HE'S BACK!!!

Okay, so I'm chillin at Prospect Park in Brooklyn reading a wonderful book called A Confederacy Of Dunces, when I get a text message from my friend ordering me to get to the nearest computer and witness the new Joe Pesci trailer...I can't even describe my excitement upon reading this! I finished a few more chapters and maybe enjoyed a half hour of the official NO BRA day at the park (I swear it was not just a coincidence) and then made my way home... Now my man Joe hasn't been in a movie since having a two minute scene in Bobby DeNiro's strange but interesting, "The Good Shepard" so this is kind of a big deal. The return of Joe Pesci is something that warms my heart. Who doesn't love this guy's work??? Just think back to Pesci's career and you'll be blown away on the impressiveness of his body of work. From films like Raging Bull and Lethal Weapon 2,3 and 4 to classics like My Cousin Vinny and Home Alone...and then you have Casino. I mean come on. How awesome is Joe Pesci in Casino?!?! He's one of the only actors I can remember that is unrecognizable in his mannerisms that make each performance so memorable. If I can now touch on one more Pesci film, and yes, that film is Goodfellas!!!!!!!! This is what he'll be remembered for and it will be forever known as one of the greatest supporting performances of all time. He absolutely blows me away in this flick which might just happen to be one of the three best movies ever made...jus sayin! But now he's back and you gotta see him in this new trailer. I mean I'm ecstatic and it's only a preview. The film is called Love Ranch and Pesci stars opposite Helen Mirren and it's about the first ever whore house in Nevada. This one might be epic. He looks old and cool and it appears as if were gonna be blessed with some long awaited crazy ass Pesci. Suffice it to say, I can't wait. On to the next. I've been a lucky viewer these past few weeks. Aside from the aforementioned Brooklyn bra escapade I was privy to this afternoon I was also able to squeeze in two great films. Go to the movies and see Get Him To The Greek. This flick was hilarious. Now I must admit I was and still am a HUGE fan of Forgetting Sarah Marshall. That movie is one of my favorites, I pretty much love everything about it. Russel Brand as Aldous Snow does steal the show and now he gets his own movie starring opposite Jonah Hill and Diddy...Come on! This shit killed me. And my man Diddy nearly stole this one! There's no way you don't enjoy the shit outta this one...if you don't you're a douche bag! Were gonna jump to a drama here but don't get sad because this comes with a performance like no other. And it comes from The greatest(can I call him that? I think he just might be) Al Pacino in the HBO original, "You Don't Know Jack" After a string of shit films (and believe me, that pains me to say) he's dropped a classic one on us. He plays Jack Kavorkian and he plays him to perfection. I don't even remember much about that guy but now every time I hear his name I'm just gonna think of old as fuck, but still doing his thing Al P. Were blessed to have him in our lives. I have Good Will Hunting on in the background and I'm so going to go watch the rest. Fuck I LOVE this movie. I'll be back SOON with the best topic ever...I have no idea what that is yet but it's probably movie related! I'll say hi to Matt and Ben for ya! Later.

GO SEE....

Yes I've been away forever, I had a computer related problem...IT BROKE!!! So now I've hustled my way into my ex-bosses office just to BLOG to you...So listen up (MOM!) I've recently had the pleasure of seeing an exceptional documentary called EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP...this flick stands alone as maybe one of the single most fascinating docs I've seen in recent years. It's about a British graffiti artist named Banksy and believe me when I say this, this dude is the truth! Make a list of things to see and put this on the tip-top! Add to cart Kick Ass, which was a blast to watch. Throw in a lil BETTY WHITE AND JAY-Z on SNL (you can find it on HULU or NBC.COM) sprinkle a few new trailers in there as well. I just watched a a preview of the upcoming DiCaprio flick and it looks RIGHTEOUS!!! Can this guy do anything wrong...NO! Everybody who watches movies should start looking at Leonardo DiCaprio as one of this generations greatest artists. This guy has repeatedly delivered one solid performance after another. He never seems to compromise his status as one of the most serious actors around. I've been watching this guy do gritty work for nearly two decades now and he just seems to keep getting bigger and better. Go back and check out Total Eclipse or Basketball Diaries and see for yourself. The fact that he's now Scorsese's go to guy and has the lead roll in maybe this summers coolest looking movie (INCEPTION) directed by Christopher Nolan of Memento and the new Batman franchise fame puts him on this pedestal I just don't see him coming down from for a long long while. Honestly, I like to watch The Departed quite often, well, for many reasons but a big one is just to see Jack Nicholson and Leo do there thing. Two legends on screen together- there's no bigger high for me! There will always be a huge space in my heart for Jack from Titanic!!! A couple of side notes as well: Saw Magruber this weekend and damn this was a funny ass movie! As far as SNL skits tuned into feature lengths films go...this one was up there! seriously, I haven't laughed this hard since, well like two days ago when I watched Pineapple Express for the 900th time! Stay tuned cause I'll be back faster than you can say blueberry pancakes for a whole new tangent on the worlds greatest film festival, the new Will Ferrell and Marky Mark flick and JOE PESCI...YES I SAID JOE PESCI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't call it a comeback... Later.

A Prophet

Where have I been all this time??? Why do I take way too long to update this? Amy Adams did it like every day in that awesome movie and I wanna be I wanna be like AMY! If I could be like AMY!!! So I'm back with a whole new set of issues to discuss...In the past few weeks I've gotten over my distaste of this years Oscar ceremony(just not the most memorable this year)I've seen some good, actually GREAT flicks and happen to fall in love all in the span of like three weeks. God bless NYC! So I don't wanna get into bitchin about the Oscars and how I wasn't satisfied with all the winners and the fact that Sandra took best actress for a movie like the Blind Side. Don't get me wrong everybody (including myself loves Sandra Bullock) but come on- this is the Oscars. Give it to Carrie Mulligan or my girl Precious. All complaining aside it's cool to see Sandra get her due...kind of. This leads me to my next subject: Foreign language film. I already forgot which film won(shame on me) and I'm sure it's great but about 23 hours before the Oscars I had the pleasure of watching this years nominee for best foreign language film out of France...and I can't stress this enough this film was PERFECT! THE PROPHET is one of those movies that won't get it's due for years to come despite incredible reviews. The story of a half French half Arabic 19 year old whose just been sentenced to a shitload of years in prison and how he has to work his way up the food chain. At most times brutal but all times compelling and oh so well acted, I mean these guys are the real deal. This film is the reason why I go to the movies. FOR REAL! It's the third feature from director Jacques Audiard and this guy is becoming my new hero. After directing two other brilliant films, "READ MY LIPS" and "THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED" I'm psyched for this guy Y'all. This guy is the future. He's on his way to a perfect track record and that is hard for a director nowadays. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is a perfect film. I'll never forget this movie and I want everybody to see it!!! Find a way to see THE PROPHET (Un Prophète) and SEE IT...PLEASE!!! Now to close out a lil personal matter I've been going through. I think I've fallen in love and I wasn't sure until we watched GOODFELLAS together and she was so into it...I was in heaven I tell ya. But why is it that I fall in love simply because of an amazing evening of Scorsese? I think I might have a problem. Plus I feel I've completely lost the ability to talk to women. I can just hope to watch a great gangster flick with em and come together on that...Until next time when I discuss Jude Law's awesome haircut and how I think it's bound to make REPO MEN just a blast I wish you all my love and bid you a fine farewell...Later!

...OH IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!

Now to be completely honest I don't think words can describe how excited I am for what's about to go down on Sunday! I'm probably wasting my time blogging about it because how do I convey all the excitement I have in me to this one little page??? I will try... First off, we get TWO hosts this year. And folks, these are two of our greatest entertainers IN HISTORY! I grew up on Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin has transformed himself from an A-list actor to an absolute GENIUS OF COMEDY!!! He is the reason I watch TV. For these two to come together and host the Oscars of all things, well let's just say that's the best thing to happen to Benji since the invention of those dollar movie rental machines they pit in front of grocery stores, I love those! ...Or the announcement of a fifth Die Hard installment(that's right, I just heard that recently) Suffice it to say I'm pretty juiced for these two legends to be up there together. On to the predictions...Okay, so I gotta be completely honest here, I wish with all my heart Inglorious Basterds would walk away with the Best Picture award and many more, that was a film of true originality and a level of entertainment blended with ONE HELL OF A STORY, plus I really LOVE BRAD PITT!!! With that said, I'm pretty sure Avatar will walk away with the Best Picture award, although if there's any one else that's gonna take it's gonna be The Hurt Locker and rightfully so. That film was an adrenaline rush I wont soon forget. If Avatar wins Best Pic, then I think Best Director will go to Kathryn Bigalow. She's been in the game for a long time and directed one of my all time favorite action movies, POINT BREAK! I think that alone should get her an Oscar! But seriously, she will probably win if Avatar takes the cake, it could always go to James Cameron too or vise versa but that's kinda unlikely. My man Jeff Bridges is a lock, and HELL YEAH for that one...Who doesn't LOVE Jeff Bridges. I just recently rented and watched The Last Picture Show in honor of my man Mr. Bridges. He's had an unbelievable career in film and isn't slowin down one bit. He'll get his due on Sunday! The Best Actress is a tricky one. I wanna say Sandra will get it, and good for her, She's great. But if there's any surprise there it will go to the woman, the myth, the legend Meryl Streep. But that could also split voters apart and the wonderful Gabourey Sidibe from Precious could wind up a surprise pick. What a performance from that woman. But I honestly think Sandra will take it. Monique is also a lock for supporting actress and the same goes for my man Christoph Walz for his ridiculous show stealing performance in the MASTERPIECE Inglorious Basterds ( wow, I really like this movie huh!) I would like to add how cool I think it is to see Woody Harrelson nominated for the second time in his great career. I love you Woody! Best Original Screenplay should go to Quentin Tarantino (YAY) if that doesn't happen I'll be spitting at the television and ripping my hair out like it was The 2002 World Series (the Yanks lost to Arizona in the 9th) OUCH! Best Adapted Screenplay should go to Up In The Air, and make no mistake that movie will most likely be overshadowed on Oscar nigh but it was a GREAT film with an even GREATER performance from George Clooney (god bless that man) and the lovely Ana Kendrick and Vera Farmiga. But hooray for Jason Reitman who will walk away with that screenplay award. There is also a film called In The Loop up for Best Screenplay, this film was pretty much a blast and the screenplay was absolutely AMAZING! I'm just saying, we had a pretty good year! RECAP time... Best Picture: Avatar (most likely) fingers crossed for Hurt Locker. Best Actor: Jeff Bridges. Best Actress: Sandra Bullock. Best Supporting Actress: Monique. Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Walz. Best Director: Kathryn Bigalow. Best (original) Screenplay: Inglorious Basterds. Best (adapted) Screenplay: Up In The Air. So there you have it, the main categories at least. And don't think I'm not drooling over the cinematography and editing awards either, I just don't wanna completely geek out on y'all here (TOO LATE!) So, I wish you all a most wonderful OSCAR NIGHT, I truly do! Let's just enjoy this one eh!!! Oh yeah, look out for Avatar to most likely just dominate most of the night effects wise and shit. Enjoy the ACADEMY AWARDS everybody! Later-

I've been busy...watching movies!!!

I haven't blogged in over a month. In that time so much has happened. The super bowl, Oscar nominations, SHUTTER ISLAND. But I have to be honest here...it's not like I'm out curing cancer, I've just been working and watching movies and sometimes watching movies while I work and even occasionally skipping work to watch a movie! In the past month I've seen so many movies that it's hard to think of which ones I need to let my peoples know about so they can change your lives like they did mine. I went ape shit for Shutter Island, I love everything Dicaprio and this one just solidifies it for me even more. What Scorsese is to the world of cinema is an absolute gem...it truly doesn't get better than Martin Scorsese. With Shutter Island he proves once again that he is the master of all cinema in tackling the horror/sduspense genre with the same commitment and perfect touch as he does the gangster epic or the biopic...I love all his films and when he's got Leo it just makes it even more enjoyable. If you haven't seen it yet, GO SEE IT! I also recently watched Edge of Darkness. And I have to say, it's definitely just your run of the mill revenge/action/drama but boy was it AWESOME to see Mel Gibson back on the big screen. That man has a special place in my heart, always has and always will. I could care less if he's kinda crazy, the same goes for Tom Cruise. Whether you rent it or see it in theaters, give Edge Of Darkness a go... Mel deserves it. Other movies to see if you want a good time, Everyone's Fine with Bobby DeNiro... I cried and cried on this beautiful movie about a father who takes a road trip to visit all his kids after finding out they won't be making it home for Christmas. It was a beautiful movie. Strangely got panned by critics but I can't understand why, this does happen sometimes. We'll get a movie so full of heart and one that truly gets it right and it'll get panned across the board. Some examples include: Prime, Spanglish, My Sisters Keeper, 50 First Dates, just to name a few. These are movies that got it right but critics ripped to hell. Ahh fuck them eh! Okay on to the Oscars... Ahhh! So we have ten best picture nominations this year, I don't know how I feel about that just yet. On one hand it should make for an interesting show, will most likely be a shitload of fun but on the other hand we have TEN nominations. It feels like it might cheapen it a little bit. Now I can't help but wonder if this has anything to do with last year and films like The Dark Knight or Iron Man or Wall-E not getting the nod for best pic, that and also ratings I'm sure. But, Fuck all that. It's a celebration of movies, who cares if The Blind Side gets a best picture nomination after just being an okay movie, hey, District 9 got one too, so I can't complain. If I had it my way we'd just give Tarantino all the awards this year for making one hell of a masterpiece!!! In a perfect world right... I promise y'all, back in less than a week for Oscar predictions and my review on the Bruce Willis/Tracy Morgan buddy cop movie! I gotta go now- I feel a nostalgic Mel Gibson moment coming on! Later-