Screenhead

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief  is looking good. I like the special effects and it seems the characters play well off each other well.  I like Pierce Brosnan’s character. I am not sure who he is, but it’s a stretch for Brosnan and he does a good job.

Crazy Heart looks good, pure Jeff Bridges at his best. 

Crazy Heart is written and directed by Scott Cooper as his directorial debut. The movie stars Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Duvall.

Four-time Academy Award nominee Jeff Bridges stars as the richly comic, semi-tragic romantic anti-hero Bad Blake. He is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who’s had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times.

And yet, Bad can’t help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean (Golden Globe nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician.  As he struggles down the road of redemption, Bad learns the hard way just how tough life can be on one man’s crazy heart.

Ed Norton plays twins. One is an Ivy League professor who is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown, where the other twin, a small-time marijuana grower, has set up a simple scheme to take down a local drug lord. Leaves of Grass is written and directed by felllow actor Tim Blake Nelson who also acts in this film.

Enjoy this early promo trailer while the film hasn’t sold yet. The trailer is funny and offers a feel for the film and what to expect.  Richard Dreyfus is hilarious in this trailer. See if you can recognize him.

The Map Reader is being billed as a comedy-drama, but leans more toward drama. The story is about Michael (Jordan Selwyn) – a 16-year-old whose passion for maps helps him escape his ordinary life and enjoy a state of isolation from those around him. Yet, three women each play an important part in his life  – his single mother Amelia (Rebecca Gibney), a blind 20-year-old called Mary (Bonnie Soper) and Alison (Mikaila Hutchinson), a friend whose ‘grace betrays darker secrets’ of an abusive father.

Filmmaker Harold Brodie is an American living in New Zealand and the idea of a boy who absorbs himself in maps comes from his own captivation as a child. I bring the trailer The Map Reader to Screenhead because it debuted to sell out theatres at the Austin Film Festival and won the Spirit of the Independent award at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.

Twitch found this trailer at Apple and brought it to my attention.  It’s worth a look and has an interesting premise. I am not sure if LOVE is just a flow of consciousness or a steady take on the horrific situation an astronaut is confronted with — his space station has become stranded. He’s lost in orbit and slowly the life support system of the space stations dwindles down as he loses his sanity.   I dig the music by Angels and Airwaves.

Up in the Air is looking pretty good.  I like the rhythm of the movie and George Clooney doesn’tmiss a beat.  I’d love to get a hold of the soundtrack.  The clarity of the sound is weak. You can see a better version of the trailer at Apple.

Screenhead is celebrating the Christmas spirit with this unique family story, Christmas Story or Joulutarina (alternately titled). The story is dubbed in English from Finnish dialogue of a Scandinavian production.  We have the movie to give  away.

Just by viewing the trailer, you will see how different it is from Bob Clark’s 1983 classic A Christmas Story.

My daughter watched the movie and seemed captivated at times while a little bored at other times. She is nine years old and the pacing seemed a bit slow for her.  Yet, she sat still and watched the whole movie.  I think, it will grow on her, and Christmas Story will be one of the holiday movies our family watches every year. 

Set against a breathtaking landscape, Christmas Story– soon to become a holiday classic – reveals the magical and untold story of Santa’s life as he overcomes Dickens-esque personal tragedy and hardship in his youth to develop a big and pure heart filled with love for children around the world.

In a remote Lapland village, young Nikolas suffers a loss and the villagers – all poor themselves – band together to look after him. On Christmas Day each year, Nikolas moves to a new home for the coming year. To show his gratitude, Nikolas makes toys for each family’s children. Over the years, his adoptive families become many and almost every house has presents on its doorstep Christmas morning. 

When the villagers suffer a catastrophic food shortage, they must send Nikolas away to work as an apprentice to the ill-tempered hermit carpenter, Iisakki. Under his severe tutelage, Nikolas develops skills that enable him to create even better presents and to work even faster. He soon dons the suit that becomes his trademark and begins to deliver presents with the help of a team of reindeer.

As the years pass and Nikolas ages, his beloved tradition is in danger of coming to an end … and it will take a miracle to save it! 

Christmas Story has received an “All-Star” rating from Kids First! Coalition for Quality Children’s Media and is “Family Approved” by The Dove Foundation. Although there is a death that greatly affects Nicholas, the movie ends in a very upbeat holiday theme. 

To have a chance to win Christmas Story, post your name and Screenhead will pick the winner Monday, November 30, 2009.