Rated R – 1h40 -

Just as much as Mel Gibson knows how to shoot his mouth off in the worst ways…he can also do just the opposite and make a really exciting action-thriller. This is one of them.

In the oddly named Edge Of Darkness, Tom Craven (Gibson) is a Boston Detective, whose adult daughter is murdered on her return home. Craven begins to put the pieces together to uncover a deeper conspiracy that proves to be a challenge to unfold.

High marks go out to our bad guy in this one. I won’t spoil who are what they are, but they are evil. They are double evil. The only way they could be worse is if they were peering out the castle tower window, tenting their fingers and delivering a low-toned bwahh-ha ha ha haaaa.

I wouldn’t justify Gibson’s acting performance here as a justification for his notable harsh words, but he does great work creating likeable characters. Tom Craven is just, honest and vengeful, like you expect a clean Boston cop to be.

Mel Gibson seems to be at his best when he plays a cop hell bent on finding the truth. seasoned few actors such as Clint Eastwood, who can enter their golden years on screen with more style than Georgio Armani.

It’s hard not to think of The Departed while watching this one considering all the similar connections. I think that’s Notably older than his Lethal Weapon mainstay, I wondered while watching this if he’s turning into the OK, because this isn’t trying to copy Martin Scorsese, it’s just got a similar background.

In any case this is probably the best flick in 2010 so far.

Popularity: 3% [?]

     So, as I prepare to watch the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Sunday night, I realize I’ve got a lot more preparin’ to do.  Take the Best New Artist category.  I don’t know a single artist…even after I googled and youtubed ‘em.  For what its worth, nominee and R&B artist Keri Hilson certainly can sing and has had a number of hits this year.

     For the big three (Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Record of the Year), I’ll go along with what everyone else is saying.  Taylor Swift should sweep.  She’s super talented–not a lot of country artists write their own songs, you know.  And she’s super sweet and nice–the “awshucks” thing she’s got going hasn’t gotten old yet.  And I get the feeling she’ll be super grateful as well.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Sometimes the stars align and things go right.

Ever since I heard of the new Jeff Bridges- Maggie Gyllenhaal movie Crazy Heart sometime last year, I’ve been patiently waiting.

Jeff Bridges is one of my all time favorite actors.  Not just because he’s starred in one of my favorite movies ever (The Big Lebowski,) but also because I respect the choices he’s made as an actor.   He’s more than just The Dude character and I think he’ll prove that in Crazy Heart and his upcoming remake of True Grit.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is another favorite of mine too.  I think she’s intelligent, creative and is one of the actresses who believes her work is art and always improves on her craft.  She’s also drop dead gorgeous!

That being said, I’ll have my review right here on Monday.  Happy movie watching!

Popularity: 3% [?]

In my opinion, the scariest movie ever made was Poltergeist.

Part of the reason I thought it was so scary is because of Zelda Rubenstein.  She played the psychic who came to the haunted house, tried to channel the spirits and came up with the plan to save the daughter.

Check her out in action…

Her chanting into the spirit world and saying “this house is clean” were able to run more shivers up and down my spine than any of the Saw movies combined.

Here’s her obit….remember her from Sixteen Candles?

The 4ft 3in  actress died in a Los Angeles hospital on Wednesday after recently suffering a heart attack.  Eccentric medium Tangina Barrons was her first major role and one she reprised in two Poltergeist sequels.

More recently, Rubinstein appeared in Southland Tales and TV’s Picket Fences.  She also appeared in a high-profile Aids public awareness campaign in the 1980s and was an outspoken activist for the rights of people of restricted height.

Born in Pittsburgh in 1933, the former lab technician was almost 50 when she made her big-screen debut as a woman playing a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz in 1982’s Under the Rainbow. Poltergeist followed, in which her character came to the assistance of a suburban family living in a haunted house.

Fans will remember her child-like voice exhorting spirits to “go into the light” before declaring “this house is clean”.

She went on to appear with Molly Ringwald in Sixteen Candles, before returning as Tangina in Poltergeist II: The Other Side and Poltergeist III.

Rubinstein was sent to hospital at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center two months ago, after suffering a mild heart attack.  “She had ongoing health issues and unfortunately they finally overtook her,” her agent Eric Stevens said.

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Popularity: 1% [?]

     Quick, who is your favorite movie star?  Guy or girl–dead or alive, doesn’t matter to the Harris Poll.  Their annual survey is out and a new name tops the list.  Okay–maybe he’s new to the top of the poll but he’s certainly not new to the big screen! 

     Here’s the final tally from ten to one…#10–Julia Roberts, #9–Morgan Freeman, #8–Meryl Streep, #7–John Wayne, #6–George Clooney, #5–Tom Hanks, #4–Sandra Bullock, #3–Denzel Washington, #2–Johnny Depp and at #1–Clint Eastwood!

Popularity: 2% [?]

I can understand the excitement that you might feel if you’re name is called to “Come On Down.”

Check out the video of this poor lady from The Price Is Right. A trip to the Mall of America wouldn’t be enough to put me over the top…but hey a new car????

Woman Faints On Price Is Right – Watch more Funny Videos

Popularity: 1% [?]

Adam reviews the new movie Legion, and says save your money.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Rated R – 1h40 -

If this is what the apocalypse looks like, just take me now. In Legion, they talk about how the weak minded are the first to go. I can’t see anyone but the weak minded thinking this is anything interesting.

Legion is a rip-off B-Movie posing as a major motion picture. God has become angry with the humans for squandering their gifts, and has chosen to send an army of angels to wipe them out. That is except for the Arc Angel Michael, whose gone rogue, thinking this is a test. He chooses to fall to Earth, and protect a group of strangers, which he believes hold the key to rebuilding humanity.

In many ways, this is a lesser version of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, except this is Angelnator 2: Jesus Day. Our hero angel falls from the sky, with the sole purpose to protect a child, who is prophesized to save us all. Maybe call him a Jesus 2.

He arms himself to the teeth to fight off the bad guys. Michael has tough guy one-liner after another, until the final face off between good and bad Terminator/Angel.

There’s even a scene in Legion that nearly frame for frame copies The Terminator where Sarah Connor is driving off into the desert, with an idea of the trouble to come. It’s detailed right down to the bandana worn by the woman.

To question all of the loopholes in the plot would be silly, because the film assumes we’re dumb enough to let them all slide. Yet, here’s a couple for your entertainment:

Why do angels need guns? How do pregnant women run away looking fine, just minutes after giving birth? Why wouldn’t the other Arc Angel just show up and do the job himself? Why do all the invading angels randomly stop?

The only entertainment you’ll find with this movie is dissecting it afterwards for the plot holes. This movie sucks biblically!

Popularity: 3% [?]

Rated R – 1h39 -

The eyes are the windows to the soul, and A Single Man shows the soul of good movie making.

Set in the early 60’s George (Colin Firth) is a Los Angeles English professor who has lost his lover. A Single Man follows George through a day in what may be his last day. His mountain of grief appears to be too much because of the tragedy of his loss. He finds his life to be stale and meaningless, all while the story tells the tale of his unspoken love in flashbacks.

George speaks to his class about how some people remain invisible in society, when he is actually talking about himself. The film is set in a time when people would lower their voice to say the word homosexual, let alone acknowledge a person who is.

George is forced to keep his life a secret because of societal standards and has to endure hardships that no person should. He is only told days after his lover dies of what has happened and when asked when the funeral is, George is told he’s not welcome to attend.

Still, George eerily goes about his daily routine, neatly putting his ducks in a row, as not to leave a mess for the person who would find him.

It’s a dark subject matter and I can only assume that it may have been a reality for someone in the past. What keeps you hanging onto this movie is that you feel George is a smart enough man to know that he can go on, even with his loss.

Firth does some of the best work I’ve seen him in here. It well worth the award nominations he’s already garnered, but I don’t see it taking home the metal at the end of the night.

Popularity: 3% [?]

  Immediately teared up reading the news actor James Mitchell, 89, had passed away…for 30 years, he played Palmer Cortlandt on the ABC daytime soap opera All My Children.  The character was fierce and funny, mean and delightful–like only soap opera patriarchs can be.  Married a million times (and divorced that many times too), I particularly loved Palmer and Opal together.  Their dialogue and interaction was simply priceless.  Zingers galore!

Popularity: 4% [?]