Case 39

This is probably the first movie in while that I'm gonna be watching blind for all intensive purposes. I have not googled it, wiki-ed it or even read the summary.

Not a big fan of Renee Zellweger. Kind of a boring actress to me... But my mom wanted to see it.

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She seems to be playing a social worker for lots of children [her name is Emily]. She currently has 38 cases she is dealing with when she gets case 39 [hence, title of movie]. There is a picture of a little girl, kind of dressed in an old school fashion, with long, brown hair. Obviously, this is going to be the focus of the movie.

Miss Zellweger heads home, listening to her answering machine that leads her to meeting up at a bar with a guy friend, Doug [Bradley Cooper]. Basically, he offers to have a friends with benefits relationship, since her workload seems to inhibit a real relationship. He says he'll only give her a month... And maybe another... And another. But that's it.

We wander back to looking through the case. Nothing seems overly suspicious from the case file so a visit to the home is in order. The woman she meets with is awfully creepy and seems to not keep track of time [she doesn't know that it is the 17th, the day of their meeting]. Eventually the woman lets her in and we meet Lily, the little girl from the picture. Emily tries to talk to the whole family, with the father not being happy at having to be a part of it.

Apparently, Lily has been showing signs of severe neglect and Emily basically points out that there is a problem in the family if these things are happening. The father, Eddy, won't speak directly to Emily. He speaks to his wife who in turn, talks to Emily. When questioned, the wife says that he doesn't like to speak out in anger. There is something off with this family.

Eventually, the family is brought into the social work place and they appear a little more normal. A case can't really be brought if they can't find a good reason. Emily goes to talk to Lily, who is very shy and closed off. The little girl opens up, saying that they hate her. She says that they go into the saw room and talk about how they are going to hurt her. When trying to get it on tape, she changes her story, that they didn't say that.

Emily goes to a guy towards Mike in order to get some help.

We go back to Lily, who is watching her father using a sledgehammer in the basement.

Emily visits Lily at school. The girl says a rather disturbing thing "If I disappear, will you look for me?" Before the bus leaves, Emily gives Lily her home phone number in case of an emergency.

One night, Lily calls. She says they're going to get her. She's falling asleep and Emily is frightened and races off to Lily's home. We see a scene where Lily is lying under her bed and her parents find her. We watch as she is placed in the oven by her parent. She wakes up just as they shut the door. She tries to escape but they get her back in the oven.

Emily and Mike [an officer] get into the kitchen in time and get Lily out of the oven. Mike takes down both the parents.

We fast forward to court, where the parents [both in orange jump suits] will put under psychological testing. It will be determined if they can even testify in court. Emily is upset with this but there is nothing she can do. After being taken out of the hospital, Lily is taken to a group home. The girl wants to live with Emily, but it just would never work with the busy schedule that Emily has and the fact that she's not a foster parent.

It touches Emily and she works to get the right to take care of Lily until they can find a good home for her. And all is good... But this is fairly early in the movie, so obviously that can't be all. I suspect there is something wrong with the kid [Think the movie Orphan with that creepy woman who looked like a kid].

We watch Emily go to the house to get some things of Lily's. It's a really creepy place. Emily wanders downstairs to the basement and sees a hole big enough for a child in the cement floor. After gathering some thing from Lily's room, Emily wanders into the parents' room. There is a crack in the floor... Emily closes the door to the room and we move on.

We are watching the children in the group therapy with Doug. Emily comes by after wards and tells him that the parents seemed to barracked themselves in their room at night.

The head guy wants to see Emily in his office... Turns out that Diego, a young boy that was one of Emily's clients, had killed his parents with a tire iron. When Emily goes to meet with him, he's distraught with the fact that he killed his parents. He seems to honestly be upset and probably doesn't even understand why he did it. If I remember correctly, he was at group therapy.

Emily and Lily have a little talk on the beach, where it is revealed why she is a social worker [never knew her father and her mother had many problems]. At a later point, we find that Lily has been snooping and found a picture of Emily and her mother. We go into the story of Emily's mother dying in a car accident.

Emily and Mike go out to eat and we see an article about the parents, who may be able to get out with the insanity plea. But there is something different he wanted to talk about. Diego's house received a call right before he killed his parents... From Emily's house. The two talk to Lily, who claims that she didn't call Diego.

Mike says she's lying. Lily asks Emily if she believes that she didn't make the call. She says she does.

We jump to Emily who is visiting Diego. He has a panic attack and eventually nods when Emily asks if it was Lily. Then we get him saying something about a man.

Emily is suspicious but pretends that everything is fine. We go to Doug who is talking to Lily. He notices that she said that nothing on his survey scares her. Eventually, Lily says that she scares herself. Some of her thoughts are not so nice. She gets this dark persona, where she intimidates and acts superior with Doug. And lightens up a little when she asks him if he wants to talk about school now.

Naturally, Doug is freaked out, telling Emily that he will call a specialist in the morning.

With Emily and Lily at dinner, the girl tries to prod into whether or not Doug has told Emily about their meeting. Emily says no but it takes a few tries for Lily to be convinced.

After being tucked into bed, we see what Doug is doing. He is researching things such as multiple personality syndrome when he gets a mysterious phone call. With no one seemingly on the other side, he hangs up. Suddenly, there is a buzzing in his ear. After going to the bathroom, he finds out it was a wasp [something her told Lily he was afraid of]. And then wasp after wasp after wasp is coming out of his body. Eventually, he gets a cut on his head and falls over. He's dead.

We see Emily and Lily at his funeral. Emily lets go of the girl's hand, which makes Lily suspicious. Apparently Emily is a very good liar.

Emily tries to talk to Mike, saying that Lily had to have something to do with it. She confesses to him about the bolts on the parents' bedroom door. She thinks something had gotten into the room and the parents didn't want it in again.

Emily goes against the rules and pries into the case file that the new social worker has [she had to let the case go due to conflict of interest]. There is a video tape of the mother confessing... Telling the person that her "daughter" is the devil. That all their family had been killed since she had been born. Emily goes to visit the parents in the psychward. The mother is indisposed but she talks to the father. He asks her right off the bat who died. He says that Lily brought something with her when she was born.

Emily is terrified and hides all the potential weapons, phones, and dangerous things... But she takes one knife for herself and hides it in the couch. Lily comes home from the bus and asks what happened with all the phones. And then she brings up her mother, asking if Emily how her mother is. Emily never mentioned visiting her to Lily.

When Emily goes to pick up Lily, she sees the girl whispering something in another girl's ear. Fearful that Lily has done something, she drags the Lily out of group [and is reprimanded by the new psychologist]. Emily tells Lily that she can't go to group anymore. As they go down in the elevator, the wires supposedly snap. Emily is terrified while Lily is indifferent. Eventually, they reach the first floor fine. The wires didn't snap.

Emily tries to convince Mike that the parents aren't crazy. Mike is concerned for his friend and tells her to go get help. Emily adds bolts to her bedroom door. Eventually, in the office, Emily completely freaks out at a woman. Wade hears this and tells her to go home... But she doesn't want to go home. His cell phone rings and he says it's for her. It's Lily saying that Emily should leave her home alone. And suddenly, no one is there. No Wade, no anybody.

When she gets home, Emily immediately locks herself in her room. A rain storm comes and Lily begs Emily to let her in. It starts with just childish pleading but turns into loud, almost scary [if they weren't coming from a child] demands. Hearing something in her closet, Emily opens the door [knife in hand] and finds nothing in there. When she walks in a little further, a zombie-esque person chases after Emily. The woman runs out of the house and finds a bus driver who eventually lets her in. But the creature has disappeared. When Emily tries to drive away, Lily is in the back of the car and tells Emily that she is to let the girl do whatever she wants.

Emily meets with the woman who is suppose to find Lily a family. And apparently she's found one... Which makes Emily scared.

Emily meets with the father again. He says the only way to to get rid of her is when she sleeps but she doesn't sleep much. The night they came a busted in was the first night she had slept in 3 months. After wards, the father attacks a man who relays some sort of message from Lily. He subsequently dies in all the fighting.

Emily goes back to Mike who has something to tell her. Lily made the phone call to Doug from her cell phone. He has the message recorded. So they make a plan to get Lily. Emily gets some sleeping pills from the doctor.

We see Mike walking to a parking garage and there is a mysterious dog popping up everywhere. When he gets in his car, the dog is there and he attempts to shoot the dog. Instead, he shoots himself. Emily finds out when Wade calls her. Emily tells Lily to get out of her house and makes Lily get very upset. We see the girl's face change slightly with her anger.

Eventually, Emily runs to her bedroom, terrified. However, Lily breaks down all the barriers. When asked what she wants, the girl replies that she only wants to be loved by he


r mother. Emily agrees to this and goes to tuck Lily into bed. She makes the girl a cup of sleep pill laced tea. While the girl supposedly is sleeping, Emily sets the house on fire...

Lily escapes and this terrifies Emily. The cops lead Emily and Lily by car to a place where they can stay the night... But Emily deviates and loses them. Lily gets nervous and Emily begins to see things. She sees the accident with her mother all over again, except she's her mother. However, she manages to break Lily's hold and sees that it isn't real.

Emily asks Lily if she is scared and the girl monster has a terrified look on her face. Emily drives the car off into a body of water. When they hit the water, the back seats fall down and both females are thrown into the front of the car. Eventually, Emily manages to throw Lily, who is changing, into the trunk. Emily manages to open the door [The car was fully submerged for all you mythbusters out there] and begins swimming up. A large, somewhat grotesque hand reaches out [I think from one of the headlights] and grabs her ankle. Emily manages to break the montster's grip and swims to the surface.

It's that whole damn rebirth thing when she breaks through the top of the water. She emerges from the water a new person. We close watching Emily just watching the sunset from the area she drove off the car.

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Overall... Not spectacular but probably better than most of the movies I've seen with Renee Zellweger. I honestly wouldn't recommend this to anyone unless you are interested in thriller movies. It's kind of psychological but honestly, the only thing that got to me as people popping out of no where. I can't stand that and it gets me every time.

They've got some special features, which kind of has me excited... Probably because the last few movies had next to none. We get to see the general background of the movie. All the main actors get some talking time about what it was like. Jodelle Ferland [the girl who played Lily] has actually been in a lot of things. Wiki it. And for die-hard Twilight fans, yes, it's the girl who played Bree Tanner in the third film. Though I doubt this happened, sorry but not really if you stumbled on here by accident.

We also get a glimpse of some of the scenes, such as Lily's mother screaming because she is in the oven and her arms are on fire and the death scene by hornets of Doug [which they spent 2 days on O.o; ]. We also see how they did the whole torching of the house. It was a pretty extensive rig up they had. If only I wasn't science-handicapped, this would be an awesome career to have.

In the area of deleted scenes, we mostly see unneeded scenes or scenes that are explained somewhere else in the movie. It doesn't surprise me that there were a lot of these extra scenes cut from the movie. Sounded like the director or writer or whoever does storyboards went crazy with it.

There is one alternative ending, where Lily and Emily are saved by a stranger. As Emily is loaded into an ambulance, Lily looks on. We go to Lily's mom, who is watching the news of the incident. We switch to Emily, who demands to talk to whoever has Lily. Next we see Lily, who is with her new family, who welcomes her with open arms. Honestly, I'm glad they didn't go with it. Left it open for a sequel and bleh. It really wasn't as intense.

The best part: My mom rented this movie and fell asleep... She does during most movies so it was really no surprise to me.

Well, the end of yet another thing watched. Until I watch and write again.

Fashion Police [Golden Globes 2011]

As I'm watching the Fashion Police, I'm going to put my own comments as they go through each actress. I won't bother with the men save for listing which ones I love:

Matt Bromer [White Collar comes back tomorrow! <3]
Robert Pattinson [He was clean! It's a miracle! <3]
Chris Colfer [Winner if there ever was one! <3]
Jim Parsons [Another awesome winner! <3]

And off to comment on the ladies!

January Jones [George's best dressed nominee]
It just seems a little slutty-ish. I just didn't feel like she looked classy enough. And her boobs looked smooshed. I do like the hair and make up though.

Sofia Vergara
Loved it! Red is definitely her color. The color is hard to see in photos though. Though don't care for the little corset holes in the back.They just weren't really needed.

Julianne Moore
The shoulder is kind of weird It's all poofy and awkward. It looks all sorts off with her hair in my opinion. Kind of a little lumpy/frumpy. I do like the necklace though but it's taken away from with that arm thing.

Christina Hendricks
Maybe a different color because it meshes weird with the big hair. Agree with the whole "maybe if she didn't have her hair all out like that with the shoulder piece" it would have been better. Very her though with the va-va-va-voom.

Angelina Jolie [Kelly's best dressed nominee]
Very pretty. Loved the high front, low back. It's great to see her being so classy now-a-days. Fitted just right and I like the green [which looks better in the videos than the pictures].

Mila Kunis
It's a nice dress but not my particular taste. The bottom half  is kind of just wrinkly and the gathering is all blah and awkward. Do like the top part though.

Vanessa Williams
Very sparkly... I think more could have been done with the shoulder.

Sandra Bullock
I just.. Don't care for the whole look. She has this super soft and flowy dress [beautiful by the way] with a severe haircut. So it's an attempt at being pretty while one is angry.

Scarlett Johansson
She looks very drowned out in this dress. Again, it's the color. If it had been maybe a shade darker it would have been fabulous. It's hard for me to separate her skin from the dress even with the pattern of the dress. And I see the Bride of Frankenstein hair too!

Anne Hathaway [Julianna's best dressed nominee*]
I really don't like the whole shoulder pad trend but the dress overall is nice. Sparkly is definitely in this season. It doesn't seem like something she would normally wear. Do love her the overall look for the most part.

Catherine Zeta-Jones
Very princess-y. She always looks glamorous and fancy. <3 I really like the material pattern. She's naturally all over great.

Jennifer Lopez
Love the dress, hate the veil on her shoulders. If the design on the veil thing had been straight on the dress, would probably love more. I love the sparkly stars on the veil. Very starry sky to me.

Heidi Klum [George's worst dressed nominee]
I do like the colors but I don't like how it doesn't fit on her. I kind of agree with the whole "It's not really fancy enough." And the front is just so not necessary and bulky. Can't tell if those are bows or knots.

Megan Fox
I like the top part of her but I don't like the bottom. The front slit is just... Ew. And it's just kind of weird for me. Very high heel. O.o;


Nicole Kidman
It's just... Ok. Not really mind blowing or anything. Just... Nice. Nothing in particular stands out to me with this dress. Bow looks kind of like a little girl's hair bow.


Halle Berry
Kind of looks like lingerie on the top. Another kind of slutty dress. It just doesn't look like a Golden Globe dress...

Michelle Williams [Julianna's worst dressed nominee*]
Not really liking it. I don't care for the white daisy flowers on the tan dress. It makes me think beach wedding. Just kind of blah.

Helena Bohnam Carter
Haha, I think she is just always so amusing with her dresses. Her hair is crazy, two different color shoes and a crazy colorful dress! She just is!

Natalie Portman
The rose is just so weird. Maybe if it had been smaller and no stem, it would have been nice. I can't believe she's wearing those shoes!

Emma Stone
I don't like her as a blond. I just feel she looks more natural as a red head [Yes, I know she's naturally a blond]. Lovely, simple look though. Not fond of coral myself but it's all right on her.

Julianne Hough
I actually really like the Egyptian look. She keeps it up with her eyes too. Maybe if the dress had been a little shorter and the necklace had been less, it would have looked younger.

Hailee Steinfeld
Good for someone so young on the red carpet. Simple and elegant and youthful. She keeps up with the vast majority [who are a bit older than her] without dressing like them.

Christina Aguilera
Hasn't she done the nude with black lace detail over it? Don't really care for it. I like her 50's hair and the shape of the dress.

Eva Longoria
Very simple and elegant and sleek. Backless seems to be very popular. I like the flowy, spread out bottom but I'm sure it caused many walking problems!

Olivia Wilde
My favorite look of the night! It was fantastic! Loved her shoes [but agree silver would have been better]! Her dress makes me think of the night sky with the slightly uneven sparkles and color transitioning. She makes me want this dress! <3

Lea Michele
Eh... I don't know about the ruffles on one side and then the ruffles on the other side of the sleeve. I would have liked a flowier material to go with the flowiness of the ruffles.

Piper Perabo
Another eh... She looks very thin. I don't know if the dress really flatters her even though I love her as an actress. Doesn't really wow me at all.

Amber Riley
Again with the sparkles! But she pulls it off! Love her! <3

Leighton Meester [Kelly's worst dressed nominee]
A little matronly [at least the dress]. Again, maybe another color for the dress would have made this work better. Kind of think old lady lace which clashes with her youthful face and hair.

Tilda Swendon
Did not like it at all. It looks like she threw on any old button up shirt and a skirt.

* These are the final selections by Joan Rivers... Who I don't think should really be judging people on fashion and seems to do it because she's funny.

You can go here to see pictures of all these ladies. It takes you to the E! page for the Golden Globes [2011].

2011 Golden Globes

Of course, with the Golden Globes, you have to pre-game... And of course, my idea of pre-gaming is watching the pre-show while sipping cranberry juice. I love watching this part mostly because I like watching the interviews... And seeing the dresses. I love all the gorgeous outfits. They make me happy, so shut up. Of course, I think I'll wait for the Fashion Police: Golden Globes edition before I talk about them.

And it begins!

Opening monologue jokes

They first jokes are about Charlie Sheen. Which is definitely natural and easy for Ricky Gervais. And some nudges at The Tourist. It's kind of off to a good start.
Loved the joke on Sex and the City 2. "I could have sworn they would have been nominated for special effects for all the airbrushing on that poster."
"I'm pretty sure the fat one ate them all." - Take on the last episode of Lost.

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role [motion picture]: Christian Bale - The FighterIt's interesting because he's thanking basically people at the tables. Kind of amusing... With the characters he portrays, you rarely think Christian Bale = comedian.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series [drama]: Katey Sagal - Sons of Anarchy
Never seen this show nor do I have interest in watching it. I'm kind of surprised she was nominated when she was Peggy Bundy on Married... With Children. Not that I think she did a terrible job in that role, I just feel like it's one of those underrated shows of history.

Best Mini-Series or Television Movie: Carlos
I guess I was kind of happy it wasn't The Pacific. Don't really know anything about this movie, so not much for me to say. Did like the music they walked up to the stage to. Very old school Hispanic. <3

Gervais Joke: "Welcome Ashton Kutcher's dad, Bruce Willis."
Followed by a little preview for RED. May rent this at some point. It's supposedly up for best comedy.

Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series, Mini-Series, or TV Movie: CHRIS COLFER- KURT HUMMEL ON GLEE!
If you couldn't tell from the all caps, I'm beyond ecstatic for this! He does such a great job as Kurt and tackles a lot of issues on the show as an openly gay student. Love him. <3

Preview for Alice in Wonderland [up for 3 globes]. Some talk from the President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Best Performance by an Actor in a TV series [drama]: Steve Buscemi - Boardwalk Empire
Like him but don't love him. Amusing with the whole sad music mentioning. xD

Best TV Series [Drama]: Boardwalk Empire
Haven't seen it and probably never will. And not because it didn't sound good but... I just can't imagine finding the time to watch.

Push for The Social Network. We have an actor fumbling with the lines. But he played it off as cool. And he's cute, so it's all good.

Gervais makes a joke about Mark Zuckerberg. I don't get it.

Best Original Song [Motion Picture]: You Haven't Seen the Last of Me - Burlesque
Sounds pretty, that's for sure... Kind of fitting with Cher in all the scenes...


Best Original Score [Motion Picture]: The Social Network
For once, I can kind of see it. I've heard some of the music from the movie via the trailers and stuff. I liked what I heard. It's probably one of things that pull me to watch the movie.

Best Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3
Knew it. Great movie and very touching. And loved the joke [Asking if Justin Bieber and whoever that other girl [apparently from True Grit?] was if they were even alive when the first one came out]. <3

Gervais introduces Robert Downey Jr. and it's great. First comment is on how all the films listed sound like porn films. Who takes all the comments with the grace and makes his own jokes. <3


Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture [Comedy or Musical]: Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Movie looked interesting but probably won't see it. Again, nothing against the movie, just don't think it will happen. Maybe someday but not anytime soon.

Gervais again. But no jokes about Sylvester Stallone... Maybe cause he was afraid to get the crap beaten out of him? Anyway, push for The Fighter.

Best Performance by Actor in a Mini-Series or Television Series: Al Pacino - You Don't Know Jack
Love him. Very very good actor but then again, I'm biased because I prefer the well entrenched actors. Watch Righteous Kill. Good recent-ish movie.


Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Movie: Claire Danes - Temple Grandin
She's pretty good. Liked her in Stardust. Movie seemed interesting. Kind of reminded me of I Am Sam.

Push for The Kids Are All Right [via Zac Efron which makes me want to see it less].

Gervais introduces Tina Fey and Steve Carrell... Let's just say that Gervais basically smacks down Carrell for leaving the Office [which was originally a British show that Gervais  created and then helped create the American version... Or something like that].

Best Screen Play [Motion Picture]: The Social Network
Geez, this movie is defintely a big winner this year. Not expected by me for sure.

Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie: Jane Lynch - Glee
Definitely some tough competition this year but I'm happy for Ms. Lynch. Love the fact that she is good with the jokes. And I did see a little Sue in that speech. <3

Another Gervais moment. Jokes how Americans have no interest in the Foreign Language films. Which is introduced by RPattz and Olivia Wilde.

Best Foreign Language Film: In A Better World (Denmark)
Gervais was right.

Push for The King's Speech.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series, Comedy or Musical: Lara Linney - The Big C
Seems kind of depressing... And not really interested.

Push for Burlesque via Jane Fonda.

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series, Comedy or Musical: Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory
Super happy for him! He does an awesome job and I love love love his character! Best nerdy show ever! He earned it!

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Kind of wanted Helena Bohman Carter to win this one, just to hear her speech.

Cecil B. DeMille Award: Robert De Niro
He is definitely a good actor. He is so flexible and has done an array of work. He can be the good guy and he can be the bad guy. If ever there was an classic actor in today's day and age, it's him. And love that he can make jokes. <3 It's hard to find quality actors who know how to at least deliver jokes.

Push for The Tourist. This movie seemed to depend solely on its star power because it just... Seemed a little ridiculous... Maybe it's just me.

Best Director [Motion Picture]: David Fincher - The Social Network
I'm really starting to wonder if I really need to see this movie. It's crazy how much this movie is winning. I just didn't expect this at all. And he seems to be the only one who is seriously looking at his speech. I wonder if he actually thought he was going to win. Love when winners tell their children to go to bed.

Best Television Series [Comedy or Musical]: Glee
I think it's weird how they lump comedies and musicals together. I understand why... but I just don't get it. Again, this was another category that was a tough choice, I think. Both Modern Family [from the bits I've seen] and The Big Bang Theory put up good competition. You just can't fight the driving force of Glee.

Push for Black Swan.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture [Comedy Or Musical]: Paul Giamatti - Barney's Version
Never heard of it... And I want some Godiva chocolate damn it!

Push for Inception. Love Joseph Gordon-Levitt in this movie. He's very very very attractive. <3

Best Actress in a Motion Picture [Drama]: Natalie Portman - Black Swan
This role was physically and emotionally demanding [from what I can tell]. Just for that, she should win. Plus she's a pretty good actress to boot.

Finally see Gervais again! Thought he fallen off the face of the Earth.


Best Motion Picture [Musical or Comedy]: The Kids Are All Right
Was kind of fruitlessly hoping that Alice in Wonderland would win... But I knew that wouldn't happen. And wait, The Tourist is considered a comedy and/or musical? Did I miss something here? Wikipedia lists the movie as a thriller...

Best Actor in a Motion Picture [Drama]: Colin Firth - The King's Speech
Very British humor. Always a posh man that Mr. Firth. Robust triangle man-love... And old men being geisha girls? Strange strange strange.

Whoot for Michael Douglas [and his joke <3]

Best Motion Picture [Drama]: The Social Network
Was it really that good people? It's about bloody facebook and it's maker[s]! I just... It is still blowing my mind. Now I have to see it. Love the fact that the actors did not go up on stage [because it's just funny].

Of course, Gervais couldn't get out of the awards without one atheist comment.

And that's the end of it. Expect yet another post tomorrow on the Golden Globes Fashion Police. Definitely focus on the dresses then because I simply didn't have time tonight. And there were some lovely frocks tonight.

Despicable Me

This is the other movie I rented for this weekend. However, unlike with the Sorcerer's Apprentice, I'm not going to be giving you the play by play as I'm watching. I really wanted to just sit and enjoy the movie, which is hard to do when you have to pause and rewind and all that jazz. So everything here will be by memory.

Overall, the movie was pretty good. Not quite up to Wall-E or Toy Story 3 level but good in its own respect.

---

You follow super villain Gru who has just out been matched by another villain, who calls himself Vector. Vector has stolen the Pyramids of Giza by shrinking them. He calls his mother at one point who even comments about his failures.

Naturally, Gru must out do him and goes to the Bank of Evil in order to get a loan so he can build a space ship... To shrink and steal the moon! Unfortunately, he is denied his loan until he can get a hold of the shrink ray.

While he attempts to steal the shrink ray, Vector gets in the way and ultimately ends up with the shrink ray. And there is no way he can get into Vector's house/base/whatever. Until he witness 3 little girls [who had tried to sell Gru cookies before] get in to sell Vector some delicious cookies! And it just so happens that these 3 little girls are orphans... So he adopts them to use them and get the shrink ray.

Of course, these children cause Gru so many problems with with childishness! From finding his secret laboratory to taking them to their ballet practice [they are doing Swan Lake] to making a mess of his house. However, he begins to grow fond of them as time goes on. He doesn't realize this until after he has stolen back the shrink ray and they go to an amusement park. While he is talking with the Bank of Evil guy about getting his loan, the children distract him. And even though he has the shrink ray, the Bank of Evil guy refuses Gru, claiming he wants a younger villain to do the job. We learn that Vector is actually the Bank of Evil guy's son! -dramatic music here-

After this rejection, we get a little background on Gru: he's always wanted to go to the moon. Throughout his childhood, he goes through stages of making a rocket, partially in an attempt to impress his mother. She is not satisfied with his achievements.

Gru announces to his minions that the plan is off. There are simply not enough funds to do this project... Until the three little girls offer their money, which spurs the minions to donate some of their own money! Project back on! And the girls invite him to come to their performance of Swan Lake. -queue "aaaaaaws"-

However, the day of the Swan Lake performance is the same day as when Gru needs to get the moon [something about optimal position]. In order to make sure that Gru has his priorities right, Dr. Nefario [his assistant] has the girls sent back to the orphanage.

He goes through the mission as planned and obtains the shrunken moon. Noticing he has time to get to the recital, he rush over to the studio... Only to find that it's over. D; And on one of the chairs, he finds a note reserving his chair... And on the back is a ransom note! Vector has the girls and will give them back if Gru gives him the moon!!! Oh noes!

Gru rushes to Vector's residence and gives him the moon to get the girls back... But backstabbing Vector refuses and flies off with the girls and the moon. Gru manages to get a hold of the escaping ship but can't hold on. Thankfully Dr. Nefario was there to catch him. And we learn that the bigger the object, the quicker the effects of the shrink ray wear off!

We see the moon growing on Vector's ship as the girls try to warn him of what is happening. The ship rolls around and the girls are freed from their prison. The two younger ones jump into Gru's arms easily but the eldest hesitates. Just as she's about to jump, Vector grabs her! Thankfully, the moon knocks Vector over and our eldest girl jumps and is saved by Gru and the minions.

Conveniently, the moon hits a button in Vector's ship that sends it rocketing back into orbit. Vector becomes trapped on the moon.

And thus, the happy little family is reunited. In the end, the girls put on a performance for Gru, his mother and the minions. Gru's mother even acknowledges that he is the better parent and that she is proud of him.

---

Definitely a cutesy movie if there ever was one. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a giggle here or there. I'll probably see this one again and would consider purchasing it... Especially because I could not view the special features [and there appeared to be quite a few]. Since it was a rental, this copy of the movie seemed to have been stripped of all the fun bonus materials. I was very disappointed with that.

I'm curious as to what is going to go down with the sequel [because it has been confirmed that there will be one].

One thing I wanted to comment on is the fact that this movie was really well promoted in my opinion. While it did start being promoted pretty far in advance, it kept the viewers wondering. The initial trailer was all the minions talking in a language we really couldn't understand followed by a silhouette of Gru. It really caught my attention.

That's it for this post. Mostly because the Golden Globes will be on soon and I've gotta start working on that post! Hopefully it will be up by tomorrow.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Yeah, I know I said I was going to write a piece on the Joan River's documentary but turns out the showtime OnDemand stopped after Friday. And since my friend who was suppose to come out and visit me can't come now, I'll be hitting you up with two blog posts for the two DVDs I rented.

And to kick off my mini-movie-marathon, I'm starting with The Sorcerer's Apprentice. To be honest, I expect that this is a movie where the funny stuff was in the trailer. And you're probably wondering why I rented it if I knew this. It's because of Jay Baruchel. I've seen his work before and I just find him endearingly awkward. Which makes the dollar spent on renting the movie worth it.

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We open with a little flashback to the past. Merlin has 3 apprentices, one of which has betrayed him [Maxim Horvath]. He is fighting with his most deadly enemy, Morgana la Fay, when he finds out of this. Merlin is dealt a deadly blow and is dying. Basically, Veronica Gorloisen [one of the good apprentices] stops Morgana from killing Balthazar Blake [the other good apprentice whose last name just seems so out of place for the time] by trapping Morgana's soul in her own body. Which, naturally doesn't bode well for Veronica. In order to stop Morgana from killing Veronica from the inside out, Balthazar traps them in what they call Grimhold [it looks kind of like those little Russian dolls that's a doll in a doll in a doll in a doll... Think Inception with a dream in a dream in a dream in a dream].

As Merlin is dying, he gives Balthazar a cool little dragon statue that is suppose to basically find the chosen one [Dunno if this means Merlin's reincarnation or just the kid who gets his powers]. And so Balthazar journeys for years trying to find the Chosen One [reminiscent of Harry Potter... Just I like Jay better than Daniel Radcliffe]. Oh, and the Chosen One in the movie is called the Prime Merlinian [which made me think Prime Meridian... But apparently they are not the same].

And we jump over to a little boy and his dog. Who tend proceeds to go on a class field trip. While on the bus, said little boy [David is his name we find out] is vandalizing doodling on a window, which a girl in his class [that he apparently likes] admires. Later, he sends her a note asking if she wants to be his friend or his girlfriend. Unfortunately, the wind blows the note away before it can get back to him and he can find out her answer. He chases after it, finally ending up in a shady store... Own by none other than Balthazar! And the little dragon statue likes David so much, her turns into a ring.

Balthazar tells David not to touch anything while he goes to get him his own incantis or whatever. Naturally, David is a stupid little 10 year old boy and happens upon Grimhold and opens it up, letting Maxim Horvath out. An all out battle of magic ensues between Horvath and Balthazar over the doll [Horvath gets to fight from a distance which is way not fair]. Eventually, they get sucked into an urn. David runs out of the shop, throws the Grimhold and tells his teacher about the craziness that happened in the shop. Naturally, when they go in, it looks as if nothing has been touched. He's crazy and humiliated [especially because his pants had gotten drenched during the fight making it look like he wet himself]. All the kids are laughing, including the girl he had sent the note to in the beginning.

Flash forward some more and we're up 10 years since the incident. David is in college, living in an apartment with a friend. And it's his birthday! We learn he's a physics major and it seems to rule a bunch of his life. We also get a glimpse of the awesome dragon ring statue... in his sock draw. -insert rolling eyes here- His roommate and friend lectures him on finding a mate [Their words, not mine].

He wanders off to lecture at some class... And he runs into love of his life girl from 10 years ago [turns out her name is Becky and I'm not really paying attention to her]! Turns out he transferred schools not to long after that incident... 4th graders are the absolute worse. I still don't know how the heck her recognized her after 10 bloody years. They barely look like their younger selves... Just sayin'.

And the movie wanders off to some person's apartment for a bit where the urn is... And it's shaking!

Back to David, he is basically kind of stalking Becky. She does stuff at a local radio show or whatever. However, during a lightning storm, it hits the antenna [pretty sure nothing works via antenna now] and he manages to make it work again. And he leaves! Without getting her number or anything! And even his roommate points out that he's stupid. David turns on the radio to Becky's station as he's working on his big project thing. -insert lots of cool special affects and lightning bolt things making sounds-

We flash to the urn again and the man and his wife who own it are all sorts of freaked out [I would be too]. Eventually, Maxim Horvath bursts forth because apparently, there was only a 10 year sentence on the damn thing. He tosses the urn out of the window in the hopes that Balthazar, who is supposedly still inside, will just go kaput with it. Of course, that's never the case.

Horvath talks from the side that it was the only thing he had to read for the past 10 years. And that the grade was well deserved. Either way, our freaked out college student makes a run for it after Horvath demands for the Grimhold. Dave is then chased by wolves that Horvath summoned via calendar [the one shown to use with the mate speech].

But thankfully, Balthazar saves the day and Dave. By turning the wolves into adorable puppies. <3 Love it. They are so adorable and I want one! Dave and Balthazar fly away on a giant metal owl and live happily ever after.

Basically, Balthazar tells Dave that they need to get the Grimhold before Horvath does. And Dave was the last one they saw have it. It holds all those people who wish to free Morgana [Morganians]. And Horvath wants for free them and Morgana. Not cool people, not cool... Balthazar then confronts Dave about why he kept the ring. -insert flying furniture here- If Dave helps get the Grimhold, he'll be done with all this magic stuff. Using weather things, Balthazar and Dave find the approximate location of the Grimhold.

Balthazar picks up his kick ass ride and they begin with sorcery 101. Oh and magic isn't really magic or whatever. Basically, sorcerers can use all of their brain, as oppose to just 10% of it like the rest of us nomads. That's how they can do the shit they do. And how physics comes so naturally to Dave. And here are the steps for creating fire:
1. Clear your mind
2. See the molecules
3. Make them shake
BAM! Fire!

We find out via Horvath that the Grimhold was taken by a little Chinese lady. And everyone heads off to Chinatown... Unfortunately, Balthazar and Dave are a little late and Horvath has already freed one of the Morganians, Sun Lok some half naked guy. And we have a battle ensuing in Chinatown which includes a kick ass dragon [it's all sorts of freaky and complicated to how it came to be] and lots of fire and funfetti falling. Dave defeats the dragon and the cops show up as Sun Lok is defeated [Go team magical stuff!]. With some clever disguises, they leave with the Grimhold and Dave is left with an ultimate: give back the dragon ring or continue on. And he decides to go on.

Going to Dave's secret batcave lab, Balthazar will train Dave as his apprentice. Balthazar gives Dave the Incantus which is basically a big book of magic, history and lessons and stuff. Balthazar makes an awesome glowing, fiery circle, which is called the Merlin circle. Basically, it's where Dave will learn stuff and if he goes in, he can't go back. And we go into a little informational meeting. Dave needs the ring to do the magic and there is something about old man shoes.

We switch to Horvath for a moment who is trying to recruit a newbie to be on his side. And there is one but we don't get to see him or her yet.

Back to training... Which is kind of epic fail at this point. Dave needs to make and control a plasma ball... It seems if he has one, he doesn't have the other. Not good... Harry Potter and occlumency

And we go back to Horvath who is meeting his new recruit who is flamboyant celebrity magician David Blaine Drake Stone or something. He looks weird.

We wander back to Dave and Balthazar where training seems to be going better. Dave seems to have kind of gotten the hang of it. They go out and get something to eat and proceed to sit on a park bench... Which is relevant because it's in sight of Becky's work! And she happens to be leaving at that moment! Balthazar basically tells Dave he's a moron and don't go after her. It's not safe blah blah blah... Dave runs after her anyway in order to chat her up and kind of tells her he is a stalker of the non-threatening kind.

We follow Dave and Becky into the subway station where they chat... Until Becky is robbed by some scary man! Dave goes to be the hero and knocks the guy out with a flaming trashcan. Yes, a flaming trashcan. And he brings Becky back her stuff and just before her train-thingy leaves, they schedule to meet the next day...

And Balthazar pops up and says "Love is a distraction." Which is true... At least in this case.

More Horvath! He has found the perfect spot for the resurrection or whatever of Morgana. Non-coolio.

Back to training! Which is quickly interrupted by Becky showing up. Balthazar is introduced as Dave's uncle and he wanders off so they can have some alone time. With his time, Balthazar wanders to a secret hiding place and collects some things, including a pretty necklace.... For Veronica per chance?

While Balthazar is away, Dave and Becky will play! But not really. Dave wants to show Becky something... And asks her to come into his cage... kind of awkward and scary much? And she does. And Dave turns on his lightning/thunder machine thingy. And it's making music! And the song we heard earlier in the movie ["Secrets" by OneRepublic] is playing via the bolts! Cool beans! And Dave and Becky schedule a date! Exciting stuff.

Awkwardly, we see Dave in the bathroom where he is confronted by celebrity magician David Blaine Drake Stone and Horvath. Thankfully, Balthazar saves the day again [Damn, Nicholas Cage is good but that could be because he's an executive producer of the movie] but not before Dave learns that he is the prime Merlinian and that there are people in the Russian dolls. Oh, and Horvath is thrown in a mirror. He then makes Balthazar confess all the story. Basically, Dave is suppose to save the world, which is a lot for someone his age. But he can't go back now, the Merlin circle and all the jazz.

After escaping the mirror, Horvath and celebrity magician David Blaine Drake Stone go to get Dave's information from the school. And they find out about his unauthorized lab space... Which, you'd figure wouldn't be in the database of the school if it was unauthorized, right? And it was earlier said that the space was known only to Dave and his professor... Who I can't imagine would have put that information in himself... What a muddled mess.

And there is more training for Dave. Basically, when the prime Merlinian can do magic with out the ring, he'll be able to defeat Morgana... But Beck is coming soon and Dave needs to clean! Which leads into the epic scene from Fantasia which this whole movie is based around. The scene of the Sorcerer's Apprentice! Dave wanders off a bit to shower and whatnot while the mops and brooms and stuff start cleaning. And naturally, everything becomes chaos for him.

Unfortunately, he can't stop them and Becky arrives on time! He sends her away in order to try and fix the bigger mess he has created. Right before he is electrocuted, Balthazar saves him once again. Master and apprentice fight with the apprentice deciding to give up.

Dave wanders the streets a bit and wanders past a cafe where Becky is chatting some friends. She sees him leave and decides to follow him up to the top of a building. Just as Dave is about to possibly throw the ring, Becky comes up and distracts him. They chat and reminisce for a bit.

We go back to the bat cave lab where Dave tells Balthazar they need to talk... But it's not Dave! No, it's celebrity magician David Blaine Drake Stone! Horvath and his sidekick get the Grimhold... And we learn that basically... Horvath was jealous of Balthazar because he got the girl. And just as Horvath is about to stab Balthazar with knives, Dave saves the day! For once! It's a miracle!

And here starts a car chase. And apparently, they can change their cars with the magics. Pretty cool, especially when the cars turn into sweet looking automobiles. There is a pretty cool mirror scene done here but it would be a same to just put it in words.

Eventually, Horvath and sidekick almost crush the heroes of the story but don't finish. The bad guys get away. Balthazar explains back in the lab about Veronica, their friendship and love. And we have more training to do!

On to Horvath, he needs to let out Abigail Williams [think Salem witch trials]. But to do so, he needs more power, which means he steals it from celebrity magician David Blaine Drake Stone! The next thing we see is a little girl trying to make a request to Becky at the radio station... And it's really Abigail! Ooooo!

With a mini-Balthazar/Dave interlude, we go back to Horvath who takes Abigail's powers to release Morgana/Veronica. But back to our heroes who have found Horvath's hideaway. They separate to find the Grimhold. Balthazar gets trapped in rug, which is kind of like quick sand. We get glimpses of his escape in between the other stuff. David finds the Grimhold and gets his first glimpse of Morgana and Veronica. But Horvath has other plans! He has Becky and unless Dave gives him the ring and the Grimhold, bad things will go down! And Dave gives them to Horvath, who heads off to his location for releasing Morgana.

Balthazar finally makes it to Dave and Becky. He must save the day again but without Dave's help. Cause Dave doesn't have the preeeciousssss ring. So he wanders off on the magical steel owl.

And Dave explains everything to Becky. And she wants to help! So Dave calls his bff/roommate and makes up a plan. Something about pimping out Balthazar's ride...

Horvath releases Morgana [who is in Veronica's body] and she uses the satellites to do... Something with raising the dead.

Dave sees these crazy lights going from satellite to satellite and figures it out... But he needs to get to Horvath... So he asks Becky to go to the top of one of the satellite towers and disrupt the circle... Problem, deathly afraid of heights... But she does it.

Balthazar distracts Horvath as much as he can in order to get the Grimhold. Dave comes to the rescue and helps Balthazar with the pimped car. At the same time, Becky manages to break the circle of resurrection. Which kind of makes Morgana/Veronica pass out. Balthazar takes Morgana into his own body and tries to get them to put him in the Grimhold. But Morgana escapes his body and a fight ensues [Veronica woke up at some point as does Balthazar]. Just as Morgana sends some fire David has learned to do magic without the ring! The Prime Merlinian exists! Using the special effects stuff he did in his lab, Dave gets rid of Morgana  [Dragonball Z style].

However, in the wake of success, it appears that Balthazar has died. But Dave comes up with a plan. He uses his plasma balls to try and resurrect his master. And it works! Hurray! And Balthazar and Veronica are united after lots of time [1000 years or so]. And Becky arrives at the scene! Happy ending! And by the way, Becky checked off girlfriend in the note at the beginning of the movie.



WAIT! As seems to become popular with movies today, there is a little scene after the credits... With Horvath getting his hat?! Can you smell the sequel...

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So overall... It was an ok movie... Honestly, I probably won't bother ever watching it again and my opinion of Jay Baruchel really hasn't changed at all. I'm sure it's nice for a family with somewhat young children [maybe 7-10 years old]. The acting was pretty good but the script left a bit to be desired, I think. Oh, and there was the random friend/roommate who was shown in a total of maybe a minute of the overall movie. They could have easily just left him out of it or given him more to do. Again, probably fun for the family but not really me.

Also, kind of wondering if Nicholas Cage will ever be able to move away from Disney movies. Seems to be all that he's doing now-a-days. Even now, I'm trying to think of a movie he has done recently that isn't Disney. I'm coming up blank. But then again, I don't really keep up with movies he's done or look specifically for stuff he has done.

If there is a sequel to this movie, I'll probably wait to rent it. If that.

Bonus Features:
I'm a bonus features lover, if I haven't said that before... Well, I'm saying it now.

With the DVD version, there are really only 2 worth while special features: Making of the movie and a deleted scene. And even those are kind of disappointing. While some of the making of the movie was cool [AKA learning about the special effects], it was way too long. I just sat through this movie and I don't want to sit through a bonus feature that is about half as long as the movie.

16th Annual Critics' Choice Awards

Yeah, I am watching it right now. Some people hate these shows because the walking in is just as long as the show itself sometimes. I really do like watching the award ceremonies, especially for movies and television. It gives me an idea of what I could potentially watch in the upcoming year [mostly in the movies category]. While I don't solely base all my judgments on who wins what, sometimes it gives me a good idea of movies I may not have thought about since it came out.

This is especially convenient because I'm looking to rent a movie or two tomorrow. So I'll write little comments about movies as they come up for awards.

The Social Network
I honestly had very little interest in seeing this movie when it first came out. I don't care about Mark Zuckerburger [or whatever the heck his name is]. It's interesting, it just won for Best Adapted Screenplay and the guy up there basically said that Mark would be happy with what they did... But I was pretty sure Mark wasn't happy with the movie at all or whatever. That's what I remember when it first came out anyway...
There is a commercial on right now that has a list of all the various papers and critics and such that think this is the best movie in the year. And I couldn't tell you if I'll cave to the social pressure of it all. I may just to see if they were right. I do remember liking the music which kind of lures me in. Right now, as I explained to a friend, the movie is kind of in limbo for me. The fact that it won best picture kind of makes me leans towards seeing it. I really... just don't know.

Waiting for Superman
I remember coming across this movie once but didn't get the full detail about it until now. Basically, it's about the school system here in America and how it kind of sucks right now. It's nice because right now, the guy accepting the award for best documentary is focusing on the issue that was addressed in the movie: kids and crappy education. I get that probably doesn't happen a lot because acceptance speeches are usually saved for thanking families and everyone in the movie. But these people make me want to watch it, even after it's been out for a bit. Follow up with movies like that are important

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
I like Joan Rivers and I really am curious as to how she is still working. And the great thing about this movie, I won't have to rent it because it currently is on Showtime OnDemand. I'll probably watch it tomorrow while I finish cleaning up the apartment. Which means expect a post tomorrow or Sunday on that. I also like her on Fashion Police

The Pacific
While I'm not a history buff or anything, I do like watching history based movies and reading about history. I remember when this made-for-TV movie was up for Emmy awards and I was interested then. The only problem: It's a mini-series consisting of 10 parts. And Tom Hanks was involved. While he wasn't in the movie, there is just something about him that I don't like... Probably resentment for the whole Forrest Gump thing.

Easy A
I actually have already seen this movie but I very highly recommend it! It was an excellent movie and I think Emma Stone is great! And it just won best comedy, which I'm happy about. Generally, I don't care for the comedy movies that are produced now-a-days. But this was one of the few exceptions. Basically, you follow Emma Stone's character as she gets tangled into a messy reputation of supposedly have sex with a bunch of guys at school. She really made the movie worth it.

Despicable Me
I want to see this movie. I've wanted to see this movie since I saw the first preview. I don't care what anyone else has to say about it. I don't care if all the funny stuff was shown in the commercials. I want to see this movie because the premise is amusing. Seriously, an evil villain getting custody of 3 children? I love it.

How to Train Your Dragon
Definitely a great feel good movie. It's a very cutesy, very family movie. But it has a nice little twist... Vikings. It's one of those movies you can watch again and again and again, in my opinion. You can kind of, sort of relate to the awkward Hiccup.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
If you aren't prepared to read, don't see this movie. Just wait for the English version that is being made. This is not a movie for the light of heart. It has some dark stuff, from rape to torture to incest. Personally, I wouldn't watch this movie again, English version or the original. I can usually handle dark but... It just gets graphic and the story kind of falls to the wayside for me because of it. I've considered reading the book.

The King's Speech
I would need to research for this movie. I keep hearing all this stuff about what an awesome movie it is but I honestly don't have a clue what it is about. Just that there is a queen [Helena Bonham Carter] and a king who clearly makes a speech. What that speech is actually about... I don't know.

Black Swan
I've heard lots of things about this movie from people I know. It's dark and apparently, you can't sleep after seeing it. I read the wikipedia summary for this movie because frankly, I didn't want to go see it in theaters if it was going to suck. And while the movie does seem to be crap, I still don't want to go see it in theaters. Mostly because I can't imagine going with any of my friends to see it and it's not the kind of movie you see by yourself in a theater. Maybe I'll rent it when it comes out.

Inception
Again, this is another movie I've already seen. Personally, if you are looking for a mind blowing movie with a mind blowing ending, see it. It really messes with you. The only reason I just thought of adding it was there was a little spoof  in the beginning of the show I missed but caught during the re-run.

Red
It seems like one of those movies where they show all the funny stuff in the commercials. Except, I wouldn't want to see the actual movie in theaters. Seems to be definitely a renter's movie.

They are also honoring Quentin Tarantino at these awards, which I think is fantastic. The best thing with his movies is they aren't completely mainstream. Unlike many directors who create cult classics, he isn't a one-hit wonder. He makes one great movie after another. Maroon 5's Adam Levine and Kerri Hilson paid tribute via songs. Which is great because not only are his movies fantastic, but the music is always catchy and interesting. He just makes it all fit.

As he's accepting his award, he's explaining how he works. Basically, he builds the story around the music and it's fantastic. I guess because I'm just a minuscule more of a music buff than I am movie buff. And today's movies don't focus on music at all and I feel like it's a really important part of movies. So it's always refreshing to see his movies after watching a bunch of movies that put the music to the side.

Side notes

There is also an honor basically of community service to Matt Damon, an actor that I really like and would be willing to go see a movie just because he's in it. He is apparently helping people get clean water and sanitation when they can't.


Alice In Wonderland won for best costume, which I think is just awesome. I'm obsessed with the costumes in the movie and watch the movie simply to see them.

I love the Kevin Bacon commercial for Logitech. It's brilliant.

I'll definitely be watching the Golden Globe awards on Sunday. And I'll probably post again something similar to what I have here. Basically, I'll probably talk about any changes of my opinion on what I wrote here. Kind of excited to see Ricky Gervais hosting. That maybe a partial focus of what I write as well since the hosts of the Golden Globes are more involved than the Critics' Choice awards.

Dexter [season 5 - incomplete]

So... Yeah, still not back into the swing of more writing Doctor Who. I've kind of just been lurking on the television for the past few days. And naturally, I have Showtime for the weekend ... So I picked one of the shows and just went with it. And the lucky winner was Dexter.

For those who don't know the premise of the show, it's about this guy named Dexter Morgan. Yeah, he's a serial killer... Who kills other serial killer! *gasp shock* Basically, he saw his parents [?] murdered when he was a child and was essentially trained to follow some sort of moral code of killing given to him by his adoptive father [who spotted his sociopathic tendencies]. Before now, I had never watched one episode of this show [because of the Showtime status]. Naturally, I wiki-ed the show to get a summary of seasons 1-4.

Basically, Dexter seems to be well into his own serial killer phase at the start of the series, from what I gathered. He does blood spatter analysis for police or something. He was In order to appear normal, he dated a woman named Rita, who has 2 kids and previously had an abusive husband [who eventually was killed in jail]. At some point, Rita and Dexter get married and have a baby [Harrison]. In the 4th season, Dexter is after the Trinty Killer [Arthur], who he befriends at some point. Eventually, Dexter finds out that Arthur has been deceiving him and eventually kills Arthur. Unfortunately, it's too late for his wife Rita. She was killed in the Trinty Killer fashion supposedly by Arthur before he died. Dexter walks into the bathroom to find her bled to death in the tub while their son, Harrison, is crying in a pool of her blood.

This season, Dexter is trying to cope with his loss. But it seems like he doesn't realize what exactly has happened and how he should be feeling. His lack of emotion makes people suspect of him at first but eventually he is cleared. However, Astor [Rita's daughter] calls Dexter out on his lack of emotion. She hates that he doesn't seem to care that Rita is dead. But we find out that Dexter is human deep down inside but he takes it out in a different way. Instead of crying or screaming, he goes against his code and kills a man in a public restroom. It's an act of anger and emotion that makes him more human than he has ever been before.

Either way, Astor is not happy with Dexter and moves back with her grandparents. While Cody, Rita's son, wants to stay with Dexter, his pseudo-father tells him he should stick with his sister. Dexter used his relationship with his adoptive sister to tell Cody this. Again, it shows a slightly more human side to Dexter.

The show is interesting but probably not enough to make me want to buy the previous seasons. It's nice for a free Showtime weekend but definitely a little gruesome for me. I'm someone who cannot stand watching people get cut up, whether for killing or medical purposes. And that's kind of the way everyone seems to be killed on this show. Oh, or stabbing. That seems to be Dexter's favorite.

Another issue is that I don't really care for all the side stories. I don't care about Debra and her whole drama. I don't care about the people on the force and their drama. I really just like the Dexter focused stuff, which is good I guess... But again, I feel like that really isn't enough reason to get the whole series. It's just interesting enough to keep watching but not enough to buy.

Though I must admit, the baby in this show is adorable. And the way that Dexter handles his baby boy. It's just... Awkward but not quite. It's exactly how you would expect the man who is a serial killer of serial killers would act. You can see that he loves his son but he doesn't realize that is what he feels for Harrison. It's amazing the quality acting in these scenes, so props to Michael C. Hall for that.

This show is worth maybe renting but I can't speak for the first 4 seasons. The 5th one has drawn me in and is keeping me interested.

Promo poster for season 5

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising

Just a heads up, I have finished watching the first revamped series of Doctor Who. Eventually I'll get around to making some more posts in relation to that... And the Christmas special. And I've even started on the next series with David Tennant. Which I will eventually blog about as well. And I'm currently working on a post about comparing the 9th, 10th and 11th Doctors.

But for now, I'm up for watching the TV and not my laptop. So I scanned through the movies and found this one- The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising. I've watched it before and I've read the book it is VERY loosely based on... And it has Christopher Eccleston in it as well. xD

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Anyway... We start at an elementary/middle [?] school with our protagonist, a young boy named Will Stanton. School has just let out for the Christmas holiday break. It's kind of incomprehensible as to where they are actually moved from. He's quizzed by his friends about Britain... But he has no noticeable accent and the same goes for his family. While walking home with the siblings, a woman [Miss Greythorne] and her driver/butler [Merriman] remind them of the up coming party at the mansion. Everything is confirmed a go.

So the Stanton family is almost all gathered around for the holidays. Max [the second brother of the Dugger-eque family] has come home from university and will be taking Will's room as his own... Leaving the almost 14 year old boy [mentioning of his birthday tells us his age] to reside in the attic. Dinner comes along and things are pretty tense between father figure and Max.

The next day is Will's birthday and some strange men come and drop off a Christmas tree. They have this eerie thing about them where seem to know who Will is... And we go through some present giving. Flash forward to the night. We have a skype/web chat with Steven, the eldest Stanton son, who is in the Navy. And he has a special present for Will! He just knew it was for Will and it turns out to be a... belt? With some patterns and stuff on it. It's nice I guess...

And so it's bed time and Will is up in the cold attic. It starts to snow and while Will is happy [he wanted it to snow as part of his birthday wish], he has to close the skylight window. Of which he has a little problem.... Oooooo....

And off to the next day of adventuring! Will walks to the bus stop only to be stalked by some weird ass crows. Yes, crows. They are never a good sign for good things. However, the boy is saved by the bus driver being all "Yo, you comin'?"

Wandering the mall, Will looks for an awesome gift for his sister, seeing as she was the only one to remember his birthday [she got him a watch]. And he finds a really nice box thing... That has the same swirly things his belt had! After making his purchase, he is stopped by two mall cops who were not on segways which was incredibly disappointing. They say he may have walked out of somewhere without paying and want to talk to him in the back... But there is definitely something creepy about them. And... Right-o, they are asking him for the sign! What ever could that mean.... Anyway, he escapes and all that jazz.

Upon arriving home, he desperately wants to talk with his father. Who has no time for him because there is PHYSICS A FOOT! So the boy is yet again ignored [or in the case of this brothers, mocked] by family.

And we're off to the Christmas party held by Miss Greythorne. There is food and various things that children probably shouldn't play with. Those guys from early [the ones with the tree] are there and try and strike conversation with little Will. Again they are rebutted while Will wanders off while Miss Greythorne and Merriman have a conversation... About warriors and stuff. Apparently Will is one but he doesn't seem to know that. [Insert commercial break here]

Will is now wandering the dark and creepily fogged property. We have some horse hooves and a creepy wo/man riding with a cape and everything! And will runs like the Dickens! [always wanted to write that somewhere, by the way]. Finally, there is some verbage to go along with this nonsense. AND IT'S CHRISTOPHER ECCELSTON! He wants the sign! Whatever the f- that is. And Miss Greythorne and Merriman and those other two guys show up... And tell The Doctor the Rider that he cannot have the sign... And he disappears.

And suddenly we're walking through time... Dunno how, just know that they [the saving party and Will] are. And they arrive at the Great Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And we finally get some explanation.

They are all Old Ones. And Will is specifically the Sign Seeker. They are on the side of the Light. The Doctor The Rider is on the side of the Dark. The power of the Light was divided into 6 signs to keep it away from the Dark. And Will needs to find them and put them back together for the side of the Light and to get rid of the Dark once and for all [?]. Basically, if he doesn't do this, bad things will happen. He is the 7th son of the 7th son... Which is wrong because Will only has 5 brothers.

As Will wanders into his home, he's accosted by 2 of his brothers... And pushes them away with an amazing amount of strength that befuddles them all.

Naturally, any child's first reaction to things in today's world ends up with them on google. And so he prints out some stuff and asks his dad about light and dark and physics... And his dad says it's all rubbish! Some scary things happen in his attic and he twists his ankle.

Mommy dearest calls for a doctor... who turns out to be THE DOCTOR the Rider! And while Mommy is wander off to find a tape measure, Will and the Doctor Rider have a chat. Blah blah blah, the Old people didn't tell you everything, blah blah blah. You should really give me the signs, blah blah blah. Mom pops back out and all is ok.

Will goes looking through the attic again and finds a mysterious file... About Will... And Tom? Turns out he had a twin brother who mysteriously disappeared 2 weeks after they were born! Creepy. And damn those Old Ones for being right. Bastards. And Will goes looking at the signs he's already collected and has renewed his search for them!

He manages to transport himself back to the place of the Old Ones cause it's safe there. And that's where the book that knows all is kept and only Will can read it.  Turns out the signs are hidden throughout time and made of 6 different elements. Time to traverse and learn to use powers and all that jazz. Also turns out that belt Steve had gotten him is conveniently perfect for holding the signs.


Now off to church and guess who is sitting behind Will and his family... THE DOCTOR the Rider and a mystery lady. We go off into a robust song of Joy to the World when Will sees a sign of the sign! Will moved the Old One groupies and himself to the time of the sign was placed. Naturally, the rider follows... with his elderly mother...? Who is not that at all but really a bunch of snakes... much like Bathilda Bagshot from HP 7. Will seems to be having problems finding the sign cause he's not focusing like Harry Potter during Occlumency lessons. He finally uses his powers and is almost to the sign when a snake comes out of no where. AND HE'S SAVED BY THE SKELETON NEAR THE SIGN! CREEPY OR WHAT?!

And upon finding the sign, Will and the rest end up back in the now-a-day church. Turns out the skeleton who helped was a Stanton too... Tom Stanton. Will learns that this ancestor had actually made the signs and that the 6th sign was never hidden and other things. Nothing particularly breath taking.

Strangely, we go to a scene of Will's father... Who is ripping up documents and finally holds up one of interest titled "Light and Dark" a Thesis by John Stanton. *gasp shock* And he chucks it in the trash.

We watch The Doctor the Rider talk to a servant or something. Basically says "Do what I want you to do and you will be rewarded." Um... Ok....

Back to the Stanton household, dinner is just finishing up and James brings home a strange girl. Who shows Will some magically pixie dust that shapes into the sign symbol! What what?! And she says she isn't an Old One... Maybe the decibel of the Rider? We go to a wandering James who runs across the Rider. Oooo, no good can come of that.

And back to Will who is showing off to the random girl in the dining room. And he tries to figure out what they relationship is.. But being 14, he has no clue about... Well, anything. When James interrupts and he and the girl wander off.

This leaves Will with confusion and thoughts. And he realizes just how messed up everything is and he tries to convince Merriman of this. To no avail. So to get out some teenage angst, he sets off a large fire with his magicky stuff. Intense. And his sister conveniently pops out to witness this. She's all sorts of worried that her brother may have a missing hinge or something.

And crap, Will sees a sign and brings his sister along for the ride! Looks like they are in the middle of a battle and it isn't pretty. He finds the sign rather quickly in a shield that one man picks up and uses. Just as he's about to make a run with the shield, his sister's kitten [which she picked up when they first got there] mews and almost gets Will killed. Thankfully, he gets the sign and transports back to the present.

He sends his sister on her way when Merriman basically says he can listen and try to understand... Try being a key word there. Will naturally expresses his emotions in a group of grunts and moans and basically like a 14 year old boy. Typical.

Back to The Doctor the Rider who bemoans the fact that the boy is still getting signs AKA there is a problem. Servant isn't doing enough damn it.

The following day shows us a terrible snow storm. Bad stuff happens and we fall to night. Will and Max wander to the market to find some food... And Max says some weird stuff. Something has happened to him... Seems like The Doctor the Rider has gotten to him! Oh noes! And they transport back in time to maybe Cowboy and Indians?! Max fights Will demanding he get the sign. Will wins and K.O.s Max, who remembers nothing when he wakes up.

The Doctor The Rider and some of the Old Ones meet in a place in town [whether be pub or maybe convenience store]. And shit goes down.

We go back to the Stanton clan who is trying to brave out the winter storm with the last of their supplies. Thankfully, Miss Greythorne has offered shelter to those in the Village. So they will wander there in order stay alive.

We go off to a little heart to heart between Will and his father. Turns out his father was working on the Light and Dark thesis when Tom disappeared. He blamed himself but Will doesn't blame him. Exactly as I said, heart to heart.

Up at the Manor, Will talks to Merriman and will finds out George [one of the Old Ones that faced The Doctor the Rider a little earlier] is gone. But then again, he wasn't really important anyway.

After a night's sleep, Will wakes up to find everyone frozen and icicles precariously dangling above. The Doctor The Rider does some scare tactics and threatens Will's family for the signs. Thankfully [or maybe not], no one is hurt. The servant shows up and it is revealed that it is the strange girl from earlier. Predictable.. And she does it so she will never age. Boring.

Our strange girl wanders back into the house and finds Will. She talks about trust and all sorts of jabber about how he needs to give her the signs. Bad move kid. Bad move. He almost hands them over before she throws a temper tantrum and Will kind of sees her for what she is [trollop]. And suddenly, he sees another sign and bam, throws it at the glass window thing that has the sign. With this newly acquired sign, Will and the Old Ones transport to the safe house/thing.

But the Dark is rising! And the safe hold of the past is no longer safe. While inside, Will can hear is family calling for him on the other side. Foolishly, he lets the Dark in and it's time for the final battle!

Will and The Doctor the Rider chat and we find out the Dark had Tom all along! Dunno if he got the wrong twin or what but... Meh. And another problem arises, Will only has 5 of the 6 signs! He's no match for The Doctor the Rider. But Merriman believes Will will find it in time... And he's right because Will is the last sign! And we go into his own little speech:

I am Will Stanton. The seventh son of a seventh son. I have read the book. I have walked through time. I have gathered 5 signs. The 6th could not be found because it was not hidden from me. I am the 6th sign. And I have restored the power of the Light.

And some movie magic puts The Doctor the Rider in the shiny ball that he one had Tom in. And that's kind of it for that... George is miraculously not dead and Tom has appeared! Dunno how he's gonna explain that to the family but... Yeah. And the sun shines on a new day [that doesn't have any snow anywhere].

And that's the end. Kind of leaves you with a "WTF just happened?" feeling. And I hope they aren't making a sequel. They kind of closed it up and honestly, it was a pretty terrible movie. And very disappointing.

As a young child, I loved The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper [though I'll admit, I skipped the first one]. So to watch it get so brutally ripped apart is definitely disheartening. This is even worse than any of the Harry Potter films. It actually makes me appreciate the HP films that much more because... Well, they could have turned out like this. So thank you Warner Brothers for not letting Harry Potter get as screwed up as this!