trey taylor

here comes oscar

// January 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // entertainment, film

Oscar night is just around the corner (Feb. 22), this is EW’s list of movies you need to see before the big night:

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Milk
• Frost/Nixon
• The Dark Knight
• Doubt
• Revolutionary Road
• WALL•E
• The Wrestler
• Gran Torino
• The Reader
• Rachel Getting Married
• Changeling
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona 
• Tropic Thunder
• Happy-Go-Lucky
• The Visitor
• I’ve Loved You So Long
• Frozen River
• Nothing But the Truth
• Man on Wire
• Synecdoche, New York
• The Duchess
• Defiance
• Australia

I’ve only seen about half of them (oh the downside of living in a small town). I’m planning to catch a few more tho before the 22nd. How many have you seen? Which ones are you dying to see before the big night?

my top 5 christmas movies

// December 18th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // entertainment, film

This was my list last year… 

summer comedy review

// August 29th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // entertainment, film

My 30 second review of three of the top comedies of the summer:

Step Brothers:
I love Will Ferrell. Love him. Not so much though, that I think everything he touches is gold, and this is one of those cases. Its hilarious, don’t get me wrong, but the movie gets boring and cheesy toward the third act. But it’s so much fun to watch he and John C. Reilly together because they are crazy funny. I gave it 2.5 stars.

Pineapple Express:
I’m not a huge fan of Judd Apatow’s brand of humor, however I thought Pineapple Express was really funny. Seth Rogen and James Franco were both good, but ‘Red’ (Danny McBride) steals the movie. His scenes alone make this movie stand out in my mind and make me laugh out loud at the most random times. I gave it 3 stars.

Tropic Thunder:
Ben Stiller is great at taking something to the max, to him the bigger and more ridiculous, the funnier… and normally he wins big time. Tropic Thunder is no different, I laughed so hard my jaws hurt. I’m not his biggest fan, but I loved Zoolander and Dodgeball and this fits in that same vein perfectly. Robert Downey Jr. steals the movie, no doubt, Tom Cruise is a close 2nd. Both were great in this movie, but Downey Jr. was incredible. I gave it 3.5 stars.

Another of my faves this summer was Get Smart, I reviewed it early on, you can read it here. Let me know what you thought about these movies.

blue like jazz: the movie

// August 19th, 2008 // No Comments » // creative, entertainment, faith, film

I’ve been hearing bits and pieces about the Blue Like Jazz movie for awhile now, and it makes me very excited for 2 reasons. 1, I loved the book, probably one of my favorite books of all time. Don Miller is a genius, and he put into words a lot of what I’d been feeling most of my life. 2, because I hate “Christian” movies. Thats right, you read it right, hate. They just suck. And I’m hoping that if anybody can change that, its Don Miller.

I’ve wondered how they would adapt a book of essay’s into a 3-act story, and today I came across the answer and I wanted to share it with you guys. If you loved Blue Like Jazz, you need to read this Q & A about the movie. Miller said,

It’s a movie about coming out of the closet regarding who you are as a person. The character happens to be a Christian and is very ashamed of that, but he’s able to come out of the closet by the end of it. It’s really a film more about a human being than it is about Christianity. Christianity is really just the thing that this human being is dealing with. 

He also says that he’s fallen in love with screenwriting, and he plans to do a lot more, which really excites me. He’s exactly what Hollywood needs. The biggest drawback to the movie that I can see right now is that Steve Taylor will be directing. I’m not so sure about that, but I’m hoping that even with him at the helm, this is gonna be a great movie.

According to this article it looks like we can expect to see it hit theaters sometime during the first half of 2009.

h/t: Wingo

the dark knight

// July 18th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // entertainment, film

The Dark Knight is definitely not your father’s Batman, there’s no Adam West or grey spandex anywhere to be found. This was an incredible movie, a movie that technically doesn’t fit in the array of typical summer movies because its not a popcorn movie. I think TDK was as much epic crime saga as it was superhero movie, maybe more. It was ‘Heat‘ with capes, gadgets and a chaotic clown. Its flawless. 

If you were to break it all down, every piece of the film added up to make this an epic that won’t soon be forgotten. The soundtrack, the stunt work (very little CGI used – love that), the acting, the story, the themes, cinematography and on and on and on. It’s truly an amazing movie. Everything I’d hoped. 

Not that its any surprise, but Heath Ledger was amazing… as usual. It’s so sad that we’ve lost a true artist at the prime of his artistry. There’s a huge difference between a movie star and an artist, for an artist its a real expression or emotion, its something true from deep within their soul not just a mask they put on for a take. I admire the artistry of Heath Ledger and every other artist in this film. His portrayal of the Joker will go down in history as one of the “best” villians of all time.

I believe this will be one of the best films of 2008, and the greatest superhero film of all time.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

friday faves

// July 11th, 2008 // No Comments » // entertainment, film, friday faves

Here are a few of my favorite things from this past week.

/1. Lars and the Real Girl. A story about a guy who buys a sex doll and thinks that its his new girlfriend may seem like every other movie you’ve seen, but let me assure you its not. Rent it, download it, pay-per-view it, or buy it… I promise you won’t be sorry. Look for my review to be up soon.

/2. The Superhero Guide to Famous Pastors. If you haven’t started reading Stuff Christians Like yet, you really should, especially if you’ve been in the church world for any amount of time. This post is hilarious, and there’s a sequel.

/3. Michael Bay’s rejected Dark Knight Script. Hilarious. What if Michael Bay had written The Dark Knight? Spill has “found” pages from this fictional spec screenplay which was “ultimately rejected by Warner Bros.”

/4. Brad Ruggles Muxtape. This week Brad did a post featuring his favorite music and he followed that up with a muxtape with the top song from each of those albums. Take a listen, its good.

/5. iPhone 2.0 Apps. My top app so far is Twitterific, but I’m also liking the Facebook app, Yelp, and MixMeister Scratch which is a DJ scratch machine for your iPhone. I’m still exploring the App Store, but I’m most disappointed that there’s not a Wordpress app yet.