The Buzz: movie reviews

Ladies and gents, since I have the Oscars on my brain lately, I decided to give you my early "Best Picture" predictions. The real nominations won't be out for another month or so, but I couldn't resist putting together my list of potentials. Bear in mind, these are not necessarily my "favorite" movies from this year, but rather a collection of "Oscar-style" nominees based on what the Academy as done in the past, and the types of movies they normally nominate. You know, flicks that just "seem" like Oscar nominees. So, here goes: Ok, so maybe a couple of these are wishful thinking. What do you think?

Now that December is here, we are almost two years into a new decade! My, how time flies. It seems like no time ago that the year 2000 had arrived. With the ending of a year, there is always the quickly approaching Oscar season. It's already been announced that Billy Crystal will be hosting next year, and that's exciting. It won't be long until the nominees are announced, as well. Hopefully it will be mid to late January. Last year was the strongest year for the Oscars, in my opinion, since 2003. Almost every movie nominated was wonderful. I can only hope next year will be half as good. That being said, I got reflective on the last decade of Best Picture winners. I thought it would be interesting to run down the list and pick a favorite. Also, it would be interesting to start a conversation about which years were disappointments, and which ones were right on the money. Best Picture Winners From 2000 - 2009 2009 - "The Hurt Locker" 2008 - "Slumdog Millionaire...

After posting my favorite movies of Thanksgiving, I began to get a little frustrated. I don't think I gave that post enough love and attention. There are many movies that would be fantastic for Thanksgiving, and many of them got left out of my prior blog post. 1. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (R) (1987) *NOT FOR KIDS* If you have kids that want to watch this, I strongly recommend the edited for television version. The "raw" version has some hard language in it that makes it inappropriate for kids. However, for older folks it is a hilarious John Hughes directed comedy classic about getting home to family for Thanksgiving. I grew up watching the tv version with my family, and I have fond memories of us all cracking up with Steve Martin and John Candy. However, if you watch the DVD version you are in for a rude awakening. There's a lot more crude humor in the unedited version. 2. National Treasure (PG) (2004) This is a fun Mission Impossible meets Indiana Jones s...

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It's a great time to get together with your families, eat turkey, watch football, and slowly sink into the abyss of torture and insanity as your loved ones drive you crazy. What better way, after the football, to shut everyone up than by sitting around the tube and watching a family favorite movie? These movies are my favorite ones to watch at Thanksgiving. They are family-friendly (mostly), and help to cure that holiday cabin fever. Plus, they give you a bit more valuable time with the ones that matter. 1. The Wizard of Oz (1939) This is cinematic escapism in its purist form. As I get older, I appreciate its genius more and more. The characters, the setting, the theme, the visuals, and that wonderful music just improve with age. Good for kids (although a bit creepy at times) and still enchanting for adults, this is the best family movie to watch on / around Thanksgiving. It's also one of my favorite movies ever made. 2. Star Wars ...

Well, folks, All Hallow's Eve is quickly approaching. In a little over a week the country will be celebrating. I have broken up my favorite Halloween movies into different categories. You can click on the links to read each list: Halloween for Kids Halloween Classics Halloween Horror Now, I'm proud to present my top 13 absolute favorite Halloween movies. This list is a mix of the other three categories and showcases my top spooky Halloween favs! In no particular order: 13. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) 12. Beetlejuice (1988) 11. Halloween: Ressurection (2002) 10. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) 9. Dracula (1932) 8. Campfire Tales (1997) 7. Coraline (2009) 6. Casper (1995) 5. Creepshow 2 (1987) 4. The Garfield Halloween Special / It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1985, '66) 3. The Lost Boys (1987) 2. Return of the Living Dead (1985) 1. Trick R Treat (2009) Here's a web site of amazing Halloween games to play on your PC: Halloween Arcade

Kate Winslet has earned international superstardom from the 90's blockbuster Titanic . I consider Titanic to be one of the best movies of the 90's because of its romantic interpretation of the Titanic era, the James Cameron tone and pacing, and the charismatic performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Fastforward ten years to 2008, and audiences see a different Kate Winslet in The Reader . The wonderful thing about this bleak drama is that the story is rich with the characters' complexities, and the story weaves an unpredictable tale about the sad, difficult subjects of Nazi Germany, adolescent angst and confusion, and issues of personal loyalty. That's a lot for a movie to tackle these days, in the age of Twilight and Transformers . The Reader is based on a novel, which accounts for the complexities in the story. The saving grace of The Reader is the wonderful performance by Kate Winslet of troubled and manipulative character of Hanna Schmitz, and David ...

Time for a Buzz Halloween update! This next category is Halloween Horror. These are straight up "horror" movies that scare, terrorize, and thrill those who dare to embark upon the darker, more bloody aspect of Halloween movies. They are not even necessarily "about" Halloween, but they are appropriate for the Halloween season. I gravitate toward horror films that are in "short story" format. I guess they appeal to my short attention span. But also, they're more creative because you get a greater variety. Horror movies always dance around the line between true terror and comedy. In the attempt to make us scared, these movies often become absolutely hilarious. These unintentional comedic moments created a whole culture of people that love to sit around and laugh at The Evil Dead, which made leading man Bruce Campbell and director Sam Raimi both very famous (and even legendary) in Hollywood. So, in that spirit, I suppose every one of these movies have elem...