The Eagle

Before I launch into today's review I have two last things to say about the Oscars on Sunday. I was just reminded by Kim that I forgot to announce the winner of the Oscar picks this year! Blasphemy! For the first time since the induction of our annual Oscar pool I didn't win, I'm happy to announce that Kim and I tied it at 15, my mum came in 3rd with 13 and Craig came in 4th with a respectable 8. Secondly, while I was happy with this year's 'In Memoriam' segment, I think the Academy was remiss in not including Corey Haim in their montage. While I will grant that he wasn't their favourite son before he passed, that doesn't mean he should be omitted like that. You would think that with their attempts to appeal to a younger audience they would include an actor that the younger generation would actually recognise. And that's all I have to say about that.

Moving on to today's movie. I know I said that I was going to see 'Incendies' this afternoon, but with all of the awards type movies I've seen lately my brain needed a bit of a rest, hence the Channing Tatum vehicle, 'The Eagle'. I think it needs to be said before I get any further into this that while I do love art-house and critically acclaimed movies, I also equally love those movies that get no acclaim whatsoever, those cheesy comedies, ridiculous romantic comedies, and super-hero movies?! love 'em! I am not that pretentious guy that was in far too many of my classes in university, who only watches those movies that only 8 other people have seen and turn their noses up at those of us who enjoy the movies they consider 'bourgeois'. This is me rolling my eyes, blech. Anyways, I'm also embarassed to admit that the girl in me loves to see movies that have pretty boys in them, one the reasons I have seen far too many romantic comedies...and was also my driving force for seeing 'The Eagle'; Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell?! Yes please!

Needless to say this movie wasn't anything particularly special. Tatum's Roman centurion, Marcus Aquila, has come to Roman occupied Britain in an attempt to regain his family's honour. It was lost with his father, who had ventured north of Hadrian's wall, or at least the area where the wall is now, and was lost along with his entire legion and their symbol, a golden eagle. Apparently this was a pretty big deal and he's been working towards being the best centurion he can be to live down the shame of his father. Once he Britain he proves that all the work has paid off when he is able to thwart an all out attack on the fort where he's been stationed. He gains the respect of his men, but is badly hurt and is forced to go heal at his uncle's house. I was pleasantly shocked to see Donald Sutherland making an appearance as the uncle. Anyways, now that he's injured Marcus is honourably discharged and with nothing else to do decides to head up north to try and find out what happened to his dad and the eagle. While he was healing at the villa he gained a servant in Esca,[Jamie Bell] a native Briton, when he saves him from being killed in a gladiator fight. He and Esca form a tentative friendship and venture past Hadrian's Wall together. I don't want to get too much into their adventures for the sake of spoiling anyone who may be interested in seeing the movie and also because I'm not feeling terribly inspired to do so.

The movie's trying to be a lot of things at once, a period piece, a road trip story, there are odd dreamlike moments that feel out of place. Also, all the violence that's associated with this time, the battles, the gladiator ring, etc, are also a bit odd. They're extremely toned down, which I find strange, but then again, I'm the type of person that likes their violence stylized and awesome, a la '300' and 'Kill Bill' or realistic a la 'Gladiator' or pretty much any other Ridley Scott flick. However, one thing this movie did do was make me desperately want to wander the Highlands. They look misty and gorgeous in the film and I can imagine it barely does them justice.

I know this is a kind of uninspired review, but I went with what the movie had to give me. However, that being said the boys were certainly looking good in their period dress, although sadly, not enough shirtless time for this girls' taste...If you're looking for something to turn your brain off to for an hour and a half, then watch 'The Eagle' but definitely wait to rent it.

I'll have a February trailer round up out in a couple of days and I'm going to post a poll for you all to help me pick my Matinees for March.

Hollywood's Biggest Night! Part Two: And the Winners Aaaaare!

Well, it's all said and done, and trust me a lot has been said. I've been perusing the blogs this morning, and apparently almost everyone hated the Oscars last night. Honestly, I didn't hate them, the sets were gorgeous, the bits were funny, but unfortunately Franco and Hathaway weren't the outstanding hosts I'd hoped they be. The commercials they did before the telecast made me think they were going to hit it out of the park. I'm a big fan of both of them as actors, but I think they're strengths lie in acting as others on screen. Apparently they were going to for an Odd Couple kind of thing, but it didn't really work. Hathaway was cute, but overly peppy, and I tend to agree that Franco just came across as very relaxed if you know what I mean...However, that being said, I was following his #oscarrealtime meme on twitter and his backstage tweets and videos were 100% more engaging than his on stage stuff. So I'm going with, "I liked it" Also a lot of the 'net is saying they were dull and predictable. I don't know what they were expecting, and granted all the winners were pretty much a lock, except for maybe Tom Hooper winning for Directing. Last year we had the excitement of 'The Hurt Locker' coming from behind and stealing the show from the over-hyped 'Avatar'

My highlights for the night were:

-The opening video, the hosts were funny, and the cameos were great

-Several of the presenting duos were great; Russell Brand and Helen Mirren, Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake and most especially Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law. When are they going to host, I'd watch that!

-Sandra Bullock was the 2nd best presenter, she was charming, poised and funny.

-Kirk Douglas was hands down the best presenter, despite the fact that he's had mutiple strokes. Clearly they haven't affected his comic timing, and him hitting on Anne Hathaway was precious

-The video montages of the 'muscials' were hilarious. 'Doesn't he Own a Shirt?'?!? AWESOME!

-Tom Hooper, Aaron Sorkin and David Seidler all had wonderful speeches as did the Live Action Short director Luke Matheny. With first saying 'I should have got a haircut [he's got a BIG 'fro going on] and thanking his mom for doing craft services on the short he was a funny and gracious winner.

-The In Memoriam was well done this year, they stopped the popularity contest applause and instead had Celine Dion sing a heartfelt version of 'Smile'

As for the winners, I'm happy that 'The King's Speech' won the night, and I really don't have much commentary about the other winners, since they were mostly all givens and I discussed them in the last post. Only one other thing really, I've decided I don't care for Melissa Leo. She is a great actress, but she's annoys me in person and I don't like listening to her talk in real life. It's like that for me with several other character actors, namely Sean Penn and Al Pacino.

That's another year of celebrating the movies and I'm really looking forward to the next year of them! Now I'm off to my Matinee!!!

Hollywood's Biggest Night! Part One: Oscar Picks.

It's today!! My favourite night of the year! The 83rd Annual Academy Awards!! I'm really looking forward to them, especially to see how James Franco and Anne Hathaway do as hosts. For the past four years I held an annual Oscar party at my house. My mum and I would make ridiculously large amounts of food, despite telling everyone to bring something to share, and then everyone would fill out a ballot and we would enjoy the glitz and glamour of Hollywood's big night together. This year, the circumstances are a little different. I moved away from PG, and my friends are all snowed in by the inordinate amounts of snow they've had up north in the last 24 hours. Thank GOD for the power of the internet and technology. My mum and I are going to video chat while we watch and my good friends and favourite movie-going people, Kim and Craig, will more than likely text through out the ceremony. While it won't be quite the same, we will still be technically watching the ceremony together! In the past we've had actual prizes for the most correct, this year it will be pure bragging rights. And as the winner in all previous contests I feel the pressure this year!! With that being said, here are the picks, and not only mine, but my Oscar buddies picks as well! Also, one more thing, I have no qualms in sharing that I made a super-nerdy spreadsheet to track our picks and the winners. I am a movie geek and proud of it!! Our picks, in no particular order:

Best Picture: You know how the academy loves to award 'based on true stories' and they have no shortage of those this year. Kim, Mum, and I have all picked The King's Speech and Craig has gone with The Social Network.

Best Actor: Yet again it's three against one. Us ladies have gone with Colin Firth from The King's Speech, while Craig has gone with Oscar co-host James Franco from 127 Hours. As someone who's seen 4 out the 5 gentlemen's performances I have to say that while I have officially chosen Colin Firth I think that James Franco has a very good chance at winning this category.

Best Supporting Actor: I'm starting to think there's some kind of trend going on here... Kim, Andrea, Mum: Christian Bale for The Fighter. I don't know about the other ladies, but I chose Bale for his fantastic and horrifying transformation into a crack addict. it was heart-wrenching and amazing However, if he doesn't win, my second choice would be Craig's pick, Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech.

Best Actress: One of the few categories in which we are completely unanimous; Natalie Portman for her turn as the fragile ballerina who suffers one hell of a psychological break in Black Swan.

Best Supporting Actress: Okay, things are starting to split up here: Kim and Mum have gone with Melissa Leo from The Fighter, Craig's picked Amy Adams, from the same movie and I'm going with precocious 14-year old Hailee Steinfield from True Grit, who I'm thinking will win with the vote split between those previous two ladies, and after Melissa Leo tried to shoot herself in the foot with those 'for your consideration' ads...

Director: Nevermind, it's back to girls against boy. Ladies: David Fincher for The Social Network, Craig: Tom Hooper for The King's Speech.

Now after the big six above here, the picks have a tendency to be random, especially in the categories where no one's seen any of the movies; I'm talking to you Live Action and Documentary Short...Anyways, for me, I see as many as I can, research the ones I don't, and go with the one I really do think will win. I know my mum has a tendency to pick based purely on the ones she's either heard of or likes the sound of the title. I'm not sure about Kim and Craig, but it's probably a mix of those two strategies.

Documentary Feature: Our first four-way split! I followed my gut with the expose on the financial crisis The Inside Job, Craig picked Gasland, Kim went with Waste Land and Mum chose Exit Through the Gift Shop [because she read about it]

Documentary Short: Another three against one, but this time I'm the odd man out with Killing in the Name, where the other three have gone with Poster Girl

Animated Feature: Honestly, I think this is probably the most no-brainer choice of all the categories this year. Toy Story 3 for all four of us. I mean come on, it's also nominated for just regular Best Picture! Incidentally, little side note, this is one the categories where I've seen all three nominees.

Foreign Language Film: Interesting! Here's 50-50 split with the Westaway ladies going with Denmark's In a Better World and Craig and Kim picking Mexico's Biutiful, starring Best Actor nominee Javier Bardem. To be quite honest, I wanted to go with Incendies, purely because it's a Canadian film, but alas, I want to try and keep my numbers up. But to make it up to the movie, I think I'll go see it for my matinee tomorrow.

Original Screenplay: Yet another three vs one. Kim, Craig and I have all chosen a monarch's uplifting triumph over a debilitating speech impediment, that would be The King's Speech for those of you following at home. While my dear maman has gone with the family dramedy The Kid's Are All Right.

Adapted Screenplay: Kim's pick for adapted screenplay is with Winter's Bone. She's read the book and said it's phenomenal. Craig's gone with 127 Hours, which honestly would have also been my pick if it weren't for Aaron Sorkin's verbose adaptation for The Social Network, which mum's gone with as well.

Film Editing: For editing, it's my first team-up with my SDCC buddy! [we're going in July! Jealous?! You should be!!] Craig and I have both chosen The Social Network to take this one. Kim' going with The King's Speech, and Mum's picking 127 Hours.

Cinematography: Yet another family joint pick, Mum and I both think the Coen Brother's gorgeous panoramas of the old West in True Grit are going to take this category. Craig's going with that usual safe bet, the sweeping drama, in The King's Speech. While Kim's bucking the trend with The Social Network. To be honest, I'm very interested to see which of us are right. I think cinematography is often ignored by today's movie goers, which is too bad, 'cause it can make a movie for me sometimes.

Art Direction: This is another of the rare categories where I've managed to see all the nominees, and they are all pretty exceptional in my opinion. My mother and Kim are teaming up for this one, both picking Inception. I'm going to let you in on a secret: if Kim could've picked Inception for every award, she would have. I think to say that she loved this movie is a bit of an understatement. Craig picked Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. As for me, I can't help it, I love the amazing auteur Tim Burton, and had to go with his beautiful rendition of Alice in Wonderland.

Animated Short: Mum and Kim are together on this one too, The Lost Thing is their pick. Craig went with Night&Day, the only one I've actually seen; despite this I went with the Helena Bonham Carter narrated The Gruffalo.

Live Action Short: Oh live action short! This category mostly drives me crazy 'cause there's almost no way to see these movies unless you physically attend one of the major festivals. That being said our picks [completely at random]: Andrea and Craig: The Confession, Kim: Wish 143, Mum: Na Wewe

Visual Effects: I'm sorry Craig, I know you love Harry Potter and I do too, a lot, like a lot a lot, however I don't think there's anyway it's impressive effects can win over the absolutely stunning and mind-boggling effects in Inception. I've got three words for you. Spinning hallway fight. Seriously.

Sound Mixing: This and sound editing are such strange categories. I understand the basic concept of what these two things are, and I really am happy that they exist as they are often the only way those 'blockbuster' movies that everyone sees actually get nominated. Although there's a good mix of both popular and critically acclaimed in here this year. All four of us went with critically acclaimed AND popular, although it was the young 'uns going with Inception and wisdom going with The Social Network

Sound Editing: For the second of the sound categories there's a small switcheroo. Kim and I have stayed with Inception and mum's joined us in that pick, while Craig's decided to go with Tron: Legacy.

Costume Design: I find costume design to be an often random category. If there's a big, lavish period drama it almost always wins, and the only period drama here is The King's Speech, which Kim has gone with. However, I personally don't think it can win over the exaggerated loveliness of Alice in Wonderland's costumes; Craig, Mum and Kim all agree with me on this one.

Makeup: I know the most exaggerated makeup often wins this category, and Craig has picked the most likely choice, The Wolfman. Whereas us ladies have gone with more subdued but, in my opinion, equally impressive makeup of Canadian flick Barney's Version.

Original Score: We're nearing the end here, and this is another category where I have had the luxury of seeing all the films nominated. I really did enjoy the scores of all five nominees, but I think that Alexandre Desplat's score for The King's Speech, although Hans Zimmer's score for Inception is also a contender in my mind. I know The Social Network's more avant garde score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won the Golden Globe, and Kim and Mum have chosen it to win the Oscar as well. But the academy tends to lean towards towards the more classical scores. Bucking the trend, Craig has gone with John Powell's score for How To Train Your Dragon. This is another one of the categories where I'm eager to see which of us guessed it right!

Original Song: At long last we come to the end of the list! I wonder how they will present original song this year. I, personally, prefer it, when they have the person who performed it for the film perform it for the ceremony. Remember the year they had Beyonce sing all of them?! Ugh, it was awful. For this last category my three Oscar watchers and I have all chosen differently. Mum's gone with Coming Home from Country Strong, Kim's picked one of the two Disney songs, We Belong Together from Toy Story 3 and Craig's picked the other, I See the Light from Tangled. As for me I've gone with A.R. Rahman's If I Rise from 127 Hours. Lately the Academy seems to going a little more untraditional with this category, and I hope they do again.

That's all for this ridiculously long post. I'll have another up to comment on the ceremony and the nights big winners later tonight, or quite possibly, knowing me, tomorrow! Enjoy the show!

Cedar Rapids

You know who I love? Ed Helms. Seriously. Most of the correspondants from "The Daily Show" that have gone on to be in TV and movies are pretty awesome, but I think Ed Helms is up there as my favourite. Both as the co-worker you can't quite hate on 'The Office' and the dentist who pulls out his own tooth in 'The Hangover' he's just got something that makes you want to like him. And with 'Cedar Rapids' that like has definitely turned into love.

Helms stars in this Sundance flick, as Tim Lippe, a small town insurance salesman who has to attend the annual insurance conference in Cedar Rapids after his coworker 'accidentally' dies during some auto-erotic asphyxiation...sounds like a festival flick already, right?

Tim Lippe has never left Brown Valley and literally knows everyone in his small town. To say he's naive is a bit of an understatement. He's never flown before, he's never stayed in a hotel, he's never left Brown Valley. When he gets to the airport to go through security to fly up to the conference he greets the guard by name and laughs at the suggestion that they need to go through the rigamarole that we're all used to when flying. He genuinely says 'But, it's me.' Something I think we all wish we could say at an airport, although none of us do for fears of the ever dreaded full pat down.

One of my favourite moments comes when he goes to pick up his rental car and discovers it's a cherry red Chevy Cobalt, he's so excited, like he's never seen a nicer car in his entire life. [ps: I drive a Cobalt, it's blue and is named Ripper, which is neither here nor there, but it is pretty sweet] Everything is novel for sweet, small-town Tim, from the junior suite in his hotel that smells like chlorine [YAY!] to the nice young lady he first meets outside of the hotel and then meets again when she's leaving a fellow conventioneer's hotel room...

Tim's goal for the convention is to bring home the ever coveted double diamond award to his insurance company, something they've won for the past few years in a row. However, he's soon distracted from his goal after meeting veteran convention go-ers Dean Ziegler [John C. Reilly], Ronald Wilkes [Isiah Whitlock Jr.] and Joan Ostrowski-Fox [Anne Heche]. They push his boundaries and show Tim that there is a lot more to this insurance convention than the double diamond award, forcing him to do some soul-searching about the profession that he genuinely loves.

Insurance isn't really that interesting a thing to me. I have some, sure, but that's 'cause I have to. When Tim talks about insurance you can tell that he really wants to help the people that he insures. He takes the example of when the river in Cedar Rapids flooded a few years before. While it's true that the fire fighters and emergency personnel were the folks on the news, getting all the coverage, putting up sandbags and the like. But afterwards, when all the news cameras had gone, it was the insurance people who were there, helping people get their lives back. Joan calls him 'Insurance Man', and with convictions like that, he kind of is.

The whole supporting cast were fantastic, Reilly, Whitlock Jr and Heche are a lovable bunch of misfits that Helms fits right in with. And despite the fact that all the movies I've seen lately have been filled with great actors, I really feel that 'Cedar Rapids' had the best ensemble of all of them. It's great when you can see a cast that just gels and compliment each other's performances perfectly.

'Cedar Rapids' is a sweet, genuine movie that fits nicely into the coming-of-age archetype, albeit for thirtysomething, which makes it surprisingly refreshing. One last thing, if any of the rest of this hasn't convinced you that this is something that you might want to see, let me add one last thing, Ed Helms sings a rendition of 'O Holy Night' with insurance words instead of Christmas ones. RIGHT?!?! If that doesn't entice you I don't know what will!

Also, I'm aware that it's Thursday, not Monday. And I've been a little late the last few weeks, but I hope to make it up with a Sunday post wrapping up my Oscar thoughts. That's right, the Oscars are on Sunday, the most ridiculously over hyped awards show of the awards show season...but it's also my favourite and I haven't missed it in years! Any predictions? Feel free to throw them in the comments section. I'll post my official picks before the ceremony starts! Till Sunday! BYEEEEE!

Barney's Version

For this week's Matinee I was accompanied to my new favourite theatre (at Tinseltown) by a very special guest: my mum. And while I love her to bits and pieces she is certainly not a movie connaisseur, she goes to the theatre about once a year, usually when a new Harry Potter movie comes out...However! That being said, she occasionally lets me drag her to artsier fare, I still fondly remember us hitting up the Princess on Whyte Ave in Edmonton to see 'Transamerica'. Monday's movie gave me another great 'mum at the movies' memory. The movie opens on a cigar in an ashtray, and I leaned over to her to say 'It looks just like the cover of the book' just as the camera panned to the bottle of scotch to the left of the ashtray, and my mum says 'That's my favourite scotch!' My mum=awesome.

'Barney's Version' is a tricky movie for me to try and talk about. It's interesting in that there's a lot going on and yet at the same time there isn't really much going on. It deals, very simply, with the life of a relatively unhappy Montrealer, Barney. And when I read that line back to myself I realise that it sounds incredibly dull, however, it really isn't. While the pace is quite slow, the performances are superb, especially Paul Giamatti. Giamatti has made of a career of playing a variety of different characters, but somehow always seems to shine the most when he plays the hopeless sad-sack [see: 'Sideways'] Needless to say that odd quality shines yet again in 'Barney's Version'. He's a man who seemingly wants to be happy, but somehow seems to just make those around him as miserable as he is. Even when he's finally happily married [for the third time] to the lovely and understanding Miriam, played by the radiant Rosamund Pike, he can't help but go and mess it all up. Now this may sound overly depressing, but somehow it isn't, and I think it might be the cast of characters that surround Barney, both literally and figuratively.

For me the highlights of this supporting cast were Dustin Hoffman as Barney's retired police officer father and Scott Speedman as his junkie best friend Boogie.

Hoffman is hilarious, and as blunt and inappropriate as Barney can be, his dad can do it better. The best example of this comes from him telling old cop stories at Barney's second wedding, 'causing Barney's new, and not-so-loving father-in-law to cut him off. His last scene in the movie is also absolutely unforgettable, I'm not going to spoil it, so you'll have to take my word for it, absolute gold.

Let me preface this next paragraph: I love Scott Speedman. I have literally watched movies, just 'cause he was in them [see: the first two 'Underworld' movies]. There, now that that's out of the way, let me continue. Boogie is a would be writer, who apparently has a lot of promise, but has never finished his book, although maybe if he stayed sober for five minutes he may have. Speedman broke my heart as the always high Boogie, but even then, he still managed to have that sexy 'save-me' thing going on....but I digress.

Needless to say, I did enjoy 'Barney's Version'. In the end it's sweetness smoothes over it's rough patches, and the addled Barney at the end breaks your heart as much as he does his ex-wife's. OH! One last thing, for all you Canadian film nerds, there is an awesome cameo by none other than Denys Arcand in this flick. And if you don't know who he is shame on you!

That's all for now, sorry it took so long to get this out, four days longer than normal, but like I said before, this was a tough one for me to figure out. Until next Monday, see ya!

The Illusionist

Continuing on with my parade of awards movies [the Oscar's are only 20 days away people!] I went and saw the only non-American nominee in the Best Animated Feature category, 'The Illusionist' [the other two are 'Toy Story 3' and 'How to Train Your Dragon' for you heathens that didn't know.]

'The Illusionist', made by the folks that brought us the delightful 'Triplettes of Belleville', is most definitely not the type of animated film you would take your kids to, and with it's slow pace and lack of dialogue it might not be the type of animated film you would even go to. Two guys actually walked out of the movie this afternoon, something I haven't witnessed in a long time.

All that being said, I really enjoyed 'The Illusionist'. It's a sweet and charming as well as melancholy. The title character, The Illusionist, is one of a dying breed of vaudeville performers who are being weaseled out of their spotlights by 50's rockers that fill the seats with screaming and swooning girls. He's a sweet old man who just wants to perform, and after a series of not so great gigs he goes to Scotland where he meets Alice, a young girl who believes his magic is real. I think that he's rejuvenated by this belief and when Alice ends up running away to join him in Edinburgh, he lets her stay.

They stay in a boarding house full of characters, a ventriloquist, a very sad clown, three identical acrobats, all vaudevillians looking for a stage. Unfortunately work for all of them is getting more scarce and Alice's wants are growing, she wants new shoes, a new coat, a new dress. And since she thinks they just appear out of thin air and the Illusionist doesn't want to dispel this notion he goes to ever depressing lengths to get them for her. As his fellow vaudevillians slowly give up the Illusionist keeps on trying. However, the last straw for him, is making bras and perfume 'appear' in a department store window, while wearing a terrible pink suit. During this time Alice is growing up and falls for a young man in the city. Alice was a frustrating character for me. She's a silly girl, the kind that drives me crazy. She wants to grow up too fast, and while she seems fairly intelligent she ignores how hard life is for the man that's caring for her. When he sees that she's finally grown up and he's given up he leaves a kind of heart-breaking, yet obvious note, that 'Magic is not real.' A bittersweet ending for a bittersweet tale.

The real scene stealer for me throughout this sweet, sad tale was the Illusionist's white rabbit, that he pulls from the hat in his routine. This rabbit is hilariously mean. It bites him and anyone else who tries to touch it. Constantly tries to run away. Despite all this, the rabbit is part of his family. This is most evident when the Illusionist comes home to a stew made by Alice. When she leaves to deliver soup to the other residents of the boarding house he looks at the recipe [we see the pages change in the wind, but he doesn't] and sees 'lapin' [rabbit] is one of the ingredients. He then worriedly starts to look for his mean, white friend. When he's finally given up the magic life he sets his little buddy free out in a field. The scene as the rabbit realises he's finally free is so adorable.

While I'm still sure that 'Toy Story 3' will be the big winner on February 27th [and really, come ON! It's Pixar, and they can do no wrong in my eyes], it's wonderful that little gems like 'The Illusionist' can get some well-deserved press.

Until next week, which I've just realised is my all-time least favourite 'holiday', Valentine's Day, ugh. Don't get me started. ANYWAYS! See you next week when I'll be watching a movie that has nothing to do with that ridiculous made up cash cow for chocolate-flower-card companies.

Trailer Round-Up!

As promised here's a quick round-up of the trailers I saw during my January matinees. I ended up seeing all of these by my lonesome, so I missed one of the great parts of trailer time at the theatre, discussing with my movie buddy which trailers have enticed us to come back to theatre to see them! Here we go!

While I wasn't overly impressed with the 'Green Hornet' I DID like the trailers, well for the most part at least. I've been reading little snippets about 'Priest' for a while now, and had a general idea of what it was about, but now that I've seen the trailer, I'm totally down. I adore Paul Bettany, and Karl Urban, and movies set in dystopian futures. So needless to say, I'll be there!

There was also a trailer for Zack Snyder's [of '300' and 'The Watchmen' fame] next outing 'Sucker Punch'. It's full of chicks kicking ass, and while I'm a little wary on the "plot" of this one. She kills her dad and is sent to an asylum and there's a dystopian world she can access with the other girls? I think...But since I DO have an affinity for the dystopian AND Zack Snyder's awesome visual style, I'll probably see it anyways.

Then there was trailer for one of the movies I'm most looking forward to seeing this spring, 'Paul'. I LOVE Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, ['Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz' are two of my favourite all-time flicks] and even though this outing is just them without Edgar Wright at the helm it still looks hilarious. Two British nerds touring America's alien hotspots find their very own extra-terrestrial, voiced by Seth Rogen, and hide him from some government agents. Throw in a little Jane Lynch and Kristen Wiig, yes please!

Then there was 'Battle: LA.' Meh. Aliens are attacking the United States. Again. There's a bunch of army guys in LA that need to fight them, except the aliens are seemingly invincible, blah, blah. Lots of explosions. Whatever. No thanks.

After 'The Green Hornet' I headed over to 'The Fighter' which also had an impressive selection of trailers and surprisingly only one repeat. First there was the Anthony Hopkins thriller 'The Rite,' which I'd already seen a ton of trailers for and had decided it wasn't up my alley. I like Hopkins and all, but all these 'evil' movies just end up being BORING.

Then there was another trailer for 'Battle: LA'. This was a different trailer than the one I'd seen just two hours earlier. And honestly, this trailer, with practically no dialogue, makes me almost want to see the movie. But I've seen the other trailer, so it's still a no.

The 'Blue Valentine' trailer was absolutely lovely and I have to say I'm surprised that I haven't seen it yet, I love me a good romantic drama.

Sophia Coppola's newest 'Somewhere' also looks wonderful. Stephen Dorff is hit and miss for me, I mean honestly, the only things I can remember him being in in the last little while are 'Blade' and that Britney Spears video. HOWEVER, this one looks great and pair him with Elle Fanning and I think we have a winner. At least that's what the trailer looks like, and that's the beauty of trailers, isn't it?

Last of the trailers for the day was 'The King's Speech'. Now I'm being a little biased, as I've now seen the whole movie. But it's much better than the trailer makes it out to be. Yes, it's the story of a royal with a speech impediment, but it's also so much more. But then again, there's only so much you can fit into a two-minute trailer. Do yourself a favour and see 'The King's Speech' there is a good reason it's winning all kinds of awards.

And speaking of 'The King's Speech' while I was watching it there only two measly trailers. And sadly ones I'd already seen; 'The Rite' and 'Somewhere'. However, watching them again reinforced that I do want to see 'Somewhere' and I don't want to see 'The Rite'.

That's it for January! I'll be back at the end of February, or if this post is an indicator, in early March, with my round-up of the trailers I saw in February.

Now I need to plan my matinee for tomorrow!