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2010 YEAR IN REVIEW With 2010 now completely under wraps, I am in the unenviable position of ranking the best and worst of the year in film. Over the course of this year, I have seen over two hundred and eighty different movies, many of which I have thankfully long-since forgotten about. I would have to admit, however, this has been a good year for films. I have seen actors really surprise me by pushing the envelope such as Jesse Eisenberg in the Social Network. Then there is the opposite end of the spectrum, where actors really scrape the bottom of the barrel as Brendan Fraser in Furry Vengeance. As the multitude of award shows begin to hit the airwaves this next week, you will have the opportunity to see and hear information about films you both have seen and never heard of. When the opportunity arises, check out some of these movies and see how they rate with you. I am anxious to see what the 2011 cinema masterpieces have in store, but until then, here is my list, ranked in order, of The Best and Worst of 2010. Best Pictures: Best Actors: Best Actress: Best Supporting Actor: Best Supporting Actress: The Worst Films of 2010 Additional Award Winners for 2010: Until next time, have fun at the movies and try not to eat too much popcorn! DVD REVIEWS FREE DVD GIVEAWAY We are doing a Free DVD Giveaway! If you are interested in a chance at winning a free copy of Dora's Christmas Carol, Spongebob Squarepants: Legends of Bikini Bottom, Christmas with the Backyardigans, Spongebob Squarepants: 10 Happiest Moments, Spongebob Squarepants: Season Six, Volume 2, Avatar: Book One, Volumes 1 & 2, Avatar: Book One, Volumes 3 &4, Avatar: Book Two, Volumes 1 & 2, Avatar: Book Two, Volumes 3 & 4, Avatar: Book Three, Volumes 1 & 2, or Avatar: Book Three, Volumes 3 & 4, it is really easy! All you have to do is send me an email at HoustonMovieGuy@gmail.com. The subject line of the email should read DVD GIVEAWAY. In the body of the email, be sure to put your name, full mailing address and which DVD or Blu-ray you would like. Winners will be selected by random drawing. Best of luck! Liam Neeson plays team leader Hannibal Smith (inheriting the cigar-chomping from the show's George Peppard), and pro wrestler Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is "B.A." Baracus, the TV show's most iconic character (insert Mr. T "I pity the fool" joke here). As the vain Face, Bradley Cooper preens in convincing fashion, and District 9 out-of-nowhere star Sharlto Copley plays the unhinged pilot "Howlin' Mad" Murdock. These boys are on the trail of some money-counterfeiting plates, from Bagdad to Germany to places in between. It would be understating it to say that the plot is not of primary importance, although Patrick Wilson has some fun as a CIA official and Jessica Biel occasionally strikes poses as Face's ex-flame, now a military officer displeased with the A-Team's extra-legal shenanigans. Mumblecore auteurs the Duplass brothers dip their toes in the precarious waters of Hollywood by casting well-known actors in Cyrus. But their devotion to clumsy, uncomfortable people remains: John (John C. Reilly) has barely left his apartment in the seven years since Jamie (Catherine Keener) divorced him, so Jamie demands he come to a party--where, miraculously, he meets Molly (Marisa Tomei), who seems like the woman of his dreams. Unfortunately, Molly comes with some baggage: her 22-year-old son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill). To say Molly and Cyrus are close is an understatement, and John finds himself in a battle of wills with Molly as the prize. Join Thomas as he roars down the tracks with the most special delivery yet, the Lion of Sodor. Thomas’ special delivery is not what he thinks it is – a real lion. When the other trains try to tell him that it’s actually a statue, he is too excited to listen. Hop on board with Thomas as he learns the importance of listening to others in this lionhearted collection of tales from the tracks. This is an adorable Thomas DVD. It is about learning to listen, rather than just assuming which is what Thomas does. This DVD has a total of four great episodes and lots of extras, great DVD for the price! Joan Rivers is an icon that everyone can recognize. From her television appearances, many may feel like they know her, but as Anne Sundberg and Ricki Stern prove, there's more to the smart-talking dame than meets the eye. She appears to have given the duo complete access as they recall events from her past--including the feud with Johnny Carson--while following her around as she rehearses for a play, participates in a celebrity roast, and plies her profane brand of comedy before appreciative crowds, but she reveals herself most fully in the moments spent with staffers: the 75-year-old fears an empty datebook more than aging. While some entertainers lean on their partners for support, Rivers looks to her fans; it's not that family doesn't matter, but that they don't shape her self-image as intensely. She talks freely about her cosmetic procedures, her husband Edgar's suicide, and her daughter Melissa. When it comes to long-awaited treats like Groucho Marx, you can never get too much of a good thing. This special 3-disc box set includes the best of Groucho Marx! See Groucho in 16 episodes of the 1950s game show You Bet Your Life, 2 episodes of The Hollywood Palace, a rare episode of the lost game show Anybody Can Play and much more! A great big nod to Paramount for giving us The Duke's Academy Award winning role as "Rooster Cogburn" on this superb DVD. This fabulous Wayne western from 1969 looks immaculate. Presented in widescreen, the picture is clear and sharp, and all the beautiful scenery in Technicolor is glorious. The sound in DD2.0 (MONO) was surprisingly good as well. If you love this film, John Wayne or a great western, grab this one up! The story for those that may have missed it, is very adventurous as well as highly amusing. Rooster Cogburn is a take no prisoners U.S. Marshall. That's not all he is though...he's an old, overweight,brash drunkard. But he's got 'grit'. And that is exactly what young Maddie Ross is looking for when she hires him to go after the man who killed her father. Maddie (Kim Darby), now affectionately called "Baby Sister" by our guy, is also a take no prisoner's kind of gal, but not exactly in the same way as Cogburn is. Maddie is a proper young lady, who's family "has property", and brandishes her lawyer as her weapon of choice. And what's more..she's going along on the hunt for this bad guy who has joined up with a group of some really bad hombres. Also in on the ride is an inexperienced but gung-ho Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) who Maddie is immediately at odds with. The sparks fly as this trio hits the trail. Control's Anton Corbijn gives the crime film a distinctly European twist in this understated thriller (think The Day of the Jackal). A trim George Clooney plays Jack, a hit man who relocates from Sweden to Italy after assailants try to take his life. Jack's handler (Johan Leysen) advises him not to make any friends, which proves easier said than done. Ensconced in medieval Abruzzo, the assassin passes himself off as a photographer (in Martin Booth's novel, A Very Private Gentleman, he claimed to be an illustrator), but he's actually customizing an assault rifle for Mathilde (Thekla Reuten), his female counterpart. Upon his excursions through town, Jack meets Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli), who senses he has something to confess--"A priest sees everything," he explains--but Jack would prefer to share a brandy. He also befriends Clara, a prostitute (Violante Placido). What starts out as a sexual relationship deepens as Jack's sensitive side--he has a thing for butterflies--emerges, but then the Swedes discover his hiding place, and Jack develops doubts about his lady friends, leading to a showdown that plays like a scene from an old Western, a debt Corbijn acknowledges when Jack chances upon a broadcast of Once upon a Time in the West. Will Ferrell plays a mild-mannered police accountant partnered with Mark Wahlberg's hothead (recently demoted to desk-jockey duty after shooting a very famous Yankee player during the World Series), and both men must endure the showboating fame of a pair of supercops (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson) in their New York City precinct house. Along with sending up cop-movie clichés, the movie basically exists to give Ferrell and Wahlberg room to work amusing variations on their characters. The loosey-goosey structure works especially well when Wahlberg is needling his partner's squareness or marveling, in wonderfully awestruck tones, at the unbelievable hot-i-tude of Ferrell's wife (Eva Mendes)--a discrepancy made all the more maddening because Ferrell seems indifferent to her charms. Gather ‘round for a spine-tingling adventure (if you have a spine, that is) unlike any you’ve ever seen before! Hang on as SpongeBob, Patrick, and the rest of their Bikini Bottom friends dive into SpongeBob’s Legends of Bikini Bottom. You’ll squirm when Patrick and SpongeBob find themselves held prisoner by a backward gang, SpongeBob and pals look for a way out of the Bikini Bottom Triangle, and an evil hag curses the Krusty Krab! Then laugh when Patrick finds he has lots in common with a monster that invades town, join SpongeBob and Patrick on their search for a drain that once destroyed the city, and brace yourself for a volcanic eruption that brings an ancient warrior with dire predictions to Bikini Bottom! Six legends, one swell adventure: Legends of Bikini Bottom. Little Bird is noticing SpongeBob now so it is getting more play in our house. I love watching all of the adventures of SpongeBob and his closest friend, Patrick. The shows are funny and carry some good lessons in them. This is a great DVD set and has a total of 23 episodes in it including the double episode “The Clash of Triton” which also stars Sebastian Bah and Victoria Beckham. The episodes on Disc 1 include Porous Pockets, Choir Boys, Krusty Krushers, The Card, Dear Vikings, Ditchin’, Pineapple Fever, Chum Caverns, Grandpappy the Pirate, Cephalopod Lodge, Shuffleboarding and Professor Squidward. The episodes on Disc 2 inlude Pets or Pests, Komputer Overload, Gullible Pants, Overbooked, No Hat for Pat, Toy Store of Doom, The Clash of Triton, Sand Castles in the Sand, Shell Shocked, Chum Bucket Supreme and Single Cell Anniversary. I came into this season expecting it to be the last. Fox had long maligned the fact that '24' was very expensive to make. They also cited lagging ratings (mostly due to the lackluster season 6 leaving a bad taste in viewers mouths and the WGA strike making the show almost irrelevant.) as a reason to ax the show. And besides, the concept was becoming a bit outdated. Even the tenor of season 8, with the world standing on the brink of an historic peace agreement, signified that 24 was coming full circle. The idea that peace could exist in a world of espionage and paranoia such as the one 24 dwelled in, was a big step toward a brave new world. The kind of thing you see when a show wants to go out with a bang. I was ready for it to end and am sad to see it go. The Machiavellian exploits of Jack Bauer have been must see television from Day One.
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