I Love You Beth Cooper

Against the better judgement of some critics and some Twitter friends I decided to go to the movies today.

I had a free coupon and with a convention starting this week, and my trip coming up next week, I don't think I will have time for movies for a while (bummer cuz I really like going to the movies).

The only thing playing at my theater that I haven't seen or had a modicum of interest in seeing was Beth Cooper. The critics hated it, but meh, what do they know? I rarely agree with "professional critics" anyways.

Once again that proved true. First of all it is directed by Chris Columbus. He directed the first Harry Potter film and I have enjoyed others of his as well. The lead male actor, Paul Rust, is a nobody, and unfortunately will probably stay that way. He doesn't have the debonair good looks or even the acting chops to make it much past this movie. His quirky side kick, Jack Carpenter, however? I can see him doing many more movies in his future. The lead female is Hayden Panettiere of TV's Heroes. Having never watched Heroes, I had nothing to compare her to, and in this she was very good. She held her own when the comedic parts needed her to and did well when needing to be serious and dramatic.

It is graduation day and if Denis doesn't profess his "love for Beth" then he will live to regret it. The way the rest of the night plays out, you start to think he may regret it anyways.

It is quirky and sappy and full of silly teenager humor. But that is exactly what it is, a silly teenager movie. If you go into this film thinking it is going to be cinematic greatness then you will be sadly disappointed. But if you go in looking for a good time and some primo air conditioning? Then you are in for a treat.

Three solid Diet Cokes.

Bruno

Remember the In Living Color skit Men on Film and the two uber gay guys that did movie reivews and when they didn't like something they would say "Hated It!"?

Yep, that is how I felt about this movie. Actually how I honestly felt after the first 5 minutes was completely HORRIFIED! Had I driven my own car I would have left.

I received screening tickets to see the movie before wide release (and look at me getting the review to you before then as well! yay me!) at the fancy Arclight Theater in Hollywood. I gathered Marisa and Chris and my Twitter friend Tracy and off we went.

Once you get past the first five minutes of extremely uneccessary flagrant flaunting of body parts (male body parts), there are some actually funny parts. And guess what? Yep, it is a love story at heart. Boy meets boy, boy brushes off boy, boy and boy have - well I wouldn't want to give away the ending.

My problem with this film is that Sasha Baron Cohen is a good nee very good actor. He could do so much more with his skill than these flagrantly inappropriate characters. But as Marisa (who also hated it) astutely pointed out to me on the ride home, why should he? This is working for him. And she is right. The theater was full and the laughter was nothing short of raucous. I would like to think it was only the men but really it was a mixed bag of laughter.

I will admit to laughing, often, but the bad parts colored it bad for me.

1 Diet Coke may be 1 too many.

As a special treat for your viewing pleasure:

Public Enemies

Ok, really? Could you not just look at that face all day long?

Anyhoo, I know nothing of John Dillinger, no do I usually enjoy gangster films, but I am woman enough to admit that I went to see Johnny Depp. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. He is at his most handsomest in this film.

Enough with the drooling on with the review. Again, let me reiterate I know nothing of the historical aspects of this film and I don't care about them either. Plain and simple this is a love story.

There is a lot of shooting and blood (most of the blood shots are gratuitous in my opinion) and that will be enough to make the guys not realize a good old fashioned love story is unfolding right in front of their eyes.

Oscar winner Marion Cotillard is the love interest but meh this is all about Depp. Although, I do have to give a shout out to Christian Bale for his performance as the unerving FBI agent Melvin Purvis, I didn't even recognize him and had to wait for the credits to role to find out who it was.

Girls sell seeing this movie to your guy as a gangster flick.

Guys sell seeing this movie to your girl as a love story.

Everyone will be happy.

Three Diet Cokes.

My Sister's Keeper

I cried at the previews of this film. I knew what I was getting into.

Megan and I went to a midnight showing of this while in Vegas. Unlike other midnight showings I have attended in LA (Mainly Harry Potter flicks), there was no line, no crowd, just some people looking for something to do and possibly some place to cool off. (90 degrees at midnight in inhumane)

This movie did not let me down. I cried from the moment it began until the moment it ended. My only problem was it was a bit confusing at times with all of the "time travel". It made it hard to know if they were oin the past or the present at times, and really when you are crying and looking through blurry eyes, it is asking to much of me to try to figure things out.

Cameron Diaz was great as a mom of 3 the oldest of which has cancer and the youngest of which had been genetically conceived to be a "farm of body parts" for the sibling. Yeah, it is that involved. Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) plays the youngest girl and does a great job but the movie belongs entirely to Sofia Vassilieva who plays Kate. She was amazing.

I am glad I didn't read the book and I don't usually enjoy Nicholas Sparks, but this movie was done well and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

P.s. If you did read the book, I have heard that the ending is different.

Three diet cokes

Hung Up On The Hangover

My Twitter friend Megan (@undomesticdiva) had been going on and on and on on Twitter about how much she lurved the movie The Hangover. So I decided to test her love for me and asked her to write a review for me. I totally agree with her.

I’ve never paid to see the same movie twice while it’s still in the theater. I’ve seen The Hangover twice and have accepted an invitation to go a third time. If this movie does not win ‘Best Picture’ at this year’s Oscars, I swear to god, I am packing up my shit and leaving California for… Vegas. Specifically, Caesar’s Palace. Not the Caesar’s Palace Caesar lived in though. The Vegas one.

If you haven’t seen The Hangover a) you and I aren’t friends and b) you’re probably rolling your eyes because you’re sick of hearing all the ‘hype’. I get it. How could a comedy create such a frenzy in Facebook status updates, on Twitter and in workplace conversations? After all, the general rule for over-hyped movies is that the more people talk about goddamn funny! and fantastic! and super awesome! they are, the more they suck. Against all odds, The Hangover defies these stereotypes and not only lives up to the hype but is guaranteed to greatly exceed your oh-my-fucking-god expectations with a healthy dose of cathartic laughter.

And that’s just the movie’s credits.

The Hangover starts in such a way that makes you think you’ve just paid to watch another 90 minute movie of bachelor-party-gone-wild-in-Vegas – and you have – but with a twist. Rather than watching the chronological order of idiotic drunkenness gone very wrong, the foursome awake the next morning to find they remember absolutely nothing from the night before. This might not be a big deal if a) there weren’t a tiger in their bathroom, b) one of them weren’t missing a tooth and, c) the groom is nowhere to be found.

The hilarity is not only in the plot which includes finding a baby, testing a taser gun, a supposed Vegas wedding no one can recall and a seemingly impossible search to find the groom before the wedding, but in the lesser known cast itself: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha, not to mention Mike Tyson’s small role. (I’ve always been a big fan of the Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughan movies, but guys, you’ve been put on notice. There just may be a new brat pack taking over the comedy scene.)

Of all the things one can take away from this movie (such as what not to do in Vegas – like roofies, for example), the most valuable will be the one-liners you will no doubt be repeating for months to come.

Bottom line, ante up for this hilarious comedy of Vegas gone so wrong you’re going to want to schedule a trip of your own to Vegas as soon as you get home from the theater. Just remember: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Except herpes. That shit will come back with you.”
- -

I give this 5 shots of Patron

**
Undomestic Diva
http://www.undomesticdiva.com/

Away We Go

I didn't recognize most of the people in this film when I saw the previews. That alone intrigued me enough to want to see it. I am always leary when a film has a bunch of big names, somehow it never seems to work out right.

What I didn't know (because I guess I don't watch the right tv shows) is that both of the main characters are played by Television Stars. John Krasinski from The Office and Maya Rudolph from Saturday Night Live.

The story of two 30 somethings trying to find their way in the world when they become pregnant. Dropping in on old friends and family members in different cities to see if any of them "fit".

Allison Janney has a small role and for me it isn't small enough. Something about her just rubs me the wrong way and seeing her in a preview almost was enough to make me not see the movie.

All in all it is a good indie film, it has a good share of laughter and enough sappy to keep it from being classified as a comedy alone.

Three Diet Cokes

Imagine That

I enjoy Eddie Murphy. I have since Beverly Hills Cop back in the day. I even enjoyed Daddy Day Care. But this one, this one I think missed it's mark.

I couldn't tell if this was a kid's movie or an adult movie. I don't see much interest in it for kids, as there is alot of focus on the financial work that he does and the main plot is the relationship of he and his daughter. But the way they go about it is in a childish manner and so the interest for the adults goes out the window as well.

Sorry, Eddie, but I can only give this 1 diet coke can.