Has this ever happened to you? You sit down, either in the movie theater or in the comfort of your own home, to watch a movie and are extremely disappointed. No one told you this movie was good; in fact, many acquaintances and reviewers alike gave the film a thumb’s down. Then why did you go see it, and why were you still somewhat surprised it was as bad as it was? The answer may surprise you.
Music. Everyone knows that humans and other animals alike have a response to music, often an emotional one. It is what makes you cry or laugh in the theater and, in this case, what can set your expectations to high.
A perfect example of this is the new movie I Am Number Four. Whether or not you’ve seen it, you have to admit, it doesn’t look great. However, what is great is Adele, whose new album 21 is currently number 1 on iTunes and whose song, “Rolling in the Deep,” is played in many of the ads for the new release.
Give Mariah Carey some credit. She went from the Razzie-nominated "Glitter" to the Oscar-nominated "Precious" within a relatively short time in her part-time acting career. And she made sure to hit the Oscar red carpet in her hottest of hot tamale dresses with her young pup Nick Cannon slinking behind in her shadow. No, Mariah wasn't nominated for any awards, but maybe she could get some time on camera if the film won Best Picture? Or maybe director Lee Daniels would give her a shout out if he won Best Director? Sadly, neither happened and the only actor who won anything for "Precious" was Mo'Nique for her role as the monstrous Mary. We, the television viewers, were robbed of a great Mimi moment.
Did they not SEE what Mariah did the last time she got on stage to accept an award for "Precious"? Eee-diots. They missed out on TV gold. And why couldn't they let Mariah at least present an award? They let washed up Jennifer Lopez present and she hasn't had a hit movie since 2005. Someone start a #mimiwasrobbed trending topic on Twitter. This is an injustice!
Mariah Carey is turning heads and raising eyebrows for her role as a social worker in the indie drama "Precious." And that's just based on the still images and videos of a very haggard-looking Mariah with mouse brown hair and swollen eyes, served with a side of bags underneath them.
It's hard to imagine that someone as meticulous about her looks as Mariah Carey putting aside her obsession with looking perfect. After all, this is a woman who refuses to take photographs from certain angles and demands a wind machine at all of her music videos. But for a brief moment, she put aside Mimi the Diva and became a Jersey sewer rat trying to help out a troubled young girl. Mariah bragged about putting away her made-up ways to the media. Watch.
The real question is, how did this make-up last? I bet inbetween takes Mimi was sniffing concealer and smearing lip gloss on. Of course, let's not pat Mariah too much on the back here. Going "ugly" gets many a Hollywood dame recognition and rewards (Halle Berry, Charlize Theron) so Mimi's not looking ugly for nothing. Academy, are you ready to nominate Mariah Carey for an Oscar? Why not, they threw Beyonce a bone.
Watch the trailer for "Precious" starring Mo'nique, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz and the breakout performance from Gabby Sidibe.
Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey have teamed up to distribute this film. Not enough can be said about the power of this trailer and the raw emotion packed into it by Mo'nique and Gabby. The last time I talked about this movie, I highlighted Mimi's role. While Mariah looks like she's taking the role seriously and displaying some serious acting chops, the real star here is Gabby and the story she portrays in this film. It looks like it has the makings of being a modern day "Color Purple" for our generation. And those kids of films are especially important to tell.
I'll definitely be making an effort to catch this movie once it's released in theaters and so should you.
As if the crowds, high ticket prices and funny smells aren't enough to make people wary of the metro, Denzel Washington and John Travolta team up to make the metro an even scarier place by imagining a hostage situation on the subway. The basic plot is: Denzel plays a subway transit operator, managing the metro system of NYC, and John Travolta plays a maniacal criminal who hijacks a subway train and holds the passengers hostage, threatening to kill them off unless he gets paid within the hour.
Watch the trailer.
Nail-biting stuff, right? The movie doesn't strike me as being terribly original, it's essentially Speed 3: Metro Melee. But that doesn't mean it won't be a good time. Definitely seems like a great group movie where you can laugh, cover your eyes, grip your seat or cop a feel on your date during the boring parts.
I have to wonder though, why does John Travolta do crazy so well? Is it the Scientology blessings? Cause Tom Cruise handles wacky quite aptly too.
Welcome to the latest feature of Bark + Bite: On Your DVDz! On Your DVDz posts will review movies that are out or about to come out on DVD, cause we're way too busy to be sitting up at the movie theaters. The first movie in this series: Spike Lee's Miracle At St. Anna.
Forget what you heard, MC haters. Mimi can act! Mariah Carey has a supporting role in the somewhat-controversial, but critically-acclaimed movie "Push." No, not the action flick you've seen the trailers for recently with Chris Evans. This is a movie based on a book by Sapphire about a young black girl who is abused and stepped on for most of her life. Mimi plays a social worker in the flick helping the young girl work through her traumas. And just like most critically-acclaimed roles, Mariah uglies herself down in order to "really" act. Hey, I can't knock Mimi for using the trick, it worked for Halle Berry in "Monster's Ball" and it worked for Charlize Theron in "Monster."
The interesting thing about Maraih's appearance in this movie is that she's actually counseling someone on theri issues! Mariah as a therapist? Talk about the irony. Watch a clip of Mimi in the movie below.
Y'all are gonna forget all about "Glitter" when you see Mimi shine in this role.
This past week and a half was kind of a hot mess. Let's begin:
Joaquin Phoenix first said, "No more acting, now time to rap!" As if anyone can rap. I mean, it's not like it's acting or anything.
This clip scares the crap out of me, mostly because Joaquin looks like a cross between a hoodless-Unibomber and Tom Hanks cradling Wilson in his arms in Cast Away. But now, apparently, it seems like Joaquin pulled a fast one on us! Or not. Who knows. And who freaking cares. Joaquin, quit being silly and put yourself in a damned movie already.
Congress has taken a break from arguing over how to best empty water in this fast-sinking, hole-ridden ship we call America (buckets, anyone?) to argue over the switch to digital T.V. So the Senate passed a delay, the House rejects, and you know what the Senate does? It DELAYS IT AGAIN. Nothing different, just taking a breather from that $800 billion stimulus package debate to talk about how 4 million people with antenna television sets won't be able to watch The Price is Right after the February switch. I almost feel like if you have an antenna T.V., you shouldn't be allowed to watch T.V. Perhaps I'm a television elitist.
Jacko (man, I LOVE that nickname) found a way to ease some of his massive debt by selling the rights of the Thriller music video to some company who wants to turn it into a musical. I don't know how I feel about that one. Thriller was terrifying to watch as a child, and that was even before Michael looked, as in the words of Dave Chappelle, "like some white ghoulish-like creature." Well, it may not even happen because director John Landis wants his cut and isn't down with the play. Either way, as long as we can work the word "Jacko" into some headlines next week, I'll be a happy.
Oscar nominations were just released and us tasteless-masses now know what movies are good and which aren't ("I guess I was wrong in liking The Dark Night"--me and everyone you know). Say what you will about the nominations, but the one that shocked me the most was Robert Downey, Jr.'s for his role, which he played in blackface, in the movie Tropic Thunder. I personally think that comedies should get more credence, but uhhh, even HE was like "what the hell? and you had to show me in blackface when you announced it, too?" What's even better, the nominations came days after we got our first black president, and here we have Forest Whitaker announcing that a white man in black face is up for an Oscar in a category full of white men. Watch here at the 45 second mark:
