Oscar Quest '09 Begins

So, this morning, in the early hours, the nominations for the 2009 Academy Awards were announced. As usual, I have begun a quest to watch all of the films in all of the major categories by the beginning of the ceremony on February 22.

That's right. I have a month. Here, ladies and germs, are the movies I'll have to watch by then.

The Visitor
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Revolutionary Road
Rachel Getting Married
Changeling
Frozen River
The Reader
Vicky Christina Barcelona
Bolt
Wall-E
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges

14 movies. 30 days. It begins soon...and it will all be documented, in detail, on this blog and on twitter.

www.twitter.com/philwrighthouse
philwrighthouse.blogspot.com
philattheolympics.blogspot.com (I don't update it anymore, but it's awesome just the same)
http://philwrighthouse.blogspot.com/
www.givememyremote.com (search for "Philboy" to see all of my posts.)

My New TV Schedule, with Witty Commentary- Sunday

Hello, sports fans. Or should I say TV fans, as this post is all about my TV schedule and how much it has changed from the beginning of the season to now. Shows have gone by the wayside, been relegated to a possible DVD catch-up, or been lauded as some of the best shows on TV. Plus, new shows are being thrust upon me in the coming weeks, so I need to sort it all out. Where better to do it than right here on Phil's American Life. I'll be doing this day by day, sorting it out gradually throughout the week.

SUNDAY

Family Guy- I still love this show, I don't care what anyone says.
American Dad- Again, I still really dig this show. It's a careless 22 minutes, without the commercials.
The United States of Tara- This is a new show created by Diablo Cody (Juno) and produced by Steven Speilberg. A show about multiple personalities. The pilot has been up for free online, I just havent watched it yet.
Flight of the Conchords-One of the funniest shows on television. The pilot for this gem is up at Funny or Die.

True Blood and Dexter are done for the season. But, let me say that both of those shows were outstanding and definitely will make up end of the season list.

There was nothing on Sundays that I had to give up on. No, I'm afraid tomorrow, though, you will get to hear one of my tirades against a once-beloved TV show that is over and done with. That's all coming up tomorrow...or should I say later today.

www.twitter.com/philwrighthouse
philwrighthouse.blogspot.com
philattheolympics.blogspot.com (I don't update it anymore, but it's awesome just the same)
http://philwrighthouse.blogspot.com
www.givememyremote.com (search for "Philboy" to see all of my posts.)

Trailer Park

Another edition of Trailer Park, where I take a look at some of the latest trailers that have come out and grade them. Let's get started, kids...

CRANK 2: HIGH VOLTAGE

Crank was a great little action flick that came out a couple of years ago where Jason Statham (my vote to play Jack Bauer's long lost cousin in the movie) plays a man who must keep his adrenaline up to complete a mission unless he dies. It seemed, though, at the end of the first film, that he was dead...



...apparently not. This trailer has everything you could want in a red band trailer, which means NSFW, kids. Dwight Yokam slapping a hooker's ass, a lot of curse words, crap blowing up, Amy Smart looking hot, and so much more.

This trailer got me really REALLY excited for this movie which is supposed to come out April 17 of this year.

GRADE: A

G-FORCE

I have no idea what G-Force...let's see...



...cue Jonas Brothers song.

To be honest, I have a thing for kids movies. Still, as a 21 year old. I know, it's kinda sad. But, this seems a little unoriginal and ridiculous, doesn't it? Anyway, it looks alright and the awesome cast of voices (Jon Favreau, Tracy Morgan) and live actioneers (Zach Galifanakis, Will Arnett, Bill Nighy) might make for some fun times. The trailer kind of left me luke warm though. We'll see more when G-Force unleashes its adorableness on us July 24 of this year.

GRADE: B
Note: this film could have EASILY gotten a higher grade, but it received an automatic half-grade demotion for using "Don'tcha".

TWO LOVERS

This is, according to him, Joaquin Phoenix's last movie. A romance with him and Gwenyth Paltrow? Might have wanted to leave on something better. But, alas, Paltrow earned my geek love after perfecting Pepper Potts in Iron Man, so, let's give it a shot.



I just can't get into movies like Two Lovers. Too bad for this poor schmuck that he has to decide between two gorgeous women. And the filmmakers want me to, somehow, sympathize with him. I was given nothing in this trailer that made me want to do that...or see this when it comes out February 13 of this year.

GRADE: B-
It was a pretty trailer, but the movie just doesn't look appealing at all. I hope that Phoenix is lying about quitting movies for a music career, because I would hate for him to go out on this.

STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI

If you've kept up with movies or video games since you were a kid, you know a couple of things.

1) The first Street Fighter film was made in 1994 and is generally considered to be a GIANT piece of horsecrap.

2) Street Fighter is a legendary gaming series that has, in a way, been dormant on the next gen consoles. And...

3) Chun Li was always one of the hottest video game characters around.

This films seeks to restart a franchise that never really started to begin with and hopefully spawn some pretty sweet movies. Let's check it out...





So, it's in Chinese. Whatever. While a lot of video game geeks will be up in arms about not being an entire Street Fighter movie, with the whole cast of characters, I would like for them to also thing about how they're geekgasming over the reported Avengers flick. That film will not be possible without starting successful franchises like Iron Man, Hulk, and Captain America not to mention the introduction of Nick Fury into the film's universe. I don't know exactly that that is what they're doing here, but I think it's a good plan. Don't waste your money on a big budget picture based on a concept that you KNOW failed once before you find out if people will see cutie Kristen Kruek as Chun-Li.

Also, keep in mind it's an origin story and, as we've seen in this past year, just because we're seeing the beginnings of a character doesn't mean we won't see some of their cohorts along the way.

As far as the trailer goes, though, it was pretty generic. I would have liked a bit more dialogue, which gives me pause to think that Chun-Li has a crappy script.

GRADE: B
I'm on the fence about this flick still, but this trailer took away some of my misgivings.

Well, that's it for this edition of the Trailer Park. Be back soon!

www.twitter.com/philwrighthouse
philwrighthouse.blogspot.com
philattheolympics.blogspot.com (I don't update it anymore, but it's awesome just the same)
http://philwrighthouse.blogspot.com/
www.givememyremote.com (search for "Philboy" to see all of my posts.)