s not the end of the world. It’s not even the end of Hollywood, much as we might like. Isn’t Britney hitting on Paris or something? Shouldn’t you be talking about that soon?