Popcorn Bytes

We've Moved! New Address!

2010-11-05T18:30:00.001-07:00

Okay, so the address of the new site is:

www.popcornbytes.wordpress.com

No dash this time around! I have all the comments and posts and things moved over to the new site, so I'm not sure if I'll delete this one. Don't be surprised, however, if you look and find that this one's gone; just head on over to the new one.

Important Update: We're Moving! (Sorry, Blogger.)

2010-11-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's official--I'm moving this blog to a new domain: WordPress. They've got a better blogging interface, comment system, and awesome themes. I may actually be able to blog there instead of just going to Windows Live Writer. Blogger is kinda minimalist and seems "behind" somehow.

The new blog will be up and running in a few minutes, or maybe tomorrow (Wednesday). I'll update this blog with the new address.

I'll see if I can transfer everything from here to WordPress, but it might not be likely. In that case, I'll keep the archived posts here, and you can go to WP for the new updates.

I don't think I'll go WordPress on The Petunia Stories (www.the-petunia-stories.blogspot.com), but if I do, I will update that site accordingly.

Bear with me--it might take a while because I'm kinda lazy on the whole importing thing. :)

Thanks, Blogger. It's been fun.

“Unknown” Trailer Proves That, Even When He’s Dying, Liam Neeson Still Has That Super-Calm Liam Neeson Face

2010-10-21T19:10:00.001-07:00

See?

Here’s a trailer for Unknown, which stars (as you might already have read) Liam Neeson as Dr. Martin Harris, who awakens from a coma to find that someone else has stolen his identity, and strange murders are stalking him. But I guess that’s all in a day’s work for a psychiatrist.

(awkward pause) I’m still not sure if that last line was supposed to be funny or not.

On that note…! Unknown will hit theaters in February.

www.UnknownMovie.com

Here’s A New Trailer for “The Dilemma”, Which, Luckily, Doesn’t Contain The Token “Painful Urination” Scene.

2010-10-14T17:55:00.001-07:00

Aaack! (covers face) There it is!

This is an unusually long (clocking in at around 3 minutes) new trailer for Ron Howard’s The Dilemma. The story: Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Connelly are married, and Vaughn’s best friend (Kevin James) has a girlfriend (Wynona Ryder). Everything’s just peachy between the two couples until Vaughn finds out that Ryder has been having an affair, and is forced to answer the $64,000 question: Should he tell his buddy?

It still looks the same as it did in the original *shudder* trailer (which GLAAD got Universal to stop running over the use of the word “gay"): Just “meh”. Just okay.

Anyway, enjoy this new trailer, which features three recognizable songs. (But for most people, probably only two.)

(Also, just on a side note to Universal: The movie comes out in 2011. There are, like, three more months until the release date. The first trailer came out two weeks before this one. How are you going to advertise the movie, for three months, until then?)

“True Grit”: Trailer for the Coen Brothers Remake

2010-10-01T19:52:00.001-07:00

Here’s a trailer for the Coen Brothers’ remake of True Grit, the story of Mattie Ross, a young girl who plans to avenge the death of her father. She enlists help from Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to find the killer. Matt Damon and Josh Brolin also star.

Now, I know that this is based off the 1969 version of the film starring John Wayne as Cogburn, and that it was his only Oscar-winning performance. It’s just that the trailer for that edition looks just so silly compared to this one:

Maybe the trailer for that version just doesn’t do it any justice, and I haven’t seen the film yet, but so far I’m still more excited for the Coen version. Sorry, John Wayne.

Don’t forget to “sunscribe” for more trailer reviews!

“The Fighter” Trailer

2010-09-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here’s a trailer for the new sports drama The Fighter, which tells the story of Mickey Ward and his journey to the world lightweight championship with the help from his half-brother, Dicky Eklund. It looks like a good sports movie. Some of you might know that I don’t really care for sports movies, but this one looks like it has a, erm, fighting chance.

(Except that’s what I thought about The Blind Side. I was probably the only person in the world who didn’t like that film.)

The Fighter comes out in December.

New Movies for Friday, October 1st, 2010

2010-09-26T18:58:00.001-07:00

Case 39. Renee Zellweger takes in a young girl after her parents threatened to kill her, but the evil that follows doesn’t have any desire to leave. R for violence and terror, including disturbing images.
Let Me In. A lonely boy becomes friends with a young girl named Abby, but soon discovers that she has a very dark secret. (Not to be confused with the young girl with the very dark secret from Case 39.) From the director of “Cloverfield”. R for strong bloody horror violence, language and a brief sexual situation.
The Social Network. The story of Mark Zuckerberg and the founding of the world’s biggest social networking community, Facebook. It’s so big, in fact, that MySpace this week ran an ad for the film. Sad trombone. PG-13 for sexual content, drug and alcohol use and language.

The Dilemma (Trailer)

2010-09-24T19:39:00.001-07:00

Here’s a new trailer for the Vince Vaughn/Kevin James comedy “The Dilemma”. It’s about a man (Vaughn) who finds out that his best friend’s (James) wife (Wynona Rider) is having an affair.

Oh, and did I mention it’s directed by Ron Howard? Yeah! I didn’t believe it either! I watched some trailers for the other movies he made, like “Angels and Demons”, “A Beautiful Mind” (good movie) and “Frost/Nixon”, and I guess this is his first comedy. (Unless you don’t count “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”.)

So far, the movie looks okay. It’s got that obligatory “guy-falls-into-a-poisonous-bush-and-it-just-so-happens-that-one-of-the-dangers-is-pain-urinating” scene, though. I might wait for the next trailer. (But at least they used an awesome Maroon 5 song. And “Barracuda”.)

Op! There’s part of that scene, right in the thumbnail!

New Movies for Friday, September 24th, 2010

2010-09-19T18:20:00.001-07:00

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. A young owl goes on an adventure to find the Guardians, the secret beings who protect the Owl Kingdom. From the director of “300”, and the studio that gave us “Happy Feet”. Based on the series of children’s books. PG for some sequences of scary action.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Michael Douglas returns as Gordon Gekko, who emerges from his jail time to form an alliance with his daughter’s fiancee (Shia LaBeouf). PG-13 for brief strong language and thematic elements.
You Again. Kirsten Bell plays a young woman who realizes that her high-school arch-nemesis is about to marry her brother in this girly comedy. Plus, her mother is rivals with Kirsten’s rival too! Like, OMG! PG for brief mild language and rude behavior.

The Town (Trailer)

2010-09-17T18:07:00.001-07:00

In The Town, a bank robber (Ben Affleck, who also directs) falls in love with the woman he’s taken hostage, but she doesn’t know that he was an accomplice to the crime. It’s received rave reviews, check them out over at Rotten Tomatoes.

The Town is now playing in theaters. Get tickets here.

For Colored Girls (Trailer)

2010-09-15T19:33:00.001-07:00

Here’s a trailer for the latest Tyler Perry movie, For Colored Girls. It’s based on the novel and play, and follows the stories of ten women as they navigate their paths in life and face new challenges and dreams.

Perry’s assembled an all-star cast, which includes Janet Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, and Phylicia Rashad.

This movie looks good, like a real movie. I liked I Can Do Bad All By Myself, but this seems like a “real” movie, and not, like some other Perry films, like a soap opera.

I’ve heard the movie’s getting a lot of Oscar buzz, and there might be a nomination for Perry as a director. If he does get nominated, here’s some free advice for him: Tyler, if your next movie is going to be a Madea flick, do it a little while after Oscar time. Y’know. Just so that…you know.

Megamind (Feature Trailer)

2010-09-14T19:50:00.001-07:00

Here’s an all-new trailer for Megamind, a Dreamworks animated comedy. The movie tells the story of the title character (Will Ferrell), an evil supervillain. For years, he and Metro Man (Brad Pitt) have been rivals. Now that Megamind might have killed Metro Man, he discovers that he’s lonely without a nemesis. He creates Titan (Jonah Hill), a larger-than-life villain who wants to take over Metro City.

The movie comes out on November 5th.

New Movies for Friday, September 17th, 2010

2010-09-12T19:42:00.001-07:00

Alpha and Omega. Two wolves are captured and taken halfway across the country, where they must learn to survive and discover the power of friendship in this 3D animated comedy. PG for rude humor and some mild action.
Catfish. Nev meets his dream girl on the Internet and, his two friends filming the whole thing, they decide to go to Meagan’s farm in Michigan. But all is not as it seems. Based on a true story—for real this time. PG-13 for some sexual references.
Devil. Five strangers get on an elevator, and one might be the devil. Bad things happen for a reason. PG-13 for violence and disturbing images, thematic elements, and some language including sexual references.
Easy A. A girl decides to lie about her virginity in order to become popular. PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving teen sexuality, language and some drug material.

Click on the names above to visit the websites. I’m too lazy to type them over again.

The Next Three Days (Trailer)

2010-09-08T19:04:00.001-07:00

Note: I know you may have assumed this already, but just fair warning: expect less from me from now on.

When his wife (Elizabeth Banks) is accused of murder, Russell Crowe decides to do the only thing he can: break her out of prison. Here’s the trailer for The Next Three Days, also starring Liam Neeson.

New Movies for Friday, September 10th, 2010

2010-09-04T18:16:00.001-07:00

Resident Evil: Afterlife. Alice (Milla Jovovich) fights to survive in a world where a toxic virus has turned everyone into a psycho undead zombie. Experience the undeadness in 3D! R for sequences of strong violence and language.

And that’s the movie for this week. Check out its official website at www.ResidentEvil-Movie.com.

New Movies for Friday, September 3rd, 2010

2010-08-28T17:24:00.001-07:00

The American. George Clooney plays an assassin who retreats to Italy for one last job. Based on the book “A Very Private Gentleman”. R for violence, sexual content and nudity.
Going the Distance. Justin Long and Drew Barrymore tackle a long-distance relationship in this rom-com, getting into misadventures along the way. R for sexual content including dialogue, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity.
Machete. Danny Trejo plays the title character, a gun-wielding thug out for revenge in this film inspired by the fake trailer shown in Grindhouse. R for strong bloody violence throughout, language, some sexual content and nudity.

That’s it for this week! Check out the official websites for these films.

The American

Going the Distance

Machete

127 Hours (Teaser Trailer)

2010-08-26T19:30:00.001-07:00

Here’s a teaser for 127 Hours, the latest film by Danny Boyle. It tells the true story of Aron Ralston, a man who lived for adventure. Unfortunately, his most famous adventure took a wrong turn when he got trapped in a rock formation and was forced to amputate part of his own right arm. The trailer makes the movie look a little like “Buried”, especially when we zoom out to the miles and miles of rock, but at least he’s out in the open. Except for that whole amputation thing.

127 Hours comes out on November 5th.

I’m Still Here (Teaser Trailer)

2010-08-23T18:38:00.001-07:00

(image via)

The trailer for the Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary “I’m Still Here” is, well, here. It tells the story a year in the life of the man, who decided to quit acting and become a hip-hop musician. I couldn’t really see him doing hip-hop, but that’s probably because of the whole mockumentary thing.

I’m Still Here hits theaters on September 10th.

New Movies for Friday, August 27th, 2010

2010-08-21T18:50:00.001-07:00

Takers. A group of techno-savvy thieves decide to attempt one of the biggest heists of all time—but not if a hardened LA cop can stop them. It’s like Ocean’s Eleven except they aren’t all white. PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, a sexual situation/partial nudity and some language.
The Last Exorcism. Eli Roth and Strike Entertainment present the story of Reverend Cotton Marcus, who’s been performing “exorcisms” for over 40 years. After this one, he’s going to settle down and quit the demonic business, but there’s just one little hitch. Things don’t go over as planned. Yikes. PG-13 for disturbing violent content and terror, some sexual references and thematic material.

Check out the official websites for these movies!

Takers

The Last Exorcism

Black Swan (Trailer)

2010-08-19T20:06:00.001-07:00

This trailer contains a same-sex kiss, which some people may find offensive.

This trailer also contains frightening images; therefore it’s not appropriate for children or the easily terrified.

I skimmed over the synopsis for this movie, but caught a few words like “ballet” and “Swan Lake”. Thinking it was going to be just another inspirational dance movie, I sighed, but continued on. Then I saw that it was directed by Darren Aronofsky and I honestly thought it was going to be some spiritual sequel to “The Wrestler” (and if you don’t know what “spiritual sequel” means, look it up on Wikipedia).

Then, I actually watched the trailer.

It’s definitely not an inspirational dance movie.

And it’s definitely not a spiritual sequel to The Wrestler.

The movie tells the story of Nina (Natalie Portman), a young woman immersed in the world of New York ballet. Unfortunately for her, she has a rival: Lily (Mila Kunis). They are pulled together and form a bizarre relationship as well as a bizarre rivalry that I think will ultimately turn deadly.

This movie looks bizarrely awesome. I know I’ve been using the word “bizarre” a lot lately, but it’s the only way I can describe the trailer. I think TenaciousDnj puts it best: “I haven’t been this mindf—ked since I saw Inception.”

A Trailer for Every Oscar-Winning Movie Ever

2010-08-17T19:50:00.001-07:00

The people at Cracked.com released this hilarious video, a trailer for every Oscar-winning movie ever. It’s pretty funny, and very accurate as well. The movie tells the story of a handsome wealthy man who spawns a love interest. Soon he finds that he must take care of a mentally retarded person, help a Latino succeed in school, and free an innocent African-American. It’s the most epic movie in Oscar history!

This trailer may not be appropriate for children.

A Trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever -- powered by Cracked.com

Learn More About Our Deadbeat Economy Through The End Credits of “The Other Guys”

2010-08-16T18:28:00.001-07:00

Here’s an interesting video I found via I Watch Stuff. Instead of the usual rolling credits, this one displays interesting facts about our horrible economy, like about how a Ponzi scheme works, and the date that Bernie Madoff gets out of jail. Plus, you get to watch them to the tune of Maggie’s Farm and Pimps Don’t Cry. (Is that a sign?)

Hint: Try watching the video in full-screen mode to get a better view of the factoids.

New Movies for Friday, August 20th, 2010 (Updated!)

2010-08-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Lottery Ticket. It’s a fight for the millions when a young man living in the projects suddenly wins the lottery, and he’ll have to hold his own to keep the winning ticket. PG-13 for sexual content, language including a drug reference, some violence and brief underage drinking.
Nanny McPhee Returns. Emma Thompson does the same in this sequel to the 2005 film, this time helping Mrs. Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal) raise her three children who are being constantly tormented by their two rich cousins. PG for rude humor, some language and mild thematic elements.
Piranha 3D. 3D sorcerers and canine secret agents are for the kids. The rest of us want a more mature 3D movie—and by that, I mean swarms of angry piranha simultaneously devouring the drunk and stupid college kids at a wet ‘n’ wild beach party and chowing down on the audience as well! Cause it’s in 3D!! R for sequences of strong bloody horror violence and gore, graphic nudity, sexual content, language and some drug use.
The Switch. Jennifer Aniston is all set to have a baby through sperm donor Patrick Wilson, but a drunken last-minute switch made by her friend (Jason Bateman) will change everything. And I mean everything. PG-13 for mature thematic content, sexual material including dialogue, some nudity, drug use and language.
Vampires Suck. The guys that brought you Disaster Movie and Meet The Spartans are at it again, and they’re taking a bite out of a specific vampire series in this send-up. PG-13 for crude sexual content, comic violence, language and teen partying.

What a colorful movie lineup. Check out the official websites for these films.

Skyline (Trailer)

2010-08-11T19:05:00.001-07:00

I’ve got good news and bad news. First of all, something is coming. The good news is, it’s not the Smurfs. The bad news is…it’s not the Smurfs. It’s worse, if that’s even possible. Skyline tells the story of strange lights which come down around Los Angeles, which turn out to be an extraterrestrial force that threatens to destroy Earth and vanquish humanity. Yaay!

Now, I love a good sci-fi movie, and this one is on that list, but here’s the thing: “Maybe we should have listened”? Seriously? That sounds a little too tongue-in-cheek for a thriller movie. Whenever I try to imagine someone saying that in a sci-fi voice, it always comes out as a comedy, like “Maybe we should have LISTENED. (wink)” But that’s beside the point.

Skyline comes out on November 12th.

Let Me In (Trailer)

2010-08-03T19:04:00.001-07:00

This trailer contains frightening images and moments, therefore it is not appropriate for children or the easily terrified.

Here’s the trailer for Let Me In, the remake of the Swedish movie called Let The Right One In. It’s about a young boy who meets a girl his age, and a romance is struck up between them. Except…the girl is a vampire. Yeah, yeah, I know, right now it sounds like Twilight, but it isn’t. Twilight couldn’t hold a candle to this movie. It couldn’t even hold an unlit match. Anyway, the movie’s written and directed by Matt Reeves (the same guy who directed “Cloverfield”). It comes out on October 1st, 2010.

Now, you might have been scared by that trailer, and that’s okay. I was too. But you should be glad that I didn’t share the teaser trailer for Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, and THAT is one freaky trailer. You can find it on your own…but, same as above, it’s not for the easily terrified and it’s definitely not for children.

Catfish (Trailer)

2010-08-02T18:01:00.001-07:00

Now this is an intriguing movie. Catfish tells the story of Nev Schulman and the girl, Megan, he meets on Facebook. His brother Ariel and friend Henry Joost decided to film the whole thing, from start to finish. One thing leads to another, and pretty soon the gang is heading over to Megan’s house in Michigan. But, everything there is not as it seems.

The poster and everything else I’ve heard beg you to not reveal what they find (the movie’s tagline is “Don’t let anyone tell you what it is.”) I’ve also read that it’s best to walk into the movie knowing nothing, which begs the question: Should you watch the trailer? I did, and this looks to be a pretty good film.

New Movies for Friday, August 6th, 2010

2010-08-01T17:59:00.001-07:00

The Other Guys. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg star in this hilarious-looking comedy about two inept police officers who finally get to solve a crime on their own. PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language, violence, and some drug material.
Step Up 3D. As far as I can tell, this movie is all about hip-hop dancers throwing their bodies at the audience, but Yahoo Movies tells me it’s about “…street dancers (that) find themselves pitted against the world's best dancers in a high-stakes hip hop showdown.” Where limbs are thrown at our faces. PG-13 for some strong language.
Flipped. A second-grader falls in love with a girl, but keeps her at a distance for the next six years of his life. Based on the book of the same name and directed by Rob Reiner. PG for language and some thematic material.

Check out the official websites for these movies.

The Other Guys

Step Up 3D

Flipped

Yogi Bear (Teaser Trailer)

2010-07-30T18:42:00.001-07:00

My main problem with CGI/live-action hybrids is just that: they’re CGI/live-action hybrids. I don’t really think the computer-generated world and the real world should be allowed to mingle; it should either be all CG or all live-action. Unfortunately for me, the two worlds come together again in Yogi Bear, a new family movie based on the old cartoon series. Dan Aykroyd voices Yogi, Justin Timberlake (?!) voices Boo Boo, and when Jellystone Park is about to be shut down, the two must fight to save it—and maybe steal some food in the process. The only live-action star I recognize is Anna Faris, and she’s looking as wide-eyed and shocked as she does in all her other movies (probably from exaggerating that emotion all the time in the Scary Movie series). Of course, it’s in 3D, and, okay, it’s a hybrid, but it does look better than another hybrid movie coming out soon. (cough cough *the Smurfs*) At least Dan Aykroyd looks happy.

Sucker Punch (Comic-Con Trailer)

2010-07-28T19:58:00.001-07:00

This trailer contains violence.

LIGHTS AND COLOR AND EXPLOSIONS! BLEEAARRGHH!!!
That was all I could say after watching the trailer (released at the Comic-Con show) for Sucker Punch. It tells the story of a young woman who is staying at an asylum called Lennox House (“For the Criminally Insane”, the sign reads). Unfortunately for her, she’s about to be lobotomized, and decides to escape the home with her friends. This trailer features weirdly awesome visuals and colors, and, of course, lights and explosions. I bet it’s based on a video game.

Sucker Punch comes out in March, 2011.

The Social Network (Trailer)

2010-07-26T17:52:00.001-07:00

Trailers for The Social Network have been coming fast, and it seems that this one was released just two weeks after the first teaser. It still has that picture of Mark Zuckerberg, the one where he looks drunk, and it still has that same silly dialogue (most notably, “I can’t wait to stand over your shoulder and watch you write us a check”).

I’m not sure why they’re making this movie. The Facebook story doesn’t really seem like one of that much importance. I also didn’t expect the lighting to be so dim. I’m really into technology and the interesting stories behind it, but the more I watch this trailer, the less I want to see this movie. The song is “Creep”, by Scala & Kolacny Brothers. I’d link to it, or even embed it here cause it’s so awesome, but it has some strong language that may or may not be NSFW.

New Movies for Friday, July 30th, 2010

2010-07-25T18:14:00.001-07:00

Image 1 Source
Image 2 Source

Dinner for Schmucks. Paul Rudd and Steve Carell lead an all-star cast in this comedy about Tim (Rudd), a man on the verge of a promotion. To land the deal, however, he’ll have to pick an idiot and invite him to dinner, where his colleagues can make fun at them. Enter Barry (Carell), a man who uses roadkill to create art pieces. PG-13 for sequences of crude and sexual content, some partial nudity and language.
Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. Canines, felines (and birds, apparently) unite to defeat an evil kitty who wants to take over the world in this sequel to the 2001 movie. (In 3D, of course.) PG for animal action and humor.

For other trailers, pictures, and news, check out the movies’ websites.

Dinner for Schmucks

Cats and Dogs 2

Conviction (Trailer)

2010-07-23T19:48:00.001-07:00

Hilary Swank in a scene from the movie. (via)

Conviction tells the true story of a man (Sam Rockwell), put in prison for murder. Now, his sister (Hilary Swank) believes he is innocent and will fight for his release, going through an 18-year struggle. That epic song at the end is “My Name is Lincoln”, by Steve Jablonsky. Conviction hits theaters on October 15th, 2010.

Buried (Feature Trailer)

2010-07-22T19:13:00.001-07:00

Ryan Reynolds in a scene from the film. (via)

Here’s the feature trailer for Buried, a movie I’m really looking forward to. What’s the plot? It’s relatively simple: Ryan Reynolds is buried in a coffin underground. I read somewhere that most of the film consists of Reynolds (playing Paul Conroy) making various phone calls to friends, family, and any numbers that he can remember, while also negotiating with whoever put him there. It seems like a really exciting movie. I just wish Lionsgate would put some stuff from the actual film in this trailer, rather than just pictures. It made me feel like I was walking through an art gallery.

Buried comes out on October 2nd nationwide, but starts its limited-release run on September 24th.

Never Let Me Go (Trailer)

2010-07-20T19:11:00.001-07:00

Never Let Me Go is based on the book of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro (which I have just started). It tells the story of children who are raised to be organ donors, and three of those children have finally been sent away from the school they went to, Hailsham, and are re-examining their past. I can’t wait to continue the book, and the movie looks amazingly good. It comes out October 1st.

Faster (Teaser Trailer)

2010-07-19T19:06:00.001-07:00

Dwayne Johnson gets back into action mode with Faster, a movie where he takes revenge on the four men who killed his brother. He kills one of the men, but just when things are looking easy, two other men, named Cop and Killer, try to hunt him down. Sounds a little bit like Nicolas Cage’s upcoming “Drive Angry”, but I’m good with this trailer for now. The movie hits theaters in November.

New Movies for Friday, July 23rd, 2010

2010-07-18T18:23:00.001-07:00

Ramona and Beezus. The delightful series of children’s books by Beverly Cleary, about an imaginative little girl and her supportive older sister come to the silver screen. G.
Salt. Angelina Jolie is framed as a Russian spy who is about to kill the President and goes on the run from her captors. PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action.

And those are all the movies for this week. Here are their official websites.

Ramona and Beezus

Salt

Devil (Trailer)

2010-07-16T20:38:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I just discovered this interesting miniseries on NBC called Persons Unknown, about seven strangers who are abducted, taken to this hotel in the middle of nowhere, they don’t know how they are supposed to get out or survive, and soon strange things begin to happen. It’s a fascinating show, and I’m hooked. Devil is a bit like that, but instead of seven, it’s five, and the story’s a little different too. Five strangers get on an elevator, but soon it breaks down, and soon the group discovers that one of them is the devil. I just hope it isn’t the scary guy, because that would just be too easy. The trailer starts off with some city skylines that are upside down. I’m not really sure why, and it was a bit annoying, but once we’re inside the elevator shaft, things got better.

Oh, and M. Night Shyamalan, he’s—WAIT! Where are you going? COME BACK!

Listen, I know that, lately his films haven’t really been par for the course, but he’s only producing this one. He’s not even writing (that’s Brian Nelson) or directing (John Erick Dowdle). So it still has a chance. Plus, it looks really good. I love a claustrophobic thriller.

Oh, but Universal Pictures? I like the movie, and I think it looks good, but judging by what everybody else says, it was kind of a bad idea to release this trailer less than a week after the release of what might be Shyamalan’s worst-reviewed movie of all time. I’m just sayin’.

Due Date (Trailer)

2010-07-15T20:15:00.001-07:00

Normally, I hate road trip disaster movies (especially that last link), but I know that I can find redemption in Due Date. Robert Downey Jr. plays Peter, a soon-to-be father who wants to see his wife deliver the new baby. Unfortunately, he’ll have to survive a cross-country road trip to get to the hospital. When he hitches a ride with Ethan (Zack Galifianakis), things only get worse. You might not understand why I said Peter will have to “survive” the road trip, and after watching this trailer, you’ll understand why, too. This movie looks very funny.

Plus, that tagline at the end is probably the best ever.

The Social Network (Teaser Trailer)

2010-07-12T19:50:00.001-07:00

When I heard they were making a movie about the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, I was excited. This trailer…ehh. I’m not so excited anymore. It’s only a teaser, it doesn’t show us much, but it makes the movie look silly! It’s a bit of a disappointment. The dialogue is lame, and the picture of Zuckerberg at the end makes him look drunk. I don’t know about you, but he looks drunk to me. Sigh. Hopefully a better trailer will come out soon. The Social Network comes out in October.

When did they invent Facebook? In college? I hear the voices in this trailer and I think “high school”. I don’t know.

Chocomize

2010-07-11T19:17:00.001-07:00

(not my image)

My dad loves chocolate, so I think this would be the perfect website for him. Chocomize allows you to make your very own custom chocolate. You can pick everything—the chocolate, the “fruits, nuts, and candies” to put inside. Once that’s done, you pay for your creation and they ship it to you, with, the site says, ice packs. The website offers gift certificates, favorite chocolate bars they think you’ll like, and they even donate the proceeds to charity. So you can feel good about eating that chocolate after all. Yum!

www.chocomize.com

New Movies for Friday, July 16th, 2010

2010-07-11T18:42:00.001-07:00

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Nicolas Cage plays the sorcerer and Jay Baruchel the apprentice in this modern reimagining of the classic Mickey Mouse animated adventure. PG for fantasy action violence, some mild rude humor and brief language.
Inception. The director of “The Dark Knight” gives us this highly-anticipated fantasy/action film about a team who enters your dreams and steal your secrets. PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout.

Did I mention Inception looks awesome? ‘Cause it does. Here are the official websites for these movies.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Inception

The Switch (Trailer)

2010-07-08T19:06:00.001-07:00

The following trailer contains sexual material; it is not appropriate for children.

Jennifer Aniston wants to have a baby, and Roland (Patrick Wilson) is a donor. Unfortunately, a drunken last-minute switch by her friend Wally (Jason Bateman) causes everything to go completely different. The Switch hits theaters on August 20th, 2010.

New Movies for Friday, July 9th, 2010

2010-07-06T17:24:00.001-07:00

Despicable Me. Steve Carell plays an evil genius, Gru, who wants to steal ze moon in this animated family comedy, but all plans are put on hold when three little girls come to his door. PG for rude humor and mild action.
Predators. Adrien Brody leads a race of humans on a quest to survive on a distant planet where they are hunted by evil monsters called Predators. R.

And those are all the movies for this week. Check out their official websites.

Despicable Me

Predators

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Trailer)

2010-07-05T18:08:00.001-07:00

Here’s the trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which, as you already know, is going to be split up into two parts. The movie focuses on the last battle between Harry Potter and Voldemort, and who shall live or die. Part I comes out this November, and Part II comes out next July. It looks pretty good, and I don’t even mind that it’s in 3D. HP sounds a lot older, though.

Rango (Trailer)

2010-07-02T19:41:00.001-07:00

Johnny Depp does not sound like Johnny Depp in Rango. Seriously. He doesn’t sound like Jack Sparrow or really anybody in his movies, he just sounds like an actor. And you don’t even see Johnny Depp in this movie, because in this movie he is a lizard. Rango, the website says, is about a chameleon with an identity crisis. But this trailer doesn’t seem to give me that impression. This trailer shows Johnny Depp the lizard running from a bird, then another bird (who sounds suspiciously like the voice-over guy from this trailer, and this one, which looks like the worst disaster movie* ever) telling me that the lizard will die. (Sorry kids.) It looks like a Western movie, but instead of people characters, there’s animals. It’s like something I might write.

And it’s directed by Gore Verbinski, the guy who did Pirates of the Caribbean. Rango could be fun.

*Yeah, I know when you think of disaster movies you think of avalanches and floods and meteors heading towards Earth? I do too. But there’s another type of disaster movie…and it’s in that linked trailer. But why did they have to totally ruin “Our House”?

The Tillman Story (Trailer)

2010-06-29T19:15:00.001-07:00

I’m not a big fan of documentaries, so I didn’t want to watch this trailer when it came out. The first few scenes showed football footage, and I’m not one for sports films either so I almost stopped the trailer. I’m glad I kept watching, ‘cause this looks like a good movie. The Tillman Story is about Pat Tillman, a former football player who decided to join the U.S. Army. I won’t go into detail, but Wikipedia has got a great article on the man. It was the matter of Tillman’s death that got everyone talking. Basically, he was killed by friendly fire, but the military lied and told his family he was killed by opposing forces. The Tillman Story examines the controversy that followed, and the Tillman family quest to uncover what really happened to their beloved family member.

Red (Trailer)

2010-06-24T19:14:00.001-07:00

I think I’ll start this by saying that Red looks…totally awesome. It’s about ex-CIA agents (including Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren) who are retired, but are forced to come together for one last job. When they’re wrongfully accused of assassination, the team goes to break into CIA headquarters and uncover a shocking secret. This movie looks pretty good, it’s a welcome relief after The Green Hornet, (and it’s not in 3D!), and “Back in the Saddle Again” by Aerosmith? Like I said: Awesome!

Red opens October 15th.

New Movies for Friday, June 25th, 2010

2010-06-22T19:52:00.001-07:00

Knight and Day. Cameron Diaz’s life is turned upside down when she boards the same plane as Tom Cruise, an international super-spy. Yeah, yeah, I know, sounds like Killers, but at least there’s no Katherine Heigl or Ashton Kutcher. PG-13 for sequences of action violence throughout, and brief strong language.
Grown Ups. A group of friends, including Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, and David Spade, reunite after their basketball coach dies, and, as you might expect, “hilarity” (I used that term lightly) and accidental abuse ensues. Sigh. PG-13 for crude material including suggestive references, language and some male rear nudity.

Here are the official websites for these movies.

Knight and Day

Grown Ups

The Green Hornet (Trailer)

2010-06-22T19:41:00.001-07:00

Seth Rogen plays the title character in The Green Hornet. When his father dies and Rogen is left in control of his media empire, he wonders why he hasn’t been able to step up to the plate like his old man. From the comments about this trailer I learn that it was a TV series, and that it was a comic book too, probably before then. Anyway, Rogen and his friend Kato (Jay Chou) team up to fight crime, and they only way they know how to fight it is to commit it. Then there’s something about a car and a gas weapon and I can’t really tell if the car is the GH or if Rogen is the GH. This trailer is all a little confusing, and the movie just looks okay. And if Seth Rogen walked up to me and said he was going to fight crime, I probably wouldn’t believe him.

The movie is directed by Michel Gondry, and you might be thinking, “The Michel Gondry? Like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Michel Gondry? Be Kind Rewind Michel Gondry? Huh.” Well, at least that’s what I thought.

Oh, and do I have to tell you it’s in 3D? ‘Cause it’s in 3D.

Coupons.com

2010-06-21T19:16:00.001-07:00

Want to save some money? Coupons.com can help with that. The website features tons of coupons for things like food to books and magazines. It’s almost like a Target… but for coupons. (Yeah, I got nothing better.) There are coupons from some of your favorite brands. You just find the coupons you want, and then print them. (Well, not before installing their special printing software.) If you enter your zip code, you can find coupons for things in your area. You can also share coupons with your Facebook and Twitter friends, who probably like saving money too.

www.coupons.com

Movie on DVD: The Terminal

2010-06-18T19:48:00.001-07:00

Looking for a fish-out-of-water film but don’t want to go anywhere near The Smurfs? I found a great one. The Terminal is about a man named Viktor Narvoski (Tom Hanks, sounding, along with Gru from Despicable Me, a little Borat-ish). During his flight, a revolution erupted in his home country of Krakozhia (I had to copy and paste that from Wikipedia, which tells me the country is fictional), and so he is stranded in Kennedy Airport. Sounds boring, but it is a very good film. It’s rated PG-13, however, so no kiddie stuff here, although maybe that’s a good thing. It’s a perfect movie. Please see it.

Trailer:

“The Smurfs” Teaser Trailer

2010-06-17T20:44:00.001-07:00

Are you feeling all happy and giddy from the Despicable Me trailer I posted yesterday? Are you confident that this trailer is going to be just like that one, a break from the usual kiddie crap?

Well, quit being so confident. It’s cliche time.

This movie recycles that old tradition where if you don’t have a story for your characters, plop ‘em in America. New York City, to be exact. And that’s just one cliche. This trailer recycles every single one.

Let me be clear: Every single one. There’s the serious-sounding opening, complete with foreboding music. Shots of famous landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower and Mount Rushmore. (And Times Square. We can’t have a cliche’d trailer without Times Square.) There’s a satellite view of the East Coast, which zooms us down to New York City. The Earth-zooming thing is, you guessed it, another cliche. The “Surprise” moment later on, where a large chunk of text crushes the city, another cliche. Had enough yet? Well, too bad…

There’s the large, obnoxious, in-your-face blue text on the title cards that zooms towards us, always a kids film cliche. The trailer is set to “Wild Thing”, the tag music for every horrible kids movie ever made. There’s the only-pretending-to-be-rude cuss phrase, in this case, “Smurf Happens”. I can see you getting faint. There’s the all-star cast, like George Lopez, Katy Perry (?!), Neil Patrick Harris, Sofia Vergara. (Yes. From Modern Family. Why, Sofia, WHY?) And, of course, IT’S IN 3D!

Yep. The Smurfs, the movie. Ruining your childhood, summer 2011. Get ready.

Despicable Me (Trailer)

2010-06-15T19:41:00.001-07:00

At first I dismissed the trailer for Despicable Me, thinking it was going to be just another children’s comedy. When I saw it in front of The Karate Kid, however, I was pleasantly surprised. It tells the story of Gru (Steve Carell), an evil genius who plots to steal the moon. His plans are put on hold when he inherits three little girls and is forced to care for them. Yeah, it’s in 3D. So what? At least it looks better than some of the other 3-dimensional family films coming out. (cough cough Alpha and Omega. cough Tangled. cough cough Step Up 3D.)

Although am I the only one who noticed that Gru’s voice sounds a little Borat-ish?

New Movies for June 18th, 2010

2010-06-13T17:43:00.001-07:00

Toy Story 3. In the third installment of Pixar’s animated series, the toys are shipped off to a daycare center where they are poked, prodded and played with by little kids who are thiis close to Uncanny Valley. G.
Jonah Hex. Josh Brolin plays a bounty hunter who must track down and defeat his enemy, a man who can unleash hell upon the world. PG-13.

And that’s it for this week. Here are the official websites for these films.

Toy Story 3

Jonah Hex

Tangled (Trailer)

2010-06-11T19:14:00.001-07:00

Let me start off by saying that Tangled, a new Disney movie, looks just okay. From the trailer, I’m guessing that “the kingdom’s greatest thief” has to learn to live with Rapunzel. You see, he’s accidentally hidden in the tower she’s locked up in. That’s basically what I can decipher. Oh, and there’s a lot of falling and the thief getting whipped and crushed by Rapunzel’s hair, all set to the tune of a Pink song. I heard Disney changed the movie’s name to Tangled in order to appeal to males, but I’m not that appealed by it. Here’s the trailer.

New Movies for Friday, June 11th, 2010

2010-06-07T19:50:00.001-07:00

The Karate Kid. Bullied at his new China home, a young boy (Jaden Smith) gets self-defense lessons from his eccentric mentor, Jackie Chan. PG for bullying, martial arts action violence and some mild language. (At 2 hours, it’s the longest kids movie I’ve ever heard of!)
The A-Team. When they are accused for a crime they didn’t commit, four soldiers go on the run as mercenaries-for-hire and try to prove themselves innocent, just like The Losers. Maybe they could partner up. (This, however, was based on a TV show.) PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence throughout, language and smoking

Here are the official websites for these movies.

The Karate Kid

The A-Team

Common Sense Media: the Helicopter Parent Website

2010-06-04T19:57:00.001-07:00

No, that’s not an actual subtitle for the website.

If you’ve ever wanted to shield your kids from even the tiniest offensive thing concerning movies, books, TV shows, and the like, look to Common Sense Media. The site rates those, websites, and music (okay…) and gives them an age rating to make sure it’s okay for the little ones. For example, here’s what a typical movie analyzation looks like:

Below that, there’s a breakdown of everything raunchy you might encounter in the movie. For example, they rate the message of the movie (in this Christopher Guest satire I’m using as an example, the message is “Money is more important than people”. It gets two sad faces out of 5, which suggests that it’s an only mildly bad message.)

They also rate language, sex, violence, and—gasp!—consumerism. (As if kids today can escape any of those things. Mom, just wait ‘til your young one reaches eighth grade. They’ll hear enough double-entendres to last a lifetime.)

Sounds useful, right? Well, it is—up to a point. The site, to me, can be a little contradictory. For example, in a breakdown of a different PG-13-rated movie, it’s usually mild (“a comic scuffle”), but the “Parents Need to Know” section makes it sound totally raunchtastic. (a made-up word)

In addition, the breakdown and PNK sometimes just make something sound so raunchy, you’re actually turned off by it and don’t want to watch it. I mean, it almost sounds like you’re a bad person if you watch a certain movie. So, that being said, CSM is a perfect website for anybody who never wants to see a movie, watch TV, read a book, visit a website, or listen to music again. Yaay!

www.commonsensemedia.org

But here’s a suggestion for the website: Could you also rate the crude humor content in films? I know I’m not the only one who hates that stuff in my movies.

Grooveshark

2010-06-03T20:27:00.001-07:00

Grooveshark is my favorite website for music. It’s really easy: all I have to do is type in the title of a song I want to listen to. Then Grooveshark gives me a list of songs that they found that match my search. I’ll find the one I want and enjoy it. The site is simple and sleek. It’s a search engine for music. There is a free version, but paid subscribers get lotsa goodies, like no ads and a desktop version of the service. In addition, I can post the song to many social networking sites, like Facebook and StumbleUpon.

Playing a song in Grooveshark.

Viral Video Film School: Adorable Puppies!

2010-06-02T19:48:00.001-07:00

This video is basically self-explanatory. So cute! And funny too.

Cooking Channel

2010-05-31T17:40:00.001-07:00

Today was the launch of the Cooking Channel, and they brought out a website to go along with it. It’s from the same guys who brought you the Food Network, so you may ask, “Why do we need two cooking channels?” And I say…basically the same thing. Anyway, the website features recipes (just like the Food Network), chef bios (just like the Food Network), and videos (just like the Food Network). So it’s the Food Network, but with a different name. Why did they do this? It almost makes me long for that annoying announcer on the 15 Bodacious… series on the Fine Living Network (the channel that came before Cooking).

www.cookingchanneltv.com

The Cooking Channel’s homepage

The Food Network’s homepage

New Movies for Friday, June 4th, 2010

2010-05-30T18:49:00.001-07:00

It’s kinda sad when there are four movies coming out this week and only one of them looks good. Anyway--

Splice. Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley mix human DNA with that of an animal and accidentally form a monster. R for disturbing elements including strong sexuality, nudity, sci-fi violence and language.
Killers. Katherine Heigl has finally found the man of her dreams (Ashton Kutcher). Too bad he forgot to tell her that he’s a secret agent super-spy. PG-13.
Get Him to the Greek. Jonah Hill only has 72 hours to transport rock star Russell Brand from London to LA in this raunchy comedy. R for strong sexual content and drug use throughout, and pervasive language.
Marmaduke. The comic-strip canine leaps—and almost topples over onto—the big screen. The title character (Owen Wilson) moves to Los Angeles with the family cat (George Lopez) in tow. PG for some rude humor and language.

Great. Now we’ll have two new residents of LA. One’ll be loud and obnoxious, and the other—will probably be about the same. Check out the official websites for these films:

Viral Video Film School: Local Commercials

2010-05-28T18:29:00.001-07:00

Since today’s Friday, I’m going to share something fun. Everybody’s seen a local commercial. You know, the ones for car dealerships and other local services. Well, you haven’t seen these local commercials. They’re pretty…strange.

NaturalReader

2010-05-25T19:30:00.001-07:00

I hate Microsoft Narrator. I can’t see small things all that well, and that includes text on webpages, so whenever I want to be able to read it I use NaturalReader instead. It’s a nice text-to-speech program that reads words well (it doesn’t have too much of a robotic voice) and highlights the paragraph it’s reading (unfortunately, it doesn’t highlight the individual words as it reads them to you). Other drawbacks include the absence of more than one voice and a pronunciation editor. If you want to save a copy of the speech to an iPod, you’re out of luck there; I don’t see a need for that feature so that limitation doesn’t bother me.

Free at www.NaturalReaders.com

Also: The free version comes with a trial edition of their paid-for software; it didn’t work for me.

Rio (Teaser Trailer)

2010-05-24T19:22:00.001-07:00

Hmmm, let’s see. There are three new trailers for three new animated movies coming soon. Which one do I want to share? Megamind? Even the title sounds weird. Alpha and Omega? Doesn’t look good. I’ll let you find that one for yourself. So that leaves me with only one other option.

Rio, a beautiful-looking movie. This trailer is about a bluebird who longs to fly, with some help from a female blue and a toucan voiced by George Lopez. What can I say? It’s only a teaser.

Rio (trailer) from Animatieblog on Vimeo.

New Movies for Friday, May 21st, 2010

2010-05-15T17:42:00.001-07:00

Shrek: The Final Chapter. Shrek is tricked into entering a parallel world of the city he lives in in the last installment of DreamWorks’ hit saga. PG for mild action, some rude humor and brief language.
MacGruber. Will Forte stars as the only guy “still man enough to sport a mullet”: MacGruber, the action “hero” we see before about every commercial break on SNL. Seriously, the skits are so short. How are they going to turn them into a movie? R for strong crude and sexual content, violence, language and some nudity.

Here are the official websites for these movies.

Shrek: The Final Chapter

MacGruber

Super 8 (Teaser Trailer)

2010-05-11T18:05:00.001-07:00

If you went to Iron Man 2 at midnight on Friday, you got to see this trailer. For the rest of us, here it is. Super 8 is a secret project between J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg. I’ll let you watch the trailer and be surprised, but I can’t wait for next summer. This one looks good.

Inception (Trailer)

2010-05-07T17:28:00.001-07:00

Here’s a trailer for the upcoming Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) movie Inception, and it looks pretty awesome. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a man who can tap into people’s dreams.

You Again (Trailer)

2010-05-06T17:48:00.001-07:00

I know that this is supposed to be a “girl comedy”, but it actually looks pretty funny. You Again is about a young woman (Kristen Bell) who realizes that her brother is marrying her arch-nemesis from high school (Odette Yustman). Sounds formulaic and standard, but the part that got me was when we find out that Kirsten’s mother (Jamie Lee Curtis) used to be rivals with Yustman’s mom, too (Sigourney Weaver).

Does anybody know who plays Bell’s father, at 1:43?

New Movies for Friday, May 7th, 2010

2010-05-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

Iron Man 2. Genre: Action. Robert Downey Jr. returns as Iron Man in this much-anticipated sequel to the 2008 adventure to fight off new villain Whiplash (Mickey Rourke). PG-13 for for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some language.
Babies. Genre: Family/Documentary. This film follows the lives of four newborns throughout four places across the world. PG for cultural and maternal nudity throughout.

Those are all the movies for this week. Check out their official websites.

Iron Man 2

Babies

Buried (Trailer)

2010-05-03T17:45:00.001-07:00

Here’s the trailer for Buried, a new thriller film about trucker Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) who somehow finds himself 6 feet underground in a tiny coffin. He has no idea why or who put him there, and only has a cell phone (with a draining battery, too) and a lighter for support. Will he make it to the outside world? Are we just going to be staring at a blank screen and hearing Reynolds struggle for 2 hours? Enjoy the trailer for Buried. I think it looks pretty good, myself.

The Last Airbender: Now in 3D!

2010-04-25T17:55:00.001-07:00

Sorry about the absence of posts for the past few days. Fair warning: there might not be many this week, too. Again, sorry.

Here’s a trailer for The Last Airbender, the M. Night Shyamalan film about a young boy who must fight to protect his world from the Fire Nation. And what’s this? In 3D? Okay. I’m not sure if it’s just the bad taste left in my mouth from Step Up 3D, but it seems kinda gimmicky to me. But hey—at least it looks better than that movie.

And, yeah, Airbender’s still not rated. I keep waiting for the verdict from the MPAA (and I kinda hope it isn’t PG) because if it did get rated PG, I’d have that weird “M. Night Shyamalan’s doing a KIDS movie!” feeling.

Get Low (Trailer)

2010-04-20T17:40:00.001-07:00

Get Low sounds like a dancing film, doesn’t it? Thankfully, it isn’t. It tells the story of hermit Felix Bush who wants to organize a “funeral party” and invites everybody, and Felix will reveal a big secret at the event.

The Other Guys (Trailer)

2010-04-13T18:19:00.001-07:00

I once read that the Wayans were going to pitch a screenplay for a buddy cop parody film to Paramount, but I bet The Other Guys will be much funnier than it. This movie stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg who finally get their big chance at catching a criminal, but things don’t go quite as planned. You might think, “Oh, it’s just Get Smart but with two guys instead of one”, but it actually looks good.

Dinner for Schmucks (Trailer)

2010-04-08T18:13:00.001-07:00

In Dinner for Schmucks, Paul Rudd plays Tim, a man who just got a promotion, but in order to land it he must find a “colorful character” to invite to his boss’ dinner, and all the other guests get to make fun of him. This character is Barry (Steve Carell), who likes to dress up rats and recreate famous art with them. This is actually based on a French film called Le diner les cons (“The Dinner Game”). The idea of the dinner sounds mean and cruel, but the trailer makes it funny. And I laughed.

Salt (Trailer)

2010-04-06T18:06:00.001-07:00

The trailer for Salt, an action film starring Angelina Jolie as a woman who is accused of being a Russian spy.

www.WhoIsSalt.com

Step Up 3D (Trailer)

2010-04-05T18:24:00.001-07:00

When you put on 3D glasses, you’re transported into worlds of wonder and magic, action and adventure. But this summer, one movie will take you into a whole new dimension of…

Dance?

Yep, you heard me right. Step Up 3D, the latest in the Step Up saga, will do just that. And it looks…like a movie that only certain people will enjoy. I am not one of those people, but I bet those who love the twisty, uncontrollable dancing featured in the trailer (or who just liked Step Ups 1 and 2 The Streets) will be flocking to the theaters come summer. And I could see some 3D moments, like the guy landing on his legs, or the shirtless dude, or those guys with the light-up shirts. But is that going to be it? Are we just going to be dodging artistic 3D punches thrown by breakdancers? Sadly, that seems so. Sorry, Step Up 3D, but I won’t be steppin’ up to you this season.

Are you excited for this movie? What did/didn’t you like about the trailer? Comment in the space below (click on the post title to get there).

Marmaduke (Trailer): Well, The New Fox Logo Looks Nice

2010-03-26T18:08:00.001-07:00

No, I don’t want to know why you’re in the pen, Marmaduke. But I guess I have to find out.

Here’s a trailer for Marmaduke, a family comedy (shudder) about a dog who gets moved to sunny California and, like in most family comedies, “hilarity” ensues. I’m not saying that the movie doesn’t look funny, I mean, there were some parts that made me chuckle like the “6 languages” part, but that was about it. But watch the trailer for yourself and let me know what you think.

Despicable Me (Teaser Trailer)

2010-03-23T18:08:00.001-07:00

The teaser trailer for Despicable Me, a family comedy about an evil genius who plots to steal the moon.

I think those minions are going to steal the show.

Eat, Pray, Love (Trailer)

2010-03-19T18:02:00.001-07:00

The trailer for Eat, Pray, Love, a movie based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, which, in turn, is based on her own life experiences. Julia Roberts plays Elizabeth, a woman who takes an around-the-world journey after divorcing her husband. The movie comes out in summer. You can find more about it at www.EatPrayLove-TheMovie.com.

Tron Legacy (Trailer)

2010-03-15T17:32:00.001-07:00

The trailer for Tron Legacy. From TrailerAddict.com:

“Tron Legacy is a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that's unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin's loyal confidant (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.”

New Movies for Friday, March 19th, 2010

2010-03-14T17:30:00.001-07:00

The Bounty Hunter. Comedy. Gerard Butler plays a bounty hunter whose next mission is to track down his ex-wife, who has just jumped bail. Rated PG-13 for sexual content including suggestive comments, language and some violence.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Family/Comedy. Based on the book series, this movie tells the story of Greg Heffley navigating the trials and tribulations of 6th grade. PG for some rude humor and language.
Repo Men. Genre: Sci-Fi. Jude Law and Forest Whitaker play reposession men who, erm, dispose of people when they can’t make payments. However, when Law fails to make his payments on a heart transplant, he must go on the run from Whitaker. R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, language and some sexuality/nudity.

Those are all the movies for this week. Here are their official websites.

The Bounty Hunter

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Repo Men

Yahoo! Answers and Blurtit

2010-03-13T17:37:00.001-08:00

These two sites offer answers to just about every question you have. Yahoo! Answers is arguably the largest “Q&A” community on the Internet, with questions ranging from “Why do we pinch people who don’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day” to “Can hamsters drink out of a bowl”. You have to sign up for a Yahoo Account first, though. Blurtit is very similar. You can sign up for the service, but you can also use Facebook Connect (which is very handy). The website also allows you to include a picture with your question, and you get “points” for answering questions and referring your friends (the use of which I am not sure).

www.answers.yahoo.com

www.blurtit.com

Iron Man 2 (Trailer)

2010-03-11T18:56:00.000-08:00

The Iron Man adventure continues in Iron Man 2, where the title character (Robert Downey Jr.) must battle a new villian, Whiplash (Mickey Rourke).

Green Zone (Trailer)

2010-03-09T17:48:00.001-08:00

This movie looks okay, but it also looks confusing. The only things I gathered from it is that Matt Damon is the good guy, and Greg Kinnear might be the bad guy. Not a very good description, so here’s one from the trailer site.

“During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Damon) and his team of Army inspectors were dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that inverts the purpose of their mission.
Spun by operatives with intersecting agendas, Miller must hunt through covert and faulty intelligence hidden on foreign soil for answers that will either clear a rogue regime or escalate a war in an unstable region. And at this blistering time and in this combustible place, he will find the most elusive weapon of all is the truth.”

Green Zone comes out this Friday.

www.GreenZoneMovie.com

Legend of the Guardians (Trailer), Plus An Awesome Music Video!

2010-03-04T18:22:00.001-08:00

Here’s an awesome trailer for Legend of the Guardians, a family fantasy adventure movie from the guy who did “300”. It’s too confusing for a brief description, so here’s one I found on TrailerAddict:

“Acclaimed filmmaker Zack Snyder makes his animation debut with the fantasy family adventure Legend of the Guardians, based on the beloved books by Kathryn Lasky. The film follows Soren, a young owl enthralled by his father's epic stories of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, a mythic band of winged warriors who had fought a great battle to save all of owlkind from the evil Pure Ones. While Soren dreams of someday joining his heroes, his older brother, Kludd, scoffs at the notion, and yearns to hunt, fly and steal his father's favor from his younger sibling. But Kludd's jealousy has terrible consequences--causing both owlets to fall from their treetop home and right into the talons of the Pure Ones. Now it is up to Soren to make a daring escape with the help of other brave young owls. Together they soar across the sea and through the mist to find the Great Tree, home of the legendary Guardians of Ga'Hoole--Soren's only hope of defeating the Pure Ones and saving the owl kingdoms.”

At first I thought “Owl heroes, okay, fine,” but the trailer makes it look really good.

Oh, and speaking of awesome, check out this (unrelated) music video for OK Go’s “This Too Shall Pass”:

The Karate Kid (2010 Remake) (Trailer B)

2010-03-02T17:53:00.001-08:00

The second trailer for The Karate Kid, a movie about a boy (Jaden Smith) who goes to China and learns kung fu from Jackie Chan.

www.KarateKid-TheMovie.com

Clash of the Titans (Trailer)

2010-03-01T18:01:00.001-08:00

The trailer for Clash of the Titans, a remake of the 1981 film about the war between men and gods…and it’s in 3D!

2010 Best Picture Oscar Nominees

2010-02-27T18:27:00.001-08:00

I’m skipping the New Movies for this week to bring you…Oscar nominees!

There are 10 Best Picture nominees for this year’s Oscar ceremony, and here are the trailers for all of them….except Inglorious Basterds. You can find that trailer on your own.

1: Avatar

2: The Blind Side

3: District 9
This trailer contains violence and scary images.

4: An Education

5: The Hurt Locker
This trailer contains war violence.

6: Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
The following trailer contains violence.

7: A Serious Man
The following trailer contains violence.

8: Up

9: Up In The Air

So, what do you think? Were you surprised by any of these films being nominated for Best Picture? Which one do you think’ll win? Tell me in the comments section below!

Cursor Mania

2010-02-26T18:08:00.001-08:00

I told you that I prefer a different service to Freeze.com’s offerings of cursors; this is that service. But I have good news and bad news.

The GOOD News: This program lets you change your computer’s cursor to almost anything: spinning flowers, glittery pointers… no, really, anything.

More GOOD News: This program also has a smiley application for inserting smileys into your emails and such. It also has a screensaver app (but Freeze.com is my recommendation), an ecard app (I prefer 123Greetings.com) and a horoscope website (no comment).

The BAD News: It’s a browser toolbar.

The WORSE News: It’s longer than the screenshot above. Like, way longer.

So if you like toolbars, then you’re good to go. If you don’t but still want to customize your cursor, I’d get it anyway. I don’t mind the toolbar.

www.cursormania.com

And here’s a little tip: When you’re waiting for something to load on these cursors, it reverts back to your original Windows cursor. To give it more splash, download this app, which installs cursors into your regular Windows Control Panel mouse settings. Then go to your mouse settings pane (for me on Windows 7 it’s Start>Control Panel>Hardware and Sound>Mouse (under “Devices and Printers”)>Pointers. Then click on a pointer and apply it. Go to the Cursor Mania options and click on a cursor. It’ll override the cursor you picked in Control Panel, but still have the cool “loading” animations of the other cursor. Clear as mud!

Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? (Trailer)

2010-02-23T18:45:00.001-08:00

Here’s a trailer for Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?, the sequel to his 2007 film Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?. It’s about a group of couples who go to an island paradise to evaluate their marriage (and to drink “Margaritas! Margaritas! Margaritas!”) But I can only say one thing about this trailer:

DRAMA!

The movie comes out April 2nd. You can find out more about it on its official website, www.WhyDidIGetMarriedTooMovie.com.

Freeze.com

2010-02-22T17:26:00.001-08:00

Freeze.com is my favorite site for getting screensavers. They also have wallpapers and other downloads, like games and social networking tools like smileys. The website has a large library of screensavers, ranging from Nature to Space. (They also have cursors available, but I prefer a better tool other than Freeze’s, which I’ll tell you about sometime later.) All of their selections are free, but during the installer you have to click through some ads. You can decline them, of course, but they get annoying when you download multiple things, like screensavers, in a row. Here are some examples. (I boxed the “Decline” buttons in red.)

You get the idea: That’s a whole lotta ads. I actually encountered two more during installation. (But the screensavers are great, though.)

www.freeze.com

New Movies for Friday, February 26th, 2009

2010-02-20T17:19:00.001-08:00

Cop Out. Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan star in this comedy about two cops who hunt down a stolen baseball card. R.

And that’s the movie for this week! For more information, check out its website at www.CopOutMovie.com.

The Last Airbender (Trailer)

2010-02-19T17:57:00.001-08:00

The trailer for The Last Airbender, about a young boy who must fight to protect his nation from captors and the other nations who want to start a war.

WeatherBug

2010-02-16T20:20:00.001-08:00

I’m not fond of WeatherBug’s site; I think it’s a little messy, but I love their desktop weather application. It predicts the weather for the next few days, sure (it has this neat thing, WeatherBug Weekday that shows the weather for the rest of the week) but it has so much other stuff too! (Ads? Yeah.) It has weather news, storm updates, webcams that take pictures of the weather, “Weather Fun”, and more. The website is a little cluttered, but here’s a visual reference to where the download link is on the site.

www.weatherbug.com

Windows Live Writer

2010-02-15T17:34:00.001-08:00

If you’re a blogger, get this program. Windows Live Writer allows you to post to your blog without having to go to the Internet. (You’ll need a Net connection in order to have the posts publish, of course.)
I know this sounds cliche, but the setup is way simple. Just plug in the address and name of your blog, and that’s pretty much it. I love how you can switch easily from one blog to the other if you have multiple blogs. What’s also cool is that if you put in the code for a video, it changes to the player right then and there, in the editor, so you don’t have to wonder “Will the player be cut off or not?”, which can be really annoying if it is.

Free at http://download.live.com/writer

A New Movie for Friday, February 19th, 2010

2010-02-13T18:17:00.001-08:00

Shutter Island. Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo investigate the mysterious disappearance of a murderess on a creepy island. R for disturbing violent content, language and some nudity.

That’s the movie for this week! Check out its official website at www.ShutterIsland.com.

Killers (Trailer)

2010-02-12T19:34:00.001-08:00

Here’s the trailer for Killers, a romantic comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl. Heigl plays a recently divorced woman who falls in love with a man (Kutcher). Come his 30th birthday, however, she realizes that killers are stalking them, but more importantly, her husband is a top-secret assassin.

To start the preview, roll your mouse over the player and click on the Play button (>).

My Favorite Super Bowl commercials 2010

2010-02-08T18:29:00.001-08:00

I don’t really watch the game at all; I just like the ads. Here are some of my favorites.

1: Bud Light: Light House

2: Doritos: Underdog

3: Coca-Cola: Sleepwalking

4: E*Trade Baby: Girlfriend

5: Vizio

6: Volkswagen: PunchDub

7: HomeAway.com: Hotel Hell

8: Dante’s Inferno The Video Game: “Go To Hell”

9: TruTV: Troy “Punxsutawney” Polamalu

10: Bridgestone: “Whale of a Tale”

11: Dorito’s: “It’s A Miracle”

12: Coca-Cola: Simpsons Broke Billionaire

13: Snickers: Game

14: Audi: Green Police

15: Shutter Island Super Bowl TV Spot

I’ve saved the best Super Bowl commercial for last. It’s…

16: Google: Parisian Love

What were your favorite Super Bowl commercials this year? Tell me in the comments section below!

Cop Out (Trailer)

2010-02-05T17:41:00.001-08:00

The trailer for Cop Out, which looks pretty funny. It’s about two cops (Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan) who must hunt down a stolen baseball card. Along the way they rescue a woman and encounter a criminal (Seann William Scott).

Exciting News: A new comment system

2010-02-04T18:18:00.000-08:00

It's brand-new time! I scrapped the usual Blogger comment system and switched it out with this new one from IntenseDebate. Along with just commenting, you can share it on Facebook, add a poll, post a video comment, and add smileys. Have fun commenting!