What movies are Cal Poly students looking forward to seeing?

Post Oscars

The 82nd Academy Awards took place on March 7th 2010. The night turned out to be one that no one will ever forget. With 3 million viewers the Oscars will continue to be one of Hollywoods most watched award shows.
This year we had a big shocker for the Best Picture award. The majority of viewers had voted and many betted on “Avatar” taking the award home, but instead “The Hurt Locker” came thru with a surprising win. Many were shocked, but it was an award well deserved. Along with Kathryn Bigelow who won Best Director for “The Hurt Locker”, making her the first female ever in the history of the Academy Awards to win the Oscar for Best Director.
To no ones surprise Jeff Bridges won Best Actor for “Crazy Heart”, and Sandra Bullock won Best Actress for “The Blindside”. Both the popular picks for this years Oscars and well deserved. This was Sandra Bullocks first nomination and win.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role went to Christopher Waltz for “Inglourious Basterds”, and Mo’Nique won Best Actress in a Supporting Role for “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”. She pulled an outstanding performance, and was favored to take home the Oscar.
And also to no ones surprise “Up” took the Academy Award home for Best Animated Film. This was definite the favored pick, considering that “Up” was also nominated for Best Picture. This shows how amazing this animated film was because it was competing against movies like “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” for the same award.

http://oscar.go.com/oscar-night/winners

Best and Worst Dressed of Oscars 2010:

Sandra Bullock wowed everyone with her choice of attire. She reminded everyone that nothing beats classic glamour. The dress was the perfect mix of sophistication and detail and flattered her perfectly. She might have taken home Best Actress, but she could have easily taken the award for Best Dressed as well.

Cameron Diaz wore a beautiful Oscar De La Renta gown. She was dressed in a more elegant and girly gown, the exact opposite of the look she usually goes for. And she has given up the tousled hairstyle for a more elegant and brushed through hairstyle.

Diane Kruger made a fashion statement in her Chanel Haute Couture gown. Many fashion critics were uncertain either to praise her for her bold choice or put her on the worst dressed list.

Charlize Theron attended the Oscars in a amethyst and lilac Dior Couture gown. The detail was interesting and the color phenomenal, but the placement of texture was distracting from her face, and not even her 17.25-carat Harry Winston diamond earrings could draw the attention away.
The 82nd Academy Awards were a huge success, filled with much happiness and disappointment between many people. But we still congratulate everyone and their outstanding performances this year, and congratulate them on their well deserved wins.

San Luis Obispo International Film Festival

This year San Luis Obispo’s annual Film Festival will be held on March 12th-21st, 2010. This is the 16th year in a row that San Luis Obispo has hosted the Film Festival. This year the King Vidor Award will be presented to Academy Award-winning actor, Alan Arkin.
The film schedule has now been released. These include short films, documentaries, narrative features, world cinema, special events, classics, central coast filmmakers, filmmakes of tomorrow, and more. Check out this website for all the details. http://www.slofilmfest.org/2010/films.shtml
Opening night films include “The Butterfly King” and “10 Years Later”. They will be played at the Downtown Cinemas on March 12th at 7:00 pm. There will also be a 9:00 pm screening at Palm Theatre the very same night.
The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival was founded in 1933 by Mary Harris, Cathy Peacock, Jim Dee, Patty Dee and Lee Cogan. Originally a one week festival, including 32 screenings and a tradition of awarding a successful motion picture industry personality with an award on the stage of the Fremont Theatre in downtown San Luis Obispo.
The San Luis Obispo Film Festival offers independent filmmakers to screen their films and get their work out there.
In 2004 the festival was moved from October to March.
Morgan Freeman received the King Vidor Award in 2006.
All tickets will be sold at the venue on a first-come, first serve basis. The general feel is nine dollars, and seven dollars for students. For ticketing information go to the following website, http://www.slofilmfest.org/2010/tickets.shtml
I will be attending the Film Festival and I hope that if you are living in the Central Coast you will as well.

Alice in Wonderland

Can’t get enough of Tim Burton? Well his modern remake of “Alice in Wonderland” comes out to theaters on Friday March 5th. It also is coming out in 3D, something I wouldn’t want to miss.
Tim Burton takes a stab at Lewis Carroll’s story of a young girl that gets lost in a land of fantasy and enchantment. Of course Burton stars his veteran collaborator Johnny Depp, as the Mad Hatter. Other actors and actresses include; Mia Wasikowska, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, and Matt Lucas.
The “Alice in Wonderland” premiere was held in London, England on February 25th. Thousands of fans packed together on this rainy day, awaiting the stars to walk the green carpet. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, also turned out for the premiere. All in all it was an amazing night, and a great turnout for the premiere.
Many people find Tim Burton incredibly intriguing and interesting. His work has captivated audiences since 1985 with his first film “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure”. Since then Tim Burton has come up with favorites such as; “Beetlejuice”, “Edward Scissor hands”, “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, “The Corpse Bride”, and “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”. Tim Burton takes classic tales like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Alice and Wonderland” and puts a new and modern twist on them. His style is very distinct as well as his choice of Actors. Johnny Depp a favorite, has worked with Tim Burton six times, and will more in the future. Tim Burton has also starred Helena Bonham Carter in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and “Alice in Wonderland”.
“Alice in Wonderland” comes out on March 5th, so be sure to make a trip to the theaters. It will be a 3D experience you won’t want to miss.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100225/ennew_afp/entertainmentbritainusfilmwonderland

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/alice-in-wonderland-in-disney-digital-3d/50673/main?icid=movsmartsearch

Oscar Ballot- Who do you think will take it home?

oscar_ballot-_who_will_win?

The 82nd Academy Awards are coming up

Mark your calendars if you already haven’t for the 82nd Academy Awards. The Oscars will be held at the Kodak center on Sunday March 7th. This is the most important night in actors and actresses lives. This is the one night of the year were producers, directors, actors, actresses and all the other people involved in a movie are acknowledged and awarded. This year the Oscars is going to be an amazing and eventful night.
The films that are nominated for best picture this year are; “Avatar”, “The Blind Side”, “District 9″, “An Education”, “The Hurt Locker”, “Inglorious Basterds”. “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”, “A Serious Man”, “Up”, and finally “Up in the Air”. This has been the most nominations ever for Best Picture. “Avatar” is favored by many, including myself to take home the Oscar on March 7th. With so many nominees and amazing movies that have come out in 2009, it is definitely going to be a difficult decision.
The nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role are Jeff Bridges for “Crazy Heart”, George Clooney for “Up in the Air”, Colin Firth for “A Single Man”, Morgan Freeman for “Invictus”, and Jeremy Renner for “The Hurt Locker.”
The nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role are; Sandra Bullock for “The Blind Side”, Helen Mirren for “The Last Station”, Carey Mulligan for “An Education”, Gabourey Sidibe for “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, and Meryl Streep for “Julie & Julia.”
The nominees for Best Directing are; James Cameron for “Avatar”, Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker”, Quentin Tarantina for “Inglourious Basterds”, Lee Daniels for “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”, and Jason Reitman for “Up in the Air.”
The nominees for Best Original Screenplay are; “The Hurt Locker” written by Mark Boal, “Inglourious Basterds” written by Quentin Tarantino, “The Messenger” written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, “A Serious Man” written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, and last but not least “Up” screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter and story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson and Tom McCarthy.
This years Academy Awards are going to be a night you don’t want to miss. You can make the Oscars a family event or a way to get friends together to have an Oscar Party. You can go to http://oscar.go.com/ to print out a ballot. Have everyone vote on who they think is going to take home each award. At the end of the night you can compare and see who guessed the most right. Maybe even throw in some money for the person with the most correct guesses. So don’t forget tune into the Academy Awards on March 7th, and make sure you come back for my post Oscars update.

http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/about/history.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award

Valentine’s Day- A Flop?

So there was a lot of buzz surrounding the upcoming movie “Valentine’s Day”, that was set to release on Feb 12th. Unfortunately the film did not live up to it’s standards and neither did the performances of the many big name actors and actresses of Hollywood.
The list of Hollywood actors and actresses was definitely not short. The stars of “Valentine’s Day” included; Jessica Alba (“Fantastic Four”), Kathy Bates (“Misery”), Jessica Biel (“I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry”), Bradley Cooper (“The Hangover”), Eric Dane (Grey’s Anatomy), Patrick Dempsey (“Enchanted”), Hector Elizondo (The Princess Diaries’ films), Jamie Foxx (“Ray”), Jennifer Garner (“Juno”), Topher Grace (“Spider-Man 3″), Anne Hathaway (“Rachel Getting Married”), Ashton Kutcher (“What Happens in Vegas”), Queen Latifah (“Chicago”), Taylor Lautner (The Twilight Saga: New Moon”), George Lopez (“Beverly Hills Chihuahua”), Shirley MacLaine (“Terms of Endearment”), Emma Roberts (“Hotel for Dogs”), Julia Roberts (“Erin Brockovich”), and last but definitely not least award-winning singer-songwriter Taylor Swift.
The plot for “Valentine’s Day” is very simple. The audiences follows the intertwining story lines of a group of Los Angelinos as they find their way through romance on Valentine’s Day. Critics rated “Valentine’s Day” with two stars, while users rated it with four. Still very low for a movie that was so hyped up with such an amazing cast. It could have done way better. Many people were disappointed and felt that it could have been much better. Katelyn Dwyer a freshmen at Cal Poly states, “It was an alright movie. I thought it would be way better, just judging by the previews and the cast. I don’t recommend watching it exactly, but i don’t regret spending $9.50 on it either.
“Valentine’s Day” has grossed 52.4 million for the weekend, and sources say that 70 percent of movie watchers were women. Naturally this chick flick was a hit among women. Critics do not expect “Valentine’s Day” to make much more money in the upcoming weeks and weekends. I have not seen this movie yet, but plan to anyways. I have to experience it first hand for myself of course. So keep coming back and my next blog will be up soon.

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/valentines-day/37962/main

Alvin and the Chipmunks-The Squeakuel

So you may have seen “Alvin and the Chipmunks”, but you probably aren’t aware that “Alvin and the Chipmunks the Sequel” was shot at my highschool, Woodrow Wilson in Long Beach which is also the High school that “Freedom Writers” is based off of. During my senior year of high school, the cast and crew of “Alvin and the Chipmunks” invaded my school and started filming.
During the Spring of 2009 is when the long journey began. Suddenly many trailers, trucks, and vans started pulling up to campus filled with supplies, set material, and people. They began filming immediately and transforming my campus. They painted all our lockers yellow, white and cardinal; the colors that they chose to represent the imaginary high school of West Eastman. In front of our office we have a giant bear in a glass showcase, for the movie they completely removed our mascot and added a bronze statue of an eagle- West Eastman’s mascot.
The filming took a couple months, and in those months my school was in complete chaos. Cameras everywhere, hundreds of people in the hallways, and blocked out parts of campus. Many students from Wilson High as well as faculty were used as extras in the movie. So after a grueling couple of weeks finally the RV’s were packed and loaded and slowly leaving the parking lots. As a party gift the crew of “Alvin and the Chipmunks” place a stuffed chipmunk in the mouth of our bear before they left.
If you haven’t seen “Alvin and the Chipmunks” its a definite must see for people of all ages, children, families, teenagers, and the elderly. It has done so well that theaters around the Unites States are still playing the movie. “Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakuel” was rated four stars by critics and viewers. So don’t miss your chance to see this movie on the big screen, and hurry to the theaters. And don’t forget all the campus shots are shot at the High school of yours truly.

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/alvin-and-the-chipmunks-the-squeakuel/33966/main

The Princess and The Frog

“The Princess and the Frog”, is Disney’s newest comeback from the creators of “Aladdin” and “The Little Mermaid.” “The Princess and the Frog” is a remake of the classic fairy tale story. Set in the great city of New Orleans, a beautiful girl names Tiana, always dreams about owning her own restaurant. But one day she kisses a frog that actually is a prince. Now instead of finding her fairy tale ending, she is also turned into a frog. She is now forced to go on a adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana, not knowing what is in store for her.
“The Princess and the Frog” has been such a hit that it is still in theaters after being released for almost two months. Critics and viewers have both rated “The Princess and the Frog” four stars. I saw “The Princess and The Frog” in theaters during winter break and I thought it was amazing. It was one of the only animated Disney movies that I thought deserved a round of applause since the classics. The music and the story line were incredible, and this movie in my opinion deserves an Oscar for best animated film of 2009.
Tiana is Disney’s first black princess. This is a huge deal and breakthrough for Disney that has very few ethnic Disney characters and princess’s. The implied message of Tiana is that black America girls can be as elegant as Snow White, a milestone in national imagery. Tiana learns by the end of the movie that balance is important in life, and that good things do come to people that work hard. Tiana needs both love and a career to find happiness. This is giving a message to all African American girls and all other girls as well.
So if you haven’t seen “The Princess and the Frog” yet make sure you do, because it is a definite must see and a classic tale for all ages, that will last a lifetime.

http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-princess-and-the-frog/30244/main

http://www.bvonlove.com/2009/03/19/disneys-first-black-princess-has-a-white-prince/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_and_the_Frog

Fremont Theater

The Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo is a very historic monument in the San Luis Obispo County. This theater was built in 1940 on Monterey Street, and is one of the oldest theaters. The theater still has the large original main theatre that is painted inside. In recent years more screens have been added to the theater. The theater is also used for the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival and has been operated at different times by Fox, National General, Mann, and Edwards Cinemas.
The Fremont Theater is one of the last Art Deco theaters built by architect S. Charles Lee. Although the theater was built in 1940, it didn’t open until 1942 on the eve of the U.S. entry to World War II. It hosted many war shows in its early years.
The Fremont theater now plays many of the new movies that come out, and is a hotspot for all movie watchers in San Luis Obispo. If you are currently living in San Luis Obispo or are passing through make sure you go check out the theater. It is a historic monument you don’t want to miss.

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/2302/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_Theater

http://www.themovieexperience.com/