Awards 2010: BFCA Critics Choice Winners

It's so easy to minimalize the importance of these critics awards when you don't see the actual ceremony. The sense of occasion is one of the core defining aspects that makes going to the movies so important in the first place. Without it, it just doesn't seem necessary. I was really impressed by the brisk moving Critics Choice Awards on VH1 last night, because they kept things entertaining. The winners weren't so dull and sedated as people believe, as Jack McGee made clear while accepting the Best Ensemble award on behalf of the cast of The Fighter ("This is just Bitchin'!). Hailee Steinfeld was so darling and beautiful accepting the Best Young Actor/Actress award for True Grit. Every time I see Natalie Portman win an award for Black Swan, it makes me need to see the film again.

The opening montage of the year's films was pretty great, and Bruno Mars has never been so iconic and elegant before, nor will he be so ever again. The Jackass crew got some pretty nice laughs in their parodies of films like Inception, Black Swan, and The Social Network ("Thousand. Twenty-two hundred views in 1000 hours."). Quentin Tarantino and Matt Damon accepted the honorary awards of the evening, and they made their time count. My favorite presenter of the evening was undeniably Kevin Spacey. He's got so much charisma and comedic timing, and I miss seeing him in films. He needs to take another major role now, or else I'll take him and lock him up in my cellar for him to entertain me whenever I want.

There were a few small surprises along the way, and that certainly eases the stress of the awards season being too content as it is. We knew who was going to take home the big award in the end, but that didn't keep us from getting a slight pit in our gut as the nominees were announced. I feel like Alice in Wonderland and Inception went away with probably too many awards, and Black Swan should have secured more statues over the course of the evening. I'm pretty damn happy that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won best Original Score for The Social Network. I think they're a pretty good bet on getting an Oscar nomination now, and whenever I have some heavy blogging work to do, I play their soundtrack in the background. I'm also glad I stuck to my guns in predicting Easy A would win Best Comedy. Sometimes things turn out exactly as they should. The evening was a healthy reminder that the season is far less safe and predictable as it seems, and that Melissa Leo is a lot more attractive in real life than she looks in The Fighter.

Best Picture: The Social Network
Best Actor: Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Best Director: David Fincher (The Social Network)
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Original Screenplay: The King's Speech
Best Cinematography: Inception
Best Art Direction: Inception
Best Film Editing: Inception
Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland
Best Makeup: Alice in Wonderland
Best Visual Effects: Inception
Best Sound: Inception
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Action Movie: Inception
Best Comedy: Easy A
Best Picture Made for Television: The Pacific
Best Foreign Language Film: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best Documentary: Waiting for "Superman"
Best Song: "If I Rise" from 127 Hours
Best Score: The Social Network

Awards 2010: BFCA Critics Choice Predictions

Tonight offers us the 16th Annual Critics Choice Awards, and fittingly the climax of the critics awards season, so it would be surprising if tonight's winners were in any way surprising. The awards have mostly gone the same way, with The Social Network leading the pack with several wins in the top category. It'd be a shame if it went through all that work only not to win here, and I doubt that's going to happen. We'll save the shocks for the Golden Globe telecast on Sunday, because tonight should be rather easy to guess at. There are plenty of opportunities for the best films of last year to get some sort of recognition, so it shouldn't be that difficult to predict who will win. Until then, take a look at this fantastic poster for Black Swan, the film that took in the most nominations.

Best Picture: The Social Network
Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale (The Fighter)
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Best Young Actor/Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
Best Acting Ensemble: The Fighter
Best Director: David Fincher (The Social Network)
Best Original Screenplay: Inception
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Cinematography: Black Swan
Best Art Direction: Black Swan
Best Editing: Inception
Best Costume Design: The King's Speech
Best Makeup: Alice in Wonderland
Best Visual Effects: Inception
Best Sound: Black Swan
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Action Movie: Inception
Best Comedy: Easy A
Best Picture Made for Television: Temple Grandin
Best Foreign Language Film: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best Documentary Feature: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Best Song: "Shine" from Waiting for "Superman"
Best Score: Inception

Awards 2010: American Cinema Editors (ACE) Nominees

More guild award nominations, and this time it's a little more interesting than usual. The ACE have announced their nominations, and I'm pretty impressed for the most part. The Social Network and Inception made it in, as should be pretty obvious, and the rest of the dramatic field was filled by The King's Speech, Black Swan, and The Fighter, who definitely deserves the nomination. One of my favorite things about the film was the aggressive way it was cut together, adding on to the brutality of it. As for the Comedy or Musical department, there is the obvious exception of Alice in Wonderland, but I was still really impressed. Easy A and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World made the cut, which is a nice victory to me. The Animated and Documentary editing categories are pretty straightforward, but no less deserving.

Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic)
“Black Swan"
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The King’s Speech"
“The Social Network”

Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy or Musical)
“Alice in Wonderland”
“Easy A”
“The Kids Are All Right”
“Made in Dagenham"
“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”

Best Edited Animated Film
“Despicable Me”
“How to Train Your Dragon"
“Toy Story 3″

Best Edited Documentary
“Exit Through the Gift Shop”
“Inside Job”
“Waiting for Superman”

If I Had An Oscar Ballot...

Orange = Winner

Blue = Runner Up

Best Picture
"Black Swan"
"Easy A"
"Winter's Bone"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1"
"Inception"
"The Kids Are All Right"
"The King's Speech"
"The Social Network"
"Toy Story 3"
"True Grit"

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky ("Black Swan")
Lisa Cholodenko ("The Kids Are All Right")
Joel & Ethan Coen ("True Grit")
David Fincher ("The Social Network")
Christopher Nolan ("Inception")

Shallow Attributions: Best Films of 2010 (1 of 2)

At the close of 2009, we were pretty sure that 2010 was going to be a disappointing year for films, and it looks like we were pretty much right, weren't we? It took us until the end of February to find something vaguely worth watching, and even then the disappointment didn't stop. Alice in Wonderland and Clash of the Titans brought about the start of the 3D plague, a time period where 3D was beginning to be considered unnecessary, which it technically is. The summer movie season proved to entirely disappointing with the one or two major exceptions. Granted, we don't really expect quality filmmaking during those months, but we expect to be at the very least entertained, and we woefully weren't. We did have a bit of a resurgence in the last four months of the year, with several worthwhile films being released. On the other hand, we also got Little Fockers, Saw 3D, and Yogi Bear, and I just can't stop bitching about those films. Ultimately, it was a mixed year for the unique form of entertainment, and we can only hope that we get a better one next year.

~Honorary Mentions~

Red
One of the few action-comedies these days that actually works, with bad-ass performances from Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, and Helen Mirren.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
A bright and colorful action-comedy for the Nintendo 64 generation, full of hilarious non-stop dialogue, scene-stealing performances, and ultra-kinetic action!

The Fighter
Far from the best film of the year, David O'Russell has nonetheless made an aggressive and inspirational film out of a routine story. What makes it worth it are the fantastic performances from Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, and Christian Bale who should finally get the recognition he's deserved since 2005.

The rest after the jump!

Awards 2010: Golden Globe Nominations

Once again, as per usual, the Golden Globes prove that they have absolutely no idea what they're doing. It's impossible to ever predict what will be let in and left out, so lets start with those major surprises. The Motion Picture Comedy category let in plenty of undeserving films, but not Easy A, which probably deserved it more. Instead, what do they nominate? Obviously the newly released The Tourist. The film recently opened to mediocre reviews, so I don't understand what the Hollywood Foreign Press saw in it. For that matter, I don't get why they nominated Alice in Wonderland at all. I understand Burlesque, but only because it's a musical, and sometimes they just can't resist.

I don't think that Red really belonged in that category, but it's better than most of the films nominated. The Kids Are All Right got quite a few nominations, but Mark Ruffalo was shut out of Best Supporting Actor for some nonsensical reason. The Original Song category isn't even worthy of note, so go ahead and find it on your own. You're not getting any help from me in that case. One last thing to notice, True Grit was shut out completely. None of this really means anything in the grand scheme of things, because nobody should really care about the Golden Globes. Take a look at the nominations, and weigh in on your opinion in the comments section!

BEST MOTION PICTURE DRAMA
-Black Swan
-The Fighter
-Inception
-The King's Speech
-The Social Network

BEST MOTION PICTURE COMEDY
-Alice in Wonderland
-Burlesque
-The Kids Are All Right
-Red
-The Tourist

BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
-Hally Berry (Frankie and Alice)
-Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
-Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
-Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
-Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

BEST COMEDY ACTRESS
-Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
-Anne Hathaway (Love and Other Drugs)
-Angelina Jolie (The Tourist)
-Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right)
-Emma Stone (Easy A)

BEST DRAMA ACTOR
-Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
-Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
-James Franco (127 Hours)
-Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine)
-Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter)

BEST COMEDY ACTOR
-Johnny Depp (Alice in Wonderland)
-Johnny Depp (The Tourist)
-Paul Giamatti (Barney's Version)
-Jake Gyllenhaal (Love and Other Drugs)
-Kevin Spacey (Casino Jack)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
-Despicable Me
-How to Train Your Dragon
-The Illusionist
-Tangled
-Toy Story 3

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE
-Biutiful
-The Concert
-The Edge
-I Am Love
-In a Better World

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
-Amy Adams (The Fighter)
-Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)
-Mila Kunis (Black Swan)
-Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
-Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
-Christian Bale (The Fighter)
-Michael Douglass (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps)
-Andrew Garfield (The Social Network)
-Jeremy Renner (The Town)
-Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)

BEST DIRECTOR
- Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
- David Fincher (The Social Network)
- Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)
- Christopher Nolan (Inception)
- David O. Russell (The Fighter)

BEST SCREENPLAY
- Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours)
- Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg (The Kids Are All Right)
- Christopher Nolan (Inception)
- David Seidler (The King's Speech)
- Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
- The King's Speech
- Alice in Wonderland
- 127 Hours
- The Social Network
- Inception

Box Office Update: High Activity

Marking another splendid weekend of October this year, Paranormal Activity 2 came out on top and set a horror film opening weekend record for the month of August. Given these strong numbers, one can easily expect to see another sequel in the works for release next year. Jackass 3D took a great 57% fall from last week, but that was expected for an opening of such magnitude as well as such hardcore competition opening. Red held on even better with a 31% fall, boding well for the coming weeks. Finally, a fair few film-goers went out to see Hereafter out of curiosity, leading a decent opening weekend, but not Eastwood's best.

1. Paranormal Activity 2 (First Weekend; $41.5 million)
2. Jackass 3D (Second Weekend; $21.6 million)
3. Red (Second Weekend; $15 million)
4. Hereafter (First Weekend; $12 million)
5. The Social Network (Fourth Weekend; $7.3 million)
6. Secretariat (Third Weekend; $6.9 million)
7. Life as We Know It (Third Weekend; $6.1 million)
8. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of GaHoole (Fifth Weekend; $3.1 million)
9. The Town (Sixth Weekend; $2.7 million)
10. Easy A (Sixth Weekend; $1.7 million)

Box Office Update: Sweet Simplicity

Lets not pretend like this has been a disappointing weekend, because it certainly wasn't by any degree. Perhaps a failure of intellect at the most, but not of entertainment or profit. This weekend had a lot of people going out to the theaters, mostly to see Jackass 3D. The film managed to garner the highest 3D opening weekend since Despicable Me, and the highest opening in general since Inception. The makers may have sacrificed their very well being by attempting to make this comedic venture become a reality, but if they keep raking in earnings like this, I'd consider it a successful investment.

Even Red was able to scratch out an earning against the competition. While not high for a comic book adaptation, when scaled as an average action flick, it did pretty well for itself. Audience appeal should carry it through the next two weeks before the rush of November. The Social Network kept intelligent audiences intact with a less than 30% drop from last weekend. The only other film to hold similarly was Secretariat, which seems to have the same staying power as The Blind Side had not even a year ago, at least in the box office. This weekend was a high rise from last weekend, even if it didn't quite match up to the same weekend last year when Where The Wild Things Are took center stage.

1. Jackass 3D (First Weekend; $50 million)
2. Red (First Weekend; $22.5 million)
3. The Social Network (Third Weekend; $11 million)
4. Secretariat (Second Weekend; $9.5 million)
5. Life as We Know It (Second Weekend; $9.2 million)
6. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (Fourth Weekend; $4.2 million)
7. The Town (Fifth Weekend; $4 million)
8. My Soul to Take (Second Weekend; $3.2 million)
9. Easy A (Fifth Weekend; $2.7 million)
10. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Fourth Weekend; $2.4 million)

Box Office Update: Staying Social

For the second week in a row, audiences decided to reward quality over corn. The Social Network landed the top spot in a relatively weak weekend, but things are still on the rise. However, while you can pretend that things have changed, they really haven't, which is why Life as We Know It came in second with the support of a mainly female audience. Somewhat predictably, Secretariat did become this year's The Blind Side in a sense, because while critics didn't love it, it seems that audiences did. Here's hoping the box office doesn't blossom to push the horse race film to a similar fate.

10. You Again (Third Weekend; $2.5 million)
9. Case 39 (Second Weekend; $2.6 million)
8. Easy A (Fourth Weekend; $4.2 million)
7. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Third Weekend; $4.6 million)
6. The Town (Fourth Weekend; $6.4 million)
5. My Soul to Take (First Weekend; $6.9 million)
4. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (Third Weekend; $7 million)
3. Secretariat (First Weekend; $12.6 million)
2. Life as We Know It (First Weekend; $14.6 million)
1. The Social Network (Second Weekend; $15.5 million)

Box-Office Update: Accepted and Ignored

Last weekend truly was the last that we'd see Inception as a presence in the top ten, giving something of a fresher atmosphere for the autumn season. The Social Network matched it's critical acclaim by coming first in the box office this weekend. Sony has had a good month, both with David Fincher's new film, as well as the Emma Stone comedy, Easy A, which fell a mere 32% from last weekend. The biggest disappointment of the weekend, for me at least, was Let Me In coming in eighth, just behind the far more mediocre Case 39. I'm not going to let other audience's reactions influence my outlook on Let Me In, but I will take the low opening weekend gross as an indication that the film won't stay in theaters for long, so expect a review next weekend.

10. Alpha and Omega (Third Weekend; $3 million)
9. Devil (Third Weekend; $3.7 million)
8. Let Me In (First Weekend; $5.3 million)
7. Case 39 (First Weekend; $5.4 million)
6. You Again (Second Weekend; $5.5 million)
5. Easy A (Third Weekend; $7 million)
4. The Town (Third Weekend; $10 million)
3. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Second Weekend; $10.1 million)
2. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (Second Weekend; $10.9 million)
1. The Social Network (First Weekend; $23 million)

Box Office Update: Yes and No

I imagine that I had a much more enjoyable time this weekend than the regular film-goer. Everyone else was out there catching disappointments, such as You Again and Wall Street 2, while I enjoyed one of the best films of the year. The insufferable two hours I had to spend afterwords was a worthy sacrifice for the time I had. This weekend also offered a chance to see either of last weekend's big releases before next weekend when The Social Network and Let Me In take over the theaters. I'm going to say that this is definitely the last week Inception will stay in the top 10 for. Summer is over, and it's time to move forward.

10. Inception (Eleventh Weekend; $1.2 million; -37%)
9. Takers (Fifth Weekend; $1.7 million; -46%)
8. Alpha and Omega (Second Weekend; $4.7 million; 48%)
7. Resident Evil: Afterlife (Third Weekend; $4.9 million; -51%)
6. Devil (Second Weekend; $6.5 million; -47%)
5. You Again (First Weekend; $8.3 million)
4. Easy A (Second Weekend; $10.7 million; -40%)
3. The Town (Second Weekend; $16 million; -33%)
2. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Gahoole (First Weekend; $16.3 million)
1. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (First Weekend; $19 million)

Box Office Update: "The Town" Steals Top Spot; "Easy A" Passes!

10. Eat Pray Love (Sixth Weekend; $1.7 million): On my way to see Easy A yesterday, me and my friends were shocked to see this film was still playing. I trust this will be the last week this film tastes the top ten.

9. The Other Guys (Seventh Weekend; $2 million): Will Ferrell and Marky Mark continue to inexplicably make a living with this film. It's success is quite simply an abomination, but one that I'll live with.

8. Inception (Tenth Weekend; $2.1 million): Ten weeks into it's run, and this film still won't go down. I'd say it has a chance of climbing to $300 million, but I seriously doubt that will happen. However, I'm going to take a guess that when we're back here next weekend, Inception will be able to hold onto the top ten for one more week.

7. The American (Third Weekend; $2.7 million): George Clooney's drama continues to take a dive, and at this point I don't think I'll end up seeing it at all. Currently at $32 million, expect just a little more before it checks out.

6. Takers (Fourth Weekend; $3 million): What more can I say about this movie? It's made a profit, so lets leave it at that.

5. Alpha and Omega (First Weekend; $9.2 million): Just when you thought 3D couldn't descend any lower, this Lionsgate train-wreck comes in to prove us wrong.

4. Resident Evil: Afterlife (Second Weekend; $10.1 million): This film did suffer from another 3D film swooping in and taking away a share of it's theatres, but I blame the 61% drop on the fact that the film just wasn't worth it.

3. Devil (First Weekend; $12.5 million): You can try to defend this film all you want. I still have no interest in seeing anything even remotely related to M. Night Shyamalan anymore. Still, the horror film made a decent earning in a small tangent of film-goers.

2. Easy A (First Weekend; $18.2 million): Emma Stone's comedy made second place this weekend, as predicted, but I foresee this film to do better in the coming weeks through positive word-of-mouth.

1. The Town (First Weekend; $23.8 million): In just one weekend, Ben Affleck's new film made more than Gone Baby Gone made in it's entire run. You may chalk that up to it's more action-oriented premise, but I feel this film was more accessible to audiences, and it'll probably be the film Affleck gets a greater reputation for.

Film Review: Easy A

I think that we always need at least one perfectly written comedy film each year, at least to make up for all the poorly conceived and cliched comedies that we've had to sit through. Easy A breaks down that door with style, class, and personality. Where Mean Girls was mostly told from a more teenage perspective, Easy A is a surprisingly mature look at promiscuity in high school. It's an original premise, and perhaps a little too complex to sum it up in one statement. The conflict of the film blossoms from a small lie into a colossal tornado of turmoil.

But yes, this is a comedy, and one of the best I've seen in a while. Not since the days of John Hughes have we had witty dialogue so precise to entertain us constantly, and I do mean constantly. There are several of amazing one-liners, but part of the beauty of the film is that they come in at a lightning pace that makes it difficult to pick out any one as a favorite. Then, as the film gets towards the end of it's brisk 90-minute run time, the jokes slow down a bit, but for good reason. Olive's life is spinning out of control, and there are emotional consequences of that, and they fit perfectly into the aesthetic of the premise.

The performances charismatic all around, from some of the great comedic actors of our age. Emma Stone carries the film proudly on her shoulders with ease, and has gone a long way from the most unattractive person in Superbad. That film feels like such a long time ago. Amanda Bynes comes out of retirement for this film, and I know that I kept griping at her for looking horrible, but that's part of her character. Her face alone is enough the admire a chuckle out of the audience. Cam Gigandet from Twilight is in this film, kind of.

However, the big scene-stealers are the adults. Thomas Haden Church does some nice work here, and I wish he was one of my teachers. For that matter, I wish high school in real life was more like the high school in this film. Lisa Kudrow comes in late, but makes the most of her time. She really eases her way into this, and I'm glad to see that she still exists. Patricia Clarkson plays Olive's mom, who gets some nicely done awkward parent moments with her daugter. However, they all come in second to Stanley Tucci, who doesn't steal the show from Emma Stone, but he proves once again why he's cast in every good comedy these days.

Bert V. Royal claims to have written the entire script in five day, excluding the last ten pages, and I don't think that's true. If it is, then this guy is a force to be reckoned with, because if he spends three weeks on a screenplay, he may have the best film ever written. If it isn't true, then he's still an awesome writer, and we should watch his career in the future. The director doesn't do a whole lot, but you can expect that much from a comedy director. The film shines in the performances and the dialogue. In terms of this weekend, The Town may be better, but Easy A is the film people are going to be watching over and over again.

B+

The Weekend Report: Ben and Emma vs. The World

I've never sugarcoated the fact that this summer film season was more or less a failure. We had about three or four films that were truly inspired works, but everything else was just pollution. However, this weekend we have two genuinely good, if not great films being released, which is very rare nowadays. Ben Affleck's The Town doesn't look to have high Oscar hopes, but it doesn't need to as it looks well made all around. It features some of my favorite under-appreciated actors in film and television, and it's the second outing of director Ben Affleck. I'm still not a huge fan of his acting, but he may surprise me this time around.

Alternating between the good and the bad this weekend, Devil comes out this weekend, and I doubt this film will do very well this weekend. Whenever a film's trailer is best known for inspiring audience disrespect, it's pretty clear that people don't want it. It may just be the name of M. Night Shyamalan behind it, but once his name showed up, people suddenly realized how stupid the footage they were seeing was. And even if people want to see it, the film's target audience will be too busy with the other films this weekend.

I can't help but wonder why I wasn't looking forward to Easy A in the first place, but it doesn't really matter to me. If it matters to you, comb through the archives of the site over the past four months for a conclusion and then comment below. Or you could just comment below on what you think of my opinions, as I'd like people to do whenever they show up at the site. Whatever the case, Easy A looks like a genuinely funny high school comedy, which you don't necessarily see a lot of these days. It's definitely worth checking out, if only for Stanley Tucci who has become one of the quiet talents of modern cinema.

My Verdict: Devil looks to be another failure from M. Night Shyamalan, and Alpha and Omega just looks like a cheap attempt to take advantage of the 3D ticket prices for more money. If you're going to see a film this weekend, I'd suggest seeing The Town or Easy A. Or you could see both and have one of those weird double features of two films that don't really match (Ex. Camp Rock and Saw IV)

Toronto Days. Toronto Nights: Easy A

I have been all over the board with my anticipation for this film, from absolutely hating the idea of it, to eagerly anticipating it as one of the rare enjoyable high school comedies of the modern age. Where 70-year-old men go around quoting Casablanca and Citizen Kane, most 14-to-19-year-olds quote Mean Girls. Easy A looks like it's in the same sort of vein, and a healthy reprieve from the serious content of Toronto. We only have one review right now, but it's from a more than credible source.

Kirk Honeycutt (Hollywood Reporter): "If, as the old comic apocryphally said on his deathbed, dying is easy but comedy hard, then how is it every so often a film comes along that makes comedy look so easy? Such is the case with Easy A, a high school romp that turns a stale genre upside down with sly wit and sharp satire. Certainly much of the credit goes to Bert V. Royal, a playwright and sometime TV writer who has crafted a smart screenplay that introduces a classical theme into contemporary youth culture. And director Will Gluck keeps the screen busy and vibrant without the current fad of attention-deficit, run-and-gun editing."

3 to See in September!

The lineup of films this September isn't nearly a depressing as August was. That may be because the summer is over and therefore people are going to be too busy to go out to the theaters on numerous occasions. It might be because we're heading into Autumn when more Oscar worthy films tend to pop up. I strictly believe it's because there are just some good movies out this month, along with some diverting and unnecessary flops waiting to happen (You Again, Alpha and Omega, Devil). Before I get into the top three, I would like to draw attention to a few films that almost made this list, and do have the potential to be surprise hits.

Easy A, whose trailer I initially panned because I couldn't brush from my memory how disgusting Amanda Bynes looks in the film, actually looks like a moderately funny and enjoyable film. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps got some good reviews coming out of Cannes, so you might want to watch out for that. Ben Affleck's The Town has a decent amount of buzz going for it, but it looks a little too much like Brooklyn's Finest, or any other cop drama out there. However, you never can tell with Ben Affleck whether he is going to make a great film or not. Now on to my three to see.

3. MacheteThe audience favorite of the month definitely has to go to Robert Rodriguez's Machete, based on the fake-trailer that premiered in Grindhouse a few years back. One thing that Rodriguez knows how to do best is old-style gritty violence with a comedic edge to it. You can see that talent in the trailer with the title character using some poor guy's intestines as a rope to swing into a lower window. This film exists for the action within it, and for Danny Trejo to shine in a lead role. The main actor to watch in this movie is Cheech Marin, who plays the catholic priest brother of Machete. I can tell from the trailer that he's going to get most of the lines that will be remembered in this film.

2. The American Barely beating out Machete for the number two spot on my list of films to look forward to next month is Anton Corbijn's The American. I'd like to say up front that I don't think this film will be a huge presence in the awards season. Maybe for the cinematography, and perhaps for George Clooney's performance, but not much beyond that. Still, I think this will be the sort of contemplative thriller that I usually enjoy. I enjoy the slow-building intensity that those films give, instead of the quick jolts of the average thriller that you quickly get used to. This film may not be something incredibly new, but it looks like something incredibly good.

1. Never Let Me Go (Limited Release) Never Let Me Go doesn't get a wide release until later on, but it's worth nothing. It's a british drama based on a beloved book, starring Kiera Knightly, Carey Mulligan, and Andrew Garfield. It's got the most basic buzz surrounding it already, so if it actually manages to be a heartfelt and enjoyable film, it could break through to be a legitimate contender this awards season, like Atonement did in 2007. I dearly hope I'm not wrong to place my vote of confidence in this film. As it is, my other two picks on the list seem either destined not to be critical darlings, or have been too quiet to encourage confidence that they'll actually be good. So I'm going to sit back and pray that all three of these movies I want to see, including my top pick, are reviewed positively so that for once in my life, I can be right about what you should and shouldn't see.