The Spot News: Oscar Results

By: Robert Acosta

I saw a headline today that read: "Younger Audience Still Eludes the Oscar's." Which lead me to react with: "No shit, the Oscar's have nothing to do with movies that people have actually seen." Now, maybe that comment is a bit premature cause I know lots of people went to go see The Fighter and Black Swan. But then again, who actually saw The King's Speech or Winter's Bone? And at the same time, the Oscar's tend to have awards that make no sense or value no importance to anyone. Best Sound Mixing? Best Original Song?

Nonetheless, the Oscar's did happen last night. For those who saw, why are you even reading this?! For those who didn't, here is a list of winners and losers:

CATEGORIES LISTED IN BOLD, WINNERS IN BOLD AND ITALICS

BEST PICTURE
127 HOURS
BLACK SWAN
THE FIGHTER
INCEPTION
THE KING'S SPEECH
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
TOY STORY 3
TRUE GRIT
WINTER'S BONE

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky - BLACK SWAN
David Fincher - THE SOCIAL NETWORK
David O. Russell - THE FIGHTER
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - TRUE GRIT
Tom Hooper - THE KING'S SPEECH

BEST ACTRESS
Natalie Portman, BLACK SWAN
Annette Bening, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Michelle Williams - BLUE VALENTINE
Nicole Kidman - THE RABBIT HOLE
Jennifer Lawrence - WINTER'S BONE

BEST ACTOR
Colin Firth - THE KING'S SPEECH
Jesse Eisenberg - THE SOCIAL NETWORK
James Franco - 127 HOURS
Jeff Bridges - TRUE GRIT
Javier Bardem - BIUTIFUL

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Melissa Leo - THE FIGHTER
Hailee Steinfeld - TRUE GRIT
Helena Bonham Carter - THE KING'S SPEECH
Amy Adams - THE FIGHTER
Jacki Weaver - ANIMAL KINGDOM

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale - THE FIGHTER
Geoffrey Rush, THE KING'S SPEECH
Jeremy Renner, THE TOWN
John Hawkes - WINTER'S BONE
Mark Ruffalo, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy - 127 HOURS
Aaron Sorkin - THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Michael Arndt - TOY STORY 3
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - TRUE GRIT
Debra Granik and Anne Rosselini - WINTER'S BONE

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mike Leigh - ANOTHER YEAR
Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson - THE FIGHTER
Christopher Nolan, INCEPTION
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg - THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
David Seidler, THE KING'S SPEECH

BEST ART DIRECTION
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 1
INCEPTION
THE KING'S SPEECH
TRUE GRIT

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BLACK SWAN
INCEPTION
THE KING'S SPEECH
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
TRUE GRIT

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
"Day & Night"
"The Gruffalo"
"Let's Pollute"
"The Lost Thing"
"Madagascar, A Journey Diary"

BEST ANIMATED FILM
TOY STORY 3
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
THE ILLUSIONIST

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
BIUTIFUL
DOGTOOTH
IN A BETTER WORLD
INCENDIES
OUTSIDE THE LAW

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
INCEPTION
THE KING'S SPEECH
127 HOURS
THE SOCIAL NETWORKBEST SOUND MIXING
INCEPTION
THE KING'S SPEECH
SALT
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
TRUE GRIT

BEST SOUND EDITING
INCEPTION
TOY STORY 3
TRON: LEGACY
TRUE GRIT
UNSTOPPABLE

BEST MAKEUP
BARNEY'S VERSION
THE WAY BACK
THE WOLFMAN

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
I AM LOVE
THE KING'S SPEECH
THE TEMPEST
TRUE GRIT

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

"Killing in the Name"
"Poster Girl"
"Strangers No More"
"Sun Come Up"
"The Warriors of Quigang"

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
"The Confession"
"The Crush"
"God of Love"
"Na Wewe"
"Wish 143"

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
GASLAND
INSIDE JOB
RESTREPO
WASTE LAND

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 1
HEREAFTER
INCEPTION
IRON MAN 2

BEST EDITING
BLACK SWAN
THE FIGHTER
THE KING'S SPEECH
127 HOURS
THE SOCIAL NETWORK


BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Coming Home" - COUNTRY STRONG
"I See The Light" - TANGLED
"If I Rise" - 127 HOURS
"We Belong Together" - TOY STORY 3

Weekend Box Office Numbers February 25th-27th

By: Robert Acosta

It's a sad week when an uninspired family animation movie takes the top spot in the weekend box office. Especially over two movies that got enough promotion to grab people's attention. I mean cmon, have you not seen the constant posters of Hall Pass in the train stations? Or the trailer, lame as it is, for Drive Angry 3D all over the place?

Let's just take a look:

1. Gnomeo & Juliet   $14.2 Million
2. Hall Pass   $13.2 Million
3. Unknown   $12.4 Million
4. Just Go With It   $11.1 Million
5. I Am Number Four   $11 Million
6. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never   $9.2 Million
7. The King's Speech   $7.6 Million
8. Big Momma's House   $7.6 Million
9. Drive Angry   $5.1 Million
10. The Roommate   $2.1 Million

Did you now see what I'm disappointed about? Didn't care for Drive Angry, so I could care less about the "disappointment" in terms of money.

Hall Pass managed to take the runner up spot, while really not sporting a good look with money either.

And finally, after winning the Best Picture award, The King's Speech is still hanging around the top 10.

Next week we won't be disappointed as March's movies begin, and it's going to be a good month. Adjustment Bureau and Rango hit the big screen next week and we at The Movie Spot have already seen them and are reviewing them as you read this. Expect reviews on Wednesday and Thursday.

Hall Pass Review

-- By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Owen Wilson as Rick
Jason Sudekis as
Jenna Fischer as
Christina Applegate as

Plot: Two married men continue to have thoughts about sex and what life would be like if they had a chance to be single. They are given this chance and things don’t really go as planned for the men.

Review: A small time comedy like Hall Pass, seemingly thrown into theaters rather than being released, usually never works. It’s these small time comedies though that seem to stick with you more than the big hit comedies.

Not to say that Hall Pass is going to pick up a cult following, or any following for that matter. But it fared much better than I could have ever expected. Owen Wilson isn’t the funniest guy in the world but the man is well connected and finds his way into very comfortable roles as an actor. Most of the comedy really comes from Jason Sudekis, which does not surprise me. The current SNL cast member sports a very blunt kind of comedy that, for this film, works.

The big, obvious question for every comedy is, is the movie funny? And yes it is. It has a good blend of really hilarious moments, just plain funny moments and small chuckle moments. But I do have my complaints.

The red band trailer of Hall Pass was released not too long ago, I’d say about a week ago. For those who don’t know what a red band trailer is, it is essentially the R rated trailer for a movie. So blood, guts, nudity, the whole nine yards can be shown to the max. After watching Hall Pass last night I thought to myself, “80% of the funny parts in Hall Pass, they showed in the red band trailer.” That’s never a good thing for me. Knowing that I saw 80% of the funny parts of the movie at home and probably could have lived without seeing the other 20%.

All in all, I can’t comment on story, special effects or anything like that. It is just a comedy movie that boiled down to acting and comedy. Hall Pass definitely has the comedy part and is an enjoyable movie.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Spot News: DJ Caruso has Preacher

The Spot News: DJ Caruso may have Preacher movie

Disturbia and I Am Number Four director DJ Caruso appears to have tweeted that he’s locked down the directing gig for the big screen version of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Preacher comics.

It’s an American road story with huge, epic paranormal elements like God and the Devil and demons and vampires.

The tweet says:

My deal just closed on Preacher. Going back to the dark side and pretty fucking pumped!

I Am Number Four Movie Review

I Am Number Four Movie Review By Jose

Plot:

John is an extraordinary teen, masking his true identity and passing as a typical high school student to elude a deadly enemy seeking to destroy him. Three like him have already been killed ... he is Number Four.


Review:

This is a rather good sci-fi movie. I was excited at first to see this but as the days grew closer to release my excitement died down. I normally keep myself in a positive attitude when watching movies. But this time I was expecting Hollywood to let me down once again with this type of movie. Boy was I wrong and so happy about it too.

As soon as the movie started we are treated to a jungle with a hiding Number Three and his guardian being attacked by what I described as a giant flying reptile-squirrel from hell attacking them. Some cool moves and running through the dense jungle we get a glimpse of the Mogadorians and there third (or first in our eyes) kill. We then meet the star of the movie Number Four (Alex Pettyfer) at a beach party with friends. Which is short lived hen he feels and sees the death of Three while being branded by a glowing symbol on his leg. Soon after he (John) and his guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant) leave Florida with new lives to escape what would come for them and what the kids saw the night before. A lot of action took place within the first ten fifteen minutes of the movie. Then for pretty much the rest of the film up until the last twenty minutes or so the movie slows down.

We get to see how John blends in or tries to in a new setting. Making friends with people like him and enemies of the popular kids. I liked it. We get a lot of character development and are put into situations in where we actually start caring about John, Sarah (Dianna Agron), and Sam(Callan McAuliffe) and who they are and how there lives are. Many movies now a days skip that and just give us half assed backgrounds and assume that because they are main characters we would like them. Then they put them in nonstop action and the audience ends up forgetting who is who and not caring what happens. So seeing that they took the time to build that story and build the characters by the end of the movie we care about them and want them to come out on top and be the heroes.

The action at the beginning and end (the main fights and battles) are done pretty damn well. Especially showcasing the powers of John/Number Four and of Jane/Number Six (Teresa Palmer). Along with what fire power and those beasts that the Mogadorians were packing. Acting was pretty good on all fronts. No over or under acting. Alex Pettyfer looks to be a up and comer. The story itself was somewhat straight forward but because of the time spent on it throughout the movie it developed into something deeper. Like now I want to see a sequel and see the group find the other Numbers and what the Mogadorains will do now.

Final Thoughts:

I am Number Four was a really good movie that shows how, if the film makers take their time and be passionate with the materials, they can make something unique and entertaining. I enjoyed this movie more than what I expected and would gladly recommend it.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The Spot News: Hesher trailer

By: Robert Acosta

Throw together some actors that are riding a nice wave of success into a small, indie film making it's way to the Sundance Film Festival and what do you get? Hesher.

Starring Joseph Gordon Levitt, Natalie Portman and Rainn Wilson. Here's the synopsis:  

"Loud music. Pornography. Burning shit to the ground. These are a few of Hesher's favorite things. And they are what Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) brings into the lives of TJ (Devin Brochu) and his father Paul (Rainn Wilson) when he takes up residence in their garage uninvited. Grief-stricken by the loss of TJ's mother in a car accident, Paul can't muster the strength to evict the strange squatter, and soon the long-haired, tattooed Hesher becomes a fixture in the household. Like a force of nature, Hesher's anarchy shakes the family out of their grief and helps them embrace life once more."

The Spot News: Charlie Sheen going back to the Majors?

By: Robert Acosta

If you own a television, a computer, or been to any hotels recently, then you've seen Charlie Sheen. Probably not doing anything productive, but you've seen him. As we all sit back and watch his demise unfold right before our eyes, the question will eventually pop up. What will it take to revive his career?

Another Major League movie, that's what. Now I don't know if that is necessarily the answer but Sheen is doing his best to find out.

It's being said that Sheen told TMZ that he's doing everything in his power to get another Major League movie on the big screen.

People seem to forget that a comeback is possible. Ex: Robert Downey Jr. Not saying that Sheen can pull off that kind of comeback, but he can become relevant in a much more positive way.

DVD Releases February 22nd

•  Due Date
•  Megamind(2/25)
•  Get Low
•  Meserine: Killer Instinct
•  Fish Tank
•  Senso
•  Weeds(Season 6)
•  Nurse Jackie(Season 2)
•  Tyler Perry's House of Payne(Volume 6)
•  All Star Superman
•  Memento(Only on Blu Ray)

By: Robert Acosta

So there are a nice small bunch of movies and TV show seasons to pick up. Keep in mind, the bold signifies that the film/TV show is available in both Blu-Ray and DVD.

Let's start with Due Date. One of the funnier films of 2010, actually 2nd best on my list from last year in terms of comedy. You can't go wrong with it, it's a must buy.

In an odd turn of events, Megamind comes out this Friday, not today. Why? I don't know. Nonetheless, this movie was hit and miss with me and the audience that saw this movie were split. Some hated it, some liked it. It was witty, and showed a different perspective on the whole superhero/villain spiel but kind of lacked the comedy part of it all.  

Weekend Box Office Numbers February 18-20

By: Robert Acosta

I thought that Justin Bieber was going dominant the box office. You know, grab the top spot for a couple of weeks. Though he's solidly held down the 2nd spot, he dropped pretty low this weekend. I expect more out of the Biebs. Don't you?

Anyway, let's take a look at this weekends box office numbers:

1. Unknown   $21.8 Million
2. I am Number Four   $19.5 Million
3. Gnomeo & Juliet   $19.4 Million
4. Just Go With it   $18.2 Million
5. Big Mommas House: Like Father, Like Son   $17 Million 
6. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never   $16.6 Million
7. The King's Speech   $6.6 Million
8. The Roommate   $4.1 Million
9. The Eagle   $3.6 Million
10. No Strings Attached   $3.1 Million

I consider it to be pretty bad when a Big Mommas movie beats Justin Bieber in a money making contest. Does the movie end up being a dud? Maybe.

In other news, Unknown takes the top spot and that doesn't surprise me. Liam Neeson' action films  have started to take off with this film and last year's hit, Taken.

I Am Number Four takes home a silver medal this week and expect a review for this by the end of the week along with The Eagle.

The Spot News: New Thor Trailer

The Spot News: New Thor Trailer


Another, and I say better, trailer for Thor. Lots of action and humor in this one. We get a good shot of The Destroyer and Loki.

Coming Soon: Apollo 18

Coming Soon: Apollo 18

A quintessential Cold War story, Apollo 18 casts light on the covert and undocumented lunar mission that officially “never happened.” Bekmambetov, hired by Russia to shoot a documentary about the Russian space station, recently came across footage in its space archives that bolsters the idea that an Apollo 18 mission did, in fact, take place, and reveals startling evidence of extraterrestrial life forms. This actual footage will be part of Apollo 18, a paranormal thriller that will interpolate fact and fiction.


Release Date: March 4, 2011 (limited)

Coming Soon: I Am Number Four

Coming Soon: I Am Number Four


Extraordinary teen John Smith (Pettyfer) is a fugitive on the run from ruthless enemies sent to destroy him. Changing his identity, moving from town to town with his guardian Henri (Olyphant), John is always the new kid with no ties to his past. In the small Ohio town he now calls home, John encounters unexpected, life-changing events-his first love (Agron), powerful new abilities and a connection to the others who share his incredible destiny.

Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Agron, Kevin Durand, Callan McAuliffe
February 18, 2011

Just Go With It Review

By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Adam Sandler as Danny
Jennifer Aniston as Katherine
Brooklyn Decker as Palmer
Nicole Kidman as Devlin

Plot: After years of using a wedding ring to hook up with girls, Danny finds "the one" in Palmer. In order to be with her, Danny must clean up this mess he's created.

Review: For Valentine's Day I went to see this movie, seeing as how I saw everything else, I figure this would make sense to see on such a day.

I'll start off by posing this thought and question. Was it good? No. Nor should you expect it to be. What you should expect is a serviceable Valentine's Day movie, just doing it's job as the main release for Valentine's Day weekend.

Adam Sandler has become more and more irrelevant with these cheesy, bland comedies he's putting out but they're still making money. He provides some chuckles, maybe a couple of laugh out loud moments but nothing too outrageous or hilarious. Nothing memorable really came out of this performance.

Jennifer Aniston was boring for most of the movie and tried way to hard to be funny. Something that by now, we all know she is not. The rest of the cast includes the same old characters from every other Adam Sandler movie. They provide the same ol' cheap comedy that they have in every other movie.

Why should I even get into the story right? In its simplest form, Sandler falls for the super hot Brooklyn Decker, but after she finds a wedding ring in Sandler's pocket, Sandler has to use Aniston as a fake wife. While all the feelings are supossed to be fake, guess what happens?

Not that i'm completely against these movies but I can tell when a movie is coming out for the sole purpose of making easy money. Just Go With It is that kind of movie.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

DVD Releases February 15th

By: Robert Acosta

Looking for some DVDs to pick up this week? Stuff from last week included?

Good, you're in the right place. I wanna jump right into things but I also want to introduce a new thing i'll be doing with the DVD releases. I'll tell you all the new stuff coming out this week but even more, i'll tell you about some great deals for DVDs during the week.

So let's get it started!

NOTE: Bold means DVDs are also available in Blu-ray

- Unstoppable
- Waiting for Superman
- Glorious 39
- Network
- Chaplin
- Rain Man
- Game of Death
- You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
- The John Cena Experience

As for the week before, February 8th:

- Paranormal Activity 2
- Life as We Know It
- My Soul to Take
- For Colored Girls
- Ong Bak 3
- It's Kind of a Funny Story
- Uncle Buck

Let's look at deals before I let you go:

Best Buy is having a small sale on recent movies that have come out. Inception, The Other Guys, Easy A, The Town, Salt, Toy Story 3, Saw: The Final Chapter and Eat Pray Love are all on sale for $9 on DVD and $14 on Blu-ray.

Also at Best Buy, The Social Network, Knight & Day, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Secretariat, Dinner for Schmucks, Prince of Persia, Step Up 3, and Shrek: The Final Chapter are all on sale for $12 on DVD and $17 on Blu-Ray. Enjoy!

Weekend Box Office Numbers February 11th-13th

By: Robert Acosta

So, in case you didn't notice, there was no box office or DVD post last week. My bad. There was really nothing too eye opening to report on. Of course, my job is just to report everything. We're a work in progress.

Anyway, this past weekend was much more eventful than 2 weeks ago. It was Valentine's day weekend (make sense?) and a couple of movies opened that were going to rake in big money.

Let's get into it:

1. Just Go With It   $31 Million
2. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never   $30.3 Million
3. Gnomeo & Juliet   $25.5 Million
4. The Eagle  $8.6 Million
5. The Roommate   $8.4 Million
6. The King's Speech   $7.4 Million
7. No Strings Attached   $5.6 Million
8. Sanctum   $5.1 Million
9. True Grit   $3.8 Million
10. The Green Hornet   $3.7 Million

So, in a somewhat shocking turn of events, Bieber places in its opening weekend. Only edging Biebs out by a small margin, Just Go With It takes the top spot on this romance filled weekend.

Next week we see I am Number Four, Unknown and Big Momma's House on the big screen. I'm sure of that list you know which one to avoid of the three. Right?

The Spot News: The Amazing Spider-Man

The Spot News: The Amazing Spider-Man

by Jose

Sony have just officially announced that the upcoming, Marc Webb-directed, Andrew Garfield-starring Spider-Movie will be released across the US on July 3rd 2012, under the name The Amazing Spider-Man.

Check out official website and facebook page.

The image is supposed to be Andrew Garfield in the suit. And speaking of the suit, it looks really really good to be honest. I like seeing the the bumps on the wrist for the web shooters. I do wish he was looking up instead of downward.

The Spot News: X-Men First Class Trailer

The Spot News: X-men First Class Trailer

by Jose

We finally have a trailer. I said it recently when we posted the Superbowl trailers, but I am saying it again.
Marvel is going to have a hell of a year.
If the actual movies deliver.
Thor and Captain America trailers have me super excited to see the movie. Now we have the X-men First Class trailer and I am excited to see that one too.

The Rite Movie Review

The Rite Movie Review By Jose Plot:

An American priest travels to Italy to study at an exorcism school. While battling his beliefs.

Review:

I found this movie hard to review. Not for the obvious reasons. I just felt like this movie needs to be seen. So I will try my best to give a good review. So we have a young man, Michael Kovak ( Colin O'Donoghue ) who lives and works in his fathers mortuary/funeral home. To him his only options in life are to stay and take over or go to seminary/priest school. Leaving the option of once getting to the final vows open for him to leave. But here is the problem. Michael is torn between reality and his belief and faith. One unfortunate night, after he sends an email with intent to leave, he is involved in a car accident. Priest falls in street, truck swerves to miss, and hits another lady on a bike. Michael is the only one around to go to her and she asks for her final rights before she dies. This gives the priest who fell in the street the chance to get him back. So he gives Michael an option to go to Italy and study exorcism.
While there Michael is sent to meet with an aging yet unconventional priest that is sort of an expert in exorcism. Father Lucas Trevant ( Anthony Hopkins ) takes him and shows him a exorcism within a few minutes of meeting Michael. Yet he is still wary of what is going on. As the movie progresses and we have more exorcisms involving a pregnant young girl and a child. Michael sees rather compelling evidence of possessions and demon work, yet he is still not convinced of it being a demon but a mental issue with the people. Soon we Michael is introduced to what this demon entity is capable of.
Michael ends up telling the possessed girl that he doesn’t believe in whatever it is possessing her and basically tell it to “fuck off”.
Well the entity gets angry and girls the girl in a gruesome miscarriage scene. Soon Father Lucas grows weary of losing another person to possession and soon finds himself succumbing to that evil. Michael is left alone and experiencing horrify visions and circumstances. Frogs invading his room. A snow covered area with hoof prints and coming face to face with a red eyes mule. His father dying and no way to see him, only to talk to him after he dies hours before. It all comes down to him confronting the now possessed Father Lucas. We learn more of Michaels past at the end when he confronts the evil Father Lucas. How he welcomed in the devil as a child when his mother died and he bent the cross. How weak Michael is and due to his lack of faith they will die. Finally Michael opens up himself to believe that yes there is a devil, but that there also must be a God. Sending the demon back and saving Father Lucas.
Acting was pretty good from Colin O’Donoghue. He played the part of a questioning faith and belief priest pretty well. But the star of this movie is Anthony Hopkins. Hands down the shiny star of the movie. Balancing serious, joking, and down right scaring with ease. I feel this is Anthony Hopkins best role that I have seen him in. I also want to mention that I liked the playfulness that came out of him. Giving a bit of that humor to break the seriousness and creepiness of the movie.

Final Thoughts:

The Rite is a good movie. It surprised me and I really enjoyed it. I felt like I was experiencing a modern version of the Exorcism movie. Good acting and really creepy and scary movie.
Rating: 3 out of 5

The Spot News: Superbowl I Am Number Four

The Spot News: Superbowl I Am Number Four

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=d7ebe3a0-1f95-4505-91ec-d619a3cc0d83" target="_new" title="">Dreamworks: 'I Am Number Four'</a>

The Spot News: Superbowl Kung Fu Panda 2

The Spot News: Superbowl Kung Fu Panda 2

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=68c648b2-6aac-456d-9d08-86b704fd602a" target="_new" title="">Dreamworks: 'Kung Fu Panda 2'</a>

The Spot News: Superbowl Thor

The Spot News: Superbowl Thor

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=4a7b4b7c-948a-49d7-9acc-bd499ee740b4" target="_new" title=""&amp;amp;amp;gt;Paramount: 'Thor'&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

The Spot News: Superbowl Cowboy VS Aliens

The Spot News: Superbowl Cowboy VS Aliens

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=4acefe5f-47c6-4c58-a34f-19479a6ba5f2" target="_new" title=""&amp;amp;amp;gt;Universal: 'Cowboys vs. Aliens'&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

The Spot News: Superbowl Super 8

The Spot News: Superbowl Super 8

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=d22e8332-fa32-4c13-8270-433f578b26e3" target="_new" title="">Paramount: 'Super 8'</a>

The Spot News: Superbowl Transformers 3

The Spot News: Superbowl Transformers 3

Slick and straight to the point. Robots transforming and fighting. Explosions everywhere. So far looks really good.

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=f524a72a-4d0d-482e-a2aa-0a1f954a3de4" target="_new" title=""&amp;amp;amp;gt;Paramount: Transformers 3&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

The Spot News: Superbowl Captain America

The Spot News: Superbowl Captain America

I had my reservations about this movie and needed to see this in action. After watching the trailer I seriously want to see this now. We get a shot of a skrawny Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and then the super solider Steve Rodgers. A quick Glimpse of Red Skull who looks fantastic. My hopes are high for Marvel this year.

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=9957a6c0-dcb5-4435-9c18-72301746cb7b" target="_new" title=""&amp;amp;amp;gt;Marvel: 'Captain America'&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

The Spot News: Superbowl Battle Los Angeles

The Spot News: Superbowl Battle Los Angeles

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=1c767ab0-bcd2-46c8-8d16-75487b1b9c22" target="_new" title="">Sony: Battle Los Angeles</a>

The Spot News: Superbowl Movie Trailers

The Spot News: Superbowl Movie Trailers

The Superbowl came and went, congrats to the Green Bay Packers. But it wasn't just the Superbowl and the football game that was enjoyed and celebrated. No. The commercials also hold an equal importance. Many were great and funny while others failed to get a chuckle. But I am here to give you a rundown of some of the movie trailers that were shown. Some great things were shown and I am really pumped for the upcoming movie season.

The Spot News: New Captain America Pics

--By: Robert Acosta

Marvel's movies are looking really good this year. I know, they've only got a few this year but they're looking really good.

Captain America: The First Avenger isn't due out til July 22 of this year but hey, it's never too early to drop some pics right?

So there you have it, 5 new pics of Captain America: The First Avenger. Now sure, there was nothing to write home about here but I did see Tommy Lee Jones. How long has it been since i've seen Tommy Lee Jones? Too damn long.

Dark House DVD Review

Dark House DVD Review

By Jose

Plot:

Fourteen years ago a terrible massacre at a Foster Home traumatized a young Claire Thompson. She witnessed the aftermath of the unspeakable doings of religious whack-job Miss Darrode, who murdered seven young children.
Cut to present day and a haunted house impresario named Walston Rey (Jeffrey Combs) has decided to set up his newest state-of-the-art attraction at the home. He recruits a bunch of young actors to play the cast, one of which is Claire.The evil spirit of Ms. Darrode decides to take control of the computer system, causing the various setpieces to come to life and start picking off everyone in creative fashion.

Review:

So let me dive into this. Dark House was a fun horror movie. Was it great? No. Was it bad? No. It was fun. I have always said and most likely mentioned it here in some other reviews, that to me a great horror movie mixes scares and humor. Dark House provided that in spades. It felt like I was watching one of those classic 80’s and 90’s weekend afternoon horror movies. And to me that is a good thing. There is room for the serious horror movies and these comedy/horror mixes. The effects were pretty good looking and exaggerated a bit because they were supposed to be in a haunted house. I loved the clown and the long nailed she-demon. The acting was decent to a degree and over the top at times. Jeffrey Combs was Jeffrey Combs. He is great in everything.

Final Thoughts:

So overall Dark House was a decent movie. It is obviously not for everyone and definitely a renter. But if you are like me that can enjoy a top notch blockbuster as much as a straight to DVD B-movie, then go check this out.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Black Death Review

Black Death Review

By Jose

Plot:

The year is 1348. Europe has fallen under the shadow of the Black Death. As the plague decimates all in its path, fear and superstition are rife. In this apocalyptic environment, the church is losing its grip on the people. There are rumors of a village, hidden in marshland that the plague cannot reach. There is even talk of a necromancer who leads the village and is able to bring the dead back to life. Ulric (Sean Bean), a fearsome knight, is charged by the church to investigate these rumors. He enlists the guidance of a novice monk, Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) to lead him and his band of mercenary soldiers to the marshland, but Osmund has other motives for leaving his monastery. Their journey to the village and events that unfold take them into the heart of darkness and to horrors that will put Osmund’s faith in himself and his love for God to the ultimate test.

Review:

The plot description above is long but it needed to in order to properly explain the movie. It is not that Black Death is complicated or deep movie. If I were to try to compress it down to three or four lines it would not do the movie justice.
Now to the movie. We find ourselves in a monastery in a town ravaged by the black death plague. A monk, Osmund, grabs food and leaves to meet a girl that he likes. Well that raises questions from him and her about being in God’s favor by doing that and putting themselves at risk of being punished by the plague. Osmund tells her to leave and meet him at another holy location so they can leave and wait out the plague. Osmund questions his faith and asks God for a sign to what he should do. It comes in the form of a Holy Knight Ulric looking for a guide through the swamp and forest area. We soon meet Ulric the knights mercenaries and find out exactly what they are set out to do. Find this plague free town and kill the necromancer and convert the heathens who follow it.
Throughout the movie we see many situations where Osmund questions what the intentions of the knight and church are and finds himself questioning his faith and God. Once the group finds the town and are welcomed in they find themselves in a plague free utopia of sorts. The healer of the town a woman helps Osmund find his girlfriend who was found dead. This affects Osmund tremendously. Later the woman reveals to Osmund her true identity as the necromancer and revives his once dead girl. Osmund goes nuts and runs away. Soon finding himself and the others trapped and ready to be killed. Some gruesome kills and deaths later. Osmund finds himself confronting his revived girlfriend and promptly kills her himself. Totally losing whatever was left of his faith and mind. Especially when the necromancer reveals that she only drugged the girl and everything was just one big lie. Osmund killed his girlfriend. Ulric the knight does what he promised and delivers the black death upon the village, which he was suffering from, once he is killed. The ending of the movie is pretty much a look into what happened to Osmund once he returned to the monastery. He took up the mantle of holy knight finding and killing all who stand against the church and those charged with witch craft. But the problem is that Osmund is not well mentally and soon finds himself finding revenge on necromancer over and over. He sees every female accused of witchcraft as the necromancer that hurt his all those years ago.

Final Thoughts:

Black Death is a pretty good period piece movie about the black plague. Good action and good story. Although sometimes it felt a bit weak in the story and pacing. Sean Bean has turned into the go to guy for these medieval movies yet every time I see him in one he is very, very good. Eddie Redmayne is pretty much the stand out of the movie. He literally looks like this innocent young man tormented by his faith and life. Plus he has these big juicy lips that are distracting haha haha.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

The Spot News: Joseph Gordon-Levitt still getting a role in The Dark Knight Rises?

By: Robert Acosta

How could the star studded cast of The Dark Knight Rises get any better? With the likes of Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, how could it get any better? Easy.

Throw in a talented young actor like Joseph Gordon-Levitt and this cast is just down right sexy. Not that it wasn't before.

The funny thing is, Gordon-Levitt was one of the candidates for a role in the movie months back when they decided to take Hardy over everyone else. Leonardo DiCaprio was also mentioned in all of that buzz but don't expect to hear his name pop up in any offers.

So what role will Mr. Gordon-Levitt be playing? Don't look at me cause I haven't the slightest clue. Rumors will circulate, and I won't believe a single one until I hear it from a trusted source, and you shouldn't either. We've heard some crazy cast rumors over the years pertaining to Batman films.

I always thought he would be a great Riddler or Robin. Don't shoot me but yes, I did say Robin. I know director Christopher Nolan himself said he wouldn't be placing Robin in these films but when a guy like Gordon Levitt walks into the pictures, things could change. 

February Movie Releases/Another dump month?

February 4th

• Sanctum
• The Roommate
• Cold Weather (x)
• The Other Woman (x)
• Black Death (x) 

February 11th

• Just Go With It
• Gnomeo & Juliet
• Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
• The Eagle
• Cedar Rapids (x)

February 18th

• I am Number Four
• Unknown
• Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son
• Vanishing on 7th Street (x)

February 25th

• Drive Angry 3D
• Hall Pass
• Shelter 

NOTE: (x) = Limited Release

Robert Acosta:
It doesn't surprise me that this month is looking like the sequel to last month. Meaning another dump month. Not that January was all bad, I enjoyed about 3 movies in January, which is great. Just nothing really popped out, nothing is going to stick in your mind for the rest of the year.

February, with a couple exceptions, looks like it'll be fairly the same. First week brings some oddly placed Thriller/Horror type films that may rake in some money but will do nothing for the audience. Personally, If I had to pick movie to see during this first week, I try and go see the limited release, The Other Woman starring Natalie Portman. I've stated many times before, Portman can do no wrong right now.

The 2nd week is packed with movies, but once again nothing pops out. Just Go With it is going to be out for Valentines Day, for what it's worth. Though it shows some spots of comedy, I don't think it will do enough to be anything more than a terrible Rom-Com. The Justin Bieber movie will be out in the 2nd week and will take the top spot in the box office that week, that's a no doubter.

The one bright spot in the month comes in the 3rd week, with the release of I am Number Four. There is a lot going for this movie. The fact that it's one of the few bright spots in a dump month will make it shine more, along with the fact that it just looks damn good. Bona Fide action. Liam Neeson in Unknown may be something else to check out, being the 2nd movie to go and catch this month.

And finally the last week. Drive Angry 3D looks like it could be one of the worst movies of the year, or so it's shaping up to be. Sad for someone like Amber Heard, who is both talented and beautiful. Not sad for Nicolas Cage whose career may as well be done. Pass on Hall Pass.

Jose Diaz:
So I ate my words about the January releases. The Mechanic and The Rite being decent movies. But now here is February. The month of love and groundhogs and the Superbowl. How are the movie releases you ask? Well to me it is kind of a slow month, yet there are a couple of movies I want to watch.

We have the Roommate a teen version of Single White Female. Seems it will be the “bomb” of the month. I will give a view when the DVD comes along. In the same week we get Sanctum from James Cameron. Water, tunnel, cave, 3D by the man who revolutionized the technology. Might be good to watch in IMAX. We also finally get a limited release of Black Death. There will be a review for it up by Wednesday.

The following week we have Gnomeo and Juliet. Crap I say. The Justin Bieber movie. Yup a Justin Bieber movie in 3D no less. Expect this to make a ton of money. The obvious romantic comedy for Valentines Day, Just Go With It starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. Meh. And then The Eagle starring Channing Tatum, Mark Strong, and Jamie Bell. I actually want to see this one. Seems it might be a decent period action movie.

The 18th of the month seems to be the big release week. We have Unknown with Liam Neeson in another action flick. Looks good. And I am Number Four starring an up and comer Alex Pettyfer. I really want to catch this movie. It looks like it would be a fun action Sci-Fi movie. Then the third entry of Big Momma series. Did we really want this? The money could have went to someone else to make a better movie. But I guess Martin Lawrence is black mailing people to get his movies made. Pathetic.

Last week of February comedy Hall Pass and Drive Angry with Nicholas Cage, again. Seems we will be having a Nicholas Cage movie every few months. Yet he still has money problems huh?

DVD Releases February 1st

By: Robert Acosta

Initially looking at this weeks DVD releases, it kind of looked weak. In a sense, it still may. If you don't have a Blu-Ray player then it may be slim pickings for you. Any Blu-Ray player owners, or PS3 owners, you may be in luck.

Let's take a look at this week's DVD releases:

NOTE: Bold means DVD is also available in Blu-Ray

• Let Me In
• Never Let Me Go
• Conviction
• Hatchet II
• The Tillman Story
• Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2
• Monsters
• Mean Girls 2
• Boys Don't Cry (Only available on Blu-Ray)
• Pleasantville (Only available on Blu-Ray)
• You've Got Mail (Only available on Blu-Ray

So as you can see, everything is in bold this week. So DVD owners and Blu-Ray owners alike can have some fun this week.

Surprisingly my only picks this week aren't really new. They're new to Blu-Ray but they are not new as a whole. I'm specifically talking about the last 3 films on the list above with Boys Don't Cry, Pleasantville and You've Got mail.

Each are classic movies in their own right, putting actors/actresses like Tobey MaGuire and Hilary Swank on the map.

So, if you haven't seen these classics, maybe want to see them again or just want to own these priceless movies, here is your chance.