Holiday Viewing Report Card
In order of viewing:

Closer: A
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: B
Ocean's 12: B
The Aviator: F
The Italian Job (not the original, and not the first time I've seen it either): A+
Sabrina (the original): B-

In more detail . . .
Closer was AWESOME! Incredibly well done - fabulous acting from all four leads, particularly Natalie Portman (amazing what one can do with good writing). This film has a lot of depth - many layers of meaning, also rich character development. It plays against many cinematic conventions, including music and sexuality, and is a fabulous film.

Lemony Snicket etc. was also very good (Julia and I went to see it). Style was cool, though it seems a growing trend that "children's movies" are becoming darker and darker (thank you, Harry Potter). I wasn't blown away by Jim Carrey, and this is definitly not his best role. But the younger members of the cast were very good, particularly the boy who plays Klaus Baudelaire. There were some ambiguities that would probably be cleared up with a reading of the book, but the film's biggest fault lies in the absence of likable characters. Also, the movie crosses the line from suspenseful into uncomfortable, and the style may be exceedingly dark; I think the film suffered from being shot almost completely on a soundstage.

Ocean's 12 was fun and light, though I thought the ending was a bit of a cop out. I hated Catherine Zita-Jones's hair throughout the entire film. I appreciated the humor in this one, as the last one occasionally took itself too seriously. I would have liked to see more of one of the newer characters - Francois Toulour played by Vincent Cassell - and I think they stopped just short of making him really compelling. I also though Brad Pitt and Catherine Zita-Jones's relationship could have been developed a little further.

A poem by me inspired by the film the Aviator:

Gag
Snore
Gag Gag
Yawn
Glance at Watch
Gag
Roll eyes
Roll eyes further into the back of the head
Gag
Yawn
Barf
Brief chorus of "This is the film that doesn't end . . ."
Gag
Relief at the sight of the credits

Worst film EVER, possibly. And definitly the last Scorsese I see and ABSOLUTELY the last Scorsese-DiCaprio collaboration I see. Long, boring, bad writing, bad acting (*coughcough* Leo can't act his way out of a paper bag ripped open at two ends *coughcough*).It was absolutly excrutiating. Can I have those three hours of my life back please. The only bright lights were the supporting cast (which, for the record, was the only reason I wanted to see the film): Cate Blanchett was fabulous as Katherine Hepburn, Kate Beckinsale was great as Ava Gardener, the five minutes that Jude Law was in the film he was great, and Alec Baldwin was good too. Did I mention DiCaprio sucked? He shouldn't be cast in anything ever again. STAY AWAY! DO NOT SPEND MONEY TO SEE THIS FILM. IF PEOPLE STOP GOING TO SEE IT, IT WILL GO AWAY SOONER AND ROOM FOR A BETTER MOVIE WILL BE MADE IN THE THEATERS.

The Italian Job - obviously, not the first time I've seen it, and actually not the first time this week that I've seen it. But, it's like one of the very best movies EVER. Awesome cast, fabulous writing, excellent music (score AND soundtrack), and just all around - well done. See it as soon as possible.

Sabrina - just finished watching it, it came in my new "Audrey Hepburn DVD Collection" along with Breakfast at Tiffany's and Roman Holiday. It was good, but probably my least favorite of the three.
- posted by Nicole @ 10:19 PM

 
I want to be reincarnated as a koala
"Koalas sleep 19-22 hours a day. The gum leaves koalas munch on are so toxic that they use 20 percent of their energy just detoxifying their food! Using all this energy just on eating means little energy is left to run from predators, so they tend to hang out in the treetops all day long. If you’re ever looking for a koala either in an animal sanctuary, zoo, or the wild, always look up but don’t expect much action!"

. . . plus, they live in Australia!
- posted by Nicole @ 10:11 PM

 
2004 National Board of Review Film Awards
Finding Neverland was ranked the best film of 2004 by the National Board of Review of Films. Wow! It was a fabulous film, I agree! Despite being a film about fantasy and imagination, it was grounded in sobering realism, and was both inspirational and hopeful. And Johnny Depp played the lead - need I say more. The man's incredible - possibly the best actor of our time. His (Scottish, I believe) accent was flawless, and I've never seen another actor who has such masterful control over every muscle of his face. He can manipulate his facial expressions with subtlety and emotion like no other. He's awesome, and I really think he'll be a strong candidate for an Academy Award, which will also, de facto, retroactively reward his performance in Pirates.

Here's the rest of the National Board of Review list:
Top Ten Films
1. Finding Neverland
2. The Aviator
3. Closer
4. Million Dollar Baby
5. Sideways
6. Kinsey
7. Vera Drake
8. Ray
9. Collateral
10. Hotel Rwanda

I strongly disagree with Collateral being on this list, despite my love for Tom Cruise. I really want to see Closer (also won best ensemble performance, duh - you've got Jude Law, Clive Owen, Natalie Portman, and Julia Roberts), and The Aviator (though I HATE Leo DiCaprio, I love Kate Beckinsale, Cate Blanchett, and some of the other supporting cast), and especially Hotel Rwanda - it looks really powerful, and we just studied the Rwandan genocide in my class on Govt and Politics on Africa. I'm surprised Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind didn't make the list.
- posted by Nicole @ 4:12 PM

 
Check this out
Here's an even better site, all about the prank with a better picture and even a movie about the creation and execution of the prank: Harvardsucks.org. We are AMAZING!
- posted by Nicole @ 1:14 AM