Man Crush Monday: Edward Norton

Why We Love Him: I thought he played The Hulk/Bruce Banner very well in the 2008. However, my favorite role of his was in The Italian Job. That is one of my all time favorite movies! He has also gotten a lot of publicity and an Oscar nomination for his role in Birdman. Seeing the clips on the Oscars tonight, it looks like he did a fantastic job. There seemed to be a lot of passion that shown through in that movie. 

Upcoming Role(s):

• Sausage Party (with James Franco, among many others)

Man Crush Monday: George Eads

Why We Love Him: Tonight (2/15) was George Eads's last episode on CSI. His character Nick Stokes will no longer be on the show. It was a very touching tribute to the character tonight. I am pleased with how his years on the show were summed up in the finale. I am extremely sad because he was always one of my favorites! Even though I am very sad, he has been on this show for 15 seasons. I'm sure he wants to do new things with his career. I'll miss him next season! :(

Upcoming Role(s):

Nothing yet according to IMDB. Hopefully we will see him back on our TV screens soon!

The Imitation Game Review

*** SPOILERS AHEAD***

    I finally went and saw this movie this week. It's the only one in the Oscar race that I actually was interested in seeing. Yes, I admit, I really wanted to see it because of Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley. They are two of my favorite actors so I was immediately drawn to the movie. After having seen it, I am so glad that I did. The movie was heroic and tragic at the same time. The things that these people did for our country was extraordinary and no one even knew about it at the time. 

    The character of Alan Turing reminds me a lot of Sherlock. He is usually the smartest person in the room, he has a hard time socializing and he doesn't express emotion very well. He gets better during the movie but it takes about half of it for him to begin to be friends with his team. He knows that his idea of the machine is the best/only way to crack the Enigma code. Of course, he turns out to be right but not with out some trouble along the way. 

     The movie goes through 3 different time periods throughout, which at times got a tad bit confusing. There is the present time period, in which Alan Turing is called in for questioning about his sexual orientation, the past in terms of his work with the military and the Enigma code and then the even further past which is his time in boarding school. The boarding school time period is where you see why/how he became they way he was in the Enigma work period. It is a wonderful insight into his personality and why he has a hard time getting close to people. It also begins to explain why he is so obsessed with his code-breaking machine, Christopher. 

     Alan Turing is really quite an inspiring character. He is extremely determined to make sure that his machine works. He was willing to do anything necessary to keep his project and his team afloat. It is unfortunate that he had to keep his sexuality a secret. After all of his work with Enigma was complete, he was found out and arrested. He could either sit in jail for 2 years or take a 2 year regimen of a hormone treatment. He chose the hormones and a year later he committed suicide. I have read though, that death could have been ruled as cyanide poisoning but whether or not it was self administered is another question.

    I absolutely loved this movie! There wasn't much that I could find fault in it, the acting was outstanding and the plot was well thought out. I really am glad that it is up for so many Oscars. I don't think that Benedict Cumberbatch will win though, he hasn't been around long enough for the Academy to give him the award. I could be wrong but I've seen that trend in recent years. Everyone involved with this movie is well deserving of their nominations. 

    This movie is still in theaters so  please go check it out before it's gone. It is truly and inspirational story and hopefully such major press will make people want to learn about Alan Turing. He is a man that should be celebrated due to his accomplishments. 

     

Spider-Man Comes to the MCU

    Huge news in the Marvel universe was announced yesterday. Sony and Marvel have made a deal to bring Spider-Man back into the Marvel Universe and into their new movies.

     What this deal means is that all future Spider-Man movies will be co-produced by Marvel and Sony. The first movie will be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then, Sony will release a  movie on July 28, 2017.

That film will be produced by both Kevin Feige (Marvel) and Amy Pascal (Sony).

      There are still a lot of questions regarding this partnership and all future movies. We are not yet sure how this affects the Sinister Six movie, Venom or The Amazing Spider-Man 3. Most likely ASM3 will be scrapped all together. Sinister Six was supposed to come out next year, so that means it is either scrapped or will just bet set back a few years. Not much was ever released on the Venom movie so the future of that is unknown as well. 

      Perhaps the biggest rumor and question is who will play Spider-Man? Some websites are saying that Andrew Garfield is completely out and others say that he is still in. Right now, no one really knows except for Marvel/Sony. Personally, I would be happy to see someone else play Spider-Man. Andrew Garfield was the reason why I hated the first Amazing Spider-Man. The second movie was better but for me, that was because of Electro.  

      As much as I think that it is wonderful that Spider-Man is partially home with Marvel, it is a little bit of a cause for concern. There will be two different companies working on the same movie. That means, two different teams of creative minds and opinions. The movie will show how well that they all worked together. If the planning/producing process doesn't go to well, the audience will be able to tell once the movie is released. It's a big risk but hopefully this partnership produces a much greater reward. 

Man Crush Monday: Ben McKenzie

Why We Love Him: He plays the young James Gordon on Gotham. It is an awesome show and it's getting better as the season progresses. Ben McKenzie gives a very convincing performance of the man that we all know from the Batman movies. He does the character a lot of justice from what we already know. The show does a great job of showcasing the character that we have already come to know and love. 

Upcoming Role(s):

• Gotham Season 2

Man Crush Monday: Hayden Christensen

Hayden Christensen~

Why We Love Him: Even though Star Wars Episodes 1-3 were not the greatest, Anakin became my favorite in the 3rd episode. I always like the bad guys and this was no exception. He had more character development and more purpose when he started to become evil. Since then, he didn't really do anything to excited except the movie, Jumper. He acted much better in that movie and it was very entertaining. I think that he shows a lot of promise and hopefully he finds better roles. 

Upcoming Role(s)~

• Outcast (with Nicolas Cage)
• 90 Minutes in Heaven