R.I.P. Paul Newman 1925-2008

From Cinematical:

This just in: Legendary actor Paul Newman passed away late last night of cancer. He was 83. Throughout his career in Hollywood, Newman was nominated for countless awards, including Oscars (nominated for ten and didn't win until his seventh time ... and stayed home the year he won!), an Emmy and even a Grammy. Newman's most memorable roles came in films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Color of Money (for which he won an Oscar), The Hustler, The Long Hot Summer, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Sting, Cool Hand Luke ... and so many more. In his down time, Newman was married to Joanne Woodward for 50 years, and is also very well known for his philanthropic ways, his race car driving and business ventures (Newman's Own ...). His final role came as the voice of Doc Hudson in Pixar's Cars.

Review: Burn After Reading (2008)

Ah, I finally see this movie, after months of anticipation.

I have to say, I'm just a tad let down. Granted, it's very hard to top No Country For Old Men, and I never expected anything of that calibur, but this film lacks in some areas.

The trailer gives this vibe that Brad Pitt is the main attraction. While that's true in one respect, he doesn't get nearly as much screen time as he deserves. Pitt truly steals the show as an oblivious gym employee who gets caught up in government blackmail. He's frightfully endearing and funny. As if I could be more in love with Brad Pitt.

The rest of the cast is solid. With so many different storylines overlapping, it leaves the viewer wary of what's going on, and it threatens the movie. However, due to some ingenious film work by the Coen Brothers, there are two scenes involving David Rasche and J.K. Simmons which sums everything up nicely and saves the guesswork for the audience. Starts solid and ends solid. The middle is just a little flabby, but altogether, this is worthy of the Coen stamp.

Grade: B

Review: Ghost Town (2008)

This is just a plain old average movie. It's about a crotchety dentist Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) who dies for 7 minutes during a simple medical procedure, and as a result, can see the ghosts of people who still have unfinished business on Earth before they can "move on". Oh, and he's supposed to help them with that. The person with the least amount of people skills in the world. Except when he meets the wife (Teá Leoni) of Frank (Greg Kinnear), who is getting remarried and it is Bertram's job to split them up, but instead he falls in love with her.

What is unbelievable about this movie (beside the ghost thing) is that Ricky Gervais goes from rude and tactless to charming and witty so fast, it seems so laughably scripted. Most of the acting is very very average and the story itself is flimsy. The ending is so saccharine it's dumb. I suppose Gervais and Kinnear have good on-screen chemistry that makes for some good banter, but other than that, there weren't many laughs, just a few giggle-worthy moments here and there.

A true blue September release.

Grade: C

Trailers: Frost/Nixon (2008)

I wasn't interested in this movie until I saw the trailer today. It looks fabulous. And check out that cast, eh?

Trailers: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [#2] (2008)

Apple has a Stunning HD version of this trailer, so I recommend that above this. I still can't wait to see this film. It looks devastating.

Trailers: Milk (2008)

This looks brilliant. I see Oscar written all over it.

Video: Tropic Thunder promo

This has been out for a long, long time. But I'm so hot on Tropic Thunder right now, I just had to put this up: