45 Flicks to Watch

Premiere has a list of the 45 most anticipated movies of 2010. Click over for their full list.

Zach's top pick - Iron Man 2.

Lilia's top pick - The Beaver.

How'd It Get Burned? - Feb. 23, 2010

Perez Hilton has a gem of a quote from Nicolas Cage about his fiscal woes: “The first thing you think is, ‘This can’t be true. I want to crawl up and hide at the end of the world.' I have a new manager now, so I’m halfway there, and I will pay off all those debts, to the last cent. I have a responsibility for my sons and my wife. I have to get back on my feet.”

And just in case you were in denial, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is actually happening. There's a trailer and a full cast list over at IMDb.

Tops at the Box Office - Feb. 19, 2010

1. Shutter Island (first weekend)
2. Valentine's Day
3. Avatar
4. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
5. The Wolfman
6. Dear John
7. Tooth Fairy
8. Crazy Heart
9. From Paris with Love
10. Edge of Darkness
    

Weekend Watch - Feb. 26, 2010 (and beyond!)

Zombies, cops, and a Spring Break Preview in this extended Weekend Watch.

The Crazies - Zombies infect a small town.

Cop Out - Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as the most ridiculous cops ever.

Spring Break Watch:
Alice in Wonderland - Need we say anything about this one? Definitely a BEST BET.

Brooklyn's Finest - More police.

Green Zone - It's basically Bourne Identity in Iraq.

Remember Me - Claire from LOST and the vampire from "Twilight" in a romance about living life to the fullest.

She's Out of My League - Dorky guy woos drop-dead gorgeous girl.

Our Family Wedding - Minorities marry, family bonds.

Oscar Watch - Tomatoes Weigh In

2008’s Best Picture – Slumdog Millionaire (93% - #32)

2009 Best Picture Nominees:

Up (98% - #4 - The characterizations are fairly coarse cartoons, in contrast to the emotionally rich cartoons that have become Pixar's hallmark. They're more schematic than organic, and that applies to the plotting as well, Joe Morgenstern of WSJ)

Hurt Locker (97% - #7- It’s only a movie about men at work in war. Yet it seems like a definitive war movie, Jonathan Kiefer of Sacramento News & Review)

An Education (95% - #18 - You may think you know where the film is going, but its ecstasy and heartbreak will stick with you afterward. It's one of the year's best, Christy Lemire of AP)

Precious (91% - #45 - There is a thin line between compassion and voyeurism; soul-searing drama and overwrought melodrama; opera and Oprah. This film tramples all over it, Christopher Tookey of Daily Mail (UK))

District 9 (90% - #51 - You don’t feel bamboozled, fooled, or patronized by District 9, as you did by most of the summer blockbusters. You feel winded, shaken, and shamed, Anthony Lane of New Yorker)

Up in the Air (90% - #52 - There's nothing too profound here, and yet it works well as a smart, light cosmopolitan comedy: it's a snack, rather than a meal, but expertly made, Peter Bradshaw of Guardian [UK])

Inglourious Basterds (89% - #59 - Quentin Tarantino seems to be hanging on to a lost world of moviemaking. He may be nuts. But he's a nut who cares, Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com)

A Serious Man (87% - #72 - it feels nasty and pointlessly vindictive. There's a hole in the middle of this movie, where a modicum of empathy and humanity ought to be, Tookey strikes again)

Avatar (82% - didn’t rank - Alternates between a slurry of Franz Marc expressionism and the most elaborate Thundercats episode ever made, Fernando F. Croce of CinePassion)

Blind Side (69% - didn’t rank - The so-called "feel-good" film functioning as a well-timed balm for the conflicted soul of white America, Kimberley Gaddette of Indie Movies Online)

How'd It Get Burned? - Feb. 15, 2010

The bad news train pulls back into the Nic Cage station this week.

Empire announces (as is everyone else) that "Season of the Witch" is getting yanked from theaters five weeks before its advertised drop date. No word yet on when (or if) the flick's getting a new date, so audiences will have to wait and see if Nic lives up to the film's catchphrase - "CUT OFF THE HEAD!"

Hooray! Ugo tells us that "Drive Angry," one of many vigilante movies Nic has in the works, is going to be in 3D! Watch out, "Avatar"...

And "Kick-Ass" star Chloe Moretz has the most anti-climactic story over at MTV's Splash Page. It must be read to be believed.

Weekend Watch - Feb. 19, 2010

The box office gets spooky this week... oooh...

Shutter Island - Martin Scorsese's new spookfest pens up with Leonardo DiCaprio as a federal marshal investigating a missing prisoner at an island asylum run by super-shady Ben Kingsley. Boys who love Scorsese and girls who love Leo are both sure to win.

The Ghost Writer - Roman Polanski's new flick uncovers secrets about a politician employing a ghostwriter in this contribution to Polanski's legal fees.

Tops at the Box Office - Feb. 12, 2010

1. Valentine's Day (first weekend)
   
2. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thieves (first weekend)
3. The Wolfman (first weekend)
4. Avatar
5. Dear John
6. Tooth Fairy
7. From Paris with Love
8. Edge of Darkness
9. Crazy Heart
10. When in Rome
    

How'd It Get Burned? - Feb. 9, 2010

Hey, folks - Zach here. Nic Cage is still in hiding (call us, Nic, seriously), so this week we're taking time out to have Lilia star in her very own fabulous Nic Cage adventure! (And so can you, at Cracked.com)

Coming soon to a movie theater near you: "The Fuzzy Zoologist Kisses."

You are "Pro McTagonist," Lilia, and you're a good guy. Unfortunately, something's wrong with the bees, and you're the only one who can get to the bottom of things. No one believes you, and you're covered in bees! Luckily, due to your unique access to a motorcycle, you're able to save the day in a bear suit. Also, for the whole adventure, your hair is atrocious.

I don't know about you, but I've preordered my tickets.

Weekend Watch - Feb. 12, 2010

It's the third round in the "Boys vs. Girls" slugfest - who's going to win this week?

The Wolfman - Boys watch monsters tear people apart.

Valentine's Day - Girls watch people fall in love.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - Does anyone know what this movie is? Apparently Lilia does, so she says it'll be cute.

Tops at the Box Office - Feb. 5, 2010

The nightmare is over! Shirtless crying people defeat blue people!

1. Dear John (first weekend)
2. Avatar
3. From Paris with Love (first weekend)
   
4. Edge of Darkness
5. Tooth Fairy
6. When in Rome
7. The Book of Eli
8. Crazy Heart (first weekend in real release)
   
9. Legion
10. Sherlock Holmes
    

Zach's Heroes Watch - "Brave New World"

Previously on Heroes: Peter and Sylar have a bonding moment, Hiro’s in love with time-lost Charlie, and Noah’s troubled past catches up to him when he gets buried alive with Claire as Samuel takes his show on the road to New York.

Things look grim for Claire and Noah, buried alive about fifty feet down; even Lauren can’t figure out where they’ve scampered off to. Noah deduces that Samuel wants Claire to watch her daddy die, but Claire’s not willing to give up on Noah just yet. Noah asks Claire’s forgiveness, but Claire says he fixed her identity crisis. But when it looks like he’s dead, Claire starts digging frantically, and Aquagirl Tracy shows up to blast them out. Wonderfully and in true “no one ever dies on this show” fashion, the plan works.

Matt raids his fridge but finds himself face to face to face to face with Multiple Man, playing the mind game card by giving Multiple Man confidence issues and trying to push thoughts. Just as Multiple Man’s ready to knife Matt, all the multiples disappear because Sylar’s ready to be super again. After treading down the same “Sylar’s evil” argument, Peter reads Multiple Man’s mind and figures out Samuel’s plan, but Matt keeps pushing thoughts into Sylar’s head until Sylar proves that he’s reformed. Matt decides to trust them, but he has a plan for Multiple Man.

Meanwhile, Hiro’s all better, but he’s ready to go into battle once more – I love how enamored he is with a combat-ridden destiny. Surprise – he gets a message from Charlie. Major suck – Charlie’s sixty-five years older (convenient). Her memory is still pitch-perfect, but she doesn’t really blame Hiro for what happened to her; after all, Hiro’s got a plan to make things right. Charlie’s not too enthusiastic about Hiro’s plan, mostly because she’s got grandchildren. Destiny – I mean, Noah – calls, and Hiro starts a new journey.

Samuel promises he’s going to “change everything” by coming out as “king of the hill.” Edgar and Doyle like this idea, and so does everyone else; heck, who doesn’t love a good field trip to New York? (Nobody asks how this carnival just landed in the middle of New York? I can’t believe Samuel applied for a permit.) His master plan has Emma bringing people to the carnival with her music, but he just sort of shrugs off the whole killing people thing and calls in Creepy Puppet Man Doyle to force her to play. And play she does, until her fingers are completely shredded.

Noah, Claire, Peter, and Sylar all converge on the carnival. Sylar volunteers to save Emma, but Peter has apprehensions; Noah gets kidnapped by Edgar, and Doyle puts the kibosh on Sylar’s big plan. Claire spills the beans on Samuel’s big plan, but none of the transvestite carnies believe her, and Edgar reveals that he’s working from the inside to bring down Samuel. Emma uses her cello blasting powers to knock Doyle down, and Sylar flabbergasts Doyle by “coming out” as a hero.

Samuel’s big confrontation scene shows up when Multiple Man reveals that Samuel had him kill Lydia; this pushes the carnival over the edge, and the supers all bolt from Samuel’s tent. Infuriated, Samuel takes it out on the crowd and starts to tear the carnival apart, but Peter soars in and tackles Samuel. Samuel brings up Nathan, suggesting that both of them were brought down by older brothers, but Peter’s not buying it. Hiro arrives and – supercharged by Ando – teleports all the heroes out of the carnival, and Samuel’s powers crap out. Volume Five concludes, but it looks like the show is coming back with Volume Six – “Brave New World” – in which Sylar goes good and the whole carnival fiasco gets swept under the rug until Claire goes public with the whole “ability” thing.

Verdict? For better or for worse, this season’s over, and I think the show turned around after a dull stint in the middle there. This season might be better than a lot of previous seasons, but it definitely lost some steam in the middle. Fortunately, the finale brought it back around to being exciting. I’ll be interested to see what direction the show takes next, and I’m at least optimistic about the idea of a new season. And can I just say – perfect casting for Old Charlie!

Mysteries of LOST - Jughead (Top Pop Stop Series Finale)

With LOST premiering tonight, it's the series finale of "Mysteries of LOST" here at The Top Pop Stop... we've never had to kill off a segment before. *sniff sniff*

Previously on LOST: After some survivors were stranded in 1977, Daniel calculated that they could reset time by detonating the Jughead bomb at the Swan site, releasing the electromagnetism that would later cause Oceanic 815 to crash. Juliet detonated the bomb, but what happens next remains to be seen.

One of these things is not like the other: Jack, Kate, Miles, Sun. Lilia guessed correctly - Sun, who's in 2007. That brings her to 3-0.

Well, cat's kind of out of the bag. The first four minutes, officially released by ABC, reveal that Oceanic 815 NEVER CRASHED in the new timeline. So, there's that.

We did some dramatic re-interpretations of key LOST scenes - Locke explaining backgammon and Mouse Trap - and decided these are metaphors for the games beign played out between Jacob and his Nemesis.

Lilia wants to see Claire tonight, while Zach's dying to see Jacob's Nemesis/UnLocke revealed as the smoke monster (which Lilia thinks won't happen until episode 4).

Oscar Watch!!!

With Oscar nominations announced today, The Top Pop Stop is here to help you decide who to root for (note: this is not betting/gambling advice, but if you win, give us a cut).

Best Picture:

• Avatar
• The Blind Side
• District 9
• An Education
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
• A Serious Man
• Up
• Up in the Air

As much as we don't want "Avatar" to win (we're a little nervous it will), Lilia's pulling for "The Hurt Locker," while Zach's rooting for "Inglourious Basterds." Neither of us, though, will be upset if "Up" wins.

Best Actor

• Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart
• George Clooney for Up in the Air
• Colin Firth for A Single Man
• Morgan Freeman for Invictus
• Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker

Lilia likes George Clooney, while Zach's pulling for Morgan Freeman while acknowledging that Jeff Bridges has been cleaning up all over town.

Best Actress

• Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side
• Helen Mirren for The Last Station
• Carey Mulligan for An Education
• Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
• Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia

Lilia wants Sandra Bullock to take home a trophy, but she likes Meryl Streep too; Zach agrees wholeheartedly.

Best Supporting Actor

• Matt Damon for Invictus
• Woody Harrelson for The Messenger
• Christopher Plummer for The Last Station
• Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones
• Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds

Christoph Waltz for the win. Will villains threepeat in the Supporting Actor category this year?

Best Supporting Actress

• Penélope Cruz for Nine
• Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air
• Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart
• Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air
• Mo'Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Zach & Lilia are seeing a future where Mo'Nique wins, but Lilia likes Maggie Gyllenhaal while Zach is sweet for fellow redhead Anna Kendrick.

Best Director

• Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
• James Cameron for Avatar
• Lee Daniels for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
• Jason Reitman for Up in the Air
• Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds

James Cameron will probably win this one for sheer teamwork, but Lilia's pulling for girl power with Kathryn Bigelow, while Zach thinks QT is 18 years overdue for a Lifetime Oscar.

Weekend Watch - Feb. 5, 2010

Love and death rematch this weekend!

Dear John - Channing Tatum is a soldier who goes to war; Amanda Seyfried misses him. Nicolas Sparks, muscles, and tears - chick flick much? Lilia's guaranteeing you'll cry at least seven times or no money back.

From Paris with Love - John Travolta shoots things in a movie directed by the guy who brought you "Taken." Don't be fooled into thinking this is a romantic movie; boys only.

Tops at the Box Office - Jan. 29, 2010

1. Avatar
2. Edge of Darkness (first weekend)
3. When in Rome (first weekend)
4. Tooth Fairy
5. The Book of Eli
6. Legion
7. The Lovely Bones
8. Sherlock Holmes
9. Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
10. It's Complicated
    

Zach's Heroes Watch - "The Wall"

Previously on Heroes: Samuel surrendered but schemed his way out of it, Noah’s a captive, and Peter’s going into Sylar’s noggin to fix Matt’s dastardly deeds.

Sylar’s cranium has space to rent, so Peter goes in looking for him. Sylar’s as time-displaced as a Lostie, but he doesn’t want Peter to come in and fix him. Peter insists that Sylar has to save Emma, but he’s uncomfortable with being a savior and even more unhappy that he’s stuck forever. Sylar gets snarky, Peter gets punchy, and Emma’s probably a goner.

Peter and Sylar walk around The Matrix and can’t figure out how it works, but Peter pieces it together that Sylar unconsciously wants to be here because he earned it. But they find “the wall” – the one Sylar’s buried behind. The old sledgehammer trick doesn’t work on the wall, but Sylar starts feeling guilty about killing Nathan and gets pissy about being stuck behind the wall. Sylar brandishes a sledgehammer menacingly, but he’s only going to help. Good for him!

Armsling Samuel has Claire in captivity, and he’s trying to convince Claire that Noah’s a bad dude. They meet up with Damian, and Samuel finally explains that Damian can reveal people’s memories – they turn him loose on Noah. Turns out Noah used to be a car salesman married to Not-Sandra, who was pregnant; attacked by a superpowered delivery man, Noah watched Not-Sandra die. Claire seems really uncomfortable with all of this.

Claire deduces that Noah’s run-in with Mr. Ability made him want to start bagging and tagging; it also led to a curious geography fetish and superstalking, trying to find Not-Sandra’s killer. Claire’s still uncomfortable. As car salesman, Noah was hired by Eric Roberts (Thompson) to work with Primatech – The Company. Two years later, Eric Roberts has Noah start up a family, suggesting sandwich waitress Sandra (perfect). Things get really awkward when Claire learns that Noah visited Gretchen, trying to find his daughter after she scampered off to the carnival and threatening to use the Haitian (good to see he’s okay after the earthquake).

At the carnival, Lauren meets Emma and tries to explain what Samuel’s master plan is. But when Samuel comes to her tent, Lauren hides, and Emma spills the beans; Samuel just wants to talk, but he’s in creeper mode. He’s not up for negotiations, and he blames the world for his badness. He promises Multiple Man that they’re going to “put on the best show” they can and goes to gather the family, leaving Multiple Man with Lauren.

Claire tells Samuel she’s not falling for her tricks, because she knows he didn’t kill Lydia. Samuel says it’s about trust, but Claire loves her daddy too much. Samuel reveals he wants to take his show to Central Park and that he wants Claire to be his legacy – she refuses, but Samuel says he isn’t counting her out yet. Multiple Man covers up sloppy writing by revealing that Lauren escaped, but Samuel’s not fazed because he’s going to bury the souvenir trailer – with Claire and Noah in it.

Peter buys Sylar a book, and they have a heart-to-heart about whether or not Sylar deserves to be forgiven. Just when Peter thinks Sylar has changed, the wall starts crumbling – with a white flash and a close-up of an eye (jeez, steal from LOST some more), they’re out, and Sylar joins the A-Team… except Multiple Man is going to stop them. And Noah & Claire are still buried alive. Suck.

Verdict? Leave the flashbacks to LOST, Heroes. I can’t say I was very interested in this episode, and the only thing that really keeps me watching (aside from a sense of obligation to you, the reader) is Robert Knepper, who’s back in evil-mode as Samuel. Maybe I’m just in that mindset, but this episode really felt like it was stealing a lot of thunder from LOST – not a good thing. Is this season finale going to be a series finale? God, I hope so.