Kyp Reviews Atonement

This is an amazing film. I typed several adjectives and Backspaced a few times before going with "amazing." I tried, phenomenal, fantastic, incredible and slippery. That last one was Backspaced faster then the others but I digress. I was impressed by everything this movie had to offer from the acting, to the direction, to the music. Keira Knightly is billed as the lead and is nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Drama (Golden Globe) and she's fine in the movie. I'd even go as far as to say she's good. But the real star is 13 year old Saoirse Ronan who gives an astonishingly mature performance. I enjoyed Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice but Atonement just made me a fan.
Do not be fooled by the marketing. This is not a talky, British, no-plot, costume drama. This is not a date movie. This is not a love story. This is a tale of misfortune, war, heartbreak, and well... atonement. On a scale of 1 to 10 this movie gets a "Holy Crap go see it now."

Snowmen Support the Writers

So Kyp and I attended the "Boston TV Party" on Friday, obviously considering Kyp's previous post.  But still; it was truly inspiring listening to the three writers speak.  I was kind of struck at one point that these three guys (espcially Rob who writes for the Daily Show) have jokes just kicking around that they can't use; so when they speak publicly, they get to use them, and bring us back to the happy time when we had new tv shows.

Over all it was an awesome experience to meet some famous people, listen to them speak, and walk side-by-side with these people in support of them.  The picture posted was taken while we waited in-line to go into the church for the talk; soon after, upon hearing that negotiations had come to another stand-still... our little friend Jacob the Snowman jumped to his death from atop the fence he was perched.  As he fell you could hear on the wind, "Sic Semper Tyrannus"

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Jamie, Joss, Mark, Kyp

Jaime Paglia: Writer for the Sci-Fi original show Eureka
Joss Whedon: Writer/Director of Serenity
Mark Marshall
Kyp Pilalas

Mark's Golden Predictions

With the Golden Globes around the corner... time to make some guesses. These are who I think will win, not necessarily who I want to win.

Best Picture Drama- I have to side with Kyp on this, while I have a little fear about the buzz surrounding Atonement, I'm fairly certain No Country for Old Men will take this.

Best Picture Musical/Comedy- With all the buzz surrounding Sweeney Todd, and from what I've seen I think it'll be taking the globe home.

Best Male - Drama- While I love DD Lewis, I think George Clooney will take this for Michael Clayton; all I've heard about this movie was how amazing Clooney was.

Best Female- Drama- While I'd ordinarily go with Cate Blanchett for playing Queen Elizabeth again; I recognized Away from Her and remember reading something about Julie Christie playing an amazing character and what not... so I guess I'll put my money on her.

Best Male - Musical/Comedy- This was toughy for me, because I thought Ryan Gosling was amazing in Lars; but I think I'm gonna have to go with Mr. Depp as Sweeney Todd.

Best Female Musical/ Comedy- Ok, I'm pulling for Ellen Page from Juno, I've yet to see it, but again, read several articles praising her... however, I think it may go to Amy Adams from Enchanted.

Alright, there's a crap-ton more of awards to be given, but that's all I'm gonna reveal for now, simply because, there's a lot of Golden Globes, and I don't want this post to go on forever.

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Golden Globe Nominations: Best Picture Drama

The Hollywood Foreign Press announced the nominations for this years Golden Globe Awards... and people kind of cared. Here are my thoughts on this years Oscar/Emmy mash up:

Best Picture Drama

American Gangster: Good movie, not great. They could have left this one out and no one would have cared.

Atonement: Haven't seen it yet, the buzz is great. Can't wait. Could be a strong contender especially cause it was nominated the most.

Eastern Promises: Didn't see it, and angry about that. I loved Croninberg's A History of Violence, and I hear Eastern Promises is better.

The Great Debaters: Haven't seen it yet, but the GGs like to throw in an inspirational underdog... which never wins.

Michael Clayton: Saw it. Liked it a lot. Will probably be in my top 10. Deserved the nomination, but probably won't win.

No Country for Old Men: Fantastic film. Will probably win.

There Will Be Blood: Haven't seen it yet, but P.T. Anderson + D.D. Lewis = A.W. Esome.