It's a Groovy Time for a Movie-Time

Local woman competes for an Oprah-worthy talk show

2010-06-04T15:54:00.007-04:00

Jaimy Blazynski is a local woman with a knack for matchmaking. She’s set up hundred of speed dating events and been the reason for dozens of successful couples, but she believes it’s time to show the world – and when Oprah is involved, you know it’s going to be big. Jaimy is one of thousands of people to enter Oprah’s “Your Own Show” contest, in which the winner will be the lucky new host of their own national talk show. With a hearty smile and plenty of laughter, Jaimy talked about her dating website, three-minute video entry and what drives her to marry off everyone she meets.

(Jaimy Blazynski with her sons, Matthew and Trevor, and husband, Erik, in front of her family's West Hartford home.)

So, I was reading up on your website, got5minutes.com, and I was checking out the Oprah site about all the rules and the video, and it looks like it was quite a process to go through. Even getting Damon Scott to tape for you, and the woman who was with you on the video, Gina J. You’ve known them because you do a segment with them on his station?

Yes. I met him at Murphey & Scarletti’s. We had a speed dating event going, and Murphey’s had a battle of the bands events going. There were 4,000 people in there, and I didn’t know this was happening on the night of one of my speed dating events. So at first I was like, “Oh my God, my speed daters aren’t going to find us, this is going to be so hectic!” And then Damon Scott walked right in the room and was asking questions about my event, but I didn’t know it was him. One of my staff were talking to him, and then I was like, “All right, guys, you gotta go outside, it’s too loud,” and I pushed them out. And then he came back in and said “Oh, that was some guy, Damon Scott,” and I said “Oh, that was Damon Scott? I want a radio show!” I walked right up to him and I said, “Damon, I want to be on your radio show.” And he was like, “Okay, you need to commit to every Friday.” And so I’ve been going every Friday for I think six weeks, except this Friday he’s doing a concert on the air, so this is the first Friday I haven’t gone.

Must be nice to have a little bit of a break, though. A nice Friday off to relax, and what a beautiful day to have off, too.

Yeah (laughing), it is beautiful.

So people may already know, but who is Jaimy Blazynski? How did this start? I was kind of getting a feel for you from your site, and it seems like you’ve been through a lot. Give me the Cliffsnotes of “you.”

Well, I was born… no, I’m kidding (laughing). I had a tougher childhood than a lot of people. I was probably the most, what I thought was the most insecure. I hardly had friends, I was so insecure, so uncomfortable with who I was. I look back and I didn’t even know what kind of pizza I liked because I was so shy, I couldn’t figure out what my interests were. I was too insecure, and it carried on through high school. College was a little bit better, but I never really felt good. I never had dreams, never knew what I was going to do. I went to college because that’s what you did, and then after college I got married – well, I met my husband immediately after college. It was my first husband, and it was not a positive relationship, and it ended 10 years later. We were together for five years and we were married for five years, and shortly after we had Matthew, we split up. I can remember the day that I had the epiphany. I was walking through Westfarms Mall with Matthew in his stroller, and I was so angry that I was feeling panicked; I was so angry that I was going through this divorce. I was so angry about a lot of things, and I was looking at other couples and thinking to myself, “They’re all really miserable,” and I was convincing myself that everybody was miserable. And I remember specifically walking by a mirror and saying, “I don’t want to be this person anymore. I am done. I can’t be this angry, depressed woman for the rest of my life.” And I went home that night, and that’s when I started looking into Match.com and Internet dating. My husband was my 13th date, and it was at that moment where I just decided that I wanted to be a happy person. I wanted to love life, I wanted to go for things and go for dreams, and meeting him…marriage is amazing the second time around. It’s great, I still get excited when he walks in the door, and it’s pretty happy, it’s pretty wonderful. And then came Trevor, who will be 3 in July. So about six years ago I had this idea that I wanted to help other folks find love and have families and all these great things, so they can experience what I have. That’s when I started “got5minutes,” and my husband, fortunately, is a web guy, so he built my website and manages that whole end of it. I just started recruiting, giving out coupons and talking to every person I possibly could find. And it’s been five years, and for the past six months or so, every event has been sold out to capacity. It’s great.

That’s fantastic. I have to say, I’ll be honest - I was not expecting such an amazing website for a small town kind of thing. I was blown away, so congratulations to your husband for that.

A lot of folks have said that, like they’ll look at the other dating companies, national dating companies that have pilots all over the place, and they say that my website exceeds all of those.

It really is incredible. I was really just expecting that a local woman has a dating website, so it would be a little local website, but it really looks like something professional that you would expect someone to spend a lot of money to do.

That’s a big part of it. That’s part of what helps make this company successful because a website is reputable.

Absolutely, and people unfortunately judge the look of a website, too.

Yes.

So you guys have that catch-your-breath kind of love now? Your heart kind of skips a beat? How long have you guys been married?

I think so, yeah. It’s been great. Six years? I always mix it up. (laughing) Six years.

That’s great. So there’s hope after divorce?

There really is. I was lucky and happy to meet him, but a big part of it was the change in my attitude because I always say the most unattractive quality a woman can have is insecurity. And I’ll tell women at the speed dating events prior to coming, just fake it. Just pretend you’re confident; walk in the room with your shoulders back and a smile on your face, and eventually you’ll believe it, and the guys are going to believe it and you’re going to be much better.

So it’s that “fake it ‘til you make it” mentality, right? You fake it for long enough and you start believe it yourself.

Yep, that’s it exactly. It helps, it really does. And I lived that in my personal life, so I really believe that.

You said on the site that the reasons you started it were to help others learn from your mistakes and the challenges that you met and because of the excitement you got from making successful matches.

Yes.

So what then is a mistake or challenge that you find people make or meet the most often when it comes to dating and relationships?

Well first I’ll share personally, my mistakes way back in the days, I was just too available, and I didn’t know how to conceal it. If I had my own interests and my own hobbies and things that I liked to do, then I would have just naturally been less available. That was the big mistake - I was always waiting for the guy to call. As you can see on the video on Oprah’s audition, I asked Gina how long she waits for the guy to confirm a date. My tip is, if something better comes along and if you have other options, you need to go for them and give the message to the guy that other things are important, too. That’s more attractive than the person who’s sitting there waiting for the phone to ring.

I think that’s a mistake we’ve all struggled with because you think “Well, I want to be open to a guy who wants to do something.” You don’t want to miss an opportunity, and you want to make it look like you want to hang out with them and you can make time for them. But then it does seem that for a lot of people it bridges too much time, and you’re too available, as you were saying. You think that’s something that people do a lot?

Yes, I think that to some degree you can fake that, but when you create a life where you have other interests – what happened for me was I had this little boy, and that was sort-of my first outside interest from finding a relationship. All of a sudden, I have this little boy, and that’s all I really wanted to do. So he was my priority, and that helped me to find my first outside interest. Then finding other moms, other moms with kids and that whole social network was part of getting me there.

That’s a great priority to have.

Yeah, it still is.

So how many speed dating events over the last five or six years, since you started this whole business, would you say that you’ve had?

Wow, hundreds, I guess. Lately, the past year, we’ve been doing them every two weeks, and then we slow it down for the summer. We have one big event in June, it’s a wine tasting, dating game party/social event at the Noah Webster House. Then we slow it down, and we’ll probably do one in July and one in August. People are away, and I’m away a lot. Then back in September, we start up every other week. At the beginning, I remember having them every six weeks, and I remember having eight men and eight women and thinking that was a big event. Now I’ve got 14 and 14, and they’re looking in the doors, asking if they can sneak in and if there’s space. We have to turn them away.

That’s got to be a really good feeling, knowing that people are trusting you, and knowing that your reputation is one that people believe in.

It’s been so much fun, and I, on the side, without even charging people, am constantly introducing folks on Facebook. I have a couple from West Hartford, and they kept missing each other. She was at one event, and he got sick and wasn’t there. They were the exact same age, they were both Jewish, they knew what they were looking for. They lived far away from each other, distance was about an hour and that was a problem, but they’ve been together since October, and that was on the side. I just had a feeling, so I said for them both give me their e-mail addresses and they could run with it, and they’ve been together. Then I had a woman in her 60s, and I can’t quite get that age group, but I set her up, just for the fun of it, with my neighbor, who’s a widow in his 70s and lives across the street. They’ve been together, well, March was two years. He got her a diamond ring, and they’re very happy, and they’re perfect for each other.

I think I saw that on your site. You said you had a 60s couple, a 50s couple and many others. So what do you think that your matches appreciate the most about your service?

I have a couple folks that run my events for me, and I always go to every event. I give a dating tip and do a welcome, and I greet everybody, but I have staff that stay and ring the bell and tally the matches at the end of the night. The most common thing that we hear when we’re compared to our competitors is that I do this out of my heart. I love it. It’s not so much that I need to make the money and I need to pay the mortgage and things like that, I absolutely get so excited to meet everybody. It’s hard when there are 30 singles, to remember who everybody is, but I can almost tell when they walk in the door who they are, even if I haven’t met them. And they’re always like, “How did you know?” Well, I have a meet-up group, so a lot of folks, their pictures are on the meet-up group. A lot of folks request to be my friend on Facebook, so I see their pictures that way, or I Google them and I figure out who is who and pretty much remember. I’ve had conversations with almost all of them prior to the event, whether they call me up and say, “I keep making the wrong mistakes,” and “I keep meeting these guys that are unavailable, what am I doing wrong?” or “I’m so nervous.” And when they’re really nervous, I say I’ll wait out front for them and walk them in, whatever they need. That’s why I have staff that can do registrations and explain right when they get there to break the ice. That’s what they do, so I get to talk to everybody.

So you seem really approachable, and that’s something I was wondering, if people who register for your events do have access to speak with you about the event, and you said they do. You don’t want someone who’s just there as a presence, you want someone who’s there as a friend.

I love it, and like you saw when you called, I’m sure I answered right away. It’s always my cell phone, it’s a Blackberry, and so if they send me an e-mail, I can answer immediately. And of course after the events, I get a dozen phone calls. “Help me, I can’t remember which one so-and-so was!” when they met 15 women. I have to remember who everybody was, and then I can say, “Oh, she was the one with the long blond hair!”

So what types of events do you usually hold? I saw that June 17th is when you’re doing the wine party?

Yes, it’s a fundraiser for the Noah Webster House, actually. We do a wine tasting at a wine cellar on Farmington Avenue, and sometimes a beer tasting, too. We do ice breakers and play a really funny dating game, so they’re drinking wine, they’re playing games and eating snacks, and it’s just a big social time. The past few times we did it, we hit capacity at, I think, 68 people, and I had a waiting list. That was really exciting. The dating game is really fun. I love to create games and ice breakers and funny things. So the way this game works, we do it with the guys and the girls, but I’ll give the example of the woman. The woman stands up and she’s blindfolded, and all the guys line up like they’re going to be catching the garter at a wedding, from one wall to the other wall. One is Wall A, one is Wall B. I say I’m going to yell out two words, and they have to walk to the wall with the word that describes them the best, and if they’re somewhere in the middle they have to pick one. Maybe I’ll yell “Gilligan” and “Skipper,” and all the guys that feel more like Gilligan go against Wall A, all the guys that feel like Skipper go to Wall B. Then the bachelorette will kick one and pick one. She’ll say, “Wall A, I kick you. Wall B, I pick you,” and then Wall B will be the only ones left and we continue the game. They keep going until she has one left, and that’s who she wins. They win a date out, we give gift certificates that are donated from the Rockledge Country Club restaurant, Angelo’s. What’s nice about that is we send everyone there afterwards, so they donate the prizes and I send the crowd over there, so they really appreciate the big bar crowd coming on.

It sounds like you really bring a lot of fun into it, and for some people I think dating is so daunting. People really get scared, so it seems like you help break the ice and make it a fun time.

We make it a fun time, and my staff’s primary responsibility is just to make sure that if anyone looks uncomfortable that they talk to them and they mingle. We do another game where everybody gets a card with a word, and the first group of people to make a complete sentence out of the word all win free speed dating passes. They’re all moving around with their cards and trying to make a sentence, so immediately everybody has to move around and talk, and that gets people talking to other people.

How many successful matches have you made?

I have no idea, a lot! I’m sure there are many that are at least still dating. I have one that e-mailed me that they just hit their six-month mark, and I didn’t even realize it had been six months. That’s the nature of the business, you know, you lose your clients because you want to marry them off. The more success we have, the better our reputation is because then they all tell their friends. The first couple I ever matched was years ago, their baby is probably 2 or 3 years old now. They did get married and have a baby from that, so I just hear all the time through e-mails, “You can take me off your list now, John and I have been happy for almost a year and things are going great. I know how to find you if anything changes.” And that’s perfectly fine.

Do you know of any of your other matches getting married like that couple?

I know of two that have gotten married and maybe three that are engaged and have rings and commitments, and I know of dozens that are still dating.

So your idea for the Oprah show – I know that there are a few types of shows that you can do, cooking shows, interior design shows. Are you looking to do a talk show?

I think a traditional talk show. It’s always focused for me on dating and relationships, personal growth and development and just feeling great about yourself. So when I envision it, I envision having guests on the show, whether it’s celebrities, successful people or even just folks who have had major changes in their lives and have grown from their experiences instead of being angry and scorned by that. Anything that inspires others to believe that they don’t have to get stuck in a rut. I’d like to have couples on; I’d love to have debates with a girl panel and a guy panel debating different issues. Anything that can help folks to find happy, successful relationships.

So it would be more so about advice and not like the show “Millionaire Matchmaker” on Bravo, where you see people going on these dates. It would be more about love and relationship device?

Right. Bringing couples on that have started dating, and the girl getting herself comfortable. The girl has to be comfortable to tell the guy what she needs because if she feels like she wants him to be around more on the weekends or something and she doesn’t speak up, his message is that it’s acceptable. And if she speaks up and he says, “Well, then I’m out of here,” then it was never going to work anyway. So, I think that girls just need to be comfortable enough to say, “Hey, this is what I want, this is what’s important to me, and this is what I need in the relationship,” and then they can have that. So even bringing people on the show that are uncomfortable doing that, putting them in front of their guys and saying, “Let them hear this,” and if they back out, you don’t need them!

Like a classier “Jerry Springer” or “Maury” kind of show, but bringing things up as a healthy way of being able to finally confront their issues.

Right. And it would be mixed with humor. I would want my audience to laugh, cry and have Goosebumps in every episode.

That’s a great expectation. Then what are you hoping to do with this sort of venue? What is your driving goal?

My driving goal right now is just to catch up on votes! My biggest mistake was that it took us two weeks to get the video up, and I should have done it the very first day because the day that contest opened, videos came in one by one, and I was watching all of them as they were coming in and so was the whole world. Now mine’s up and there were already 1300 videos up, so you can’t find me! The next step is that the top five voted videos go to Hollywood, and they’re competing for one spot on Oprah’s reality show, which is to win their own talk show. There are other ways, too, like live auditions. But if I could actually have the show, my vision is that it would be here, or even Boston, because there aren’t a lot of shows that hit this area. I could reach so many of the people that I know and I’ve worked with and just bring real, genuine stories on the show to inspire other folks. I think that my story is inspirational, and I could have still been that angry, insecure girl my whole life and that would have been so awful. I wouldn’t have had the chance to experience this life. So whatever it takes to help other folks get to that great point where they can love everyday. People have liked the video and they’ve laughed, and if I can make the show, that’s it – just to make people laugh and happy and take a break from their days.

It’s a cute video, and three minutes may seem like a while if you’re just sitting around with nothing to do, but that’s really a short period of time. You have to do a lot in a short amount of time, but I feel like you covered it well.

I really appreciate that. My goal was just to try to make people laugh and relate to what we were talking about, and I think Gina J. did a cute job with that. She’s there, she understands that.

Did she and Damon Scott say they want to get in on the show with you if you make it to Hollywood?

They haven’t mentioned it, but I certainly would have them! They would both come on the show and it would be great. People joke, “Don’t forget us,” but I don’t forget anybody. I have thousands of speed daters, and I’ll be walking through the mall with my kids and people often know me. Sometimes they were even from four years ago, and I’ll have to try to think of their name but I’ll always recognize them. Sometimes I can even shoot out who their match was, and people are like “God, how do you remember?” But that’s the most exciting part of the night, when the speed dating is over and when my staff get home and enter the matches, then I can log in and look at them. It’s so fun. When you enter the matches, the program automatically generates an e-mail based on the information you registered with and sends it out to everybody that got a match. It’s quick! Everybody gets a match that night; they never have to go to bed without knowing if they made a match.

That’s even more exciting because first you’re looking forward to going on the date, then when you get home you look forward to finding out who was interested in you.

Right, and we’ve had events where we’ve had, like, 40 matches, and everybody walks away with multiple matches. It’s not every time, but it’s amazing the number of matches we walk away with. I’ve matched up a bunch of girlfriends, too, who meet at the speed dating events and then become best friends and come back together.

That’s a really great way of meeting people. It seems like a lot of people are turning to Internet dating because they don’t know ways to get out there anymore. The bar and club scene is just not the proper way to meet a person.

It’s hard because you don’t know if they’re single. So you look across the room and you see a guy who looks great, but then you’ve got top figure out if he’s single. And then you’ve got to figure out if he’s interested. And then you’ve got to figure out a way to break that ice. It’s pretty tricky. But you mentioned Internet dating, and the big difference between Internet dating and speed dating is that with Internet dating you can find out right away what religion they are, how much money they make, what education they have, if they smoke, if they have kids. You can find all your deal-breakers out, whereas with speed dating, you can initially find out the chemistry. I always tell them to throw out their list of deal-breakers, just spend the five minutes and laugh and have fun, and if you make a match, send an e-mail later with 27 deal-breakers and ask them what they think (laughing). Don’t waste the five minutes with a list of questions because you’re just going to ruin it. I did Match.com, and I knew in five seconds as they were walking toward me. It was either, “Please let this be him,” or “Oh no, don’t let this be him.” So they both work, but it’s either chemistry first or deal-breakers first. Either way you get there, with either one of those venues.

Seems like you have to throw the list out the window, at least temporarily, and give yourself the opportunity to make a real match. Is there anything you want people to know about you as they’re going to watch your video and vote?

I think just that I absolutely love doing this, and if they laugh and smile when they watch the video, then I’ve done my job. If they vote, even better! But my mission is to get folks smiling. I would say that if I don’t make it with Oprah, I’m still never going to stop setting people up and introducing people. We do workshops in the fall too, so it’ll never stop, but it would be nice to reach that national level.

Click here to vote for Jaimy’s video entry. Votes can be made up to ten times daily.

Article 19, Live at Up or On the Rocks, Friday, April 11th

2009-04-14T20:30:00.005-04:00

By 11:30 on Friday night, the crowd at Up or On the Rocks in downtown Hartford has grown restless, anxiously waiting for the evening’s headliners to take the stage downstairs. As the band’s members begin taking their places, excitement grows at the tables on the lounge floor. People who were just ordering drinks at the bar have made their way closer to the stage to get a better view. Those in the crowd who feel like dancing stand in a line on a shrinking “dance floor” that’s actually just a gap between the audience and the stage, while those who prefer to sit commandeer the now-empty stools. Beer bottles and plastic cups in-hands, these people are ready to groove – and so are the guys of Article 19.

Jim Townsend sets the beat on drums; Jeff Kenniston strums his acoustic guitar; Rick Fritsch and Doug Parkinson roll in on lead guitar and bass, respectively; and singer Brett Wilson’s voice falls from the club’s speakers: “I will give my credit where’s it’s due; so I raise my hands, and I grab my hat and I tip it to you. It’s been one hell of a time…” The guys start the night with “Free,” an audience favorite, setting the tone of the night for this “up and coming” Connecticut pop-rock band.

The balance between instruments and vocals is fair, as each part can be heard clearly and levels with the others. In other words, there are no stage hogs, each member working together for every set to create the best-sounding performance they are capable of achieving. Though many of their songs are pretty mellow, “Free” is a tune I can imagine myself listening to after a long shift at work when I want to relax.

All seasoned musicians, it isn’t difficult to tell that each of the guys have something special to bring to the table. Townsend, according to the band’s MySpace, “has been studying, recording and performing throughout CT and NY for years.” A former member of the similarly popular band Tenet, as well as other bands over the years, he was honored with the title of “Best Drummer/Percussionist” by the Hartford Advocate Grand Band Slam in both 2007 and 2008, showing that his talents are recognized by more than just fans and friends. Townsend’s percussion style lays a smooth rhythm for the rest of the music, and his love for banging things certainly doesn’t hurt.

Parkinson provides not only a smooth bass line, but also backup and lead vocals in many of the band’s songs, as well as helping with songwriting. As the third band he’s been a part of, including previously being part of Tenet with Townsend, A19 has gotten the maturity and ingenuity Parkinson has gained through his experience. Though the stage at UP may not have allowed him to be up front for all of their songs, his movements and facial expressions brought more than a few coos and laughs from the audience.

Kenniston, the newest addition to the band, comes in on keyboard, acoustic guitar, alto saxophone and backup vocals, sometimes in tandem, through each song. His input has given the band a fresh perspective on their music with regards to both writing and performing styles, and his familiarity with the music scene, both in other bands and as a music education student at Central Connecticut State University, adds another notch on A19’s figurative belt of musical experience. I’ve come to be familiar with Kenniston’s performances, and his showmanship is not something to miss.

Fritsch’s musical cup overflows similarly to the others’. Also a former member of Tenet, he now brings his talents as lead guitarist and singer to the table for A19, as well as his knowledge of trumpet, harmonica, songwriting and producing. His love for the music is evident in every strum of the guitar, his experience in every key change, and his humor in every smirk.

Wilson, the band’s final member and lead singer, “is the creation of years of vocal training, in addition to even more years of classical and pop piano training,” as described on A19’s MySpace page. Given the title of “Best Male Vocalist” in the 2008 Hartford Advocate Grand Band Slam, Wilson is recognized as a talented young musician and equally entertaining performer. It’s clear that Wilson loves the music scene as much as it loves him, and audience members can watch him sway, two-step and even jump across stages without a blunder.

With such a combination of musicians, it’s no wonder A19 won “Best New Group” and “Best Pop/Rock Group” at the 2008 Hartford Advocate Grand Band Slam. A serious and original band, these guys wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Though they take pride in playing original music, with songs like their newest single, “Opportunity,” and “Bringin’ Down the House” – a hit with its own choreography – they also cover recognizable tunes from a variety of music genres, including “Tempted” by Squeeze, “Every Little Thing She Does” by The Police, and a personal favorite, “Long Train Runnin’” by the Doobie Brothers.

The group gets around 200 hits a day on their MySpace profile – MySpace.com/Article19Music – their manager, Laura Cretella explained. One of their most popular songs, “Save Me,” has a record alone of over 27,000 plays and was also named Song of the Week by Harris Decker – a contributing writer for the online entertainment magazine Buzzine – on his blog “The Truth About Music” last October. “Picture this,” Decker wrote. “The lead singer looks like (and has the abilities of) Maroon 5's Adam Levine; the lead guitarist uses effects such as Peter Frampton’s voice box; the drummer grooves like Carter Beuford of Dave Matthews Band; and the bassist keeps a solid back line, with killer vocals.” An accurate depiction in all respects, save the fact that this was before Kenniston’s arrival.

As you can imagine, this five-man lineup has the talent to attract large audiences and the likeability to keep their fans entertained. It’s clear that there are big things in store down the road, and with two new songs – “Look At Me Now,” and “How It’s Gonna Be” – on their first EP, “Look At Me Now,” currently in the works to be released on April 25, as well as an appearance during the Spring Week Concert at CCSU, they have plenty of ways to keep us coming, as they would say, “Back For More.”

Ted Turner

2009-04-07T13:36:00.002-04:00

...is giving a lecture today at 3 pm in, I believe, Alumni Hall? I will not be attending, but it made Pete Collins and I think of a clip from Robot Chicken in which Turner (the creator of "Captain Planet," my least favorite show as a kid) channels his inner superhero and runs around beating up litterbugs and hollering "CAAPTAAIINN PLLLAAAAAANNET!"

"Oww, you got glass in my eyes!"
"And my foot in your balls!"

<3 [adult swim]

Ted Turner Saves Earth

Paramore

2009-04-05T07:17:00.003-04:00

Paramore singer Hayley Williams is easily one of the best popular artists right now, as seen by her amazing live performances. Take, for instance, this video of "Decode" from the set of Jimmy Kimmel's late-night.

Paramore "Decode" - Jimmy Kimmel

Preview with Jeff Kenniston of Addison Station

2009-03-31T18:29:00.001-04:00

Lights are dim, the stage is empty. Club music booms from the house speakers. The boozers booze; the crooners croon; the bartenders, with their end-of-the-night eyes, stare blankly at a thinning crowd. It’s nearly last call, but the boys from Addison Station are ready for the night after a successful and surprisingly amusing show at Up or On the Rocks in downtown Hartford, CT. They mingle, exchanging momentary glances with the ladies of the crowd, down a bottle each and smile in each other’s direction: good set.

“Addison Station: A Linguistic Acoustic Mix of Altruistic Narcissistic Makers-of-Music. We do some bee-boppin’, some hip-hoppin’ and some jam rockin’. Also, if we pine to, we'll give you something to dine to and play our ballads instead.” A catchy business card, for sure, and it explains this local two-man band to perfection.

With a mix in musical influences like Jason Mraz, The Lonely Island, Counting Crows and Flight of the Concords, you can imagine the type of attitudes these guys must carry. If you guessed that they’re witty, pensive and shameless, you’d be two-thirds correct – less so on the pensive, but not because they’re stupid. These guys actually put a lot of thought into their music, but it comes from a passion they know so well that it goes beyond deliberate thought and straight to a comfortable pre-knowledge.

Jeff Kenniston and Trent Gerbers, the 23-year-old men of Addison Station, provide a smooth instrumental blend for their audiences’ auditory pleasures, Kenniston on keyboard, guitar and back-up vocals and Gerbers on lead vocals, then garnished with harmonica and the occasional beatbox. “We play whatever we feel comes across to most effectively bring about a positive reaction from listeners,” Kenniston explained.

Semi-regulars to pubs and clubs, Addison Station find themselves playing in the same types of venues, frequenting the downtown Hartford scene and New London and Torrington hotspots. “We’re always looking to expand to other markets,” Kenniston said. “We've only been playing together as ‘Addison Station’ since January, so we're just putting our toes in the water and seeing which places work for us.”

Audiences are catching on, no matter where they play, and the tone is set in the first few songs. “We always encourage [audience participation] – although it is more prevalent at smaller venues, where we are more physically connected to the audience and can get right in their faces. Just the other night in Niantic, we had an audience member sing a song to his girlfriend while I played, and also had a girl play [Jason Mraz’s hit] ‘I'm Yours’ on the piano with us,” Kenniston said. “We love it when everyone gets involved.”

Though it’s difficult not to get involved in the music when Kenniston and Gerbers set up songs like “Lost and Found” with a story about one of the member’s most memorable one-night stands, joking that “ We all have them at least once,” and they’re hard to forget. The song describes the awkward search for underwear and other belongings strewn across the floor and around the apartment, and the smirks on the faces of numerous audience members prove that the storytellers are right – most of us know exactly how that search goes down.

So they tell stories and try to relate their music to audience members. What else describes a typical show for Addison Station? “Generally, a lot of things like that. We never make a set list, so we just gauge what we play based on what we think the audience wants to hear – if people are dancing, we'll play something to dance to; if people are chillin’, we'll play something to chill to. We try to take requests, and are consciously making an effort to highlight our original music and avoid the typical bar-band scene,” Kenniston joked while poking fun at the typical Bon Jovi, “Livin’ on a Prayer” cover bands. “Or set is currently very cover-laden,but we're trying to network with prominent local original artists.”

Jokes aside – or rather, not at all – I asked Kenniston and Gerbers about their pre- and post-show traditions. “We have one,” Kenniston cautioned. “It’s called the ‘Nutsack Award.’” Only imagining what this could possibly lead to, donning a puzzled look on my face, Kenniston humored me with an explanation. “We decide who fucked up the most during the show, and they get the ‘Nutsack Award’ until the next show.”

Classy, as is to be expected from Addison Station, but they don’t let their positions as musicians stifle their crude humor. They let those positions help that humor flourish, even barraging each other with insults before shows. “I honestly tell Trent I hate him at least four times a day, and vice versa,” Kenniston laughed. “But he knows I mean it with the utmost respect.” On top of that, nerves are rarely an issue with these jokesters, and you’ll never see Kenniston or Gerbers choke-up in front of a crowd.

Kenniston wanted everyone to know that he has worn the same pair of jeans to every Addison Station show thus far, and that the two are “huge patrons of local hot dog stands.” He also wanted everyone to know that you can catch Addison Station’s next set at The Federal in downtown Hartford on Saturday, April 4th. Be sure to stop in for their soothing ballads, or perhaps their musical antics – set starts at 9 p.m., and though I’m sad to say you won’t hear any Bon Jovi, according to Kenniston, they “go all night.” Delicious.

Q + A with musician Russell Lyman

2009-03-31T18:02:00.000-04:00

With a career as a medical assistant at bat and one as a Registered Nurse on deck, West Haven-based musician Russell Lyman has put music on the backburner and is focusing his energy on work and school. Whether he ends up at a hospital or small doctor’s office, Lyman knows where his future leads him and that music will, in one way or another, always be a part of it.

S: So, you’re a musician, quite obviously. What got you into music?
R: Hmm. Well, one of my friends got a guitar for his birthday when he was 15 or so, and I thought it was really cool and wanted to learn to play, too. It seemed like a great hobby.
S: Interesting. So you play purely guitar?
R: Nope, I can play the drums or bass.
S: A man of many talents.
R: If you play guitar, you can play bass because it’s almost the same. But if you play bass, it’s harder to play guitar. When I started guitar, my friend there wanted to start a band and we didn’t have a drummer, so I learned that, too.
S: So you just picked up a pair of drum sticks and said, “All right, let’s do this.”
R: Pretty much. I didn’t really know how to play, and I only had two drums and a high hat at the time. It was a few months ‘til I got a full kit.
S: So which instrument would you say you prefer or play the best?
R: Guitar, but I’m a rhythm guitarist. I can’t do solos that well because I mostly liked singing, too, so I just play the rhythm part.
S: Ah, yes, you sing too. How long have you liked to sing then?
R: Well, I always liked to sing. I wasn’t always the best at it, though. But I tried. I started to take some singing lessons when I was about 20, and those helped a lot with my pitch, melody and sound.
S: What kind of music are you usually inclined to sing or play?
R: It’s like rock-pop, I guess…pop-punk…there are so many things to call it. I just sing, though – no screaming. I’m not really into that heavy sound.
S: (laughing) I see.
R: Yeah, it’s like boy band meets rock. Stuff with a catchy sing-along chorus and fast beat.
S: Since you know how to play so many instruments and are obviously musically inclined, have you put your efforts into a band?
R: No, bands are for losers. I would never join one of those.
S: That’s what I suspected.
R: (laughing) Yes, I always found myself in and out of many bands, with all different styles of music and people.
S: Any that you took particular interest in or were especially proud of?
R: Well, there were a few that I would say I was proud of, each with their own achievements. “A Chase Worthwhile” was my end-of-high-school-days band, when pop-punk was real big, and Blink-182 and New Found Glory were just hitting it big on the scene. We had a big following and played a decent amount of shows in CT, and even got to play at Coney Island. The next band was “Red Chester,” which I did not front and was just a guitarist in. This let me move around more on stage and put my full potential of a stage show to use, spinning my guitar around my body three times in a row, sometimes. We were sponsored by a clothing label called “Reject Clothing Company” and did a small tour for a week with John Hampson of “Nine Days.”
S: I feel like I’ve heard of “Nine Days”… that song “Story of a Girl”?
R: (singing) “This is the story of a girl, who cried a rive that drowned the whole world. But while she looked so sad in photographs, I absolutely love her when she smiles.”
S: Yes, I love that song.
R: After that band was my last and most recent band, “Saturday Matinee.” Being around for about four years with four CDs and a small U.S. tour, it was the biggest one. We even did our own Christmas CD, with covers and a Christmas song we wrote.
S: Well, I’d say that’s pretty successful. Why didn’t the band work out?
R: We wanted to take a new approach, and I was going to step down as front man and we were going to get just a lead singer. In trying out people and finding one, having practice with the new line-up was taking a toll on me. With late-night practices and a full-time job and school at night, there wasn’t much time for sleep. I had to throw in the towel and call it quits to focus on my education and career.
S: That makes sense. When did you start having an interest in medicine?
R: Well, over time. Everyone always said I would be good in the medical field because I enjoy helping others, and I would make a good nurse. They said there was a high demand for male nurses, and they make a lot of money and are always needed.
S: Have you found that that’s true?R: Yes, so far.
S: So you have a job now as a nurse?
R: No, I am currently in school for nursing and finishing up my medical assistant certification. I’m going to Goodwin College tomorrow for a seminar and may be taking classes there after I see how it goes.
S: Gotcha, so you’re still in the process.
R: (laughing) Yes, a long but worth-it-in-the-end process.
S: So, where does the music fit in, if at all?R: Right now, no where, but I can always go back to it. You can never stop playing once you start. I’ve jammed with some kids here and there, but nothing serious yet. I want to finish school.

thoughts...

2009-03-31T03:53:00.002-04:00

Since I'm sick, all I can do is creep the web for updates on celebrities and see what strikes me as interesting. Here's what I'm finding.

Jimmy Fallon's dream of reuniting the cast of "Saved By the Bell"?
http://www.fancast.com/blogs/tv-news/jimmy-fallons-impossible-dream-reuniting-the-cast-of-saved-by-the-bell/?cmpid=FCST_buzz0330saved
(By the way, Principle Belding was at CCSU a few months back for a lecture in the Student Center.)

What have the other cast members been up to since 1989?

Mark-Paul Gosselaar, a.k.a. Zack Morris, has a show on USA called "Raising the Bar." He and his goldilocks try to make a difference. I also remember an episode of "Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit," in which he played a man in the gay porn industry who was attacked.

Mario Lopez of course has America's Best Dance Crew and that animal talent show that no one cares about.

Dustin Diamond - "Screech" - is in porn. Movies and toys. Fantastic.

Lark Voorhies, the chick who played Lisa...well I checked her IMDB profile and only recognized a couple of soap operas. Must be because of that horrible name.

Elizabeth Berkely, who played that slut Jessie, has a recurring role on "CSI: Miami" as - you guessed it - a huge bitch. And don't forget "Showgirls." Classic.

Tiffany Thiesson - or Kelly, every guy's dream girl - has been in spoofs and tv shows since her "Bell" days. My favorite surprising appearance was a Honey DeLune, Will Ferrell's wife in "The Ladies Man."

Zac Efron turned down the opportunity to do a remake of "Footloose," as well he should have, because he said he doesn't want to be typecast as a singre/dancer and wants to take on more serious roles. Too late, "Hairspray"/"High School Musical"/"High School Musical 2"/"High School Musical 3" actor (although his new comedy with Matthew Perry looks good). Besides, you can't do a remake of "Footloose" - it's a Kevin Bacon classic. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Comcast's Picks for the 29 Ugliest Rockers (random and cruel, but quite amusing)
http://www.comcast.net/slideshow/music-ugliestmusiciansofalltime/1/

Lemmy Kilminster of Motorhead [looks crazy]

Iggy Pop [still alive? doesn't look alive]

Courtney Love [oh that's not true, just put a little makeup on her "Pikachu," a la Chelsea Handler, and she'll be fine - since that's all you really ever see of her these days...]

Shane McGowan of The Pogues [who is this? he looks like the elf/goat guy from the old Tom Cruise movie, "Legend." I love that movie]

GWAR [this shouldn't even count. First of all, don't they call themselves aliens or monsters or something equally as crazy? And since they're wearing masks and costumes, who's to say they're actually ugly? I bet under those disguises, they're Calvin Klein models.]

Gene Simmons of KISS [I expected him to be Number 1 on this list, but they placed him accordingly. So far these musicians have been quite beastly.]

Lil' Jon [I'm confused, they did say Ugliest Rockers, didn't they?]

Fergie [I agree on this one, but wow for Comcast to drop this kind of bomb on a still currently-successful artist. They obviously don't care about any repercussions she may try to bring]

Amy Winehouse [she could be pretty, if she weren't so ugly]

Rick Ocasek [just looks old]

Kerry King of Slayer [not so much ugly as fitting the typical Metal style]

Lil' Wayne [still does not count]

Dee Snider of Twisted Sister [agreed.]

Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones [another one of those 'can't believe he's still alive' rockers]

Tiny Tim [you can't call such a beautiful man ugly! he's having a wonderful time]

Michael Jackson [too easy.]

John Lydon of the Sex Pistols [has crazy eyes]

Boy George [looked at lot better via Karma Chameleon, and that's saying something.]

Janis Joplin [when you sing like that, you don't have to be pretty]

Meatloaf [I think that's just a wacho picture, he was never horrible-looking. He sang "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," how could he be ugly?]

Mick Mars of Motley Crue [I'm going to have nightmares about this guy tonight. He looks like he should work in a morgue or funeral home, or like the dead minister from "Poltergeist."]

Rick James [bitch.]

Eddie Van Halen [what do you expect after years of the rock 'n roll lifestyle?]

Joey Fatone of 'N Sync [again, rockstar? But he's not so bad.]

Sanjaya of American Idol [why is he on this list? he's my dream guy. SANJAYA.]

Clay Aiken [again, too easy.]

Marilyn Manson [this man really has always scared me.]

David Draimon of Disturbed [I actually don't think he's so ugly.]

Alice Cooper [love this guy. very ugly.]

These updates via Comcast.net's Home page.

New Music

2009-03-30T19:47:00.002-04:00

I'm starting to find new music that makes me jive, just wanted to share.

Ida Maria - http://www.myspace.com/idamaria

I'm sure this isn't a new band, but they're fairly new to me. They're like across between Pat Benetar, Kate Nash and No Doubt, if you can imagine. I like the song "Better When You're Naked" and hear it on FM 104.1 all the time.

Safetysuit - http://www.myspace.com/safetysuit

This band's style isn't very different from bands like Three Doors Down or Secondhand Serenade (who they're actually touring with), but I still like their song "Stay." It's sweet, and the lyrics are relatable to any relationship.

Daniel Smith - http://www.myspace.com/danielsmithx

Formerly of The City Drive, Smith reminds me a lot of Hellogoodbye, which is both good and bad. You can't have too many of those kinds of bands without it getting repetitive. But I do like the song "Runner."

Julien-K - http://www.myspace.com/julienk

A friend introduced me to this band, and they're not horrible. They remind me of an updated miz between HIM and Orgy. I don't really have a favorite song that I could recommend. They all sound a little similar.

The Good Life - http://www.myspace.com/thegoodlife

Their MySpace says their style is "Indie/2-step/Crunk," which is obviously a joke. I love these guys and imagine myself listening to "Inmates" while laying in bed, or "Heartbroke" while driving with the windows down on a sunny day. Lame cliche example, I'm sure.

Airdate - http://www.myspace.com/airdate

A little band from Long Island set on the level of bands like The Click Five and The All-American Rejects that I heard of because my friends' band, Article 19 played a few shows with them in CT (at the Webster Underground) and in LI. They're definitely not ground-breaking, but they're good.

Meet the Robinsons - an old review

2008-03-06T14:31:00.002-05:00

This is one of my first movie reviews, obviously written when the movie came out (so, over a year ago). Just thought I'd add it to my repertoire.

*****

I was not surprised at all when I walked into the Post Mall in Milford this Saturday and saw a crowd of children leaving the theatre. I knew what movie they had been there to see, and by the expressions on their faces, I could tell that I was going to love it, too.

“Meet the Robinsons,” the newest Disney film, turned out to be exactly as I had hoped: brilliant. I have never been a big fan of computer animated films, but good-ol' Walt has roped me in once again with wit and humor that appeals to any age group (the first time being with the 2006 box office hit, “Cars”).

Based on the book “A Day with Wilbur Robinson” by William Joyce, the movie is set in the modern-day and centered on a boy named Lewis, who was left at an orphanage by his mother when he was an infant. He is what most people would consider a “genius,” creating such inventions as the perfect machine to properly portion the peanut butter and jelly on your toast, “because too much peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth and gets crunchy, and too much jelly spills out the sides and makes your hands sticky.”

Lewis, just a few months away from turning 13, feels like a failure after over 100 interviews with possible adoptive parents, none of whom feel he is right for their home. When all of his inventions end in misery (and often explosions), he nearly gives up hope. It isn’t until a mysterious boy named Wilbur whisks him away to “Todayland,” set in the future, that Lewis finally discovers the confidence in himself to live up to his potential, and maybe even to find a family.

The movie is a hit, packed, of course, with the humorous innuendos intended for adult audiences that Disney is known for, as well as the comedy needed to keep the attention of younger viewers. My attention was held the entire time, as well as that of my boyfriend and our mutual friend, and we are all in our early twenties. I can safely say that I am glad to have seen that movie, and maybe even a better person. Well, that may be an exaggeration, but it was definitely a $7 well-spent.

While I did not see it in 3-D, I did see Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” in 3-D this past October and I have to say that it wasn’t really three-dimensional at all. This movie may be different because it was made to be 3-D, but hey, life is already in 3-D – why spend the extra $3?

“Meet the Robinsons” was officially released to theaters this past Friday, offered in Disney 3-D where applicable.

I'd rather lose my eye than watch...

2008-03-06T14:12:00.008-05:00

*****

And so the era of American-remade Asian horror cult classics continues. David Moreau and Xavier Palud’s remake of the Hong Kong classic Gin gwai was rated as just “Another tedious remake of an Asian horror film” on rottentomatoes.com, receiving only a 4.2 out of 10. I know it’s over a month late, but I was only recently able to catch The Eye.

Hottie-boom-bottie Jessica Alba stars as Sydney Wells, a violinist who lost her eyesight at the age of five while playing with firecrackers with her sister, Helen, played by Parker Posey. Helen convinces Sydney to get corneal transplants, allowing her to see for the first time in over 10 years; but what she begins to see turns out to be more frightening than a lifetime of darkness. It’s up to Sydney to find the meaning behind her mysterious and daunting visions before they come true.

While an interesting plot, the movie does not live up the potential the Pang brothers set it up for in 2002. The eerie style they usually employ was missing from Moreau and Palud’s 2008 version. The elements were there for an exciting thriller, but the film unfortunately just didn’t follow through.

It seems that recent horror movies have employed lazy tactics in attempting to scare the audience, and The Eye is full of them. Loud noises, sudden faces and disappearing apparitions are shocking, but they are only momentary scares. The best horror films are those that leave things unexplained, that scare the audience with silence and a lack of imagery rather than flashy sets, ridiculous screams and computer-animated ghoulies.

The Eye follows the same tired footsteps of The Grudge and The Return; even The Ring comes to mind when watching this film because of the striking similarities, although I much prefer it to the other Asian remakes. Isn’t it funny that they all start with the word “The”? Also, I hate when lead characters narrate, either throughout or just in part; it really makes the movie seem worse than it may already be.

The only reason I could possibly think any person would still want to see this movie would be to drool over Jessica Alba or the lead male, New Englander Alessandro Nivola.

What a hunk.

Sweeney Todd steals my heart

2008-01-03T23:22:00.000-05:00

*****

It's true - Johnny Depp has successfully managed to steal my affection yet again, much in the style that he did in Edward Scissorhands.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is an amazing musical gothic drama about love, lust and revenge. A mysterious man by the name of Sweeney Todd (Depp) makes his way to London with the hopes of seeking revenge against Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), the man who wrongly accused him of a crime and stole his wife and child in a time when Todd was a barber named Benjamin Barker. Todd returns to Mrs. Lovett's (Helena Bonham Carter) Bakery, where Mrs. Lovett recognizes him as Barker, tells him his wife is dead and helps him concoct a plan to retrieve his daughter by killing the judge. However, when the judge is not so easy to get to, Todd and Lovett decide to practice on other less-than-innocent clients until the time comes that he can exact his revenge. But what to do with the bodies? Well, Mrs. Lovett knows just what to do, and she won't have to kill stray cats for her meat pies any longer.

Johnny Depp can model, act, steal my heart and sing. Very well, in fact; his voice was actually surprising. Helena Bonham Carter has a talent for music as well, which I already knew from Corpse Bride.

This is a great movie, one which I wish I had seen in theaters (but as of late I've been low on movie theater funds so I've been watching them free online!). I would recommend that anyone who loves Depp, Carter or Tim Burton films see this one - I'll definitely be buying it when it hits stores on DVD.

Another great Will Smith performance

2008-01-02T22:09:00.000-05:00

*****

I didn't even bother trying to see I Am Legend in theaters because there was so much hype built up for it that tickets were sold out for days. I finally found it to watch on http://www.movieforumz.com/ - in great quality, I might add.

Dr. Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a scientist in the Army who helps discover a cure for cancer when the vaccine begins having side effects similar to those of rabies. Minutes after boarding his wife and daughter on a helicopter to evacuate Manhattan, a recognizance copter collides with theirs and kills them. Three years later, Neville is the only man alive on Earth - or at least, he is the only man free from infection. He and his German Shepard, Samantha, spend their days collecting food, returning DVDs to the local rental store and flirting with attractive mannequins, which Neville is actually nervous to do; needless to say, he lost a few of his marbles, what with being seemingly the only person on Earth. He meets up with two other survivors, Anna and Ethan, as he struggles to find a cure for the disease to fix what he helped create.

The movie, overall, is very well animated and interesting from start to finish. Smith performs so well that you actually believe he knows what it feels like to be the last man on Earth. At one point he begs a mannequin to say "Hello." It was actually very sad.

A few questions in the plot are left unanswered, however. For instance: how did the cure for cancer go so awry? How did it spread (besides being airborn)? Why was Smith's character immune to the disease? There are others, but I can't remember them all at the moment. I did enjoy the movie, though, and I found myself yelling at my computer monitor repeatedly during the scenes that scared me.

It would be neat to see this movie on the big screen with the sound all around you. Since I already saw it, though, I won't pay $10+ to see it again.

Walk Hard: the movie that wasn't nearly as funny as it was hyped-up to be

2007-12-31T23:49:00.001-05:00

*****

So it's been a while, I know, but it's New Year's Eve and I just finally got the chance to sit down for a movie. There are a few interesting titles out right now - I Am Legend, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and Juno, all of which I am excited to see - but my boyfriend and I decided that we needed to watch a great new comedy.

We did not watch a great new comedy.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story stars an amazing lineup with John C. Reilly; Jenna Fischer; Kristin Wiig; Tim Meadows; Chris Parnell; David Krumholtz; Harold Ramis; Frankie Muniz (as Buddy Holly); Jack White (from The White Stripes, as Elvis); The Temptations; Jewel Kilcher; Ghostface Killah; Lyle Lovett; Jackson Browne; Justin Long; Paul Rudd; Jason Shwartzman; Jack Black; and a special appearance by Jonah Hill.

You would think that with such an incredible cast, the plot would present something entertaining. While it was unique in story, it was not unique in its overall quality, which was poor (much like many other movies that have recently been released).

WARNING! This review contains PLOT SPOILERS! Do NOT read on if you get upset when parts of movies are given away before you see them.

Dewey Cox is not unlike many other children in most ways: he dreams, laughs, and plays with his musical prodigy-brother, Nate, - that is, until he cuts Nate in half with a machete. But it is this strange and unfortunate mishap that helps Dewey discover the Blues. His father disowns him, forcing Dewey out of the house at age 14 when his music gets the town in uproar at a talent show. Dewey vowed he wouldn't need anyone or anything but his music, but it isn't until his early seventies that he learns that family is the one thing he truly needs.

Cute story - check.
Sexual innuendos - check.
Great laughs and non-stop chuckles - unfortunately not. Although it included many of the same actors, Walk Hard didn't bring the entertainment that movies like Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, or Superbad did. I was expecting much more from such a highly-reviewed film.

Wait until this one comes out and rent it for $4. Or you can just check sites like http://www.movieforumz.com/ and watch it for free - but you didn't hear it from me.

Despite my lack of faith in the movie industry these days, there are some other movies I am excited to see soon: The Eye looks interesting, as do One Missed Call and Cloverfield, and of course, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Oh, Johnny Depp.

Cloverfield contest

2007-12-20T15:53:00.001-05:00

This is a contest to win a special screening of the movie Cloverfield in my hometown! I need to get as many people as I can to "Grab" this widget so I can get my name on the leaderboard. Second place wins a digital camcorder, and third place wins a digital camera, so it would be great even to win second place! Anyone who helps can shoot me a message and if I win, I'll invite you to the screening! Thanks for your help!

Audiences feel a "Rush" of emotion

2007-12-08T22:42:00.000-05:00

*****

Let me start off by saying that I cry easily, so it’s possible that everything that follows this disclaimer is merely the opinion of an overly-emotional, dramatic, teary-eyed 20-year-old girl. Having said that, August Rush made me cry – at least four times.

The movie follows a young orphan boy named Evan Taylor, played by Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), who believes so strongly that music will reunite him with his biological parents that he leaves the orphanage where he grew up in order to pursue his dream: to have a family. He is met with many emotional obstacles along the way, but his willingness to learn and his talent for music brings him the courage and success he’ll need to survive in a cold New York City – it may even bring him one step closer to his parents.

Highmore is an amazing little boy, and although his teeth are hugely disproportionate to his face, he is overall quite adorable. He is successful in hiding his natural British accent for the film, which is a skill some seasoned actors cannot say they have yet mastered; and although the film is extremely touching and sensitive, Highmore only shows his vulnerability at exactly the right moments. We can look forward to seeing this kid in The Spiderwick Chronicles - although I can’t actually say I’m looking forward to seeing that movie – as well as hearing him as the voice of Pantalaimon in the newly-released film The Golden Compass.

Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers play his biological mother and father, a concert cellist and Irish rocker, respectively, whose deep commitment to music connect them to each other and to Evan in ways they could not have foreseen. Russell and Meyers depict two young musicians who struggle to maintain social lives and retain a sense of sanity in a world where they do not really know their true selves until they find each other. Each plays the part wonderfully, but what else would you expect from the loveable Felicity and the guy who played Elvis and King Henry VIII?

From one sap to another, I recommend you see this film at least once. If it helps, my manly boyfriend loved it, too. And so did his mom, and his sister, and every other man and woman in the theater with us. I promise, I wasn’t the only one crying. Check it out.

The "Wet Blanket" Wicker Man

2007-11-26T23:37:00.000-05:00

*****
That's right - The Wicker Man was boring as hell, and that's putting it nicely. But what else can we expect from a Nicolas Cage movie succeeding his role in the first National Treasure installment? (If you couldn't tell, it is my opinion that every movie he has starred in since then has pretty much been a "flusher," meaning they were all absolute crap.)

The Wicker Man (version 2006), starring Nicolas Cage, Ellen Burstyn and Leelee Sobieski, is a remake of The Wicker Man (version 1973), which starred Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland. Cage plays a police officer who is requested by an ex-girlfriend named Willow (Kate Beahan) to come to the secretive island known as Summersisle, where she lives in a colony of nature worshippers, to find her missing daughter. When he arrives, however, the other members of the colony deny the missing girl's existence, sending Cage down a spiral of misleading clues and set-ups that will ultimately lead to his demise.

I had very high expectations of this movie, none of which were met. The story was stupid and one I have heard before; the lead actor was seemingly disinterested and just overall bad; and the ending was ridiculous and completely expected. I figured this film had come before Cage's downfall, but it actually seems like The Wicker Man marked the subsequent death of his previously-impressive acting resume.

Don't rent it. Don't On-Demand it. Don't download it. Don't watch it.

Boo, Nicolas Cage. Boo.

"Lady in the Water"

2007-11-20T16:26:00.000-05:00

So I'm going to attempt to make a videocast pretty regularly, meaning either every week, every other week, or monthly, if I get that behind... I'll give a brief synopsis of one movie each time, along with critic reviews and my opinion.

This is my first installment - enjoy, and please let me know what you think!

The return of what? Not a thriller...

2007-11-15T01:57:00.000-05:00

*****
Sarah Michelle Gellar plays Joanna Mills, a traveling saleswoman who devotes her life to the business, in the 2006 psychological thriller The Return.

On a sales trip to Marlin, Texis, Joanna finds herself experiencing recurring fainting spells, during which time she has visions of a murder that occurred when she was only 11 years old. She awakens from these spells in random places with cuts on her arms and legs that were self-inflicted with a switchblade she keeps in her pocket. Joanna is set on uncovering the origin of her frightening visions, which are proving to be more accurate with each spell. Her determination leads her down a path of discovery, passion and murder; but losing her identity may be the scariest part of all.

Overall, the movie was interesting... at best. I didn't jump as much as I had expected (or hoped) to. There were no scary faces, no completely unexpected moments. The film had its plot twists, but not so unpredictable were they, nor was the ending. If there's anything good at all to be said about this movie, it's that Sam Shepard is the best - he plays the best father role, not only in this movie but also in The Notebook. I wish he were my dad (But, who wouldn't love that?).

ERADICATION. STERILIZATION. RE-POPULATION. RE-INFECTION.

2007-11-13T13:21:00.000-05:00

*****

Some might call me a horror movie buff. Some might say that I have no soul. I believe that the rush of adrenaline I get while watching a scary movie is exhilarating; my favorite part is waking up in my room at night in complete darkness or walking from a parking garage on campus to my residence hall and letting my imagination spook me. And that is the best aspect of the 28 Days Later series - the two films have successfully managed to scare me, which hasn't happened with many others.

15 DAYS LATER: MAINLAND BRITAIN HAS BEEN QUARANTINED

28 DAYS LATER: MAINLAND BRITAIN HAS BEEN DESTROYED BY THE RAGE VIRUS

5 WEEKS LATER: THE INFECTED HAVE DIED OF STARVATION

11 WEEKS LATER: AN AMERICAN-LED NATO FORCE ENTERS LONDON

18 WEEKS LATER: MAINLAND BRITAIN IS DECLARED FREE OF INFECTION

24 WEEKS LATER: RECONSTRUCTION BEGINS

28 WEEKS LATER

In early May I went to see 28 Weeks Later, the 28 Days Later sequel, with my friend Ed and one or two of his buddies. (Ed and another friend, Mark, run a really great entertainment blog that everyone should check out.) I'm so glad Ed was there because he gave me an arm to squeeze when parts of the movie actually scared me. And just as a side note, because we saw the movie opening weekend, we got free posters!

In 28 Days Later, a group of scientists are using chimpanzees to test a the effects of a new 'virus' - pure rage. A group of animal activists set out to release the chimps, unaware that the poor creatures are infected with the virus - which is transferred when one being comes into contact with infected DNA, found in both blood and saliva - and extremely dangerous. The virus spreads like wild fire, and over 28 days, Great Britain is overwhelmed with the infected. A few survivors struggle to stay alive, hiding and running from the virus as long as they can, hoping that there is still someone alive who can save them.

28 Weeks Later picks up - you guessed it - 28 weeks after the initial outbreak of the rage virus. An area of London has been quarantined by the U.S. Army, which reassures the world that the infection there has died-out; thus, repopulation begins.

Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton - and yes, that really is his name) and Tammy Harris (Imogen Poots - almost equally bizarre) return to England after being overseas during the outbreak of the virus and, therefore, safe from harm. Upon his re-entering, Andy is told that at only 12 years old, he is the youngest person residing in Great Britain. The kids are reunited with their father, Don (Robert Carlyle, Angela's Ashes), who survived an attack by the infected while hiding in a cottage. Don then has to explain to his children how their mother, Alice (Catherine McCormack), died (although he chooses to exclude the fact the he left her behind to be killed by flesh-eating zombies).

Andy is worried he will forget his mother's face, so he and Tammy concoct a plan to cross the quarantine barrier around the safe area where the survivors are housed, known as District One - for clothes and a photograph of their mother, mind you - into what remains of Great Britain, which has become a wasteland. The movie isn't boring up until this point, but things certainly take an interesting turn when Andy and Tammy reach their family's house and discover something that will change their lives, as well as the lives of the survivors back at quarantine, forever.

Muggleton and Poots are newcomers to keep your eye on. Although it was his first movie and there haven't been any since, Muggleton is sure to pop-up on the big screen again soon. Poots was previously seen as the young Valerie in V for Vendetta and can be seen in two upcoming films, Miss Austen Regrets and Waking Madison. Another actress to watch out for is Rose Byrne, who has acted in films such as Wicker Park, Troy, and one of my personal favorites, Sunshine.

I was disappointed that Cillian Murphy was not in the second film as well; he is one of my favorite actors, and it's not just because he's dreamy. It would have been interesting to see what became of his character after seven months (for those who don't know, Murphy was the main character in 28 Days Later). However, Days was a lower-budget film than its sequel, and although they cover the same general story line, the two films are very different.

Rolling Stone writer Peter Travers declared Weeks is unique in that it is "a sequel that doesn't suck," and I concur.

28 Weeks Later was released on DVD and Blu-Ray October 9 in the states. Pick it up, right now, and watch it - you will enjoy it. And I must have uncanny timing because this review comes approximately 28 weeks after the film's [theater] release date.

Alec Baldwin is a failure, but you already knew that

2007-11-05T13:25:00.000-05:00

*****

In his time, Peter Boyle could have made any movie worthwhile.

Alec Baldwin, on the other hand, only makes me wish I had the last 108 minutes of my life back.

Although the The Shadow was nominated for four Saturn Awards in 1995 by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA - Best Actress, Penelope Ann Miller; Best Costumes, Bob Ringwood; Best Music, Jerry Goldsmith; and Best Special Effects - all I can bring myself to do while watching this movie is laugh.

Based on the 1930s comic strip, The Shadow is a movie about a man who uses his ability to become invisible and to "cloud men's minds" with the power of telekinesis. He fights his arch-nemesis, Shiwan Khan, played by John Lone, in order to stop him from holding the world ransom with an atomic bomb. Tim Curry plays a supporting role as Farley Claymore, the conniving evil sidekick - a character he plays so very well. Penelope Ann Miller plays Margo Lane, the damsel in distress who is able to help save The Shadow in the end, and Peter Boyle plays The Shadow's sarcastic cabby.

This movie is ridiculous - I'm not even sure that this fully deserves a review, but you can decide for yourselves. Go watch The Shadow for shits-and-giggles. It's only worth about the $4 you'll spend on the rental.

The little film that could

2007-10-30T11:15:00.000-04:00

*****
Until a recent excursion to Washington D.C., I had never heard of Terry Gilliam, nor had I heard of his 2006 (2005 UK) fantasy film entitled Tideland. I bought it, judging the movie by its cover and cast list - which I've heard is a bad thing to do - and hoping that I would not be disappointed by the $27 DVD. After watching the 121 minute movie, I can honestly say that I am not disappointed, but more intrigued, impressed, and mostly satisfied with my purchase.

In a world where fireflies are fairies who have names, plastic doll heads speak in varied dialects atop fingertips and squirrels talk, ten-year-old Jeliza-Rose (Jodelle Ferland - Silent Hill, Kingdom Hospital) escapes the reality of her drug-addicted father and the death of her mother. She finds companionship in the mentally damaged Dickens, played by Brendan Fletcher, and fear in Dickens' older sister, Dell, played by Janet McTeer, all the while trying to find herself in a world that could never accept her upbringing.

Even though she is just a child, Jeliza-Rose is forced to act much like an adult. Her two addicted parents make it clear that they cannot take care of themselves, so Jeliza-Rose is put in a situation where she has to take care of them. While her mother - played by Jennifer Tilly - mainly asks Jeliza to massage her legs, her father - played by Jeff Bridges - goes as far as to teach Jeliza how to prepare his meth and heroin injections, to the point where Jeliza arranges his syringe daily, catching his cigarette hand after each fix to make sure he doesn't light the house on fire. When her mother dies, Jeliza-Rose and her father run away to her grandmother's abandoned house in a place called Jutland. The first day there, Jeliza prepares an injection for her father to go on another "vacation," one from which he may not return. Dell and Dickens become Jeliza's temporary family, but their warped view on life only confuses the girl more, forcing her deeper into "the rabbit hole."

There is so much more to this movie, but to explain further would give a lot away - more than I already have! If you have seen and enjoy movies such as Pan's Labyrinth and Big Fish, there is a good chance you would enjoy the creativity presented in Tideland. The movie will offend and bother many people because it brings to light issues involving children, maturity, addiction and sexuality, but one need remember that it is a fictional movie; an imaginative story; a thought-provoking piece of art, and not something that should be taken so seriously.

My sink is spilling cellophane

2007-10-24T00:23:00.000-04:00

*****

I know it came out some time ago, but I only just got the chance to watch Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep. Let me just say: I regret waiting so long... Gael Garcia Bernal is WONDERFUL.

Stephane, the son of a femme francaise and an hombre mexicano, is a twenty-something who finds it hard to separate what is dream from what is reality. After the death of his father, Stephane moves to France when his widowed mother makes him believe she has secured for him a creative illustrating job at a calendar company. This, in fact, is a lie she concocts to bring Stephane closer to her, leaving him with a job he hates (pasting titles on the tops of calender pages), an undersized bed (the same bed he slept in as a child, complete with little boy-inspired trucker bed linens), and a gorgeously intriguing francaise neighbour named Stephanie (played by Charlotte Gainsbourg)- but wait a minute; that isn't really so bad. Stephane and Stephanie become extremely close, sharing their inspirations, creative ideas and inventions from one-second time machines, to water composed of scraps of colored cellophane surrounding a forest in a boat.

Stephane's dreams include an eight-inch electric razor with metallic spider legs that he uses to overtake his boss, who stifles his creative ideas; he and his co-workers dressed-up in animal suits while performing a song to woo Stephanie; and swimming through the sea of the city to deliver his apology letter to Stephanie, which turns out to be about the length of a novel and the size of a cardboard display project. In my personal favorite fantasy, Stephane's hands each grow to the size of a small child and he fights off the responsibilities of his job, including the post-it notes stuck to his flag pole fingers.

All of Stephane's dreams take place on "Stephane TV," the fantasy world where he broadcasts his dreams to whatever audience, showing them how to make a dream.

"Hi, and welcome back to another episode of 'Television Educative.' Tonight, I'll show you how dreams are prepared. People think it's a very simple and easy process, but it's a bit more complicated than that. As you can see, a very delicate combination of complex ingredients in the key. First, we put in some random thoughts. And then, we add a little bit of reminiscences of the day... mixed with some memories from the past. [adding in some pasta] That's for two people. Love; friendship; relationships... and all those 'ships,' together with songs you heard during the day, things you saw, and also, uh... personal... Okay, I think it's one," Stephane tells his viewers as a dream materializes in a puff of red smoke from his cooking pot.

Without giving too much away, I recommend the movie to anyone and everyone - whether you are the creative type; a wet blanket; a movie lover or a bookworm, you will be able to find something you can enjoy and relate to in this movie.

More Like "Plight of the Dying Movie Genre: Audiences Are Sick of Zombies"

2007-10-20T21:40:00.000-04:00

*****

It's true; I don't know many people who are satisfied with the list of zombie flicks, especially those released over at least the last two years. Zombie-oriented films seem to have lost the ability to retain an interesting plot, although they are sometimes fortunate enough to make up for that impotence in gore and cheap screams.

Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane, formerly titled "Plane Dead," (2007) is a movie about zombies - who could have guessed it? The twist, though, is that they're on a commercial airplane, and there's nowhere to go but down.

I'm not even going to describe the characters specifically because they're pretty much the same as any other zombie/horror film, but I'll generalize: the hero, played by David Chisum; the girl, played by Kristen Kerr; the bad guy, played by Erick Avari (The Mummy); the bad-guy-who-makes-you-laugh-and-then-it-turns-out-he-isn't-really-so-bad-because-he-helps-you-not-die, played by Kevin J. O'Connor ("Benny" from The Mummy); and the creepy-yet-intelligent undercover agent, played by Richard Tyson. Of course, the movie also includes the novelty horror movie characters - the teenage lovers, the doctors and scientists, the children, the sinners, and even a nun.

A commercial flight takes off with all of its passengers, as well as a special cargo - so special that it has to be guarded by a nervous man in a biochemical containment suit weilding a machine gun. That cargo turns out to be one of the scientists' wife, who was exposed to a dangerous chemical that would reanimate her lifeless body, should her life be lost. The guard is there to make sure that she does not wake up from her slumber during flight, and he is successful until the plane is forced to fly through an intense storm that causes quite a ruckus on board. Bags fly out of their carry-on compartments; passengers rock back and forth in their seats; the cargo is throttled from side to side until, of course, the woman's holding tank is opened and she is awakened. It isn't until the guard shoots her, however, that she becomes a real problem, and since he is incapicitated by a large box that fell and, obviously, broke his leg, all he can do is shoot her and hope she stays down (which she doesn't).

He dies, obviously.

The scientists call down to check on their cargo, but when they get no word back from the guard, they are forced to investigate for themselves. With two zombies now roaming the holding deck, you can imagine what happens next... and thus, the undead and all the mayhem they bring are unleashed upon the plane's unsuspecting passengers. While everyone dies pretty gruesomely, four of the five main characters survive the flight and its subsequent downfall (The bad guy dies because, well, he was bad, and bad people die.).

Although the storyline was pathetic and expected, I found myself hiding behind my hands during certain scenes. This is not because the movie itself brought me unease, but because I am scared of faces - not normal faces, those are just weird - and they are abundant in this film. The flesh is torn away from the skin; the eyes are bulging, yellow and red; the ears are hanging off their heads, and I'm sure that's not where they belong. The worst face for me was the main bad guy's face; at the end, when he gets his "just desserts," his face is slashed much like that of Elizabeth Short (WARNING! the preceding image of the "Black Dahlia" is extremely graphic and I recommend you do NOT click the link unless you have a strong stomach and are not easily prone to nightmares.) and you can see his teeth, making it look like he's always smiling, just waiting to bite your face off. One thing that made the movie worthwhile, however, was that an Asian passenger strapped himself in his seat too tightly and couldn't figure out how to undo the seat belt on time, so he was torn-up by one of the flight attendants and flushed out into the sky by the force of the decompression after the side of the plane was hit by a missile. Good stuff.

Overall, Flight of the Living Dead was... eh. Watch it if you're bored, or just a zombie-lover, as I am.

The following is not a trailer for the movie, only a clip. It's the scene where the nun... well, just watch it.

Superbad is super good

2007-10-17T22:25:00.000-04:00

*****

Anyone who enjoyed Knocked Up from director Judd Apatow needs to see director Greg Mottola's film, Superbad. There isn't much to argue against that statement - it's even the first film I give five stars!

Seth Rogan is at it again, this time as the hilarious Officer Michaels, who, along with Officer Slater, played by Bill Hader, just can't seem to stick to the rules.

Arrested Development's Michael Cera and Jonah Hill (The 40 Year Old Virgin; Grandma's Boy; Accepted; Knocked Up) star as Evan and Seth (respectively), two graduating high school seniors who set a goal to get "laid" over the summer but face some obstacles along the way. Christopher Mintz-Plasse stars as their super-nerdy friend Fogell, who gets a fake I.D. so he can buy liquor under the name "McLovin." Fogell befriends Officers Michaels and Slater and embarks on his own wild summer night, while Evan and Seth do the best they can not to be arrested or beat up. Ultimately, these three geeky guys turn out to be pretty cool, each one wooing their girl and achieving a sense of self-dignity and confidence they had not previously had.

While the plot may seem a little played-out (American Pie; Revenge of the Nerds), it holds strong in Superbad because of the movie's unique cast and style.

Good Luck Chuck baffles audience members, average rating "D"

2007-10-15T10:07:00.000-04:00

*****

Reviews of Good Luck Chuck are so horrible that it will be surprising if we ever hear good things about Dane Cook again; critics and most audience members are all asking the same questions: "What was Jessica Alba thinking? Was she thinking?"

Though I so hate to stray from the pack, I actually enjoyed the new Mark Helfrich comedy. It was a cute, funny story that I had never seen in movies before, which was refreshing because most movies these days are sequels, prequels, or spin-offs.

Charlie, played by Dane Cook, is a quirky dentist who just can't seem to find love. In fact, every time he sleeps with a girl, she leaves him and marries the next man she dates. Once word gets out that Chuck is a good luck charm, women everywhere flock to his side, begging him for unbridled sex. Chuck doesn't mind at first, but as he continues to be the stepping stone for each woman's real relationship, he begins to feel used and melancholy.

When Charlie meets Cam Wexler, played by Jessica Alba, he believes he may have finally found his soul mate. The only problem is that when things start to get serious, Charlie fears that if he sleeps with Cam, he will lose her to the next guy she meets. So, he gets a little crazy, pulling stunts that include punching a random guy in the face and jumping out of a box in a penguin costume.

With comedic sidekicks Dan Fogler (Balls of Fury) as Charlie's horny best friend and Lonny Ross (Tina Fey's 30 Rock) as Cam's brother, the movie brings together a humorous collaberation of comedy and drama in a chick-flick package. Don't get me wrong, though - the movie is great for guys, too; there are plenty boobs and sex scenes, although they seem to be what most of the film's low ratings were based on.

Aside from the nudity and somewhat-lack of chemistry between Alba and Cook, the movie was a nice addition to this year's releases. Although it may just be swept under the rug as another failure, I will more than likely purchase it when it is released on DVD in a few months (if I am financially capable, of course).

Resident Evil provides nothing new for zombie-philliacs

2007-10-10T11:27:00.000-04:00

*****

The zombies are still un-dead; the world is still in ruins; Milla Jovovich is still dressed like a street-walker; so what is new in the third (and hopefully final) installment of the Resident Evil series? Not much. Resident Evil: Extinction, released in late September, follows the storyline where it ended in the second movie, Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004).

After the T-virus outbreak at Raccoon City, a group of survivors are on the move, traveling in a caravan from city to city in search of a haven from the infection. These survivors include Carlos Olivera, the S.T.A.R.S. agent who first appeared in RE2, played by Oded Fehr (The Mummy; The Mummy Returns); L.J., the funkified scaredy-cat who avoided death about three times in the second movie, played by Mike Epps (Friday After Next; The Fighting Temptations); and newcomers: Claire, the strong-willed leader of the caravan, played by Ali Larter (House on Haunted Hill; Final Destination 1 & 2; Heroes) and Betty, the kick-your-ass/cauterize-your-bite-wound nurse, played by R&B Princess Ashanti (Coach Carter; John Tucker Must Die), amongst others.

The survivors set up camp at a seemingly-abandoned building, as would be expected from any "scary" movie, when a crowd of crows begins to swarm around them. Those birds, they realize, have been feeding on infected flesh - the bodies of the people the zombies killed - and now they want the survivors'. It is at this point in the movie that Alice (Jovovich) and the survivors are united in a throwdown, as Alice uses her newly-mastered superhuman telekinesis powers to encompass the fowl crowd in a sea of fire.

The caravan decides to head towards Alaska based on information Alice found in a diary that claimed the 49th state was free of infection. In order to make it there successfully, though, they need gas. Next stop: Las Vegas, Nevada - only now, the city is overrun by desert, its buildings covered in miles of sand. It doesn't take long before Dr. Isaacs (Iain Glen) of the Umbrella Corporation finds Alice in the City of Sin and sends his zombie minions out to take her down once and for all.

The movie was very predictable and not extremely innovative in its plot, but it turned out to be more entertaining than I expected. The main issue many fans of the Resident Evil video games have had with the movies is that few of the original characters have been in the movies; Alice, for example, is a completely new character who is never seen in the video games, along with every other character that appears in the three-film series except for two: Jill Valentine, seen in the second movie, and Claire Redfield, seen in RE3 (both are actual characters in the video game series).

Overall, the movie was acceptable - definitely not the worst zombie film ever made. As a zombie fanatic, though, I had hoped for better.

Zodiac cast displays impressive knowledge and sincerity

2007-10-02T00:31:00.000-04:00

*****

2007 brought some delightful films - 300, Spider-Man 3, even, and I cringe to say it, but, Shrek The Third (which, to my surprise, grossed $784,412,359 worldwide; about $624,412,359 over the budget they spent to make it) - none of which really enthralled me as deeply as Director David Fincher's Zodiac was able to. The movie literally had me biting my hand like my boyfriend's pessimistic Italian grandmother and wiggling underneath my bed covers. "I know who the killer is! I know who it is! I should have been there to catch him, the case would have been solved by now!!" That's what I screamed four or more times in my head throughout the movie.

I was so wrong. The players were so believable that I wasn't able to see how misleading some of the clues were; just as the detectives did, I followed certain clues without thoroughly questioning "Why"or "How."

The movie's cast was chosen perfectly: Jake Gyllenhaal, who has a short repertoire for an A-List actor (Jarhead, Brokeback Mountain, Donnie Darko), played the lead role, Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle in the late 60s and 70s, who in the end was the only person willing and determined enough to crack the code and discover the identity of the true Zodiac killer. This determination, however, became an obsession, subsequently destroying his marriage and his career as an illustrator. Gyllenhaal was able to evoke an understanding out of audience members, which allowed them to feel Graysmith's pain and his desire to solve the murders once and for all by writing a book of all the information collected from October 30, 1966 (the date of the first murder linked back to the Zodiac killer), to its being published in 1986. The audience was there, solving it with him step by step (only about 32 years later).

Mark Ruffalo, probably best known for his roles in 13 Going On 30 (2004) and All the King's Men (2006), played Inspector David Toschi of the San Fransisco Police, whom he looks just like in the film with his bow tie and curly dark hair and sideburns. His performance was admirable and sincere - he wanted to find the murderer so badly, you could see how much it pained him to let a man kill 37 innocent people (so he claimed in his letters; only 5 were officially known as Zodiac murders). He saw what the case did to his partner, and he fought against letting it get to him the same way.

Toschi's partner, Inspector William Armstrong, was played by Anthony Edwards, best known as Dr. Mark Greene from 1994-2002 on TNT's hit drama ER. His character isn't developed much in the film, but you are able to see how the case eventually breaks him down when he transfers out of Homicide because he could no longer handle "being on-call."

The film also starred Robert Downey Jr. as Chronicle reporter Paul Avery; a hot-headed, ill-mannered writer whose superiority complex drove him from the Chronicle to the Sacramento Bee, and finally, the San Francisco Examiner until he retired. Downey's character's life seemed to mirror that of his own (in former and even recent years), consumed by alcohol, depression, and severe social humiliation. I can't say I was impressed at his acting because he may not have been acting at all; then again, I fell in love with Downey in 1994's Only You when I was seven years old, so I can't hate him, either.

Zodiac also starred Brian Cox as Melvin Belli, the only man whom the Zodiac killer officially contacted for help from his "sickness" (is that what murder is?); Chloe Sevigny as Graysmith's blind date/wife/ex-wife; and John Carroll Lynch as Arthur Leigh Allen, the man believed to-date to be the true Zodiac killer as revealed in Graysmith's books, Zodiac, and Zodiac: The Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed.

An interesting sidenote about the cast is that Gyllenhaal, Downey, Ruffalo and Lynch all bear striking resemblances to their real-life counterparts, Graysmith, Avery, Toschi and Allen, consecutively.

The movie was a great psychological thriller that left me with the most obvious question unanswered (who styled Ruffalo's hair?), but also with many affirmations: Gyllenhaal has got it all; Downey brings his work home; and cartoonists can solve crimes better than trained detectives and entire police forces compiled from 4 major U.S. cities.

Seriously, though, this movie sheds light on the hardships of the people involved, not only through the victims' and families' eyes, but also through the men and women who dedicate their lives to rescuing, protecting, and helping us. As a society, we let things go very easily, whereas these people are consumed by those same things. Maybe someday the case will be revamped and new technology will allow us to know absolutely that Allen is the killer; since he died August 26, 1992 of natural causes, we will never get his confession.

The movie's tagline:

"There's more than one way to lose your life to a killer."