Lights. Camera. Drama.

I have reviewed many movies on this blog. A movie is suppose to take you somewhere, elevate your senses and expectations. I still hold to that principle every way I go. Recently I had the luxury of watching two films that I strongly rejected from watching in the past: Avatar and Twilight: Eclipse. For Avatar, the best scene of the movie was the epic Na'vu revolt against the humans at the end of the film. The CGI graphics were pretty amazing, but like I said before, the plot-line was boring. Here is how the movie went.


Boy enters a new world. Boy meets girl, a tribe chief's daughter. Sounds familiar? Boy was suppose to kill or undermine the tribe's people to take their minerals, but then falls in love with the girl. Boy's people did not like that, and boy works with the tribe to defeat his former colleagues. Boy and girl live happily ever after. If I had seen this movie last December and written a review, I could have saved you $20. If Avatar came on HBO again, I would not see it. That is how bad the film is to me. I think that twenty years from now, Avatar will be celebrated for its breathtaking imagery and not for its storytelling. Avatar is not our 21st century version of Blade Runner or the Matrix.

Now those movies were classics ahead of their time; walking philosophical vessels of ourselves, reminding us of our humanity and will to create and accept our destinies. I can watch them over and over again. I cannot say this for Avatar and I certainly cannot say this in Twilight or its third movie adaptation, Twilight: Eclipse. Same concept; Boy meets girl. Boy happens to be a vampire with sparkling skin walks in the daylight. Boy's love for girl is so predatory and co-dependent that he will do anything to protect her from danger, even from the girl's best friend who happens to love her as well. Eventually, the girl becomes a vampire, gives birth to a half-vampire child, and lives happily ever after with her one true love, but I digress.



These movies are not for everyone, but for a core group of people. Lately we have become a society that tolerates the predictability and orthodoxy of the entertainment industry. 
In some respects, the art of film making is dead. Canadian actor Ryan Gosling understands that Hollywood is sexist, racist, and misogynistic. Do you see him on the cover of Star Magazine or on Dancing With the Stars? Hardly. He worries more about his acting craft than the money and fame. 


Twilight fans should take a minute and realize that romantic love isn't all peachy and clean in real life. Avatar fans should take a minute and realize that James Cameron needs to write/direct better stuff. Do people even think critically about what's going on in the world anymore? But what about personal preference? People have the right to watch and enjoy these films. My personal preference is watching non-regurgitated Hollywood trashy movies. I over-analyze films and I am aware of the garbage movie executives put forth to the public because I know it's mostly garbage. People these just days consume culture (technology, movies, books, news media, etc.) without knowing the consequences. Now that's the truth. 


What do you think about the notion that people take the lessons and cultural representations of the self, race, sex, gender, class,etc. from films at face value?

Hi everyone! The one and only Lady Mel is here to give you the latest in my awesome world. Lets get down to business!

@iHeartChina- LadyMel, I know this is old news, but did you vote in the 2010 midterm elections and which party did you vote 4?

China, would you be pissed if I did not vote this year? Ya, I was filming an commercial for my new shoe line in Hong Kong that day. It was not worth the effort or time really. When I am confident about the economy, and the direction of this country, then I will.

@PrinceAndrew482 - Gerard Butler's birthday is today. U attending his many b-day parties?

I will be attending a couple tonight in LA. Gerard is a good friend of mine. We met months before his "Law Abriding Citizen" film came out. Just friends. Never dated him. Not his female toddy. But he is a nice piece of ass though. ;]

@Kicca_Dane- What is wrong with Kanye West? The "Today Show" appearance ftl.

I honestly do not know. Mommy issues? Egotistical Douchebag Syndrome ? He is just a waste of time for me. Next.

Before I leave for the week, I want to thank Randomista  for presenting me with this:  the IDGAF Blog Award. I want everyone to check out here blog. She is amazing. IDGAF, if you don't know by now means, "I Don't Give a F$$$." And what the negativity around me at times, I don't give a F$$$$ about them. It's all about me. Picture of the Week personified. Have a nice weekend everyone!

This is more than just a movie review. This is a critical social analysis of my generation. Generation Y. By now, almost everyone you know uses Facebook. I do. You do. Probably your mom or stalker ex-boyfriend will by the time you finish reading this post. But that's not the point. The point is that the "The Social Network" provides not only a pretty accurate account of the way my generation sees the world, but the way in which the world will see us once we take ownership of it. (Disclaimer: When I analyzed this film, I talked about the actors and their fictional characters, not the actual people the film was roughly based on.)


As I  was watching this movie with my friend Radale Sunday night, I made a mental note on certain themes that played throughout the film and profoundly aroused my curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat, I guess. 


1. This is Our Time. When I heard Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) said that line to Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Einserberg) at a Silicon Valley nightclub, I knew it would speak volumes. The founding of Facebook pivoted a cornerstone in the social media revolution; the urgency to create change and rattle the status quo. Facebook embodies the Generation Y culture, and the future of other young innovators, leaders, and entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckenburg and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). Zuckerberg had a clever idea, the idea to create an online social space that connected people with members of their own tribes (as Seth Godin would digest). And as I saw Facebook's transition in the film as a brand from the dorm rooms of the prestigious Harvard University to Silicon Valley, the innovative hub for tech start-ups, I understood that this social revolution was bigger than anything I could have imagined of. 

2. The Tortured Creative Genius or the Jerk. I believed Zuckerberg represented two dichotomous identities: the tortured victim and the jerk. I do not know if the real Mark Zuckerberg is this way as in person, but the fictional Zuckerberg clearly was a jerk. From the moment I tried to decipher the opening dialogue between Zuckerberg and his ex-girlfriend Erica Albright, I knew that he was a hard person "socially" to deal with. But was he also a tortured soul because he was a nerd and did not quite fit into the Harvard social scene? Did Zuckerberg create Facebook to fit in with his peers or achieve fame, power, or greed? We will never know.


But this film drew more questions about Facebook and Zuckerberg than answers in my opinion. What bothered me the most was that why was a computer science genius somewhat "antisocial", when his Internet empire is all about interconnectivity and social networking? 


My answer: Radale and I concluded that Zuckerberg was not an efficient communicator at all. In the movie, he manipulated Saverine, probably the only friend he even had, from knowing about the Winklevoss lawsuit at first and then the Facebook contracts. He humiliated Albright by blogging about her on his "FaceMash.com" experiment. Does anyone found it ironic that Zuckerberg did this to Albright long before cyber bullying and the use of Facebook as a cyber bulling tool became major national investments? What a coincidence.


His behavior led me to more questions. Even if Eduardo was not an effective business manager and a Facebook co-founder, why did Zuckerberg tell him directly about this idea called Facebook and why did not he tell Saverine that he was inefficient before the final confrontation in the movie where Eduardo confronted Sean Parker and Zuckerberg about his lose of Facebook stock? Communication is a must to becoming a leader of the future and for Zuckerberg to be portrayed in this light is quite paradoxical to the current times.  Honesty should be a major priority when dealing with starting a business with your friends because I know that sometimes mixing friendship with business causes problems down the road. So in other words, creating a marketing brand requires transparency and communication.


3. Where are the women?  I am not surprised by the the limited role(s) for women in this film. To Mr. David Fincher, why groupies? For instance, if you say to someone that you went to Harvard, people will perceive you as extremely smart and privileged, regardless of background. If Harvard women are smart and I bet many are, why did Fincher portrayed these women as the typical gender norm: young, sexually curious women with the sore purpose of attending exclusive Harvard parties to get laid. Who remembers the strip poker and the Katy Perry's I Kiss a Harvard Girl esque scenes at the beginning of the film? Almost every female in the movie except Albright and Delpy (Rashida Jones) were half-naked, child-like, and sought male attention and the "male gaze" from Zuckerberg, Saverin, Parker, and other male actors in the film. 



Albright was the only female in the film that eloquently challenged Zuckerberg's ego the most (and in some respects his social equal), yet Zuckerberg humiliated her for those opinions online for emasculating him at the pub. Hollywood [or society]  hates it when a powerful female character speaks her mind, but then has to be ridiculed for it. I would have loved to have seen intelligent Harvard women in conversations with Zuckerberg, Parker, and Saverin about Facebook, the state of the digitalization of information and other Millennium (Generation Y) issues. But no! I had to watch a female Facebook intern snorted cocaine off of another female Facebook intern's bare chest instead! 


When will Hollywood ever learn that female actors should be not used or defined as background noise for a male-centric film? Young women these days are using Facebook in great numbers and to have women misrepresented in this film, in the social entrepreneurial scene, in American college culture, and in the greater society is truly troubling given that there are fewer women running Fortune 500 companies, majoring in math and the sciences, and starting their own businesses. I think the lack of good female roles in this film was one of its major flaws. 


Overall, it was a good movie to watch and I encourage those who haven't seen the film yet to see it with their own set of eyes. Remember, these are my opinions. Everyone is entitled to their own point of view. I think decades down the line, we will have sociologists, economists, and researchers analyse this film to reflect on the generational impacts of Generation Y in the first decades of the 21st century. Only problem is that I beat them to it! 


What are your thoughts about this movie? Zuckerberg? Facebook? The Lawsuits? Do you agree or disagree with the questions and points I brought up in this discussion?

Over the course of this summer, I have seen these particular movies:

I am a self-proclaimed popular culture junkie. Not the most pretentious type, but I know my way around the TV or movie screen. I do not know if I adore these five hot guys for their acting chops or for who they really are. Stop it right there. I don't! muhahaha. I have posted the hottest celebrity women (not in that way!) I would go lesbian for. Now it is time to celebrate the guys I would make out in front of you butt naked.

1. Joe Manganiello
Move over Anna Paquin. You are not going to get my dark and handsome man. He is mine! I have not seen One Tree Hill, so I do not know a whole lot about this sexy beast, but when I heard that he was going to portray Alcide Herveaux in the third season of True Blood, I knew I had to watch him. He has the perfect Mediterranean physique, a sweet yet devilish smile and my hands. I want to see his naked body on a platter now. Hurry up Alan Bell! I want to see some more skin! I forgot, he is also a sweet kindred soul. Ahhhhhhh.

Have you married or dated a loser before? Have you felt like a loser at some point in your life? Are you a sucker for comic books heroes and Jeffrey Dean Morgan like me? Well this might be a movie for you. Hollywood has done it again with in the comic book turned movie adaptation idea. Formerly based on the hit DC comic book series, "The Losers" are members of a special, highly-trained U.S operative unit led by Franklin Cray (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). In the movie, they are transported to a modern Bolivian jungle to do the dirty work for the United States government. Somehow, they are betrayed by some big shot (by the name of Max) within the government and are left for dead.

Will these bad ass rebels let the pain go away and live their lives as "Losers" ? Absolutely not. This is an action-packed movie for crying out loud! With the help of Aisha (Zoe Saldana), the group seeks its much needed revenge on the very system that turned against them. I have not read the comic books, but let's just say this movie is a bit reminiscent of the 1980s "A-Team" TV series, in some respects. You have your daredevil team leader, followed by your hot chick, pretty boy, gadget expect, sniper extraordinaire, and other characters that fall in between. Ironically, this movie, which opens in theaters April 23th, comes out about two months before the "A Team" movie! Ha, Karma does have a funny way of revealing itself in the movie business.

Expect lots of action, hilarious one-liners, and a budding, sexual romance between Zoe's and Jeffrey's characters. Have you not seen Morgan on Grey's Anatomy? I already seen the trailer online and on TV, so trust me. Hollywood has a way of putting a sex scene or two in almost every movie nowadays. I think it is highly uncreative, but it is a definitive method of getting the horny guys into the movie theaters. Also, Chris Evans from the "Fantastic Four" movie franchise and British actor Idris Elba also star in the movie so you know it will be pure comedy and entertainment! Did I say, Jeffrey Dean Morgan will play a bad boy? *Faints* So watch this movie if you do not want to watch a clever, cheesy, yet action-packed alternative to the "A-Team" movie. (Trust me, I already know the "A-Team" movie will not live up to the cult TV classics, so do not hold your breath!) "The Losers" opens nationwide April 23th! Watch the official movie trailer here!

Tomorrow night is the 82nd annual Academy Awards at the Kodiac Theater in LA and everyone in Hollywood will be attending. Now, usually the Oscars is this long, stiff, yet must-see event every year. But I think this year is going to be more incredible because comedic juggernauts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are co-hosting this year! Kathryn Bigelow may become the first female to win the Oscar for Best Director! So, this is history in the making!

There are two components to my Oscar predictions; the movies and individuals that I want to win Oscars and the movies that will win Oscars. I only predicted the most important awards of the night. Enjoy!

Best Picture
My Pick: Hurt Locker
Academy's Pick: Avatar or Hurt Locker

With a domestic revenue of over 700 million dollars alone, Avatar is not going home empty-handed.

Best Actor
My Pick: Jeff Bridges
Academy's Pick: Jeff Bridges

Best Supporting Actor
My Pick: Christoph Waltz
Academy's Pick: Christoph Waltz

Best Actress
My Pick: Gabourney Sidibe
Academy's Pick: Sandra Bullock or Meryl Streep

Best Supporting Actress
My Pick: Mo'Nique
Academy's Pick: Mo'Nique

Best Animated Film
My Pick: Princess and the Frog
Academy's Pick: Up

Art Direction
My Pick: Avatar
Academy's Pick: Avatar

Best Director
My Pick: Kathyrn Bigelow
Academy's Pick: Kathyrn Bigelow

Best Adapted Screenplay
My Pick: Up in the Air
Academy's Pick: Up in the Air

Best Original Screenplay
My Pick: Hurt Locker
Academy's Pick: Hurt Locker

Tonight, I may watch Hurt Locker, Avatar, and/or Precious for the first time to get me into the Oscar rush! Who do you think will take home an Oscar these year?

The Academy Awards starts tomorrow night at 8pm EST on ABC. I will view E! Oscar Red Carpet coverage tomorrow at 6pm EST on the E! Network. Find me on Twitter at @christbrown2009. I will be tweeting my Oscar coverage in real time all night!!

I was quite busy with personal matters yesterday, so I did not get the chance to write any posts. So lets get back with the program! I have "the ugly truth" on the most recent celebrity gossip around. You know the things you wished did not come from David Letterman's big mouth. Let's start with the show:

I, like many bored Americans, love me some good action-packed, tear-jerking, dramalicious (see it's a new word) reality TV shows. Some shows have intrigued us because of the way people really act in front of the camera, while others makes viewers hate the human race all together. So, I have decided to write about the worst of the worst reality TV shows out there. Some should not have been created in the first place. Why wasted my time with stupid antics, boring monologues, and the same crap every year when I could produce my own reality TV series?! So if I were a TV executive, here are the shows I would cancel this fall 2009-2010 TV season:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Here are the guys that either melt my heart and/or intrigues me in some indescribable way:

1. Gerard Butler, the one and only. Need I say more? God damn he's sooo fine and ripe for the picking. Now, I sound like a molester.

2. Hugh Jackman, if you weren't married with a wife and two children, I would totally shag you in your Wolverine costume of course. hehe ^.^


You will begin to see that I like non-American men for some reason. Go figures, moving on.

3. Robert Downey. Jr, charming, fiery yet witty at the same time. Come on, did you guys see "Iron Man"? Yummy. I bet he makes a dashing Sherlock Holmes too. But he is damn married ><.


4. Ryan Reynolds,

Ryan, Ryan, Ryan! Why do you are what are you? *hearts* Funny and sexy in one body. I cant take it anymore!


Honorable Mention: Craig Ferguson




He's witty, charming in a cheeky way. Did I say he is flirty too? *sighs* I wish I were a guest on his late night show. :)

I think that is about it for me, NO WANNABE SKINNY HOLLYWOOD ACTORS allowed! I'm talking to you Shiloh LaBuff and Zac Efron.