A Holiday Miracle...

Hi, you guys. I just got finished reading this wonderful news article and thought I'd share it with all of you. It's so great to know that things like this still happens in America. It's a sad beginning but a happy ending... Enjoy! (I wanted to put it in the post but couldn't and I didn't think it would've been right to paraphrase it myself. Sorry. But check it out!)

www.nbcsandiego.com/news/weird/Wrong-Number-Miracle-76386647.html?yhp=1


I love when Ms. Saenz say that she thinks anyone would have done the same thing. Sigh. Not only is it good that she had such a good heart to give, but that she still believes in the goodness of the human race.


Until next time,

Lew

More movie reviews: An oldie and a semi-newie.

Hi, everyone! It's me again! How was everyone's Thanksgiving? Mines was fantastic! So much to be grateful for and I ended it all with a nice vigorous workout this morning. My cousin Shan cooks too good! lol.

So today I'm going to review 2 movies I've watched recently: Year One and Out of Sight

Out of Sight is an oldie but a goodie starring the one and only George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez in her rise to fame days. I was only 14 years old when the movie came out which would explain why I never even heard of this movie until I went browsing on the Netflix website. (But somehow I had heard of From Dusk Til Dawn.) My opinion of the movie: Great! Clooney plays Jack Foley, a bank robber who breaks out of jail in pursuit of a fortune in uncut diamonds. On the way he and his friend Buddy played by Ving Rhames runs into Karen Sisco, played by Lopez, a law enforcement agent who's as cunning as she is beautiful! Crime and laughs ensue as the boys can't seem to get away from Ms. Sisco! And, of course, Foley doesn't seem to want to.

The movie is a good cat and mouse feature by famed director Steven Soderberg featuring many actors who have become well known since: Clooney, Rhames, Lopez, Don Cheadle, Steve Zahn, Isaiah Washington and there is even a cameo by Samuel L Jackson. George is handsome as usual. Lopez is beautiful as usual. Zahn is funny as usual and Don plays a psychotic thug all too well! Score: B+

The second movie I want to review is Year One starring Jack Black and Michael Cera as 2 outcasts of Biblical proportions. I love Black and Cera was great in all of his movies but this one was a gigantic stinker! It was just too blasphemous and silly w/o being funny whatsoever. Pointless and with no true storytelling to it's structure. If you're going to be blasphemous and question the existence of God on screen, at least be interesting with it. Black is usually funny and charasmatic in his silliness but not in this womper. I guess there's very little room for talent with poorly writtten dialogue and storyline. The only good thing about the movie was the performance by Oliver Platt who acted too good in the horrible role of an effeminate, Sodomic false priest. The movie is from the makers of Knocked Up but is far from being as funny or interesting. Score: F


Rent Out of Sight if you haven't already seen it. (I'm 11 years late with this one!)
Year One is not even rentable. Save your cash!

Until next time,

Lew

Yup. I went to see it....

Hi, everyone! How are you guys and gals today? Great I hope.


On Saturday, November 21, I went to see 2012 in theaters along with my cousin Shan. Ummmm. The movie was really weird and whether it was a good movie or not is questionable even after seeing it. I don't know how to explain it. The special effects were good even though they were very unrealistic (noone would have lived through that mess although the main characters were hardly scratched) and the story line was good although it was very cliched; there were your predictable scenes of realization as the world came to an end and the dialogue was very cheesy. In spite of all this, the movie managed to keep me at the edge of my seat which perplexes me but is the truth. And the ending was hilarious but not in the way you may think. ( I don't want to spoil it for you.) I don't know. The movie had too much predictability in it. However, the idea of the world ending so quickly and terribly keeps you interested throughout.

And ignore what I said before about the Kaaba issue. I still think fearing a fatwa is stupid but the Kaaba itself wasn't shown at all during the fall of mankind so it's not a big deal. Plus, I can forgive the seemingly disrespect of Christianity I mentioned before since the movie has a respectable Noah's Ark feel to it.

Ultimately, I would suggest that you wait for the movie to come out on DVD and Blue ray to view it. It's not the greatest theatrical experience but it's definitely rentable. Score: C


Have a great Thanksgiving!!!

Until next time,

Lew

Oprah is saying goodbye:(

Hi, everyone! How are you today? I'm ok. Just trying to figure out this life thing.

So on this past Friday Oprah announced that after 25 years on air, she will be doing her last season in 2011. Her next endeavor is to launch her own cable network!

I just have to say that although I am saddened by this announcement I am happy for the woman. To be able to end one project after its success for 25 years, in your 60's and as a billionaire is truly the American dream. The Oprah Winfrey show has been a major success and ending it now at its peak is a good idea. Her decision to launch a cable network is another good idea and shows just how admirable a business woman Oprah really is. Everyone has cable these days so I'm pretty sure there's alot of money in the industry. Truly she is leaving a legacy. Now, all she has to do is adopt me and everything will be perfect! lol.


Kudos to Ms. Winfrey for a great talk show. I know her last years as a talk show host will be grand and I wish her all the best in all her future endeavors! Next up is the Oprah Winfrey Cable Network. Can't wait!


Until next time,

Lew

Movies, movies, movies!!!!

Hey, my peoples out there! How are you all this fine Saturday morning? I'm good, up early, and ready to go!

For today's post I'm going to review three movies that I've watched. Yes... 3! I LOVE movies!


I first watched State of Play starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams. I just knew the movie was going to be excited even though it was a drama because Mr. Crowe was in it. His movies are always excited and interesting. Well...this one was not! It was just plain boring and dragged on too slowly for my taste. There was no climax and impacting ending. Things happened and then it ended. And Ben Affleck was just so blah in the movie. His character had no personality and he even looked anal retentive throughout the film. Rachel McAdams tried her best to get much out of the boring character she played but due to obvious lack of good dialogue, she never quite hit the note. And Russell's character was boring too! I don't even need to explain what it was about. Rent this movie if you need a good night's sleep. Seriously. Score: D

Next, was Away We Go starring Maya Rudolph of SNL fame and John Krasinski of The Office. Sigh! Such a sweet adorable movie! It is definitely a chick flick. It's about a couple in their early 30's who are expecting their first child and embark on a journey to find the perfect place to raise her. On their journey they meet up with old friends who turn out to be both encouraging and discouraging but who influences their decision just the same. Such a funny, light hearted movie! It's the kind of movie that brings a smile to your face in the middle of the day when one of the scenes pops into your head. Just wonderful! Maya and John had such amazing chemistry in the movie and they played their parts so well! You felt like they were people you could meet in real life and you rooted for them throughout the movie. Very good dialogue and characterization. This is a must see for a light hearted laugh and realistic happy ending. Guys, if you want to earn extra points with your gal, definitely rent this one! Score: A+

The third movie I watched starred Matt Damon and my husband George Clooney and was called Syriana. It was adapted from the book See No Evil by Robert Baer and tells of his experiences with the CIA. The movie was a drama so it was pretty quiet, yet it was very intense. Matt was good as the star and George Clooney did very well in his supporting role as Baer which is why he won the Oscar in '05 for it. It was a pretty deep movie about the oil and weapons situation with the US and Iran. It's kindof hard to follow if you aren't in toon with the subject but it's a good movie nevertheless. Rent it if you're in the mood to ponder the subject of human nature. And I just wanted to add that only George can gain 30 pounds and grow a beard and still look so darne handsome! Score: B+

Okay, people! I hope this helped you pick out some good movies to cozy up to this weekend.
Until next time,

Lew

Sexiness!

Hey, again!

So, People Magazine has named Johnny Depp "The Sexiest Man Alive" for the second time. He won the title in 2003 and now has it for 2009. He joins only 3 other men, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Richard Gere who have been given the title twice in their careers.

I must say that the people at People (lol) actually have taste. So many magazines rate people as attractive, or sexy or whatever and there in your face is a picture of a big ole mess! Well, when it comes to men People Magazine seem to always get it right. 99% of the men who have been given this honor deserved it and the four who have been given it twice are handsome enough to deserve it twice. I agree with the decision to give it to Depp for a second time because he is definitely one guy who doesn't seem to age in looks or swagger. He's a fantastic actor and has managed to maintain a great career for many years. He's sexy in actual looks, attitude and in success. Very good People!

As usual, let me know what you think. Until next time,

Lew

People are starving? No!

Hi, my ppl! How are you guys today? Good I hope. I'm doing fantastic!

In the news yesterday, it was reported that over 49 million are thought to be starving in the U.S and of course people are finding this to be an astounding discovery. Well, it's not surprising to me. What part of minimal wage, recession and unemployment rate at 10% don't people understand?

Most jobs are labor jobs that one can get without a formal education under their belt or currently that many people will get because of major downsizing of high end employees at companies. So when you consider that most labor jobs pay minimal wage or a little more you can guess that people are working for very little and probably can't keep steady food on the table. I would think this was obvious. I don't know why it seems that people think making $8, 9$ or $10 an hour is enough to support a human being especially if a person has children.

Moreover, we are in recession and unemployment has gone up to almost 10%. That means that about 30 million people in the workforce DO NOT have jobs. Ummm. Most likely, having no job would lead to not having any food. That's my guess. Maybe I'm wrong.

Now, with this amazing discovery government officials are looking for ways to change this. President Obama concluded that this is probably caused by the unemployment rate (You think?) and is now determined to get employment in control. Wow. Finally, someone is talking about doing something about unemployment. You'd think that would have been the first thing to handle since no job means no money and no money means no spending. That includes no spending on food or any other basic need because there is no money for it. So, yeah, I'd think many Americans would be starving since the economy went sour about 2 years ago and millions lost their jobs in that time. Frickin geniuses! But at least President Obama has decided to do something about it.

Yay! Something to look forward to. (My sarcasm has reached incredible heights since the beginning of the recession)

Blah!

Lew

LMBO!

Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend. Mines was so-so. I didn't do anything I planned to do and decided to chill instead. Blah! But it was a good weekend.

So, on Friday I went to see The Men Who Stare At Goats starring Ewan McGregor and George Clooney. Ha! On Netflix, the movie is currently put in genre: Screwball. And for good reason too! The movie is completely silly. There is no point to the story at all but to obviously make fun of the government and military. There is only one noticieable part where George (Lyn Cassidy) and an Arab man whose life he and McGregor saved apologized to eachother for the recklessness of eachother's people. Other than that the story is pretty silly. However, I still would recommend the movie if you are looking for a good hearted laugh. Many people are critcizing the movie as being stupid and pointless, but I could only assume that the movie is meant to be silly and funny and does well at both. I laughed out loud several times and the performances are good even though the characters are completely mad. I can always appreciate a movie that fulfills the purpose it set out to make. The movie is silly and makes you laugh without making you think too hard. That's not a bad thing especially with all of the movies and tv shows out there that are ridiculously silly but are not funny at all! Ugh! I hate movies/shows like that!

So, I have to say kudos to George and his buddy Grant Heslov for a pretty weird but pretty cool movie and give George a wow! for managing to be the dirtiest, craziest, sexiest old man in a movie. Go see it for a good worry free laugh. If you're a person who looks for meaning in every movie don't go see this one. You won't find it here!


Until next time,

Lew

What's with tv?

Hi, everybody! It's me again! Yay! lol.

Today I'm going to quickly complain about television. I finally decided to buy a tv converter box and didn't before because I don't watch much regular tv. But cable costs as much as rent these days so I abandoned cable and bought a converter box. Let me just say that whichever genius decided to put ALL tv in digital form needs to be hit in the forehead. You'd think they'd realize that since all tv is in digital form it would perform like digital cable: breaking up due to storms and freezing in the middle of a program. Can anyone say annoying? I know many of you out there would still think that the idea of switching to digital signals was good but just think about it, as long as you had a good antenna, nothing interfered with analog signals.

And now I'm going to talk about what's actually on tv. At 8:00pm I browsed through the major New Jersey channels (3, 6, 10, 17, 29). Channel 3 wouldn't play without pausing and breaking up. Great. On the rest of the channels I found The Office, Parks and Recreation and two other silly shows that I forgot the names to. And while I laughed out loud alittle bit, I still couldn't help but cringe at how stupidly silly alot of these shows were. I mean, what happened to tastefully silly? Silliness with a point? It seemed to have left our television as well as our movies. What can I say? And let's face it, I'll toon in again next week. Sigh. The quality of EVERYTHING in America seems to have been compromised. 60% of Tv and movies are wastes of too much money (are we not getting over a recession? People in the ent industry seemed to not notice) and products that cost too much to break in a matter of months do exactly that. Blah! And what can we do about this? We don't control any of these industries. We just sepnd our hard earned money on them and wish for the best.

Well, hopefully I can report on a happier note next time and let me know what you think.


Lew.

new movies

Hi, everyone! How's it going?

Today I'm going to talk about all the cool movies that have recently come out or are coming out soon (within the next 3 months)

I went to fandango.com to check out what's out and coming out and what I might want to see. Of course, I seen info on New Moon, the next movie in the Twilight saga. That comes out Nov 26 and I can't wait to see it. From the trailer (beleive it or not I did not read the novels. I know. Shame on me!) I get that in this installment, Edward decides to leave Bella when she is put into danger at the hands of one of his own family. This leaves Bella traumatized. She gets through this tough time with the help of her childhood friend Jacob Black who turns out to be a werewolf and comes to her rescue in the same way Edward had so many times before. Good stuff! The movie is bound to be as good as it's prequel and Twilight fans are sure to bombard the theaters around Thanksgiving!

Another movie that I am interested in is Astro Boy. Astro Boy is playing now in theaters and I'm considering checking it out. I remember the cartoon Astro Boy as a child and from what I seen on the trailer, it looks like it's just plain cute and cool to see.

Moreover, I watched 4 trailers on the fandango website: The Men Who Stare at Goats, The Wolfman, Alvin and the Chipmunks 2, and Avatar. All of these seem exciting and I would like to check them all out. The Men Who Stare at Goats is a comedy drama starring my husband George Clooney that's already playing in theaters. It's about a reporter, played by Ewan McGregor, that goes on a trip with Lyn Cassidy (GC) who claims to be a guy who was trained to do alot of silly supernatural things for the military. The trailer itself is pretty funny and there is alot of eye candy in the movie with Clooney and McGregor. I am going to see that ASAP!

Next, I watched the trailer to Wolfman starring Benicio Del Toro and looks like it's scary, a little gory and 100% pleasing to the movie buff. It doesn't come out until January but it's definitely one movie I can plan on seeing!

The first Alvin and the Chipmunks was the cutest thing possible and the trailer for it's "squeakquel" is even more adorable. Seemingly, Alvin and his buds find themselves trying to fit in at school with all the other human kids. And do you guys remember the latter episodes of the cartoon when they introduced the female chipmunks? Well, they introduce them in this installment and they are singing "Single Ladies: Put A Ring On It" by Beyonce. Too much! Too cute! It comes out Christmas day and is sure to be a holiday family pleaser! I may have to treat my nieces to the movies this Christmas!

The most amazing trailer I seen today was for Avatar. The movie was adapted from the popular computer program in which a person can make an animation of themselves. In the movie, a guy in the military gets called on a mission on another planet where humans are trying to inquire the property of an interesting race of locals. The guy and his group are made to mentally connect with their "Avatars" that were created from a mix of their DNA and DNA of the locals. Of course, the guy gets inspired by this race and seemingly fight for them instead of against them. I don't know about you, but I never tire of hero movies where the protagonist stands up for what's right in spite of. Sigh. The special effects and visuals are stunning and I just think it's cool that someone thought to make this idea into a movie. No wonder it was created and directed by James Cameron who brought us Titanic, True Lies and other great action adventure movies. I'm not sure when this movie is coming out but I can't wait!

Ok. That's my movie previews section for the month. lol. I hope you enjoyed it and make sure to check out the trailers for these movies and maybe the movies themselves. I will and I'll let you know what I think.

Until next time,

Lew

Oscar, George, Chuck and the Kaaba

Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend. I did! So on today's post I am going to review George Clooney's movie Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and then share my views on the Oscar picks for host and that 2012 movie.

Ok. So I watched Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, directed by George Clooney and based on the autobiography by game show host Chuck Barris. I have one word: WEIRD! That was just the weirdest movie I've ever seen in my life. The cameos by Brad Pitt and Matt Damon were brief and hilarious and Julia Roberts didn't fit the movie because she's just such a great actor and the movie had good acting but was just too much of a screwball movie to have needed such great acting by her. It was well directed and cut but the story was silly as ever! In his autobiography that became a cult-classic, Chuck Barris claimed that while he was a game show creator and host, he was also an assassin for the CIA and killed 33 ppl in his career. Sam Rockwell played Mr. Barris and the very beautiful Drew Barrymore played his lover. There are several scenes that show Rockwell's very nice hind part and some scenes that I didn't get. The acting was good but the story and its execution were unbelievable! Weirdest movie ever! Rent it for yourself to see what I mean.

In other entertainment news, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin have been chosen to host the 2010 Oscars....Oooookkkkk. I can understand Steve but Alec? It is obviously not easy to host the Oscars and keep a viewer audience of "classy" primadonnas entertained. So, how did they come up with Alec Baldwin?Yeah, he's funny on t.v but unless he's writing it himself it doesn't seem like he'd be funny and interesting enough to hold anyone's attention too long. Maybe I'm wrong. But before he got into television, he played mostly serious roles and he played them very well. I just can't see him being charasmatic enough for the Oscars. But I understand the chocie for Steve Martin. That speaks for itself. Funny, witty and enttertaining are words that describe him perfectly. We'll see how it goes. Who knows? Maybe Alec will blow me out of the water. I hope so!

I also want to talk about this new 2012 movie that's coming out later this month. I was excited about it but now I don't know. If reporters stop asking the director, Emmerich, questions about it, maybe I'll like it again before it premiers. They asked him did he believe it and he says no, not at all. That's a corny answer. He could've come up with some cleverly sinister answer about it. That would've marketed it better. Indeed I thought why would I want to see a movie for which a director showed very little interest. But I guess he's only the director. Moreover, reporters asked him why isn't the Kaaba destroyed like everything else ( the St. Petersburg Vatican and Christ Redeemer statue in Brazil are dissintergrated in the movie) and he explains that the co-writer, Kloser, didn't want a fatwa on his head for such a sacreligious act. Emmerich goes on to say that he didn't think or care for that at first but if we really thought of it it's true; we can destroy the other sites without consequences but they could get a fatwa placed on them. That's ridiculous! Not only because I don't think it's fair to show reverence of one religion and ignore another but also because this is a movie and if you're going to make a movie about the world being destroyed... destroy the world! Don't destroy everything to bits but leave one religious site because of a belief. It's a movie! Kloser mentioned not wanting a fatwa placed over him. Exactly where, when and by whom would a fatwa be placed on the writer and director of a movie about the world being destroyed because they showed the world being destroyed in a movie about the world being destroyed? You get what I am saying? It shows outright disrespect for other religions especially Christianity and it makes the movie sound pretty silly. It would've been better if they just kept the scene about the Kaaba out of the final movie.

I may go see it. Maybe. If I do I'll let you know what I think.

Ok. That's all for today ppl! Let me know what you think. Until next time.

Lew