Do you know what the short nickname for Melinda is? Mindy. I’ve always hated that; it’s such a cutesy I-like-ponies-rainbows-and-cupcakes type of name and I’ve always refused to let people call me that. After watching Kick-Ass though, from all the random thoughts I had during that movie, the one that will always stick with me is: “I’ve never been more proud that I can call myself Mindy”.

I’ve been excited for Kick-Ass ever since I first heard about it. Stardust was one of my favourite movies of the past 3 years, so naturally I was curious to see what director Matthew Vaughn and co-screenplay writer Jane Goldman would do next. After seeing the first two trailers, it became one of my Must See movies of 2010, especially after the trailer dedicated to Hit Girl. To my delight I was lucky enough to see Kick-Ass a month before its release… and on my birthday. So was Kick-Ass everything I hoped it could be? YES.

Based on the comic from Mark Millar, Kick-Ass is about Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a teenage boy, who decides to become a real-life superhero after being inspired by the heroes of comic books. He soon encounters a mysterious vigilante called Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage), and his daughter Hit-Girl (Chloë Moretz), who are working to bring down the local drug baron Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong).

Kick-Ass is one of the funnest movies I’ve seen in the cinema. It’s not the greatest movie ever made, it’s not even the greatest comic book movie ever made, but it’s been a long time since I had so much fun at the movies. I came out of the cinema grinning like crazy and just wanted to jump right back in to watch again. Everything in this movie just comes together: the story, the cast, the action sequences, the music, everything just works.

The main story isn’t exactly one we haven’t seen before: ordinary boy becomes a superhero. But unlike some of the more familiar superheroes tales, this one is slightly more grounded in reality. There is no radioactive spider that gives him powers overnight. He isn’t a multimillionaire with the coolest gadgets and gizmos. Dave Lizewski is just a normal teenager who has read too many comic books and thinks that if he puts on a costume made out of a wetsuit, he’ll be a superhero. He’s one of us, a fellow geek with a crazy idea, and that’s what makes this story so compelling. Nothing special happened to this guy, he just decided he’d become a superhero.

Aaron Johnson is great as the titular character, delivering a believable performance as the geeky and gangly Dave. As expected though Big Daddy and Hit Girl completely steal the show, and they should. They are the real superheroes in this movie and it’s through them that Dave realizes that he’s only doing it for pretends. I was a bit nervous about Nicholas Cage as Big Daddy, and was scared that it would go too over the top. But he’s cast perfectly in this role, and his Big Daddy “voice” is spot on (just wait until you hear it).

Chloë Moretz is amazing as Hit Girl aka Mindy Macready. This character is a weird blend of a cursing leg-severing assassin and sweet little girl, and in another actress’s hands it could have gone terribly gone. Moretz manages to balance both sides perfectly, bringing us some awesome action and bad-assness in one scene and yet making us care about her as a small girl in the next. I can’t wait to see what she’ll do in the future; at only 13 I think she could have an amazing career in front of her.

There are a couple of beautifully choreographed fight sequences in Kick-Ass, all accentuated by the great soundtrack. One in particular stands out for me where Hit Girl makes her way down a corridor with the song Bad Reputation from Joan Jett playing in the background. And there are more moments where it almost feels like Hit Girl and Big Daddy are in a dance with their opponents, gliding smoothly from one enemy to the next.

Kick-Ass is an awesome movie and one I’d recommend to anyone who likes the big action-y superhero movies. I was hoping I’d like it, but wasn’t expecting to have this much fun. Everything from story to music works in this movie and I guarantee you’ll have a great time. I so want to see it again once it’s released!

Kick-Ass is released in the UK on the 26th of March and in the US on the 16th of April.

When I was 7 my mum made this beautiful cake for my dad’s birthday. It was stunning, with intricate swirls of pink and green icing. You could see the amount of effort my mum had put into the cake and I so wanted to love it. But then I had a bite. It wasn’t really bad, just bland, and with a cake as stunning looking as that, you expect something amazing. And that’s exactly how I feel about Alice In Wonderland.

In this Alice in Wonderland, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is 19 years old who falls down the rabbit hole after running away during her own marriage proposal. She lands in Underland, a place she previously visited 13 years ago, but doesn’t remember. Alice encounters the weird inhabitants of Underland, including the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen) and the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry) and gets caught up in the battle between the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway).

Visually this movie is gorgeous. I saw it at the IMAX in 3D and it’s definitely worth the little bit extra to see it there. I wasn’t that convinced by 3D last year, but now movies like Alice in Wonderland and Avatar are proving how beautiful this technique can be used. There are so many pretty things in this movie: the landscapes and buildings, the costumes, the characters, everything just looks great.

Wonderland (or Underland as it’s called here) is a weird place with some wonderfully Burtonesque characteristics, like twisty curly trees and a moat full of heads. I loved both the Red Queen’s and White Queen’s castles; each have little details in them, emphasizing those character’s personalities. The animated characters also look great, with only the white rabbit in the “real” world at the very start of the movie appearing a bit jarring. My favourite has got to be the Cheshire cat though, acting just like a cat is supposed to (I so want a cuddly toy like that!). I also have to mention the brilliant costume design here. Alice has at least 7 different dresses in this movie and they all looked amazing.

Despite how stunning everything in Alice In Wonderland looks like, there’s something missing in this movie. I still can’t pinpoint exactly what it is. Charm? Warmth? The thing is… I didn’t care for Alice or any of the characters at all, there was no emotional connection to make me feel invested in the movie. Besides that, Alice just jumps from one event to the other and you never feel as if she’s in any real danger. The Red Queen screams “Off with her/his head!” a number of times, but you never really feel as if there’s an actual threat.

Alice In Wonderland is a visually stunning movie that deserves to be seen in as large a cinema you can get. Everything looks amazing and it’s worth seeing it for that alone. Story-wise it isn’t the epic movie I was hoping for, but it’s still a good addition to the Alice In Wonderland interpretations.

Last year I blogged about a cool “game” that was a giant image where you had to solve cryptic clues of movie titles. Now there’s been a new chapter in the Tron viral game that does something similar but for video games.

If you haven’t been following what’s been happening with the Tron viral game, head on over to Firstshowing.com who have done some great coverage of it so far. The latest discovery of the game is the site Arcade Aid which features an image of a huge pixel city with 56 hidden video game references. Once you solve all 56 references, you can get a “Special Access” Encom ID, which will most probably lead to another step of the viral game some time in the future.

I’ve only got 10 so far (and then I decided I should blog about it first before continuing with it), but I already love some of the cryptic clues. How many were you able to solve?

I’ve always found it fun to try to predict the Oscar winners, but never took the time in previous years to turn it into a blog post. This year however I thought I owed it to myself to actually have an Oscar week on this blog and there’s no better way then to start with my predictions! Of course next Monday I’ll let you all know how many I had right and wrong (with more in the wrong I’m guessing).

I’ve left a couple of categories out (Best Documentary – Short Subjects
, Best Short Film – Live Action, Best Short Film – Animated
), cause I haven’t seen any of the films in those. But the rest I’ve tried to guess; let’s see how many I’ll have right. If you want to play along, leave your predictions behind in the comments!

Best Picture
:

Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Best Director:

James Cameron – Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels – Precious
Jason Reitman – Up In The Air

Best Actor In A Leading Role
:

Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up In The Air
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker

Best Actress In A Leading Role:

Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

Best Actor In A Supporting Role:

Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

Best Actress In A Supporting Role:

Penelope Cruz – Nine
Vera Farmiga – Up In The Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick – Up In The Air
Mo’nique – Precious

Best Animated Film:

The Fantastic Mr Fox
Coraline
The Princess and The Frog
Up
The Secret of Kells

Best Original Screenplay
:

The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

Best Adapted Screenplay:

District 9
An Education
In The Loop
Precious
Up In The Air

Best Foreign Language Film
:

Ajami
El Secreto De Sus Ojos
La Teta Asus Tada
A Prophet
The White Ribbon

Best Original Score:

Avatar – James Horner
Fantastic Mr. Fox – Alexandre Desplat
The Hurt Locker – Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders
Sherlock Holmes – Hans Zimmer
Up – Michael Giacchino

Best Original Song
:

Crazy Heart – “The Weary Kind”
Faubourg 36 – “Loin de Paname”
Nine – “Take It All”
The Princess and the Frog – “Down in New Orleans”
The Princess and the Frog – “Almost There”

Best Documentary, Features:

Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

Best Art Direction
:

Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Best Cinematography
:

Avatar
The White Ribbon
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds

Best Costume Design
:

Bright Star
Coco Avant Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

Best Makeup
:

Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

Best Editing
:

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

Best Visual Effects
:

Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Best Sound Editing:

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up

Best Sound Mixing
:

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Update: I completely forgot to mention this (stupid brain isn’t working 100% today), but this post is my entry into VoucherCodes.co.uk‘s Oscar sweepstake! It’s only open to entertainment bloggers and critics, and whoever collects the most points (+1 for a good prediction, -1 for a wrong prediction) can win a £250 Amazon voucher. Wish me luck!

I stumbled on this cool infographic from LocateTV about the Oscars and of course it’s a perfect post for Oscar week!

It’s Oscar Week on MissGeeky! I was planning to start this yesterday, but my trip to the Netherlands is taking up a lot of my time (lots of appointments with dentist, optician, doctor, etc etc) and I haven’t been behind my laptop nearly as much as I’ve wanted to.

This entire week will be devoted to the Oscars. I’ll (try to) write an Oscar related blog post every day leading up to the Oscars on Sunday night, including of course my predictions. And I’ll be live-tweeting my thoughts during the show. So are you excited yet for the Oscars?

Episode 162: “If I looked like Kate Winslet, I’d act naked as well”

We’re already well into 2010 and while it’s a bit late for your Best Of 2009 lists, I still think we’re allowed a bit more time to reflect on the past decade. This video from the New York Times features a whole bunch of actors and actresses all answering the same question: What is the best performance of the decade?

Here’s the full list of everybody appearing in it: Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman, Christoph Waltz, Sam Worthington, Vera Farmiga, Tobey Maguire, Colin Firth, Zoe Saldana and George Clooney.

Some of these answers are great; it’s hard to pin down what makes a great performance and it’s such a personal choice, I think. I agree with Carey Mulligan about Saoirse Ronan in Atonement and with Sandra Bullock about Kate Winslet in The Reader; they both were brilliant in those. But Sam Worthington about Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor? I do think Eddie Murphy’s roles are sometimes unappreciated, but seriously, Sam?? THAT was in your eyes the best performance in the decade?

Btw, what the hell is going on with Sandra Bullock’s big hair? Is it part of whatever movie she’s currently filming?

Who do you most agree with? What is for you the best performance of the decade?

Via BuzzSugar

Slowly working my way through reviewing the rest of the movies I watched last year. I also still need to do some proper reviews of the movies I’ve watched this year. I can’t believe it’s February already!

9

Great concept, bad execution. 9 takes place in the future, where mankind has been wiped out by machines. When a small burlap doll, called 9, comes to life, he has no idea what has happened to this world. Together with a group of other dolls, he tries to figure why they were created and were meant to do.

Visually 9 looks gorgeous; the doll designs, the apocalyptic world, the monster robots, it all looks superb. But the story behind it was just too weak. There’s no real answer to any of the questions raised and the plot just jumps from one encounter to the other. It kind of feels like a bad video game, with the plot taking a back seat to the visuals. Such a shame because this could have been amazing.

High School Musical

Yeah, I finally went ahead and watched this. I always find it a bit hypocritical to completely trash a movie if you haven’t seen it. Was it as bad as I expected? Yep. Did I enjoy it? Ehm, honestly? Yes. It’s so cheesy and predictable, but it’s a fun movie that never takes itself seriously. And some of the songs are pretty catchy.

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Staying in the realm of musicals for a bit, I had wanted to watch Repo for ages.  The movie is set in the year 2056, where GeneCo rents out organs to people. If they can’t pay though, the Repo man is sent to collect their organs…

A horror opera in a futuristic world. Awesome idea! In reality though, I didn’t like the movie as much as I had expected. I didn’t like any of the songs and the story just wasn’t that interesting. I loved the comic book snapshots throughout the film though and adored all the actors singing (Anthony Stewart Head!!). I just wished they had better songs to sing.

Next

I should have expected how bad this was, seeing as Nicholas Cage is in it. It’s loosely based on a Philip K. Dick story, but plotwise it really isn’t that impressive. Cage stars as a man who can see a couple of seconds into the future and is wanted by the FBI because of this skill. A waste of time: avoid.

Eragon

I love a good dragon story, but Eragon was just aweful. The acting was bad, the story was boring (and completely ripped off from Star Wars of course) and just didn’t make sense. The dragon was pretty though.

Eagle Eye

I watched this straight after Next and Eragon, thinking I’d do a bad movie afternoon. Jerry (Shia LaBeouf) and Rachel (Michelle Monaghan) are two strangers thrown together by a mysterious phone call from a woman they have never met. Threatening their lives and family, she pushes Jerry and Rachel into a series of dangerous situations, using the technology of everyday life to track and control their every move. Surprisingly it was more enjoyable than I had expected. It’s not the greatest action or thriller ever made (no by far), but it’s a good fun movie for a rainy afternoon.

The Escapist

Frank is a convict fourteen years into a life sentence without parole. But when his estranged daughter falls ill, he is determined to escape and be with her before it’s too late. He develops an ingenious escape plan, recruiting a bunch of other inmates escapists, each with specific skills to make their escape work.

I really liked this movie. It was a bit slow going, but the way the story unfolds was pretty cool. Instead of just a normal narrative, we get to see two stories simultaneously: the preparation of the escape and the escape itself. I was expecting some weird scifi twist (mainly because I had seen glimpses of a London underground station during the escape in the trailer and was trying to figure out why they were underground, but that’s actually never explained), but even without that it’s an interesting movie.

City of Ember

Another underground movie. For generations, the people of the City of Ember have lived underground. But Ember’s once powerful generator is failing… and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Two teenagers must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city’s existence, and help the citizens escape before the lights go out forever.

I wish I had read the book first, but it’s still a great movie. Yes, it’s a kids movie, but the way the fantasy world has been built up is charming. Bill Murray is good as the unlikable Mayor and Saoirse Ronan is sweet as the young heroine.

Vantage Point

I always love slightly different narratives in movies. In Vantage Point we see an attempted assassination on the American President from several vantage points. Instead of just repeating the same exact period of time from different points of view though, we slowly get more and more parts of the story. I had expected it to become a bit tiring after a while, but the movie manages to keep you interested and intrigued without repeating too much of what you seen already. Some of the ‘twists’ were a bit predictable, but even I hadn’t figured it all out.

Oscar

I wonder how many of you have even heard of this movie? Oscar stars Sylvester Stallone as Snaps Provolone, mafia boss who promises his dying father that he’ll turn into a honest businessman. On the day that he’s supposed to ‘go straight’ all things go wrong, starting with his accountant announcing he wants to marry Snaps’ daughter.

This is one of those movies I remember loving as a kid/teen, but it had been ages since I had last seen it. Was it as good as I remember? No, but that never is the case with movies you worshipped as a kid. It’s still a funny movie and has some hilarious mixups in it.

Yeah, I know we’re already a month into 2010, but I still wanted to do a list of the movies I’m most excited for. These won’t be the best movies or the top grossing movies (otherwise I would have added the Twilight and the Harry Potter sequels), but these are the movies I personally am really looking forward to.

Alice In Wonderland – March 5th (US, UK)

I can’t wait for this movie! I’ve been keeping an eye on the IMAX website, waiting till the tickets will be released (I’m not even in the country on the actual release date, but still want to get seats as quick as possible). If you hadn’t heard about this little movie yet, it’s Tim Burton’s interpretation of Alice in Wonderland, starring new comer Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen and tons of more familiar actors. I’m a sucker for Alice In Wonderland stories/reinterpretations, and I love the look of this movie.

Kick-Ass – April 2nd (UK), April 16th (US)

The first two trailers I saw of Kick-Ass looked awesome, so much so that I’m now in Avoid All Marketing mode. I know I want to see this movie when it’s released and I just don’t want to be spoilt by any new trailers. I’m still a little bit scared about Nicholas Cage (when was his last good movie?), but my hopes are high. Kick-Ass is about a teenager (Aaron Johnson), who decides to become superhero after being inspired by the heroes of comic books. He soon comes across a mysterious vigilante called Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage), and his daughter Hit-Girl (Chloë Moretz).

Iron Man 2 – April 30th (UK), May 7th (US)

I wasn’t the hugest fan of the first Iron Man, but I still am excited for its sequel. The moment Samuel Jackson was revealed at the end of the last movie was one of my best cinema experiences (everyone was cheering together and it felt great). I know this movie is going to be a blast! Especially with Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke added to the cast. Not too sure about Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, but at least she does look the part!

Robin Hood – May 14th (UK, US)

This is the one movie on this list I’m still really dubious about. So far it just looks like Gladiator in medieval times. But it’s Ridley Scott. And Russell Crowe. And freaking Robin Hood. I want to like this so much and be swept away as I was with Gladiator.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time – May 28th (UK,US)

I love the look of the trailer; it reminds of The Mummy and Pirates of the Caribbean (in a good way). I think this is mainly going to be a fun action movie. It won’t win any awards or anything like that (and I have a feeling it might lean towards the cheesy side), but I think it’s going to be one of those movies I could watch over and over again.

The Last Airbender – July 2nd (US), August 13th (UK)

Yeah, I was addicted to the TV show, so it was kind of a given I’d be excited for the movie. As I said last week, I think the trailer looked awesome! I haven’t always been a fan of M Night Shyamalan, but I like how he’s staying true to the original (at least from what we’ve seen so far). I still have some doubts (like how will Appa and Momo look like?), so bring on the full length trailer!

Inception – July 16th (US)

Christopher Nolan is one of my favourite directors, mainly because of Memento and The Prestige. I mean, I loved Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but I adore and love love love Nolan’s movies with unusual intricate story lines. Inception seems to fit right in along those lines with a trailer that looks complex and a completely mental. Yay, my type of movie! I love how Leonardo di Caprio has said in an interview that it “didn’t make sense to him” while shooting the movie.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – August 6th (UK), August 13th (US)

I know I shouldn’t be this excited for a movie of which I’ve only seen a handful of images. But everything I’ve seen so far just looks cool. The comic book has been on my wish list since I’ve heard of the movie, and I like the style of it all. Plus it’s being directed by Edgar Wright, the genius behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I mean it can’t turn out bad, right?

Rapunzel – November 24th (US)

I still haven’t seen Disney’s latest animation yet (The Princess and The Frog), but I’m already excited for Rapunzel. I grew up with the golden era Disney musicals (I was 6 when The Little Mermaid came out) and it’s great to see them going back to them. Plus Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi (Chuck!!!) as the main characters? Yay!

Tron Legacy – December 17th (US)

And last but not least, Tron Legacy. It’s been ages since I last saw the original, and about time that I give it a rewatch. The footage we’ve seen so far of this sequel looks awesome!

So do you agree with my choices? Or are there other movies you’re more excited in seeing?

I told you last week I’ve been waiting to see more footage of The Last Airbender. We saw a teaser last June, but since then we’ve only gotten glimpses of posters and screenshots. Well, the TV spot for the Super Bowl has just been released and supposedly some time soon we’ll get to see a full trailer:

This looks awesome! I loved the cartoon on which it is based and I think M. Night Shyamalan has the skills to make this work. I’m still worried about how they’re going to squeeze 8 hours of story into only 3 hours max of movie (yeah, not every single episode of the first season is important to the main plot, but you’d be surprised how many episodes are necessary for the story or feature recurring characters).

I also want to see some non-action scenes and see whether or not these kids will be able to portray the characters the right way. The TV show was pretty goofy at times, but that goofiness made the serious episodes all the more worthwhile. I hope that they don’t get rid of that for the the movie.