Movie Review ~ Nobel Son

I went to the Premiere of Nobel Son on Tuesday at the Egyptian Theater. I wasn't interested in seeing the film as I was hoping for the possibility of seeing Alan Rickman who plays the lead, but I enjoyed the film!

The movie was perfect for Alan Rickman, who plays Eli Michaelson, an arrogant bastard. In some scenes just Alan's mannerisms made me laugh out loud. Bryan Greenberg was also good who plays the lead role as Barkley Michaelson. The rest of the cast Bill Pullman, Mary Steenburgen, Danny DeVito, Eliza Dushku, Shawn Hatosy, and Ted Danson all added to an enjoyable film with lots of unpredictable twists and turns.

Plot:

"Barkley Michaelson, Bryan Greenberg, is in a deep life rut. He's struggling to finish his PhD thesis when his father, the learned Eli Michaelson, Alan Rickman, wins the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Barkley and his mother, Sarah, Mary Steenburgen, a renowned forensic psychiatrist, now have the ill-fortune of living with a man-eating monster whose philandering ways have gotten less and less discrete. As if Barkley's world is not bad enough, on the eve of his father receiving the Nobel, Barkley is kidnapped and the requested ransom is the $2,000,000 in Nobel prize money. Needless to say, Eli refuses to pay it and so starts a venomous tale of familial dysfunction, lust, betrayal and ultimately revenge. In the words of Michel De Montaigne, the 16th century philosopher: "There is more barbarity in eating a man alive than in eating him dead." Written by Randall Miller & Jody Savin

Nobel Son in theaters December 5, 2008

Movie Review ~ Australia

I went to see Baz Luhrmann's Australia on Saturday night. The movie was stunning to look at, but the love story between the main character's Lady Sarah Ashley, Nicole Kidman, and Drover, Hugh Jackman, wasn't what stayed in my mind days after seeing the film. The little boy Nullah, Brandon Walters was the most interesting character.

Australia in theaters November 26, 2008

Movie Review ~ Four Christmases

Last night I went to the Premiere of Four Christmases at Grauman's Chinese Theater. The movie was a cute holiday romantic comedy which wasn't too over the top as I thought it would be. Good storyline that everyone could relate to if you have been in a relationship and have to meet your boyfriend's or girlfriend's family during a major holiday. Reese Witherspoon was lovable, Vince Vaughn was bearable, and the supporting cast Robert Duvall, Mary Steenburgen, Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Voight, and Sissy Spacek were great.

Southern California Fires

I'm sure you all know we are having several fires here in Southern California. My home isn't near any of the fires, the closest is in Anaheim Hills/ Yorba Linda about 30 - 40 minutes east of us. My sister and her husband's neighborhood have been evacuated in Anaheim Hills. They live just off Weir Canyon Road right in the hot spot, which is still closed as of today.

Thankfully my sister and brother in law had been visiting my parents at their home in Temecula since Friday night. They had no idea about the fires until I called my parents on Saturday afternoon looking for my sister to see if they had heard from them. We are very lucky everyone is safe.

The sky is grey from smoke and ashes are falling everywhere. Very sad and gloomy here. We left the house to do some errands and this is the view of the sky from Whittier.

Slumdog Millionaire ~ Opening night

I loved Slumdog Millionaire so much I had to go see the movie again at Landmark Theaters with a special screening with a Q & A with director Danny Boyle for opening night.

Danny Boyle spoke very animated and enthusiasticly of how he was asked to read the script, he only read it because he liked the screen writer's past work, Simon Beaufoy who wrote The Full Monty. Within minutes he loved the story. Danny then had to figure out how to make a film about Jamal Malik, Dev Patel , a game show contestant and his life in the slums of Bombay, not an easy task with unknown actors and a portion of the film in Hindi and subtitled. Danny said things fell into place, with a 13 Million dollar budget, he has created this heart warming story.
You must see this film, the best I've seen in a long time!

Here's an interview with Danny Boyle
http://www.campuscircle.com/review.cfm?r=7253&CFID=17638676&CFTOKEN=92530411

Danny Boyle @ the Q&A

After the Q&A

Loren, Danny, & Me

Eddie & Danny

Slumdog Millionaire in theaters now

Fullerton Bikes BMX Aitken Jam

My son Ryan came in 2nd place!

Here's the link, Ryan is the guy with the black shirt and jeans on a red bike:

http://www.vimeo.com/2219263

Movie Review ~ Defiance

The AFI Film Festival closed on Sunday night with the Premiere of Defiance directed by Edward Zwick. Edward Zwick announced the film and spoke about how he had heard stories from survivors of WWII of how Jews had fought to defend themselves and hid in the Belarussian forest in Nazi-occupied Poland. It took Edward Zwick twelve years to finally see this movie in theaters.

This true story is about the four Bielski brothers who become reluctant leaders of a group of people fleeing from persecution led by Tuvia Bielski, Daniel Craig. They encounter the hardships of protecting, feeding, and sheltering the people from the harsh winters. Edward Zwick doesn't soften the story, but tells the raw truth of what the people had to endure in order to survive.

A friend of mine, Lois came along to see the movie and had to stand in the "Rush" line (standby tickets). While in line, limousines began to park on the curb near her. She saw a man approaching the limousines who she recognized as Liev Schreiber who plays one of the brothers, Zus Bielski. A man not too far from her in line caught Liev's attention and began talking to him and showing pictures. The man happened to be a Bielski family member.

Liev asked the man, "What are you doing standing in this line?"
The man answered, "I'm hoping to get inside the Cinerama Dome to see the movie."
"What? You shouldn't be in this line!" Liev turned to a woman who was standing beside him. "Get this man inside!"
Next thing the man knew, he the was being ushered away by Liev and the woman.

Defiance in selected theaters December 31, 2008
Wide release January 16, 2009