THE REVIEW CORNER

The nominations are finally out for the 83 rd Academy Awards.   The race for some of the awards are close whereas some have a clear winner already.   Here are a few highlights form some of the categories and what to look for as winners.               For Best Adapted Screenplay, the race is really between two films; “The Social Network” and “True Grit”.   Both films are written extremely well and are deserving of this award.   I hope Aaron Sorkin will win the award for “The Social Network” because the film is based on a true story, whereas “True Grit” is a remake of an old western.   Sorkin’s script offers insight into what Mark Zuckerberg’s lawsuits were like and how he handled them.   It is also much more dramatic than the Coen brothers’ script for “True Grit”.   This category will hopefully be an interesting one, but I hope “The Social Network” wins.       ...

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, and Winona Ryder Directed by: Ron Howard Screenplay by: Allan Loeb      When Vince Vaughn and Kevin James are in the same movie, I normally think the movie would be a comedy.  However, "The Dilemma" is actually a serious film about something that many Americans go through every year.  What happens when your spouse is cheating?      Ronny Valentine (Vince Vaughn) and his best friend, Nick Brannen, (Kevin James) are car engine designers who are working to get a contract with Chrysler to put an awesome new line of engine in some Dodge models.  Nick is married to Geneva (Winona Ryder) and Ronny is trying to get engaged to Beth (Jennifer Connelly).  While visiting a botanical garden where Ronny plans to propose to Beth, he discovers that Geneva is hanging around with another guy, Zip (Channing Tatum).  He is faced with a tough situation.  Does he tell Nick about what's rea...

Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, and Christoph Waltz Directed by: Michel Gondry Screenplay by: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg      Can Seth Rogen and Jay Chou be the next great Hollywood duo?  After seeing "The Green Hornet", I don't think so.  This action packed, not-so-funny, comedy of a movie lacks story, decent 3D effects, but contains good action scenes.      When Britt Reid's (Seth Rogen) father, James Reid (Tom Wilkinson) dies, Britt inherits his father's media empire.  He soon discovers one of the people working for his father who becomes his sidekick, Kato (Jay Chou).  Together they team up as the Green Hornet and fight crime in Los Angeles, controlled by Benjamin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz).  Will they be able to stop Chudnofsky while still reporting about the Green Hornet in Britt's newspaper, despite constant tensions between Britt and Kato?      The biggest problem in this film is the overd...

     If you thought the Golden Globes were somewhat predictable as to which movies and which actors would win awards, then you are right.  There were some big winners and some not so big winners this year.  For this article, I'm just going to focus on the movie awards.      In the category of best original score, I was impressed with all of the nominees, but not so impressed with the winner, "The Social Network" composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.  Although I have not seen all of the movies nominated in this category, I have heard some of the score from all of them, and while they are all good, "The Social Network" has a somewhat boring score and is not my top pick for this award.  My top pick is "Inception" composed by Hans Zimmer because the score goes with a dramatic film.  While I like the score for "The Social Network", I don't exactly understand the reasoning why it won.      However, "The Social Networ...

Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter Directed by Tom Hooper      Imagine someone like the King of England having a speech impediment.  Hard to imagine, no?  Well, "The King's Speech" is a non fiction drama about King George VI, who had a speech impediment.     The movie opens up to Prince Albert, (Colin Firth) before becoming king, giving a speech at Wembley, London for the entire world to hear.  He can barely get through his first sentence without stuttering.  He must learn how to speak properly before he can become king.  Fortunately his wife, the Dutchess of York(Helena Bonham Carter), finds Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a speech therapist and former actor to help Bertie (as Prince Albert is called to in the film by his family and close friends) with his speech impediment.  At first, Bertie is rather reluctant to agree to receiving help, and Logue must convince him of just how important it is to...

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, and Amy Adams Directed by: David O. Russell     There's a new pride of Lowell, Massachusetts, and his name is Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg).  Based on true events, "The Fighter" is a dramatic, action packed boxing movie sure to please just about everyone.     Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), the former pride of Lowell and a famous boxer from the 1970s is on his way to making a comback, and HBO is documenting it.  While this sounds great, Dicky's brother Mickey, also a professional boxer is having troubles himself.  Mickey is a "stepping stone" for other boxers to go for championships.  In other words, he's not very good.  He needs Dicky to train him, but a possible contract with a boxing agency in Las Vegas threatens Dicky's ability to train Mickey because they won't allow Dicky to go.  Will Mickey improve his boxing skills with or without Dicky?  How will everyone in his family fee...