“(Ghoul School)’s going to be the best movie ever made. I’m calling it now. Top Gun has the title now, but Ghoul School’s moving right up,” Brook Linder told SGF Local Live in February. According to Linder, the film is complete. Check out the teaser (released in March), viewing party details coming soon. Ghoul School was shot and produced in SGF, with an original score by Dragon Inn 3.

Oscar Said This Movie Was Good is a movie review series by Ozarks native Kaitlyn Vaughan. She is not a professional movie critic by any means — and not even really a writer — but wanted to improve her movie buffness by watching all 9 films nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Picture. Then she said she wanted to write about them. We said, “Fine. Whatever.” So, if these reviews suck, it’s not our fault. But, if they’re good, we deserve all the credit.

Just as I expected, this movie was a tearjerker. I tried to stay strong, but from the sounds of the theater, other people started crying about 30 minutes in. The movie was two and a half hours long – that’s a lot of crying. Ladies, hope you brought your makeup with you because you just cried it all off.

At first, I thought this movie was too intense. There were things about the storyline that made me think, “This would never happen. This isn’t believable at all.” But then again, no one thought terrorists would fly planes into the World Trade Center either, so just goes to show how much we (I?) know. The film starred two of the best actors in the industry: Tom Hanks as the father (my favorites of his include Forrest Gump, A League of Their Own, and Sleepless in Seattle) and Sandra Bullock as the mother (The Blindside, The Proposal, and Speed). The son was played by Thomas Horn, whose claim to fame was winning Kids Week on Jeopardy. (This is Horn’s first feature film, FYI.) While I don’t believe this movie created the buzz it intended, especially with two major stars like Hanks and Bullock in it, I don’t think it really mattered. Here’s why…

This film played an incredible tribute to 9/11. The movie was not so much about the actual event, which in itself was horrific, but was more about the aftermath of the tragedy. After the death of the father, the movie fast forwards to a year later and goes on to document the impossible grieving process of the victim’s family. Horn’s portrayal of the young son was noteworthy. His love for his father, his detachment from his mother, and his determination to make sense of it all were genuine pieces of the process and he did an excellent job of relaying that to the audience with full believability. Bullock played the role of the depressed and emotionally absent mother who didn’t really make you take notice until about halfway through the film.

But once she did, wow.

Any mother who has been through a tragedy and still had to put one foot in front of the other could relate to her pain. Thankfully, her fierce love and worry for her son overtook her feelings of grief and loss for her husband, and the son and his mother finally begin to be there for each other.

Surprising things about this film I wasn’t expecting: 1) Viola Davis (The Help) is in it. And of course she was awesome. 2) The son was borderline autistic, as it was mentioned he had been tested for Asperger’s Syndrome and the results were inconclusive. And 3) I didn’t just cry, I sobbed. Now, I was expecting to cry – I brought tissues and everything – but I didn’t expect to have tears streaming down my cheeks in an uncontrollable fashion. Pretty sure I was ugly crying, too. There was no stopping it.

I used to think they made this movie (and released it when they did) solely to create Oscar buzz. Now I don’t care if that was the reason or not. After seeing the movie, I feel as if I intimately know what it was like for the families of the victims of 9/11. And I feel for them in a way I didn’t know was possible. The movie may have been unrealistic in some places and intense in others, but it still did what it set out to do: make the public understand firsthand that the pain continued after all the rubble has been cleared away.

Oscar was right. This movie was good.

——–

Be sure to read our previous Oscar Said This Movie Was Good reviews:

• Moneyball
• The Descendants
• Hugo
• The Artist
• War Horse
• The Help
• Midnight in Paris
• The Tree of Life

Oscar Said This Movie Was Good is a movie review series by Ozarks native Kaitlyn Vaughan. She is not a professional movie critic by any means — and not even really a writer — but wanted to improve her movie buffness by watching all 9 films nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Picture. Then she said she wanted to write about them. We said, “Fine. Whatever.” So, if these reviews suck, it’s not our fault. But, if they’re good, we deserve all the credit.

Shocker: I did not like The Tree of Life.

Basically, the whole experience of this movie annoyed me. First of all, I couldn’t find it anywhere. I went to three Redboxes without success before breaking down and signing up for a Blockbuster membership simply so I could watch this movie I really had no desire to see.  Annoying.

I had not heard good things about this movie. People told me:  “It was boring. It was weird. It was pointless.” Needless to say, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing it, but as I sat down to watch, I was strangely optimistic. I thought, “I can do it. I will try to like this.” And at the beginning, I did. Pointless, weird, boring, or not, this movie was gorgeous. The angles were extremely captivating and the colors were fascinating. Also catching my eye was Jessica Chastain, who played the mother. She was beautiful. I don’t know if she stuck out to me because I already liked her (role in The Help) or because her performance was actually that good, but I liked her. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much where my enjoyment ends. Then the weirdness ensues…

Weird thing #1: There was a message at the beginning of the movie suggesting you watch the movie on loud, as the producers purposely made the movie in whispers. I mean, I watch everything with closed captioning anyway (I just like it, okay?), so it wasn’t that big of a deal for me, but it was still really strange.

Weird thing #2: There were about 30 minutes in the movie where we watched the creation of the Earth. No joke. The visuals were spectacular and extremely interesting…for the first five minutes. 20 minutes later, we’re still going. Oh, but wait – here come the dinosaurs. Yeah, that’s right: dinosaurs. This is not Jurassic Park, for crying out loud. That just annoyed me further.

(I have to be honest: I’d heard about this Earth creation part. Once I was over the pretty colors, I may or may not have muted the TV and started watching an episode of One Tree Hill on my iPad. I mean, at least I didn’t fall asleep.)

After Earth is created, we watch a son (who is played as a grown-up by Sean Penn) go through this childhood along with his father (Brad Pitt), mother (Chastain), and two younger brothers. And it was a sloooow childhood. I’m completely aware this was done on purpose, but it was painful. I kept waiting for something notable to happen, but it never did. After about 20 minutes of boredom, One Tree Hill resumed.

Weird thing #3: At the end of the movie (spoiler alert!), a grown-up Penn is walking around a beach with a bunch of people. At first I was confused, but then I realized: these were dead people. Chastain was there as was one of his brothers who had died. Freaky. I don’t know if this means Penn died or if he was just reflecting/dreaming. I have no idea.

All of this weirdness aside, I understand the message the movie was trying to get across. The Tree of Life, the evolution of life in all its forms. Yeah, I get it. But seriously, this was not, in my opinion, the best way to do that. I’d be interested to talk to someone who truly enjoyed it. Not sure that person exists, though.

Oscar was wrong. This movie was not good. And it was weird.

——–

Other Oscar Said This Movie Was Good reviews:

• Moneyball
• The Descendants
• Hugo
• The Artist
• War Horse
• The Help
• Midnight in Paris
• The Tree of Life
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Oscar Said This Movie Was Good is a movie review series by Ozarks native Kaitlyn Vaughan. She is not a professional movie critic by any means — and not even really a writer — but wanted to improve her movie buffness by watching all 9 films nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Picture. Then she said she wanted to write about them. We said, “Fine. Whatever.” So, if these reviews suck, it’s not our fault. But, if they’re good, we deserve all the credit.

After seeing Midnight in Paris, I have never wanted anything more than to move to Paris and live in the hopes that I may have the chance to interact with legendary literary and artistic figures of the 1920s. Seriously, I’m obsessed.

I thought this movie was spectacular. It was romantic and magical, and made you believe, at least for 94 minutes, that you were living someone else’s life. I loved the way the movie combined the past with the present, allowing you to fall in love with the way things used to be, while still feeling connected to the current world. (Whoa, heavy.)

Let me give a quick rundown: Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) and his fiancé Inez (Rachel McAdams) are on vacation in Paris. Gil is a writer who wishes he lived in a different time, who feels more connected to the past than the present. One evening, at the stroke of midnight, Gil stumbles upon the wonderful world of the 1920s and meets some of the greatest literary and artistic figures of our time i.e., F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, etc. He revisits this world every night, learning more and more about the world in which he loves and the people that made it that way. While enamored with this legendary era, he comes to realizes not everything is not as it seems, but then goes on to use his experience from this fantastic world to shape the future of his own. (At this point, the girls are hooked, and the guys are hoping their girlfriends don’t make them see it.)

Owen Wilson played his character perfectly. I’m not usually a huge fan of Wilson as I can only think of him with Vince Vaughn in Wedding Crashers, but he played this role just the way it should have been played. He was an endearing and lovable dreamer. His character embodied that piece everyone has inside of themselves to believe in your dreams and in yourself. (What am I talking about… who am I?) Marion Cotillard (who played Leonardo Dicaprio’s crazy dream wife in Inception) was absolutely lovely and I fell in love with her. I hope to see her in more movies in the future. Even Alison Pill, whose past accomplishments include Dan in Real Life and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, gave a convincing and intriguing performance of the infamous Zelda Fitzgerald. Not to mention (keep-your-fingers-crossed-she-becomes-a-breakout-star) Léa Seydoux, who played a very small role, but managed to bring everything together at the end, making me take notice of her, and look her up on IMDB immediately.

This film was great, and it wouldn’t have been the same without the beautiful portrayal of the city. The visuals were spectacular, making Paris look stunning at all times: day, night, crowded, deserted, rain, sun. Of course, they must have cleaned up all the trash prior to filming. I may be in love with Paris, but I’m still a realist: no city is that clean.

The message of the movie was inspiring: believe in your dreams because no one else is going to do it for you, and once you do, it can be far greater than you possibly imagined. It also reminds us that everyone thinks another world is better, but that the present isn’t so bad, especially if you can combine your worlds and use it to your advantage. (Seriously, barf. I’m even grossing myself out with this sappiness.)

But still… Oscar couldn’t be more right. This movie was exceptionally good.

——–

Other Oscar Said This Movie Was Good reviews:

• Moneyball
• The Descendants
• Hugo
• The Artist
• War Horse
• The Help
• Midnight in Paris
• The Tree of Life
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Oscar Said This Movie Was Good is a movie review series by Ozarks native Kaitlyn Vaughan. She is not a professional movie critic by any means — and not even really a writer — but wanted to improve her movie buffness by watching all 9 films nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Picture. Then she said she wanted to write about them. We said, “Fine. Whatever.” So, if these reviews suck, it’s not our fault. But, if they’re good, we deserve all the credit.

I have seen The Help four times.

Overkill? Maybe. But I say this is one the few Oscar-nominated films I’ve seen in my lifetime that I actually have wanted to watch more than once. How often does that happen? Not very often.

Needless to say, I really liked this movie. I was pumped to see it had been nominated as I had already read the book and seen the movie. It has everything going for it: great direction, engaging storylines, above average character development, and pleasing and believable aesthetics. Plus it completely swept the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards back in January. Cha-ching.

I loved that this movie was able to engage you in a realistic storyline that really makes you think about how things used to be, but at the same time, incorporate enough humor to keep it from being overly depressing and sad. I appreciated the message and it sent me home from the theater thinking about it for a good half-hour afterward. And seriously, the part about how one of the maids made her boss a pie made out of (spoiler alert) after she wouldn’t allow her to use the toilet inside the house… Well, that part was the…stuff.

My favorite part, however, was the characters, and every time I’ve see it, I end up loving them more. Each character was dynamic and brought its own meaning and purpose to the film. Octavia Spencer was spectacular in her role as Minny Jackson. (Side note: I found it interesting that they made Minny’s last name Jackson when the name of the town also was Jackson… weird.) She brought fire, passion, and vulnerability to the character and the directors would have been hard pressed to find someone to do it better. I mean, she’s won Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes, Screen Actor Guild, and British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards for her role. Plus she’s nominated for the Oscar for Actress in a Supporting Role. Damn, girl, get it.

Viola Davis, who played the role of Abilene Clark, killed it, too. But I think I’ve become even more impressed with her after having seen the movie and learning Viola’s background. She’s been around for a while, but mostly on Broadway. And she’s freaking gorgeous. Who knew? She’s won the SAG Award for Best Actress and she’s nominated for the Oscar. And I bet she will wear something scandalous to the ceremony. (See any outfit she has worn to an awards show in the last couple months.)

And last, but most certainly not least, there is Emma Stone. She may not have received any award noms for her role as Skeeter Phelan, but she was the glue. The movie wouldn’t have been the same without her character or the way in which she played it. Red curly hair, accent, and all.

As I mentioned, I read the book, but I didn’t play it like people usually do. I saw the movie and enjoyed it so much that I just had to read the book. The book, of course, included detail the movie didn’t, but the movie wasn’t in any way lacking because that detail wasn’t there. I was even further impressed at this point because how often is it that you love the book and the movie equally? Again, not very often.
Because this film is the type that you want to watch over and over again, it probably won’t win Best Picture. These kinds of movie never do. I’m still pulling for it, though. You go, girls.

Oscar was (so!) right. This movie was (so!) good.

——–

Other Oscar Said This Movie Was Good reviews:

• Moneyball
• The Descendants
• Hugo
• The Artist
• War Horse
• The Help
• Midnight in Paris
• The Tree of Life
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Oscar Said This Movie Was Good is a movie review series by Ozarks native Kaitlyn Vaughan. She is not a professional movie critic by any means — and not even really a writer — but wanted to improve her movie buffness by watching all 9 films nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Picture. Then she said she wanted to write about them. We said, “Fine. Whatever.” So, if these reviews suck, it’s not our fault. But, if they’re good, we deserve all the credit.

I’ll be honest: I was not looking forward to seeing this movie. I thought it was going to be about horses in war. You know, Gladiator or 300 style, where the whole story is about war and the horses are just there.

Oh was I mistaken.

Yes, there was war, and yes, there were horses, but not in the capacity I was expecting. This film chronicled a one-of-a-kind horse’s journey through the gruesome and horrific first World War. This horse touched the lives of every person with which he came in contact and the way it all played out was just right. It was the happy. It was sad. It was scary. It was inspiring. This movie had me, hook, line, and sinker.

Before you read on, it will be helpful to know I am a sucker for any and all animals. So much so I normally avoid movies like this as I cannot stand to watch animals in pain of any sort. (Which is exactly why I flip the channel like the TV screen is burning my eyes when those Sarah McLachlan rescue animal commercials come on. I do not need to cry in the middle of watching Teen Mom, okay?)

The movie pulled me in from the very beginning. It started out with an old, crippled man who bought a thoroughbred-yet-useless horse he couldn’t afford at an auction. His wife was livid and his teenage son fell in love. My love for the boy and his horse grew and grew as he raised and trained him. I mean, we were only 20 minutes into the movie and I was already thinking, “If this horse somehow dies during this movie, I’m walking out.” Every character was fully developed, no matter how small of a role he/she played. The actors weren’t ones you’d name drop, although Emily Watson (character was Rose Narracott) is getting a lot of props for her role. Still, I didn’t feel like there was any wasted time on characters who added nothing to the overall story. You don’t see that very often in movies. Good work, everyone (directed by Steven Spielberg.

Another way the movie pulled me in is that it toyed with my emotions the. Entire. Time — happy, sad, up, down, chaotic, calm. One minute, I am laughing that a little girl hides the horse in the attic so it wouldn’t be confiscated by the military, and the next minute I’m holding back tears because a 14-year-old solider is shot to death by his own men for desertion. I mean, you never knew what emotion they were going to throw at you next. It definitely kept me intrigued and I never once looked at my phone in boredom.

By the end of this thing, there was not a dry eye in the house. (Except maybe for the 9-year old boy who came with his grandparents who was probably thinking, “Cool horse! Sweet guns! Grandma, why are you crying?”) I could have cried multiple times during the movie, but I tried to stay strong. Fail. The storyline absolutely hammers you for the last 15 minutes and if I had been on my couch instead of in the middle of the movie theater, I would have been straight up sobbing. (I attribute part of this to my irrational love for animals, but also part of it to the actual character and story development. I’m not completely insane.)

Did I enjoy this movie? Surprisingly so. Do I think it deserves to be nominated for Best Picture? Definitely. Would I see it again? Absolutely not. I can’t watch that horse go through WWI again. I might lose my mind.

Oscar was right. This movie was good.

Other Oscar Said This Movie Was Good reviews:

• Moneyball
• The Descendants
• Hugo
• The Artist
• War Horse
• The Help
• Midnight in Paris
• The Tree of Life
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Oscar Said This Movie Was Good is a movie review series by Ozarks native Kaitlyn Vaughan. She is not a professional movie critic by any means — and not even really a writer — but wanted to improve her movie buffness by watching all 9 films nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Picture. Then she said she wanted to write about them. We said, “Fine. Whatever.” So, if these reviews suck, it’s not our fault. But, if they’re good, we deserve all the credit.

The Artist was different than any movie I’ve ever seen. Obviously. I think most people can say the same. Pretty sure I’ve only ever seen one black and white movie and I’ve definitely never seen one without sound. I knew this was going to be an experience.

I tried to achieve the full effect with this movie. Instead of going to your run-of-the-mill AMC, I went to a little “artsy” theater to immerse myself in the romance of it all. (I know, it’s corny.) As the movie began, I was mesmerized. The old-time music, the black and white screen, the clicking of the projector; it was the perfect storm. Unfortunately, however, that storm blew over in about 30 minutes.

What is wrong with me? I should have reeeeally liked this movie. It was glamorous, romantic, historical… but it quickly started to all fade away for me and I just got bored.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved all the individual pieces. The main characters were adorable. Heck, all of the characters were adorable. Jean Dujardin as George Valentin and Berenice Bejo as Peppy Miller were perfect. He was handsome and charming and funny, and she was beautiful and determined and spunky. I loved the way they interacted with each other from the very beginning and their chemistry was undeniable. (I mean, they were no Noah and Allie in The Notebook, but they were working it.) George’s butler, Clifton, was even memorable, along with his freakishly well-trained dog. (The only character I did not find charming, however, was John Goodman in the role as the studio owner. I could only think of him as Roseanne Barr’s white-trash husband.)

The era in which the movie was set was delightful. The allure of the late 20’s, early 30’s was something I hadn’t much exposure to and it was lovely to experience. The music was spot on and I dug the fashion. Made me wonder when I’d ever get an excuse to dress like that. (Halloween 2012, check.)  The storyline was entertaining, too. It was historical, which I liked. A little over-the-top in places for my taste, but I guess when you can’t speak, the actions have to speak for themselves. I get it.

Unfortunately, though, it didn’t all come together for me. I wanted to buy into it, feel like I was a part of it, but I just couldn’t. Maybe I’m too modernized. Maybe I’m too spoiled on things like color and sound. Maybe I’m too over-stimulated with our everyday noises and distractions, so much so that I don’t know how to react to something else. Whatever the reason, I was bored and checked my watch a couple times. And then before I knew it, all of the things I loved in the beginning started to get annoying. Total bummer.

I am sure there are many other people out there who thoroughly enjoyed this movie. They must have. It was nominated for Best Picture, after all. So whoever made that decision must have stayed out in that perfect storm far longer than I did. At its best, it’s an homage to the way movies used to be. It’s always good to give credit to history and reflect on where an industry came from.

Oscar was (kinda) right. This movie was (almost) good.

• Moneyball
• The Descendants
• Hugo
• The Artist
• War Horse
• The Help
• Midnight in Paris
• The Tree of Life
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Oscar Said This Movie Was Good is a movie review series by Ozarks native Kaitlyn Vaughan. She is not a professional movie critic by any means — and not even really a writer — but wanted to improve her movie buffness by watching all 9 films nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Picture. Then she said she wanted to write about them. We said, “Fine. Whatever.” So, if these reviews suck, it’s not our fault. But, if they’re good, we deserve all the credit.

Prior to seeing Hugo, I had only heard three things: 1) it was based on a children’s book, 2) it was in 3D, and 3) it was very fantastical and had great visuals.

Coming out of Hugo, those were still the only things I knew about it.

First of all, the theater was packed. It seems every parent in the state of Kansas brought their child to see this movie on a bitterly cold Saturday in January. As I mentioned, I knew this film was based on a children’s book, but I simply did not expect to be surrounded on all sides by 5-to 10-year olds crunching on popcorn, whisper-yelling to their parents, and kicking my seat. But, alas, I was already committed, so I began to prepare myself for two hours worth of simple children’s play.

For those of you who don’t know any more about the film than I did, here is a basic rundown. Hugo is a boy whose clockmaker father dies, and as a result, is left orphaned. He is “adopted” by his drunken uncle who is responsible for running the clocks at a Parisian train station. The uncle then leaves Hugo to fend for himself and run the clocks on his own, and therefore lives in the bowels of the train station, once again as an orphan. From there the movie spirals off into story line after story line after story line, making the plot rival that of a television series that has been on the air too long: far-reaching and drawn out. (i.e. The Simpsons, Saved By The Bell, and 24)

As the movie began, I detected a very Harry Potter-esque feel and thought this may be something I could get into. Psych. This movie doesn’t hold a candle to HP and I’m ashamed I began down that road of comparison. (Sorry, J.K.) Perhaps if I had read the book first as I did with Harry Potter, I would have felt more connected to the characters, but I did not find myself feeling sympathy for the creepy eyed little boy Hugo, even though everything in his life was pretty crappy. I partly blame this on the fact this movie was unexpectedly dark and scary. While similar to Harry Potter in the sense that the music was ominous and some of the characters were extremely evil, these factors did not add value to the storyline as it did with Harry P. It just kept making me think, “This is not a movie made for children.”

As I mentioned early, there were just too many story lines. It was as if the story was about to end, but then all of sudden one small, minuscule, insignificant piece of that story would connect it to the next and then we’d do it all over again. That got old real quick. Not only was I wishing the movie would actually end, I couldn’t see how an eight year-old child could be following the story; I barely could. (No comments on my intelligence, please.)

Side Note: Personally, I am not a huge fan of 3D movies as, most of the time, I do not find the enhancement necessary. (Plus it gives me a headache and those glasses make you look stupid.) Hugo was no different. I will admit there were some great visuals of Paris and the oversized gears of the clocks that looked pretty awesome, but those were only small or occasional parts of the film. As for the rest of the movie, I thought the 3D feature was pointless.

Do I understand why it was nominated for Best Picture? I mean, kinda. The storyline and type of movie were original in comparison to other nominees and some of the visuals were pretty impressive. Do I understand why it was nominated Best Picture over Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2? Absolutely not. You got screwed, Daniel Radcliffe.

Oscar was wrong. This movie was only okay.

Other movies Oscar said were good (and were reviewed):

• Moneyball
• The Descendants
• Hugo
• The Artist
• War Horse
• The Help
• Midnight in Paris
• The Tree of Life
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Local filmmakers are setting their sites on mid-February to begin production for Ghoul School, to be shot and produced in SGF. The 1980s was a glorious decade for horror movies, and Ghoul School looks to pull from the spirit of Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (and significantly better films, if that even exists). Missouri State University film student Brook Linder co-wrote the film with Gregory S. Schultz. The soundtrack is provided by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin‘s Phil Dickey. There is a Kickstarter campaign where you can help the project grow legs (financially speaking). With eight days left the production team needs less than $400 to reach its goal of $5,000 to begin production.

It’s The Breakfast Club meets Poltergeist when two students break into Baldwin High School to steal a Chemistry test, only to enrage the spirit of a killer Principal. Tonight, Chemistry will be held in hell.

Oscar Said This Movie Was Good is a movie review series by Ozarks native Kaitlyn Vaughan. She is not a professional movie critic by any means — and not even really a writer — but wanted to improve her movie buffness by watching all 9 films nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Picture. Then she said she wanted to write about them. We said, “Fine. Whatever.” So, if these reviews suck, it’s not our fault. But, if they’re good, we deserve all the credit.

Let’s get right to it. George Clooney is the man. You can’t argue with his track record: O Brother Where Art Thou, Ocean’s Eleven, all that time on ER, and the cherry on top, One Fine Day. (What woman didn’t want to be the struggling single mother, Michelle Pfeiffer in that movie?)

Add The Descendants to George’s greatest hits list.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Take Clooney, pair him with breakout star Shailene Woodley (good to know she can do more than be a pregnant hooligan on The Secret Life of an American Teenager), put them in a storyline anyone can relate to, throw the whole thing in Hawaii, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

Speaking of Hawaii, the setting of this movie was fantastic. Not only were the visuals spectacular, but the Hawaiian locale gave the film a little something different, a vibe that you can’t get from a story set in New York City or Los Angeles. If you’ve been to Hawaii, you totally get it. If you haven’t, you definitely can appreciate it.

We all know George can play a wide array of characters, but now we can put vulnerability on the list. I could feel the anguish and heartbreak he struggled with throughout the entire movie. He was just a dad doing the best he could in a really crappy situation. His out-of-control 17- and 10-year-old daughters added a nice level of comedic relief to the storyline. Shailene’s character, Alex’s, harsh attitude and vulgar nature were downright funny at times and seriously, as much as you don’t want to admit it, watching kids under the age of 12 swear and say inappropriate things is hilarious. The dynamic between Matt, Alex, and the little sister Scottie (weird name, by the way) was spot on, although I’m not sure why Alex’s friend Sid was involved as much as he was. Whatever, it was all worth it to see Grandpa sucker punch him.

This movie had the potential to get boring. Mom is in a life-threatening accident, Dad has to assume responsibility for the children, Dad brings problem child back home from reform school, the family finds a newfound respect for each other in light of the tragedy, blah blah blah. But, wait, finding out Mom had been cheating on Dad for months before the accident throws an interesting wrench in things. We spend the rest of the movie watching Matt and Alex stalk and track down Mom’s lover while she lay in a hospital bed in a vegetative state. Father and daughter, working together to find the man who was about to ruin their family to tell him his mistress is brain dead. Surprise. Turns out Lover Boy is married, to a hot bodied Judy Greer, who, for some reason, made an impression on me. I could sympathize with her character and enjoyed her nature, especially when she came to visit her husband’s mistress in the hospital because he was too much of a coward to do it himself. Bam.

Of course, at the end, they unplug the mother from life support and they all say their goodbyes and watch her die. Matt and his girls come together with newfound love for each other. I cried. Duh. If you weren’t crying by the end of that thing, you’re heart is made of stone.

I’ve heard from others they thought this movie was too depressing. I say this movie was real life, and real life can be depressing. I was more than happy to pay the $10 to see this movie in the theater (although I didn’t because I had a free pass. What’s up?). You killed it, George. I would love to see you get Best Actor, especially over Brad Pitt in Moneyball (gross).

You were right, Oscar. This movie was good.

Other movies Oscar said were good (and were reviewed):

• Moneyball
• The Descendants
• Hugo
• The Artist
• War Horse
• The Help
• Midnight in Paris
• The Tree of Life
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Oscar Said This Movie Was Good is a movie review series by Ozarks native Kaitlyn Vaughan. She is not a professional movie critic by any means — and not even really a writer — but wanted to improve her movie buffness by watching all 9 films nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Picture. Then she said she wanted to write about them. We said, “Fine. Whatever.” So, if these reviews suck, it’s not our fault. But, if they’re good, we deserve all the credit.

SGF native Brad Pitt might be the only redeeming thing about Moneyball.

I am an avid lover of sports movie. While I am not the most athletic girl on the playground, Remember the Titans, The Mighty Ducks and A League of Their Own rank high on my list of favorite movies. (Please do not judge.) Prior to watching, I did not hear good things about this film. But, being the sports movie fanatic I am, I wanted to believe in you, Moneyball.

I shouldn’t have.

First of all, this movie was slow. As in, the speed of your internet when you had dial up, SGF traffic when it’s raining SGF traffic at any time, the McDonald’s drive thru line at noon, slow. As I mentioned, I wanted to believe in this film, but how many times can you watch Brad and Jonah Hill stare at standard deviation, long division, and computer screens from the early nineties before you start checking your Facebook?

As someone who has enough knowledge to enjoy the World Series, but not enough to know what constitutes a decent batting average, I found myself struggling to relate to the majority of the story. I’m sure someone with a respectable background in the sport would understand the jargon, calculations, and shorthand, but since Legends of the Fall heartthrob and SGF native son Brad Pitt starred in this movie, I guarantee I was not the only female to feel lost, and a little deceived, while watching it. On a positive note, however, I could relate to the old man scouts sitting around a table, gossiping (that’s what I call it) about every player in baseball. “His girlfriend is ugly. He’s getting a big around the middle. He parties too much.” Sounds strangely familiar to a girls’ night.

(Side note: How about when the Kansas City Royals make a killer comeback during what was supposed to be a crucial game for the Oakland Athletics? We all know things like that never happen to the Royals in real life so it was nice to see.)

In addition to be slow and confusing, this film lacked some serious character development. For how many people were involved in this story, I found myself caring for only one: Billy Beane’s 12-year-old daughter, Casey. Her musical talent, unusual wisdom, and justified worry for her father made her someone you wanted to care about. I didn’t flinch when players were traded or cut. I didn’t feel bad when Billy’s world was crashing down around him. But I couldn’t stop smiling when Casey played the guitar and sang her daddy a song.

Let’s talk about the ending. OK, Billy, so you don’t take the gazillion dollars Boston is offering you and then they win without you. And Oakland continues to not win a World Series under your management. And you’re still divorced and alone. And then you file for bankruptcy and your house floods. I mean, seriously. Let’s make this movie more depressing. I know it was based on a true story, and I figured the real story wasn’t all cotton candy and pizza for breakfast, but come on. Give a girl a little smile everyone once in a while.

In conclusion, I was not impressed with this movie. I am glad I chose to pay the $1.29 (way to raise your prices, Redbox) to rent this movie rather than pay $10 to see it at a movie theater.

Oscar was wrong. This movie was not good.

——-

Other Oscar Said This Movie Was Good reviews:

• Moneyball
• The Descendants
• Hugo
• The Artist
• War Horse
• The Help
• Midnight in Paris
• The Tree of Life
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Mexico, 1991: A crash Senna walked away from.

Full disclosure: This review marks my second occasion for seeing this movie. The first was its one-day-only screening in St. Louis in September, which happened to coincide with a trip into the city to visit friends. The reasons for the second viewing, however, were very different than the first. It was no longer about seeing a movie about the life and death of one of the most transcendent and enigmatic international sports stars of my childhood, a man I remember getting up at 6 a.m. on Sunday mornings to watch, live from somewhere in the world, turn a marathon of violent, skittish, edge-of-physics motion into something resembling art. The second viewing of Senna was about none of that. It was about therapy.

What happened to legendary Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna on May 1, 1994 happened again recently to another successful driver, 2011 Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon, in Las Vegas: a powerful, horrifying death broadcast second for heart-rending second on live television. No other popular sport puts its participants and followers through even the possibility of such a bloody outcome. It’s not something that has to be dealt with often anymore; thankfully, advancements in safety technology have seen to that. In the world of Formula One racing, the most-watched form of motor sport in the world, that is largely due, for better and for worse, to the last man to die behind the wheel of one of its cars: Ayrton Senna. And it’s Senna himself who offers here, through his eyes and his words, as redemptive–and defiant–an explanation of why a racing driver does what he does as has ever been laid out. For him, he tells us, it’s ultimately about pushing into different dimensions of the mind, a sort of meditation at breakneck speed. Riding along at eye level with him as he rattles and surges around the streets of Monte Carlo in 1988 while he tells it, it’s hard not to believe along with him.

That’s the real coup director Asif Kapadia (Far North, The Warrior) pulls off with this documentary: Senna, 17 years dead, is not only the protagonist of the film but the principal narrator. Because of the media age he came up in, the fame he received as a three-time world champion and his polarizing passion, Senna was one of the most publicly and privately documented drivers Formula One has ever known. The movie Kapadia has made is a phenomenal piece of video and audio editing at a blink-and-it’s-over 106 minutes long. The reason is the lack of that great documentary film convention: Static present-day interviews. The people who knew Senna are not telling his story while sitting in a cushy chair in a black room and facing the camera. You hear their voices, but what you see is all action. When someone is facing the camera and talking into a microphone it’s Senna, speaking in footage from one of his countless press conferences and other interviews. His eloquence in these situations lets him carry the film, and that eloquence came from his obvious passion for what he did.

That passion is also at the heart of the film’s conflict, namely Senna’s poisonous rivalry with fellow champion and onetime teammate Alain Prost of France. If it seems weird to use movie terms such as “conflict” and “protagonist” when talking about a documentary, that’s because the movie suffers from one significant flaw, and it’s in discussing this rivalry that the flaw is most exposed. The events of Senna’s career would be a Hollywood movie script if they weren’t real happenings; watch the sequence where he wins his home race in Brazil in 1991, riddled with pain from muscle spams caused by wrestling a car with only sixth gear, and see for yourself. But Kapadia, in trying to make the story accessible to people who don’t know the story, makes a clear narrative with a hero (Senna) and villains (Prost and the sport’s biggest power broker, International Automobile Federation President Jean-Marie Balestre) out to get him. The story fits to a degree, especially when Prost (allegedly) deliberately crashes himself and Senna out of a race in Japan in 1989 to make it happen. But when Senna returns the favor a year later it’s a reminder he was not a saint in this, either, though that’s where the movie’s examination of it ends. Maybe it’s out of respect for the deceased; maybe it’s to avoid angering fans who waited years for a proper telling of the driver’s life’s story. But to gloss over the faults of a man whose reputation as mercurial and notoriously hard on his teammates (Prost wasn’t the only cohort Senna drove away, just the most successful) sort of takes the “document” out of “documentary.”

Such debates fade away quickly, however, when the tragic events of 1994 take over the narrative. Kapadia holds nothing back when taking you through the weekend of the Grand Prix of San Marino, the weekend best known for Senna’s death but that also claimed the life of Roland Ratzenberger and nearly took fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, too. It’s all there, in chilling, unflinching detail. Leave it to Kapadia, though, to bring a touching full-circle conclusion to things with another deft piece of editing. Let’s just say Terry Fullerton should be proud.

For longtime racing fans, Senna is a way to remember a once-in-a-lifetime talent at his best: as the pride of Brazil, and as a man who saw his profession and his sport with eyes open and loved it without reservation. For younger fans, it’s not only a look at the Michael Jordan of his sport at a time when it’s now in the midst of its Kobe Bryants and LeBron Jameses, but also a way to come to grips with racing’s darkest side through one of its staunchest supporters and most famous victims. It may play best, though, to those who were never into the sport at all. Most people who see Senna will never understand what it’s like to drive a racing car, but they will understand the need of a son to get a hug from his dad at one of the most important–if painful–times in his life. They will understand a mother’s conflict in wanting her son’s safety but not getting in the way of his dream. They will understand, in some way, giving everything they have for success even when others try to stop them. Senna is an engrossing reminder that, in a sport so reliant on machines, it is humanity we ultimately root for, and for which we ultimately weep.

Senna is currently showing at Moxie Cinema. For show times and ticket details, click here.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival will be in more than 36 countries on its international tour. Thursday it will make the stop in SGF at the Gillioz Theatre, being the (only?) major film festival to come to town. The theme of the movies included in the festival is outdoor sporting. Local organizers hope to bring the event back to town annually. Tickets for the event are $20, information.

The Swiss Machine

Dream Result

Into Darkness

Life Cycles

Last Paradise

The family-safe outdoor movie series is back at Founders Park for the summer, with a nice tie for local filmmakers. A selection of shorts produced for this year’s SATO 48 competition will run with Saturday showings, starting with the event’s Best Picture winner Start With A Story. Movies begin each weekend at dusk. Hit Founders Park online for ticket details.

2011 Movies at Founders Park Lineup

• July 8 – “Shrek Forever After” (PG)
• July 9 – “Meet Me in St. Louis” (N/A) • SATO 48: “Start With A Story” & “wavelengths”
• July 15 – “Nanny McPhee Returns” (PG)
• July 16 – “Burlesque” (PG-13)• SATO 48: “Le Squid Noir” & “Corrugated”
• July 22 – “Letters to Juliet” (PG)
• July 23 – “August Light: Wilson’s Creek and the Battle for Missouri” (G)
• July 29 – “Rango” (PG)
• July 30 – “The Social Network” (PG-13) • SATO 48: “Synchronicity” & “Drop Job” & “The String”
• August 5 – “Gnomeo and Juliet” (G)
• August 6 – “Just Go With It” (PG-13) • SATO 48: “Love in Cliché” & “Lily’s Petals”
• August 12 – “Tangled” (PG)
• August 13 – “Tron Legacy” (PG-13) • SATO 48: “The Cowboy Warrior of Golf City” & “Dream ‘Scapes”
• August 19 – “Toy Story 3” (G)
• August 20 – “Inception” (PG-13) • SATO 48: “The Refuge” & “Vic-Six” & “The String”
• August 26 – “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (PG)
• August 27 – “West Side Story” (N/A)

The final phase of SATO 48 2011 is upon us, and it looks pretty fancy. The Gillioz Theatre hosts tonight’s award ceremony which serves as the final chapter of the year’s local filmmaking competition. There will be live entertainment, the awards (of course), and a free after party at Jekyll & Hyde’s. The evening kicks off at 7:30 p.m. If you don’t know SATO 48, here’s the premise …

Phase 1: Teams of filmmakers create a 5-minute film based on an inspiration package

Phase 2: Films (more than 70 this year) are viewed, judged and narrowed by local critics. Then 10 are selected per category (all phases of filmmaking, a la Academy Awards) and shipped to international experts in each.

Phase 3: Awards announced at red carpet event hosted by the Gillioz (aka “get handsome and enjoy the show”).

Admission is only $5. Check back at TAGsgf.com for red carpet photo galleries, award announcements, video interviews and any other shenanigans that could take place.

Tonight brings you the fifth and final installment of the monthly Queen City Cinema series at Moxie Cinema, a five-month chance to see local filmmakers’ work on the big screen at the Moxie at no cost to you courtesy of the Missouri Film Alliance of Springfield. This time around, it’s time to scare your pants off.* Horror cinema is the theme for May, beginning with two local short films starting at 9 p.m., namely Brook Linder Finds a Monster In His Backyard, directed by–you guessed it–Brook Linder (whom you might also know from this), and Jason Gets Fired, directed by Johnno Zee:

After that, it’s time for a screening of American Scary, a documentary written and produced by SGFer Sandy Clark (who will host a Q&A session before the documentary starts) looking at the rise, fall and sort-of return of the localized horror-movie program host. (Think Joe Bob Briggs from TNT’s MonsterVision, except usually horror characters themselves and based in your town.) Here’s the trailer:

*Please keep your pants on.

If you weren’t able to get to Moxie Cinema this past weekend for the sixth annual Springfield and the Ozarks 48-hour Film Festival, aka SATO48, well, it’s over. The seven groups of short films, all filmed the weekend of April 15-17, finished screening yesterday, so your next chance to participate won’t come until the awards are handed out on May 5 at Gillioz Theatre. However, that does not mean you can’t see the movies. Many SGF filmmakers have already uploaded their finished work to the Internet, with more sure to come. So if you Easter plans, a weekend-long date with your couch or other reasons you couldn’t attend, it’s time to raise the volume and recline in your favorite theater-substitute chair. Here comes the current collection of every 2011 SATO48 film we can find, posted in alphabetical order:

A Way Out:

The Cowboy Warrior of Gold City:

Dream ‘Scapes:

Drop Job:

The Hitch:

I’m In a Relationship… and It’s Complicated!:

Mistaken (preview):

Over Easy:

Retirement:

SATO48:

Vulker’s Egress:

Zombie Hunters 2 (trailer):

The film-making portion, or phase one of the sixth edition Springfield And The Ozarks 48 is in progress. Registered teams have two days to write, shoot, edit, render, edit, render …….. complete and deliver a 5-minute film. No part of the film could be produced before the clock started Friday night, and scripts were yet to be created. Event organizers Jeff Clinkenbeard and Kyaw Tha Hla hand out “inspiration packages” which could be anything — a prop, a storyline, a dialogue requirement, or even a prohibition. One year teams weren’t allowed to use guns, even by reference.

Phase two is next weekend (April 23, 24) when the finished projects are screened at the Moxie. It is designed so the public can get involved and see the films. Meanwhile, scattered throughout the audience are members of a local selection committee. As with the big-time movie awards, each judge will focus on one aspect of each film (art direction, cinematography, etc.). The top ten films in each category are shipped to professionals around the world to decide the winners.

May 5 marks the final phase — the party. Hosted by Gillioz Theatre, it’s the Ozarks’ Oscars, if you will, the award ceremony. “When you look at the audience at the Academy Awards, 99% have no stake in what’s going on,” Clinkenbeard said. “They’re there, because that’s the place to be in Hollywood. We want to bring the same feel to (the awards ceremony) in Springfield.”

The success of SATO 48 reaches beyond what’s on film — it’s advancing careers. According to Clinkenbeard, former SATO competitor Shawn Matthews “can’t do (the event this year) because he got ‘real work.” Clinkenbeard said Matthews sold an original reality TV show to a major network with details coming soon.

Clinkenbeard said there wasn’t a favorite in the crop, because it all depends on how the inspiration package resonates with each crew. “Every year is different, teams can be different,” Clinkenbeard said. “Last year, a film that took home three or four major awards was a SATO 48 newcomers.”

Check out some 2010 SATO 48 Entries

Wehrenberg Campbell 16

• Scream 4 (R) – 5:05 6:50 7:30 9:20 10:10 11:45
• Hop (PG) – 7:15, 9:35
• Arthur (PG-13) – 5:05 6:05 7:45 10:20
• Your Highness (R) – 5:10 7:40 10:15p
• Rio 3D (G) – 5:25 6:10 7:50 10:15p
• Rio (G) – 5:10 7:40 10:10
• Source Code (PG-13) – 7:05 9:20 11:35
• Hanna (PG-13) – 7:15 10:00p
• Soul Surfer (PG) – 5:00 7:30 10:00
• Insidious (PG-13) – 7:00 9:25 11:50pm
• Limitless (PG-13) – 6:45 9:15 11:45pm
• The Lincoln Lawyer (R) – 9:15
• The Conspirator (PG-13) – 7:00 9:45pm
• Sucker Punch (PG-13) – 8:35 11:00
• Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 (PG-13) 7:10, 9:30

Hollywood Theatres College Station 14

• Arthur (PG-13) – 7:05 9:35
• Hanna (PG-13) – 6:50 9:25
• Hop (PG) – 6:40 9:15
• Insidious (PG-13) – 7:20 9:55
• Limitless (PG-13) – 7:25 10:00
• Rio 3D (G) – 6:55 7:15 9:30 9:50
• Rio (G) – 6:35 9:10
• Scream 4 (R) – 5:05 7:10 7:40 9:45 10:15
• Soul Surfer (PG) – 6:45 9:20
• Source Code (PG-13) – 5:00 7:35 10:10
• The Lincoln Lawyer (R) – 6:50 9:40
• Your Highness (R) – 7:30 10:05

Palace Theatres

• The Exorcist (R) – 11:00
• Gnomeo and Juliet (G) – 5:15 7:10 9:00
• The Green Hornet (PG) – 6:40 9:05 11:25
• Hall Pass (R) – 7:15 9:25 11:45
• Just Go With It (PG-13) – 6:45 9:10 11:30
• No Strings Attached (R) – 5:05 7:20 9:30 11:40
• Tangled (PG) – 6:30 8:40
• True Grit (PG-13) – 6:50 9:15 11:35

The Moxie Cinema

• I Saw the Devin (NR) – 8:30
• Cold Weather (NR) – 9:30
• Cedar Rapids (R) – 6:30
• The Music Never Stopped (PG) – 7:00

Showplex Cinemas Springfield 8

• Scream 4 (R) – 7:30 9:50
• Hop (PG) – 7:00 9:25
• Arthur (PG-13) – 7:25 9:55
• Your Highness (R) – 7:15 9:40
• Rio 3D (G) – 7:20 9:30
• Rio (G) – 7:00 9:45
• Hanna (PG-13) – 7:10 9:45
• Soul Sufer (PG) – 7:05 9:35

A FrankCritic.com review by Frank C. Bailey

A directly proportional relationship exists between your enthusiasm for Easter and how much you will enjoy this film. By your enthusiasm for Easter, I am speaking of nothing to do with the death and resurrection of Jesus or anything else with the slightest relationship to the Christian faith. Easter, as it is secularized in the United States to be about bunnies, baby chicks, pastels, and various kinds of savory and confectionary eggs, has even less to do with any of the world’s great monotheisms than Christmas in the United States does. Despite Christmas’ associations with the pagan festival of Yule, its generic similarity to similar winter solstices celebrated in most cultures, and its prominent role as an engine of the economy taking undeniable precedence over any savior’s birth, it is, at least, still in the fight to be a Christian holiday integrated into mainstream secular culture. Santa Claus is based upon the real Saint Nicholas Agios, Nativity scenes remain common in town squares, and plenty of the Christmas carols mention Jesus, angels, or some such thing. With Easter though, it’s another story entirely. Any Christian church with any integrity at all is going to make sure Easter is celebrated with the proper acknowledgement of Christ having died for one’s sins, his involvement in a miraculous resurrection three days later, and may even encourage something of a solemn approach to the celebration of the holiday. Some, but not all, also include the secular elements of the holiday. However, secular participating in the holiday, especially the children participating, never even get the slightest notion that the holiday is about Jesus, and why should they? It’s not about Jesus, it’s about bunnies, candy, and pretty colors. That is the Easter you need to love in order to love Hop.

Although it will sound like a spoiler to say so, James Marsden’s character Fred O’Hare, and yes O’Hare is the character’s name and also the sort of humor you ought to get used to with the film, becomes The Easter Bunny. He is the first human ever to do so and this destiny is stated at literally the first thing the film does, which is why it’s not a spoiler to say so. Fred’s story is really the actual story of the film, as he is meant to be the kid-like character actual kids in the audience can relate to the best. Like Blythe Danner’s character in Paul, his whole life was changed by his encounter with something fantastic visiting his home as a child, and his high standards for greatness have doomed him to being something of a loser as an adult. When we first meet him, he is around his more successful siblings, some of whom are still children, and his deeply disappointed and sardonic parents, who are enthusiastically discussing kicking him out of the house due to his seemingly chronic inability to get a job because he refuses to settle. In fact, Fred is only not homeless throughout most of the film because he is housesitting for a wealthy person. Meanwhile, The Easter Bunny, voiced by Hugh Laurie, is dealing with his rebellious son’s running away from home to avoid his destiny of assuming the mantle of The Easter Bunny.

The creatively named E.B., voiced pretty much as you’d expect by Russell Brand, is obsessed with having fun and trying to make it as a professional rock n’ roll drummer. So, of course, Fred and E.B. meet and what is essentially a buddy movie comes to fruition. A lot of the time, their interactions reminded me of The Odd Couple, with the responsible and driven Fred playing the Felix Unger role and the laid-back and irresponsible E.B. playing the Oscar Madison role. Having recently watched Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, it also reminded me a great deal of Harry having to deal with Dobby the house elf constantly causing him trouble for what he assured Harry were good reasons. E.B doesn’t say he has good reasons for causing Fred trouble, exactly, but he does insist that everything will be fine or that he is somehow justified.

I don’t normally talk about parental concerns too much in film reviews, but Hop seems innocuous enough that parents could be forgiven for not being concerned. For one thing, E.B. poops candy as one of his established abilities. While kids are likely to think this scatological bit of business is hilarious, and this is doubtless why it was included, it’s still a sort of scatological humor and those who disapprove ought to be aware. What concerns me more is that E.B. is enough of a selfish anarchist, and largely gets away with his abuse of Fred, which includes everything from trashing the home Fred is housesitting to framing him for murder sort of accidentally on purpose, that it renders the character a poor role model.

At the end of the film, while he and Fred have been through enough together for him to be unlikely to abuse him anymore, E.B. seems to have basically learned nothing about how his earlier behavior in the film was wrong. Hank Azaria plays the villain, a chick named Carlos whose villainy should be obvious from his earliest appearance if not the trailers themselves, and his position that E.B. is a spoiled brat who doesn’t deserve either to be the Easter Bunny or to have all the privilege he does is difficult to not sympathize with. Carlos is made petty and given ridiculous ideas about how he thinks Easter should be run so the audience is forced to root against him, but I do start to question things when the villain of a piece makes as many good points as he does here. Brand’s anarchic shtick perhaps well serves projects like Get Him To The Greek and Arthur, but in a kid’s movie his persona makes the cute little bunny difficult to root for. Despicable Me’s minions briefly appear before the film and basically had the same effect on me Natalie Portman did in No Strings Attached by reminding me of greatness during an otherwise mediocre project.

Benjamain "Coach" Wade

A black-tie event will serve as the world premiere of 180, shot last year in SGF. Starring Bolivar’s Benjamin “Coach” Wade in his screen debut as Gavin Larson, 180 is the story a Rock-god who was the only survivor of a plane crash that killed the rest of his band. You might also remember Wade as “Dragon Slayer” from a couple different seasons of Survivor, which cost his job as Southwest Baptist University’s head women’s soccer coach.

The viewing is at the Gillioz Theatre Friday, June 17 with live acoustic performances by Steve Ewing, formerly of The Urge, and Randy Evans, whose band (The Indifference) is responsible for 180′s original music score. Ewing and Evans also have roles in the film.

180 was co-produced by Lunch Truck Productions out of Los Angeles and Springfield’s Easy Water Films.

Tickets

180 Trailer

Opening Day is almost here and the TAG staff is giddy. We are holed up in anticipation and are relying on film to get us fired up (and the MLB TV Game Center, not that we are obsessed). We brought in SGFer and professional baseballer Mike Kickham who pitched for the Missouri State Bears, and now is a farmhand in the San Francisco Giants organization to help settle the debate of best baseball movie. This is a theatrical movie, so documentaries are excluded, though that would be a great debate as well. Think our list is wrong? Tell us about it in comments.

As of Monday morning Kickham had not been assigned, so keep an eye on TAG throughout the week the news of where he will begin the 2011 campaign.

TAG 5

1. Bull Durham — 14 (1)*
2. The Sandlot — 13 (2)*
3. Major League — 13*
4. Field of Dreams — 10 (1)
5. The Natural — 6

Others receiving vote:

Mr. Baseball — 2, *61 — 2.

Variety is the name of the game for the March edition of the Missouri Film Alliance of Springfield‘s Queen City Cinema tonight at Moxie Cinema, with two very different and somewhat quirky films showing the more farcical and darkly amusing sides of SGF-area filmmaking. There’s also a late addition providing a look ahead at another local movie often mentioned in the media. Take a look:

Highway Pirates

Jim Bultas‘s film about landlocked pirates and a death-defying drive to deliver a package gets its time on the big screen. Here’s the trailer:

The Death of Alfred Bailey

A student film about a cynical, pessimistic young man plans to end his life only to screw it up and have to endure the efforts of a young woman to show him what he has to live for. Trailerage:

Finally, added on for extra intrigue is the full-length trailer for the locally filmed movie 180 about a rocker trying to turn his life around after a brush with death. In case you can’t make it in person to see it on the giant screen with killer sound, here’s it is:

Remember, Queen City Cinema is FREE to get into and movies begin at 8 p.m.

At TAG, we might not be the most “fashion savvy” but as I pointed out during Sunday’s Oscars watch party live blog, we know attractive (even though we can never find it in the mirror). Our top five today is the female winners from last night’s red carpet and award show. The usual suspects, of course, are there, but what about the hostess? Anne Hathaway kept our interest peaked throughout the long ceremony for the TAG 5 crown.

TAG 5

As of Feb. 28, 2011
1. Anne Hathaway — 14 (2)
2. Halle Berry — 11 (1)
3. Mila Kunis — 9.5 (1)*
4. Jennifer Lawrence — 9
5. Scarlett Johansson — 6
* — unanimous

Others receiving votes:
Natalie Portman — 4, Jennifer Hudson — 3, Reese Witherspoon — 3, Amy Adams — .5.

TAG Votes

Chris DeRosier
1. Anne Hathaway
2. Jennifer Lawrence
3. Natalie Portman
4. Halle Berry
5. Amy Adams/Mila Kunis

Brett Johnston
1. Mila Kunis
2. Halle Berry
3. Jennifer Lawrence
4. Scarlett Johansson
5. Natalie Portman

David Norman
1. Halle Berry
2. Anne Hathaway
3. Jennifer Hudson
4. Mila Kunis
5. Jennifer Lawrence

Allen Vaughan
1. Anne Hathaway
2. Scarlett Johansson
3. Reese Witherspoon
4. Mila Kunis
5. Jennifer Lawrence

Award season is always a special and weird time of year. For those who have seen the movies or heard the songs and albums nominated for awards it’s a chance at validation, and validation is special. Who doesn’t love to root for something that succeeds? It’s also weird because the people doing most of the rooting and hoping for validation are not directly involved in the film or album they’re rooting for; the vested interest comes entirely from experiencing the finished product and not at all from the making of. This weekend is your chance to change that–a little, anyway–during the biggest awards show of the year.

The Missouri Film Alliance of Springfield (MFAS) and TAGsgf.com are bringing you an Oscars watch party this Sunday at the Creamery Arts Center (411 N. Sherman Pkwy. across from Hammons Field, or click here for a map) with a real reason to root. Last year’s most publicized SGF film, Winter’s Bone, is nominated for four Academy Awards (Actor in a Supporting Role for John Hawkes, Actress in a Leading Role for Jennifer Lawrence, Writing (Adapted Screenplay) and the all-important Best Picture) and members of the film’s cast and crew will be in attendance at the party to see if their own movie picks up a prized statuette or four. You can party with them, bringing you one step closer not only to having real vested interest in the movie’s success but to the possibility of witnessing history, as no movie with ties to SGF has ever walked away with an Oscar. The cost for this opportunity is $5 for general public and FREE for MFAS members (How do I become an MFAS member, Chris? Glad you asked) and is shaping up to be the spot to watch the Academy Awards and get all the validation you could want. Here’s a breakdown of what you’re in for:

The Room: The Creamery Arts Center’s spacious conference room is the spot, replete with 65″ flat-screen TV and surround sound and plenty of seating room for patrons. The setup is also a screening room for local filmmakers and happens to be a stone’s throw away from the brand-new editing bay for member filmmakers. Basically, it’s one-stop shopping for SGFers wanting to create and present their latest visual works. Tonight, though, it’s your customizable, flex-seating theater.

Who’s Gonna Be There: Not only will cast and crew members from Winter’s Bone be present, but MFAS members and the public at large. Additionally, the TAGsgf crew will be present with Live Blog at the ready to chronicle the night’s proceedings, both in the room and on the screen.

What’s Gonna Happen: This isn’t just walking into a big room and staring at a big screen. There will be a costume contest with prizes for the person best-dressed as his or her favorite nominated movie character. There will also be contests for picking the night’s winners and a round of Oscars/Missouri film trivia we’re told will be quite the challenge. Eat your heart out, Trebek. Food and drink will be provided by those coming to the party (i.e. potluck and BYOB), so you have the chance to make the snack tray and refreshments table (cups and ice provided) as awesome as you want it to be.

What’s At Stake: History, man/lady. History. Watch this:

All of those films have some sort of tie to Missouri, and none of them have one of those pretty gold statuettes from the Academy to call their own. One independent film, based on local author Daniel Woodrell‘s novel by the same name, has the chance to end that unfortunate streak Sunday night. You won’t want to miss it.

Friday Night Movie Times

Several films make their theater debuts tonight including I Am Number Four, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son and Unknown. Last week Just Go With It, starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston had the highest sales total.  We’ll see if any of the new films this weekend can overtake the number one position.  Also, keep in touch with a comment below if these movie times helped you or if you loved/hated a movie you saw this weekend. We always enjoy your feedback. — Chris Cahill

Last Week’s Top Movies

1. Just Go With It – $30.5M
2. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never – $29.5M
3. Gnomeo and Juliet – $25.5M
4. The Eagle – $8.6M

Dickinson 8

I Am Number Four (PG-13)
7:10, 9:30

Unknown (PG-13)
7:00, 9:20

The Eagle (PG-13)
7:25, 9:50

Gnomeo and Juliet (G)
7:30, 9:25

Just Go With It (PG-13)
7:15, 9:45

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 3D (G)
7:05, 9:35

Sanctum (R)
9:30

The King’s Speech (R)
7:00

Hollywood Theaters

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (PG-13)
7:40, 10:05

I Am Number Four (PG-13)
7:15, 7:45, 9:50

Unknown (PG-13)
6:50, 9:30

The Eagle (PG-13)
7:05, 9:45

Gnomeo & Juliet (G)
6:55, 9:25

Gnomeo & Juliet 3D (G)
7:25, 9:55

Just Go With It (PG-13)
7:00, 7:30, 9:40, 10:10

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (G)
7:15, 10:05

Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D (G)
6:45, 9:35

The Roommate (PG-13)
7:35, 10:15

Sanctum 3D (R)
10:20

No Strings Attached (R)
7:10, 9:50

True Grit (PG-13)
6:40, 9:20

The Moxie

I Love You Phillip Morris (R)
9:45

Barney’s Version (R)
6:30

Blue Valentine (R)
7:00, 9:30

Palace Theatre

Labyrinth (PG)
11:00

Chronicles of Narnia: Dawn Treader (PG)
6:40, 9:20, 11:50

Due Date (R)
7:00, 9:15, 11:25

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 (PG-13)
8:00, 11:05

How Do You Know (PG-13)
6:35, 9:05, 11:40

Life As We Know It (PG-13)
6:45, 9:25, 11:55

Megamind (PG)
6:20, 8:40

The Tourist (PG-13)
6:35, 9:00, 11:15

Tron: Legacy (PG)
6:30, 9:10, 11:45

Wehrenberg Campbell 16

Just Go With It (PG-13)
6:30, 7:15, 9:15, 10:00, 11:55

I Am Number Four (PG-13)
6:35, 7:35, 9:10, 10:10, 11:45

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (PG-13)
6:50, 9:25, 11:55

Unknown (PG-13)
7:20, 9:55

Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D (G)
7:00, 9:30

Justin Bieber Never Say Never (G)
6:15, 8:50, 11:20

The Eagle (PG-13)
7:15, 9:55

The Roommate (PG-13)
6:50, 9:10, 11:25

Gnomeo and Juliet 3D (G)
6:25, 8:45

Gnomeo & Juliet (G)
7:10, 9:20

No Strings Attached (R)
7:45, 10:15

True Grit (PG-13)
7:30, 10:00

Sanctum 3D (R)
10:05

The Rite (PG-13)
9:50

Black Swan (R)
7:25

The Green Hornet 3D (PG-13)
7:20

The accolades for the locally filmed and mostly locally acted Winter’s Bone continue to pile up. And it just went from a great local story to a national powerhouse, thanks to four Oscar nominations announced this morning.

Winter’s Bone earned nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. Of course, it won the Grand Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and picked up steam from there.

To access our previous coverage of Winter’s Bone, click here. We wrote our official review, plus featured a Q&A with the cast and crew, a video Q&A with actress Lauren Sweetser, and its deep local music roots.

You can click here to find the movie’s official website, and the film is out on DVD. Here is just one online store where you can purchase it.

Here are the nominations:

Best picture

• 127 Hours
• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right
• The King’s Speech
• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winter’s Bone

The Academy Awards are Feb. 27 on ABC.

• Inception — 11
• Winter’s Bone — 8 (1)
• Black Swan — 5 (1)
• Despicable — 5 (1)
• Lbs. — 5 (1)
• Due Date — 4
• The Killer Inside Me — 4
• Get Him to the Greek — 3
• Grown Ups — 3
• Tron: Legacy — 2
• Cyrus — 2
• Shutter Island — 2
• You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger — 2
• Wall Street — 1
• Greenberg — 1
• The Social Network — 1
• Hesher — 1

Little Fockers

Last Week’s Leaders

(12/17/10-12/23/10)
1. Tron: Legacy — $44.0M
2. Yogi Bear — $16.4M
3. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader — $12.3M
4. The Fighter — $12.1M
5. Tangled — $8.7M

This weeks trailers

Movie Times

Dickinson Springfield 8

Little Fockers (PG-13):
11:15 a.m., 1:30, 4:25, 7:20
True Grit (PG-13):
11:20 a.m., 1:55, 4:30, 7:25
The Fighter (R):
11:40 a.m., 2:10, 4:40, 7:15
Tron: Legacy (PG):
3D: 11:00 a.m., 1:40, 4:20, 7:00
Yogi Bear (PG):
11:05 a.m., 1:15, 4:05, 7:30
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (PG):
11:35 a.m., 2:05, 4:35, 7:05
The Tourist (PG-13):
11:30 a.m., 1:50, 4:45, 7:10
Tangled (PG):
11:10 a.m., 1:45, 4:15, 7:10

Hollywood Theaters — College Station

Little Fockers (PG-13):
11:15 a.m., 1:15, 1:45, 3:45, 4:15, 6:30, 7:00
True Grit (PG-13):
11:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30, 2:00, 4:00, 4:30, 6:45, 7:15
The Fighter (R:
11:10 a.m., 1:55, 4:40, 7:40
How Do You Know (PG-13):
1:10, 3:55, 6:50
Tron: Legacy (PG):
3D: 10:50, 1:05, 1:40, 4:00, 4:35, 6:55, 7:30
Yogi Bear (PG):
11:25 a.m., 1:35, 4:25, 6:45
3D: 11:55 a.m., 2:05, 5:00, 7:15,
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (PG):
3D: 1:20, 4:20, 7:10
The Tourist (PG-13):
12:00, 2:25, 4:55, 7:25
Tangled (PG):
11:40 a.m., 2:20, 4:45, 7:05
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (PG-13):
1:00, 4:10, 7:20

Moxie Cinema

127 Hours (R):
4:30
Tamara Drewe (R):
2:00 p.m.
Black Swan (R):
1:30, 4:00
Times subject to change, check here.

Palace Theater

Saw: The Final Chapter (R):
1:50, 4:10
Jackass 3 (R):
2:10, 4:35
Red (PG-13):
1:45, 4:05
Easy A (PG-13):
2:00, 4:40
Inception (PG-13):
1:40, 4:30
Despicable Me (PG):
1:55, 4:15

Wehrenberg Campbell 16

Little Fockers (PG-13)
10:00 a.m., 11:10 a.m., 12:25, 1:40, 2:50, 4:10, 5:15, 6:40
True Grit (PG-13):
10:45 a.m., 12:35, 1:50, 3:00, 4:20, 5:25, 6:50
The Fighter (R):
10:15, a.m., 1:00, 3:45, 6:30
How Do You Know (PG-13):
10:45 a.m., 1:35, 4:25, 7:15
Tron: Legacy (PG):
10:30 a.m., 1:30, 4:30, 7:30
3D: 10:00 a.m., 1:00, 4:05, 7:00
Yogi Bear (PG):
11:45 a.m., 1:50, 3:55, 6:00
3D: 10:00 a.m., 12:05, 2:20, 4:35, 6:45
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (PG):
11:00 a.m., 1:45, 4:30, 7:05
3D: 10:00 a.m., 1:05, 3:40, 6:15
The Tourist (PG-13):
10:15 a.m., 1:10, 4:15, 7:00
Black Swan (R):
10:10 a.m., 12:30, 2:50, 5:15, 7:30
Tangled(PG):
10:30 a.m., 12:55, 3:20, 6:00
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (PG-13):
10:25 a.m., 2:50, 6:15

When Calvin Klein finished the titular sentence to name arguably its most famous fragrance, it also laid out a deceptive and unforgiving spectrum for the human mind to navigate. How far is too far? How and when do you come to love something too much? Where do the boundaries end and you stumble, tumble, lurch and bang headlong into the darkest, most monstrous corners of the mind? And when do those corners stop being just corners?

The mind of Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a spinning plate, sane because she makes it be. She is young, extraordinarily coddled both physically and emotionally, sexually repressed and is hyperfocused on one thing in her life: dancing ballet. Nina’s mother (played by Barbara Hershey) was herself a ballerina, one who left her… love behind in order to have a child–Nina, whom she has molded into not only the ballerina she never got to be herself but also a young woman in terminally arrested development. She falls asleep every night to the sound of a music box, keeps a room full of pink hearts and stuffed animals and is… obsessively attended to and cared for by the woman she calls “Mommy.” She literally dreams of dancing as Odette the Swan Princess in Tchaikovsky‘s “Swan Lake,” among the most pressure-filled roles in classical ballet, and when the production comes to Nina’s dance company she’s ready. She has learned every step until she’s perfect at them. She wants the role. But what Nina didn’t dream of was dancing as Odette’s evil twin Odile, who steals Odette’s prince away, leaving Odette trapped in a spell as a swan the rest of her life. The same dancer must inhabit both roles, and according to Nina’s company director Thomas (a dickish, cheauvanistic, womanizing Vincent Cassel) she’s perfect for the innocent, virginal White Swan but doesn’t have what it takes to play Odile, the Black Swan. Nina is too uptight, to scared, too prudish; he wants sexual, raw, dangerous. Nina, he says, hasn’t learned how to lose herself in her performance. He rolls the dice and gives her the lead anyway, even though all the qualities he wants from the Black Swan are evident in newcomer Lily (Mila Kunis), whom Nina is almost immediately suspicious of as a rival as well as quietly taken with. And from there Nina’s plate slowly… stops… spinning.

What director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler) has made is an unnerving, claustrophobic, paranoid, borderline-schizophrenic parallel to Swan Lake and a trip into the dark corners of the mind I mentioned earlier, which he’s not going out of his way to light for you. Most of the movie is shot uncomfortably close to the subjects’ faces on shaking, twitching hand-held cameras. It seems every glance into a mirror or closing of a door comes with a glimpse of some mind-bending “Did you just see that?!” visual you can barely process before it’s gone. The moments of violence are few but unsettling. The film is also unflinchingly harsh in showing the brutal physical toll of ballet. Oh, you’ll flinch when it shows Portman splitting toenails, having her diaphragm worked on and puking in toilets before and after tryouts; it’s the camera that doesn’t. And those aren’t even close to the most cringeworthy scenes. The whole second half of the movie plays out as a long-form dance of metamorphosis, sexuality and psychosis as Nina’s… love of her new role and terror over potentially losing it to someone else leave her spinning plate of sanity teetering closer and closer to… madness. When the plate finally falls the climax is positively jaw-dropping, both horrifying and darkly beautiful. Like a lot of what leads up to it, it will spin through your mind after it’s off screen.

Some of Aronofsky’s storytelling tricks feel over-the-top and sort of gratuitous until they reveal their true nature near the film’s end, and to pull it all off he must put an enormous amount of faith in Portman to believably seem both sheltered and emotionally brittle as well as increasingly unhinged. For her part, Portman gives what has to be the performance of her career so far–which, as long as we’re discounting the Star Wars prequels, is saying something. Kunis, Cassell and Hershey all put in vital work, and Wynona Ryder‘s brief onscreen time as the wrecked outgoing ballet star to Nina’s incoming one is also impactful, but Portman owns Black Swan from start to finish in a way I haven’t seen since Daniel Day Lewis did in There Will Be Blood. She is captivating, disarming, sweet and scary as hell. You’ll want to help her right up to the moment you’ll want to run from her. And you had better run, because when her love and madness collapse upon each other and her plate stops spinning and falls there is no telling what will shatter with it.

Mark Wahlberg and The Fighter is already in award talks.

Last Week’s Leaders

(12/10/10-12/16/10)
1. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader — $24.0M
2. The Tourist — $16.4M
3. Tangled — $14.3M
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 — $8.4M
5. Unstoppable— $3.7M

This weeks trailers

Movie Times

Dickinson Springfield 8

The Fighter (R:
11:40 a.m., 2:10, 4:40, 7:15, 9:55
Tron: Legacy (PG):
3D: 11:00 a.m., 1:40, 4:20, 7:00, 9:40
Yogi Bear (PG):
11:05 a.m., 1:15, 4:05, 7:30, 9:30
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (PG):
11:35 a.m., 2:05, 4:35, 7:05, 9:35
The Tourist (PG-13):
11:30 a.m., 1:50, 4:45, 7:35, 10:05
Burlesque (PG-13):
7:10, 9:50
Tangled (PG):
11:10 a.m., 1:45, 4:15, 7:25, 9:45
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (PG-13):
1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00
Megamind (PG):
11:15 a.m., 1:30, 4:10

Hollywood Theaters — College Station

The Fighter (R:
1:55, 4:40, 7:40, 10:20
How Do You Know (PG-13):
1:10, 3:55, 6:50, 9:45
Tron: Legacy (PG):
3D: 1:05, 1:40, 4:00, 4:35, 6:55, 7:30, 9:50, 10:25
Yogi Bear (PG):
1:30, 4:25, 6:45, 9:05
3D: 2:05, 5:00, 7:15, 9:35
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (PG):
2:00, 4:50, 7:45, 10:35
3D: 1:20, 4:20, 7:10, 10:05
The Tourist (PG-13):
2:25, 4:55, 7:25, 10:00
Burlesque (PG-13):
1:45, 4:30, 7:15, 10:10
Tangled (PG):
2:20, 4:45, 7:05, 9:40
3D: 1:50, 4:15, 6:40, 9:10
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (PG-13):
1:00, 4:10, 7:20, 10:30
Due Date (R):
2:55, 5:15, 7:35, 9:55

Moxie Cinema

127 Hours (R):
3:45, 6:00, 8:15
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (R):
10:30 p.m.
Black Swan (R):
4:30, 7:00, 9:30
Times subject to change, check here.

Palace Theater

Paranormal Activity 2 (R:
1:50, 4:10, 7:00, 9:20, 11:15
Hereafter (2010) (PG-13):
1:30, 4:00, 6:30, 9:10, 11:40
Red (PG-13):
1:45, 4:05, 6:50, 8:55, 11:00
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (PG):
2:15, 4:20
You Again (PG):
2:10, 4:30, 6:50, 9:05, 11:20
Easy A (PG-13):
2:00, 4:40, 7:10, 9:15, 11:25
The Other Guys (PG-13):
6:40, 9:00, 11:30
Inception (PG-13):
1:40, 4:45, 7:45, 10:40
Despicable Me (PG):
1:55, 4:15, 6:45

Wehrenberg Campbell 16

How Do You Know (PG-13):
10:45 a.m., 1:35, 4:25, 7:15, 10:05
Tron: Legacy (PG):
10:30 a.m., 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 10:30
3D: 10:00 a.m., 1:00, 4:05, 7:00, 10:00, 11:15
Yogi Bear (PG):
10:15 a.m., 12:35, 2:50, 5:05, 7:15, 9:35
3D: 10:00 a.m., 12:05, 2:20, 4:35, 6:45, 9:00
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (PG):
11:00 a.m., 1:45, 4:30, 7:05, 9:50
3D: 10:00 a.m., 1:05, 3:40, 6:15, 8:50, 11:30
The Tourist (PG-13):
10:15 a.m., 1:10, 4:15, 7:00, 9:30, 11:55
Black Swan (R):
10:10 a.m., 12:30, 2:50, 5:15, 7:45, 10:10
Burlesque (PG-13):
12:45, 6:20, 11:40
Faster (R):
10:20 a.m., 3:30, 9:10
Love and Other Drugs (R):
1:15, 6:25, 11:25
Tangled(PG):
11:10 a.m., 1:50, 4:15, 6:45, 9:10, 11:35
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (PG-13):
10:25 a.m., 2:50, 6:15, 6:50, 9:35
127 Hours (R):
10:15 a.m., 12:30, 2:45, 5:00, 7:15, 9:30, 11:45
Unstoppable (PG-13):
10:45 a.m., 4:00, 9:05
Due Date (R):
11:20 a.m., 1:50, 4:15, 6:40, 9:10, 11:35
Fighter (NR):
10:15 a.m., 1:00, 3:45, 6:30, 9:10, 11:50

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader opens today.

Last Week’s Leaders

(12/3/10-12/9/10)
1. Tangled — $21.6M
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 — $17.0M
3. Burlesque — $6.1M
4. Unstoppable— $5.9M
5. Love and Other Drugs – $5.6M

This weeks trailers

Movie Times

Dickinson Springfield 8

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (PG):
11:35 a.m., 2:05, 4:35, 7:05, 9:35
The Tourist (PG-13):
11:30 a.m., 1:50, 4:40, 7:30, 9:55
Burlesque (PG-13):
11:05 a.m., 1:55, 4:30, 7:15, 9:50
Love and Other Drugs (R):
11:40 a.m., 2:10, 4:45, 7:20, 10:00
Tangled (PG):
3D: 11:10 a.m., 1:45, 4:15, 7:25, 9:45
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (PG-13):
1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00
The Next Three Days (PG-13):
1:15, 4:05, 7:05
Unstoppable (PG-13):
11:20 a.m., 1:35, 4:25, 7:10, 9:25
Megamind (PG):
11:15 a.m., 1:30, 4:00, 7:00, 9:15

Hollywood Theaters — College Station

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (PG):
2:00, 4:50, 7:45, 10:35
3D: 12:45, 1:20, 3:40, 4:15, 6:35, 7:10, 9:30, 10:05
The Tourist (PG-13):
2:25, 4:55, 7:30, 10:00
The Warrior’s Way (R):
2:10, 4:35, 7:25, 9:45
Burlesque (PG-13):
1:45, 4:25, 7:15, 10:10
Faster (R):
2:05, 4:30, 7:30, 10:05
Love and Other Drugs (R):
1:30, 4:20, 6:55, 9:50
Tangled (PG):
2:20, 4:45, 7:10, 9:40
3D: 1:50, 4:15, 6:40, 9:10
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (PG-13):
1:00, 4:10, 7:20, 10:30
Unstoppable (PG-13):
1:35, 4:05, 6:45, 9:20
Due Date (R):
2:55, 5:15, 7:35, 9:55
Megamind (PG):
3D: 2:20, 4:40, 7:00, 9:20

Moxie Cinema

127 Hours (R):
4:30, 7:00, 9:30
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (R):
7:30
Waiting for Superman (PG):
5:00
Times subject to change, check here.

Palace Theater

Skyline (PG-13):
1:50, 4:10, 7:00, 9:20, 11:00
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (PG):
1:45, 4:05, 6:50, 8:55, 11:00
You Again (PG):
2:10, 4:30, 6:50, 9:05, 11:20
Alpha and Omega (PG):
2:15, 4:20
Easy A (PG-13):
2:00, 4:40, 7:10, 9:15, 11:25
The Town (R):
1:30, 4:00, 6:30, 9:10, 11:40
The Other Guys (PG-13):
6:40, 9:00, 11:30
Inception (PG-13):
1:40, 4:45, 7:45, 10:40
Despicable Me (PG):
1:55, 4:15, 6:45

Wehrenberg Campbell 16

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (PG):
12:25, 3:10, 5:45, 8:20, 11:00
3D: 10:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:05, 2:05, 3:40, 4:40, 6:15, 7:15, 8:50, 9:50, 11:30
The Tourist (PG-13):
10:15 a.m., 1:10, 4:15, 7:00, 9:30, 11:55
The Warrior’s Way (R):
11:35 a.m., 2:00, 4:25, 6:55, 9:25, 11:45
Burlesque (PG-13):
10:45 a.m., 1:30, 4:15, 7:05, 9:55
Faster (R):
11:55 a.m., 2:20, 4:45, 7:25, 9:55
Love and Other Drugs (R):
10:50 a.m., 1:50, 4:15, 6:45, 9:25
Tangled(PG):
11:10 a.m., 1:50, 4:15, 6:45, 9:10, 11:35
3D: 11:40 a.m., 2:10, 4:45, 7:15, 9:40
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (PG-13):
10:00 a.m., 12:40, 2:50, 6:15, 6:50, 9:35
The Next Three Days (PG-13):
3:50, 10:00
127 Hours (R):
10:15 a.m., 12:30, 2:45, 5:00, 7:15, 9:30, 11:45
Unstoppable (PG-13):
12:15, 2:45, 5:15, 7:45, 10:15
Morning Glory (PG-13):
9:45
Due Date (R):
11:20 a.m., 1:50, 4:15, 6:40, 9:10, 11:35
Megamind (PG):
12:10, 2:30, 4:50, 7:10

Drury graduate Chris Beckman has been invited to attend the 2011 Sundance Film Festival where his video oops will be screened in the short film program. Beckman’s video was one of 81 short films chosen for the festival which will be held in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah January 20-30.

Beckman describes his video as, “A lucid, seamless voyage through the Internet’s infinite repository of ‘throwaway’ social documentation and into the humanity of everyday life – via YouTube’s clumsiest videographers.”

Beckman began the project by selecting 100-150 videos off of YouTube of people doing accidental things, such as, dropping the camera. Eventually, Beckman used portions of 40-45 YouTube videos. “It’s cool that people feel free enough to upload videos of them dropping the camera,” Beckman said. “It’s another thing that kind of attracted me to the videos. Salvaging almost useless things to make something that people want to watch.”

Beckman, who graduated from Drury in May 2010 with a degree in Fine Arts in the Department of Art and Art History, originally created the piece for a class called Video Art co-taught by Drury professors Blaine Whisenhunt and Greg Booker with assistance from Brian Shipman, a Drury video instructor.

On being selected for Sundance, Beckman said, “I was really surprised. Definitely pleased. When I first started this project I thought it was a class assignment that I could expand to play in a gallery. The fact that it got a life of its own and all kinds of people appreciate it kind of floored me. It’s exciting.”

Earlier this year, oops won a Vimeo Award, which honors videos that premiere online. Beckman’s video can be viewed at: http://vimeo.com/awards/about#experimental

Beckman plans to attend the Sundance Film Festival next month. Eventually, he hopes to go to graduate school where he will study film or art.

Read the full news release from the Sundance Film Festival at: http://www.sundance.org/press-center/release/2011-short-film-program-announced/

oops from Chris Beckman on Vimeo.

Last Week’s Leaders

(11/26/10-12/2/10)
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 — $49.0M
2. Tangled — $48.7M
3. Megamind — $12.5M
4. Burlesque — $11.9M
5. Unstoppable— $11.4M

This weeks trailers

Movie Times

Dickinson Springfield 8

Burlesque (PG-13):
11:05 a.m., 1:55, 4:35, 7:15, 9:50
Love and Other Drugs (R):
11:40 a.m., 2:10, 4:45, 7:20, 10:00
Tangled (PG):
3D: 11:10 a.m., 1:45, 4:15, 7:25, 9:45
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (PG-13):
1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00
The Next Three Days (PG-13):
1:15, 4:05, 7:05
Unstoppable (PG-13):
11:20 a.m., 1:35, 4:25, 7:10, 9:25
Morning Glory (PG-13):
11:25 a.m., 1:50, 4:20, 7:30, 9:55
Due Date (R):
11:30 a.m., 2:00, 4:40, 7:25, 9:40
Megamind (PG):
11:15 a.m., 1:30, 4:00, 7:00, 9:15

Hollywood Theaters College Station

The Warrior’s Way (R:
2:10, 4:35, 7:25, 9:45
Burlesque (PG-13):
1:45, 4:25, 7:15, 10:10
Faster (R):
2:05, 4:30, 7:30, 10:05
Love and Other Drugs (R):
1:30, 4:20, 6:55, 9:50
Tangled (PG):
2:20, 4:45, 7:10, 9:40
3D: 1:50, 4:15, 6:40, 9:10
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (PG-13):
1:00, 3:10, 3:40, 4:10, 6:20, 6:50, 7:20, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30
The Next Three Days (PG-13):
2:35, 7:05, 10:15
Unstoppable (PG-13):
1:35, 4:05, 6:45, 9:20
Morning Glory (PG-13):
1:40, 4:15, 6:50, 9:25
Due Date (R):
2:55, 5:15, 7:35, 9:55
Megamind (PG):
3D: 2:20, 4:40, 7:00, 9:20

Moxie Cinema

127 Hours (R):
4:30, 7:00, 9:30
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (R):
9:30, 12:00 a.m.
Times subject to change, check here.

Palace Theater

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (PG):
1:45, 4:05, 6:50, 8:55, 11:00
You Again (PG):
2:10, 4:30, 6:50, 9:05, 11:20
Alpha and Omega (PG):
2:15, 7:00
Easy A (PG-13):
2:00, 4:40, 7:10, 9:20, 11:25
The Town (R):
1:30, 4:00, 6:30, 9:10, 11:40
The Switch (PG-13):
6:40, 8:50, 11:00
The Other Guys (PG-13):
4:20, 9:00, 11:30
Inception (PG-13):
1:40, 4:45, 7:45, 10:40
Despicable Me (PG):
1:55, 4:10, 6:45
Toy Story 3 (G):
1:50, 4:15

Wehrenberg Campbell 16

The Warrior’s Way (R):
11:45 a.m., 2:00, 4:25, 6:55, 9:25, 11:45
Burlesque (PG-13):
10:45 a.m., 1:30, 4:15, 7:05, 9:55
Faster (R):
11:55 a.m., 2:20, 4:55, 7:25, 9:55
Tangled(PG):
11:35 a.m., 1:50, 4:15, 6:45, 9:10, 11:35
3D: 10:00 a.m., 11:40 a.m., 12:55, 2:10, 3:25, 4:45, 6:00, 7:15, 9:40
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (PG-13):
12:40, 3:50, 5:45, 7:05, 9:00, 10:15
Digital Projection: 10:00 a.m., 2:50, 6:15, 8:25, 9:35, 11:30
The Next Three Days (PG-13):
12:35, 3:35, 6:35, 9:35
127 Hours (R):
10:15 a.m., 12:30, 2:45, 5:00, 7:15, 9:30, 11:45
Unstoppable (PG-13):
12:15, 2:45, 5:15, 7:45, 10:15
Morning Glory (PG-13):
11:30 a.m., 2:00, 4:30, 7:35, 10:10
Due Date (R):
11:20 a.m., 1:50, 4:15, 6:40, 9:10, 11:35
Megamind (PG):
10:20 a.m., 12:50, 3:20
3D: 12:10, 2:30, 4:50, 7:10, 9:30

Last Week’s Leaders

(10/5/10-11/11/10)
1. Megamind 3D – $46.0M
2. Due Date – $32.6M
3. For Colored Girls – $19.4M
4. Red – $8.6M
5. Saw 3D: The Final Chapter – $7.7M

This weeks trailers

Movie Times

Dickinson Springfield 8

Skyline (PG-13):
11:00 a.m., 1:25, 4:10, 7:05, 9:30
Unstoppable (PG-13):
11:20 a.m., 1:35, 4:25, 7:10, 9:25
Morning Glory (PG-13):
11:25 a.m., 1:50, 4:20, 7:30, 9:55
Due Date (R):
11:30 a.m., 2:00, 4:40, 7:25, 9:40
For Colored Girls (R):
4:15, 9:50
Megamind (PG):
11:15 a.m., 1:30, 4:00, 7:00, 9:15
3D: 11:50 a.m., 2:05, 4:35, 7:30, 9:35
Red (PG-13):
11:45 a.m., 2:15, 4:45, 7:15, 9:45
Secretariat (PG):
1:20, 7:10

Hollywood Theaters College Station

Skyline (PG-13):
1:20, 3:55, 7:10, 9:50
Unstoppable (PG-13):
12:50, 3:35, 6:45, 9:25
Morning Glory (PG-13):
1:10, 4:00, 6:50, 9:45
Due Date (R):
1:15, 1:45, 3:40, 4:10, 7:15, 7:45, 9:35, 10:05
For Colored Girls (R):
1:05, 4:05, 7:05, 10:05
Megamind (PG):
12:45, 3:05, 6:15, 8:35
3D: 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 3:20, 3:50, 4:20, 6:30, 7:00, 8:50, 9:50
Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (R):
3D:: 1:25, 4:25, 7:20, 9:40
Paranormal Activity 2 (R):
1:35, 4:15, 7:40, 10:00
Hereafter (2010) (PG-13):
1:10, 4:00, 6:50, 9:45
Jackass 3 (R):
3D: 7:25, 10:10
Red (PG-13):
1:40, 4:10, 6:55, 9:55
Secretariat (PG):
12:55, 3:45, 6:35, 9:30

Moxie Cinema

It’s Kind of a Funny Story (PG-13):
9:15
Inside Job (PG-13):
6:30
Catfish (PG-13):
7:00, 9:30
Times subject to change, check here.

Palace Theater

Case 39 (R):
2:15, 4:35, 6:50, 9:05, 11:25
Let Me In (R):
2:00, 4:20, 6:40, 9:00, 11:20
Devil (PG-13):
4:50, 9:20
Takers (PG-13):
2:10, 4:30, 6:55, 9:10, 11:30
The Switch (PG-13):
2:25, 4:40, 7:00, 9:15, 11:40
The Other Guys (PG-13):
2:20, 7:10, 11:15
Inception (PG-13):
1:45, 4:45, 8:00, 11:00
Despicable Me (PG):
1:55, 4:10, 6:35, 8:45
Toy Story 3 (G):
1:50, 4:15, 6:30

Wehrenberg Campbell 16

Skyline (PG-13):
11:45 a.m., 2:10, 4:35, 7:05, 9:50
Unstoppable (PG-13):
12:15, 1:15, 2:45, 3:45, 5:15, 6:15, 7:45, 8:45, 10:15, 11:10
Morning Glory (PG-13):
11:50 a.m., 2:25, 4:55, 7:35, 10:10
Due Date (R):
11:20 a.m., 12:10, 1:50, 2:35, 4:15, 5:00, 6:40, 7:25, 9:10, 9:55, 11:35
For Colored Girls (R):
11:00 a.m., 2:00, 5:00, 8:00, 11:00
Megamind (PG):
12:50, 3:20, 5:45, 8:15, 10:40
3D: 11:10 a.m., 11:40 a.m., 1:40, 2:10, 4:00, 4:35, 6:20, 7:00, 9:30
Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (R):
3D: 11:45 a.m, 2:15, 4:25, 6:50, 9:15, 11:30
Paranormal Activity 2 (R):
11:55 a.m., 2:15, 4:30, 6:45, 9:05, 11:20
Conviction (R):
11:00 a.m., 1:30, 4:25, 6:55, 9:30
Hereafter (2010) (PG-13):
2:25, 8:05
Jackass 3 (R):
3D: 8:45, 11:15
Red (PG-13):
11:25, 2:00, 4:45, 7:25, 10:05
Life As We Know It (PG-13):
11:40 a.m., 5:25, 11:00
Secretariat (PG):
11:05 a.m., 1:50, 4:40
Easy A (PG-13):
7:30, 9:45

Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifianakis in a scene from Due Date

Last Week’s Leaders

(10/29/10-11/4/10)
1. Saw 3D: The Final Chapter – $22.5M
2. Paranormal Activity 2 – $16.5M
3. Red – $10.8M
4. Jackass 3D – $8.4M
5. Hereafter – $6.3M

This weeks trailers

Movie Times

Dickinson Springfield 8

Due Date (R):
11:30 a.m., 2:00, 4:40, 7:25, 9:40
For Colored Girls (R):
11:10 a.m., 1:50, 4:30, 7:20, 9:55
Megamind (PG):
11:15 a.m., 1:30, 4:00, 7:00, 9:15
3D: 11:50 a.m., 2:05, 4:35, 7:30, 9:40
Paranormal Activity 2 (R):
11:50 a.m., 2:05, 4:35, 7:05, 9:20
Hereafter (2010) (PG-13):
1:10, 4:10, 7:00, 10:00
Red (PG-13):
11:45 a.m., 2:15, 4:45, 7:15, 9:45
Secretariat (PG):
1:20, 4:20, 7:10, 9:50

Hollywood Theaters College Station

Due Date (R):
1:15, 1:45, 3:40, 4:10, 7:15, 7:45, 9:35, 10:05
For Colored Girls (R):
1:05, 4:05, 7:05, 10:05
Megamind (PG):
3:05, 6:15, 8:35
3D: 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, 3:20, 3:50, 4:20, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, 8:50, 9:20, 9:50
Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (R):
3D:: 1:25, 4:25, 7:20, 9:40
Paranormal Activity 2 (R):
1:35, 4:15, 7:40, 10:00
Hereafter (2010) (PG-13):
1:10, 4:00, 6:50, 9:45
Jackass 3 (R):
3D: 2:05, 4:35, 7:25, 10:10
Red (PG-13):
1:40, 4:10, 6:55, 9:55
Life As We Know It (PG-13):
1:20, 3:55, 6:40, 9:25
Secretariat (PG):
12:55, 3:45, 6:35, 9:30

Moxie Cinema

It’s Kind of a Funny Story (PG-13):
6:45, 9:15
Heartbreaker (NR):
7:00
A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop (R):
9:30
Times subject to change, check here.

Palace Theater

Case 39 (R):
2:15, 4:35, 6:50, 9:05, 11:25
Devil (PG-13):
4:50, 9:50
Machete (R):
2:00, 4:20, 6:35, 8:55, 11:10
Takers (PG-13):
2:10, 4:30, 6:55, 9:10, 11:30
The Switch (PG-13):
2:25, 4:40, 7:00, 9:15, 11:40
The Other Guys (PG-13):
2:20, 7:10, 11:15
Inception (PG-13):
1:45, 4:45, 8:00, 11:00
Despicable Me (PG):
1:55, 4:10, 6:40, 8:45
Toy Story 3 (G):
1:50, 4:15, 6:30

Wehrenberg Campbell 16

Due Date (R):
11:20 a.m., 12:10, 1:50, 2:35, 4:15, 5:00, 6:40, 7:25, 9:10, 9:55, 11:35
For Colored Girls (R):
11:00 a.m., 1:45, 4:30, 7:15, 10:00
Megamind (PG):
12:50, 3:20, 5:45, 8:15, 10:40
3D: 11:10 a.m., 11:40 a.m., 1:40, 2:05, 4:00, 4:35, 6:20, 9:15, 11:30
Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (R):
11:45 a.m, 2:05, 4:25, 6:50, 9:15, 11:30
Conviction (R):
4:00, 6:30, 9:00
Paranormal Activity 2 (R):
11:55 a.m., 2:15, 4:30, 6:45, 9:05, 11:20
Hereafter (2010) (PG-13):
12:00, 3:00, 6:30, 9:40
Jackass 3 (R):
3D: 8:45, 11:15
Red (PG-13):
11:25, 2:00, 4:45, 7:25, 10:05
Life As We Know It (PG-13):
11:05 a.m., 1:45, 4:25, 7:05, 9:45
Secretariat (PG):
11:05 a.m., 1:50, 4:35, 7:20, 10:05
The Social Network (PG-13):
1:35, 4:20, 7:20, 10:10
Easy A (PG-13):
12:45, 3:00, 5:15, 7:40, 9:55
Waiting Supe (NR):
11:10 a.m., 1:35, 4:05, 6:35, 9:00

Saw 3D

Last Week’s Leaders

(10/22/10-10/28/10)
1. Paranormal Activity 2 – $40.6M
2. Jackass 3D – $21.3M
3. Red – $15.0M
4. Hereafter – $12.0M
5. The Social Network – $10.3M

This weeks trailers

Movie Times

Dickinson Springfield 8

Paranormal Activity 2 (R):
11:50 a.m., 2:00, 4:30, 7:05, 9:20
Hereafter (2010) (PG-13):
1:10, 4:10, 7:00, 9:50
Jackass 3D (R):
12:20, 2:35, 4:55, 7:25, 9:35
Red (PG-13):
11:45 a.m., 2:15, 4:45, 7:15, 9:45
Life As We Know It (PG-13):
11:55 a.m., 2:25, 5:00, 7:30, 10:00
My Soul To Take (R):
12:10, 2:30, 4:50, 7:20, 9:55
Secretariat (PG):
1:20, 4:20, 7:10, 9:50
The Social Network (PG-13):
12:05, 2:45, 5:10, 7:35, 10:05

Hollywood Theaters College Station

Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (R):
3D:: 1:25, 4:25, 7:20, 9:50
Paranormal Activity 2 (R):
1:05, 1:35, 3:50, 4:20, 7:10, 7:40, 9:30, 10:00
Hereafter (2010) (PG-13):
1:10, 4:00, 6:50, 9:45
Jackass 3 (R):
1:05, 3:35, 6:25, 9:10
3D: 1:35, 2:05, 4:05, 4:35, 6:55, 7:25, 9:40, 10:10
Red (PG-13):
1:40, 4:10, 7:05, 9:55
Life As We Know It (PG-13):
1:20, 3:55, 6:40, 9:25
My Soul To Take (R):
3D: 9:30
Secretariat (PG):
1:00, 3:45, 6:30, 9:20
The Social Network (PG-13):
1:50, 4:30, 7:10, 9:50
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (PG):
3D: 1:55, 4:20, 7:00
Easy A (PG-13):
1:45, 4:15, 7:15, 10:05
The Town (R):
1:15, 4:00, 6:45, 9:35

Moxie Cinema

Let Me In (R):
9:00
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (R):
9:15
Never Let Me Go (R):
6:30
Lebanon (R):
7:00
Times subject to change, check here.

Palace Theater

Devil (PG-13):
2:20, 4:50, 7:10, 9:20, 11:35
The American (R):
2:00, 4:20, 6:45, 8:55, 11:10
The Last Exorcism (PG-13):
2:10, 4:30, 6:50, 9:10, 11:20
The Expendables (R):
4:40, 9:05
The Other Guys (PG-13):
2:15, 4:35, 7:00, 9:15, 11:40
Inception (PG-13):
1:45, 4:45, 8:00, 11:00
Despicable Me (PG):
1:55, 4:10, 6:40, 8:45
Grown Ups (PG-13):
2:30, 6:55, 11:25
Toy Story 3 (G):
1:50, 4:15, 6:30