Toy Story 3

I got to see the UK premiere of this movie at the Edinburgh Film Festival in Scotland. Two rows behind me was Sean Connery. After the movie, I, of course, stalked him. I overheard him say... "so that was the third one right?" This disappointed me. Yes, the second one wasn't really all that great, but come on. I guess Sean didn't grow up with these movies. And that's the great thing about this Toy Story series closer, it was all about growing up. It didn't wait ten years to create a sequel that occurred only a few months later in fictional times; the movie was set for when Andy leaves for college.

Though it lacked a very in-depth plot, you'd have to try really hard not to enjoy this movie (or the Pixar short film at the beginning). It was the perfect closure to such a beloved series. It focused on loyalty and selflessness. Apart from the introduction of some really cool characters, there were also some terrifying ones. For example, a giant baby doll, a sad clown named Chuckles, and the most disturbing clapping monkey I've ever seen. Another upsetting factor was the absence of Bo Peep. It mentioned sadly toward the beginning that she'd been thrown away, and nothing was said again. My guess is that the voice of Bo Peep (Annie Potts) had better things to do with her time...like star in Ghostbusters 3 (rumored to come out in 2012). Despite these factors, this movie was fantastic. Certain scenes are just heart wrenching, and I'm not ashamed to say that I was crying more than the little girl next to me by the end of the movie. It was just a great, bittersweet ending. I won't give it away.

I won't say anymore, just go see it!

The Killer Inside Me

The best part about seeing a bad movie is getting to write about it afterward. This "overly controversial" film has been banned in the US because of its violent and mature content. It surprises me that they show it here considering that in London The Globe Theatre won't show Romeo and Juliet because of a sword fight.

Let me start off by saying, I am NOT a fan of scary movies...or anything remotely disturbing. For example, the first Lord of the Rings movie scared me. However, this movie, about a crazed killer, will not force me to lose any sleep. Casey Affleck, a supposed Texan crazy sheriff, had one of the worst performances I've seen in a while. Not only was his "southern drawl" more annoying than Taylor Swift's voice in Valentine's Day, but his character lacked depth and an easy to understand background. From what I gathered his mother encouraged him to touch her inappropriately and provided him with nude photos, he molested a little girl as a little boy and his foster brother took the blame, and if you were in love with him, it didn't matter if he beat you to a bloody pulp, you would still love him.

The movie mostly relied on its sensational effect to move the storyline, which was a bad plan. They plot basically consisted of three parts: 1) Bad Casey Affleck voice-overs, 2)Sex scenes, 3) Casey Affleck killing anyone he was alone with.

When Scenes

WHEN Casey Affleck kills Jessica Alba, the prostitute he loves who loves him back, for no reason.

WHEN Casey Affleck kills Kate Hudson in about three swift kicks.

WHEN Casey Affleck slips on Kate Hudson's urine pool that's left over after he kills her.

WHEN Casey Affleck tells Jessica Alba he loves her at the end and then stabs her.

QUICKIES

"Kids, get your parents!" — Hobo running away from Casey Affleck

Fun Facts:

Katherine Heigel, Sienna Miller, Michelle Williams, and Natalie Portman were considered for Kate Hudson's role.

Andrew Dominik was set to direct the film with Tom Cruise as Casey Affleck's character. When Cruise dropped out, so did Dominik.

Atonement

I don't see what all the fuss is about. This could be due in part to the fact that 1) I don't like Keira Knightly, 2) I don't believe in a lasting love from a few passionate moments, 3) I think that guy was a creeper, 4) I've seen too many war-themed movies and productions recently, 5) I realized that the older version of Briony was the girl in Dirty Dancing Havana Nights who I hated because she got to dance with Diego Luna. The movie seemed to speed up and only show snapshots of a plotline. The ending, while unfortunate, makes up for some of the cheesiness in the love story. Not exactly an upper...though that doesn't have to be a key component.

QUICKIES

"No one speaks the fucking lingo out here. You can't say 'pass the biscuit' or 'where's me hand grenade?', they just shrug. Cause they hate us too. I mean, that's the point. We fight in France and the French fucking hate us. Make me Home Secretary and I'll sort this out in a fucking minute. We got India and Africa, right? Jerry can have France and Belgium and whatever else they want. Who's fucking ever been to Poland? It's all about room, Empire. They want more empire, give 'em this shithole, we keep ours and it's Bob's your uncle and Fanny's your fucking aunt! Think about it." — Daniel Hays (Tommy Nettle)

10 European Anti-crisis cars

A Single Man

What a beautiful film. Tom Ford's direction and the cinematography were absolutely gorgeous. The shots were framed perfectly and some of his close ups were the best I've seen. After now seeing this and Crazy Heart, I think Colin Firth should have won Best Actor at the Oscars. He did a brilliant job of playing a heart broken man whose male companion was recently killed in a car accident. It was set in the early 1960s (I decided this based on the dress and the Psycho poster at the grocery store) and the fashion was, of course, fantastic (Tom Ford is a famous designer for those of you who don't know).

My only complaint was how highly sensuous Firth's character was. It seemed odd that he would be pursuing other men so often when he had just lost his serious life partner. I felt like it played into the stereotype that gays are promiscuous which didn't seem to fit into the movie's message of loyalty and heartbreak.

It was very interesting to see the 1960s take on homosexuality. Firth's character and others repeated that they were "invisible" multiple times and Firth's neighbors, though always friendly, were clearly not impressed.

Overall though, two thumbs way up.

When Scenes:

WHEN Colin Firth first sees his lover lying dead in the snow in a dream and then wakes up in his bed to find his ink pen has leaked into a blood-stain-shaped blob.

WHEN Firth's lover dies and the family doesn't even want to inform him.

WHEN Firth is about to kill himself and his student rides up on his bike concerned.

WHEN Firth is trying the kill himself in his house and keeps trying to situate himself comfortably.

WHEN Firth and Julianne Moore are dancing in her living room.

QUICKIES

"He says you're light in the loafers, but you're not even wearing any loafers." — Ryan Sympkins (Jennifer Strunk)

"There will be no time for sentiment when the Russians fire missiles at us." — Lee Pace (Grant)

"If it's a world with no sentiment, Grant, it's not a world I want to live in." — Colin Firth (George)

Fun Facts:

This is Tom Ford's first film.

Colin Firth was not originally available for the role and someone else was cast. When there was a shift in scheduling, he took the part.

Joe Hamm of Mad Men is the uncredited voice of Hank Ackerley, the relative who calls Colin Firth at the beginning of the film.

Tom Ford financed the film himself.