After his outrageous and quirky roles in "Old School" and "Elf," I suppose I was hoping for something a little more hilarious than what Will Ferrell delivered in his latest movie, "Kicking and Screaming." I was sorely disappointed that he had almost become…boring.
It's easy to get enraptured in Orlando Bloom's honey brown eyes and to think that maybe they are the "heaven" to which the movie title is referring. But that sentiment dies as soon as heads start rolling and blood starts spraying over the sands surrounding Jerusalem. But even the most enamored of lady viewers will be surprised that "Kingdom of Heaven" is a bit more than eye candy. Though wracked with a shallow and meandering plot, badly developed supporting characters and overzealous political correctness, the film is redeemed, if only slightly, by its message and an amazing performance by Edward Norton as King Baldwin.
I almost liked him better as the annoying dude on Punk'd, with his trucker hats and raglan t-shirts, playing pranks on Jessica Alba and Rachel Bilson. Why did he try to become a "serious actor" all of a sudden? And why did he drag Amanda Peet into it?
Prolific producer Sydney Pollack ("Cold Mountain," "The Talented Mr. Ripley") directs the new film "The Interpreter," starring previous colleagues Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, and succeeds by all accounts; the plot fascinates viewers from beginning to end, the stars both deliver amazing performances, and the film teaches viewers volumes without a hint of preaching.
Though sweet and with good intentions, 20th Century Fox's new animated film, "Robots," seems to overstimulate. Its liberal-leaning plot, one that denounces materialist, cold-hearted corporate America in favor of the blue-collared stout of heart, is well formulated. The intricate robot world of Robot City is amazingly imaginative but overly attentive to detail.
In an upscale Bethesda, Maryland neighborhood, brilliant and burly Navy S.E.A.L. Lt. Shane Wolfe (Vin Diesel) is protecting a government secret. As he changes diapers, totes five children to Costco in a minivan and serves as a little girls' scout troop leader, Shane Wolfe is serving his country. Though accused of "babysitting" by the high school wrestling coach (hairy and hilarious Brad Garrett), Wolfe is on active military duty while wearing a tool belt packed with juice boxes and warm milk bottles. Wolfe is on a mission"to protect the Plummer children from deadly foreign agents trying to steal a military program that their murdered scientist father created and hid inside their home.
The winners of the 77th Annual Academy Awards have been announced! See how Silver Chips Online's predictions--and yours--chalk up to the list of real winners.
Three of Silver Chips Online's entertainment staff writers have endeavoured to predict the winners of the 2004-2005 Academy Awards. Submit your own predictions in 12 poll categories!
Will Smith returns to the big screen in 2005 with "Hitch,” his first romantic comedy, alongside comedian Kevin James and rising starlet Eva Mendes. Though "Hitch” does not step outside the proverbial chick-flick box, its characters and conflicts give an old tune new flair and prevent any sort of jaded vibe.
From jazz-era dreamer to war-era profiteer, "The Aviator" chronicles several decades of the sometimes glamorous, sometimes mentally depraved life of filmmaker and aviator Howard Hughes.
The Academy of Arts and Sciences announced the Oscar nominations for the 2004-2005 season today, Tuesday, Jan. 25. Official Silver Chips Online predictions will be published within the week. The nominations are:
It's hard to believe that there exists a movie that's a chick flick without a picture-perfect happy ending, a meaning-of-life story without drama and a comedy without slapstick stupidity. That, however, is precisely what "In Good Company” is: a realistic story about a human being with true character and the same life obstacles as everyone who goes to see the film.
As the "American Idol" judges rolled into the D.C. Convention Center, the nation's capitol sent out its best troops to defend itself from the self-esteem slicing and soul-wounding witticisms of Simon Cowell: a giant tomato, a cow and Carmen Miranda's tongue-pierced protégé.
There comes a tragic time in every American youth's life when it becomes necessary for them to spend their hard-earned allowance on other people instead of themselves. This time has come and beat me in the face with a holly-festooned bat, and in such a time of need and uncertainty it is only sensible to consult a wise, seasoned and amazingly witty person: one's editor-in-chief.
The newest James L. Brooks film "Spanglish," starring Paz Vega, Tea Leoni and Adam Sandler, is a mix of languages, cultural influences, romantic encounters, family drama and heartwarming uncertainty.
"Ocean's Twelve,"the box office smash hit and sequel to similarly successful "Ocean's Eleven," is a maze of good guys, villains, and heists that keeps the audience entertained in every way, shape and form.
The new star-studded Mike Nichols film, "Closer," has nothing to offer moviegoers but emotionally barren relationship drama; pretentious, deadpan banter and perverted, undeveloped characters.
Everyone has different priorities. Practice the guitar or resuscitate a heart attack patient. Make your Ashlee Simpson CD into a decorative mobile or trade it in for a real music album. Spend a large portion of your nation's budget on education or toilets. Many people in America and abroad faced these decisions over the past several weeks, and this is how they resolved their epic dilemmas.
The film "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," based on Helen Fielding's novel of the same title, recreates a chick-flick centered around the pudgy, chain-smoking, lank-haired and clumsy Bridget Jones.
The International Studies Academy (ISA), in coordination with the International Institute in DC and the State Department, hosted its first conference today during fourth and half of fifth period in the auditorium. Approximately 250 Blazers attended the conference to learn about issues such as human rights from representatives of many foreign countries and to recognize International Education Week, according to ISA leader Jody Zepp.
Boyfriends beware: Alfie is here. No, not the anteater puppet in the 1-800-COLLECT commercials, but the green-eyed, tousle-haired, roguishly handsome Brit-about-town in the aptly titled "Alfie." remake of the 1966 Michael Caine film and the first of several upcoming Jude Law movies.
Not everyone can win merit scholarships, and certainly not everyone can pay full college tuition. So what is an average but splendidly unique senior to do when lumbering about in the horridly befuddling Land of Financial Aid? Play to your strengths, of course, no matter how bizarre they might be.
Attention, bamboozled senior Blazers applying to college! Print or online, early decision or early action, FAFSA or 401K, the college application process is positively daunting with all of its various options. Here is a checklist that might make life among the essays, personal information forms, and scholarship application papers a little bit easier.
While your Politically Active friends harp on each other about the election, and your grandmother tuts about the declining economy and your parents refuse to give you money to go to the movies anymore because college costs are spiking, the following absurd things are meant to cheer you up.
It seems that no television show can remain impervious to the reality show epidemic, not even a 50-year-running special that touts itself as a scholarship competition exemplifying the ideal American woman. Therefore, it is only prudent that this year's bicentennial Miss America contest featured "behind the scenes” footage of the girls being "goofy” and "normal” in rehearsal, playing around in Atlantic City, and even in the dressing room.
On Friday night, Blair students gathered at 7:00 pm in the SAC to enjoy performances by other students as well as speeches by Heather Mizeur of the Kerry/Edwards campaign and the chairman of the Maryland Democratic Party. The event, which was sponsored by the Young Democrats, SGR, the Caribbean Club, the Hispanic Club, Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Gay Straight Alliance, Diversity Workshop and the Animal Rights Club, solicited around $1000 (minus security costs) in donations for Haitian relief according to Blair senior and event co-producer Hannah Fegley.
"American Dreams," the two-time Emmy Award-winning primetime drama about a young Philadelphia family facing the wave of cultural changes in the 1960s, started its third season with an amazing episode.
Since the beginning of the 2004-2005 school year, a number of classrooms still do not have access to BNC's televised morning announcements show, "Info Flow."
Gone are the heartwarming overtures, billowing black robes, and cutesy cliché punch lines of the first two films based on the internationally best-selling Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. The selection of new director Alfonso Cuarón ("The Little Princess," "Y Tu Mama Tambien") was a daring decision that initially raised eyebrows in the Potterphile community, but eventually stirred up even more hype than usual for the release of the highly anticipated movie. The regime change, a rather drastic transition from the more sentimental and family-oriented Chris Columbus to the edgier and more raw Cuarón, expresses itself in the generally morbid, dark, and creepy atmosphere of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Although Cuarón succeeded in creating a more realistic and artistic movie in comparison to its two prequels, the pace of the third installment is too fast and plots are significantly underdeveloped.