Red Carpet Premiere: "I Am Number FOUR"

I love L.A.

Have I told you that lately?

Oh... and I love Shanyn Day for tipping me off to a tweet she saw about tickets to the premiere of "I Am Number Four".  Thanks to her, Rich and I got tickets to see the red carpet premiere in Westwood.  I mean... if there was ever a movie for Rich and I to see at a premiere, its this one.  With my love of the number four, and Rich's love for sci-fi action movies it was a perfect match. 

Before I get to the actual movie, I will share two important lessons I learned Wednesday:

1.  Movie premiere tickets are not quite like TV taping tickets. Since moving to L.A. I've had the opportunity to go to several TV show tapings, and they always overbook them... so you need to show up hours in advance to ensure that you are going to get in.  When we got the tickets for this premiere and it had a lot of the same verbiage ("arrive early," "first come first serve," "purposely overbooked"... etc.) I thought we were going to have to show up several hours in advance of the 4:30 call time in order to get in.  Not true.  Rich and I arranged to leave work early and got there at 2pm to stand in line.  There as no need.  We could have shown up at 4:00pm or even probably 6:00pm and still gotten in.  The movie didn't start until 7:30, so we basically did a LOT of standing.  Which leads me to lesson number two:

2. Having a partner that you truly love is such a blessing.  With all the frustrations that could have possible turned into negativity in this situation, Rich and I stayed in good spirits and had a great time together.  There are so many other details I could go into regarding the odd way DreamWorks handled this premiere (example:  the first people in line who showed up earliest ended up with the worst seats in a completely separate theatre than the stars of the movie...).  But no matter what the frustration was, Rich and I took it with a "what happens, happens" attitude and took it for what it was worth.  After all, we are lucky enough to see a FREE, advance screening of a movie we were both excited about... and in the meantime we got to see some of the stars of the movie on the red carpet.  Pretty cool!  And... can I just say that if you have someone in your life that you can stand in line with for 5.5 hours and you are still smiling afterwards, you've got a pretty good thing going.  This experience solidified that for me.


OK... so enough lovey-dovey schmooshy stuff... lets get on to the movie:

If I had to wrap it up in a quick sentence or two, I would say this:  If you have any doubts or questions in the first half of the movie... just wait it out because the last 20-30 minutes are pretty awesome. 

More extensively, I'd say this:  This movie really has a little bit of everything.  It's got some love story... some action.... some sci-fi.... and honestly I jumped at this movie more than I jump at most horror/thriller films, so it even had that.  I think most people would watch the movie and walk away enjoying it.

Basically its about this teenage guy who is actually an alien.  He's from another planet, but when he was a kid he was sent to Earth with a "protector" along with eight other children who are believed to have special powers and will be able to come back to thier home planet and save it later on from mass destruction of these other aliens from an opposing planet (the Mogs).   Ok... ok.... so after that first long sentence, you are probably thinking "Matt Eickhoff actually watched this movie??!?".  Yes.  I did.  Sci-Fi usually isn't my thing, but the story is intriguing so I really liked it.  Long story short, the Mogs are attempting to kill each of the 9 kids before they grow old enough to mature thier powers and come back to thier home planet (Lorien) and defend it.  The catch is that the kids all have a symbol and an order to them... and they can only be killed in that order.  John, the main character, is number FOUR, and at the beginning of the movie, number three is killed.  So now he's next on the list.  The movie is basically his attempt to avoid being killed by the Mogs in hopes to stay alive and still defend Lorien.

BUT.... of course.... what would a movie be without a little love story to mess things up.  :-)  Sarah, played by Glee's Dianna Agron, plays this ex-popular girl who now is kinda the loner-artsy type.  John falls for Sarah and it makes things very complicated.  I was actually really excited to see Dianna in this movie because I really do love her on Glee.  She was OK in the movie... but I actually don't know if the casting was quite right for the character.  She's almost too pretty... and fits the popular girl role too well to be believed as the "now-loner" of the school.  But still, it was enjoyable to watch her on screen (and see her in real life as she walked down the red carpet).

So.... I do have to admit, the movie did have a tad bit of a Twilight-ish feel to it... simply in the way that there is a human girl who loves a non-human and the non-humans struggle to over choosing love or life.  The dialog is pretty simple, and the story is straightforward... also in the way Twilight is.  But!  There are two things that take this movie way beyond Twilight in my opinion:  First... the action.  Again, not much of an action movie kinda guy... but the way they pulled together the effects of the characters special powers, along with the battles with the Mogs, I actually thought the action and effects were quite well done and pretty believeable for an "alien-battle-on-Earth" scenario.  The second reason I think its better than Twilight is two words: Alex Pettyfer.  Whoo!  This guy is smokin'!  I mean... he's way better eye candy than Jacob and Edward combined!  That was enough to keep me awake through the whole thing (which of those of you who have seen movies with me, you know that is sometimes a struggle). 

To wrap up, I would say definitely go see I Am Number Four.  Is it going to win Oscars?  No.  But its a fun, action packed movie that is definitely worth the admission price. 


Here are some other pictures from the day:

Rich and I standing by the Red Carpet when we arrived in the afternoon

We got to see them literally "roll out the red carpet" :-)

This is what the red carpet looked like at night all lit up

We got to meet Max Adler who plays Karofsky on Glee!  YAY!

And we got to meet Ariel Winter, Alex on Modern Family! :-)

Unfortunately, this was the best picture I could get of Dianna Agron.  She practically ran past us!

And this was the closest we got to Alex Pettyfer... Still cool to see him live in person!

And finally.... this is Rich and I after the movie.  A girl at the concession stand gave us a free poster :-)

Inception... pretty much = badass.

Sorry its been a few days since an update.  I feel like I've got so much to say!  First, I'll start with a post about the movie "Inception".  Its a flick I've been waiting for a while to see.  The previews were done pretty well... and definitely sold me on going opening weekend. 

Let's break it down in parts:

Visually: The movie is beautiful.  From the costumes to the set design to the special effects.  A visually pleasing movie that I am certain will get at least a few technical nominations at the Oscars this year.  What you see in the preview?  Yeah... you get that and a whole lot more.

Sound:  You know how the previews give you this sense of urgency and suspense with that low-toned, almost vuvuzela sound?  Well, take that and add 100% more urgency and suspense.  The music and sound effects are done really well.  The soundtrack (and its use) is pretty fantastic.

Acting:  Of course we know Leo is a pro... and I wouldn't have expected any less from him.  But... can I just say that there were some other stellar performances in this movie?  First of all: Marion Cotillard.  Best Supporting Actress nomination if you ask me.  She wasn't in the movie much, but when she was, I was fixated on her.  Between her flawless classic beauty and her captivating performance, I was ready to hand her an award myself.  And can I just say that Joseph Gordon Levitt has come a LONG way since "Angels In The Outfield".  I thought he was awesome.  Those two were the standouts for me, but they were among a stellar cast.  Oh... and can I just add that I need to check out some more flicks with this Tom Hardy guy (plays Eames in the movie)???  Between his cute smile and accent I was smitten!  :-)

Plot:  I mean... what can you really say about the screenwriting and plot about this movie???  Sure it stars Leo and all... but really, the storyline is the star of the movie.  Some movies rest on big name actors... some rest on stunning visual effects... but with Inception, you could take that all away and you still have a complex and intriguing story. 

All in all... as I'm sure you've gathered... I reccommend seeing Inception if you haven't yet.  If you are one of those people that tends to rent movies... I would say this is one you definitely want to take the time and money to see in the actual theatre.

Go See: Despicable Me

So about a week ago I was given the opportunity to go to the world premiere of Despicable Me here in Los Angeles.  It was a movie that I have wanted to see for a while and was so happy to see an advanced screening. 

They've been promo'ing the crap out of this movie.  I can't even remember the first time I saw one of the little yellow minions on my TV to promote this movie... but it was a while ago.  I really just hope that all the early promotion hasn't worn off and that people still go see it.

So... from my perspective, definitely check it out.  If you've got kids, bring them.  If you don't have kids, find someone else's kids and bring them.  :-)  I think the lesson that kids can take from this movie is one that would stick with them for a while.

The movie is funny.  Steve Carell does an excellent job as main guy Gru.  He's got the voice down so much that you don't even know its Steve Carell.  Quite the opposite, Russell Brand as the voice of the old scientist guy makes me bust up laughing every time he's on the screen because you can totally tell that it is Russell Brand.  It's so funny.  Besides these characters, you will fall in love with the yellow minions and with the youngest of the three girls.  They take cuteness to the next level.

Here's a clip from Yahoo of one of my favorite moments.  It's not spoiling too much because most of you have probably already seen this in the trailers... but still, I wanted to get you pumped up to go see it.  And then come back and comment on my blog!  :-)