Movie Review - The Other Woman

The Other Woman was the type of movie I needed after a long stressful two weeks, a mindless but entertaining chick flick.  The title pretty much sums up the movie, Mark (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) gets caught cheating on his wife Kate (a hilarious Leslie Mann) with Carly (Cameron Diaz) and Amber (Kate Upton).  None of the women know that they are the “Other Woman”.  Once they find out, all want revenge. 

Nothing about the plot of this movie is all that surprising, but it was an entertaining movie.  Leslie Mann gets the most laughs in this movie as a Connecticut housewife who goes a bit crazy, a bit over the top, but nonetheless funny.  Cameron Diaz plays a power lawyer, and while I’ve seen better performances from her, she has a few funny moments here.  Kate Upton, well she’s Kate Upton, that about summaries that performance!  Don Johnson also makes a small appearance as Carly’s father and a very charming Tyler Kinney is in this as well.

Overall The Other Woman is what you expect from a chick flick, comedy, music montages, high school pranks (Nars in the shampoo, really?), and “sisterhood”.  This movie can really wait until DVD or even TV to watch, I’d give it a 2 of 5 stars with an acknowledgment that I did laugh a number of times during this flick.

The Other Woman opens today.

Movie Reivew - Brick Mansions

I really, really wanted to love this movie, the trailer made it look intense and fun, but sadly that is not exactly the case.  Brick Mansions stars the late Paul Walker, David Belle, and RZA.  It takes place in Detroit, after part of the city has fallen and is kept behind a 40 foot wall.  This contained, beaten down area is called Brick Mansions.  Walker plays Damien, a copy seeking revenge, who just so happens to get paired with a convict Lino (David Belle), because both men are going after the same drug dealer, Tremaine (RZA).  And while they're at it, oh there just a bomb too.

The first third of the movie sets up the back story and is very sloppy writing combined with bad acting of RZA and his followers.  After we get to the meat of the story, when Damien and Lino get paired together, the movie picks up and improves.  The two characters clearly don't like each other but there's a surprising comedic element to it, each man does his own thing his own way (and thankfully this wasn't droll buddy cop humor, it has a natural feel to it).  The fight scenes were impressive, fast passed, and shot well.  However, the acting of the "bad guys" was just so overwhelming, which is sad because it dampers what could have been a really entertaining movie.

In normal circumstances I would say wait for the DVD for this one, but as a long time Paul Walker fan I would still recommend seeing it, if for anything, the action scenes and the laughs you'll find along the way from this great actor that will be deeply missed.

Brick Mansions comes out April 25, 2014

Miley Cyrus Bangerz Tour

For my 31st birthday, yes my 31st, I asked for Miley Cyrus concert tickets and luckily, received what I asked for!  I saw her at Milwaukee's BMO Bradley Center with the opener  Icona Pop.  I love a good show that gets everyone up on their feet and dancing and both Icona Pop and Miley Cyrus delivered.

Sam Smith - Stay With Me

I had never heard of Sam Smith before last week's Saturday Night Live and wow, was I missing out.  Such a pure simple and beautiful vocal.  His album doesn't drop until June 17, 2014, but until then we get this gem of a song - Stay With Me

Movie Review - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Full disclosure – I have not seen the first Captain America movie, but I have seen all the Iron Man’s, Thor’s, and the Avengers, so I do have some general knowledge of Captain America.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was overall an entertaining movie.  Keeping up with what seems to be a theme of the Avenger movies, there was plenty of action and comedy.  It’s hard to describe fully what the movie is about without giving too much away, but basically it’s the Cap in present day dealing with (obviously) the Winter Soldier, and the issue of who to trust (it’s way more complicated than that, but that’s a nutshell overview). 

There is a ton of action in this film and while 90% of it is awesome, I had particular issues with the sequence regarding a bus (again, trying not to give anything away).  The sequence almost looked as if it was filmed in a faster speed and just did not match with the rest of the movies action sequences.   Besides that one scene, the rest of the action was great.  A lot of hand to hand combat, gymnastics, and a pretty awesome elevator sequence.  I also enjoyed how much they used Cap’s shield as a weapon.  

A welcome new edition to the cast is Anthony Mackie as Falcon.  Now he’s one of my personal fav’s so I’m partial, but he fits in well with the cast and the relationship between Cap and Falcon seems like a genuine fit.  I don’t know much about the comics, but I sure hope Falcon is in future movies. 

Scarlett Johansson is much better as Black Widow this time around (compared to Iron Man 2 where I wasn’t sold), she brings some humor and badassesness, if that’s even a word?  While a fan of Chris Evans, sometimes I’m not completely sold on him as an action star, I think he’s much better suited in comedy and drama, his overall performance as Cap was good.  And of course Samuel L. Jackson…he has a much bigger role in this installment as Nick Fury and is great as always. 

Overall I give it a 3 out of 5.  I was entertained, not blown away, but it’s worth the admission price and seeing it in the theatres.