I love music so much. It’s such a deeply influential part of my existence that I don’t think I could live without it. Not just musicals, where the characters sing out the plot and stage big dance numbers. I’m talking about movies that center around the theme of music, and that are fueled by a love of it. These are some of my favorite films that celebrate music.

5.) Empire Records – A great little movie from 1995 that stars of group of virtual unknowns at the time. Of those unknowns were Renee Zellweger and Liv Tyler, two girls who work at an independent record store that is threatened by a huge music chain. It is filled with quirky performances and a terrific soundtrack from the 80s and early 90s. Hey, it’s Rex Manning Day!

4.) This Is Spinal Tap – A hilarious send-up of over the top stage shows and rock and roll antics. The film that launched the long and glorious career of comedic director Christopher Guest, seen here cranking up the knob to eleven.

3.) Cherish – An independent film from 2002, this film stars Robin Tunney as a shut-in who continually calls in to her favorite radio station to request weird pop tunes. She’s framed for hitting, and killing, an officer with her car, and is put under house arrest. Her ankle bracelet technician, played by the awesomely strange and wonderful Tim Blake Nelson (of O Brother, Where Art Thou?), finds himself drawn to this unusual woman. Love this movie, fantastic soundtrack that includes Hall and Oates, Animotion, and Tom Petty.

2.) Once – The little movie that could. It took home the Best Original Song Academy Award last year for the beautiful gem, “Falling Slowly.” A heartbreaking movie, it concerns the lives of two poor people living and breathing music as they attempt to struggle through their feelings for one another.

1.) Almost Famous – My favorite because it truly embraces rock and roll. It is funny, sad, sweet, and intelligent. Kate Hudson as Penny Lane would describe my life if I had been a beautiful, carefree girl in the 70s. I would be a free spirit, following my favorite band across the country, just to hear them play.

Where Inkheart was clearly intended for kids, this film falls more into the “art” category than “children’s.” It is truly a breathtaking spectacle.

Coraline

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Keith David, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Ian McShane, and the PC guy from those Mac commercials.

Rated: PG

IMDb Rating – 8.5
RottenTomatoes – 88%

Sample Review –

Coraline is strange and bizarre and undeniably beautiful.

I think that is what sets this movie apart from anything I have seen in a long while. It is beautiful. The whole film feels so hand-crafted, each individual piece so lovingly wrought, that despite the films lagging pace, the visual feast more than makes up for it. Slow moments in the film allowed to me study the backdrop, the tiny stitches in the characters, the effectiveness of the voice acting.

Let me just say that Dakota Fanning is perhaps one of the greatest actresses of our generation. I know that’s tough to plunk down, but this girl was astounding in her younger years, and is promising to be even better in the coming ones. Her voice work in this movie is nothing short of amazing. The whole while I was watching, I was also listening, too. I just couldn’t believe that she voiced the character of Coraline. Though I knew it was Dakota, the voice was so expressive and interesting that it didn’t sound anything like what I imagined. Great work. Teri Hatcher also did a great job, which was unexpected.

As you watch the film, keep an eye on the elements surrounding the characters. There are bugs, mice, moving pictures, flowers that rustle in the breeze. It all comes to life on the screen.

I am not going to spoil the film’s plot, because it is better to just go and see it for yourself. If you can see it in 3-D, I highly recommend it. Your eyes will thank you.

The Academy Award nominees have been announced. Here are my reactions.

Best Actor:

Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) – This nomination really surprised me. I’ve always thought he was a fun, recognizable character actor, but I hadn’t realized that he had finally been given a starring role, and one that would take him to the top of the ballot.

Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) – Another guy I’m surprised to see on the list. I’ve yet to see Frost/Nixon, but it’s up there on my list to watch in the near future. He’s always intrigued me, and looks to be damned good in this film.

Sean Penn (Milk) – Milk was, indeed, a good film, and his performance was certainly a departure from the dour, too-serious roles he’s taken in the past few years.

Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) – This felt like a wasted nomination. He wasn’t that good. In fact, his performance was very similar to Interview with the Vampire: somber, plodding, and monotone. While I like both films, Brad just didn’t deserve a nod. (Now for 12 Monkeys, that nomination was well deserved. He was completely, and awesomely, insane.)

Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) – If there is any justice in the Academy, Mickey will take it this year. This was the best performance by an actor I’ve seen in any film of 2008. I thought his face might be a bit on the distracting side, but he managed to overcome everything and draw me directly into the movie.

Best Actress:

Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married) – Love her. She can be fun, spunky, serious, all the while maintaining a bit of class and grace. She’s sort of a…Natalie Wood of this generation.

Angelina Jolie (Changeling) – Seriously? She’d better be thanking Clint Eastwood for being an amazing director, because she would have been pretty craptacular on her own. He was sadly skipped in almost every category for Gran Turino, and that was a crime; it deserved far more credit.

Melissa Leo (Frozen River) – No comment, as I’ve yet to see this film.

Meryl Streep (Doubt) – She is an American classic, and this nomination is entirely deserved. Instead of portraying Sister Aloysius as a hell-bent villain, she enriches the character with layers of guilt, suspicion, and regretful determination, rendering her utterly human.

Kate Winslet (The Reader) – I like her, but I think people are giving her too much credit by calling her “underrated.” She’ll win an Oscar one of these years, but I’m not sure it should be this year.

Supporting Actor/Actress:

I’m going to safely call Heath Ledger the winner in the male category. It’s difficult to argue with me, I think, since he is unable to make any more films and he was robbed of his Oscar for Brokeback Mountain. Sometimes it’s about politics, but he was also brilliant and captivating as The Joker.

The actress category is a little tougher, as there were some outstanding performances. I am going to guess that Marissa Tomei might be a worthy contender, considering she would actually earn this Oscar for an, indeed, stellar performance, as opposed to her crackpot win for My Cousin Vinny.

Best Picture:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Why is this on the nomination list at all? It’s a long-ass movie with horrible CGI and some very wooden acting by Brad Pitt. Some of the supporting characters are laughable. If anyone should be recognized for anything it’s Cate Blanchett for looking drop dead gorgeous throughout.

Frost/Nixon – Have yet to see it, but Ron Howard usually directs some compelling films. Might be a contender.

Milk – Good film, and a biopic, which usually adds to the probability of a win. I just don’t think it’s had nearly the impact that it claims.

The Reader – A slow burn. I really liked this film, but it is not considered the best of the list by most.

Slumdog Millionaire – Critics of this film (citizens of Mumbai, Salman Rushdie) claim that it depicts India in an unflattering light, and that it is a bit too far fetched. However, the film is original, well paced, the acting (especially by the children) is fantastic. It is, despite a bleak beginning, a hopeful tale of love and family. I fell in love with this movie, and can certainly see it taking home Best Picture.

So Villaintechnicians, Halloween is right around the corner. What have you done to get into the spooky mood? Some of you have probably spent time picking out costumes, others buying bulk candy and creepy decorations for your lawns. Me? I’ve been watching scary movies.

I love them. And, from time to time, I enjoy revisiting the scary films that I haven’t seen in a while, just to judge if they withstand the test of time. Poltergeist, the movie that helped spark my irrational fear of clowns, definitely lives up to the hype that it has received as one of the scariest movies of all-time.

The film tells the story of a suburban family who occupy one of the father’s (played by a hilarious Craig T. Nelson) pre-fabricated homes that he sells. It is located in a neighborhood that is comprised of many homes that look exactly alike, all built upon a (what they believe to be) relocated cemetery.

Soon, strange occurrences, such as breaking glass and moving furniture, begin to shake up the mother (played by JoBeth Williams). Little Carol Anne disappears, and the film follows the family as they attempt to reclaim their little girl from the spirits who have abducted her.

Sadly, the sequels lacked the scares and perfect timing that made the first one so magically frightening. Everything is just campier and silly, including the possessed tequila worm in Poltergeist II, and the idiotic addition of the “mirror people” in the very sub-par Poltergeist III.

But the truly creepy thing about this trilogy is the chain of mysterious deaths surrounding it. The Poltergeist Curse claimed the lives of several of the films’ actors, including the adorable Heather O’Rourke, the beautiful little girl who portrayed young Carol Anne in all three films.

I enjoyed re-watching the trilogy, but the first film is undeniably superior. For your viewing pleasure, here are my top five favorite scary moments from the original Poltergeist:

5.) The Chairs
4.) Carol Anne’s Rescue
3.) Crawling Steak/Peeling Flesh
2.) The Clown (I know a certain reader will agree with me on this one.)

And the number one moment that creeped me out, the one that sends chills down my spine every time I watch it, despite its low-key nature, is…

1.) Tangina’s Monologue

This is a comedy for young teenagers. Remember this, because the advertising and trailers, especially the blue backlit poster of a young, monster-headed Rainn Wilson, marketed The Rocker in the vein of R-rated comedies such as The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. It is anything but.

“The Rocker”

Rated: PG-13

Starring: Rainn Wilson (The Schrutinator!), Christina Applegate, Teddy Geiger, Josh Gad, and Emma Stone.

IMDb Rating: 6.1
RottenTomatoes: 36% Rotten (Ouch.)

Sample Review:

It’s totally predictable, but if you’ve ever nursed a rock-star fantasy at any age, it’s impossible to hate this. And the three kids are really good.

Yes, this movie is predictiable, but I wouldn’t necessarily say the three kids are “really good.” Teddy Geiger plays the emo lead of a floundering garage band that is sorely in need of a drummer in order to play their big prom gig. His fat, curly headed keyboardist just so happens to be related to the former drummer of the Guns & Roses-esque band Vesuvius.

Robert Fishman, also known as Fish (Wilson), has not drummed in 20 years, due to the volatile break up he had with his band as they moved on to bigger, better things. Left in their wake, Fish takes on corporate jobs while struggling to keep his long hair and rocker image, and living daily with the reminder that his friends abandoned him, and the music, for fame and fortune. Confronted with this new opportunity to be in a working band again, Fish decides to join his nephew’s high school band, A.D.D.

A semi-successful prom performance and a naked drumming YouTube video later, and these kids are a hit. Here is where the movie takes a turn into Disney channel follow-your-dreams crap. Fame, touring, and a music video are dumped into their laps, seemingly without reason. What’s worse, their parents consent to let three underage kids tour with Fish…obviously not a good idea, considering his propensity for drinking heavily and being utterly irresponsible.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun hour and a half, so I can’t really fault the film. There are a few heartfelt and inspirational moments, but all of them pale in comparison to the similar yet superior School of Rock. Dwight…er…Rainn is acceptable in his role. He got a few chuckles out of me. But I felt that his character was sorely out of his element in a feel good teen movie. This guy should have been the center of a film worthy of the title: a filthy raunch-fest with a heart of gold. This movie was a few good boobies and beers short of awesome, and the character of poor Fish got the Vesuvius treatment because of it.

Two bright spots of the film are Emma Stone and Josh Gad. Emma is an alumni of one of the funniest movies of last year, Superbad. Here she’s not given as much to work with, but she is still enjoyable as the “post-modern…punk…girl” bassist whose untamable red hair and decidedly atypical music video looks get the best of her. Gad, who was one of the more memorable minor characters in the movie 21, again plays the hopeless nerd, this time behind a keyboard (where he obviously belongs).

But perhaps my greatest complaint about the film is the music. The movie is called The Rocker for Bono’s sake. These kids should have been playing some hardcore power tabs and actually rocking! Instead, their whiney little lead singer writes sad ballads and whips them out in Coldplay-ish arrangements, mid-tempo filler complete with sappy keyboard parts. I would expect a longtime rock dude like Fish to knock some sense into these kids and introduce them to some actual rock and roll music, inject some Dio or Rolling Stones into their sad Top 40 lives.

The Rocker? This movie should have been called The Soft Rocker. Or maybe The Adult Contemporary Artist.

Not everything is as it seems. That woman you’re sitting by? She’s actually an agent for the mob. That guy you’ve been spending every Tuesday’s lunch hour with? He has been following you and keeping tabs on your financial situation since July of ‘04. I imagine that’s the idea behind this movie, that the world is actually The Bourne Identity, and we’re all some player’s pawns in a sadistic game of chess.

Or maybe not.

“Burn After Reading”

Starring: John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins (oh THAT guy!), JK Simmons (Juno’s Dad), and Brad Effin’ Pitt (who just happens to be the MAN in this movie).

Rated R – For lots and lots of awesome language and violence. Bring on the violence.

IMDb Rating – 8.1
RottenTomatoes – 79% Freshness

Sample Review –

“In the world of the Coens’ darkly funny film, we’re all going to hell and the only possible response is to sit back and be amused by the sheer absurdity of the ride.”

If you have an appreciation for meta filmmaking, then this farce from the Coen brothers just may be right up your alley. What begins with a slow start, setting the scene of cheating spouses, lost jobs, and a Mormon joke, begins to escalate into a hilarious spoof on empty spy films, the likes of which have topped the box office for decades.

Where “Get Smart” was all physical comedy and the charm of Steve Carell, “Burn After Reading” is the smarter film. It relies on witty dialogue, especially from a pair of clueless CIA types, whose office banter ties up the film perfectly and had the audience rolling with laughter. Dramatic irony is used to great effect in the film, tormenting the odd characters and confusing the sane ones.

As far as acting is concerned, John Malkovich is the only one who is playing his standard role: John Malkovich. Albeit now, he’s a cranky, bald, sad-sack who has an affinity for F-bombs. George Clooney is a smooth-talking, bed-hopping family man and dumb-as-rocks CIA agent, who finds himself firing his gun for the first time in 30 years, to hilarious results. Frances McDormand is just plain kooky, in her role as the strung-out, self-conscious middle aged gym rat, and it was difficult to watch her…but I couldn’t turn away.

The person who runs away with the film, surprisingly, is Brad “The Man” Pitt. Though in his 40s, he looks twenty-five here, and convincingly acts like it. His dialogue is golden, his physical comedy riotous, and I love that he stretched from his usual cerebral or tough guy schtick and just gave a genuinely enjoyable performance.

This is a fun film. While not one of the more combustive, such as “No Country for Old Men,” it is a joy to watch. I recommend seeing in a theater, just to see and experience the reactions of other film-goers. It’s sure to delight and surprise. *evil grin*

The worst movie in the world grossed ten million dollars. Think about this for a moment. Imagine each of those dollars as a separate entity, nearly powerless on their own, or perhaps utilized to purchase a breakfast sandwich or cup of stale coffee. But in the hands of wayward movie-goers, these harmless dollars united to fund, what many Internet users believe to be, the most horrible monstrosity to ever befall human eyes.

The offender, a delightful gem of film by the name of Disaster Movie, skyrocketed, or more appropriately plummeted, to Internet Movie Database’s Bottom 100. That in itself is an achievement, considering this is a list populated by some of the most foul dreck the silver screen has ever encountered.

IMDb’s Bottom 100 features a number of critically acclaimed pieces. One such film, The Hottie and the Nottie, is a touching love story of inner beauty masterfully portrayed by the devine acting talents of Ms. Paris Hilton. Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2, a captivating work of science fiction from the imagination of director Bob Clark III (he of A Christmas Story fame), also graces this prestigious list.

It takes a certain amount of dedication and aptitude to claim the title of “Worst Movie Ever Made,” and for a film to have attained this status in such a short amount of time, I am forced me to reconsider my existance. Nothing I will ever produce in my lifetime will earn ten million dollars. The mere thought wrenches my soul out through my chest, leaving behind nothing but bitterness and student loans. Maybe I am pursuing the wrong goal. Maybe I should start affixing random celebrity characatures and plotlines from various summer blockbusters – with no care as to how they are arranged, nor giving any thought to the deeper social implications such a haphazard display might impart – to a dartboard and start watching the money flow.