Enough with being behind. Here I go with a little bit of catch-up!

Moliere (2007)

Moliere is a costume comedy-drama about the famous author of delightful plays, whose beginnings were mostly in serious theater--and not very good serious theater. As the author finds himself in a series of preposterous situations, including dressing himself as a tutor to help a married man gain the attention of the smartest lady at court in order to pay off his debt (and stay out of prison), he learns a little bit more about what makes a good play. Sadly, the actor who plays Moliere is a little bit creepy and uninteresting. And the wigs in this movie are some of the worst I've ever seen in moviemaking. Luckily, a little bit of heart helps this one go a long way, and it ended up being better than I thought it would. I think the acting of Fabrice Luchini is what holds up this entire film.

The King of Kong (2007)

Who doesn't love a good-hearted geek? Steve Wiebe looks just like Dave from News Radio, and is just as likable. He strives to reach the all-time record for Donkey Kong, and keeps getting thwarted by a shadowy man named Billy Mitchell, who refuses to play head-to-head in live circumstances. Instead, the Nick Cave-esque (only not half as cool) turns in videos of his best games. Never did I dislike a person more in last year's movies than Mitchell's little Smithers figure, who runs around getting people to come watch Wiebe play in the hopes that all the pressure will make him crack. Full of fun and frustration, I loved this one.

Leatherheads (2008)

Leatherheads doesn't know what kind of movie it wants to be. Does it want to be a clever, quick-witted jaunt between male and female, or does it want to be a physical comedy? The movie moves back and forth between both, and not very easily. Zellweger can't catch the pace of her own dialog, and the movie suffers from a lot of slow moments. While there are bits of fun and Clooney can catch a cool looking scene (see above), it offers only a few laughs, and is ultimately forgettable.

Blind Chance (1987)

Blind Chance is another of my Kieslowski movies. Apparently, it may have inspired the concept for Run Lola Run, because it operates in a series of three movies. The main character takes a break from his studies. He decides to board a train, and in all three movies is running to try and catch it at the last minute. Whether or not he makes it changes the outcome of his life. There are three different outcomes, all of which make the audience think about chance, fate, and related topics. The beginning sequence of this movie is incredible and took my breath away with how quickly it moved through the main character's life leading up to the moment when he leaves school. The music is so memorable that it was stuck in my head for days after seeing the movie, and I can still remember it now. While I'm not sure the three scenarios are as exciting as the concept and start of the film, it was certainly a great find for me.

The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

This adventure story follows little-growing-bigger Freddie Highmore as twins who discover a hidden world outside their new home, a creepy old Victorian place that belonged to their great-Uncle. The balance of good and evil within this world of interesting creatures is shifted when the evil Mulgarath discovers that the twins have a book that tells the secrets of all things in their world. Mulgarath seeks to destroy them, and they seek to save themselves and the world, along with a little help from their sister, mom, and plenty of tomato juice. While the movie is full of action, I wouldn't call it all that exciting. Interesting for me is the connection of John Sayles as one of the screenplay writers. Too bad it didn't come together as something a little more amazing. Still, it passed the time pleasantly enough.

Untraceable (2008)

Untraceable was one of those "I need to see a movie right now, so what's playing?" movies for Ric and me. We caught it for two bucks, and that's about what it's worth. I'm not saying it's terrible, but it's definitely flawed. It takes the interesting idea of how far the internet and the media can go with coverage of real-time deaths. Lane's character works to find online predators or hoax-makers and have them arrested. When she comes across a website that features live footage of a victim who will be killed more quickly as viewers log in to the site, she is concerned. At first, a little kitty dies, but then the victims are real human beings. She and her team work to find out how the victims are connected and who the killer is. It's an idea, but executed with a lot of lame scenes scattered throughout. I'd say to give it a pass if you come across it. Maybe someone will get it right another time.

Ahh.. Now I've only got a few more to get myself completely caught up! Time for the weekend!

A Nickelodeon Quiz

I grew up watching Nickelodeon in the 80's and even I thought some of these questions were tough. It took me awhile to remember Turkey Television, but then I remembered that it was the show that introduced me to Monty Python.

It's been awhile and I think my iPod is about to run out of battery life so let's see if we can make it through this.

1. Beastie Boys - Putting Shame In Your Game
2. Of Montreal - Waiting on the Weather
3. Sweeney Todd Soundtrack - Alms! Alms!
4. Beastie Boys - Groove Holmes
5. Soul Junk - Rap City Ark
6. Blur - Chemical World
7. Jimmy Eat World - Feeling Lucky
8. Animal Collective - Winter Wonder Land

At this point my iPod died so let's see what my Pandora station has to offer for the last two tracks.

1. Interpol - Roland
2. Robyn - Do You Know

That's quite an eclectic selection. I should be getting my PC back from Jon this weekend so I can get some new tunes on the iPod. I've been listing to Pandora a lot at work and my station is pretty darn good for my tastes. I think I'm really confusing the heck out of it though with the mix of electronic, indie, and bubblegum pop I've been throwing at it lately. Right now it's playing All Saints. I had forgotten all about them. Okay, enough of the embarrassing music revelations. For the good stuff, head over to Justin's. Even he isn't without a few skeleton's in the closet though.

Guillermo Del Toro Comes Out of The Hobbit Closet - Film School Rejects

Variety is reporting the announcement from Executive Producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, New Line president Toby Emmerich and MGM chief Mary Parent that Del Toro will helm not one, but two Hobbit films. The sequel, as the report states, will deal with the 60-year period between ?The Hobbit? and ?The Fellowship of the Ring?, which as you will remember was the first in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Del Toro will move out to New Zealand for the next four years to work with Peter Jackson and his Wingnut and WETA production teams on the two flicks, the first of which will probably not hit theaters until 2010.

I had the great privilege of attending the Hellboy 2 panel at New York Comic Con and Del Toro was being pretty coy about whether or not he would be directing The Hobbit or not. Apparently there was still some legal issues being worked through but he said we would know in the next 5 days. Looks like he's a man of his word. I've been a huge Del Toro fan since Gringo and I went to see The Devil's Backbone at the Ragtag. I'm an even bigger fan after seeing him in person. He reminds me a lot of Kevin Smith in the way he interacts with the fans. He's definitely one of us and he has a huge passion for movies. He's also really freaking funny. If there's ever a dream team to collaborate on something like The Hobbit, it's Del Toro and Jackson.

So now that the gears appear to be moving on the project, let the casting rumors begin! Ian McKellan has said he wants to return and I'm sure Andy Serkis will be there too. The big question is who will play Bilbo. If they can somehow make Ian Holm look younger, I think that would be cool. Hopefully they'll also be able to get Hugo Weaving to return as well. As far as new characters go, if Del Toro is on board how about Ron Perlman for Beorn? Then you have all the dwarves. I don't really know who would fit well in those roles. Feel free to comment with your ideas.

UPDATE: Check out this interview with Del Toro from TheOneRing.net. Lots of good stuff there. Sounds like McKellan and Serkis are all but confirmed.