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Crazy, Stupid, Love: Hilariously Entertaining! Terrific!

 

I have a habit of looking to see what movies will be coming out way before their release date and when I ran across this one, the previews had me counting down the days until the release.  I even went as far as putting this movie up on my Facebook page as the must-see movie of the summer.  Granted, I wasn't too excited about the sequels that were set to come out this summer (aside from The Hangover), as you can probably guess from my lack of summer movie posts.  I will say however, that I think the industry saved up most of its energy for August, and plans to end the summer with a bang! At least that is my feeling with this one,...this movie is a winner! 


Crazy, Stupid, Love is a film about Cal (Steve Carell), who while going through a divorce, after his wife cheats on him, reinvents himself with the help of a ladies man, Jacob (Ryan Gosling).  

First off, the movie is incredibly funny! Going into it, I had no idea just how funny the script was going to be.  I had a good idea that there would be some laughs with Emma Stone, who plays Hannah, and Steve Carell, because those two are funny as is, but Ryan Gosling...is where the true surprise lies.  This is Ryan Gosling's first comedy and he nails it!  He is smart and witty and delivers every line in short quick bursts with ease.  In short, he is amazing! He brings just as many laughs to the table as Steve Carell, a known funny guy.  He is great! 


The perfect cast was put in place for the film. Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei, and Kevin Bacon fit together like pieces of a puzzle, complementing each other so well. I must stop here to pin-point Steve Carell. His acting is superb!! He is multi-dimensional and phenomenal. He fuses together the depth that he brought to his character in Little Miss Sunshine with the comedic timing that he used to bring to every episode of The Office! Well done!



She rises to the occasion!
I was also interested to see how newcomer (you may know her from America's Next Top Model) Analeigh Tipton would do in her role as Jessica after reading this:

This movie is grab-your-side, laugh-out-loud, funny all the way through! It is a very fun time at the movies! The movie is just so genuine and good.  I waited and waited for this and I was not disappointed!

If you haven't seen the preview yet, see it here:

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Summer Is In Session: The Hangover Part II


The summer is finally here!! And we all know what that means...warm weather, barbecues, beautiful beaches, cool pools, and summer blockbusters!  The movie industry loves to put out some of the hit- makers that will earn big bucks during the summer months and one sure fire way to draw people into the theaters (besides the air-conditioning)...sequels.  There are a few movies that I have been looking forward to the summer bringing, and to kick things off I went to see The Hangover Part II.

I hadn't seen the first installment of The Hangover in theaters but watched it on DVD.  Having seen the first part, I was excited to see The Hangover Part II and see what the guys, Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis), and Doug (Justin Bartha) had gotten themselves into this time.  I found The Hangover to be incredibly entertaining but not quite as funny as most people thought the first part to be.  It did, however, make an impact on me for being so unpredictable and original.  If you know the story, then you know in the first part Doug is getting married on the day following his bachelor party (which most people do) however in this case the guys have a crazy and wild night in Vegas and wake up with the worst hangover in history.  When they wake up the next morning they can't remember a single thing from the night before and worst of all...the groom is missing.  So they spend the movie trying to piece together what happened which they hope leads them to finding Doug. 

The great thing about this movie is that as they learn what happened the night before, so does the audience.  The audience is brought along for the wild and crazy ride!

Part II has basically the same premise as the first one except this time Stu is getting married to Lauren (Jaime Chung) and the movie is set in Thailand.  This time the madness ensues in Bangkok when Phil, Stu, and Alan lose Lauren's brother, Teddy (Mason Lee) after a night that starts out calmly around a bonfire on the beach.  So again the guys try to retrace their steps and fill in the blanks to find Teddy before the wedding.  I thought the film was entertaining and full of laughs.  I personally felt I laughed more this time around but that this time the film seemed to fly by and was perhaps shorter.  A sequel often has a hard time living up to the success of the original but I think this one managed to come pretty close. 

A great way to start the summer! See it! Check out the trailer here:


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Jumping The Broom: A Mother's Day Treat



Finally back to the movies...Jumping The Broom.  Jumping The Broom is a film about the Watsons and the Taylors, two families from different worlds, that are forced to come together for the wedding of Sabrina Watson (Paula Patton) and Jason Taylor (Laz Alonso).  Because these two families do not meet until the weekend of the wedding, the drama that ensues is hilarious.  Although, it starts off a little slow, once all of the characters arrive at the beach house, everything starts to fall into place.  

Loretta Devine who plays Pam Taylor, and Angela Bassett who plays Claudine Watson, both great actresses in my book, do a fine job of portraying two strong, outspoken mothers with their childrens' best interest at heart.

There are plenty of laughs and feel-good moments thanks to both Mike Epps who plays Jason's uncle, Willie Earl, and DeRay Davis who plays Malcolm, Jason's cousin.
Tasha Smith, who is also one of my favorite actresses for always being so entertaining, did not let me down!  She plays Shonda, Pam's best friend, who has caught the eye of Sabrina's 20 year old cousin Sebastian, played by Romeo Miller, also known as Lil Romeo.

This is such a cute movie, I really enjoyed it!  It is a great introduction to summer and with the movie set at Martha's Vineyard, it'll make you feel like you are a guest at the wedding and that the summer is finally on its way!


As a side note having also seen Madea's Family Reunion, which I really didn't like, (so much so that I didn't have anything to say about it) I felt this was an overall better script and was much funnier. Tyler Perry's old jokes are just not funny anymore.  I think this film had a better take on the family dynamic and didn't force jokes down your throat as Perry did in his latest film. 

Check out the preview for Jumping The Broom below:

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The Stoning of Soraya M.


The Stoning of Soraya M. is an incredibly gripping film based on the true story of an Iranian woman falsely accused of adultery by her husband, where the punishment is death.  This is all so that her husband would be able to divorce her and marry a fourteen year old girl.  

This story is based off of the book The Stoning of Soraya M.,  written by a French-Iranian journalist, Freidoune Sahebjam.  When Freidoune's car breaks down in a small village in Iran he is approached by a woman named Zahra, Soraya's aunt, who tells him Soraya's story.  This book is actually banned in Iran today.  


Although, some of the scenes in this film are simply horrific, this movie is worth attempting to sit through because it is heart-wrenching, intense, important and meaningful.  To think that women are treated as less than nothing in Iran is simply unbelievable.  Soraya's own father shunned her and was the very one to throw the first stone.  Her own sons also took part in the stoning of their mother.  It was truly astonishing to see how cruel people can be to one another and how little regard some people have for the human race.  One person thinking that they are better than another is how the world ends up confused and in total disarray. 

I was blown away by the strength of Soraya's aunt, Zahra, who did not let fear cripple her and protected her niece as much as she could, speaking out against what she knew to be wrong, to the people who were in charge of this false accusation.  She is an incredible person to have told her story to Freidoune Sahebjam so that the world would know the truth and be able to see what happens to these women.

You may recognize Shohreh Aghdashloo, who plays Zahra, and Jim Caviezel who plays Sahebjam in the film.  They did a phenomenal job as well as Mozhan MarnĂ³ who plays Soraya.  To see this woman's story played out on onscreen...there simply are no words.  This film, in Farsi with English subtitles, really sheds a light on how the women are regarded as less than nothing and how stoning is still practiced around the world, which is truly sad to think.  

The Stoning of Soraya M. was recognized at the 2009 Critics Choice Awards, The Los Angeles Film Festival, and The Toronto Film Festival. 

Netflix this one and have your tissues ready.  Although it is upsetting, you will walk away with an appreciation for life and your country, while some things may not be perfect and we may not have everything, one thing we do have is freedom!  

Here are links to the movie and the book courtesy of Amazon.com:


Check out the trailer here:


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The Green Hornet...Hits & Misses


I saw The Green Hornet this past weekend in 3-D.  To get right to the point, I have to say, I think it was a bit mediocre.  There were aspects of the movie that I enjoyed but overall I think there were a few things that needed to be adjusted.  The movie is about a young guy named Britt Reid, played by Seth Rogen, who comes from a wealthy background being that his father is the head of the city's newspaper.  His father dies pretty early on in the film from a bee sting and Britt realizes that the city needs some cleaning up and therefore comprises the role of a superhero named The Green Hornet.   Britt fights crime with his father's assistant who becomes his sidekick, Kato, played by Jay Chou.  The catch is, the two not really knowing anything much about being superheroes, decide to pose as villains in order to throw off the bad guys.  They rely on Cameron Diaz's character, Lenore, who is Britt's secretary to unknowingly guide them along the way.

The fighting scenes were great! In the original series Kato, was played by Bruce Lee so one can expect the fighting scenes to live up to a certain standard that was set by the original series.  And Seth Rogen allowed for a few laughs in the film.  I will give the movie that.  

But what was most disappointing about the film was the villain, Chudnofsky, played by Christoph Waltz.  Action movies need a good villain who is bad enough to make the audience squirm in their seats.  Take The Dark Knight where Heath Ledger undeniably played a terrific villain as The Joker, or Gary Oldman who played Stansfield, a dirty cop, in The Professional--amazing!  The point is, an action film is only as good or as bad as its villain.  The strength of the villain measures the strength of the hero.  A good villain needs to be a little sinister, a little crazy, and a lot smart.  I think the movie would have done better had it stuck with James Franco as the villain, who made an appearance in one of the first few scenes.  His character seemed better suited for the role.  This really made the film more of a miss to me because I felt like Chudnofsky was not threatening enough.  If this were a reality, the police could have easily taken him down on their own, and if that's the case, who needs a superhero?



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The Fighter...Wins!


I am really excited about this film, as I was going to see it the last time that I was at the movies, but unfortunately chose to go with How Do You Know instead.  This time, I had actually set out to see Black Swan but it was sold out.  So it seems it was meant to be, The Fighter and I were meant to be united, and what a delightful film experience it was.  

First off, the acting here is really superb! The cast put on phenomenal performances!  The nominations are endless...the Golden Globes, the Critics' Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and I am sure the Oscars, are well deserved and I hope it picks up the win in each of the categories that it is listed under.  The Fighter has heart! It has depth! It has meaning!  

This movie is based on a true story about what happens when you let others get in the way of your success.  Micky, played by Mark Wahlberg, is a young fighter trying to make it in the ring but with his crack addicted brother, Dicky, played by Christian Bale, ultimately sabotaging his chances, he fails every time.   

             

Christian Bale! Christian Bale! I can't say enough about him!  He does an incredible job portraying a crack addict! He had the behavior and actions down to a science where you really felt for the way in which drugs can take over a person's life and kill a person's dreams, sometimes also killing the dreams of those around you.  Melissa Leo, who played Micky and Dicky's mother, Alice, also did a fantastic job representing  a mother who only saw her son and couldn't see the drug addiction. This led to her being unable to provide for Micky when he needed her most.  The warped mentality of the family as a whole, with the exception of Micky's father, is a sight to be seen.  Amy Adams' character, Charlene, was a light at the end of the tunnel, providing a voice of reason and speaking truth to Micky at a time when he needed to hear it and no one else was saying so.


This movie has a really great message behind it about never letting others stand in the way of your future.  It shows us how people can steal your dream from you, if you let them.  You are ultimately in control of your own destiny, but you need to have good people behind you, in your corner, to help you make it; people who will selflessly be there for you to help you win.  

Excellent story! Incredible cast! This is a great movie! Well worth the accolades that it has already received and will continue to receive in the coming weeks, I'm sure. 


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How Do You Know?...Thumbs Down

I have to apologize for the lag in movie reviews...the holiday season really had me held captive and I couldn't manage to get to the movies or sit down long enough to see an older movie.  So again I apologize to all my avid readers out there ;)  Anyway I'm back now and I am ready to talk movies with you again!!



Most recently I went to the movies to see How Do You Know.  The previews made this film look promising, a feel-good film for the holiday season, that may even be what the previews promised and what the film was marketed as.  Unfortunately, this was not the case, and I am so upset that after my month-long hiatus, I had to return with a film that was less than satisfactory to review.  To think this film beat out The Fighter for what I should review this week.  Wrong choice...very wrong choice.  

So many things went wrong with this movie, where do I even begin?  About 15 minutes into the movie I looked around and let out a sigh that I would have to endure about an hour and half more of sheer boredom.  However, I will say thanks to Paul Rudd, I was able to stay awake.  He kept me laughing in his quirky, sort of comedic timing way.  His dialogue matched his delivery and his facial expressions were priceless.  Although that wasn't enough to carry the movie, it was enough to keep me from leaving.


One thing that went wrong from the beginning was the professions that the writer and director, James L. Brooks, gave the characters.  Reese Witherspoon's character, Lisa, was a USA softball player who gets cut from the team...a softball player...really?? In a movie that has nothing to do with baseball and doesn't move the story along at all or contribute to the storyline whatsoever, was not smart and only confuses the viewers as to what the point of it all is.  Paul Rudd's character, George, was no better suited with George being a corporate executive under scrutiny by the government.  The fact that Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson didn't really do much for the movie is also very unfortunate and further validates what poor excuse for a movie this really was.  Sadly, it's harsh but true.

The problem is, this story is one we've all seen before, except in an over complicated way.  Whenever George was facing his troubles with  the law it was so annoying to watch and it over-complicated the plot. And to think James L. Brooks, is the same person who brought us As Good As It Gets, an amazing movie in my book.  I hope that wasn't as good as it gets Mr. Brooks because How Do You Know did not match up in the least.


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