Saturday, February 28, 2015

Lester’s Most Iconic Movie Characters


Lester’s Most Iconic Movie Characters


Alex DeLarge (Clockwork Orange)
Alex Forrest (Fatal Attraction)
Andy Dufresne (Shawshank Redemption)
Annie Hall
Atticus Finch
Batman
Ben Braddock
Blondie (The Good, The Bad & The Ugly)
Butch Cassidy
Captain James T. Kirk
Captain Quint (Jaws)
Carrie
Charles Foster Kane
Clarice Starling
Col. Hans Landa
Cool Hand Luke
Darth Vader
Det. Alonzo Harris (Training Day)
Dil (The Crying Game)
Dirty Harry
Dorothy Gale (Wizard of Oz)
Dr. Hannibal Lechter
Dr. Strangelove
Dracula
Edward Scissorhands
Ellen Ripley
Ellis 'Red' Redding
ET
Ferris Bueller
Forrest Gump
Frank Booth (Blue Velvet)
Frankenstein
Freddy Krueger
George Bailey ( A Wonderful Life)
Gold Finger
Gordon Gekko
HAL – 9000
Hans Solo
Harry Potter
Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany’s)
Indiana Jones
Jack Dawson (Titanic)
Jack Torrance (The Shining)
James Bond
Jason Bourne
Jason Voorhees

Jigsaw
John McClane
Jules Winnfield (Pulp Fiction)
Keyser Soze
Karl Childers
Luke Skywalker
Mad Max
Marge Gunderson (Fargo)
Marty McFly
Mary Poppins
Melanie Daniels (The Birds)
Michael Corleone
Mike Myers
Mr. Spock
Mrs. Robinson
Neo
Norman Bates
Predator
Princess Leia
R.P. McMurphy
Ratso Rizzo
Rhett Butler
Rick Blaine (Casablanca)
Rocky Balboa
Rooster Cogburn
Scarlett O’Hara
Sir William Wallace
Sundance Kid
Superman
T.E. Lawrence
The Bride aka Beatrix Kiddo
The Dude
The Joker (The Dark Knight)
The Terminator
The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin)
The Wicked Witch of The West
Thelma and Louise
Tommy Devito ( J. Pesci - Goodfellas)
Tony Mareno (Saturday Night Live)
Tony Montana
Tootsie
Travis Bickle
Tyler Durden 
Vito Corleone
Yoda
Zorro

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Lester's Top Films - 2014


Lester's Top Films - 2014


1 “Boyhood”
2 “Selma”
3 “Locke”
4 “Birdman”
5 “The Imitation Game”
6 “Foxcatcher”
7 “Gone Girl”
8  ”Whiplash”
9  ”Night Moves”
10 “Force Majuere

========================================================
 
11. Life Itself - Documentary  
12. Edge of Tomorrow 
13. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes    
14. A Most Violent Year   
15. American Sniper   
16. Wild 
17. Still Alice 
18. Nightcrawler   
19. The Theory of Everything  
20. Guardians of the Galaxy     
21. A Most Wanted Man    
22. Belle    
23. John Wick   
24. The Skeleton Twins    
25. The Equalizer    
26. The Fault in Our Stars  
27. Blue Ruin    
28. Only Lovers Left Alive      
29. Noah   
30. Mr. Turner    
31. The Good Lie    
32. The Hunger Games
33. Unbroken    
34. Fury   
35. Get on Up   
36. Top Five   
37. To Be Takei   
38. The Drop
39. Obvious Child   
40. Rob the Mob   
41. Chef   
42. Gloria    
43. Le Week End   
44. Captain America the Winter Soldier    
45. The Lunchbox   
46. The Guest   
47. Cold in July 
48. Bears   - Disney Documentary  
49. The Grand Budapest Hotel     
50. Nymphomaniac Volume 1   
51. Nymphomaniac Volume 2     
52. Big Hero 6   
53. The Lego Movie 
54. Cake    
55. Big Eyes
56. The Babadook
57. Rosewater   
58. Calvary      
59. A Walk Among the Tombstones    
60. Gods Pocket    
61. The Two Faces of January   
62. St. Vincent    
63. Ida    
64. Starred Up
65. The Railway Man  
66. Tracks    
67. Joe     
68. Under the Skin    
69. Bad Words   
70. The Attorney   
71. Dom Hemingway 
72. Snowpiercer    
73. Hateship Loveship 
74. The Immigrant    
75. Grand Piano    
76. The Homesman 
77. Non Stop     
78. The Monuments Men   
79. Inherent Vice  
80. The Gambler   
81. Interstellar  
82. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby  
83. A Million Ways to Die in the West  
84. The Raid - Part 2 
85. About Last Night  
86. Lucy   3/4 Drama
87. Dear White People  
88. The Judge  
89. Coherence 
90. The Rover 
91. Godzilla  
92. 300 Rise of the Empire  
93. 3 Days to Kill   
94. Exodus: Gods and Kings  
95. Frank   
 

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Top Contenders for Best Picture Nominations 2015

Top Contenders for Best Picture Nominations 2015

The Revenant
Writer/director Alejandro González Iñárritu of “Birdman” tells the story of Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), a fur trapper who's left for dead after being mauled by a bear in the mid-1800s.  Will Leo finally gets his Oscar statue.

Brooklyn
During the 1950s, a young woman, Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan) moves from a small town in Ireland to Brooklyn, where she has the opportunity for work, for a future and for love, in the form of Italian-American Tony (Emory Cohen).

Carol
Female Brokeback Mountain on the surface. Blanchett plays a woman in the midst of divorce who becomes the object of a young store clerk's (Rooney Mara) affections in 1950s New York City.

Midnight Special
Michael Shannon plays a father on the run with his son after they learn the boy has special powers. Will Shannon finally get his Oscar statue as well?

Silence
Martin Scorsese's new adaptation of Shusaku Endo's novel where actor Andrew Garfield plays a Jesuit missionary sent to find his mentor (Liam Neeson) who's accused of apostasy. Set in 17th century Japan, a bad place for Christians, the story is powerfully violent.

Joy
The Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle team of David O. Russell, Jennifer Lawrence, and Bradley Cooper will return late in the unlikely true story of Long Island housewife Joy Mangano (Lawrence) who invented the miracle mop and holds dozens of patents today.

The Light Between Oceans
Based on the acclaimed 2012 novel of the same name by M.L. Stedman. It's the story of a post-World War II couple living in a lighthouse who find a baby girl washed ashore in a boat. Will Michael Fassbender get an Oscar? Also starring Rachel Weisz and Alicia Vikander as the adopted daughter.

Queen of the Desert
 The true story of British Renaissance woman Gertrude Bell (Nicole Kidman), who helped define Arab political borders after the British invasion of Mesopotamia and the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

The Sea of Trees
The story takes place in Japan's in the locally known "Suicide Forest" where an American (Matthew McConaughey) and a Japanese man (Ken Watanabe) meet with the same goal in mind. Their random encounter changes things for the men and leads to a struggle of another kind: survival.

St. James Place (a working title)
A cold war thriller from director Steven Spielberg and written by the Coen brothers. A true story starring Tom Hanks as U.S. lawyer James Donovan who oversees the negotiations to release Francis Gary Powers, a pilot whose plane was shot down in the Soviet Union

Strong Contenders

The Hateful Eight
Quentin Tarrentino delivers a 16th century western tale of 8 bounty hunters stranded in a Wyoming snow blizzard that leads to a plot of betrayal under one roof.

Grandma
Starring Lily Tomlin, a young a 35 year old video game tester has to move in with her grandma that results in both women to come to terms with parts of their past and their future. 

Truth
Robert Redford plays former CBS anchor Dan Rather and Cate Blanchett will portray producer Mary Mapes centering on Rather’s 2004 report on 60 Minutes a series of memos critical of President George W. Bush’s Texas Air National Guard service.

Ricki and the Flash
An aging woman, Ricki (Meryl Streep) chases her dreams of becoming a famous rock star by abandoning her family. She gets a last chance to put things right when her ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline) asks her to visit Chicago and help their estranged, divorced-daughter Julie through a difficult time.

MacBeth
Michael Fassbender and MarioN Cotillard take on the lead roles in this modern Shakespeare adaptation of Scottish soldier (Macbeth) and his friend (Banquo) are met by three strange witches bearing prophetic greetings.

Possible Contenders

The End of the Tour – John Cusack plays magazine reporter recounts his travels and conversations with author David Foster Wallace during a promotional book tour.

The Walk - Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays French high-wire artist Philippe Petit's crossing of Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.

The Martian – Matt Damon plays Astronaut Mark Watney who is presumed dead on Mars after a fierce storm and is left behind by his crew.

Knight of Cups – Christian Bale plays a screenwriter in LA who tries to make sense of the strange events occurring around him.

Genius – Colin Firth plays Max Perkins's time as the book editor at Scribner, where he oversaw great works.

A Hologram for the King – Tom Hanks plays a failed American businessman who looks to recoup his losses by traveling to Saudi Arabia to sell his idea to a wealthy monarch.

Suite Fan̤aise РMargot Robbie plays a woman during the early years of German occupation of France where romance blooms between her and a German solider named Bruno von Falk.

In the Heart of the Sea – Ron Howard Directs Chris Hemsworth remake – reimagining of Moby Dick.

Me & Earl & the Dying Girl - Jon Bernthal plays a teenage filmmaker befriends a classmate with cancer.

Slow West – Michael Fassbender plays in the story of a 16-year-old boy on a journey across 19th Century frontier America in search of the woman he loves, while accompanied by mysterious older traveler named Silas.

Trumbo - Bryan Cranston plays Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo who career comes to an end when he's blacklisted in the 1940s for being a Communist.

Demolition – Jake Gyllenhaal – Naomi Watts in the story of an investment banker struggles to understand his emotional disconnect after the tragic death of his wife who is rescued from his loss by a woman he meets in a chance encounter.

Icon – Lee Pace plays an Irish journalist who becomes convinced that Lance Armstrong's performances during the Tour de France victories are fueled by banned substances.

Suffragette – Helena Bonham Carter – Meryl Streep in the story of the underground foot soldiers of the early feminist movement.

The Danish Girl – Eddie Redmayne plays true story of Danish artists Einar Wegener and his wife Gerda and their tender portrait of their marriage with the question of  what do you do when someone you love wants to change?


Life – Robert Pattinson plays a photographer for Life Magazine who is assigned to shoot pictures of James Dean.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Most Forgettable Best Picture Winners in My Life Time



         Most Forgettable Best Picture Winners in My Life Time

1.      A Beautiful Mind
2.      American Beauty
3.      Chicago
4.      Crash
5.      Driving Miss Daisy
6.      Gladiator
7.      Kramer vs. Kramer
8.      Marty
9.      Oliver
10.   Ordinary People
11.   Out of Africa
12.   Rocky - (how this beat out “All the President Men” is amazing to me)
13.   Shakespeare in Love
14.   Slum Dog Millionaire
15.   Terms of Endearment
16.   The Artist
17.   The Hurt Locker
18.   The Last Emperor
19.   The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
20.   Tom Jones




       
 

Monday, February 16, 2015

Kingsman: The Secret Service - Review

Kingsman: The Secret Service 

“KIngsman: The Secret Service” starring Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Michael Caine and Samuel L. Jackson tells the story of a British super-secret highly sophisticated spy organization that recruits promising ultra-competitive twenty something’s into a training program so as to be available to deal with the constant global threats that emerge from time to time.

In the backdrop of this story, we see Colin Firth recruiting an unpolished, uneducated, but promising street kid named “Eggsy” who Firth’s character “Harry” has had an indirect relationship with “Eggsy” when he was a small child. We see Harry and the Kingsman organization taking him and the other recruits through a rigorous array of seemingly life and death scenarios to determine what one recruit out of the initial six would survive to being selected as a member of the prestigious spy organization.

We also see as a backdrop to the recruitment side of the film’s story the subplot of a diabolical entrepreneurial genius played by Samuel Jackson named “Richmond Valentine” who talks with a noticeable lisp who has come up with a combination of a technological and biological solution of dealing with man’s destructive impact on the environment through self-culling.

PROS OF THE FILM: “Kingsman” reminds me a bit, in that homage kind of way, of the old Sean Connery and Roger Moore James Bond films where their 007 was more of a flamboyant stylish and witty figure than actual serious spy where the dire situations they were placed in were far less of a perilous threat to Bond’s survival or his mission. And also just like these old Bond movies, Kingsman offers up an array of tongue in cheek, “wink-wink” dashing and sometimes amusing dramatic situations, including diabolical characters who were far less sinister and instead come across more comically over the top in their deviousness that ultimately made them equally appealing to the film’s overall story line.

CONS OF THE FILM: The film is fun to watch and moves along well, but the subplot of the training scenarios were far more interesting than the main plot involving Sam Jackson’s character convoluted and preposterous idea to save the planet; as he sees it.

CONCLUSION: “Kingsman” runs two hours with a genuine ease to watch, that while at times was confusing, was still nonetheless very entertaining with its timely appropriate amounts of polished action, witty dialog and stylish charisma.


3 – 1/2 Stars