Revolutionary Road is a reunion for Kate Winslet and Leonard DiCaprio, although in a more modest film than a giant cruise ship sinking in icy waters. It’s also directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition) who is married to Kate in real life. The film is void of any other major stars, although Kathy Bates plays an interesting character who has a few good scenes.
The film is about a couple who met in New York City at a party, fell in love, had a baby, and moved to the suburbs, and had another baby. Leo plays Frank Wheeler, a salesman for a computer company in the city who is turning 30 and questioning if he’s truly doing what he’s meant to do. Winslet plays his wife April, an aspiring actress who once she got knocked up, had to give up her dream and settle for suburban domestic bliss. Unfortunately all is not as it appears on the outside between these two. They are constantly bickering and at each others throats, even though the neighbors are fooled into thinking that these two are the ideal young in love couple.
After realizing that neither of them are happy with their current situation, they decide the best option to save the struggling marriage is to move to Paris and start over with the family. Frank can sit at home and explore his artistic side, while April gets a government job to take care of the family. Obviously this plan is met with much skepticism and mockery by their friends and as you can guess it doesn’t go down the way they wanted it to. They are also both unknowingly cheating on each other and in all of this it seems as though the kids will eventually suffer the most from being raised in this dysfunctional family.
Gus Van Sant’s biopic “Milk” is up for 8 Academy Award nominations, including Best Film and Best Actor for Sean Penn. This film is well deserving of its accolades, and is Van Sant’s most mainstream film so far. Milk is about San Francisco gay rights activist Harvey Milk, an insurance agent who turns 40 and realizes that he has not done anything with his life that he is proud of. After driving across country from NYC to SF with his boyfriend Scott (James Franco), Harvey settles down in a gay friendly area of town known as the Castro. Opening up a camera shop at first, he realizes that the burdgeoning gay population of the town is under heavy harrassment from police and local citizens, and becomes the first vocal member of the community to work towards a change.
This film is shot in a very documentary type style with hand held camera’s and filter’s to give the scene’s an aged look. There is also actual footage of these events from 30 years ago, which are spliced in beautifully throughout the movie to give it a true biographical perspective. Harvey Milk certainly meets much adversity in his climb to State Supervisor, as he loses out three times for community supervisor and it takes him over 7 years to finally get the seat. He has much opposition from a fellow supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin) who is a roadblock for Milk to get Prop 6 turned around in California.
The ensemble cast also features Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer) as a young transplant from Phoenix who is recruited to the cause and becomes a major activist in the Milk campaign. James Franco (Pineapple Express) shows a lot of depth as an actor in this film and really is becoming one of the next big stars in Hollywood. Josh Brolin (W, No Country For Old Men) is great at being someone you can despise in the movie and his final scenes are some of the most intense in the film.
Sean Penn on the other hand absolutely loses himself into this role. There is a point in this movie where you forget you’re even watching an actor and feel that Sean Penn IS this guy. He’s brilliant with his speeches and delivery and comes across as a polished politician by the time he debates with Senator John Briggs (Denis O’Hare). Sean Penn deservingly should win Best Actor for this role as he blows his competition away, other than Mickey Rourke’s performance which I think is a close second.
We are roughly 48 hours from kick-off for the 43rd Superbowl this Sunday night in Tampa, Florida. The celebrities are rolling into town, the parties are happening all over the city, John Madden is surely on his 5th course of the day, and the media is still probably more interested in Tom Brady vacationing with Gisele, but it’s the Superbowl fever goddamnit!
At the beginning of the season I was thinking that we would be likely to see a Cowboys/Patriots matchup and would have never in a million years thought that the Cardinals would instead win the NFC championship, and those previous two teams wouldn’t even make the playoffs!
Credit really has to go out to Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Tim Hightower, Anquan Boldin, and of course Ken Wisenhut for this year’s powerhouse NFC team. They were huge underdogs taking on some of the biggest teams in the NFL and coming out victorious. Putting away the Giants, Cowboys, Panthers, and Eagles is certainly no easy task, especially with a QB a couple years shy of 40. But, the Cardinal’s have truly proven themselves to be worthy of their accolades and head down south to Florida with the possibility of making franchise history and putting Warner in the Hall of Fame.
I can’t totally write off their AFC opponents though. The Pittsburgh Steelers have played dominant football on both sides of the ball throughout the season, especially when it came to winning in their division. Beating Baltimore 3 times is a surefire way to get yourself deep into playoff contention. Roethlisberger isn’t having his best year this year, but he’s doing enough to get win’s and in the end that is all that matters. The credit really goes to the 2008 version of the “Steel Curtain”, led by Troy Polamalu. The wild haired Samoan has been on quite the streak and a leader in the locker room. The Card’s have a great offense, but if there is one defense in the NFL that can stop it, it just might be the Steelers.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep star in “Doubt”, a movie set in the mid 60’s around St. Nicholas in the Bronx. Hoffman plays Father Flynn, and Streep plays a nun, Sister Aloysius. She begins to suspect through some tip off’s from another nun, Sister James (Amy Adams), that Father Flynn may be having an inappropriate relationship with the school’s first black student. The film takes place in a time of heavy political change in the US, and Father Flynn’s forward thinking doesn’t sit well with the traditional and conservative Sister Aloysius.
This is a film where the plot, comes secondary to the terrific acting from Hoffman and Streep. Meryl Streep is at her finest playing a mean and evil character that you love to hate, and she certainly one ups her performance from “The Devil Wears Prada” in this movie. Hoffman has always been a great actor himself, and his Father Flynn comes across as a person that you really want to like even if he is guilty of such a crime. This is an actor’s film, meant to highlight how two expert thespians can use a story and it’s dialog to keep the viewer rivted to the screen through just words, without any action or sfx.
Amy Adam’s (Enchanted) supporting role as Sister James is very well done as well, you can see the transformation of her naivete and innocence throughout this movie. Viola Davis also plays the student in question’s mother, and gives one of the most emotional gut wrenching performances in just a brief span of 10 minutes of this film, that will stick with you after the credits have rolled.
A new japanese trailer for FF 13 has surfaced, and the game looks pretty intense. A lot of the FF7 vibe is there with this city and the weapons seem to be pretty futuristic. This is one of the better trailer’s we’ve seen for a game in a while as it keeps you riveted the entire time.
It’s that time of month again.. no not that, I’m talking about helping us spread the word on CurryPopTart!!
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The folks at MTV have decided one painfully boring season of “The City” just wasn’t enough and have given fashion wannabe Whitney Port a second shot next year. I can’t believe this news as the show has ZERO appeal to me and is just a cheap way to retain viewers until The Hills returns later this year. Whitney is not star material, hence why no gossip rags talk about her and why she has been unable to do anything outside of this fake mtv reality show. I am hoping this second season bombs and we can be done with her once and for all.
MTV has renewed freshman reality shows “The City” and “Daddy’s Girls,” and given a series order to the recent special “Teen Cribs.”
The network will bring back Whitney Port’s “Hills” spinoff for a second season, as well as additional episodes of Vanessa and Angela Simmons’ “Daddy’s Girls.” MTV has also ordered 20 episodes of spinoff “Teen Cribs” (which debuted as a special on Jan. 17).
Still undecided: The fate of Brody Jenner’s freshman series “Bromance.”
Mickey Rourke, who earned a Golden Globe and an Oscar nod for his work in “The Wrestler,” says he will participate in “Wrestlemania 25″ in Houston this spring.
“The boys from the WWE called me and asked me to do it,” Rourke told “Access Hollywood” on the red carpet for the Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday night. “I said, ‘I want to.’ I’m talking with (WWE icon) Rowdy Roddy Piper about it.”
In “The Wrestler,” the 56-year-old actor portrays a washed-up pro grappler who can’t let go of his glory days. Rourke has, in the past, said he underwent intense training to play the role, and, in the process, developed tremendous respect for real-life wrestlers.
“The nicest thing has been the whole wrestling community embracing us,” Rourke said. “The movie was about their world.”
Although he did not explicitly say whether he planned to wrestle someone inside the ring at “Wrestlemania” or simply make a promotional appearance at the event, “Access Hollywood“ quoted him as warning a professional wrestler by saying, “Chris Jericho, you better get in shape because I’m coming after your ass.”
Rourke is slated to take part at WWE’s “Wrestlemania 25″ April 5.
Slumdog Millionaire is about Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) who is on the Indian version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.” Jamal has won 10 million rupees and has just one more question to go before he wins the grand prize of 20 million. He is arrested and is interrogated by the Police Chief as there is disbelief that an uneducated 18 year old from the slums can have the knowledge to answer these types of question. We learn that the reason that Jamal knows these answers, is that he is drawing from his own personal experiences. From having to dig through a port a pot to meet his favorite actor, or to be taken as a child slave and forced to beg for money to give to his owner, we learn about all of the hardships that he has had to face throughout his life.
Slumdog Millionaire has already won a Golden Globe Award and been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscar’s, this accolation is deservedly so as this film will keep you at the edge of your seat for its duration in an intense rollercoaster of emotions. In Mumbai, India there is an upper class and a lower class with no in between. We see the trial and tribulations of those less fortunate in this film and really spotlights the cruelty that humans will inflict on to each other when money and survival are at stake.
Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, Trainspotting) helms this film and as a Britisher he seems to understand a lot about the Indian culture. This is vintage Boyle with quick cuts, shaky cams, weird angles, and experimental lighting being used throughout the movie. Danny Boyle as a director has always done a great job of making the viewer feel as though they are a part of the action, this is especially evident in the chase scenes. While there is action and drama, the heart of this movie revolves around a love story. Jamal’s sole reason for going onto this game show is to be seen by his love interest Latika (Freida Pinto) whom he met during his adventures as a child. Through a series of unfortunate events, the two keep losing each other throughout their lives and it has become Jamal’s main purpose to get Latika back once and for all. Jamal’s brother and companion on most of these harrowing adventures is his older brother Salim. The game show host is played by Anil Kapoor and there is even mention of India’s biggest movie star Amitabh Bachan. This is a film that will leave you with a heartwarming feeling and there’s even the typical Indian song and dance at the end that most Bollywood movies have, this is a tribute to that style of film of which Boyle must be a fan.
– During a recent appearance at the 36th Annual Global Media and Communications Conference, Linda McMahon announced that rock and roll icons AC/DC will be performing the theme to Wrestlemania XXV at the show in Houston, Texas.
There’s no word yet on what song will be used as the theme.
Vince McMahon is said to be a huge fan of AC/DC, getting his first exposure to the band back in 2000 when they were performing on Saturday Night Live the night Dwayne ”The Rock” Johnson hosted the show for the first time.
Many will remember back in November, we reported that McMahon and John Cena were seen “rocking out” at the AC/DC concert at Madison Square Garden.
– Lil Wayne announced the official release date and title of his next album: Rebirth is due April 7 — and his publicist has confirmed to MTV News that it will be a rock album. Of course, Wayne has been rocking with a guitar for some time now.
The first single is called “Prom Queen” and will debut on the Internet right after a live stream of his concert in San Diego on January 27. The show will be available for stream on MySpace.com.
Wayne — who will perform at the Grammy Awards on February 8 — hinted at a change in direction for his next LP in October during the BET Hip-Hop Awards.
“I don’t know if we’re gonna release Tha Carter IV now,” he told MTV News on his tour bus. “I think we’re gonna release Tha Carter III — a new Carter III with none of the same songs, though. None of them. Not one! We don’t wanna call the [next album] we got coming out Tha Carter IV. That was the dilemma we were in. We want Carter IV to be what everybody wants it to be.
– MTV News asked Jay-Z earlier this week exactly which label his next album will be released on.
“Well, whatever it is, it’ll be Roc Nation. It’s gonna be a partnership with someone,” he said. “So whether it’s going to be Def Jam or someone [else], that’s yet to be determined.”
Posted by Adi 
Posted by Adi 
Posted by Adi 
