by Charlie's Cousin Adam, posted Feb 17 2012 2:34PM
Rated PG
1h34
If you're really going to take the kids to an adventure movie, journey back to the box office and buy two tickets to the whale movie "Big Miracle." It will be far more worth your time.
I simply do not enjoy watching disjointed kids movies that make incredibly ridiculous jumps of logic, while trying to maintain their credibility with the youth by spouting out trendy catch phrases of the day.
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is the equally pathetic follow up to 2008's Journey To The Center Of The Earth. Josh Hutcherson is the leftover from the first film, and is joined by Michael Caine, Luis Guzman, Dwayne Johnson and Vanessa Hudgens. I would imagine none of them will be listing this film on their resume.
Sean (Hutcherson) discovers a secret message from his grandfather (Caine) and convinces his stepfather (Johnson) to fly him to an island in the South Pacific on a school day. The stepfather-son relationship is stereotypically strained and Mom decides it's an OK idea to help them bond.
Once there, they meet up with a willing, but low-rent tour guide (Guzman) and his daughter (Hudgens) who take them on a three-hour tour (sing it!) in search of the lost island.
They find a hidden place of beauty, only to discover they are in danger and need to flee. That's a pretty crappy vacation indeed.
It's annoying to me when characters who are clearly supposed to be human are allowed superhuman powers. The fantasy of this kid's movie is supposed to be the magic they encounter and it's wonder. Jump-starting a submarine with a giant electric eel is magic. The Rock singing a soothing song while playing a ukulele is not magic. At least carrying around the ukulele pays off somehow.
Journey 2 may all be entertaining for tweens, with all the elephants the size of small dogs and bumble bees the size of horses. The overabundance of poop jokes, bad puns and general mediocrity will be enough to allow Mom or Dad to take a brief nap during the film. Just ask the guy who dozed off sitting a few seats away from me.
Save this as a rental for the kids. Press play and leave the room. There is nothing useful for anyone over the age of 13 here.
by Charlie's Cousin Adam, posted Feb 13 2012 10:37AM
We are going to get one more performance from Whitney Houston.
She had just wrapped up shooting on the musical drama Sparkle, with a release date of August 17th.
It's a remake of the 1976 film of the same name and features Houston as the mother of three sisters in a Supremes-like musical group who struggle with fame and drugs. The movie also includes performances by Jordin Sparks, Cee Lo Green and Mike Epps.
They haven't created the poster, but to the left is Whitney + Jordin Sparks. The trailer isn't out yet, but below is an Access Hollywood interview with Whitney where she's talking about how pop star Aaliyah was originally supposed to star in the movie. Aaliyah died in a plane crash in the Bahamas in 2001.
by Charlie's Cousin Adam, posted Feb 10 2012 10:59AM
With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, here's a question:
Is there really anybody out there who actually enjoys this psuedo-holiday?
I think the majority of us (minus your mother, little children who still exchange Valentines in class and the extremely desperate) will answer with a resounding "no."
This holiday does serve one good purpose. It allows us all to mock Valentine's Day. With that in mind, I present to you some of the best anti-Valentine's Day quotes from movies made during the 1980's . That was the most romantic time of them all...right?
Moonstruck (1987): "I just want you to know no matter what you do, you're gonna die, just like everybody else."
When Harry Met Sally (1989): "All I'm saying is that somewhere out there is the man you are supposed to marry. And if you don't get him first, somebody else will, and you'll have to spend the rest of your life knowing that somebody else is married to your husband."
Dirty Dancing (1987): "I didn't spend all summer long toasting bagels just to bail out some little chick who probably balled every guy in the place."
Officer and a Gentleman (1982): "You know something, you ain't nothing special. You got no manners, you treat woman like whores and if you ask me you got no chance of being no officer."
The Princess Bride (1987): "You have always been so kind to me, and I won't be seeing you again since I'm killing myself once we reach the honeymoon suite."
Say Anything (1989): "You're not a permanent part of her life. You're a distraction."
Can't Buy Me Love (1987): "Oh yeah, she's a big conquest. She's given more rides than Greyhound!"
Some Kind of Wonderful (1986): "Get your skag and let's go."
Roxanne (1987): "Your breasts, they're like melons. No, no, they're like pillows. Can I fluff your pillows?"
About Last Night (1986): "You don't know what love is. You've gotten everything you have always wanted and now you're feeling sorry for yourself because there's something you want and you can't have it. But you had it! I gave you love. But you asked me to leave and I left. "
Secret Admirer (1985): "Jesus! You are one gutsy virgin!"
Somewhere in Time (1980): "I am an actress, William, not a doormat. Do not attempt to wipe your boots on me."
Always (1989): "I can't be with a guy that looks like I won him in a raffle."
Pretty in Pink (1986): "That girl was, is, and always will be nada!"
Gregory's Girl (1981): "At least you've stopped kissing me like I was your aunty."
Hard to Hold (1984): "Will you stop harassing me? I know who you are, you're a rock person of some sort."
The Sure Thing (1985): "I was in Paris once with my wife... boy am I glad she's dead."
by Charlie's Cousin Adam, posted Feb 3 2012 1:08PM
Rated R
1h23
Its said that youth is wasted on the young. Just think how bad it might be if they had superpowers too.
Chronicle is a finely tuned example of the found footage film genre. In it, three teenage boys, Andrew, Matt & Steve, come upon a mysterious hole in the ground, inside which is an even more mysterious object. They enter the hole as your typical teens. They exit with the power of telekinesis. The squirrelly-emo one of the three is documenting the events with his video cam.
This is like handing teenage boys $1,000,00 cash and telling them to have fun.
The second act, where our teens discover how to harness their new-found power is brilliant. It's exactly how you expect three guys to act. At first they skip stones with their mind. Then while playing at the table, they figure out how to block a fork from stabbing their hand. Then they fly, all while manically giggling about how cool it is.
A nice design element of the film is the subtext of how these guys don't seem quite mature enough to handle their power. Then, you think of what could go wrong. Then, things go wrong. The third act mayhem is typical and less interesting.
While this downward spiral is palpable, Chronicle works because you believe how these guys are living in the moment.
I was pleasantly surprised how well the film gels. I was tired with found footage style the moment The Blair Witch Project came out. This breathed some new life into it.
Call me paranoid, but I love a good survival story. What would I do in the situation? How would I handle it differently? Exactly how long could I survive after my iPhone battery drains?
Liam Neeson's new film The Grey is a chilled action story, filled with pending doom, survival of the fittest and wild wolves that carry a grudge. Ottaway (Neeson) and a crew of grungy oil workers are aboard a plane that goes down in the frozen middle of nowhere, Alaska. The survivors even reference the 1993 movie Alive and fend for their survival. A pack of hungry wolves, upset that a plane lands in their turf, make for a particularly bad three days.
The Grey has a plot very similar to a number of other movies (Predator, Anaconda, even Jaws) where a creature starts picking off members of a group, one by one. The thing that makes this stand out is Neeson's believability in a survival situation. In one dramatic and heavy scene, Neeson shouts to the heavens for help. Not like Captain Kirk shouting at Kahn. More like a man's final desperate attempt to spare his life. It's still weighing on me as I write this. I still don't know how Neeson turned from an eloquent actor to an action hero, but it works.
Still, Ottway is kind of a lousy guy. He's hired as a sharpshooter to kill wolves at an oil refinery. In Alaska, we can assume that most people are there to get away from everyone else. Ottway has a interesting backstory, but come on. Your job is to shoot wolves who are just looking for food? Can't you just put up a fence?
At first, you feel sympathy for the wolves. They are just animals surviving. Then you start to wonder how you might defend yourself from a pack of wolves. Then you fear them, basically because you want to keep on living.
Interestingly enough, the well-placed dark turn towards the end of the film helps out a theory of mine on this movie. With just a little bit of editing, the creatures stalking this group could have just as well been supernatural. You really only see small moments of wolves and when they do attack, the camera work is so blurry that you can't really tell what is going on.
Why not just make the attacking creatures teenage vampires? They would have cleaned up at the box office.
My favorite aspect of Restaurant Week is the sampling of a restaurant that you've never been too. For me this week, it was trying out the authentic Italian flavors of The Continental Fitchburg.
I had been in a previous reincarnation of the building that now houses The Continental on Fish Hatchery Road some time ago, but my first impression was a far more upscale upgrade.
The prix fixe menu ($15 lunch/$25 dinner) comes with a salad, entree and desert option. I went for the Antonio's Original House Salad consisting of mixed greens tossed with house green pepper flake, sweet & sour dressing topped with Roma tomatoes. The greens were pleasing to the eye and the pepper flake added a nice level of heat. My significant other required a Gluten Free option and was pleased with the house salad and balsamic vinaigrette.
Our entrees were something I would have expected to get on a fine dining night out. I ordered the Fettuccine Pomodoro with Shrimp, my date had the 10 oz. Tenderloin Steak topped with Portobello & cremini mushrooms sautéed in butter, extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic and onions. It was also served with baby red potatoes and asparagus spears.
Presentation was above par. The first bite of Fettuccine was delectable. The shrimp marinating in olive oil, pecorino cheese and fresh basil were perfectly cooked. The pasta was a happy medium between al dente and overcooked. The entire dish sat on a bed of capers, olive oil and basil that mixed with every bite. This was the first meal where I've actually enjoyed capers. My hat is off.
My significant other's steak was a beautiful medium rare. The cut had just the right amount of marbling, free of excessive fats, but flavorful. The simple pairing of baby reds and asparagus was sensible and tasty. The mushroom topping appeared to come from a can and left something to be desired.
I would rarely say that the meal tops the desert, but they were close calls. I sampled the fruit flavorings of a Key Lime Pie served with a mango sauce. The Key Lime was white, not green. Well done. My date's Caramel Apple Sundae had the slight hints of caramel with sauteed Granny Smiths and was worth the wait.
An enjoyable experience overall and worthy of a repeat visit.
Thousands of area residents make their way to support the local dining community by exploring the newest restaurants and hitting up old favorites. Mark your calendars for this year's Winter Restaurant Week! Sunday, Jan. 22 — Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 This semi-annual event is the perfect opportunity for food lovers to sample some of Madison's finest local offerings.
For $25 participating restaurants offer a prix-fixed menu with 3 courses and 3 options of each course. Some restaurants offer a reduced menu for $15 for lunch. No passes, tickets or coupons are required. Diners may simply visit their favorite participating restaurants throughout the week to enjoy the special menus.
It's is an easy call this year. Trust me, I have a pretty decent track record when it comes to picking who will be taking home the statues on Oscar night.
In the Top 5 Categories, here's who I think will win it:
Best Picture
* "The Artist"
Actor in a Leading Role
* George Clooney in "The Descendants"
Actor in a Supporting Role
* Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
Actress in a Leading Role
* Viola Davis in "The Help", but I want Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn" to win.
Actress in a Supporting Role
Octavia Spencer in "The Help"
Animated Feature Film
* "Rango"
Directing
* "Hugo" Martin Scorsese
Here's the rest of the nominees...
Best Picture
* "The Artist"
* "The Descendants"
* "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
* "The Help"
* "Hugo"
* "Midnight in Paris"
* "Moneyball"
* "The Tree of Life"
* "War Horse"
Actor in a Leading Role
* Demián Bichir in "A Better Life"
* George Clooney in "The Descendants"
* Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"
* Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
* Brad Pitt in "Moneyball"
Actor in a Supporting Role
* Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"
* Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"
* Nick Nolte in "Warrior"
* Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
* Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
Actress in a Leading Role
* Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"
* Viola Davis in "The Help"
* Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
* Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"
* Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"
Actress in a Supporting Role
* Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist"
* Jessica Chastain in "The Help"
* Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids"
* Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs"
* Octavia Spencer in "The Help"
Animated Feature Film
* "A Cat in Paris" Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
* "Chico & Rita" Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
* "Kung Fu Panda 2" Jennifer Yuh Nelson
* "Puss in Boots" Chris Miller
* "Rango" Gore Verbinski
Directing
* "The Artist" Michel Hazanavicius
* "The Descendants" Alexander Payne
* "Hugo" Martin Scorsese
* "Midnight in Paris" Woody Allen
* "The Tree of Life" Terrence Malick
Note: This article may not be safe for work. It also may not be for people who think the middle finger is overly offensive.
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Rated PG
1h34
If you're really going to take the kids to an adventure movie, journey back to the box office and buy two tickets to the whale movie \"Big Miracle.\" It will be far more worth your time.
I simply do not enjoy...
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Here's the webstream of the service. It starts at 11am.
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He's seen nearly every movie ever made and claims he's seen Star Wars 695 times. 
Rated PG
We are going to get one more performance from Whitney Houston. 
With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, here's a question:
Rated R
My favorite aspect of 