Filmnatic

Christmas day has come to be a movie day for some families. I know my aunt has made it part of her tradition. So I thought I would look up some trailers on movies that will be in theaters on Christmas. Here are some Christmas day flicks that I found interesting.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Well I’m on my iPhone blogging for the first time. From a gadget standpoint I love what this thing in my hand can do. I will be able to post more often now. My review of the iPhone is 3 thumbs up. I love it. Actually I can do 80% of my job from this thing. It’s great. The game changer is the apps you download and use. This open source of apps will change lifestyles accross the world, in my opinion. Anyway, happy blogging. Oh, and have a good turkey day!

I watched this trailer and just from that I can see that Foxx may be looking at another golden statue. Hell with all the love Downy JR has been getting he may be looking at one as well. Check out the trailer for “The Soloist.”

Thanks BBC

The clips featured US actor Chris Pine as the young Captain Kirk, Heroes star Zachary Quinto as Mr Spock and Simon Pegg as Enterprise engineer Scotty.

The audience also saw Leonard Nimoy reprise his role as the older Mr Spock in one of four excerpts from the film.

In his introduction, Abrams said he wanted the film, to be released in May 2009, to feel “legitimate and real”.

Speaking at London’s Vue West End cinema on Tuesday morning, the film-maker admitted he had “never really been a huge Star Trek fan”.

“It was always someone else’s show,” he continued, citing the original TV series’ limited resources and “cardboard planets”.

On reading the script, however, he said he would have been “jealous” had another director taken on the project.

He also praised the contribution of British actor Pegg, who said he was “pant-wettingly excited” to be in attendance.

“I’m a fully paid-up geek,” said the Shaun of the Dead star, who said he “couldn’t put into words” the thrill he felt appearing in scenes alongside the Spock character.

Warning: if you do not want to know more about the Star Trek film, stop reading now.

The preview began with a screening of the latest trailer, which showed scenes of Kirk and Spock as children and Eric Bana as Romulan villain Nero.

Abrams then introduced the first excerpt, in which “farm boy” Kirk gets into a bar brawl with four Starfleet officers.

Kirk is subsequently seen being smuggled on board the Starship Enterprise on its maiden voyage by doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy, played by Karl Urban.

A third scene introduced Pegg’s character Montgomery Scott, while a fourth revealed some effects-laden footage from the film’s finale.

Other familiar characters featured included communications officer Uhura, played by Zoe Saldana; Hikaru Sulu, played by John Cho; and Pavel Chekov, played by Anton Yelchin.

Bruce Greenwood plays Commander Christopher Pike, captain of the Enterprise, who is shown at one point exhorting Kirk to follow his father’s example and enlist in Starfleet.

In his scene, meanwhile, Nimoy’s Mr Spock is seen delivering the Star Trek legend: “Live long and prosper.”

Star Trek is released in the UK and US on 8 May 2009.

Joaquin Phoenix, who turned 34 years old just yesterday, stunned E! Online reporter Jason Kennedy with the announcement that he would be retiring from acting. The two-time Oscar nominee stated this on the red carpet at a Monday benefit for the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, a charity founded by Paul Newman.

Phoenix said that “Two Lovers,” his upcoming romantic drama with Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw, will be his final on-screen role.

“This will be my last performance as an actor. I’m not doing films anymore… I’ve been through that. I’ve done it… I’m dead serious.”

Phoenix is apparently giving up acting to pursue music, a passion of his since he learned to play guitar to play the role of Johnny Cash in 2005’s “Walk the Line.” According to Billboard, Phoenix is working on an album with Tim Burgess, frontman for the UK group The Charlatans. Burgess said, “Once he learnt guitar he found that he had quite a lot of demons inside himself that he wanted to expel through music.

Phoenix appeared at the charity event on Monday with his brother-in-law, Casey Affleck. Affleck is married to Phoenix’s younger sister, Summer. In explaining his retirement decision, Phoenix said, “It’s Casey’s time now.”

Affleck confirmed for E! Online that Phoenix is telling the truth when he says he’s leaving the acting profession, saying, “I guess he’s getting into music. He’s putting out an album.” But both Affleck and Phoenix hurried away from the cameras without elaborating.

“Two Lovers,” Phoenix’s final film, premiered earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival to mostly positive reviews. Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter writes, “Phoenix plays the romantic lead with great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character’s conflict utterly believable.” The picture is scheduled for release on February 13th, 2009. So far there is no word on when Phoenix’s first album will hit shelves.