Reviews: "The Change Up" and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

Oscar Predictions on NBC's Today in LA

When I called James Franco and Anne Hathaway "The White Knuckle Express," I had no idea how right I'd be. What you don't see on-camera is the email I got from Ted Chen moments after the Oscar broadcast began titled: "You were right."

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Hollywood Bites Reviews: "127 Hours"

"127 Hours" starts like a freight train, a really fun, brakeless freight train, rolling downhill at top speed. Kinetic and pulsating, in typical Danny Boyle fashion it careens around corners, playing snap-the-whip with the audience as you race to keep up with the frenetic pace the Oscar-winning director of "Slumdog Millionaire" sets from the onslaught.

James Franco, tan, handsome, a vibrant livewire, charges off into the wilderness, his internal soundtrack vibrating the walls of the theater. The music, just a touch too loud, plays as if you stole someone's iPod and are running away from the scene of the crime, the last song they were listening to still blasting. In front of you, the Utah landscape, all red rocks and blue sky, stretches as far as the eye can see as Franco romps over and through canyons, in a rugged Cirque du Soleil performance.

Then, suddenly, he's scrambling, falling and—boom—trapped, a boulder pinning his arm to the side of the canyon. The music stops, replaced by silence and labored breathing, and the title card appears: "127 Hours."

In that moment, panic sets in, both for the viewer and the character Franco is embodying, as you realize you're trapped here, in the story, in this canyon. And that, my friends, is damn fine filmmaking!

Walking into "127 Hours," there are certain things most audiences already know. The film tells the story of Aron Ralston, a mountaineer who became famous in 2003 when he amputated his own right forearm after it got trapped by boulder during a climb in Utah, an ordeal he chronicled in his riveting 2004 memoir, "Between a Rock and a Hard Place."

With the ending a foregone conclusion, a narrative that amounts to a one-man show and your lead immobilized for ninety percent of the movie, how do you create a compelling piece of cinema?

Welcome to the genius of Danny Boyle.

Every frame of "127 Hours" is riveting thanks to Boyle's unparalleled storytelling abilities and Franco's Oscar worthy master class of a performance that ricochets from emotional peak to valley in a hairbreadth.

Equal measures heartbreaking and exhilarating, we can't think of another film we've seen that elicited such an auditory response from an audience outside of the occasional cheap thrills of a horror flick meant to make you jump. The simplest moments, like a sliver or sunshine or a dropped object, earn gasps and whimpers from viewers, while the film's climatic scene, one meant with cries and shouts, is viscerally tangible.

When the movie was announced back in January, we wrote, "If anyone can make a solitary man trapped in a canyon compelling, it's Danny Boyle." Boyle calls the film, "an action movie with a guy who can't move." We call it a serious Oscar contender.

written for NBC's Popcorn Biz


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Stuck with some time to kill? Try these amazing slow roasted tomatoes. The flavor of the tomato, especially in summer, becomes hyper-intensified but also surprisingly sweet. Try them over crusty bread with a little butter or soft cheese, or pureed into an incredible rainy day soup

Slow Roasted Tomatoes
12-15 ripe tomatoes, halved (a mix of in-season heirloom tomatoes is best in summer, in winter, try to find Odorikos)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Herbes de Provence
salt and pepper to taste
6 cloves garlic, smashed

Preheat oven to 200F.

Lightly oil a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

In a bowl, toss tomato halves with second tablespoon of oil, Herbes, salt, pepper and garlic.

Place halves, cut-side down, in a single layer on baking sheet. Tuck garlic in between tomatoes.

Season again with salt.

Slow roast 10 - 12 hours, checking every few hours to make sure they aren’t charring.

Tomatoes will keep refrigerated for up to one week.

Hollywood Bites Reviews: Eat Pray Love

If you're a dude or one of the many readers who found Elizabeth Gilbert to be a whiny, self-indulgent yuppie, the film adaptation of "Eat Pray Love" could probably be re-titled "Sit Bored Leave."

But if you're part of the millions of fans who fell in love with one of Oprah's favorite thiiiiings, Gilbert's uber bestselling memoir of the journey she took after her marriage fell apart, then this film is as highly anticipated as a new "Twilight" flick is for a 15-year-old who shops at Hot Topic.

Starring Julia Roberts and directed by "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy, the story moves from Italy (Eat) to an ashram in India (Pray) to a village in Bali (Love), all the while featuring halo-lighting and soft focus on Julia, who has never looked more ravishing. Purists will be pleased to see that Murphy sticks pretty faithfully to the road map of the book, but that becomes both a help and a hindrance.

Gilbert's inner monologue, which, of course, drives the narrative of her book, often becomes either expository voiceover or lingering shots of Roberts gazing beatifically into a sunset here, neither of which are very engaging. The few times Murphy veers off-course, striking out into new territory, the film hits upon some of its best moments, such as when Elizabeth confronts and makes peace with the guilt she feels about divorcing her husband (Billy Crudup in a small but well delivered role) on a rooftop in India. Thankfully, one of the book's most beloved characters, Richard from Texas, not only remains intact but is brilliantly rendered by Richard Jenkins in a scene-stealing performance.

While it can be difficult to sympathize with a woman spending a year frolicking across the globe, having liaisons with Billy Crudup, James Franco (as her post divorce rebound fling) and Javier Bardem (the man who inspires the Love portion of the story), you'll nonetheless walk out craving pizza, passion and plane travel.

Though not necessarily a second helping of the film itself.