Oh So Geeky

It's hard to believe that 2014 is coming to an end and that this year did not afford a lot of viewings of new films. My watch count was an abysmal twenty-something. Of course with the Oscar season coming up there are some contenders that I've missed because they haven't been released yet, and maybe included in a separate list. The overall tally this year surprised me since I hit nearly all of the movies on my to-see list, and plenty just didn't leave a very lasting impression. I'm gonna ask for forgiveness about the layout of this post. Maybe it's end-of-the-year laziness but this post just would not come together. Feel free to ask in the comments why I chose what I chose. Regardless, I hope you enjoy my personal picks of best and worst of 2014! Favorite New Fandoms:   50 Shades of Grey /  The Fall Gracepoint / The Strain

Home is where you want to be during the holidays spending time with family and loved ones. For Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet), that's certainly not the case. Desiring to separate themselves from their previous, heartbreaking relationship, Amanda discovers Iris' home on an home exchange website. Temporarily switching residences for the holidays, Amanda settles down in Iris' cottage in London, and Iris jettisons to a Hollywood mansion. A California-girl to the inth degree, Amanda is a movie trailer editor who "chases" away her selfish boyfriend to cheat by her work ambitions and seemingly inability to cry. In her middle-of-nowhere cottage, attraction knocks in the middle of the night in the handsome, bookish form of Graham (Jude Law). Her manless vacation quickly turns into an exciting and emotional romp without all the drama she's used to in Hollywood. Hopeless romantic Iris takes advantage of her sweet Beverly Hills digs by befriending a leg...

From television shows like The Vampire Diaries to mega-blockbusters like Divergent and The Hunger Games , a collection of eccentric, beautiful, and talented leading ladies has been born out of Hollywood. While a lot of attention focuses on U.S. stars like Shailene Woodley, Nina Dobrev, Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence - and the list goes on, one of my favorite stars happens to be from across the pond: Jenna Coleman. Born Blackpool, London, Coleman participated in dance during her childhood. Eventually her love of performing transitioned into acting at a local school theater during her early teens. At only nineteen years old, she won her first major role for a British soap opera Emmerdale. During her three-hundred episode arc, she had planned to finish university but performing would lead her elsewhere. Her career may have just been starting out but already she was garnering awards for the heartfelt performance she was producing. Following some three hundred episodes later pl...

Last night was the final episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I really couldn't believe his announcement earlier this year to leave his late night talk show came so quickly. Luckily, thankfully, and surprisingly, it was not a departure that I thought I would struggle hard over - so far. Watching his interviews on YouTube all the time really helped - it sorta feels like he hasn't really left. Of all the late night talk show hosts, Ferguson is top of the shelf. For so long, he did his best hosting a show in the basement of CBS Studios. He didn't have a voice-over announcer, sidekick, or band. Even in his last days, he didn't have a real band or any of the fancy things other sketches or games that other hosts have the ability to implement. He did it all on his own: interviewing celebrities on the fly, without the weight of a publicists list of demands of questions to avoid or promote. His monologues were always cold opens. And, for the past six years, ...

Photo Credit: Magic in the Moonlight / Sony Pictures Classics Skeptic Englishman Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth) is the world's greatest illusionist, known for his transcendent work on stage as Chinese conjurer Wei Ling Soo. He knows all the tricks of this world and the next, which he is convinced doesn't exist.  An alluring American clairvoyant Sophie Baker (Emma Stone) and her mother charm their way into the heart of a rich matriarch wishing to make contact with her late husband. When a lifelong friend of Crawford offers an opportunity to debunk her talent, Crawford is eager to expose her as a fraud. At first glance, Magic in the Moonlight is so easy to fall in love with. Crawford's dalliance and stern refusal of optimism or any suspension of disbelief is palpable. He makes us convinced there is always a master pulling the puppet strings of life. Baker's charm and magnetism allow us and Crawford to fall head over heels for her powers while simultaneously guessin...

Photo Credit: Nightcrawler / Open Road Films Blood sells in the world of the evening news, and at the foothills of Los Angeles, the sharks come out at night. Known as stringers or nightcrawlers, are videogoers; men and women who chase tragedy and package their footage of roadside crashes and neighborhood crimes to television stations. One shark hungry for the entrepreneurial life is Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), a desperate but ambitious young man who finds his calling in the supply and demand of voyeurism and violence. From thief to cameraman, Bloom studiously climbs his way up the ladder of a local station selling footage he captures of car accidents and jackings and robberies. Eventually a triple-homicide is a make-or-break venture that threatens to his video gathering production out of the water. But Bloom isn't like other cutthroat videogoers converting tragedy into dollar-sign motivated adrenaline rushes. He's a shell of a person cashing in on bloodshed like...

Brittany at Rambling Film shared a great idea of Brilliant Acting Defined by One Look. Upon reading her awesome list, I was immediately excited to comb my favorite expressions that are unforgettable. Sometimes during award show season it's easy to get caught up in the loudest performances; comedic actors who prove they are capable of being dramatic, actors who physically transform to the point of being unrecognizable, and life-changing themes that strike everyone's heartstrings. The most natural and memorable moments on film sometimes occur the most strongly when looks speak louder than words. I'm sure there are plenty more choices I could've added but I left this list at a solid ten picks. I hope you enjoy (thank you Brittany)! Lucille Ball -  I Love Lucy Uh oh, Lucy is up to no good again. All Lucille Ball had to do was give a glimpse at her husband Ricky, or friends Ethel and Fred, for us to know she was up to something. This crazy redhead was able to distor...

photograph by Alexei Izmaylov Today is my birthday; I turned twenty-five. To be honest, my mind was entirely blank about how to commemorate the day on this blog. Celebrating my birthday isn't really my thing, but as a person who is always reflecting on something , it's a great opportunity to focus on how events, people, time, and especially movies, change perspectives or made me grow. In the birthday post  last year, my stroll down memory lane was about films thatshaped my movie-watching experiences so far.