What Makes A Modern Classic?

I have news. I will be contributing part time to one of my fave movie blogs - Film Misery. I am really excited about that.

I will contribute a feature called 'Modern Classics" that would look at recent classics. Check my intro of the feature and my 6 suggestions for my first columns and let me know what you think and would you'd like to read about first here.

Are you going to movies this weekend?

I have been too occupied with good TV to bother with movies recently. Completely obsessed with Mad Men. We even dressed as the characters for a work event. Have been checking Dexter's season 4 on DVD. Not to mention the trashy Bachelor Pad, I mean who doesn't like to watch stupid people be stupid and mean to each other.

So I've negated movies for Hulu, instant Netflix and reality TV. I would like to change that. Tell me in the comments what I should see this weekend. Here are the choices :

1. Cyrus
2. The Other Guys
3. Salt
4. Agora
5. Get Low

Eat Pray Love is still not an option.

Black Swan? It's a trippy trip.

I am a couple of days late to the party. The trailer for Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" was released late afternoon on Tuesday. Within minutes the Internet was abuzz and going gaga over it. Twitter, facebook, blogs ..... everyone was talking about it. And I became as excited as everyone is.

Why? Because it's a fantastic trailer and now I can't wait for the movie. It was not on my radar mainly because I never cared for Natalie Portman. He filmography is thin on good movies with exception of The Professional (Leon).But this trailer sold me big time.

Its mood, its music, that gorgeous cinematography, sells the movie. You get the feeling you'll be in for a trippy ride. And in those few minutes you can see that the movie will be a good showcase for multiple actresses. From the blink and you miss her Winona Ryder who's looking good in what I assume must be a tiny part. To Mila Kunis who looks to be in completely new territory. And Barbra Hershey is enjoying herself in what appears to be a juicy "crazy" mother role.

But of course the best showcase this trailer provides is for Portman. And boy does she look good going unhinged. This could be great because as my favourite blogger Nathaniel says " Women Who Lie To Themselves™ is the greatest of film genres". I am beside myself with excitement and I hope the movie lives up to the hype now.

My Short Virtual Affair with Sal Romano

Are you obsessed with Mad Men? I am. Season 4 is on and it's very good. I've also been revisiting Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD. This show is a gem. The best thing about it are these vividly drawn characters. Even the ones with limited screen time are very real and relatable.

Almost all characters have twitter accounts. I thought they must be managed by the show cause their tweets are very well written and completely in character. But I read online that they are not. Whoever is behind them did a fantastic job.

Being on twitter means of course that I can chat to them. I engaged Peggy Olson and Joan Holloway. But I was surprised when one of my favourite characters, Sal Romano, started responding back. It was innocuous enough at the beginning. Those who watch know that he is no longer on the show since he was fired by Don Draper last season. So I asked what he was doing these days.And before I knew it, back and forth we went and set up a fictitious date to meet on Christopher Street for a drink. It was the most fun I had on twitter. Sadly when I tried to secure a second date, he didn't bite. Gay men, always fickle even fictional online ones.

Check out our exchange in the picture or start your own by chatting to these characters. You can find them all here.

Anything to Avoid that Megawatt Smile!

When Julia Roberts first appeared as a new ascending movie star, I liked her. Like the rest of the world did. I think I was OK with her through "Erin Brockovich", which is not only her greatest performance but also a fantastic showcase of her charisma. Since then though I've been just blah about her. The 'Ocean' movies did not help. And I have skipped her last two movies despite the somewhat positive buzz for "Duplicity".

I think I have "the underdog syndrome". Once stars become big, I avoid them. These days I can't stand watching any movie with Tom Hanks. And I loved Splash, way back in the day. Similarly I will be avoiding that huge smile this weekend. I am hoping I will not see coming at me from every channel on TV and every magazine cover on the racks. Hide!

ME_Says Must List

Those who know me, know that I'm addicted to my iPhone. Almost always on it, checking facebook, checking-in using foursquare, updating my twitter feed through tweetdeck. But for these great apps that I use, there wasn't one I could write about in the blog. Until now. Entertainment Weekly just released a new app, based on their weekly column, Must List. All the pop culture that they are obsessed with weekly. Of course I got it immediately and added my own twist on their must list. Here is mine:

- The World Cup. It's been over for 2 weeks now, but it was so all consuming for a month that I think it still bears a mention. My pre tournament pick, Spain, won so I'm a very happy camper. Better is Kickette, a site that obsesses about sexy footballers. Thanks for keeping the world cup alive!

- The Kids Are All Right. Gets my vote for best movie of the year so far. I've said it all before.

- One Day by David Nicholls. What a great book. Compulsively readable.You just want to know what happens next for Dex and Em, who meet on their graduation day and we follow them for the next 20 years. The perfect summer book.

- Joan Rivers' A Piece of Work. Who knew the directors of the heavy drama documentaries "The Devil Came on Horseback" and 'The Trials of Darryl Hunt" had this funny movie in them? It follows Rivers for a year and it's a fascinating journey and a sobering look at the relentless drive and despair behind the glamour of show business. And it has my favourite line from a movie this year, uttered by Joan herself. "I live like Marie Antoinette.... if she were rich".

- The Bachelorette. Completely ridiculous. Absolutely unreal. But oh so dramatic and I'm hooked. I can't help but watch every week.

- The Daily Show. Smartest show on TV. Enough said.

- Somewhere trailer. Moody and surreal. It's like a dream that I'd like to be in. Certainly a better dream than the over hyped and so what Inception. And after "Marie Antoinette" and "Lost in Translation", I want to see what Sofia Coppola does next. I know it will look gorgeous. But beware great trailers sometimes lead to bad movies, last year "A Single Man" had the best trailer but we ended with a vile movie.

- Mad Men. Everyone knows it's the best show on TV now. The 3rd season was almost perfect. I might even get cable to watch it with the rest of the world instead of waiting for the DVDs on netflix.

The Kids Are All right is right on!

Proceed with caution, this entry contains minor spoilers.

The Kids Are All Right is the kind of movie I like best. A contemporary American comedy that comments on the way we are living today. It tells the story of a couple (Julianne Moore and Annette Bening) whose teenage kids (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) decide to contact their sperm donor biological father (Mark Ruffalo). What follows is a charming, funny, thoughtful and touching comedy. And it's a perfect gem of a movie. Full of real characters and relateable situations.

The script by Lisa Cholodenko (who also directed) and Stuart Blumberg is so spot on. There are elements of the story that I was apprehensive of (one of the gay mom's affair with the straight donor dad), but they felt right and were real. The writing is so good that all five main performances are almost perfect. Ruffalo is charming and sexy and makes you realize why people would be attracted to his basically overgrown kid. Wasikowska and Hutcherson are very believable and offbeat in different ways. And it's almost always hard to play a 'real" teenager, but they pull it off.

Moore plays the flighty underachiever with warmth and wit. She has a fantastic comedy moment reacting to a surprise kiss. Fantastically funny. And she gets a big scene where she explains her character, and she nails it. While I love Julianne, Bening was amazing in this. The way she butched it up in her walk and her voice. Plus she gets the best lines and the best scenes. And it's all subtext, just how she reacts. Watch a lifetime of marriage reflected on her face when Moore is talking about her "career". And in another scene towards the end, she punches the audience in the stomach with the authenticity of her feelings of betrayal. I loved how it got all quiet and it was all about Benning's acting and her face...wow. Not to mention her mini breakdown in the restaurant scene where she unravels and comes clean about being threatened. She may finally win that elusive Oscar.

Great great movie. The minute it ended, I wanted to see it again immediately. Best of 2010 so far.

Toy Story 3 is actually really good!!

I don't like animated movies. Don't know who Dorie nor Nemo are. Thought the Lion King was terrible, but the Incredibles were pretty fly.Last year I succumbed to peer pressure and ecstatic reviews and saw Up. Boring and predictable except for those wonderful 4 minutes that told a story of a lifetime of love and marriage with poetry and efficiency. I don't remember seeing the first two Toy Story movies but I must've seen at least one because the characters were familiar this time around.

Anyhow Toy Story 3 was enjoyable. It had a simple but funny and engaging story. Time flew by, I only looked at my phone a couple of times. And it had this one fantastic scene towards the end that tugs at the heartstrings. I found myself clutching my friend's arm with tears in my eyes. It was so moving and in a moment said a whole lot about life and one's mortality. Can't remember the last time a movie made me feel like this. Which could be a curious comment on my cynical heart. But I think it's because this movie is just good.

Full disclosure : It was not my first choice. I really wanted to see Cyrus, but it was sold out. And it was so hot that I was craving the A/C of the theatre. I would've seen anything.

Chris Colfer is an Emmy Nominee!

Are you a Gleek? I totally am. Love the show. It dominated with 19 nominations at this year's Emmys. But the one nomination that I absolutely love is Chris Colfer for playing Kurt. Very deserved. It is great to see on TV a young adult gay man portrayed with such subtlety and truth. His character arc was so moving dealing with coming out, his crush on a straight friend and his relationship with his dad. And Colfer was in turns heartbreaking, defiant, lost and triumphant in his characterization. Who else could bring such charm and laughs to a scene where he comes out to the whole world while singing Beyonce's "Single Ladies" in a football field in full gear!

Congrats Chris.