Right Back Where I Started From

I'm on a roll. Three posts in two days. Craziness. I started blogging because of movies, so that's where I'll pick up.

As we enter awards season, the 2010 film landscape is in pretty good shape. We've had a handful of great films and we're only a few weeks into the fall. The Kids Are All Right and Inception are tied for my favorite film of the year and Toy Story 3 isn't too far behind. The Social Network, How to Train Your Dragon, and Shutter Island all are deserving of accolades as well. Though any novice Oscar watcher knows that the first 9 months of the year rarely matter. All the "quality" films come out post Labor Day. With that, here's a list of all the upcoming titles that I'm stoked to see.

October
Most looking forward to: Hereafter. Since Mystic River, I've only met one Clint Eastwood film I didn't like (Invictus). The concept here looks interesting and Matt Damon appears to turn in a great performance (hopefully one better than his Oscar-nominated turn in Invictus).



Others:
Conviction - A lot of people in Hollywood hate Hilary Swank for "undeservedly" winning two Oscars. However, Conviction looks to soften her hard girl persona. Plus I'm interested to see if the Academy will resist another Bening vs. Swank Best Actress Oscar race. Trailer here.
Paranormal Activity 2 - I really hope this isn't Blair Witch 2, but last year's surprise hit was so great I'm holding out hope that they avoid Blair's mistakes. Trailer here.
The Company Men - Last year was the "Year of Sandra Bullock." Depending on how The Company Men turns out, 2010 may be the "Year of Ben Affleck." It was well received at Sundance, so my hopes are high. Trailer here.
Waiting for Superman and The Pat Tillman Story - These two Sundance documentaries have been released in theaters already, but they don't reach Utah until later this month. They both look equally powerful. Superman trailer here. Tillman trailer here.

November
Most looking forward to: 127 Hours and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. I couldn't pick just one. Danny Boyle's follow-up to Slumdog Millionaire looks equally as exhilarating as the rags-to-riches drama. And how could anyone not be looking forward to the last installment of Harry Potter? The trailer teases the film as the best yet, and I couldn't be more thrilled that the film won't be in 3D.

127 Hours


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1


Due Date - Todd Phillips' followup to The Hangover. Hopefully it's just as funny. Trailer here.
Fair Game - I love a good spy story. And a spy story with Sean Penn and Naomi Watts? I'm there. Trailer here.
For Colored Girls - Normally a Tyler Perry film would never make a list like this. However, the cast is terrific, so I'm holding out hope that it's this year's Precious. Trailer here.
Unstoppable - Chris Pine, Denzel Washington, and lots of explosions. Enough said. Trailer here.
Morning Glory - this looks like it could be just as bad as Katherine Heigl flick. Or it could be one of the few romantic comedies that surprises with its heart and intelligence. Trailer here.
Skyline - I don't know anything about this other than what I've seen in the trailer, and it's pretty intriguing. Trailer here.
Tangled - Princess and the Frog was disappointing. Tangled looks like it might reverse Disney's recent bad luck with hand-drawn animation. The images do look beautiful. Trailer here.
Love and Other Drugs - This may be this year's Up in the Air except sexier and maybe a little bit cheekier. At least that's the best case scenario. Trailer here.
The King's Speech - few films are buzzier than this one. The critics are jumping over themselves. I just hope that Colin Firth is fantastic and can win the Oscar he most deserved for last year's A Single Man. Trailer here.

December
Most looking forward to: The Fighter. I can't stand boxing in real life, but the sport does make for great film. I love this cast (Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, and Amy Adams) and the trailer is promising.



Black Swan - I'm not sure what to make of the trailer, but I'm very, very intrigued. Trailer here.
The Tourist - When the two stars of your film are both recognizable by their first names (Angelina and Johnny) you know you have a hit on your hands. Trailer here.
How Do You Know - I've missed Reese Witherspoon. She hasn't been in a good film since 2005's Walk the Line. Hopefully this is her comeback. Trailer here.
True Grit - This might be just as good as No Country for Old Men. If it is, we're in for a treat. Trailer here.
Blue Valentine - The MPAA just slapped this with an NC-17 rating. It'll be interesting to see how the studio handles that. It's said to be a tough watch, but the buzz surrounding Gosling and Williams is significant. Trailer here.
The Debt - I know nothing about this one, but the trailer looks like a smart, gritty action film. Trailer here.

Release Date TBD: These have yet to get a tentative release date, but I figure they'll be players in the Oscar race.
Rabbit Hole - when Nicole Kidman is on her game there are few actresses better. This looks to bring her back to the days of The Others, Moulin Rouge, and The Hours. Clips here.
Made in Dagenham - Could be this year's The Full Monty - a witty about "British rebellion." Trailer here.

By my count, that's at least 26 movies I'll be seeing over the next three months. Wish me luck.

The Space Between

It didn't take long, but I figured out my problem. I think. The "in between." See the blog title. Pop Culture, Politics and Everything In Between. I've never wrote about the in between. Movie reviews, quotes and cryptic Kelly Clarkson posts. That's all that made up my blog for the last year or so. Maybe I was too focused. Maybe I wasn't. But that's what I'll spend the next little while figuring out - how to write about the in between.

I'm still not sure how to classify that though. I won't ever become a blogger who posts about every life trial and tribulation. I've done that before. I'd rather not do it again. It's not for lack of material. I've got a few "personal doozies" up my sleeve that I need to save for my best-selling memoir when I'm 50. Maybe "Jason" is what was missing before. That's what makes writing (and blogging) special - the writer. Unique perspectives and voices are what differentiate us, and this blog needs to find it's voice again (or maybe for the first time). I'm not writing for anyone other than myself and I'm desperate to find the passion for writing that I once had.

So here's to a new online blogging adventure. I hope I don't give up this time.

Superfreak. Superfreak. I'm Super Freaky.

I'm not sure why I miss blogging, but I do. Though if I return to the blogosphere, I want my blog to be different, but I'm not sure how. I love pop culture and politics, but things around here were getting a little bland. So if I come back things are gonna change. Maybe.

I just know that I miss writing. I went through all of my college papers at my mom's today. And at the risk of sounding arrogant, I was a really good writer. Some of my papers were fairly impressive. I'm not sure what has happened since then, but I don't think any of my posts have been nearly as witty or clever as anything I turned in as school work. That's kinda ironic, isn't it?

Oh well. Maybe I'll come back and actually write about something interesting some day, but for now, I'm just perplexed.

With that, I'll leave you with a "quote of the week." I'm probably one of the 10 people on the planet still in love with Grey's Anatomy, but even so, I'll leave you with a quote from the forever wise Meredith Grey.

"Nobody chooses to be a freak. Most people don't realize they're a freak until it's way to late to change it. No matter how much of a freak you end up being, chances are there's still someone out there for you... Because when it comes to love, even freaks can't wait forever."

Talkin' Politics

You wouldn't know it from all my posts, but I love politics, and I proudly call myself a Utah Democrat. Given my partisan affiliation, I thought it was about time I ventured into the political arena here again. Luckily, I recently wrote a letter to the editor that got published in three of Utah's four papers. This isn't a big deal, but excuse me while I congratulate myself. So just in case you missed it, which you probably did, my latest thoughts on Utah gubernatorial candidate Peter Corroon:

"It's no secret that our economy is struggling. Unemployment is at 7.2 percent and the state has lost 72,000 jobs over the past two years.

The job issue won't fix itself. Utah legislators have been ineffective in addressing the job and economic crisis. This past session they dodged the important issues by wasting time with "message bills" and other non-issues.

With a state budget shortfall projected around $100 million, many of our lawmakers have neglected to propose solutions that create jobs and increase revenue.

Gubernatorial candidate and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon presented his job plan for Utah ("Corroon wants tax break for companies," Tribune , June 10). His plan strengthens Utah's economy by supporting Utah's most important asset, its small businesses.

Utah has the highest number of small businesses per capita in the nation, and the current state government's strategy of attracting big business leaves bright-minded entrepreneurs and working families behind. Without raising taxes, Corroon's plan will invest in our future while putting Utahns back to work.

I am excited by Corroon's plan and look forward to hearing his other inventive solutions for Utah."

Published at the following links: here, here, and here.

"Empty Handed" & "After the Love"

I'm not sure how I missed this, but nearly ten months ago two unreleased Kelly Clarkson songs, "Empty Handed" and "After the Love," hit the web. I stumbled upon them this weekend, so if you too missed them, they're embedded below. "Empty Handed" is the better of the two, and while neither would be chart busters, they're singer-songwriter ditties that'll please any Clarkson fan.

"Empty Handed":



"After the Love":

Better Days

Following in the footsteps of American Idol alums Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta, Kelly Clarkson and Chris Daughtry took the stage this weekend and proved that American Idol has seen better days.



And Kris and Allison's killer pairing, just in case you missed it:

"This Could Break My Heart or Save Me"

I haven't written about Kelly Clarkson in 160 days. For me, that's probably 159 days too many. So here's a "just because" Kelly post.

Back in 2007, Ms. Clarkson's second single, "Sober," from her album My December tanked. It went nowhere on the radio and online sales were sparse. The song's poor performance effectively ended promotion for the album and it was labeled a failure. However, nearly three years later, "Sober" is still one of the best song's in Kelly's repertoire. If you haven't heard it, or if it's been a while, take a listen: