"Something Borrowed" a Movie Review

Last night I got the see a screening of the movie "Something Borrowed" directed by Luke Greenfield (The Girl Next Door, The Animal) and starred a love triangle with Rachel played by Ginnifer Goodwin (He's Just Not That Into You, Big Love), her best friend Darcy played by Kate Hudson (need I say more? love her!), and the hearthrob Dex, played by newcomer Colin Egglesfield.  First I just want to say, this isn't your typical love story. This story is based on books written by Emily Giffin who wrote "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue", and who makes a great cameo appearence on a park bench reading the sequel, and hopefully the next movie, "Something Blue". Like I said, not your typical love story. Remember how girl gets boy, loses boy and gets boy back at the end and everything is right with the world? Change that up and add in another girl but make a 360 degree spin! I won't tell you the ending but I have to say that at times I was questioning what I would do in both of the girls situations. "Something Borrowed" begins with Rachel's 30th birthday party where we learn about her history with Dex and his engagement to her best friend, the attention grabber Darcy. Even before the title shows, something totally immoral happens and grabs at my heartstrings. Right away I decide who I like and who I don't, and what should happen. A half hour deeper into the film, and I'm tangled in the grayness of these characters' relationships. The movie asks the difficult question, would you let an earth changing, soul-feels-right kinda love go...again(you'll see why I say again when you watch the movie), or would you push for a love that was with your best friend's fiance? I know it sounds horrible, the love story was THAT good and the performances THAT believeable. 

The hilarious comedic John Krasinski plays Ethan, the sweet long time family friend of both Rachel and Darcy, who had me cracking up laughing out loud in the theater. His voice of reason throughout the whole ordeal allowed me to sit back and not yell things like "Thats horrible!", "How could she!?", "How could he!?" at the big screen.  Ultimately this film is less of a look at the affairs people have and more of a look into Rachel and her inability to truly live her life and take what she wants from it instead of always giving up before the fight for what she wants and being upset afterwards.

Great film, one of the best chick flicks I've seen!!

Eat Pray Love - a review in Italy, India & Bali

Last night I had the opportunity to see a movie I've been waiting for a long time to see called "Eat Pray Love." While I was in yoga school, I read the book and I just fell in love with author Elizabeth Gilbert. It is a beautifully written story about a woman who leaves her life behind in NYC in search of another. With nothing left, Liz (played by Julia Roberts) decides to go on an adventure to Italy (the eating part), India (the praying part) and finally Bali (the love part) in search of her new life. I've seen movies like "Under the Tuscan Sun" that have become a quick favorite, chick flick sure, but one of my go to movies that I watch with a glass of red wine in one hand and chocolate fudge brownie frozen yogurt in the other. I thought this was going to be a great go to movie, and while it was amazing plush scenery and truly made me feel like I was in those different countries, there was something about Liz's character that keeps me from making it one of my favorites. Julia Roberts acting was true to life and very believeable, maybe it was the director Ryan Murphy's take on the character, but there was something about her that I couldn't love.

Her character leaves on this life transforming journey and in India, I feel like her transformation time there was overlooked by the director. While staying at an ashram Liz attempts a few times to meditate but I didn't get to see her truly change the way spirituality I believe can truly change a person. She forgave herself sure, and that was good for her character because it helped her to be able to move on, but I didn't see it. I was almost rushed through her time in India. I saw her say that she forgave herself, but I didn't see her do it. At one point she is scrubbing the floors, an act that is done in devotion and her character doesn't seem to get that. Maybe if after the end of her time in India, she scrubbed the whole floor and looked at what she had done, I would see that, or if she had not have given up her vow of silence to be a tour guide for the ashram and at the end of the silence was changed. I didn't get to go on that journey with her through India and I would've loved to. 

My favorite line was when in Bali Liz is told  by a healer "Sometimes you have to let go of your balance with love to find your balance with life." I thought that was beautiful and real to everyone who loves. 

The movie is definetly one to see and I would pay to see it.  The locations were to die for and so real that I felt like I was visiting Italy, India and Bali. Especially the closeups of yummy Italian food in Italy, I was hungry afterwards!  The film includes actors Julia Roberts, Billy Crudup, James Franco and Javier Bardem (the best part of Bali, well him and Ketut her warm hearted healer guru, in my opinion!)

Are you looking forward to seeing this movie? Do you like Julia Roberts?

Sorcerer's Apprentice Marrys Magic & Science (no spoilers!)

Last night I was able to go to a screening for the new movie "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" starring Nicholas Cage and Jay Baruchel. First I just want to say that I love magic but I love science more, just because its what makes sense to me. The guy flying across the room delivering fireballs to his enemy isn't exactly a realistic movie in my eyes, and my favorite kind of movie are reality dramas. I didn't know what I was in for with this movie but I was excited to see this film truly explain how the magic the characters were using works.
Dave (Jay Baruchel) is a physics nerd how is learning how to use frequencies to change the direction of lightening bolts he's created using Tesla coils (tesla coils are these coils that were made by a man named Nicola Tesla who was an inventer, engineer and brilliant man who worked with Thomas Edison for a time). The special effects suprisingly didn't outdo the quality of the movie, but complimented its magical tone.

From the humble city college life of Dave (played by Jay Baruchel), Balthazar (Nicholas Cage) finds the one he's been looking for since his master and teacher Merlin was killed by the evil Morgana. We watch Dave try to win the heart of the girl he's loved since he was 8, learn to use his physics lessons from Columbia to kill off evil thousand year old bad guys and make life long friends, all the while never leaving NYC.  Dave and Balthazar fly on a stone bird over the city (its easy you just have to increase the kinetic energy of the bird and make it move!) as well as fight a giant dragon in the middle of Chinatown during a New Year celebration.  I was pretty excited when they accidently jump into an acupuncture shop (I was love when acupuncture is portrayed in films!) You'll have to watch to see what happens there though! 

Here's how you can make magic (according to the Sorcerer's Apprentice):
a- calm and clear your mind (I'm thinking okay, I can do this, its just like meditation).
b - focus your energy (alright, maybe, sure why not) and
c- concentrate your energy to the extent so that you direct your energy to increase the kinetic energy (energy that moves) of another object from its potential energy (stationary energy) to such a fast paced movement that the object can be lifted, turned, become invisible, or maybe even burst into a thousand different grains of sand. Sounds easy right!? Well the director Jon Turtletaub certainly made it seem easy. So much so that by the middle of the movie, I was convinced we could all do magic:)
(don't worry by the end I circled back to earth again).
Definetly worth seeing, parent and child friendly (no curse words or sex scenes).

EveryBody's Fine Movie Review - What a Tearjerker!

Robert Deniro (Frank, I'll just say Deniro because I love him!) stars as a father of 4 kids, kids as he calls them anyway, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell and another son who we hear about but never get to meet. His wife and their mother has passed away and he's left alone to take care of the house, and the "kids" who are all grown up now. Maybe its because my dad is alone, maybe its because I'm getting older but this movie was so beautiful and so sad. There are moments in the film where Deniro imagines himself in their backyard talking to his kids as children, but they have the honesty and wisdom of adults. Here, around their picnic table, they are finally honest with him about their lives and how imperfect things are.The film bounces back and forth from that backyard picnic table to real time where Deniro is traveling all around the US to visit his kids and make sure they are all happy and doing okay. The first is his son, who we never get to meet, David. He's an artist living in NYC and has his art in a gallery. Here we learn for the first time how proud Deniro is of his kids and how desparetely they want his approval, so much so that they would lie to him to get it. Then to Kate Beckinsale (Amy) where her and her husband are separated but keeping it quiet. Then to Sam Rockwell (Robert) who lied about being a conductor, and has to be honest about just being a drummer. Then to Drew Barrymore (Rosie) who picks Deniro up in a stretch limo and lies about having a beautiful apartment, and being a dancer instead of a waitress, and being a lesbian, and having a baby.  Through being brutal and heart wrenching honesty with eachother the family finally becomes close again, after they all find themselves in a hospital room.

DO NOT READ FURTHER UNLESS YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SEE THE MOVIE - SPOILER ALERT!!

My favorite part is after the artist has "passed on" he visits his dad in a dream.  There is a running theme throughout the film that Deniro tells David (the artist) when he's a little boy that he shouldn't paint walls because dogs pee on walls. He should be an artist. It turns out that David has kept this with him even as he's grown up, and has even told the gallery curator those exact words and that he wouldn't be an artist if it weren't for his dad. Maybe because of the pressure, David succumbs to drug addiction, and towards the end Davids child self in Deniro's dream sequence tells Deniro that maybe next time he'll just have a regular job like a painter. At this point I was balling all over Martin's shoulder:) You can just see a father's guilt for pushing his son too hard here. Deniro is a genius in this film and the storyline is all too realistic in todays world. Great tearjerker if you're in the mood for a good cry!!

500 Days of a Typical Love Story - A Movie Review

I rented the movie "500 Days of Summer" on Netflix. I had no idea what I was in for, but I did know it was one of those chick flicks that I could watch, relax and drink of a glass of wine and maybe a chocolate fudge brownie frozen yogurt:) The movie begins with a boy, he meets a girl, they fall in love over a summer romance (Summer also happens to be the female leads name, what a cute little twist you awesome chick flick writers!), one breaks it off and the other person is left alone in his own self loathing and despair. I love these kinds of movies, maybe because they are so familiar now, they remind me of when I was younger and I would watch them and be surprised by what happened.  But director Marc Webb and writers Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber do something a little different that makes me perk up towards the end. While we get to experience a typical summer romance with Summer and Tom, at the end of the film, when poor Tom (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is sitting in his favorite spot that he used to take Summer (played by Zooey Deschanel, I just love her and her style, especially in the Target commercial!!) to, they spot eachother from across the grass. He's not wearing his sunglasses to hide his tears from their breakup but a handsome suit and she has an air of humbleness that is only ever attained from finally finding the one, the one who she just knew was right,  the one who she just knew everything that she didn't know when she was with the Mr. Wrong.  I'll make sure not to tell you how it ends, but its a nice twist to capture your attention that makes all the typical moments that you've seen a thousand times in other love stories worth it...even if at the end of the film.

I don't know about you, but I've dated a few Mr. Wrongs before, including ones in summer romances, ones that it never worked out with just because it didn't feel right to be with them or to marry them, not because they were bad people, but because it just wasn't there. And then I met Martin, and this movie just enforced what I always believe to be true, that fate is beautiful and serendipatious (is that a word even?) and plays such a huge part when you meet that Mr. Right and you just know:)
I give it a definetly see this one!!! :)

Did you Hear about the Morgans? - A Review

A few days ago a friend and I went to see the new RomCom chickflick (don't you just love those?) "Did you hear about the Morgans?" Directed & written by Marc Lawrence (Music & Lyrics, Two Weeks Notice), Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex in the City), who plays Meryl Morgan, and a very much older looking Hugh Grant, who plays her separated husband Paul Morgan, witness a murder and are forced to enter witness protection. Oh yes, they must actually leave their beloved city, aka New York City and go to live in a small country town in Wyoming in hopes that the murdered won't find them there. There are bears, horses and guns and one restaurant in town with the only vegetarian dish being a salad, something that the couple never experienced in the big city. When Parker learns that she must leave NY the movie seems more like a promo for the city when she's told by the fbi agent "its either die or leave nyc", she got a laugh from the audience when she has to think about it for a bit before she finally agrees. Don't get me wrong, living in NYC does have its advantages, but its not exactly a place to die for, unless I guess your Meryl Morgan, owner of her own successful real estate company, separated from her husband who had an affair on her and suffering from infertility. Wyoming turns out to be the safest place for the couple as we get to watch them fight, laugh, make up, fight off a bear, shoot a rifle and run miles in the middle of no where. We learn about the couples marrital problems, their infertility issues, their wedding vows and what really happened to their love for eachother. I would definetly get this one on netflix, or 1 of those buy 4 for 20$ at Blockbuster, to have on a girls night or a "me night" but I wouldn't pay 10$ to see it in a theater. Maybe a 3 star (if you're a lover of chick flicks!)

2012- The beginning of the end or a new beginning? a movie review

In case you haven't seen the "signs" 2012 is the year that the Mayans ended their calendar, which is the same calendar that we use today. There are lots of theories why they ended it after roughly 350,000 from when they created it, some say it will be the end of the world, some say the apocolypse, some say its when we will all achieve a unified intelligence, the predictions are endless! So why would director Roland Emmerich (10,000 BC, the Day After Tomorrow) want to scare the **%$@# out of us even more by creating a movie about it!? Probably because he knew it would rake in the dough, viewers, including myself, love to see the end of the world, on screen anyway. John Cusack (hot man from High Fidelity and Say Anything) stars as a writer/almost deadbeat dad/limo driver who takes his kids on a camping trip to Yellowstone Park, only to find that where there was a humongous lake, is now a guarded-by-the-military, small puddle of boiling water. Don't worry, I won't spoil it for you! I'll just say that intense heat from the earth's core, and tsuanami's tear this world apart! Watching the awesome effects on the big screen, I was holding onto my chair watching! Some movies make you feel so small in the grand scheme of things, and this is one of those movies. Thrilling and exciting although at times terrifying, John Cusack and his seperated wife, Amanda Peet take us on a ride through one of the predictions for 2012 (luckily for us its less than 1% a possibility). It is a bit crazy that those wise Mayans created a calendar that they stopped intentionally in 2012 right!? Either way if John Cusack wants to save us from the end of times, I'm so there.

I give this one a 4/5, amazing powerful effects but part of the hype of the story and interest should be credited back to the Mayans!

check out the trailer!

pictures copyrighted 2009, Columbia Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Where the Wild Things Are - A Review

Last weekend I went to go to see the movie Where the Wild Things Are, based on a children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are written by Maurice Sendak. We arrived at the theater and there were a few little kids there with parents. I thought how great it was that these little kids would get to start out with a movie of the awesome story that was read to me while I was a little kid! But that’s not exactly how it worked out. The Director Spike Jonze definetly takes his viewers on a ride, far away from the children’s book where the little boy is sent to bed without his supper; the movie is without the light and airy feeling as the carefree child in the book, it’s a much darker story with a much darker psychological and real storyline maybe for a much darker generation, (it really should have been rated PG13).

The story begins with a young boy, Max, played by Max Records, who gets upset and tears apart his sisters room after she goes out after a snowball fight with her and her friends. We learn that things aren’t going to so well for his family, his sister is ignoring him, his mother is working all the time and has a new boyfriend, his dad moved out and his parents are getting a divorce. Max isn’t taking things so well and when he gets angry, like he wants to run around and scare people, he puts on his animal outfit and talks to his teddy bear stuffed animals. One night he goes downstairs and sees his mother kissing her boyfriend, they get into an argument, he bites her (yes bites her), and runs away. He runs to a waters edge and finds a little boat, takes the boat and sails away where he runs into an island where he finds “the wild things” aka a group of oversized teddy bears, and surprise, they’re just like the ones from his room. Only these bears have personalities, and surprise again, they are just like his families personalities. There is Carol, who is very angry and destroying houses and yelling a lot, Judith who has new friends and who doesn’t hang out with Carol anymore, which makes him even more mad, and then there’s his mother who he eventually sides with against Carol when after a certain point, Carol’s anger gets out of control. On the island he convinces the others that he is a lost king from another place, and they start treating him nicely. They play together, they sleep in a “pile” as the movie calls it, where everyone is cuddled together (something that we see is missing in his real life).

Max realizes different lessons like how to make peace with his darker angrier self and how to love that self, that roughhousing or being mean can really hurt people when you’re not paying attention to them, that his sister does love him and wants to protect him from Carol, and that Carol’s anger comes from not being able to have his “perfect” life. Max tries to build Carol’s “perfect” life for him with cool tepee homes and waterways, but things don’t get as perfectly as planned when Carol realizes Max can’t bring Judith back from her friends and Carol, in a tantrum, chases Max and, well its implied, to kill him. I don’t think that’s good PG material! The one little girl in front of us got scared at that point and they left. Max realizes that being king and in charge isn’t all its cracked up to be. With the hard adult decisions he must make to keep all the characters on the island happy, he sees how it must be difficult for his mother to keep the family happy. He also is able to see the sadness Carol brings to the girl when he’s mean to her and that sometimes people are just better apart, (aka his parents might just be better off apart). The one happy part of the movie is when Max goes back home, (he miraculously finds his way on the boat from the far off island to home...which lends to the idea that the island wasn't even real, and if it wasn't real, where was Max during the time when he was "on the island"??) and he finds his mom who has been worrying for him. She smiles, they sit together at the table while he eats a bowl of soup, she falls asleep and he is content finally in their little "pile". While the film doesn't seem to reach the same audience as the book, the set design was beautiful and magical looking and the costumes of the huge teddy bears, even though obviously fake, enhanced the weird and offbeat psychological place inside of Max's world.

The movie was a bit too deep and dark for young kids and leaves even some adults unable to relate. Martin wanted to leave halfway through the movie but I made him stay because I just thought it was interesting to watch, and well I wanted to review for you! Watching the Max battle out his demons reminded me of what it was like to grow up with divorced parents and I’m sure would be great for an adult who had gone through divorce, parents who are going through divorce and who have children, and any teen going through the anger and resentment that comes along with a family going through a breakup like that. Hope you liked the review!! I gave the movie 3 stars out of 5.

Where the Wild Things Are is currently playing in theatres.

Sunshine Cleaning, kinda morbid but a family story at the end

I recently watched a dark comedy/drama titled "Sunshine Cleaning" starring Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. The movie begins with the main character working as a maid. From being the star cheerleader and dating the quarterback in highschool to cleaning houses, very well it looks like, and having an affair with a married man, Rose (Amy Adams) is working to change her life. Her sister, Norah (Emily Blunt) oftens babysits Rose's young son at her apartment while Rose heads out to real estate classes and afterwards, most of the time she'll end up at a hotel, where she meets her highschool sweetheart quarterback, a man who is now married with 1 child and 1 on the way. He comes up with a brilliant idea for Rose to make some extra money, start a cleaning business that cleans up after trauma and crime scenes. Things get kinda gross. Most of the jobs are after people have died and, if its been awhile, there is usually gross things like blood and guts that have been laying around for way too long. Since Norah is out of work, Rose partners with Norah to start the business, afterall what are sisters for but to help us get away with having affairs and start trauma cleaning businesses? There is one scene where Norah becomes entranced by this girl who's mother commited suicide. While cleaning after the incident, Norah finds the mother's wallet, goes through it and finds a picture of along with pictures of the mother's daughter. Norah follows the girl to her job, where she serendipitously works at a blood bank. Norah befriends the girl and we find out why Norah is so upsessed, because when her and her sister were young, they had walked in to see their own mothers death, there is a flashback of when Norah was younger running through a sprinkler smiling and happy, and after she's seen her mother passed, she running in the sprinkler again, only this time crying. Its really sad at this point, but things get better and less morbid, I promise! Rose eventually realizes that she must take responsiblity for her actions and stop messing around with someone else's husband, and Norah, after a turning point in the movie, realizes she needs to find out who she is on her own, away from where she grew up. The father of the girls surprises them at the end and really comes through. Such a beautiful story about family, coming together and being there through the difficult times. There is one more scene (this is the last I'll tell you!) where Rose and Norah arrive at home of a woman who's husband has commited suicide. The body was taken away, but the there is blood all over a room that she won't go into. When Rose arrives, she meets the woman and sits with her as she cries until she feels better. Most of the movie I was thinking how gross that job would be, but that part of it seemed one of the nice perks:) Great movie to rent or put on your Netflix que!

"God Grew Tired of Us" -thoughts

The first thing that attracted me to this movie on the netflix search que was the title of this - God Grew Tired of Us - I mean could you imagine? A world where you would actually think that? So I clicked on it and added it to my list, it came to the house, and last night we watched it. If you are someone who doesn't like documentaries or does, this is so worth the watch. The story begins, narrarated by Nicole Kidman, in Sudan. A large group of men, women and children live together in their own village, until a government group comes in and wages war on southern Sudan. A little back story, the north is mostly Muslim, the south, mostly Christan. The government group that invaded the southern group killed men, women and children were, I'm sorry to say, Muslim. A group of 27,000 men and boys managed to escape and trailed down towards a more southern tip of Sudan to a UN refugee camp. They stayed there until they were forced to move to northern Africa to another UN camp. There are scenes of them having a life there, and becoming emotional while talking about their families and the women and children who died in their huts burned alive because the women and children wouldn't open their huts door to the intruders, and therefore the intruders weren't able to see how many people lived there and how many could've escaped. Its so moving to watch these growing men talk and cry about their families. Some of the older men form a parliament in the group. During times when there is no food, they get together and sing songs to help the time pass. Its interesting to see how they come together like this in times of suffering to pass their time, when no one told them to do so. Its not like they've ever had tv or watched a show or a concert to see and watch and come together for. They've never even experienced electricity before, but they know to get together and sing and dance to make themselves feel better. A few of the older boys were selected to come to the US to live, work and hopefully attend school. The movie splits off then and focuses on two groups, one in Syracuse NY and one in Philadelphia Pa. Its interesting to watch them being shown how to turn on a lamp or how to open a fridge or watch tv! The boys who have come to America are called the "Lost Boys", because they are lost, without their family and their home. They begin to find jobs, and establish themselves in apartments. One of the boys begins college, another one community college and they start talking about dreams and how they would like to help their people back home. One of the boys is found walking all night, not making sense, and doesn't know who he is or where he is and is admitted in a psychiatric hospital - thats probably the saddest of the stories. My favorite person in the film is a man named John Bul Dau. He believes his family was killed in Sudan and he lives with his 3 friends from Sudan in Syracuse NY. He talkes alot of about remembering his culture, and one day, recieves notice that his family is alive! There is a surprise from a local paper that his mother will be coming to visit him, and when she does, it is amazing to see the uninhibited reaction to seeing her son after so many years. I can't say I didn't cry at just watching her toss herself to the ground and start chanting, it was so powerful, and I don't even know these people. John Bul Dau talks about how they celebrate Christmas with his group back in Sudan, and how they dance and sing on Christmas eve and spend time together, instead of having a christmas tree and presents and shopping. Towards the end of the film, you learn that John Bul Dau received his college education and has built a medical clinic for his people in Sudan. Its a great story and I definetly recommend seeing this one!! (whether from Netflix or the video store!)

"Eat Pray Love" the best seller just wrapped filming in nyc!

The best seller book "Eat Pray Love" written by Elizabeth Gilbert shot its film version in NYC and recently wrapped production. They are filming in a few other locations (if you've read the book, you'll know the main character goes to India for a bit) and I just can't wait until the movie comes out! I want to reread the book just to remember the details. A very brief summary of the book - After a failed marriage a woman leaves her husband in New York and goes on a spiritual journey to Italy, India and Indonesia where she practices yoga, eats amazing food and meets an amazing friend and healer. Its an amazing account of her need to heal after trauma and how she found herself again.

I found out about the book while I was getting yoga certified in NYC. A friend had it and told me about it. During the time I had just left a difficult situation in which I felt I needed to heal from, and reading this book, along with my yoga practice, helped me to find a balance of peace in an otherwise chaotic environment. I picked it up and have loved the story ever since. I can't wait to see it on film! Film is directed by Ryan Murphy, stars Julia Roberts, Billy Crudup & James Franco (from Spiderman!!) and comes out in 2011.