Well, the Oscar nominations have been announced as of February 2nd, and the biggest surprise was that "The Blind Side" was nominated for Best Picture! Also suprisingly in that category were Disney Pixar's "Up" and "District 9"! Of course there were ten slots for Best Picture rather than five this year, which left open space for more popular movies. Though it's interesting to see those type of films nominated, "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" are the two we need to keep our eyes on! Other categories with unsure outcomes include Actress in a Leading Role- Meryl Streep or Sandra Bullock? Shoe-ins for wins include Mo'Nique for Actress in a Supporting Role and Christoph Waltz! For a full list of Oscar contenders head to http://www.oscar.go.com/nominations/nominees
Rental of the Week: Black History Month
In honor of Black History Month, each weekend we'll present a special "Rental of the Week" that honors African American triumphs! With this week being "Superbowl Week"- the movie we're recommending is "Remember The Titans" starring Denzel Washington. It's based on the true story of T. C. Williams High School. In the 1970s, two schools in Virginia, one all black school and one all white school, integrate to form one big high school - T. C. Williams High School. The story follows the high school's football team, the Titans. When the Caucasian head coach is replaced by an African American coach (Denzel Washington) from North Carolina, tensions rise when players of different races are forced together on the same football team. 
However, much tension is eased when the team is taken to a training camp in Gettysburg, Virginia. Though the team overcomes the idea of an integrated school, the rest of the town does not. Fortunately, as the football season progresses, the Titans' success causes the community to accept the changes. Aside from many hardships along the way, a perfect season leads to a closer team and community. You can never go wrong with a football film, and this one is definitely worth watching!
February Trailer Reel
It's our monthly "Trailer Reel" show and we check out the trailers for "Dear John," "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," and "Valentine's Day"!
Our New Show!
Be sure and check out our new show, "American Idol Weekly" where we have weekly discussions/recaps of everything American Idol! It all begins January 15 at http://www.youtube.com/user/americanidolweekly! Plus, during the premiere, we'll have a look at what you can expect from Movie Mania's third season, which premieres January 20!
"According to Greta"
"According to Greta" was screened at film festivals as just "Greta" but with the Los Angeles release on December 11, it was entitled as "According to Greta"! Now the version I saw was just entitled - "Greta" - but I highly doubt there's any difference! Either way, this was a really good movie! Of course anyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge Hilary Duff fan, which is why I saw this movie, but I'm not just recommending it because of her. Hilary plays Greta, a seventeen year old who's been sent off to stay with her grandparents for the summer! Greta may be relieved to get away from her mother and her mother's 9th husband, but she's not excited to be living with her grandparents. Following in her suicidal father's footsteps, Greta plans to die before she turns eighteen. She's made a list of all the ways she would like to die, but she has also made a list of all the things she wants to do before she dies! She wants to eat a bug, get in a fist-fight with a grown man, lose her virginity, and maybe get a tattoo... At first, her grandparents have a hard time deciding if she's serious or just being dramatic... and after a while, I found myself wondering the same thing! To be honest, there wasn't a point in the whole entire movie where I wasn't on the edge of my seat in suspense! You just don't know what she's going to do next! Now I know Hilary, and I have seen her work, but I've got to say this was the best performance of her career! I actually found myself forgetting that she was Hilary Duff... and that normally doesn't happen... I'm not hating... I'm just saying! The movie also stared Academy Award Winner, Ellen Burstyn and Academy Award Nominee, Melissa Leo, both gave great performances as well. Then there's Evan Ross, Diana Ross' son, who played Greta's love interest... with a criminal record I might add. He actually wasn't half bad, though I never care too much for any of Hilary's on-screen lovers! The movie only had a limited theatrical release, but the DVD is set to hit stores on January 19! If your like me and can't wait until then... it's on YouTube! It's a suspenseful movie with a lot of good humor! So SEE IT for yourself to find out life "According to Greta"!
The Best and Worst of 09!
Happy New Year! Yep, 2010 is here and with it comes a line-up of brand new movies! But before we begin anticipating all the new films hitting the big screen in 2010, let's reflect on some of my favorite (and least favorite) movies of 09!
"The Blind Side" was a movie that I didn't review on the show, but I'm telling you now that it's a "must see"! The majority of the time you can't go wrong when you make a football movie, but in - "The Blind Side"- football isn't the main focus! It follows the story of Michael Oher, a teenager that's bound to fail in life until a wealthy go-getter, Leigh Anne Tohuy (Sandra Bullock) takes him in and eventually makes him a successful member of the family! Now it's based off of the true story of the real life Michael Oher who currently plays professional football for the Baltimore Ravens. But like I said, football is just the eye catcher of it all, the real light to the movie is it's story of rags to riches! Although I probably would have chosen a different actor here and there, and maybe lightened up on the southern accents, this movie is well worth any one's time. It was definitely my favorite movie of the year and the only one in which I found myself clapping before the movie was even over!
And then there's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"...
Now I wasn't a huge fan of the first film, but I was even less of a fan of the second one. First of all, robots should cry... or fart for that matter! But then there's the fact this movie was probably made so that Michael Bay could prove to us that he could make the loudest film ever! Well, he succeeded! But he also succeeded in making my least favorite movie of the year! This movie had my lowest rating of 2009 - 2 out of 5 - and I probably should have classified it as "not good enough for a rating"... but I've never done that before! Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox returned playing... oh who am I kidding there's no acting in the movie! Any way, Shia LaBeouf finds himself in the middle of a war between the Autobots and the Decepticons... enough said! Whether this was a good movie or not, it's currently the highest grossing film of 09... what is this world coming to?
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