Monday, January 24, 2011

Jonah Hex


Jonah Hex wasn't a horrible movie but it wasn't awesome. It was just... eh. Some parts of the movie were just so weird. I was expecting some major bad-ass-ness, but was totally let down. 

What makes it worse is that Megan Fox was in it. I put up with Transformers because it's a good movie, despite Fox's sad acting abilities. However, once again, like Transformers, she's just eye candy. I don't understand why they even give her lines. (Don't think I'm saying this because she's beautiful and I'm a hater. I honestly think she's a bad actress (however, I did enjoy Jennifer's Body). And if you disagree, you're probably a male and blinded by her hotness--Also, she even admits to not being a good actress. Props to her for owning up.)

When I wasn't distracted by the fact that Megan Fox looks like she has botox in her face and massive lip injections, I was being disappointed with the action scenes. They seemed forced and lacked creativity. Josh Brolin and John Malkovich are way too old to fight the way they did and  actually look hardcore. This is not anything against old people, because there are some older men who totally pull off action movies. Like Forest Whitaker. He is one total bad-ass!

The best parts were when Will Arnett was on the screen. He was hilarious. But, uh, he actually wasn't supposed to be. His character was serious and didn't crack jokes. But if you've watched comedies with Arnett in it, you know he's funny by delivering his lines very seriously. So him acting a serious part that's not supposed to be funny was just that. Funny.

The parts that were comic book-ish (I'm really not sure how to word that?) were pretty sweet. And there's a brief appearance by Jeffery Dean Morgan which was nice (love him!) and surprisingly he plays a dead man. Oh wait, that's not surprising at all (more on that in a later posting.) 

Overall I enjoyed it. Not the first movie I'd want to re-watch, but it was entertaining. I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel if Megan Fox's character is either not in it or dies a painful death in the first few minutes. :)

Love You, Hate You, Miss You/Leftovers

Love You, Hate You, Miss You is about a high school girl who's best friend died on the last day of the school year. Amy comes home from a psychiatric hospital at the end of summer,three months after the accident, and the story begins. Parts of the book are letters Amy writes to Julia, her friend who died in a car accident. When she gets to school she feels alone with no friends and feeling like everyone blames her for Julia's death, and of course, she blames herself. 

Though sad and well written, it's almost a little far fetched. It just seems like Elizabeth Scott was trying too hard to make this story as emotional as possible but almost seems insincere. 

It's also predictable which is weird for this kind of book. There should be twists, but the reveal of what little twists there were was lacking shock value. I give a lot of credit to writers of YA Fiction because a lot of them realize that kids are growing up fast and can deal with issues like death and other subjects that can be controversial. Love You, Hate You, Miss You could have been another fantastic novel showing a great insight of teenagers dealing with loss, but unfortunately it fell short.

It is a short book, however, and an easy read. It may not have been my cup of tea (wow, I really said my cup of tea... how OLD am I?), but some may like the subtleness of the book. If you're looking for a darker story that is a fast read and well written (besides the whole reveal of plots lacking shock) then you won't want to miss this story written by Scott. 


Yet another darker novel with even worse shock value. By time I got to the end I realized what a waste the story was. All the things that go on between best friends Ardeth and Blair are intense and very real. I believe that these girls are out there somewhere and it's sad to think girls really go things like this. It deals with sex, abuse, and bullying. But when the story wraps up and the big part of the plot is revealed, what they do doesn't seem that bad. I mean, what they do is messed up, but it's not as crazy as the other things that happen in the book. 

Also, it's hard to believe how close they are to the cop they're telling the story to, because there aren't many interactions between the three of them. I wouldn't recommend this book to people who can't deal with tough subjects. I wouldn't suggest it for other reasons too, mainly for the fact  that the ending was really stupid. That may not be the most eloquent description of an ending to a book, but really--- it was just stupid. Had Leftovers had a different/better ending, this book would have been pretty great.


It's so FLUFFY!!!!

Loved it! Great comedic cast. I had fun figuring out who was who by their voices. It was also really friggin' cute! The minions and the three little girls were too adorable. Seriously, I wish they were real. I'd want those girls as my kids (and I don't even want kids!) and I'd love to have a bunch of loyal and cute minions!
 

Though predictable (duh, most animated films are!) it was still very entertaining and the 3D effects were sweet! At the end of the film the minions try to see who can reach out further over an edge which was fun with 3D.  All the characters were equally funny and there were hardly moments when I wasn't laughing or at least giggling... or saying/thinking "awww... that's sooo cute!!!"

Also, the score was by Pharrell, and it was definitely different- in a good way. It had a hip-hop feel (another duh, it is Pharrell) and he did a perfect job making it suspenseful, funny, and interesting.

Despicable Me is a must see 3D film for any age!

Give them a chance?!


I once mentioned 10 things I love about 10 Things I Hate About You. There were many more reasons why the show was completely awesome but it only lasted two seasons, yet had so much life left in it! I can't believe ABC Family killed it! KILLED IT!  (Apparently this happened awhile ago, yet somehow I just recently found out.) There are so many great shows that don't get a chance yet shows like... The Secret Life of the American Teenager get to stick around. Seriously, that show is ridiculousy bad. Addicting, yes, but the acting and the writing? Poop I tell you, total poop!

Other shows that got canceled that breaks my friggin' heart.

 
The first episode of Accidentally on Purpose wasn't that good. But unlike most people/networks, I give a show a chance, because sometimes pilots rush to outline the plot and that makes the first episode (usually) not so great. But the second episode and on were incredibly funny. Laugh out loud, tell all my friends about it funny!!! I honestly cannot believe this show was canceled. Just like NBC, CBS axed a ton of their shows! Luckily A.O.P. ended nicely.


 
 
Okay, anyone who's seen Better Off Tedd knows how funny it is. They had two seasons, but that was not good enough for me. This is an example of not enough advertisment. Sometimes word of mouth is just not good enough. They constantly changed the night and time it aired and sometimes went weeks without showing an episode, which was confusing. Great cast. Awesome writing. Wtf ABC?!




I don't mind too much that they got rid of Heroes. It ran it course. I understand that. I also understand the ratings went down. But there are real fans out there (me! me! me!) who would have liked a conclusion. There are talks about a t.v. movie to wrap it up, but the chances of that happening are slim. You know why? Because Heroes is on NBC, and though they have good shows, NBC are a bunch of assholes.

 

Oh man, this show was so friggin' good. Here's another awesome example of a great show not getting the ratings it should because NBC doesn't advertise their shows equally. If you don't believe in a show enough to put money behind it, then don't release it. You get dedicated fans into a great show and then cancel it without giving it a real chance. It's 2010, shows need more than one season most of the time to really take flight, especially with shotty promotion. And the last episode? Don't get me started at how pissed I am. They left so many questions unanswered and had HUGE cliffhangers. Oh, this show's on NBC? How surprising!



Unfortunately I understand why Romantically Challenged got the boot. Though the rest of the cast was spectacular, Alyssa Milano couldn't hold a show on her own. Make her a supporting actress- then I think the show could have had a bigger following. It's not that I don't like her, but she didn't quite pull off her character and humor. The show as a whole though was extremely funny, and I really hope the rest of the cast get put on more successful shows in the future. Also, this show had the same problems as Better Off Ted: bad promotion and an all over the place schedule.



Just because the original characters were not on the reboot of Scrubs doesn't make Scrubs: Med School any less great. They pretty much made it a whole new show, but with some familiar faces. And they did a pretty damn good job! Med School was refreshing and genuinely funny. I actually don't understand why it didn't take off. Maybe people couldn't handle that most of the cast was gone. Sad, because there were some amazing characters and fantastic jokes. Boo ABC.

 

Once again, crappy promotion for this show. Proof? I couldn't even find a real promo poster for this posting. Come on! This show was great. Funny and dramatic. Lots of tension between all the characters. And lots of good looking people. I don't even think they got half way through the season before it got canceled. With cliffhangers. Boo.


                                      

And the saddest of all. Ugly Betty. Moment of silence please.

Okay, so the show had a decent run. Four seasons isn't too shabby. But shows like Supernatural get way more seasons? Please explain this to me? Ugly Betty was beyond fantastic. So funny and dramatic and moving. They broke barriers and brought something new to television. Each character was lovable and amazing. Thankfully ABC was able to wrap it all up and leave us with a happy ending. An ending that could possible turn into a movie (fingers crossed!!!). Season four was the best season yet, and Ugly Betty had potential to keep going for many seasons. I'm going to miss that UB so much! Gurr!



The two networks that aren't on this list of awesome shows that were murdered? Fox and CW. Yea they both canceled shows (CW-Melrose Place... well deserving!) but they are networks that give their shows, especially cult following shows, a real chance. The CW even renewed Life Unexpected for a second season even though it had low ratings. There's a network who stands behind the shows they put on television. They don't just throw out a billion shows and see which ones get ratings. How are shows supposed to get ratings if you have so many and pulling them out and putting new ones in without a second thought? Yea NBC I'm talking to you!!!

Back to 10 Things... I'm quite shocked they canceled it, even if season two ratings dipped a little. Instead of trying to bring those ratings up they just gave up. I'm confused because they usually give their shows a fighting chance. Well, no, Ruby and the Rockets was canceled really fast, and it was extremely funny. Hmmm... I guess they're too busy with their badly acted Secret Life. 


I'm looking forward to a great season in the fall, but also need to prepare for a lot of disappointments. If this year shows us anything, it's that most television shows don't stand a chance. 

So, are there any shows you'll be missing in the fall?


Sidenote. Though I dislike NBC very much (hello... let's not forget about Conan!) I do love a lot of their shows and am very happy they gave Chuck another chance, which I'm quite surprised made it to another season because it is very much a show with a cult following but lacking ratings...


Xtina decides to have some fun with Bionic


Remember back when I started this blog? Yes, before I took that long break because my life is so crazy busy (playing games on Facebook counts as a busy life right?). And I said I was going to buy Christina's Bionic album? Oh yea, I bought it... I bought the heck out of it. (Ummm... I don't know either).

image via www.amazon.com
It seems Christina always has a theme with her album and she sticks to it. She tries different sounds and I can appreciate that. It's been four long years and it seems Aguilera was looking to have some fun on Bionic! The album is different from anything I've heard lately and though I enjoy most of the songs, there are a couple I could have done without.

Elastic Love and Sex For Breakfast were two songs that were just too "WTF"-ish for me. I think it's the lyrics I can't get past. I'm all about the lyrics when it comes to music and those songs are quite annoying when it comes to the words. If the lyrics were better I would actually like Elastic Love because of the beat and futuristic sound. And I would like Sex For Breakfast because it reminds me of her album Stripped. It's very soulful, her voice is beautiful, and it's naughty in a way that's not too dirty by the way she sings it. But some of the lyrics are pretty stupid---"When the morning comes, I know I will too". Really, that's the best she could do? She has plenty of naughty songs on her older albums (When You Put Your Hands on Me, Get Mine Get Yours, Nasty Naughty Boy, to name a few) and they at least had lyrics that weren't just plain retarded. Yea, I went there.

image via google images
With those negatives aside, Bionic as a whole is really great. It may take a few listens before you realize it's greatness, but once you do, you'll realize how fun it is! WooHoo, Vanity, I Hate Boys, Prima Donna, and her lead single Not Myself Tonight are good work out, dancing like a fool, or blasting/singing loudly to in the car songs. My Girls is a fun anthem for the ladies and Desnudate is another song that sounds like it came off the Stripped album, with the chorus partly in Spanish. 


The slow songs are classic Christina- where her voice really shines and is at it's best. Of all her slow songs, though they're all fantastic, I Am is just out of this world. Not only does she show a side of her voice we have yet to hear, but the lyrics are amazing. In fact, I can't stop quoting it on my Facebook. I think almost every woman can relate to the song... so basically- download it now! 

image via google images
 Her deluxe album has a few extra songs including Bobblehead which is catchy and, again, really fun! Birds of Prey is a slower tempo song, reminiscence of Madonna (Frozen). Also, Stronger Than Ever shows the side of her voice she introduced with I Am but gets intense in the chorus. It's nice that there's more than one song with that sound. And--- the last song on her deluxe album is a "stripped' version of I Am. Guess she knows which song on her album people really love! 

I think all the smack talk everyone's been doing has been quite out of hand. Christina is one of a kind and her music is fun and beautiful. People love to start drama, but ignore the haters, give the album a chance, and decide for yourself.