Tracy: What is wrong with you three?

Phil: So much, Trace, I don't even know where to begin

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I apologize for the delayed weekend movie preview. I was in New York City last night for Glen Hansard's performance at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which I will tell you about next week.

This weekend we have two sequels in theaters: The Hangover Part 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2. 

Phil, Stu, Alan and Doug head to Thailand for Stu's wedding in The Hangover Part 2. Stu's plan for a subdued pre-wedding brunch does not exactly go as planned. This time, instead of losing the groom-to-be, they wake up missing Stu's future brother-in-law. This has not been getting as good of reviews as the first film, but it still looks pretty crazy and funny. Plus, we all know how much I love Bradley Cooper, so I will clearly be seeing this in theaters.

 

Trailer #2
The Hangover Part 2 at MOVIECLIPS.com

Kung Fu Panda 2, on the other hand, has been getting good reviews. In this sequel, Po and the Furious Five venture to China to battle a villain, uncover the secrets of Po's origins and save kung fu. Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, David Cross and James Hong have all returned to voice their characters from the first film.

Trailer #1
Kung Fu Panda 2 at MOVIECLIPS.com

I usually do not see animated films in the theater and will probably not make an exception for this one. I enjoyed the first Kung Fu Panda, but not enough to want to spend that much money to see the sequel.

Brad Pitt's The Tree of Life also opened this weekend, but only in limited release and not in Philly. It has been getting good reviews, but it needs to do well in theaters before they give it a wide release. I will let you know if that happens.

I hope everyone enjoys their Memorial Day Weekend! Let me know what movies you see!
xoxo
c
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Detective Crowe: You look like you slept under an over-pass

Detective Rizzoli: How are you still single?

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The last two years, I have given you a list of my returning Fall shows and which new shows I am going to check out.  I have decided to do the same for this Summer's shows. There is not as much on in the Summer but it should be enough to keep me occupied.

My Returning Shows:

In Plain Sight

The Glades

White Collar

Covert Affairs

Rookie Blue

Rizzoli & Isles

New Shows:

Franklin & Bash 

Wilfred 

Love Bites 

The first time I saw the commercial for Wilfred, starring Elijah Wood and premiering on FX at the end of June, I thought it looked stupid. However, every time I see it, it makes me want to watch it a little more. I will let you know if it is actually any good. Franklin & Bash stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar aka Zack Morris, I think that is all I need to say about that. And Love Bites is a show that was filmed last year, but NBC could not find a place for it in their line-up, so they are releasing it now. It stars Greg Grunberg, from Heroes and Felicity, and Becki Newton, from Ugly Betty.

I could not find a list of all the premiere dates online to share with you. I thought I had originally seen it on Kristin Dos Santos's page on E! Online, but could not find it today. If I ever figure out where it is, I will make sure to post it for you.

Are there any summer shows that you watch or think I should be watching? Please tell me in the comments section below!

xoxo

c

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"Mermaid waters, that be our path"

If you could not already tell from the name of my blog, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is probably my favorite movie. I am not saying that it is the best movie I have ever seen, just that it is my favorite. No matter how many times they play it on the USA Network, I watch it every single time. I cannot help it, I love Captain Jack Sparrow. That being said, the second and third movies, while I will also watch them whenever they are on TV and find them quite enjoyable, were not nearly as good as the first one. 

This fourth movie was not as bad as the reviews have made it out to be, but not quite as good as the first. I found it very entertaining and if you enjoy the first three then I think you will like this one as well. The plot was definitely less complicated than in two and three. My only real complaint is that it was not quite as funny as the first three. 

"You have suffered enough, And warred with yourself, It's time that you won"

I tend to have very eclectic taste in music. I pretty much enjoy everything, but there are of course exceptions to the rule. Growing up, my dad listened to oldies and my mom listened to classical music and show tunes. As a matter of principle, I disliked everything to which my older brother listened. I did not really start paying attention to popular music until middle school and even then it was only because I had to in order to be part of the conversation among my friends. Even now, I do not often listen to the radio and actually get most of my music from TV shows. (I know, you are shocked!) Every once in a while, but not nearly as often, I discover new music in movies.

"Does this face look like it's been to the Fountain of Youth?"

This weekend brings us the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga, On Stranger Tides, starring Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush and Ian McShane.

When we last saw Captain Jack Sparrow, he was stranded in Tortuga without his beloved ship, the Black Pearl, after having been again left by Captain Barbossa. Luckily, he had taken Barbossa's map, found a small boat and was on his way to find the Fountain of Youth.

In Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Jack has a run-in with a former flame, played by Penelope Cruz, and he is not sure if she is looking for love or using him to find the Fountain. Along with Cruz's Angelica, he must go up against the infamous Blackbeard, played by Ian McShane, who is looking for the Fountain as well. We also welcome back familiar characters Captains Teague and Barbossa, Mr. Gibbs and, from the first film, Lieutenant Gillette.

"He is really hard to kill"

Since last April, I have added another 10 pages to my quote list word document. I have also started an additional document for Sons of Anarchy quotes and added to my list for The Vampire Diaries. So, I have decided to share with you a few more of my favorites.

The most recent addition was from last night's Castle season finale:
Captain Montgomery: There are no victories. There's only the battle. And the best that you can hope for is that you find some place where you can make your stand. If this is your spot, I will stand with you.

"You're like the Maid-of-Dishonor"

Bridesmaids was hilarious! I am usually pretty critical about comedies, but this one was awesome. The funniest movie that I have seen in a long time.

Kristen Wiig plays Annie, a failed bakery owner with no money, no boyfriend and two very weird roommates. She is asked to be in her best friend Lillian's wedding, whom she has known since childhood. While there is a potential love interest, the movie is mostly about how Annie copes with feeling like she is being replaced as Lillian's best friend by Helen, the trophy wife of Lillian's fiancee's boss.

My only real issues with the movie were that a few of the characters were not fully developed. Annie's back storyline about how she used to own a bakery but opened it during a recession and it eventually went out of business is not really necessary. While I understand that this part of the movie was there to show why Annie had no money, I just felt like it was kind of awkward. I also would have liked to see more of Wendi McLendon-Covey's and Ellie Kemper's characters. But this is all just me nitpicking, these minor issues did not detract from my enjoyment of the film at all.

Guy: During the daytime people would want to hear songs that they know, just songs that they recognize.....

I play these song at night or I wouldn't make any money. People wouldn't listen.
Girl: I listen.

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As part of my continuing quest to whittle down my Netflix queue, I have watched Once and Witness this week. I am hoping to be able to watch at least two movies each week, but we will see how that goes.

Once was a really cute movie. It is about a guy who lives at home and works in his father's vacuum cleaner repair shop during the day and plays his guitar on the street at night. One day, he meets a girl and they form a friendship based around their mutual love of music. The script is not anything spectacular but, it was a very sweet story. I also really liked that instead of using actors that could sing they used musicians and got them to act. It also had a more documentary feel to the cinematography. The director wanted it to look like something you made on your own over the weekend, which they definitely accomplished. If you are someone who enjoys different types of music, then I would definitely check out this movie. I am now officially a fan of Glen Hansard.

Witness comes from my list of Classic movies. As someone whose extended family lives in Amish country and has Pennsylvania Dutch in her bloodline, I am not really sure why it took me so long to get around to watching this movie. It is about a young Amish boy who witnesses a murder while in Philadelphia with his mother. When the detective on the case, played by Harrison Ford, discovers a police cover-up and realizes he and the boy are in danger he decides to hide out among the Amish. It was definitely an interesting movie, and I am sure at the time it was a look into a world that most people knew absolutely nothing about, but in general, I found the movie to be a little boring. I also thought that the love story was a little out of place and not very well fleshed out. I find it very hard to believe that an Amish woman would completely abandon her entire belief system like that, even for Han Solo. I think that it is a movie that everyone should see, especially if you are not familiar with Amish culture, but I would not say that it was one my favorite films.

A Lesson on Guns






Witness — MOVIECLIPS.com

There have also been a few awesome season finales on TV recently. Justified, Community and The Vampire Diaries to name a few. I am also very much looking forward to the finales for NCIS and The Good Wife. This is a bittersweet time of year for me because it means the end of the season for most of my shows, but they also tend to be the best episodes of the year. Luckily, there is more and more good summer television which is already starting to air.

As always, I love to hear from you, please let me know your thoughts below. And remember, you can also follow me on Facebook and twitter for daily updates.

xoxo
c
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"If I ever had a wedding, I’d, I’d want everybody to be stress-free, you know?.....

I’d like it to be like a carnival. Like, people win prizes for guessing the bride's weight, some dunk tanks..."
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The two big movies opening tomorrow are Bridesmaids and Priest.

As a single woman who has been in six weddings, been a guest at at least a dozen more and has watched most of her close friends get married, I am very much looking forward to seeing Bridesmaids. It stars Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne and Melissa McCarthy and it looks hilarious. Rudolph's character gets engaged and she chooses her best friend (Wiig) to be her maid of honor. This means she is in charge of planning all the standard pre-wedding activities with the help of the rest of the quirky wedding party. Wiig was on The Late Show Tuesday night and David Letterman called the film a "cavalcade of fun."

Trailer #1
Bridesmaids at MOVIECLIPS.com

The other big movie coming out this weekend is Priest, starring Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet and Maggie Q. Based on a series of Korean comics, Bettany plays a priest who breaks the vows of his order when he sets out to try and track down the pack of vampires who kidnapped his neice. He is one of the warriors of the last vampire war and uses the skills of his niece's boyfriend and another warrior priestess to help him in his quest.

Trailer #1
Priest at MOVIECLIPS.com

While I normally would be excited about a vampire movie, I am not sure that this one is up my alley. The action sequences look pretty cool, but I am just not sure I will be seeing this one in theaters. If you decide to check it out, please let me know what you think and if I should change my mind. 

Other movies opening this weekend include Hesher and Everything Must Go. 

xoxo

c

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"You know, for a crazy homeless person, he's pretty cut."

I thought that Thor was a lot of fun. Going into it, I did not realize how much of the movie would take place in his home realm, Asgard. The trailers make it seem like it would be mostly about his time on Earth, but I would say it is split pretty evenly between the two realms. The mythology of the character is interesting, for those of us who have not read the comics, and at no point was I confused about what was going on. Sometimes with the origin stories, the film makers try to cram too much information into the film and it muddles the storyline, but I did not find that with Thor.

The special effects were excellent and the realm of Asgard was pretty awesome looking. I kind of wish that I could live there. And while I did end up seeing it in 3-D, I do not think it is necessary. Although, I never really think 3-D is necessary, and certainly not IMAX 3-D. I do not feel that 3-D really adds anything to the experience, except that you have to wear annoying, bulky, plastic glasses for two hours.

Chris Hemsworth is very nice to look at, especially shirtless. It is also nice to see that he can do more than just crash a Federation starship into a Romulan mining vessel. He did a very good job carrying the entire movie and I look forward to seeing him in other projects. However, I do have to say that Vincent D'Onofrio will always be Thor in my heart :o)

In terms of the rest of the cast, everyone else's performances were on par with what you would expect from them. Kat Dennings stood out to me because she is hilarious and Tom Hiddleston was also excellent as Thor's brother, Loki. As with the Iron Man movies, make sure you stay until the very end of the credits for your Nick Fury cameo. 

If you like action movies, or even if you just like hot guys, then I would highly recommend seeing this movie. It is entertaining throughout and definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

xoxo
c


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"The Hamptons are like a zombie movie directed by Ralph Lauren."

All things considered, I did like Something Borrowed. I read the book last year and while I do not remember every little detail, from what I can remember, the movie pretty much stayed in line with the plot of the book. And for those of you who have not read the book, I would say that it was what you would expect from a romantic comedy. Though, the friend with whom I saw the movie seemed to enjoy it more than I did. One reason may be that we just have different taste in movies, but I also wonder if the fact that she did not read the book made a difference. I knew exactly what was going to happen every step of the way, so I did not get as emotional as she did during certain scenes. 

In terms of the two main characters, as someone who has been a push-over most of her life, I definitely associate more with where Rachel is coming from, than I do with Darcy. However, I would never have slept with my best friend's fiancee and I am also not so much of a push-over that I would let my best friend date the guy I like without standing up for myself. That being said, even when I read the book, I always sided with Rachel because I felt like, although she was doing this horrible thing to the person she considered her best friend, she was also finally standing up for herself. People like Darcy are not really anybody's best friend. They do things only for themselves and never seem to do selfless things for others. Even if it is just a movie, sometimes it is cathartic to see these types of characters finally get what they deserve :o)

Ginnifer Goodwin and Kate Hudson, as Rachel and Darcy, were entertaining and seemed to fit the characters perfectly and Colin Egglesfield was very yummy as Dex, the third side of the love triangle. However, John Krasinski, and his facial expressions, were probably the funniest part of the movie. His character, Ethan, was also the one person pushing Rachel to stand up for herself for once and take what she wants instead of waiting for Darcy to let her have it.

Do Something For Yourself
Something Borrowed at MOVIECLIPS.com

The past few years, I have pretty much avoided seeing romantic comedies in the theater. When I only had to pay $5 for a Saturday matinee, it was not that bad, but now they tend to not be worth the ridiculous price of the ticket anymore. I would say that unless you have an uncontrollable desire to see a 30 foot high Colin Egglesfield (which, let's be honest, might actually make the price worth it) you can probably wait to see this movie when it comes out on DVD.

xoxo

c
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"I have learned that you make your own happiness...

...that part of going for what you want means losing something else.  And when the stakes are high, the losses can be that much greater."
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The two movies I am most looking forward to that are opening this weekend are Thor and Something Borrowed.

Thor is based on the comic books written by Stan Lee and produced by Marvel Comics. He is cast out of his own realm by his father to be sent to live on Earth.and taught humility. He lands without his hammer, the source of his power, and can only retrieve it by proving himself worthy enough. Thor is played by Chris Hemsworth, who you may remember as George Kirk from the latest Star Trek movie. I have never read any of the comics, but if it is anything like the previous two Iron Man movies, Thor is sure to be highly entertaining. It will be followed by another Marvel character, Captain America, later this summer and both will appear in The Avengers in 2012.

Trailer #2
Thor at MOVIECLIPS.com

Something Borrowed is based on the book of the same name by Emily Giffin. On the night of her 30th birthday, Rachel has a few too many drinks and ends up sleeping with her best friend's fiancee. At first she tries to forget about the fling, but soon realizes that she has feelings for this guy. Rachel struggles with figuring out if she should be with the man she loves or stand aside and watch him marry the best friend who has always taken the spotlight from her. Rachel is played by Ginnifer Goodwin and best friend, Darcy, is played by Kate Hudson. I am not expecting anything other than the typical stupid romantic comedy, but sometimes those can be fun too :o)

Trailer #2
Something Borrowed at MOVIECLIPS.com

While I will probably see both of these movies, regardless of what the reviews say, they currently stand on opposite ends of the spectrum on Rotten Tomatoes. Thor is at 84% and Something Borrowed is at 15%.

Other movies opening this weekend include: The Beaver, Jumping the Broom, Hobo With A Shotgun and Last Night

xoxo

c

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"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me."

In my continuing quest to see all of the "Classics" on my Netflix queue, I have recently watched The Graduate and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

The Graduate was nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1967, but only won for Best Director. It was definitely an interesting movie, but I did not really like it. Dustin Hoffman plays a recent college graduate who starts having an affair with the wife of his father's business partner, Mrs. Robinson. He then ends up falling in love with Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine. However, Dustin Hoffman's character Ben, was just really annoying. He asked a lot of questions and was kind of a stalker. Anne Bancroft was also a little creepy as Mrs. Robinson. It does contain some iconic scenes and lines, so it is interesting to see them in context. However, for me, the only thing good that came from this movie was the Simon and Garfunkel song.

Are You Here for an Affair?
The Graduate at MOVIECLIPS.com

On the other hand, I really enjoyed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It stars Jack Nicholson as a prisoner who has been transferred to a mental hospital and then rallies the other patients together to rise against the evil Nurse Ratched. It won five Academy Awards in 1976, including Best Picture, and nominated in four other categories. Because this film was entering a world that had never before been explored in film, a mental institution, the director felt that they should use unknown actors to play the other patients. However, several of these actors have gone on to become more famous. I am actually a little ashamed to admit, though, that it literally took me half the movie to figure out that Martini was played by Danny DeVito. I clearly was not paying very close attention. A few other familiar faces include Brad Dourif from Deadwood, Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future (among other things) and Vincent Schiavelli, who Buffy fans will remember as Miss Calendar's Uncle Enyos. This movie was a little long, but definitely worth checking out.

As well as several other "Classic" movies, I am still working my way through the rest of my Netflix queue. On the docket for next week is Witness starring Harrison Ford. I also plan to check out the movie Once, which is an independent musical from 2006 which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2007.

xoxo

c 

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Jax: Is there anything you love so much, you'd protect it, no matter the cost, the damage it did to you?

Tara: Yeah, a child

Jax: Yeah. That's how I feel about this club. Since I was five, Tara, all I've ever wanted was a Harley and a cut. Change won't happen quick, or without blood, but it'll happen. It has to.

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I talked about my new favorite show, Sons of Anarchy, a few weeks ago, but never followed up after watching season 3. I could not wait for them to release each individual episode on Hulu, so I broke down and bought the entire season on iTunes. This was a good and bad decision for me. The good thing is I have now seen the entire third season and it was just as awesome as the first two, as I predicted. The bad thing is that I have now spent countless hours watching the first three seasons over and over again. 

My new love for this show also means that Charlie Hunnam has been added to my list of actors that I need to see almost everything they have ever done. This list has so far included Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Timothy Olyphant and Kristen Bell. Thankfully, Hunnam's is not a super long list and includes a few things I had already watched or was planning to watch.

He is a British actor that was first known for his role on the British version of Queer as Folk. Unfortunately, this is the only thing that I have not been able to find anywhere to watch. If anyone knows where I can get it without having to buy it, please let me know, I would really appreciate it! It is supposed to be one of his best roles, aside from Sons of Anarchy. 

I did not even realize that he was in Cold Mountain until after watching Sons of Anarchy and then checking his IMDb profile. It did not help that he does not really look like himself in this film and his character is a little creepy. It is one of my favorite books and I own the movie as well, so I have since re-watched the movie and still love it...although the ending inevitably always makes me cry. He plays one of the men in town who is tracking down and killing army deserters, a small but well-played role.

Undeclared is another case where I had watched the show before I knew who Charlie Hunnam was and had to go back and re-watch it. I had seen a few episodes over the years, but never the whole series. In this, he plays Jay Baruchel's foreign exchange student roommate, Lloyd. The show also starred Seth Rogen. I am not a huge fan of Judd-Apatow-humor, but it only lasted one season, so I am going to try to make it through all seventeen episodes. 

Children of Men was one of the movies that was already in my Netflix queue. It had an interesting concept, but was mostly just a weird movie that was kind of hard to follow. It stars Clive Owen, Michael Caine and Julianne Moore and takes place in 2027. Humans have not procreated in 18 years, so when a young pregnant girl is discovered, Clive Owen does everything he can to keep her safe. However, the movie does not do a very good job at explaining who the different villains are or why they are doing what they are doing. Hunnam plays one such dreadlocked bad guy who is trying to track down Owen. His role was not very big and he mostly ran around trying to shoot people :o)

Abandon was another weird movie, but one in which he played a main role. Katie Holmes is a college student at the end of her senior year. She is already under a lot of pressure to finish writing her thesis paper and find a job for after graduation, when her ex-boyfriend, who inexplicably disappeared two years earlier, reappears. Hunnam plays the ex-boyfriend, Embry Larkin. You are trying to figure out if he is dangerous and wants to harm his ex-girlfriend, but she is also a little crazy, so maybe she is just imagining that he is back. You are not really sure of what is truly going on until the end. It was a little scarier than I thought it was going to be but, I am not really sure what to make of this movie. It was not bad, but it was not really that fabulous either. Katie Holmes tends to annoy me, but Hunnam's performance was excellent. However, I would not have seen this had he not been in it.

He has a new movie coming out this summer called The Ledge, which also stars Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson and Terrence Howard. The trailer was released yesterday:

If you are not already watching Sons of Anarchy, you should catch up now and be ready for season 4 this fall. I also highly recommend you get more familiar with Charlie Hunnam. The movies he has done so far have not been stellar, but that is in no way because of his performances. He is a great actor that does not get anywhere near enough recognition for his talent. (Not to brag, but I said the same thing about Bradley Cooper right before his career exploded, so you might want to listen to me :o) 

xoxo

c

ps. If you are already a fan of Sons of Anarchy, make sure that you are following creator and executive producer Kurt Sutter on Facebook and Twitter!

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"Throughout history, warriors were heralded. Stories were told, songs were sung, statues were built...

Today, it's easy to forget the sacrifices our men and women make when much of the country is more concerned with dancing celebrities."

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I thought that NCIS: Los Angeles quote was more appropriate for today than anything I could have pulled from the movie about which I am going to talk. Thank God for the men and women who serve in our armed forces, without whom we would not be celebrating the way we are today!

And now on to more lighthearted matters.....

The Score
Fast Five at MOVIECLIPS.com

 First of all, I have to say that I was surprised by the number of people in the movie theater this morning at 11 a.m. seeing Fast Five on a Monday morning along with me. I guess I am not the only one that needs to get a life....or a job, as it were :o)

That being said, according to Entertainment Weekly, this fifth installment of The Fast and The Furious "outperformed all four previous movies by a healthy margin...smashing several records in the process."  It has had the biggest opening weekend of any other movie so far this year and the biggest April opening weekend for any movie ever. I would say that is pretty impressive.

When going to see a movie like Fast Five, you do not really expect anything except fun, and that is precisely what this movie has to offer.  I do think that it was a tad too long, mostly because it took a little long getting to the main heist, but overall, I really enjoyed it.  Although, getting to look at Paul Walker for two and half hours does help.

I only wish that after making the first one, instead of trying to work on other projects, Vin Diesel had come to terms with the fact that this was the path his career was supposed to take. Maybe then we would not have been subjected to 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift and The Pacifier before getting to the better sequels for this franchise. The fourth one was a little too complicated, but this one was much better and even set it up at the end for a sixth movie, which I hear is already in the works.  Just make sure you sit through the beginning  part of the credits in order to see that end scene!

There are a lot of action movies coming out this summer, many of which I plan to see, so if you are not a big theater-goer you can probably wait to see this when it comes out on DVD/Blu ray.  However, if you liked the first movie, you will definitely enjoy this film as well.

Instead of writing one big post a few times a month, I am trying to split things up and post a few times a week. I hope you enjoy the new format and, as always, I hope you will share your thoughts and questions with me below.

God Bless America!

xoxo

c

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