I’M BACK! GET EXCITED!

I know, I know. You have all missed me. Go ahead and exclaim to the fact that I finally have returned from my long hiatus. I would like to blame the education system in this country from my long awaited return. For some reason professors think they need to give us work outside of class to learn, personally I don’t know if I agree with that philosophy, but who am I to say what’s right.

Any who, I thought instead of being what people would call “productive” I would be my sense of productive and give you a nice winter movie preview. Now since the last time we talked the only new movie I have seen is Moneyball. To give you a quick recap it was slow moving, well acted and a well written story that I thoroughly enjoyed (but I love baseball, so yeah). I would certainly recommend it, mainly because it was fun to see Jonah Hill in a serious role; furthermore it was fun to see him surprise me in doing a great job in the serious role. Other than Moneyball it has been pretty much what’s been on TV (unless you count the other time I saw Harry Potter and then saw it again when I bought the DVD).

So, to focus on what is to come, I am going to give you a little preview of the five movies coming out during Oscar season that I am excited for and will make a run in the awards shows.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Gary Oldman is returning to our lives in a quality film, finally. With only a small appearance in the last Harry Potter film, Sirius Black is back in action as my favorite chameleon. What do I mean by chameleon? It is how I love to refer to Mr. Oldman because he looks incredibly different in each movie he is in. Example, he plays Beethoven in Immortal Beloved, a terrorist in Air Force One, Dracula in Dracula and of course Jim Gordon in the recent Batman films. Anyways, he is in this thriller set during the Cold War playing an espionage veteran who comes out of retirement to catch a Soviet agent. The film also has Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones and Mark Strong. Amazing cast? I think yes. Trailer here.

War Horse
Finally Spielberg is back my friends with a great looking, cinematic masterpiece. The shots in the trailer are incredible so I can’t wait to see the actual film, not to mention John William is doing the score. War Horse is based off the play focused on a horse, Joey and his journey through WWI. The man who owns him, Albert, tries to find Joey after he is forced to the cavalry. This movie just looks like classic Spielberg and definitely attracting some buzz. Not any crazy actors in this one except my good friend Remus Lupin is in it, aww yeah! Trailer here.

Carnage

If you watch this trailer, Carnage looks like, well it doesn’t look like it’s about anything. But that doesn’t mean I’m not seeing it. Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, Jodie Foster and John C. Reily. That right there is reason enough to see this, actually it’s pretty much the only reason to see it considering the whole movie is filmed in one apartment as parents argue about an altercation between their sons. This one looks a funny, quirky, entertaining film.

Extremely Loud Incredibly Close

So this is one of those movies based off an incredibly (get it? Incredibly is in the movie title) well-received book that I have gotten halfway through and it’s a pretty unconventional one (in a good way). The success of this movie will lie in the hands of the young Thomas Horn who plays the nine-year-old Oskar Schell. It is a very sad, touching story about Oskar and his mother after his father is killed in 9/11. He is on a journey to find a key for a lock his father left him. Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks star as Oskar’s parents. This will be one my mom will need Kleenex for. Trailer here.

The Artist

Not sure if I wanna see this one but I could not, not put it down. It is a silent film, black and white, which puts in a category above the rest. I’m nervous about no dialogue but Jean Dujardin, who plays movie star George Valentin in Hollywood 1927, has been getting a lot of buzz about best actor. It looks pretty magical and brings many people back when movies were fantastic so I’m actually kind of anxious to see this one the more I think about it. Trailer here.

Some very quick side notes

1. Other notable movies I wanna see whether they are Oscar worthy or not. The Muppets, Breaking Dawn (guilty pleasure I swear), Happy Feet 2, Hugo, My Week With Marilyn (I was gonna write about this but only so much room, this one does have Emma Watson in it), Arthur Christmas, and The Iron Lady (plus a lot, a lot, a lot more). And then one special movie coming out in March debuted their trailer today ... HUNGER GAMES! A.K.A my next Harry Potter (but not quite). Trailer here.

2. Yay! Billy Crystal as Oscar host! This is exactly what the show needs; an awesome host that will put it back on track. Personally I wanted Tina, but she did just have a baby, so I’ll wait anxiously for debut in the 2013 Oscars.

3. For all you Star Wars fans, yeah Tina listen up! The Phantom Menace is coming back to theaters Feb. 10 … in 3D! Who’s excited? This girl is! Despite people calling it the worst Star Wars movie I personally am a big fan of Jar Jar Binks and look forward to watching the pod racing in high quality 3D. People to come with me would be much appreciated.

With that I say… Live long and prosper.