What I Did Over New Years Weekend

Happy New Year Everyone!

Did all of you have nice holidays with your family and/or friends? I sure hope each was just what you hoped they would be and that 2010 brings all of our readers nothing but the best.

I can happily report that I brought the new year in with, well, not flair, but at least with some fun. I had the chance to see four movies in two days and while I cannot rave about all four of them, I can say that two of them lived up to my expectations and actually surpassed my anticipations.

On New Years Day, I saw the much-hyped James Cameron film Avatar, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver (among others). This movie is everything for which the critics have raved and more. It’s not only colorful and vibrant; it’s action-packed and moving. It’s also a movie ahead of its time with the technology used to make that future world come to live. If you have not done so already, go see Avatar. It’s totally worth the ticket price and you can see it in 3-D if you so choose.

That same day, directly after seeing Avatar, I saw the musical movie Nine, which is based on the Broadway play of the same name. The film version stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a highly successful (but lecherous) Italian movie-maker and the women in his life: his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his film star muse (Nicole Kidman), his confidant and costume maker (Dame Judi Dench), his mother (Sophia Loren), an American fashion journalist (Kate Hudson) and the whore from his childhood (the Black Eye Peas’ Fergie).

While the play has been a big hit on the Great White Way, the film version, sadly was…lacking. The pacing was slow and the male lead should have been played by someone else (anyone else, honestly); but the costuming and the musical numbers were terrific. If the movie had focused more on the women and the music, I would have enjoyed it more. Ah, to be a film critic right now…

The very next day, I set out to see The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock in what many critics are saying is her best performance to date and a role for which she is getting Oscar buzz. I can say this much…the critics are exactly right and if she doesn’t get nominated for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy, the Mississippi well-to-do woman who took in a poor, young black man, helping him become an All-American football player and first round NFL draft pick, then there is definitely something wrong in the world of the Academy. This is an extremely entertaining and moving film that everyone should see – even if you don’t like sports (like me). It is definitely going to be one of my favorite films from 2009.

To cap off the two day movie-fest (so to speak), I saw the romantic-comedy (and I use that term VERY lightly) Did You Hear About the Morgans?, starring Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker. This movie should have been lightweight and fun; but it sadly wasn’t. There were too many groan-worthy moments, very little chemistry between the leads and even for this born and bred hick (yes, I grew up in the hicks), I couldn’t even enjoy the small town where most of the film was set – except for some of the picturesque value it had. The film could have been better with a different leading lady and a better written script. Better luck next time, Hugh.

There are many more movies that I hope to see throughout this month; and I can only hope they end up being as entertaining as Avatar and The Blind Side; both movies which I highly recommend our readers see as soon as possible.

Also, this week I have an event that I am really looking forward to attending:  the Paley Center for Media’s salute to the 100th episode of the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother. Even though I’m not a comedy-TV show watcher, for any show to reach its 100th episode is a milestone to say the least and to have Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan as just two of the talented cast members, well… its NPH and Alyson!! What more needs to be said? And, the episode is going to be a musical 100th episode so it’s assuredly going to be over-the-top and very funny. And, what’s even better is the cast is expected to be there and the audience will get to watch the milestone episode in advance of the general viewing public. Fun times for sure.

PS: You can expect a terrific write-up of the HIMYM event by our very own Tiffany shortly after the event is held on January 7.

Oh, one more thing: please don’t forget that the two-hour season premiere of the 3rd season of Chuck will air on NBC on Sunday, January 10 at 9 PM. It’s Chuck 2.0 now (with the new Intersect in his brain) and anything is possible. Don’t miss out!!