Archives for May 2010

Penelope starring Christina Ricci and James McAvoy

Posted on May 31, 2010 Written by ripitup

Penelope starring Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Reese Witherspoon and Catherine O'Hara — Penelope starring Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Reese Witherspoon, Simon Woods and Catherine O'Hara. Image from: http://www.onlinesinemaizle.net

Welcome to a sweet, quirky and fun fairy tale:

One of Penelope’s dad’s ancestors has slept with a maid and then left the girl. This ends up in the girl’s suicide. Her mother happens to be witch and puts a spell upon the family. According to the curse, the first daughter born into the family is going to be awfully ugly: a girl with a pig’s nose and ears. The spell somehow ends up affecting poor Penelope. In order for the spell/curse to be lifted, a guy from a certain bloodline should fall in love with her, even after he has seen her face.

Penelope (Christina Ricci) can’t go outside for years, according to her mom’s wishes. The press has believed her to be dead. She has gotten sick of it all, especially of men who gets the shock of their lives after they have see her. One day, things get out of Penelope’s mom’s (Catherine O’ Hara) control: A discredited heir (Simon Woods) decides to prove to the whole world what Penelope really looks like. With the help of a journalist in need of revenge, he hires a gambler (James McAvoy) to help them expose the secret. However the gambler gets to know Penelope without seeing her face first and he really likes her. But when he does see her and Penelope makes an unexpected offer, he runs away. Penelope misreads his reaction,and having had enough rebels and just ventures out into the real world. This new adventure will help make new friends (one played by Reese Witherspoon), and figure out who she really is.

Penelope is a lovely and interesting mixture of reality and fairy tale. After all we have rich vs poor, gambling, prejudice,”importance” of looks, superficiality, true love, friendship and coming to terms with who you are and how you look. So watching Christina with her special “make-up” may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But if you can get past how she looks, you are in for a real treat. A wonderful comedy-romance with supernatural elements.

Voted 7.1 on IMDB by over 15.000 people. I agree with the rating.

P.S. If you have seen Simon Woods as Mr. Bingley in Pride and Prejudice, you will have a real riot comparing his two opposite roles.

Also on Christina Ricci:

Cursed starring Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson & Jesse Eisenberg

Cursed Trivia feat. Christina R?cci, Portia de Rossi and more

The New Daughter starring Kevin Costner

Posted on May 28, 2010 Written by ripitup

The New Daughter starring Kevin Costner. Image from: http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/gallery

Really? I mean really? So much effort went into the effort of creating suspense and some really thrilling moments. Nothing scary but it is enough to be disturbing and engaging. All the time the options run through your head. Is it really supernatural or are we going to have a psychotic villain? If it is supernatural, what the hell are we dealing with? Until the professor (Noah Taylor) comes up with the explanation, the movie was promising. Then it went downhill so fast I couldn’t believe Kevin Costner took the role.

Sorry, I am getting carried away. Let me give you the plot first and then keep on ranting:

John James (Kevin Costner) is a newly divorced father/writer who moves his kids- teenage daughter Louisa (Ivana Baquero) and little boy Sam (Gattlin Griffith)- to a rural area. It’s supposed to be a fresh start in a new house. However, from the moment they move in, something is always off. Since the daughter is a teenager abondoned by her mother, you need to keep guessing how much of the events is because of hormones/depression/rebellion and how much is horror/thriller material. Then there is a mould in the yard…The film gets an additional character as the children’s new teacher, Cassandra (Samantha Mathis). With a little crush on the dad/the author, she tries to help out the family. But of course, just like any thrill/horror, no amount of emotional support or guidance won’t just cut it.

Suspense-building is good. Tension-creating is good. The acting is OK. The daughter’s lines do get won’t go to waste. But it does. What starts as a promising movie that makes you think why it got a 5.4. on IMDB (and not a 6 or a 7), ends up being a movie that ends up being extremely overrated.

It does remind you a little of Signs and not in a good way. I realized I wasn’t the only one thinking it when I saw a user also made a comparison. The difference is, I think this movie was just as disappointing as Signs.

If you absolutely must watch this movie, just make sure you expect normally until the last 25-30 minutes or so. After that, keep your expectations very,very low and leave your sense of aesthetics completely. And a little spoiler: The very,very final scene may not be what you expect. I am not sure if it is good news or bad news.

All Posts Featuring Kevin Costner

Mr. Brooks starring Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Dane Cook and William Hurt

Nicholas Sparks vs Happy Endings- Kevin Costner’s Message in a Bottle

Kevin Costner: An Amazing Lead Who Should Just Stay Away From Sci-Fi

When Adultery is OK- Revenge (Movie Review of Revenge, Starring Kevin Costner and Anthony Quinn)

Cheating Celebrity Trivia: 8 Celebs Thay Cheated – feat. Kevin Costner

Whose movie is it? : A post on Actor/Directors, Screenwriters and Producers – And who gets the last word

Handsome Actors to Play Villains: Viggo Mortensen, Tom Cruise, Xavier Samuel, Kevin Bacon and Kevin Costner

2010: Terrible Year for Rock ‘N Roll

Posted on May 25, 2010 Written by ripitup

2009 was a tragic year for music. But it looks like 2010 is not that bright either. Scorpions are done, Steven Tyler fall off stage, Brett Michaels gets a brain hemorrhage and just we thought he recovered, it turns out he has a stroke and has a whole in his heart. Oh, and heavy metal/rock band DIO’s vocalist Ronnie James Dio died. He was recovering from stomach cancer.

Dio: Ronnie James Dio second from right. Image from http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/19412333/Dio+AppiceGPilson+90s.jpg

Poison frontman Bret Michaels. Image from:http://www3.whig.com/whig/blogs/thebreakdown/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/michaels2.jpg

It’s weird to see rock starts have all these health problems. Yeah, we are well aware that they are human, but they did get over a great deal of stuff in the past: death of best friends/band members (Steve Clark from Def Leppard, Cliff Burton from Metallica), loss of health, loss of crucial body parts (Rick Allen from Def Leppard) , drug addictions.(Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Aerosmith) , loss of their looks…But since they always seem to bounce back, it is just feels awful to have all the bad news in a row. After all, they symbolize energy. Their stage shows rock us and their songs celebrate life, parties, sex, friendship and love. We grow up with them. Hell, our parents grew up with Aerosmith.It also reminds us of mortality and fragility of all.

For more (mostly) uplifting facts and posts on Rock N’ Roll:

6 Fast Bon Jovi Songs That Feature The Word Love

7 Cover Songs That Rock

What Do You Mean You Haven’t Heard of Metallica?

7 Interesting Facts About Jon and Bon Jovi

Swing Shift starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn

Posted on May 25, 2010 Written by ripitup

Swing Shift starring Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Ed Harris and Christine Lahti. Image from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/Swing_shift.jpg

Kay Walsh (Goldie Hawn) is happily married to her husband Jack (Ed Harris).When World War II strikes, Jack has to join the navy and Kate is left alone. Kay finds a job; after all almost all plants are need of extra labor after most men go off to war. Women are not made all that welcome by some of the men. Kay tries her best to do her job and makes a new friend called Hazel (Christine Lahti). Her new “leadman” Lucky (Kurt Russell) also is really nice to her. Well, it is more like he is smitten by her. He keeps asking her out and she keeps turning her down. But eventually, she gives into his charm. Along with her friendship with Hazel and Hazel’s romance traffic, her guilt about her own affair and work life, her life gets very busy. And her husband is due home any day…

This is one harmless, sweet movie. It is not memorable. It is by no means bad, but I was misled into thinking that it would be a romantic comedy with few dramatic touches (I am blaming it on IMDB’s genre labels). It has some funny moments. It has some romantic moments. But with all the war background and the relationships….something is missing. Of course watching Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn is never boring. And Kay’s husband is played by Ed Harris. It is weird seeing Ed with hair, I’ll give you that (well, he had more hair in 1984). Academy was more impressed with the Hazel character than I was as she was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

5.8 on the IMDB. Sounds just about right. Directed by Jonathan Demme.

Also on Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn

Overboard starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn

6 Hollywood Couples: Gorgeous, Glamorous and Happy Together feat. Goldie and Kurt

Also on Ed Harris

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

Copying Beethoven starring Ed Harris & Diane Kruger