JOAQUIN PHOENIX RETIRES

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.

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."

Loved the guy in both Gladiator and Signs and it's too bad we won't get to see more of an actor whom I felt was just coming into his own with his best work still ahead of him.

I must say that I'm extremely shocked by this news. It's a bold and brave decision especially in Hollywood, but Our Movie Date wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.

RECOMMENDED READING:
Joaquin Phoenix Shocks With Retirement Announcement

OMD HAS A NEW HOME!

So, what do you think of our new home, our new digs? Pretty snazzy, eh? Actually, I don't think Wifey has even seen the new site yet or even knows about it so consider yourself among the first!

What do you think? What do you like about it? What do you dislike about it? Any suggestions? Personally, I liked this template the best out of all the ones I recently stumbled upon because it just seems to fit what we're all about quite nicely.

Contrary to popular belief, OMD has a special place in my heart since it was a little over a year ago that it launched and since it was also my first foray into the wonderful world of blogging.

I'll admit that I haven't been as committed to running this site effectively as I have towards my business website and the two others. Even so, I'm hoping that this new look will serve as a "new beginning" of sorts. Watch for new reviews to be posted very soon.

Pat Boone Sounds Off On Oscars

We have a few movie reviews lined up that should be posted over the weekend.

Until then, enjoy this sobering piece from legendary singer/actor Pat Boone on this year's crop of Oscar contenders.

What's that? You forgot the Academy Awards were on this weekend? Maybe you knew that and just didn't care. I mean, after all, Hollywood is worried that viewership will be way down this year to historic lows.

Hollywood and Hockey

Contrary to popular belief, OMD is not a one-trick pony that is simply just all about the Film Review and Critical Analysis.

Au contraire mon ami! That's French-Canadian in case you're wondering (this is a hockey post, get it?)

We here at OMD like to report on just about anything and everything we find interesting online that has to do with movies.

So, without further adieu (French-Canadian again) we give you this entertaining commentary from Barry Melrose Rocks on "The Best Hockey Scenes in Non-Hockey Movies."

For further reading, you might also want to check out this list of "The Top 5 Hockey Movies of All-Time" as submitted by Fan Boom.

Sci-Fly Superfly

Entertainment Weekly decided they had nothing better to do then to put out their list of the "Sci-Fi's Top 25 Movies and TV of the Past 25 Years."

At first, I was a little skeptical because these types of lists tend to be boring, lazy and put together with very little thought and/or energy.

In other words, kinda like this blog!

I was a little shocked that EW decided to select and rank the best Sci-Fi Movie and/or TV moments from the past 25 years - - period - - instead of selecting one from each of the last 25 years. Even so, they made up for it by including a "Pop Culture Legacy" and the "Best Bit" feature for each selection.

Here's a quick rundown of their selections (how they ranked them is enclosed in parantheses)...

V: The Miniseries (#25)
Galaxy Guest (#24)
Doctor Who (#23)
Quantum Leap (#22)
Futurama (#21)
Star Wars: Clone Wars (#20)
Starship Troopers (#19)
Heroes (#18)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (#17)
Total Recall (#16)
Firefly/Serenity (#15)
Children of Men (#14)
The Terminator/Terminator 2 (#13)
Back to the Future (#12)
Lost (#11)
The Thing (#10)
Aliens (#9)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (#8)
E.T. (#7)
Brazil (#6)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (#5)
The X-Files (#4)
Blade Runner (#3)
Battlestar Galactica (#2)
The Matrix (#1)

While I agree with most of their selections (despite the fact that they left quite a few BIG ONES off their list), I have to say that I'm a little surprised that The Matrix was selected as EW's top choice for best Sci-Fi Movie/TV Show in the last 25 years.

Groundbreaking special effects? No doubt (those slow-motion bullet scenes are amazing!), but the thematic elements and social questions raised by this trilogy was hardly anything new.

My vote would've been for a film like Gattaca (with Minority Report a close second), which SHOCKINGLY was left off of this list despite its relevance to many social and scientific issues we're facing today. Plus, the special effects could hold their own too.

Check it out and decide for yourself.

Hubby

Happy New Year!

I almost forgot to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. " Ben Franklin

Our Movie Date Will Rule In 2009

Almost everyone in the United States watches TV. However, many people don't know about the impending TV blackout.


In a throwback to the Y2K transition, a number of Web sites are running countdown clocks that, presently, read "426 days, 8 hours, 39 minutes, 31 seconds." That is the time remaining until Feb. 17, 2009, the deadline set by Congress when all US broadcasters must cease analog broadcasting and switch to all-digital signals.

As this date approaches, interested parties are ratcheting up the debate over a number of important questions, including:

How prepared are the government and the broadcast industry for the changeover?
How aware is the public of the transition?
Who is most likely to be affected by the change?
What technical issues need to be resolved before the transition happens?

You can read more about this issue at eMarketer.

Personally, I think the most important question is what Movie Blog will capture the attention of the American Public because, let's face it, when the TV screens go dark in 2009 the only choice we'll have to be entertained by the boob tube is to pop in a DVD and watch movies. Forget about video games, the Wii and XBOX 360!

Bad for Television, but GREAT for sites like Our Movie Date!

Hopefully, OMD can keep this in mind from this point moving forward so we can post regularly and build a steady following leading up to this fateful year.

Who knows, in another year DVD's may become obsolete and everyone will be participating in Virtual Reality ala the Star Trek Holodeck.

Until then, we encourage you to visit this site often and tell your family and friends about us.

If, by some chance, Television and Movies go the way of the dinosaur we might just have to start a new blog - - one about books perhaps!

Could you imagine the length of time between posts on that site? CRIPES! Let's hope it doesn't come to that any time soon.

Who Knew?

Who knew that a Disney cartoon from 1942 could strike fear and horror into the hearts of men and women everywhere?

Thanks to TIME for releasing this list of their Top 25 Horror Movies yesterday.

One entry they included on this list clearly illustrates the absurdity that can some times override our better judgment.

Surprisingly, they listed Bambi (1942) as one of the “Top 25 Horror Movies of All Time” because the film has a “primal shock that still haunts oldsters who saw it 40, 50, 65 years ago.”

Seriously? Seriously.

That’s interesting because I’ve never heard about anyone walking into a Blockbuster Video store on Halloween night looking for Bambi.

'Mo Money, No 'Mo Problems

This is way off topic, but we just had to share because it's truly an amazing blessing and hopefully an inspiring story for others in a similar position.

At the start of the year, our goal was to eliminate as much debt as possible. We're the first to admit that for a long time - - too long - - we were VERY irresponsible with our money and the resources that the good Lord gave us. In fact, our money seemed to tell us what to do instead of the other way around.

Realistically, we knew that we couldn't eliminate all of our debt in just 1 year so we decided that if we could at least eliminate the credit card debt (spread out across 3 different credit cards!) we'd consider it a HUGE success and a good start.

I'm extremely happy to report that in just 8 months (4 months ahead of schedule!) we paid off a total of $28, 923.69!!! It was probably closing to $30K, but I couldn't find our Transaction Register for the first month after we began all this.

It definitely wasn't easy, but it was definitely worth the sacrifice. Wifey and I created a strict monthly budget, tithed weekly, fought every now and then (like I said, it wasn't easy!) and often didn't have a single dollar in our wallets to spend during the last 8 months after weekly/monthly bills were paid.

While much of the credit (no pun intended!) goes to national financial guru Dave Ramsey and his MyTotalMoneyMakeover program/advice ALL OF THE CREDIT GOES TO GOD for answering our prayers in a way we never could've imagined.

Don't be a slave to your money any longer. Enjoy the freedom of paying for things with cash instead of credit. It is possible to live debt free regardless of what this world tells you. We're living proof as we continue on a path towards financial freedom!