Seven Pounds Review

I went to the cheap theater to go see this tonight. I have to say that I thought it was really good. It is a serious Will Smith movie, but he was excellent, I continue to be impressed with what he can do, I am sure not everyone thought he would turn out to be this excellent by watching Fresh Prince when it started airing on TV years ago, I love Fresh Prince and I thought he was good, but I never really thought he would turn into the kind of actor that could do serious roles like this, by the way, I want to know why we still don't have seasons 5 and 6 of Fresh Prince on DVD available for purchase. I also thought that Rosario Dawson did an excellent job as well. I remember when I first saw her in the movie Men in Black 2, I didn't think much of her then, but wow she is an excellent actress. Everyone else did a good job as well. I won't be saying much about the plot, because the filmmakers worked on trying to keep it secret when it came out, but I highly recommend it.

For movies arriving this weekend, if any of you are into watching the Jonas Brothers, then they have their concert available in 3D. Another movies out this weekend is Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. It may be a fun movie to watch. I am sure the Street Fighter fans will rush to see it.

Oscar Recap

I don't know how many of you watched the oscars last night. Overall, it was a pretty fun night. I think Hugh Jackman did a good job at hosting the oscars, and he was really funny with his opening last night. Not really too many surprises with the wins. The big change this year I was not really impressed with, for actor and actress awards given, they would have 5 different previous winners come up and then they would have each of them announce one of the nominees, and talk about how great of an actor or an actress they are. It was nice, but I miss them just playing a clip of their portrayal of the character. I thought there were very amusing moments, especially when Ben Stiller came up with Natalie Portman to announce the winner for Best Cinematography, and Ben had a beard and moustache similar to Joaquin Phoenix's a couple of weeks ago on the David Letterman show, and he was chewing gum, and simply acting the same way that Joaquin did, except I am sure Joaquin wasn't acting, but Ben sure pulled off an excellent intimidation.
I am glad Heath Ledger won the oscar for Best Supporting Actor, that was the best win, I was also glad to see that Wall-E took the oscar home for Best Animated Feature, I wish that it took home more oscars though, mainly for Best Original Screenplay, and Best Score.



Slumdog Millionaire was the big winner last night. An independant film that went from having nothing to gaining much. It looks rather interesting, I might check it out one day.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button review

I just caught this at the movies last night. I wanted to make sure that I saw at least one of the oscar contenders for Best Picture, and this movie seemed like an interesting picture anyway. Overall, I thought the movie was very well done. In some ways, not really what I had expected. It is a long movie, about 10 minutes shy of 3 hours. Performances were very good. They also did a good job with the technical achievements. I definitely recommend this one to anyone that was as curious as me.

As for any new releases this week, there really isn't anything at all. If you are into dumb guys trying to get into cheerleading camp to meet some girls, then maybe Fired Up! is for you. There is also Madea Goes to Jail, done by Tyler Perry. That is it. There are some good old choices to check out this weekend if you choose to.

Bolt Review

This movie was released in November, but it arrived at the cheap theater recently, so I decided to go check it out. I have to admit it was actually kind of cute. Bolt is about a dog who is the star of a TV show, and he believe that the whole show is real, and everything that happens is real. They end one episode on a cliffhanger with Bolt believing that his owner Penny was kidnapped, and he runs away from the set trying to rescue her. There were parts that were actually funny, I really thought the little hamster was hilarious. If you have a family, I recommend checking this one out if it's still playing near you. Of course, it will be on DVD and Blu-Ray next month.

Here is a little note about the Blu-Ray release next month, it will also include a regular copy of the DVD, and a digital copy as well. The regular copy is for anyone that is planning to buy a Blu-Ray player in the near future and instead of buying the movie on DVD and later upgrading to Blu-Ray, just buy the Blu-Ray version and you get the DVD version, and then when you get a Blu-Ray player, then you already have a Blu-Ray version. Disney is starting to do that with a lot of their releases. They have done that with Sleeping Beauty, they have done that with High School Musical 3, and they will be doing that with many more future releases, including Pinocchio next month.

Good movies to check out

This weekend I went through some Blu-Ray movies that I had received from Netflix. I recommend Netflix to anyone out there first of all, I have had a subscription with them for almost two years and I have really enjoyed their service. I like that they have a huge selection to choose from, and I don't have to worry about late fees or due dates.

First of all, I watched Lakeview Terrace. If you don't know what that movie is, it is okay, it really wasn't that big when it was released last Fall. It is about a couple who move into a nice neighborhood and they move next door to a cop played by Samuel L. Jackson, and he harasses them. Samuel L. Jackson plays a really nasty person in this movie. It was pretty intense.

I also watched Madagascar 2 on Blu-Ray. I bought it last week and finally got around to watching it this weekend. The picture and sound are very good. Of course the movie is also very good. If any of you haven't checked it out yet, I recommend you do so.

I also watched the movie The Express. Out of the movies I checked out this weekend, I really enjoyed this one. It is about football, and it is based on a true story on a college football player by the name of Ernie Davis. Like I said, I really enjoyed the movie and I highly recommend anyone to check this one out. It is a new release, it came to theaters in the fall and just arrived on DVD and Blu-Ray last month. As for anyone who has a Blu-Ray player and a nice surround sound system, I highly recommend checking this one out on Blu-Ray, the sound is really awesome, as well as the picture.

As in other news, a trailer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has just hit the internet. I am definitely excited for the movie, and the trailer looks really good. Check it out.

Joaquin Phoenix's Bizarre appearance on David Letterman

I found this on the net today. If you haven’t heard, Joaquin Phoenix has recently retired from acting to start a musical career. At least that is what he has told everyone, there have also been some reports out there stating that his retirement from acting for music is one big prank of some sort. I don’t know what to make of his recent decisions, just as I can’t seem to make sense from the following clip from Joaquin Phoenix’s really strange appearance on David Letterman the other night.

Follow this link to see the video for yourself.

Movies arriving this weekend

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a lot of great stuff this weekend. Horror fans may be excited for the new Friday The 13th, which is coming out on that date, which is interesting. The International actually looks somewhat interesting. Then there is Confessions of a Shopaholic. There are still releases from previous weeks still in theaters, so I am sure you will still find something to see this weekend for Valentine's Day. You do have a lot of different choices out in theaters right now, so variety is good. If you choose not to go to the theater this weekend, there are many good releases on DVD and Blu-Ray as well. Hopefully you have something good picked out to do for Valentine's Day.

Home Theater

I have probably talked about this on my blog before, but it is a topic that has interested me ever since I have gotten into the DVD groove 9 years ago. This advancement has changed the home entertainment industry.

Home theaters is the way of taking the feeling and enviroment of being in a movie theater and bringing it home. If you ever go to a bookstore like Barnes and Nobles, or maybe even Best Buy, you look for magazines like Home Theater, Electronic House, and Sound & Vision, and you will see that the statement can be taken literally. When I first learned about home theaters 9 years ago, it totally changed the way that I saw the potential of actually watching a movie at home.

Pictures like the one above show the potential that one can do to set up a home theater, which is amazing. I don’t have the money to do this, and probably not everyone can go this far with the advanced equipment, however we do have so many open options to us that allow us to set our own little home theater for a reasonable price. A simple home theater can be set up by getting a big screen TV along with a surround sound system and a DVD or Blu-Ray player.

If you want to see how a decent home theater can be built, you can go to a specified home theater store, and one example is Theater Xtreme. I like going to these stores because they are fun to just sit down and see demo rooms on what a home theater can look like. Yes, I don’t have the money to get one so advanced, but they are still fun to see. It blows my mind on how the home entertainment industry has changed. It is great to see that the feeling of going to the movies can be brought home. Of course, it is always fun to go to the movies to check out the new releases.

Speaking of the home entertainment industry, there are a few movies coming out on DVD and Blu-Ray tomorrow. There is W., which is the story of George Bush, played by Josh Brolin. We also are getting Back to the Future on DVD again, this time, they are being released as individual movies, so if you only liked the first one, you can pick that one up and not have to worry about the other two. Unfortunately, it is only available on DVD for the moment, not Blu-Ray, but I am sure they will release one soon. As well, they are releasing Street Fighter on DVD and Blu-Ray, Street Fighter was released back in 1994, it starred Jean Claude Van Damme, and is based on the popular video game back in the day. They are releasing a new Street Fighter movie at the end of this month, so this movie is probably trying to promote the new film. There are other releases tomorrow as well.

Inkheart Review

I got to see Inkheart today, and I actually have to say I was a little surprised, better than I thought. I missed out when it first opened, because of the family challenge last month. Some people said they weren't impressed with it as they hoped, so I worried it wouldn't be that good, well, I have to say that I was really impressed with the movie, I really enjoyed it. It is about a guy who can bring stuff he reads out of the page and into our world, and when he brings a person from a page of a book out to our world, someone from our world gets trapped into the book, and that's what happened to his wife, so he goes looking for the book Inkheart to help bring her back. I recommend this one to anyone looking for a nice fantasy escape, it is very entertaining.

Movies this coming weekend

If you are looking for a movie to see this coming weekend, besides what is already out, you have a few choices coming up. We have a sequel to Steve Martin's The Pink Panther, once again the Pink Panther diamond is stolen and must be recovered, I am sure to expect a bunch of laughs. Next we have Coraline, it is a stop motion movie, almost like The Nightmare Before Christmas, so the fans of that movie will for sure want to check that movie out. Then we have Push, starring Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning, they have special powers and are being chased by a bunch of people who want to use their power for themselves. Last we have He's Just Not That Into You, a romantic comedy, I don't know too much about the plot. I think both Push and Coraline look interesting and may be worth checking out. But there are choices for all of you this coming weekend.

Of course, if you just want to stay home and watch a movie at home, get Madagascar 2, which comes out on Friday.

Taken Review

Like I said, I was planning to go to the movies today, and that did happen. I went to go see the movie Taken. If you weren't completely following the Superbowl this weekend, you might have heard about this movie, it became the number one movie this weekend, with about $25 million. I really enjoyed this movie, Liam Neeson is the star, and he plays a father to a daughter that gets kidnapped, and he goes after the kidnappers to get his daughter back. It is pretty intense, but I highly recommend it.

As well, TV spots from the Superbowl this weekend are online now. You can follow this link.

There are some pretty cool spots, I am really excited for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. There will be plenty to look forward to this summer.

Lessons learned

As I told you, this past month I have been on a spending diet, in which I have only spent my money on needs. The only exceptions to wants was if I had gift cards. As I kept you informed, I did spend a little on wants, but it was bought using the gift cards that I had, so I was alright. Anyway, with the challenge over, I decided to do a little reflecting on this challenge. I have to admit, with being in college at this time and with difficult money situations, I felt that things this month weren't entirely different, except for the fact I couldn't spend cash on wants entirely, I have always tried to watch out on how much I buy. A number of reasons I do so, I like to try to hold on to a bunch of money and save it for future uses. For example, a TV isn't cheap (maybe a little bit compared to a long time ago) so I like to try to save money so I can get one some day. I feel that when I actually have the money to buy some big wants that I want, I feel I have accomplished something. I remember when I purchased the surround system, it felt like a worthwhile purchase because I put my own effort into getting it, as always I do get help, but when I have a little of my effort put into the purchase, it makes it even more valuable. I feel that there are so many great things we can buy out there, and if we learn to save our money for those things, it's great. So with that, I obviously won't be using all of my money this week, I will go to the movies but won't have to buy a whole lot that I want.

This week in DVD and Blu-Ray releases, there isn't a whole lot of excitement, except for Madagascar 2. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend picking this one up this week, it is very funny.

Also, during the Super Bowl this weekend, there have been some movies previewed that are coming out this summer. There has been one for Transformers 2 and GI Joe. The Transformers one looks really good, but I am looking forward to a more full preview, since they only showed 25-30 seconds. The GI Joe one looks really cool, I am excited for that.