Blog Archives

In Defense of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (and the series in general)

I wasn’t going to write a review of this movie, mostly because the focus of this site is Oscar-winning and/or nominated films and contenders, but I got several requests to do a proper review. I also wanted to write on the movie because I’ve noticed that a lot of the reviewers for this chapter, as well as the previous two, have had a negative bias whether they realize it or not (Richard Roeper, this time around, however said he liked the film and was entertained). This pre-disposition is something I don’t understand at all, as part of being a reviewer is to try to stand back and approach a film objectively. That being said, I have read the books and seen all the films, and although I realize that the writing in the books is less than stellar, there is something about them that I just love. What I think it is, is that they are entertaining. They are a form of escapism, and whether they are written well or no, they are enjoyable.  Same goes for the films. They are made to ENTERTAIN, not to enlighten, enrich or inspire us. Fans of the film series already know this. The books never claimed, nor tried to be, Pulitzer Prize quality and the films never tried to be Oscar worthy. What they did was entertain and from the sheer amount of money they’ve made, clearly they have done just that.

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5 Awesome Uses of Music in Film 2009

There were a lot of wonderful soundtracks and scores this year, as I mentioned in an earlier post. This time I’d like to talk about 5 instances where filmmakers used a song to enhance a scene.

Inglourious Basterds Cat People (Putting Out The Fire With Gasoline) by David Bowie

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15 Breakthrough Performers of 2009

2009 was a good year for cinema. So good I had to have a Top 15 instead of a Top Ten (and now, after I’ve seen a lot of the End of the Year fare, I feel like I’d need a Top Twenty). There were some newcomers who blew us away and some actors/actresses who have been kicking around Hollywood for years waiting for That Movie that makes them a household name, and for them 2009 was that year. I’m going to do this list in alphabetical order by last name.

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A Salute To Soundtracks – 2009

I’m a big fan of soundtracks and scores and 2009 was full of some really wonderful ones. There were three soundtracks and four scores that I particularly loved. 

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Top Fifteen Movies of 2009

Here’s my list of my Top 15 movies of the year. I really loved movies this year and there was just no way I could do just a Top Ten this year. Granted, I haven’t seen a lot of the “end of the year oscar buzz” movies, so perhaps after I get to see them later in the year this list would change, but as it stands now, this is my list.
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